Windy Withington

Bill Levett Had The Right Idea Wearing Trademark Goggles For Cross Country

Withington sits high in the Cotswolds and is run across several hills and ridges. The showjumping takes place on the highest point, and it was so windy today the showjumps were blown over a few times. This was my first visit to here, and I can see why it is a popular event. The going was perfect without the need for any real attention, and whilst a decent Advanced track I wouldn't say its super tough, but there are some nice big fences to attack as you can see from the photos below. The event is only marred slightly by the ugly electricity pilons that feature in almost every photo backdrop.

Jaroslav Hatla

The main problems on the course seemed to be at the double of corners, where from the riders I watched go through only Bill Levett, Paul Tapner and Pippa Funnell made it look easy, plenty of others ran out at one or other of the corners. The Water fence did have a tricky stride and a tricky exit over one of the London 2012 legacy fences, which few made look effortless.

Jaroslav Hatla won Advance Section L on Westwinds Diego with a super fast time of 6m 9s picking up just 6.4 time penalties and come the second to last fence was hot on the heels of Sir Mark Todd, who wasout on course ahead of him. Kitty King picked up second place on Persimmon, whilst winning the other section on Zidante.

Little Gatcombe 2012 | Success & Luck Can Change In A Second

Lucy Jackson | Leading The CIC** After The ShowJumping Only To Lose The Lead By 1 sec. On Cross Country

Princess Anne (who I nearly bumped into literally today!) , hosts one of my favourite horse trials, The Whatley Manor Horse Trials, at her home in Gloucestershire, which is affectionately known as 'Little Gatcombe'. Held in both April & September the events run Novice & Intermediate classes and in September these include a CIC* & CIC**.  These courses use less demanding terrain than the main Gatcombe festival event held in early August, but still make use of some steep hills, woodland, and established pasture. They also have some great hedges to jump!

Lucy Jackson & Wellshead Munnings | Chasing Time On The XC

With a beautifully ridden & scopey clear show jumping round, Lucy Jackson was poised to maintain her lead going into the cross country in the CIC**, but one second over the optimum time left the door open for Kitty King to steal the lead by the narrowest of margins (0.1pt) if she went inside the time, which she did - one second inside the time to win the class on her lovely little horse, Persimmon.

Wellington Horse Trials 2012 | Looking For The Next Fence

Bill Levett | Looking For The Next Fence

Intermediate day at the inaugural KBIS Wellington Horse Trials provided a real treat of cross country action and plenty of great riding from a mixed group of riders.  I'm not sure if it was just that I noticed it more today, or they were all on form, but just about every rider I watched today jumping was 'looking for their next fence' as they flew over the obstacles - almost no one was looking down as you can often find. It makes for a great photo!

Salperton Horse Trials: Rayef, The Kings & The Olympics

Laura Collett & Rayef | Open Intermediate Winners on a score of 25.0 (Dressage 21.4!)

Young Laura Collett illustrated that with all the stars aligned, and in the right circumstances she & Rayef are unassailable. With a dressage score any German would be envious of (a staggering 21.4) they led from the get go, winning their OI section by an equally staggering 13.3 point advantage finishing on a score of 25.0 ahead of the even younger Emily King (a surname that was to haunt me all day).

Salperton is hosted by Rayef's owner, Jason Houghton, on the most wonderful undulating parkland of magnificent, clover rich pasture. Walker Logistics, another Patron of Laura's were sponsors at the event, making this very much the Collett Eventing Team Show.

Chris King Racing Home To Take 2nd In AI Section F On Idol Hero

This being the heart of the Cotswolds, the course has plenty of steep inclines and descents on the way round, making it easy to bowl along on the forehand or run out of steam if not careful, but Laura & Rayef just sailed round, as did another of the leading Kings of this sport, Chris King. He rowed home one second over the optimum time looking every bit a NH jockey as he thundered past me on Idol Hero to finish second on a score of 28.9 behind yet another King, Kitty King, who won AI Section F on her dressage score of 27.9 aboard the fabulous little mare Zindante. By the way all of these King's are unrelated, and with so many of them being announced (Mary [King] also made an appearance)  I incorrectly tweeted earlier today that Chris had won this section. I'm very much looking forward to seeing more of these two horses and the Kings later this season (weather permitting).

Somerley Park CIC** - The Drinks Are On Kitty

It was definitely warmer yesterday, and there did seem to be a bigger crowd at Somerley Park for the Chesterton Humberts CIC**. Unfortunately a combination of the day job and needing to get home for my kids prevented me from spending more than a few hours to watch the main event. The international class didn't start cross country until late afternoon, and with the sun getting low I had expected to see more than just Andrew Nicholson wearing sun glasses.