Area Winter Dressage 18th Jan at Bury Farm EC
We had 2 senior teams entered for the winter dressage this year which was really encouraging as it was slightly further afield than normal. Unfortunately things were stacked against one team and following an ill person, an ill lorry - followed by one that nearly got there only to need towing home, and then a flu cert that wasn't quite right we abondoned trying to piece it back together. Fortunately the other team were still in full force to represent the club. I was on first and after a surprisingly easy run got there to find a very nice but very cold venue! Gizmo thought so too and wasn't impressed at having his quarter sheet taken off but I had managed one canter transition without bucking before we went in for our test. A nice test apart from one canter trans (judge comment "exploded, changed corrected" !!) put us on 71% and 2nd place in our arena. Next up was Julie Middleton on Sticky who again put in a very respectable test with some sensible riding to avoid major spooking. They scored 66% and were 8th in their arena. On to late afternoon and your reporter had taken her horse home but Kellie Pether on Maddie and Jill Bradon on Wally were competing in the Novice tests and were by all reports 2 v nice tests which were rather harshly marked with judges looking for flashy horses. This left both of them about half way down their arenas. This good performance by the team left us in 6th place. A great start to the year.

Area SJ teams 15th Feb at BCA
Chiltern Blue team were placed 4th in the jump off after finishing the 2 rounds with a zero score! Report to follow....

Liz Atkinson on Gizmo, Julie Middleton on Sticky, Tracy Patient on Freeway and Nicola Richardson on Maddie
Report from Tracy Patient:
The BCA Novice Show jumping is legendary - the weather is always the first thing we discuss when we know have a team entered! What will it bring this year? Rain, Sleet, Snow, Gales, minus degrees or glorious sunshine?? Well this year we were lucky, just frost, a little rain, a bit of a breeze, and yes, even a little sunshine!

But this year's competition is legendary for other reasons - CRC had two teams entered this year which was a really great start to the season. The teams were as follows:

The timings were arranged that all the members of the teams followed one another, so we were able to watch and support each other which was great. The first round was at 2ft6 followed 5 hours (yes 5 hours!) later by a 2ft9. Sarah, Liz, Julie and myself managed double clears with just a pole down for the others in the second round with an unfortunate stop for Roz. This meant that the Blue team had made it to the jump off – a first in about 10 years at this competition for CRC!! The Yellow team finished on 12 faults - still a very respectable result.
So along came a very nervous CRC team – warming up in the dark we were very quiet for once, having realised they had raised the course again. Then off we went – Liz first, who had an unfortunate elimination at the double, then Julie and myself who went clear (although I totally lost my way after number 1!!) then followed by Nicola who just had one pole down. We were so pleased with ourselves and our horses, it was such an achievement for the team, and to have such a fantastic result for the Club after such a long day – 4th out of 24 teams – not bad for a Dressage club!!
So, thank you to all of the team members, and for the helpers on the ground, Becky, Nicola’s parents and Carole (my Mum), and of course to Liz for organising us again!!

Here’s to the next one!

Area Novice Eventing- Tweseldown May 2009

Report from Julie Middleton

On the 10th of May an intrepid team of Chiltern riders travelled to Tweseldown to take part in the novice area eventing competition.  This was the first time for at least the past 10 years that we have managed to enter a team so there was great excitement in the Chiltern camp! Whilst some riders and horses were relatively inexperienced we were all eager to do our best.

