We have had two very busy and very exciting months at GHF Equestrian! I will try to be succinct in writing what we have been up to - there is a lot to cover!
Following our trip to Tattersalls at the end of May, the big boys had a small break to recover - but we continued to be very busy with outings for our young horses including cross country and show jump schooling to prepare them for their eventing debuts!
The first event of June was an outing for Max McInerney (owned by Catherine Witt) to West Wilts to run around the Novice where he posted a great, steady double clear. Next was a trip to Nunney with the two Intermediate boys! Heartbeat was a super star to finish 2nd after producing a stunning 23.4 dressage! Wishing Time (owned by Rachel White) also produced a very good 29.3 dressage, just rolling a couple of poles in the show jumping keeping him out of the placings. He soon put this right at our next event, Farley Hall. Both Wishing Time and Heartbeat were once again just fantastic. Wishing Time finished on his dressage score of 25.5 to take 2nd in a very hot OI section and Heartbeat finished on his dressage score of 26.8 to take the WIN!
The biggest event of June was another trip across the Irish Sea to Kilguilkey House International Horse Trials. Vicky, Andrew and Anna took 7 horses in total to compete in the international classes and the young horse classes! It was a very busy trip with lots of success across the levels. The young horses were up first in the the 4 and 5 YO Masterclass sections which were sponsored by Fernhill Sports Horses. These classes were fantastic for the education of the horses - comprising of a dressage test in the morning followed by a short show jumping & cross country course in the afternoon which included water, ditches and steps… The horses were all absolutely spot on. Kadans lead the 4 YO from start to finish on a 26 dressage, with the highest marks for jumping and cross country too! MBF Bite the Bullet came 4th at his first show, proving what a star he will be in the future. Trend de la Cruise (owned by George and Jane Anderson) was 2nd in the 5 YO class with a 29 dressage and 2 super jumping rounds. The gorgeous Jasper lead the dressage and was amazing in the show jumping - he had one green moment on the cross country which pushed him off the top spot but we were so, so pleased with them all! Once that was all done it was time to move onto the big boys… Max McInerney contested the CCIYH2*-S and put in a great performance jumping a super double clear adding just 0.8 time penalties to his dressage score to secure a top 15 finish. The very lovely Heartbeat produced a lovely test for his first time at the CCI3*-S level and jumped a very classy clear in the SJ. He has a green moment on the cross country and Vicky decided to save him for another day and retired. The Pocket Rocket Wishing Time was really on form, finishing in 10th place with a very cool double clear around the CCI3*-S!! It was a great event to attend and definitely one to pencil in for next year!
Onto July… We haven’t taken our foot off the accelerator! We kicked off July’s events with a fabulous trip to Bicton Arena - one of our favourite events! Jasper truly showed his class taking the WIN in the very hot 5YO section finishing on his 23 dressage!! We were very proud of what a pro he was all day and that he qualified for Osberton at his first attempt. Trend de la Cruise was also a very good girl finishing in 4th place on her dressage of 28.3. Both Heartbeat and Wishing Time then had a quite run around Upton House Intermediate - this was Vicky’s last competition with Reuben (Wishing Time) as his usual rider had made a recovery from her injury. We were very sad to see him go but wish Rachel, Gwen and all of his connections every success in the future.
Moving on into July, the 4 YO horses got their BE debut! Kadans and MBF Bite the Bullet went to Stafford Horse Trials for their first events and both of them tried really hard and learned a lot from the day. Kadans finished in 5th place after a 25.5 dressage, 1 down SJ and a clear XC! MBF Bite the Bullet was also very classy producing a sweet test, jumping clear SJ and having just one green moment on XC but giving Vicky a very good feel around the course in general. 2 future stars in the making. Next up was Dauntsey where the lovely Trend de la Cruise strutted her stuff for a 26.8 dressage and jumped double clear into 3rd place and to secure her qualification for Osberton 5YOs as well! We are very pleased for her and her owners. Max McInerney had a steady run in the Novice, jumping a double clear adding some time faults to his very impressive 26.3 dressage.
