The Stately Home Tour
Photos by Tim Wilkinson
The Elephant Trap at Houghton International
Imogen Murray,
Leicestershire-based, young event rider
Chatsworth International with the new KEP helmet Dressage at Bramham International recommend it to as an event to go to next year. The horses all ran well; Scal lywag (The Diamond Queen) double-clear in her first CIC 1 star, Fred was 6th in a very competitive OI and Dopey Donald stayed on his feet to jump double clear. Best of all, the ‘Torpedo’ wasn’t launched! From Rockingham it was a quick turnaround and off to Houghton. I had Charlie and Jess both running in their first CCI 1 Star. In previous years, the event had basked in sunshine and evenings were spent languishing outside the lorry sipping Pimms. This year, we soaked in torrential rain, huddled inside the gazebo and sipped hot chocolate. On Friday, 1 star cross country day, there was rain of biblical proportions and all praise to the event team to keep the event running. It did mean the ground was heavy going and certainly tested the fitness of both horse and rider. Fortunately, my first horse out, Charlie, is a ‘gym junkie’ of a horse. If he was human, he would be the fake-tanned, muscle-bulging guy with the look-at-me swagger. He finished inside the time, with a heart rate that was hardly raised, jumping clear the next day to finish 12th in a 100+ section and earn me the ‘best under 25’ award. Jess is the more canny type and a cross-country machine, again finishing inside the time and with just a pole the next day, finishing 21st. After the success at Houghton, Bramham Park was beckoning for Freaky Fred, this is renowned throughout the eventing world as one of the toughest 3* events around. We were all fit and raring to go. Expecting big hills, technical and bold combinations and it definitely didn’t disappoint. The dressage was of an acceptable level and we walked the course and then walked it again and again and again, having a few sick bag and toilet moments along the way. The ditches were wide, the hedges and tables were huge, the logs were big, the combinations were technical. Brave pills and nappies were needed for x-country day for all of the team! After spending the morning watching the big boys ride the course it was proving to be a typical Bramham track and caused plenty of problems. I watched the fences I was concerned about in great detail and did decide to play safe and take a slightly longer route at one of them. However, Freaky Fred was on fire, I was elated, the team were emotional we had just jumped round our first Bramham Park International Horse Trials clear! So it has been an exhausting couple of months, for horses and the team, but not without reward, Freaky Fred and I have been long-listed for the British team to compete at the Young Rider European Championships and so a busy few months ahead! Follow us on twitter @ Msteameventing and or Facebook M.S.Team Eventing or on our website for more blogs www. msteameventing.co.uk Bramham International (Water Complex)
With early season runs out the way, April and May is dominated by a number of Stately Home events; Belton, Chatsworth, Houghton and Bramham and the opportunity to play ‘Lady of the Manor’. One of the great things about this sport is the opportunity to stay and compete in some beautiful locations. First up was Belton and 5 horses over 4 days. The two 6-year-olds showed the way, both jumping double-clear in the Novice, the two intermediates both jumped well and the final day saw Freaky Fred (Wiseguy IV) doing his second 3 star. Belton is always big and bold and this year was no different, all the tracks had caused problems over the 4 days and there were a number of fences in the 3 star that had caused a few anxious moments during the course walks. Fortunately the organisers had positioned portaloos at regular intervals around the course. As it turned out the stomach churning combinations proved no problem for Fred, however the more simple looking combination did and we picked up a silly run-out. Before Chatsworth, we slipped in a couple of one days including taking the 5-year-old, Donald (Donatello S ) to Solihull to do his first BE100. I’d like to tell you what happened next, but I have no recollection. A fall in the woods and the use of my head as a torpedo left me with concussion and a medical stand down. What
I did discover was without the protection of a good hat things could have been far worse and fortunately I am sponsored by KEP hats who produce one of the safest hats on the market, it definitely did its job! Evidently people can have odd side effects from concussion, mine was to become more talkative and jolly. It has been suggested that I get a knock on the head every week. Sporting a very attractive black eye we next headed off to Chatsworth with Freaky Fred to compete in the 3 star and Charlie (Ivar Gooden) and Jess (Tomgar Jess ) to do their first CIC 1 stars. What a stunning location with a fantastic water complex. Well, fantastic from the spectators’ perspective, from my perspective it was more of ‘how the heck do they expect me to jump through that? Fortunately, Fred didn’t see it as daunting as I and jumped through it superbly, however, with a great feeling of relief neither of us were concentrating at the next fence and decided to go in different directions. Two falls in 3 weeks, my trainer, Steven James, nicknamed me the ‘tumble tot’. Thankfully, Charlie and Jess both had their minds on the job, performed brilliantly in all 3 phases and achieved very respectable placings. So it was then off to a new event this year at Rockingham Castle. For a new event, they had created an excellent and challenging course and even managed some great weather and I would
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