Here at GHF, we like to keep ourselves nice and busy… April has been the busiest month so far in 2019! There is a lot of news to share from a really great month. There has been lots of competing and training for current GHF horses. GHF Graduates have performed amazingly at events across the country all month. Vicky has also been busy coaching both privatley and for the Vale of Usk Riding Club.
Firstly, have a look at this link - https://www.facebook.com/ghf.equestrian.3/posts/2250813821800246 where you can see how some of the amazing GHF Graduates got on at Belton at the end of March. It is quite a list! Dargun and Emily King continued their Belton form, finishing 4th in the CCI4*-S at Burnham Market and Dreamaway and Tom McEwen finished 2nd in the CCI3*-S. There are so many fantastic riders campaigning our lovely horses it is hard to mention them all!
We began April with the big boys, Heartbeat and Max McInerney competing at Weston Park BE. As always, both horses tried their hardest for Vicky! They coped well with the conditions (Weston was definitely before the April heatwave). Harvey produced a super 27.3 test in the intermediate to go into 2nd and was awesome in the jumping phases, just being a little green at the troublesome elephants on the XC (see photo below of him nailing it straight afterwards) after being held on course but otherwise storming the rest at just his second attempt at this level. Max McInerney had a super solid run around the Novice to finish 10th and complete his qualification for Tattersalls!
We were all very excited for it to be the start of the Wales and West Shows at the David Broome Event Centre. We had lots of horses to take and all of them were just fantastic! 4 yr old Kadans jumped double clear at his first ever show in the British Novice, 5 yr olds Jasper, Jarillo and Trend De La Cruise (owned by George Anderson) all jumped double clear in the 5 yr old showcase. Max McInerney and Heartbeat were both spot on to jump fantastic rounds in the Foxhunter. We couldn’t have asked for any more!
Heartbeat and Max McInerney took a mid-week trip to Rosamund Green Farm XC, where Vicky had some great training around the jumps from Robin Dumas. The boys were both fantastic.
We then replicated our previous weeks escapades with another super trip to Wales and West at the Welsh Masters. Kadans and Trend de la Cruise went double clear again in the British Novice. Max McInerney and Heartbeat were show stealers, with them finishing 2nd and 4th respectively in the Foxhunter! Heartbeat is now qualified for Foxhunter Second Rounds.
All of the previous outings set up Heartbeat and Max McInerney for a trip to Bicton. Another great run for Max McInerney in the Novice earned him another top 10 placing in the Novice (that’s 3/3 runs in the top 10!). Heartbeat put in another excellent performance in the Intermediate - he learns more and more every time he runs and feels top class around these big tracks. Working Pupil Anna got her long awaited first run of the season completed at Bicton in the 100Plus. She jumped a great double clear to finish 5th and is looking forward to Howick Novice.
To throw something slightly different into the mix, we collaborated with Equi-Events to put on a Pre-Badminton Eventers Combined Training at Broomes. The show had classes from BE100 (aimed at the Mitsubishi Motors Cup taking place at the beginning of May) through to CCI5* level (for those competing at Badminton Horse Trials)! It was a big task but the day was well worth the work with lots of high profile riders competing. We secured top judges for all of the classes and had a great course builder. We also had fantastic sponsors and volunteers. Our horses did themselves very proud, with 9 of them competing throughout the day! The young horses did really well in the 100 class - all producing very pleasing tests and jumping super rounds. Max McInerney took the win in the CCI2* class. Heartbeat pinged around the challenging CCI5* jumping track at the end of the show. It was a good day all round and there will be another one soon.
Our lovely 5 yr olds all had their first taste of a cross country round with a trip to Mendip Plains Hunter Trial in the last weekend of the month. Vicky was really pleased with all of them and we are now very much looking forward to getting them entered at their first events!
Finally, Islay Auty paid us a visit on Monday to train Vicky on 4 horses - Heartbeat, Max McInerney, Jarillo and Trend de la Cruise all worked really hard and made great improvements. Hard working Anna also had a lesson on her horse, which she thoroughly enjoyed and found very helpful.