The final event of July was a third trip to Ireland! Vicky took Max McInerney and Heartbeat to Camphire to contest the CCIYH2*-S and CCI3*-S respectively. Our lovely working pupil, Gen, also took her horse “An Imp Named Borris” to compete in the CCI2*-S. George and Jane Anderson’s Trend de la Cruise competed in the 5YO showcase and put on a great performance to finish 7th. Heartbeat jumped a fantastic double clear to finish 22nd out of 73 and Max McInerney was super throughout the weekend to finish 11th! Gen did a great job at her first overseas event and stormed around the XC to finish the competition on a high.
That sums up the eventing that has gone on over the last couple of months! There has been a lot of training in amongst all of the competing with fantastic trainers Annabel Scrimgeour, Islay Auty and Caroline Moore! The horses and Vicky are going from strength to strength and this season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting ones for GHF Equestrian yet!
It has also been fantastic to see so many GHF graduates being fantastic for their new owners! A special mention and huge congratulations have to go to Bubby Upton and the very special Cola for winning Team Gold and Individual Silver at the Young Rider Europeans!! He looked just fantastic and we are so proud to see horses we have selected and started going on to be such mega stars in the sport. Rose Nesbitt and EG MichaelAngelo finished 7th in Barbury CCI3*-S and it was great to see that Dargun is back out and won his intermediate section at Aston Le Walls.
We have had a few new additions to the team with horses coming back with us from our Ireland trips! Check out the Our Horses page to see and up to date list of the lovely horses we have in our stables at the moment.
Keep and eye out to see how our August goes as we get closer and closer to Osberton! We are planning another trip to Ireland and our amazing working pupil Anna is off to Gatcombe to compete her 6YO in the Corinthian Cup! Keeping all our fingers crossed for her and for another great month at GHF Equestrian.
Thank you (and well done!) if you read this far!
Chloe
Following our trip to Tattersalls at the end of May, the big boys had a small break to recover - but we continued to be very busy with outings for our young horses including cross country and show jump schooling to prepare them for their eventing debuts!
The first event of June was an outing for Max McInerney (owned by Catherine Witt) to West Wilts to run around the Novice where he posted a great, steady double clear. Next was a trip to Nunney with the two Intermediate boys! Heartbeat was a super star to finish 2nd after producing a stunning 23.4 dressage! Wishing Time (owned by Rachel White) also produced a very good 29.3 dressage, just rolling a couple of poles in the show jumping keeping him out of the placings. He soon put this right at our next event, Farley Hall. Both Wishing Time and Heartbeat were once again just fantastic. Wishing Time finished on his dressage score of 25.5 to take 2nd in a very hot OI section and Heartbeat finished on his dressage score of 26.8 to take the WIN!
The biggest event of June was another trip across the Irish Sea to Kilguilkey House International Horse Trials. Vicky, Andrew and Anna took 7 horses in total to compete in the international classes and the young horse classes! It was a very busy trip with lots of success across the levels. The young horses were up first in the the 4 and 5 YO Masterclass sections which were sponsored by Fernhill Sports Horses. These classes were fantastic for the education of the horses - comprising of a dressage test in the morning followed by a short show jumping & cross country course in the afternoon which included water, ditches and steps… The horses were all absolutely spot on. Kadans lead the 4 YO from start to finish on a 26 dressage, with the highest marks for jumping and cross country too! MBF Bite the Bullet came 4th at his first show, proving what a star he will be in the future. Trend de la Cruise (owned by George and Jane Anderson) was 2nd in the 5 YO class with a 29 dressage and 2 super jumping rounds. The gorgeous Jasper lead the dressage and was amazing in the show jumping - he had one green moment on the cross country which pushed him off the top spot but we were so, so pleased with them all! Once that was all done it was time to move onto the big boys… Max McInerney contested the CCIYH2*-S and put in a great performance jumping a super double clear adding just 0.8 time penalties to his dressage score to secure a top 15 finish. The very lovely Heartbeat produced a lovely test for his first time at the CCI3*-S level and jumped a very classy clear in the SJ. He has a green moment on the cross country and Vicky decided to save him for another day and retired. The Pocket Rocket Wishing Time was really on form, finishing in 10th place with a very cool double clear around the CCI3*-S!! It was a great event to attend and definitely one to pencil in for next year!