Charlotte Deacon was competing as our only junior member. As usual she put up a strong performance in all three phases. Just a few time penalties put them out of the placings this time. Liz Atkinson made an excellent start to our senior team with a score of 28.6 in the dressage. Even after adding 4 faults in the show-jumping she was a clear leader in her arena. A very frustrating stop in the cross country sadly dropped her down the order but the potential is clearly there! Vikki Hall also had a good day with a double clear in the jumping phase. Unfortunately they gained a large number of time faults in the XC after temporarily losing their way around the twisty course. Jo Claridge made a promising debut with her inexperienced horse with just one stop SJ and a problem at the open ditch. Kellie Pether did very well in the first two phases but unfortunately her horse would not go into the water on the XC course. A lot of horses had a problem here as the horses were asked to jump down a reasonably large drop into the water which is quite a big ask for novice horses. I completed the squad, taking part as an individual. Sadly Bertie was out of action so Sticky came for a day out! She had a lovely day getting best dressage in her arena (25.9). She then did very well to complete the SJ without getting eaten by the very brightly coloured fences and was going great guns across country until we reached the ditch that Jo’s horse had taken a dislike to. Unfortunately too much dithering put an end to our day, but we had thoroughly enjoyed our outing. Sadly there were no placings this year but I think the team should be proud of their efforts. I hope everyone will be back next year with the aim of improving on our promising start. I am practising already!

Special thanks must go to Tracy Patient for coming on foot to cheer us on after her horse went lame. Also the lovely ladies who fence judged all day to allow us to take part. Thank you Isla, Lesley, Helen and Debbie and also Liz of course for organising our teams!

Chiltern goes eventing............

Liaison Trophy at BCA 24th May

The Liaison Trophy is a competition between Area 6 RC aimed at those competing slightly below Area qualifier level as a way of allowing others to enjoy team events or as a stepping stone. Chiltern had riders competing in all 4 disciplines this year. The dressage team was Helen Keen on Nolanda, Fenella Nordquist on Raj and Rita West on Queenie. Fenella and Helen then went on to the trail ride, a ride of about 6 miles completed at a required speed with fitness checks on the horses on return. They were joined in this team by Jemma Hunter on Freeway and Alex Massey on Hooli. This team were placed 6th, quite a result as more frequently Chiltern trail riders have got lost! Rita went on from her dressage to the SJ team where she was joined by Roz Gibbs on Lance, Sarah Adams on Luke and Becky Janes on Chokki. Rita and Roz were both in some discomfort from horsey injuries so both did extremely well to jump double clears and the team came 4th. The last discipline was the XC where Roz, Becky and Sarah all jumped clear to acheive a team 3rd and Sarah was 4th ind. All these great performances added up to a overall Trophy placing of 6th. Many thanks to Jenny, Debbie, Libby and Kellie for helping and for Tracy chauffeuring Freeway and Hooli and then helping team members as I was unable to be there.

Area Dressage and SJ at Blue Barn Farm nr Thame 7th June

A new challenge for this year was having the Area dressage and SJ all on the same day. And at a new venue for everyone as well. A bit of swapping around of times to try and make it possible and bearable for all and off we set! Charlotte Deacon and Secret were on first competing on the Area Junior SJ where they were placed a very creditable 6th. I arrived shortly after to find a lovely venue with plenty of parking and warm up space and got on for my prelim dressage which was for the L&SE team. A nice test unfortunately spoilt by Giz taking exception to the chap collecting sheets gave us 3rd place in the arena. The L&SE team was completed by Denise on Jedi, Akeila on Buzz and Roz on Lance. Akeila did well to contain Buzz who found the whole large field thing a bit much and was also 3rd in her section. The Area senior novice dressage team were also riding prelim 13 and this team was Denise, Jo Claridge on Melody, Jo Munting on Jake and Julie Middleton on Bertie. JUlie did a super test to be placed 3rd in her arena with the others just outside of the placings. Charlotte and Akeila competed in the Area Junior and were placed 3rd and 6th respectively. A quick change of tack and it was off for the first round of novice SJ. The warm up for this was unfortunately rather crowded with 2 arenas using it and I think we all found we went into the first round a bit flustered! Giz had a cheeky runout at fence 2 and then got round the rest clear, Julie also had the same problem with Bertie plus a pole down, Jo did a nice clear but played safe with the tight turns on a big mare for some time penalties and Sarah had a very unfortunate miscommunication with Luke leading to parting company. So we finished the first round on a cricket score!! Think we all took a deep breath before the second round .. or something anyway because Sarah, Jo and I all jumped clear with just a couple of poles from a much more positive round from Julie. So nothing more to add to our cricket score! Between the 2 rounds I'd nipped off and done a novice dressage test for the Area Open team, which I was pleased with but unfortunately wasn't good enough to be placed. Libby Brewster and JoJo did a lovely test in the Elem to be placed 2nd and then went on to repeat that in the Medium. The Area team was completed by Sarah Adams and Luke who also did a great test. The day was then completed by the L&SE SJ team who had all waited patiently. The team of Akeila on Buzz, Jo on Jake, Roz on Lance and Vikki Hall on Orla did a fantastic job to finish the 2 rounds on zero and therefore be in the 4 way jump off. Vikki was nominated to jump and did a great job to finish just 2 secs behind the winner leaving the team 2nd and qualified for the L&SE championships in Sept. Well done to all especially those with quick tack changes and those juggling horses and small children (I have a feeling we're in need of a team creche if anyone feels they'd like the job!) Huge Thanks also to our team helpers - Helen Keen, Rita West, Tracy Patient, Jenny Melbourne and Annette Allport - without whom we couldn't have entered teams and it would be lovely to see a few more people coming forward for these jobs - Please!

