Aldon (2) Horse Trials 2009
There were those who took advantage of the extra hour on Saturday night, not to catch up on any sleep, but to get an extra hour's partying in the lorry park. One rider I spoke to finally crashed out at 6am & annoingly went on to do rather well !!
Binny Bennet's review follows,
Aldon (2) Review 2009
Ruth Edge won the main prize of £600 and the Vickery Challenge Bowl at the Aldon (2) Horse Trials this year despite it being eight years since she last made the journey ‘down south’ to Aldon Park when going by her maiden name of Friend. Ruth Edge and Mrs Susan Kerfoot’s seven year old gelding, Rogersdale finished the 3 Day CCI* Section over ten points clear of Alice Dunsdon on Jemima PD with Tyler Cassells and Nordic Gent in third. It is perhaps not surprising that a true international class with representation from seven different countries should go the way of a true international rider but success for the northern counties now seems uncanny with the role of honour since 2006 seeing wins for riders from Yorkshire, Cheshire and Cumbria with a local win for Halstock-based Rosie Fry last year a notable exception.
Speaking immediately after the show jumping on Sunday a delighted Ruth was quick to compliment the sandy soil of Aldon Park for holding up well to the heavy showers that had frequented the dressage on Thursday and Friday but still provided safe going for the challenging cross country course on Saturday. She also added that her season has really only just reached full flow (despite a very successful 2009 which has seen her win the British Open at Gatombe in August) as she has had to spend the recent months nursing ribs cracked at Luhmuhlen, Germany in June. However, despite Aldon being the last fixture in the British Eventing season, there are no plans for any let up now with a skiing holiday at Christmas the only time that will be spent away from concentrating on her separate ambitions in pure Dressage, a discipline that she will eventually concentrate on solely, “but not while Eventing is so much fun”. Referring back to her willing partner, Rogersdale, Ruth explained that it was only because of her ribs that they had not made their ‘one-star’ debut before but that she was pleased to have completed an Intermediate Section with him at Witton Castle, County Durham earlier in the month as it had stood them in good stead for a cross country course here that had “asked them quite a few questions”.
BE 100 Sections B and C were the other two ‘3 Day’ classes at Aldon although, like the CCI*, these two Sections actually took place over four days with dressage on Thursday and Friday, cross country on Saturday and show jumping in reverse order on Sunday. However, competitors in these two ‘long format’ Sections B and C had the added extra of a 46 minute ‘roads and tracks’ and 3 minute steeplechase phase where the aim was to be as close to that optimum time set by British Eventing. They then have a 10 minute gap and veterinary check over before setting off on their cross country round.
By coincidence, both of these ‘long format’ classes saw horse and rider combinations that had finished second last year go one place better in 2009. Sophie Rowcliffe from Tiverton and her own Fairways Lord Of The Ring improved on their second place last year in BE 100 Section B to record their sixth win at BE 100 level, although the indoor life now beckons for Sophie over the winter months as she studies to be a Legal Executive. BE 100 Open Section C was won by Sam Penn on Mrs Sue Becvar’s Coco De Cara a gelding “bred to win the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham” but who proved unsuited by racehorse training. However the thoroughbred breeding came into its own in this ‘long format’ class which places an extra emphasis on athleticism, fitness and stamina. The win at Aldon rounded off a good end to the season for rider Sam Penn who earlier this month won the four-year-old class at the BE Young Horse Championships on another ride Tickeridge, while she will be off to Addington Manor, Buckinghamshire following Aldon to collect the prize for the Best Retrained Racehorse at the recent Dressage competition there, courtesy of Coco De Cara.
The two Intermediate level Sections saw wins for Louisa Lockwood and Isabel Dijanovic. Louisa was pleased to gain a clear win in Intermediate Section M with her own and Mr Peter Urquhart’s eight year old gelding, Acheron following several places this year and while Isabel Dijanovic was by no means lucky to win Intermediate Section N the scores could not have been any closer. Both Isabel on her long time servant Elegant Grey and Joss Gray on the seven year old Olym Pinks finished on a final score of 34.5 but Isabel clinched it with the slightly faster cross country round. Despite the closeness of the margin, the win for Isabel was all the greater achievement as the young rider from Wiltshire has spent most of this season recovering from a very serious head injury picked up earlier in the season. While confidence has never been an issue, maintaining concentration over all the three phases of the competitions has been harder than expected. In addition to this she was also stopped two-thirds of the way on her cross country round due to a problem further up the course, but the experienced combination brushed this aside to finish inside the time. A reflective Joss Gray wished afterwards that he had perhaps gone for a longer stride at the last fence with Olym Pinks to save a vital time fault, being most disappointed for his owner, Mr Derek Pink (the similarity of names being no coincidence!) but he made amends for this in Novice Section L with a win with the six year old Wow Mystic Pink!
Also decided in Section L was the George Pinney Memorial Trophy handed for the third time to Renee Barclay for being the highest placed local rider in the Novice Sections associated with the Cattistock. Renee rode Miss Philippa Clarke’s seven year old gelding, De Beers Dynasty to fourth place but the partnership is unlikely to stay intact as the horse is soon to be advertised for sale. A further local achievement and the continuation of a family dynasty was a win for the youngest of the three Bleekman sisters, Janou in the Junior Open Novice Section J on Team Bleekman’s own Cregaan Scenic. Janou is now aiming to follow up both of her elder sisters in representing Britain at the European Pony Championships, in addition to the many other honours that the Cullompton-based ‘Team Bleekman’ achieve annually.
Summarised numerically, numerous Officials, many generations of the Batten Family and countless volunteers organised three seamless days of dressage, show jumping and cross country all held in aid of the RNLI, St Margarets Hospice, The Home Farm Trust and local charities. An astounding five-hundred and forty-four competitors took part in fifteen classes bringing to a conclusion the British Eventing Calendar of 2009.