Onto July… We haven’t taken our foot off the accelerator! We kicked off July’s events with a fabulous trip to Bicton Arena - one of our favourite events! Jasper truly showed his class taking the WIN in the very hot 5YO section finishing on his 23 dressage!! We were very proud of what a pro he was all day and that he qualified for Osberton at his first attempt. Trend de la Cruise was also a very good girl finishing in 4th place on her dressage of 28.3. Both Heartbeat and Wishing Time then had a quite run around Upton House Intermediate - this was Vicky’s last competition with Reuben (Wishing Time) as his usual rider had made a recovery from her injury. We were very sad to see him go but wish Rachel, Gwen and all of his connections every success in the future.
Moving on into July, the 4 YO horses got their BE debut! Kadans and MBF Bite the Bullet went to Stafford Horse Trials for their first events and both of them tried really hard and learned a lot from the day. Kadans finished in 5th place after a 25.5 dressage, 1 down SJ and a clear XC! MBF Bite the Bullet was also very classy producing a sweet test, jumping clear SJ and having just one green moment on XC but giving Vicky a very good feel around the course in general. 2 future stars in the making. Next up was Dauntsey where the lovely Trend de la Cruise strutted her stuff for a 26.8 dressage and jumped double clear into 3rd place and to secure her qualification for Osberton 5YOs as well! We are very pleased for her and her owners. Max McInerney had a steady run in the Novice, jumping a double clear adding some time faults to his very impressive 26.3 dressage.
The final event of July was a third trip to Ireland! Vicky took Max McInerney and Heartbeat to Camphire to contest the CCIYH2*-S and CCI3*-S respectively. Our lovely working pupil, Gen, also took her horse “An Imp Named Borris” to compete in the CCI2*-S. George and Jane Anderson’s Trend de la Cruise competed in the 5YO showcase and put on a great performance to finish 7th. Heartbeat jumped a fantastic double clear to finish 22nd out of 73 and Max McInerney was super throughout the weekend to finish 11th! Gen did a great job at her first overseas event and stormed around the XC to finish the competition on a high.
That sums up the eventing that has gone on over the last couple of months! There has been a lot of training in amongst all of the competing with fantastic trainers Annabel Scrimgeour, Islay Auty and Caroline Moore! The horses and Vicky are going from strength to strength and this season is shaping up to be one of the most exciting ones for GHF Equestrian yet!
It has also been fantastic to see so many GHF graduates being fantastic for their new owners! A special mention and huge congratulations have to go to Bubby Upton and the very special Cola for winning Team Gold and Individual Silver at the Young Rider Europeans!! He looked just fantastic and we are so proud to see horses we have selected and started going on to be such mega stars in the sport. Rose Nesbitt and EG MichaelAngelo finished 7th in Barbury CCI3*-S and it was great to see that Dargun is back out and won his intermediate section at Aston Le Walls.
We have had a few new additions to the team with horses coming back with us from our Ireland trips! Check out the Our Horses page to see and up to date list of the lovely horses we have in our stables at the moment.
Keep and eye out to see how our August goes as we get closer and closer to Osberton! We are planning another trip to Ireland and our amazing working pupil Anna is off to Gatcombe to compete her 6YO in the Corinthian Cup! Keeping all our fingers crossed for her and for another great month at GHF Equestrian.
Thank you (and well done!) if you read this far!
Chloe