Area and L&SE Dressage to Music at Pyatts Farm 5th July

Roz Gibbs and myself set off to represent the club at the Area DTM having breathed a sigh of relief that the temperature had dropped out of the 30's. It was Roz's first attempt at riding to music and the preparation had gone fairly smoothly if a little rushed but then that usually works out best for Roz. I was pleased to be able to help put her CD together and found that some music I had used for Splodge fitted Lance well and I knew it was usually popular with the judges. I had put together a new version of Tina Turner music for Giz. Roz was first on in the class and did a great job. The music looked good and Roz rode to the beat and found it helped how Lance went. The arena rode quite small so we both had difficulties with getting in front of the music and it becoming true freestyle!! Thankfully the judge doesn't know what you had planned although I didn't think quite quick enough and I think she'd probably worked out I was bluffing it! Results up and I was 2nd with Roz in 4th in the Area qualifier. Thanks to supporters Annette, Helen and Debbie for cheering us on.

Hickstead Teams of 3 SJ - From Sarah Adams

CRC entered a team into the riding club team show jumping event held at Hickstead on Sunday 26 July.  The team consisted of me on Luke, Charlotte Deacon on Secret and Mez Cool on Ted.  We all made our way to Hickstead on the Saturday afternoon (Mez very kindly taking Luke for me in her lorry!) so the boys/girls could settle into their temporary accommodation and be full of energy for our early start on Sunday morning.  We all had a different height to jump, so it was a long day with team members spread throughout the day.  I was first to jump on Luke, the smallest round at 85cm, he seemed extremely calm considering it was such a big show.  We went into the ring and when I asked for canter, he did a big squeal, at that point I knew he had woken up and I was in for an interesting ride!  The class was a speed class so I cut the corner to fence 2, unfortunately Luke was looking at other things and didn't notice the jump!  We then got going and all seemed OK until going down hill to fence 6 where it all went wrong and we had another stop, so unfortunately elimination for us - not a good start for the team (sorry!)!  Charlotte was next to go on Secret jumping the 95cm round.  They seemed to be flying through the class so we all got down to the ring in plenty of time to find things had slowed up a lot and Charlotte had about a 2 hour wait!  After a long wait Charlotte went into the ring and rode a lovely round with just 1 unfortunate tap at the first fence so finished on a fantastic score of 4 faults.  We all thought we had time to eat some lunch and do some shopping but we then realised they had picked up speed in our ring again, so a little panic and we were all back off to the ring for the next round!  Next was Mez's turn to jump the 1.05m class - she's extremely brave - the jumps were certainly up to height!!  After our little panic we realised we had plenty of time before Mez was due to jump!  After a bit of a wait and a few incidents in the ring, it was Mez's turn.  She too did a lovely round but had a few unlucky poles and finished her round on a score of 12 faults. 