Binny Bennet's review follows,
Aldon (2) Review 2009
Ruth Edge won the main prize of £600 and the Vickery Challenge Bowl at the Aldon (2) Horse Trials this year despite it being eight years since she last made the journey ‘down south’ to Aldon Park when going by her maiden name of Friend. Ruth Edge and Mrs Susan Kerfoot’s seven year old gelding, Rogersdale finished the 3 Day CCI* Section over ten points clear of Alice Dunsdon on Jemima PD with Tyler Cassells and Nordic Gent in third. It is perhaps not surprising that a true international class with representation from seven different countries should go the way of a true international rider but success for the northern counties now seems uncanny with the role of honour since 2006 seeing wins for riders from Yorkshire, Cheshire and Cumbria with a local win for Halstock-based Rosie Fry last year a notable exception.
Speaking immediately after the show jumping on Sunday a delighted Ruth was quick to compliment the sandy soil of Aldon Park for holding up well to the heavy showers that had frequented the dressage on Thursday and Friday but still provided safe going for the challenging cross country course on Saturday. She also added that her season has really only just reached full flow (despite a very successful 2009 which has seen her win the British Open at Gatombe in August) as she has had to spend the recent months nursing ribs cracked at Luhmuhlen, Germany in June. However, despite Aldon being the last fixture in the British Eventing season, there are no plans for any let up now with a skiing holiday at Christmas the only time that will be spent away from concentrating on her separate ambitions in pure Dressage, a discipline that she will eventually concentrate on solely, “but not while Eventing is so much fun”. Referring back to her willing partner, Rogersdale, Ruth explained that it was only because of her ribs that they had not made their ‘one-star’ debut before but that she was pleased to have completed an Intermediate Section with him at Witton Castle, County Durham earlier in the month as it had stood them in good stead for a cross country course here that had “asked them quite a few questions”.
BE 100 Sections B and C were the other two ‘3 Day’ classes at Aldon although, like the CCI*, these two Sections actually took place over four days with dressage on Thursday and Friday, cross country on Saturday and show jumping in reverse order on Sunday. However, competitors in these two ‘long format’ Sections B and C had the added extra of a 46 minute ‘roads and tracks’ and 3 minute steeplechase phase where the aim was to be as close to that optimum time set by British Eventing. They then have a 10 minute gap and veterinary check over before setting off on their cross country round.
By coincidence, both of these ‘long format’ classes saw horse and rider combinations that had finished second last year go one place better in 2009. Sophie Rowcliffe from Tiverton and her own Fairways Lord Of The Ring improved on their second place last year in BE 100 Section B to record their sixth win at BE 100 level, although the indoor life now beckons for Sophie over the winter months as she studies to be a Legal Executive. BE 100 Open Section C was won by Sam Penn on Mrs Sue Becvar’s Coco De Cara a gelding “bred to win the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham” but who proved unsuited by racehorse training. However the thoroughbred breeding came into its own in this ‘long format’ class which places an extra emphasis on athleticism, fitness and stamina. The win at Aldon rounded off a good end to the season for rider Sam Penn who earlier this month won the four-year-old class at the BE Young Horse Championships on another ride Tickeridge, while she will be off to Addington Manor, Buckinghamshire following Aldon to collect the prize for the Best Retrained Racehorse at the recent Dressage competition there, courtesy of Coco De Cara.
The two Intermediate level Sections saw wins for Louisa Lockwood and Isabel Dijanovic. Louisa was pleased to gain a clear win in Intermediate Section M with her own and Mr Peter Urquhart’s eight year old gelding, Acheron following several places this year and while Isabel Dijanovic was by no means lucky to win Intermediate Section N the scores could not have been any closer. Both Isabel on her long time servant Elegant Grey and Joss Gray on the seven year old Olym Pinks finished on a final score of 34.5 but Isabel clinched it with the slightly faster cross country round. Despite the closeness of the margin, the win for Isabel was all the greater achievement as the young rider from Wiltshire has spent most of this season recovering from a very serious head injury picked up earlier in the season. While confidence has never been an issue, maintaining concentration over all the three phases of the competitions has been harder than expected. In addition to this she was also stopped two-thirds of the way on her cross country round due to a problem further up the course, but the experienced combination brushed this aside to finish inside the time. A reflective Joss Gray wished afterwards that he had perhaps gone for a longer stride at the last fence with Olym Pinks to save a vital time fault, being most disappointed for his owner, Mr Derek Pink (the similarity of names being no coincidence!) but he made amends for this in Novice Section L with a win with the six year old Wow Mystic Pink!
Also decided in Section L was the George Pinney Memorial Trophy handed for the third time to Renee Barclay for being the highest placed local rider in the Novice Sections associated with the Cattistock. Renee rode Miss Philippa Clarke’s seven year old gelding, De Beers Dynasty to fourth place but the partnership is unlikely to stay intact as the horse is soon to be advertised for sale. A further local achievement and the continuation of a family dynasty was a win for the youngest of the three Bleekman sisters, Janou in the Junior Open Novice Section J on Team Bleekman’s own Cregaan Scenic. Janou is now aiming to follow up both of her elder sisters in representing Britain at the European Pony Championships, in addition to the many other honours that the Cullompton-based ‘Team Bleekman’ achieve annually.
Summarised numerically, numerous Officials, many generations of the Batten Family and countless volunteers organised three seamless days of dressage, show jumping and cross country all held in aid of the RNLI, St Margarets Hospice, The Home Farm Trust and local charities. An astounding five-hundred and forty-four competitors took part in fifteen classes bringing to a conclusion the British Eventing Calendar of 2009.
