Tweseldown OI

It was a very happy and successful day at Tweseldown.  It was fairly hectic with five horses but Charlie and Cyril did brilliantly, producing them all on time.

As I arrived, I had a chuckle to myself, realizing it was my 31^st time at the March Tweseldown.  I have been coming since 1984, and somehow managed never to miss a season!

It was a good day for Bay My Hero, he gave me my first ever Open Intermediate win at Tweseldown.  He led the dressage with a super test of 21.1, jumped a lovely clear show jumping and really ate up the cross country for 6.8 time faults.  The ground was superb and it was lovely to see Tweseldown with such good grass cover, so I let him go on a bit, but I was still quite surprised/horrified to see I was the 2^nd fastest time in my section!

Parklane Hawk finished second.   He was 3^rd after dressage on a sore of 24.3, with a very smooth test, slightly blemished by a bit of excitement.  I was very pleased with his clear show jumping, he jumped very well and he gave me a great ride cross country, was lovely and relaxed and got 14 time faults – a bit more true to form.

Luxury was on a high all day, but managed to contain himself for 33.2 in the dressage which I was very pleased with.  He pinged around the show jumping and felt very confident and relaxed cross country to get 12.4 time faults, and finish 7^th.

Freddie Mac had a very good day with 29 in the dressage.  It was very good for him, and he did some good work, but a couple of mistakes would have been expensive.  He jumped a lovely clear show jumping and contained himself well cross country, feeling very up for it, so I kept him relaxed and got 17 time faults, finishing 8^th.

Fernhill Pimms was good in his dressage as well, scoring 30.  He had the second fence down which was one of those things, but jumped well, and felt fabulous cross country, completing my five very enjoyable cross country rides.

Tweseldown was possibly not as busy as usual which was fantastic, giving a nice relaxed atmosphere, however conditions were just perfect – lovely ground and grass cover, and the cross country course rode with a real flow, incorporating some big bold fences and a perfect balance of questions for early in the season.

Looking forward to another busy day there tomorrow with the young ones.