Looking to May, we have more exciting events happening! Workaholic Andrew is off on a well earned holiday for a week, the big boys are off to their first international of the year and plenty more! Here are some photos of our month (mainly of Heartbeat because he is just so photogenic!).
Until next time,
Chloe
Firstly, have a look at this link - https://www.facebook.com/ghf.equestrian.3/posts/2250813821800246 where you can see how some of the amazing GHF Graduates got on at Belton at the end of March. It is quite a list! Dargun and Emily King continued their Belton form, finishing 4th in the CCI4*-S at Burnham Market and Dreamaway and Tom McEwen finished 2nd in the CCI3*-S. There are so many fantastic riders campaigning our lovely horses it is hard to mention them all!
We began April with the big boys, Heartbeat and Max McInerney competing at Weston Park BE. As always, both horses tried their hardest for Vicky! They coped well with the conditions (Weston was definitely before the April heatwave). Harvey produced a super 27.3 test in the intermediate to go into 2nd and was awesome in the jumping phases, just being a little green at the troublesome elephants on the XC (see photo below of him nailing it straight afterwards) after being held on course but otherwise storming the rest at just his second attempt at this level. Max McInerney had a super solid run around the Novice to finish 10th and complete his qualification for Tattersalls!
We were all very excited for it to be the start of the Wales and West Shows at the David Broome Event Centre. We had lots of horses to take and all of them were just fantastic! 4 yr old Kadans jumped double clear at his first ever show in the British Novice, 5 yr olds Jasper, Jarillo and Trend De La Cruise (owned by George Anderson) all jumped double clear in the 5 yr old showcase. Max McInerney and Heartbeat were both spot on to jump fantastic rounds in the Foxhunter. We couldn’t have asked for any more!
Heartbeat and Max McInerney took a mid-week trip to Rosamund Green Farm XC, where Vicky had some great training around the jumps from Robin Dumas. The boys were both fantastic.
We then replicated our previous weeks escapades with another super trip to Wales and West at the Welsh Masters. Kadans and Trend de la Cruise went double clear again in the British Novice. Max McInerney and Heartbeat were show stealers, with them finishing 2nd and 4th respectively in the Foxhunter! Heartbeat is now qualified for Foxhunter Second Rounds.
All of the previous outings set up Heartbeat and Max McInerney for a trip to Bicton. Another great run for Max McInerney in the Novice earned him another top 10 placing in the Novice (that’s 3/3 runs in the top 10!). Heartbeat put in another excellent performance in the Intermediate - he learns more and more every time he runs and feels top class around these big tracks. Working Pupil Anna got her long awaited first run of the season completed at Bicton in the 100Plus. She jumped a great double clear to finish 5th and is looking forward to Howick Novice.
To throw something slightly different into the mix, we collaborated with Equi-Events to put on a Pre-Badminton Eventers Combined Training at Broomes. The show had classes from BE100 (aimed at the Mitsubishi Motors Cup taking place at the beginning of May) through to CCI5* level (for those competing at Badminton Horse Trials)! It was a big task but the day was well worth the work with lots of high profile riders competing. We secured top judges for all of the classes and had a great course builder. We also had fantastic sponsors and volunteers. Our horses did themselves very proud, with 9 of them competing throughout the day! The young horses did really well in the 100 class - all producing very pleasing tests and jumping super rounds. Max McInerney took the win in the CCI2* class. Heartbeat pinged around the challenging CCI5* jumping track at the end of the show. It was a good day all round and there will be another one soon.
Our lovely 5 yr olds all had their first taste of a cross country round with a trip to Mendip Plains Hunter Trial in the last weekend of the month. Vicky was really pleased with all of them and we are now very much looking forward to getting them entered at their first events!
Finally, Islay Auty paid us a visit on Monday to train Vicky on 4 horses - Heartbeat, Max McInerney, Jarillo and Trend de la Cruise all worked really hard and made great improvements. Hard working Anna also had a lesson on her horse, which she thoroughly enjoyed and found very helpful.
Looking to May, we have more exciting events happening! Workaholic Andrew is off on a well earned holiday for a week, the big boys are off to their first international of the year and plenty more! Here are some photos of our month (mainly of Heartbeat because he is just so photogenic!).
Until next time,
Chloe