Fernhill Sport Horse Blog

Camphire International

carol — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 03:58:50 +0000

Camphire held its first international event last weekend. The beautiful setting on the banks of the Blackwater is an ideal venue for such an event and with the backdrop of Camphire house it really is a stunning setting.
We were blessed with the weather and had glorious sunshine all weekend.
Friday saw a full day of dressage, Fernhill M2S did his test in the two star arena and tho his score of 60 penalties might not sound great he performed as well as he could at this stage and was much more grown up than on previous outings. A few green moments prevented a better mark but he is improving all the time and we were happy.
Mr Jones was early in the one star arena and on hindsight we probably did not work him enough before his test. we did not take into account the atmosphere here compared to the one days he had attended to date. He was still stunning and scored 48 penalties but could quite easily have been 5 marks better. He is new to the eventing game and we will know for next time.
We stabled with the Beechers in Tallow just a couple of miles down the road, they had the place looking spick and span and a great welcome awaited us from Timmy Paul and Tadgh as usual. Its always a pleasure to stay at Loughnatousa, the facilities are second to none.
Timmy kept us entertained with his stories over dinner in the Bride View Bar and a great evening was had by all.
Another day of dressage on Saturday saw good scores posted by Fernhill Go-Go on his international debut and Xifon both in the one star.
The Horseware League Final for 4 and 5 year olds took place on Saturday and we had Deidre Lannigans Sea Top Boy qualified. He did a respectable dressage and jumped clear both show jumping and xc to finish 7th. Thanks to Tom Mcguniess of Horseware for creating this series its a great chance to see the top up and coming young horses perform.
We were all invited to drinks and canapes in Camphire house on the Saturday evening and it was a great opportunity to catch up with friends old and new from the eventing world.
Sundays cross country started with the Two star competitors and we were delighted when Fernhill M2S jumped around clear with just a handful of time penalties. The course caused its fair share of problems with some of the more experienced combinations having the odd glance off.
All three of our one star horses stormed around the cross country clear with only Xifon getting a quarter of a time penalty. `this left them all in the top 15 in this section going into the show jumping phase in the afternoon. Again they all jumped super clear rounds. Mr Jones finished in 3rd place tho he head the dame score as the 2nd placed competitor he was slightly faster xc, Go-Go was 4th and Xifon 12th. We were delighted with these results and all horses finished sound and happy.
M2S jumped a lovely clear in the two star show jumping and finished 14th.
All in all a very good weekend, all credit to Sophie for doing such a fantastic job with all the horses, five horses and five double clears, it does not get better than that!!!!

Tattersalls One Day Event

carol — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 06:53:39 +0000

Another early start for Team Fernhill as we head up to Meath for Tatts one day event.
This was an opportunity to have a final tune up before the International in Camphire next week so poor Mr Jones who has been on the truck more than in his stable lately headed up. At 8 and just begining his eventing career he has had some catching up to do!!

Luca partenered a new ride for him Fernhill Ok and Sophie also had Deidre Lannigan’s Sea Top Boy on board as well as her Le Lion prospect Fernhill M2S.
All horses performed well, M2S was still green in the 2 star test but is getting there, he jumped amazing as usual and posted another double clear, he is now a very consistent horse at this level and goes to Camphire in the CIC 2 star.
Mr Jones did his usual stunning dressage to lead the section but a first show jump down of the season saw his lead slip. However he was very grown up xc and posted one of the fastest times of the day to finish 3rd. He also now heads to Camphire for the 1 star CIC.
The baby of the pack Sea Top Boy at only five was the star of the day, he finished 2nd in a very competitive Pre-Novice section with some much older and more experienced horses. Owner Deidre Lannigan was delighted and now looks forward to seeing him in the Horseware 4 and 5 year old championships next weekend in Camphire.
luca rode his new mount tactfully and fared well in all phases to finish two places behind Sea Top in 4th.
Two ponies from the Fernhill team were in the Pony 2 star section Joshua Pimm rode Rylane Lady finishing 6th and Kellie Hutchinson made her debut on Rathball Prince and performed very well to finish 8th. Josh won the section with his other pony Mr Otto after a super dressage test and jumping a double clear round. Lady now heads to Camphire but as Kellie has only just taken over the ride on Prince she needs another 2 star before being allowed in an International competition.
Our day ended as usual with Deidre’s famous picnic, with cakes supplied this week by Jane Lannigan we all sat enjoying the Meath sunshine ate, drank and reflected on the day, remarking how lucky we are to have such super horses, great friends and be able to enjoy our sport.

