While Carol and Duarte were having the experience of a life time in Badminton Sophie was holding the Fort at home in Fernhill.
A fresh horse and an inattentive moment resulted in a night in the hospital for Sophie and a very worrying time for all her friends!!
Fortunately her injuries were not too serious and she was soon on the mend.
As a result Fernhill M2S missed his 2 star Debut at Glandoran which Sophie was really looking forward to!!
Archive for May, 2010
Thrills and Spills
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010Badminton!!!
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010All at Fernhill were very excited as Duarte headed off to Badminton to make his 4 star debut.
Although Braveheart has won and 2nd in 3star CCI competitions its a big step up to four star and you never know if you really have a four star horse until you try!!
The dressage phase went according to plan and Braveheart was his usual composed self and scored 52 which we were very happy with. The test is much more technical than he has done before but with help from Pammy Hutton for the few weeks before Duarte was confident entering the arena.
When asked what he thought of the cross country Duarte said “BIG” to which I replied well what did you expect!!!
It was a serious track and as I am sure all reading this will know caused its fair share of problems with some of the top riders failing to complete.
We were therefore extra proud of both Duarte and Braveheart on jumping around clear. They looked a class act and a true four star combination.
The final day saw a couple of poles on the floor which is unusual for Braveheart and left them in 32nd place overall. A very commendable result and something to build on for next time.
Thanks to all who helped make it possible. Kate and Ruth Honey who minded Duarte and Braveheart in the weeks leading up to the event and during the week.
Polly Cottingham who as usual took great care of Braveheart and has been with him during most of his 3 day successes.
Hattie Lawrence the vet who took on Braveheart on his arrival in England and was with him during and after the xc phase and very early on Monday morning!!!
Pammy Hutton for Ironing out the wrinkles in the dressage phase and for her witty approach to teaching which she soon learned is the way to get the point accross to Duarte.
To Catherine Witt my loyal friend and supporter for her financial help with Duartes training which is supposed to be for our joint horse Fernhill Pimms but I am sure she will be delighted that what he learned will help when Pimms gets to this level!!!
Its been a while!!!
Tuesday, May 11th, 2010Its been a while!!!
Things have been hectic since my last post but I will try to bring it up to date.
The Irish event season is now well underway and our string are running well, so well in fact we seem to have sold many of the ones with mileage.
Chivas has now headed off to Italy to join Pietro Romans string which is very exciting for us here at Fernhill.
Fernhill Rua also makes the trip to Italy to Emiliano Portale so we hope to see him as part of the Italian team someday.
Sophie and Carol have been busy on the Irish event circuit while Duarte stayed in England on his way home from Portugal to prepare for Badminton with Braveheart.
Sophie rode Sallyfield Boxer in the 5/6yo 1 star class at Ballendenisk for the first outing of the season and stable mate Fernhill M2S did the normal 1star. Both were placed 4th and double clear so a good first run.
Tyrella was as usual a great start to the season and Viper was on great form taking 2nd place in the CNC 1 star. Even though she did the CCI 2 star in Portugal she is not eligible for the CNC 2 star here!!! These few points should move her up so she will be contesting the CNC 2 star in Campire next time out.
Sure enough Campire was a great 2 star track and the organisers had put in some serious work upgrading and adding a fab new water complex.
Viper was 6th in the 2 star and gave me a stunnign ride xc.
