With the start of the season underway Team Sommerville have been a lot busier. The yard now consist of 14 horses, all very special in their own way. At the beginning of March we took seven to show jump at Port Royal. All were so well behaved and jumped beautifully. Then it was onto cross country schooling at Norton Disney and Aston Le Walls to get all the horses into the swing of things!
The first event was upon us, we had travelled to Epworth Horse Trials, a new event for British Eventing. With all the rain we had, we were amazed how good the ground was and very pleased with the event. We took two horses from the yard: Mabel rode her own horse Tanghan in the BE90 having a good first run, and James rode VSS Mission Impossible in the BE100. ‘Tom’ did a nice test of 30.3 with a double clear to come in 7th place, very promising with it being his first event with James on-board.
After Epworth we had a demo to perform at Farm View Hall near Harrogate. We took along Chief, (Shadow Inspector) and Jack, (Altaskin Jack). Both performed and did their jobs beautifully, showing off their skills on the flat and jumping. Both looking very well coming into the season!
Coming into the season we have been touching up on our flat work with Christopher Bartle, who is not far from our base in Marton Cum Grafton. James and his horses have plenty to take back from his lessons and has some new regimes to take on in the school.
Next up for events was Oasby. On the Thursday we had Master Ramiro, Shadow Inspector and VSS Mission Impossible running. Master Ramiro produced a very good test of 25.5 in the BE100, a clear show jumping. However a silly glance of a corner gave him 20 penalties in the cross country, but with such a lovely dressage he still manage to stay inside the top 10 placings coming 9th!
Shadow Inspector ran in the Novice, producing a 31.5 test and a double clear, with a few time faults xc put him into 7th place. VSS Mission Impossible ran in the novice also posting a 36.8 dressage, with just an unfortunate rail in the show jumping and a fantastic clear cross country.
On the Friday we had Talent and Altaskin Jack on board for the Open Intermediate at Oasby. Talent posted a 34.6 test, being slightly excited to be back inside the white boards. However, he flew around both show jumping and cross country, picking up a few time faults as James was running him steady. However Talent still performed well enough to secure 10th place. Altaskin Jack did a lovely test at Oasby, however very harshly marked, posting a 39.8 mark. Jack then had an uncharacteristic 8 faults in the show jumping, but later zoomed around the cross country to make up for it all!
On the Sunday we had Sir Shutterfly and Jonkers Moteyo over with Fairlight Stud for the Stallion show at Richmond Equestrian Centre. Lucie was so excited to finally meet Fly and Moteyo. We enjoyed a lovely meal out with all of the gang from Fairlight and watching James and the horses perform well!
The next week we had some new arrivals. First arrival was Rapide Gii, ‘Pele’ who is owned by the Thurlows and Caroline Goodwin. Pele is a 16.2hh Grey gelding with LOTS of scope and lovely movement. He will be competing at intermediate/ 2* level with James.
Next new arrival was Hero, owned by Yvonne Scales. Hero, is a 5yr old chestnut Gelding by Chello. He is a very exciting prospect with lots of potential. A little bit green, but once he is settled and focused on the job he is going to be a spectacular horse! We love Fibre-Beet for horses just like Hero, who need the extra condition to help growth etc but without all of the energy as Hero is very excited by life! As you can see he loves his jumping!
Another horse we are welcoming back to the team is Bally Louis, Louis will be competing at BE100 level and move up to novice over the course of the season. Louis competed with James as a 5 year old and reached the Burghley young event horse final and had wins at BE100 level. Louis is a gorgeous horse with lots of talent, looking forward to seeing him out this year!
Our lorry and ourselves were next at Lincoln horse trials with Master Ramiro and Rapide Gii. Rocky was running in the BE100, simply floating around the dressage he scored an impressive 23.3, and unfortunate 4 faults show jumping but a good cross country round saw him finish in 8th position. Rapide Gii had his first run with James in the ON. He scored a 37.8 dressage with a fab double clear coming 12th. James and Pele seemed to enjoy going around the cross country and there is a lot of excitement for their future partnership.
With the horses getting back into more work, we have had visits from Tim Jarman, our physio to keep them all of track, as well as our brilliant dentist Robin Earnshaw and farrier Jason Gajczak. However Lucie and Mabel have been getting a bit cold and damp whilst assisting with the horses!!
Our horses were next due to run at Burgham International, with the heavy rainfall we had our international dressage’s to be held at Alnwick Ford equestrian. Altaskin Jack was running in the CIC**, posting a very good test of 47.8 lying in 9th place after dressage. Talent was running in the CIC***, being indoor however with a lot of distractions Talent felt a little tense not showing off his best moves!
Sadly due to all the heavy rain fall prior to Burgham International, the rest of the competition was cancelled.Next up was Belton International. We took Chief and Pele on the Friday for the novice and Intermediate. Chief did a brilliant run with a 31.3 test and double clear to home in the ribbons at 4th place! The success then followed with Pele running in a tough intermediate, posting a 35 test, unfortunate 4 faults show jumping. However with a testing cross country track proving no problems for the pair they came home into 5th place!
Talent was running in the Advanced over the weekend, and still very excited to be out and about, posting a slightly tense 37 test. However a amazing double clear with a quick time cross country put Talent into the top 10 again coming 7th in a strong Advanced section. This being very exciting on our route to Badminton horse trials!
During the next couple of weeks we will be heading off to Norton Disney and Burnham Market. With all the big preparations for Talent’s run at BADMINTON! Talent could not do any of this without his Fibre-Beet keeping him looking in amazing condition throughout the year!
James and the Team.
