Back by un-popular demand, i have
decided to put finger to keyboard once again with my own meikle-style-report
of life from within a haze of horse-grease and hoof-oil!
We have been very busy over the
last two months to make up for the non-activity of summer!
Having two beasties to train,
organise, transport and keep up to standard with shiney hooves and swishy
tails is quite hard work, but after the wet summer the crisp dry autumn has
made the job easier. Foxy is teflon coated anyway so NEVER looks dirty, just
fat!! Pacha is the opposite and attracts dirt and dust faster than you can
say 'velcro', whilst giving an anatomically interesting profile of the
equine skelton.
We have been out on a variety of
training days, rallies and one day events, with varying degrees of success
(do we ever expect anything else in the horse world?!). But the highlight
had to be the final Jumpcross outing of the year.
As i am sure you are all aware by
now, Burghley Pony Club reigns supreme as the ever present storm troopers of
the Pony Club Team Competition section and we had a lot riding (!) on our
performances this time, in order to prove our might as worthy champions and
lord it over those blighters The FITZ (grrr) as they persist in niggling at
us like horse flies buzzing irritatingly in the dust of our glory - they
haven't got us yet, but we know they are there waiting for their moment
to release their sting in and triumph over us! PAH! In the words of the
infamous Gene Kranz, lead flight director for Mission Control in Houston in
April 1970 as Apollo 13 approached the critical earth-to-moon decision loop
'Failure is not an option'!!
So as you see, this was quiet a
big deal to us!!
Now much of the success for the
jumpcross teams must go to the energetic and quite honestly PERSISTANT
nagging - ooops, i mean ENCOURAGEMENT from our mighty team trainer and
manager; a formidable character known as 'The Dolby' in our household (well
that is one name i use, the others are not quite so repeatable, such as
'Old geggy 4 eyes'- 'old googley george 4 eyes' - and 'The Kommondant').
Yes indeed it is George Dolby who has put hours of man power, text power and
bully power into raising the willing and the unwilling alike into the
Burghley Unbeatables! He was as keen to see, at least one of his teams win,
as most of the dads present, were to go home and see England triumph over
South Africa after a jolly good scrum or two!
A rowdy band of 22 Burghley
die-hards competed this time and the results speak for themselves and all
his hard work paid off! I would say that of course, as my little darling of
whom i would never speak ill (!!!!!!) was in one of the winning teams !
Although sadly only a jumpcross rosette as testimony to their success this
year - we were so looking forward to another glass trophy to put on the
sideboard next to last year's!!!
For those of you who do not know
much about jumpcross or think it is too expensive , here comes a bit of free
promotion for Robin Dunlop and his team.
JUMPCROSS is BRILLIANT!! It is
well run thanks to Allison Lowther who does the admin efficiently, the going
is always good, the water is always suitably freezing, the course is always
interesting and technically challenging, the burgers are always tasty
(thanks to Pats Pantry) the sun ALWAYS shines and it has the added
bonus that jumps knock down -(especially the Joker!!) - thus preventing too
many heart-attacks in the over-anxious-parental-spectators! It is well
worth investing in a training session even if competing is not your thing,
just for the huge amount of touchy-feely bonding that goes on amongst riders
and parents alike as one challenge after another is faced and generally
overcome. You get the chance to ride (or run if you are spectating!) through
vast expanses of water, jump down banks and run amuck in huge, green fields!
It raises the confidence like only a goodly amount of expensive cosmetic
surgery can!!
