2008 Results by Iso Lee:

Despite the terrible weather and breaking my hand we've had a fantastic season, with all the horses having a win at Pre-Novice level and numerous placings. Read on to find out how we got on:

Whistful going through the water at Pontispool

Whistful and DB came to the yard in 2007 having both previously raced. We've been re-schooling them for a new career in British Eventing. Our season started off badly with cancellation after cancellation due to bad weather and then being balloted out.  Our first event being in May held at Wiltshire College, Lackham. Whistful got off to a great start coming 4 th in her very first intro competition, unfortunately DB decided that she didn't want to get her feet wet in the cross country phase, but eventually got through en curing two stops completing the course. Next stop was Ascott under Wychwood both horses had a great day, DB went straight into the water this time and finished 5 th, while Whistful came 2 nd just 1 time fault behind the winner.

Above: DB completing a clear round in the sj phase at her first PN event and below,

The horses then had a bit of gap as I had an injury to my hand which meant having it in plaster for 6 weeks, but they soon got going again in July where DB finished 2 nd at Ascott (2). In August mad Maisey came back to the yard to go eventing in the 2 nd half of the season. Her first event was at Berrington to do a Pre Novice, where she was rather wild in the dressage & show jumping but gave me a fabulous ride in the cross country phase.

All three horses went to our local event Sapey to do a Pre Novice and had a very successful day with Maisey winning her section, DB finishing 5 th and Whistful 6th. Unfortunately Whistful lost a shoe and was therefore withdrawn from Urchinwood. So, we set off with Maisey and DB leaving a very jealous Whistful. The show jumping was moved indoors due to the wet ground which spooked DB a little but she finished on her dressage score of 23.8 putting her in 5th position. Maisey continued her success finishing on her dressage to come 3rd.

Dauntsey Park a new event was our next stop. This was a step up from what we've been doing with plenty of questions cross country. Whistful was my first ride cross country and she just loved it, she's so brave and really flew round finishing on her dressage score to take 4 th place. DB was next up and had done a really good dressage of 23.5 and clear show jumping so I was keen for her to get round. She's not as brave as the other two, but did all the direct routes and went clear to take 1 st place! Maisey was last up, she also had the best dressage in her section but unfortunately we had a pole down in the show jumping, she stormed round the cross country and finished to my surprise in joint 1 st place. However Harry Meade was closer to the optimum time, so we finished up with 2nd. I won't make that mistake again! Still, an extremely successful day and a lovely event, we'll definitely be going there again next year.

DB going clear at Dauntsey Horse Trials to take 1st place in her PN section

Rodbaston was next on the agenda. Whistful finished in joint 1 st place, but this time I was the closest to the optimum time ( I said I wouldn't make that mistake again!!) So she had her first win and she really deserved it! Maisey the little star finished on her dressage and came 4th. DB unfortunately had a stop cross country going over a log into the water, I think having done a tough course at Dauntsey she was just backing off a bit. She completed the rest of the course but we decided that she wasn't quite ready for a Novice and she's had a long season, so withdrew her from our final event to be held at Broadway.

I was first on at Broadway which meant a very early start, thankfully I managed to get up when the alarm went off at 4am. Both Whistful and Maisey were doing their first novice events. Maisey did a nice test, but unfortunately Whistful's dressage arena got very behind schedule & waiting around rather blew her head and she exploded in her dressage test, however she still got quite a good score. Maisey did a fabulous show jumping round going clear and Whistful just had the planks down. Next up cross country, Maisey flew round but we unfortunately had a stop at the second part of two skinnies on a turn. Despite the stop and me being furious with myself, I was absolutely thrilled with how well she stepped up to Novice. I set off determined not to make the same mistake on Whistful, completing her first Novice with a brilliant clear round. A few costly time faults meant she finished in 11 th place.

So all in all a fantastic season with all the horses having a win. Maisey now has four qualifying results for the PN regional finals, Whistful has two and DB has 1, so we'll be aiming them all at the PN Championships next year!

I'd like to give a big thank you, to all the owners for providing such lovely horses and supporting us throughout the season! Another big thank you to mum and dad for their fantastic support, grooming skills, and the occasional lorry driving, oh and apologies to mum for all the back seat driving I do when she's in control(?) of the lorry, ha ha. Most importantly thank you to William without whom none of this would have been possible.

Maisey's going back to her owners over the winter so Cressida can have some fun with her, and hopefully we'll continue with her next season. Whistful and DB will continue their training and we'll be taking them to do some BSJA and dressage in preparation for next season. Look out for how they're getting on in the blog section.

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