Lizzy Bird – Chilham Castle 100 plus

After our first run back, Chilham Castle was our next stop! Chilham has got to be one of my favourite events due to the absolutely beautiful scenery and back drop featuring the castle! I always find the show jumping never favours any of my lot as it is on a slight slope and is not our strongest phase regardless.

Spring Promise felt very relaxed for her dressage test and I was very pleased with her, yet slightly disappointed for a 38.8. I feel whenever I am really relaxed and the horses tension is minimal I generally get a lower mark! The way dressage marks are awarded really confuse me as I always work on feedback from test sheets and the marks are ever fluctuating! Such is eventing I suppose 😉

Unfortunately the show jumping took Halle by surprise with the novice height and we had a few unlucky poles here and there. Last year she finished 6^th at the ONu18 Weston 1* qualifiers shortly before she had her injury. It was nice to be at the same event but tearing up the 100 track rather than the novice made a lovely change! Hal was her usual self and flew round effortlessly, but at novice pace to get 2.4 naughty too fast time pens! Obviously she was telling me she was fit and ready to go novice again!!

Todds dressage felt horrendously tense even though he warmed up like a star, but was held just before we went into the arena resulting in a 38.8… again! I was so impressed with getting the same score on two different horses that were either very tense or very relaxed!

I was very silly and show jumped Todd in his XC bit to try and save minutes between tight times ( I didn’t want to hold up the days competition any longer as I was last to go!) My apologies to any volunteers who I prevented from getting home a good 15 minutes earlier due to a tack change single handedly and a forgotten number change!! Todd picked up two poles (not that you can tell by any photos!!) and a blinding XC clear, gaining his novice qualification as a 6 year old that I have produced myself! Yay!!

The ponies finished next to eachother just out of the places for 11^th and 12^th. It was also pleasing to know that even if they both went double clear, they wouldn’t have been placed any higher – time to work super hard on the dressage!

I hope everyone else is having a successful season so far and all their horses are loving their horsylx! I know mine are – I am genuinely starting to believe that it is all they live for these days. As soon as I turn them out, they all flock to the horslyx. Whenver I go to get them in, the attention is on the lick and not me, and whenever I turn my back they are trying to break into wherever the nearest licks are stored! And half the time Todd is trying to rebrand it as a Horsbitez, because that’s all he ever does. Just picks it up and throws it around 😛 Got to love young horses hey!!