Here we catch up with sponsored rider Coral Herbert…
A lot has happened since my last blog! There have been lots of outings with the ginger boys – Frank and Saph, who I introduced to you in my last blog.
After a couple of schooling outings, we started with an unaffiliated 90 at Burghley for Saph, just to see how he would behave at an event and have a nice first run together with not too much pressure. He was a total superstar and wad placed ninth.
After Houghton Frank then headed to Isleham BE90. I was hoping that Isleham would be our last run before stepping up to BE100 with him. It was a super-hot day, and well… it just wasn’t our day! Frank scored a 30.5 dressage (which sounds ok but he performed with mediocre effort). He then went clear in the showjumping and was sat in seventh position ahead of the XC. The sun then came out even hotter, he was bitten badly by the flies, and I let him switch off too much which resulted in a couple of stops out on course and I decided to retire.
Next up was my first BE100 with Saph at Little Downham. We scored a 32.3 dressage (which was a personal best on Saph’s record!) We had the one pole showjumping and a really great XC run – clear with a few time penalties. I was so pleased!
I did some work with Frank at home, had a lesson with Tiny, took him around some of our XC fences and then took him for some XC schooling with a couple of friends. We had great fun and such a lovely time until the very end of our schooling session at the water jump.
The water was very deep, and I went to jump up a step out of the water, Frank somehow got bogged down in the water and came over the step face and chest first. We both ended up in a big heap on the floor with Frank crunched up trying his best not to squash me, half sat on my hip/leg. Luckily we were both ok although I had a very bruised face and possibly a broken nose!
I decided that I didn’t want Frank to be over-phased after our accident and dropped him back down to the BE90 at Shelford. We went for a lesson with Tiny Ure at Little Downham the following weekend and specifically worked on practicing through the water. At Shelford he scored a 32.5 dressage and went clear showjumping (third going into the XC). We had a few stops in the second half of the course but I nursed him across the finish line. We then went back to Little Downham to school on our own and reinstall some confidence. Frank behaved well and I came home with lots of thoughts to work on to help us improve and get back on track.
Saph went to Keysoe BE100 where he did a 28.5 dressage (again new PB for him) and went double clear! I was so excited; never did I think he would bring me home scores quite like that when I bought him unseen back in May!! Since then he has also finished sixth in the BE100 at Burnham Market!
Coral Herbert x
Photos by Ultimate Images