Oliver performed well in
his individual, first class and our slightly portly pony managed a lovely
clear round, including the joker! This was the group 3 (2'9") which he won
completing his hat trick of three times out, three times an idividual winner
- although the second was at the group 2 level (3'3") . This gave a nail
biting final for the end positions for the group 3 national (well
Wittering!) final as only two of his wins would be counted (24 points) and
Madison Cole of The Fitz (grrrr) had a win and a third and then managed a
6th. So she did win the championship by a one point lead! But Oliver was
very pleased with his prize of a much needed Mountain Horse winter riding
coat (so was his mother, when did his arms get so long and is it in direct
proportion to the growth of his now size 9 feet?? He has started growing
like a giant runner bean in a well fertilised grow bag with extra manure
added during the flowering period! )
I cannot comment too much on the
other individual performances, mainly due to the time i spent chasing and
running around looking for my dear 6 year old which rendered me wholly
unable to watch any round for more than the final joker attempt! Alastair
was on a one man mission to destroy my relaxing spectating in the afternoon
sun, by surruptitious and inconspicuous attempts at escape with every
available opportunity. So, despite my nonchanently waving a vague hand
jovially about, whilst stuffing another burger in my chops and spraying 'oh
leave him, he can't go far'; he managed, quite admirably, to 'go far', in
fact farther than far, in fact a commendably good way for a child of such
small stature! He was mainly to be found driving the Jumpcross bus to
pastures new under the watchful eye of the ever-patient and saintly (now
known as St Allie of The Grange) Allison Lowther! However, we did have a
couple of scary moments for which i thank all personnel involved on 'The
Blue Watch' for their help (pam cranfield, sheron and nigel adams, claire
andrews and others!) but he was fortunately located either fighting the door
of a porta-loo, or chatting up Pat at her Pantry for YET ANOTHER free
chocolate chip muffin (now there's a new Jumpcross challenge - i throw the
gauntlet down to all younger members of the Burghley - can you get more than
TWO free muffins out of Pats Pantry at a single event??? NO, no . no SORRY
everyone - that IS a joke!! Please don't try it!!)
However, despite all my
unscheduled afternoon exercise, i did manage to see another three fantastic
performances. Charlotte Adams on Indie (also a winner in the pairs
section, for the second year running!) pulled in a lovely steady clear round
and cleared the joker impressively too, proving that it is not a case of -
speed wins, and Emily Lumb and the bold Rory had a hoof perfect clear
round but decided not to chance the Joker (which is the name of the game -
do i,? don't i? it makes the kids think you know, a rare talent in this day
and age!) and Lisa Reid on her perky horse Star managed a super clear (again
deciding to leave the joker for another day) which was good news after a
confidence-damaging tumble in the warm up at the Fitz (grrrr) team jumping
the week previously.
Apologies if i missed any other
clear rounds (Constance Copstake i feel certain, also rode a clear earlier
in the day) or any other notable placings or indeed got any of the above
facts wrong, but i am only as good a reporter as junior family members allow
me to be!!
The Burghley teams launched
themselves off in all directions with varying rounds of fortune and mishap,
anguish, sweat and tears, as did the supporters and spectators! The tension
was palpable (and palpitating in the hot sunshine too!) and the effervescent
DTM (Dolby Team Manager) looked quite florid with nerves as the afternoon
progressed. He and his DTM-clip board were to be seen strutting anxiously
around from rider to rider with warm words of praise and up-to-the-minute
autopsies on events thus far. Quick discussions took place as to possibility
of poles falling, or horses refusing , just out of view of his beady little
geggy-four eyes, (as if he would EVER miss such an occurrance!) and he
looked positively apoplectic with horror when a suggestion was made that The
Fitz (grrr) might be in with a chance of pipping us at the post!!!
However, it was smiles all round
(except from the Fitz - grrrrr!!!!! Hehehe!) when we scooped the top notches
- as expected!!!!!
So a good day was had by all i
think, despite the odd tumble or run out at the joker - that darn fence!
Strangely, we were the last to
leave as the gloriously warm autumn sun started to dip behind the hills of
the Wittering countryside, bathing those of us remaining in a golden
glow and a moment of peace and tranquility decended upon us, broken only by
the cries of a small lost child from behind the jammed door of a Porta-loo
- ' HEEEELLLLOOOO , can anybody let me out ..... pleeeease',
'Yes' just a minute dear' - now
where was my deckchair and newspaper?????
See you all soon
Jo meikle
AKA Miss Putupon