We unfortunately did not stay around to get the results, there were 100 teams in the competition and we were 17th to go - so plenty of horses were still to jump after us.  It was a testing course, with plenty of falls, eliminations, poles rolling, so all in all I think we did extremely well and all had a fantastic time and found it a great experience.

A big thank you to Liz for organising for us and a big thank you to Mez for taking Luke in her lorry and having to endure the horrible traffic round the M25!!

Blenheim Eventers Challenge 2009 September 10th - From Tracy Patient

The Team: Jo Munting – Parkfields Blackjack, Tracy Patient – Limerick, Mez Cool – Cheque Taker, Emma Duffy – Master Dominic.

To plait or not to plait.....What are you wearing?.....What time are you getting there?
Well once all the important things had been decided, we thought we had better get on with it!
After a Jo and Mez getting to Blenheim at dawn (nearly, honestly!) and therefore having walked the course at least a dozen times (and Jo getting a master class in which lines to take from Pippa Funnell) we were pretty ok with the course. There were seven show jumps followed by seven XC fences, then to finish over one show jump. It was the best course I had ever been faced with, with offset houses, a double of right angled brushes, and a skinny brush thrown in, all we wanted to do was get round in one piece, and all aim for a steady clear.
There was a half hour delay at the start, so our times went out the window, but thanks to supportive families, a great Team Manager and Team Coach we kept ourselves amused (mainly by teasing me about my nervous chatter!!) and it was time for Jo on Jake. It was a great round and good to have someone as experienced as Jo to go first for the team, unfortunately they had a wobble between fences which resulted in time penalties. Myself and Limerick had a pole down on the last show jump (rider error!) then Mez and Ted went clear showing us all how it should be done and Emma and B followed suit, which put the team in 3rd place!
As the day went on we dropped to 8th, so just out of the placings, but we all got fantastic competitors rosettes, and of course there were photos to be purchased to remember the day by J
Thank you, on behalf of the team, to Liz, our fab team manager, Giles, for coming along and giving us the ‘encouragement’ we needed, and everyone that came along to help and support the team, it was a fantastic day, with great weather, a friendly atmosphere, and I reckon, a pretty good result for a Dressage Club!

Team Chiltern

Emma and B Mez and Ted

L&SE Championships 27th Sept

Back in June our SJ team qualified for the L&SE Championships and the same quartet set of for Surrey where Area 11 were hosting the championships at Munstead. The team was Jo Munting on Jake, Roz Gibbs on Lance, Akeila Lynam on Buzz and Vikki Hall on Orla. The first round went extremely well with 3 clears from Jo, Akeila and Vikki and just one stop for Roz. This was also the fate of 10 other teams so the competition was still wide open. The second round was a raised course leading to a few slightly worried looks from our less experienced riders and lots of problems started occuring with poles falling and horses stopping. But that didn't stop Chiltern - A lovely clear from Jo, a Very unlucky pole just rubbed off for Akeila and a fast clear from Vikki left the team on 4 faults over the 2 rounds. Roz made a really good effort over a course outside her comfort zone so was very game to give it a go but unfortunately didn't complete. She stayed on though which was the deal as she was flying off on hols that eve and kept us all amused by her usual organisation skills!! Only one team finished both rounds on zero and so our 4 faults left us in 4th place and Vikki's second round time meant she was 3rd individually. Well done to all - Another fabulous result for our "dressge" club!!!

Vikki and Orla

L&SE Dressage to Music Championships at Sands Farm, Horsham

The club was represented at these championships by Roz Gibbs on Sir Lancelot who did a super test to finish just outside the placings in 7th place. An extremely respectible result for Roz's first time attempting dressage to music and something that she has found very enjoyable and gives a new interest and enthusiam for dressage.