Our Olympic eventers were out competing in the weekend, some on their Olympic horses, some on their others. They were joined by plenty of other UK-based Kiwis at Aston Le Walls.
Sir Mark Todd had a great Advanced win on NZB Campino, who isn’t making the trip to Rio. Sir Mark instead is taking Leonidas who had a quiet run at the event, but still finished fourth in another Advanced division. He added 7.6 time penalties to his dressage of 28.5, and had no jumping faults in show jumping or cross-country. NZB Campino won his division on his dressage score of 25.
In that same class, Blyth Tait on Leo Distinction was sixth on 47.3 and Andrew Nicholson and Urma BK were 7th, finishing on the same score as Blyth but with more cross-country faults. This division also saw Balmoral Sensation out for a good run with Clarke Johnstone. They had a 33.7 dressage test, and clear jumping, although just cruised around the cross-country course so added 18.4 penalties and finished in 12th spot.
Clarke went a lot faster on Deo Volente III in the Open Intermediate class, adding just two time penalties to his dressage score of 23.4 to take the win.
Lucy Jackson had a good win in one of the other Advanced classes on Bosun, adding just 0.8 time faults to her 33.5 dressage score. Tim Price was 10th in the same class on Xavier Faer, with a few time faults added to his dressage score, and a total of 46.8.
Andrew Nicholson did a lovely test on Perfect Stranger, scoring 27.1 but had a costly show jumping round and a slow cross-country, so finished 17th.
Caroline Powell was fifth in her Advanced class on Sinatra Frank Baby, a good start to this horse’s career at the higher levels. Andrew was also in this section, finishing eighth on Qwanza. He had Swallow Springs in the 8/9-year-old class, where he also finished eighth.
Jonelle had Cloud Dancer in that class as well, finishing 18th. Oliver Townend won the huge class on Ulises, a horse previously ridden by Andrew.
Dan Jocelyn finished second in an Intermediate class on Blackthorn Cruise, and Lucy was eighth on Superstition with Jonelle 10th on Ascona M. Tim was fifth in another Intermediate section on Kincooley Cruising, with Blyth ninth on Carin. Megan Heath (Wolke Sieben 49) and Neil Spratt (Director General) were 16th and 17th. Megan was 18th on Camelot in another Intermediate section, with Jonelle 11th on Obos Impressive in the same class.
Little Downham was also on in the weekend and Caroline Powell had two wins there: one on Flipper K in a Novice class, with four time penalties added to her 24.8 dressage score, and the other on Stracathro Solitary Mistral, after a 25.8 dressage with 1.6 time faults. She also finished ninth on Silvermoorhaylage Ollie in a BE100.
Bruce Haskell was busy at that event too, finishing second on Amiro Sky in an Open Novice and second on Fake Model in a BE100. Hannah Norvill had a ninth place on Millie Mouse in a BE100 class.
Our Good Wishes to Alice
We wish Alice Montgomery all the best with her recovery from a nasty fall off Ececheira at Fence 8 in a Novice class at Aston-Le-Walls . Alice has undergone surgery on a broken leg, and may face more surgery for her pelvis. Her parents, Stephen and Charlotte, are in England, and just a few days before the accident had been with Alice for her birthday.
Flag Bearer
And on a brighter note, it sounds as if Ingrid Klimke has been chosen as the flag bearer for the German Olympic team. She’ll be busy getting back in time for the next day’s dressage competition, although maybe she is riding on the second day. Well done Ingrid. The New Zealand flag bearer is not named until just before the opening ceremony.
(Image: Libby Law)