Monday Mornings!!!

carol — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 03:11:40 +0000

Monday mornings are never easy after a Sunday event but after Saturday and Sunday they are near on impossible!!
But in true Fernhill style Sophie and Carol were up and about early preparing for the arrival of more Italian clients!!
They arrived just in time to See Killossery Kassandra being loaded on the truck to head off to her new home in Milan. She is going to a Young Rider who has bought her ponies and Junior horses through Fernhill. We wish her every success with Kassandra.

Future Event Horse Finals

carol — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:15:03 +0000

Premier Clover Royale and Ardeeven Royal were loaded up into the truck and we set off to contest the final of the FEHL. Both horses have been on the easy list since Dublin as we felt they were mentaly exhausted afterwards. Its a big ask for a young horse in the main arena in the RDS and I think the horses need time to chill after.
It was a beautiful sunny day for the final and as always Tattersalls looked stunning.
The course was as usual strong but I felt slightly fairer than other years.
Clover was stunning in all phases and finished 5th. He really does look set to have a serious future ahead.
Digby (Ardeeven Royal) performed impecably and WON the 5 year old championships!!! We were delighted with this result as he only joined us in july and had previously only show jumped.

He is a big raw horse and still weak but has all the qualities needed to make it to the top. We are very excited about his future!!

Ballyvannon

carol — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:04:23 +0000

A very early start on Saturday (3am) took us up the North to a new event on the calender, Ballyvannon.
It was a long drive up but an amazing Sunrise and quite roads made it a pleasant trip.
The owners of this new event had really put in a big effort in a relativley small area.The cross country was not a walk in the park and had some quite technical combinations, even the pre novice had a double of skinny barrels.
Mr Jones did his usual stunning dressage and clear sj to leave him in the lead going into the xc phase. However with Camphire in mind Sophie took him handy xc and he finished 2nd.
Luca made is Irish eventing debut at this event and finished a very respectable 2nd with Fernhill ASP.
Go-Go had a blonde moment at the road crossing and posted his only xc fault to date. Sophie was trying out a new bit and said it made him drift left, better to learn that here than at Camphire when he makes his frst International apperance!!
After a long drive home which also took in a Chinese take-away en route, we arrived back in Fernhill at 11pm.
A quick wash of the truck and re-pack ready for the Future Event Horse Finals in Tattersalls Sunday!!
The bed looks very inviting this evening but dont think I will get to stay there too long, leaving at 6.30am!!!

Back on air!!

carol — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 20:13:43 +0000

After a bit of a gap in our blog we are now back!!
Since our last post we have had a hectic season with our horses going really well and many of them changing hands.

Sophie has had some great results with Fernhill M2S and has found herself on the stepping stones program aiming at Le Lion D”Agers this Autumn.
A new addition to the string Mr Jones has been going well winning in Kilguikley and is aiming at Camphire CIC, with his stable mate Fernhill Go Go.
Viper fresh from her spell in England won the CNC 2 star in Kilguikley and is also going to Camphire.

We have a new Jockey here in Fernhill in the form of Luca Roman from Italy. A previous Young rider silver medal winner Luca is a great help to Sophie with the riding.
Luca has the ride on another new addition ASP who has just arrived from England and again hopes to get a good result in Camphire.

Thrills and Spills

carol — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:50:32 +0000

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!!

Badminton!!!

carol — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:41:33 +0000

All 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!!!

carol — Tue, 11 May 2010 22:23:43 +0000

Its 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.

Barroca D’Alva

carol — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 08:39:40 +0000

With the rain still falling competitors owners grooms Uncle Tom Cobbley and all moved from Vale Sabroso to the site of the next and final two International events of the Spring Tour, Barroca D”Alva on the Ribertejo.
Many new competitors arrived just for the final two events so the place is packed full, the lorry park is a bit like a housing estate in the centre of Dublin!
Again the weather caused a revamping of the proceedings and the organisers decided due to the weather forecast to have the show jumping on the Saturday and the XC on the Sunday, a bit of a switch around but we were all in favour of better weather for the XC. The show jumping field normally lush green grass watered all year especially for the occasion was in fact waterlogged so the decision was taken to run on the all weather arena, however overnight rain also flooded this area. A third and final attempt to find dry land saw us hacking some 20 minutes to a lovely sandy field. Over two hundred horses jumped and after a rub of the roller there was not a hoof print in sight.

The dressage was half dressage half swimming being from Ireland our horses did not seem to notice!!
Pimms was 2nd again after the dressage and did a stunning test as usual to score 43.4. Just pipped by Clayton Fredricks on Mr Sidney Rocks.
Trojan Dust our Dutch bred horse did a stunning test too and scored 46.3.
A great clear round in the show jumping from Pimms and a clear xc in the time put him in First place so that was a brilliant result. Our only disappointment was that Catherine his co-owner was not there to enjoy the glory.
Dusty had a silly stop at the into space xc so dropped down the order but he is getting the hang of xc now and it will not be long before he starts getting some ribbons at this level.