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Saturday 14 January 2017

2016 - a pictorial update

It's been a while between blogs. The latter part of 2015 (or what I remember of it!) was a bit of a blur of caring for a newborn and a toddler. 

It's all worth it though, with these 2 to cherish

In May 2016, I returned to competitive riding with TTT horse trials on Snip. He was a star & we had a great run, culminating in a win in Level 1. 

We then had a super run in the EvA 105 at Great South Coast HT in Hexham. 2nd after dressage, clear just over time XC and 1 rail SJ in quite wet conditions. It was a good enough performance for another win! 


We then road tripped up to Mildura where I took both horses. Snip's dressage wasn't as good as usual & then had 2 rails SJ, however a classy XC round saw us still have a top 10 finish, moving up to 9th place in a big competitive field. Henry had a stop XC, but still finished 11th in his class. He won a prize for being closest to optimum time XC though! 


Next stop was Friends of Werribee. I just took Snip. He did a nice dressage, super SJ with just one rail (I lost a stirrup, dang!) then fabulous XC. He finished 7th in a large 105 class. 




We then survived a wet weekend at the Victorian State Eventing Champs. Snip was a bit lively in his dressage, but showjumped clear and did a fabulous XC to finish on our dressage score in 3rd place!! Unfortunately I jumped the wrong jump on Henry in the SJ, otherwise he put in a good performance. 


We then missed a few comps due to bad weather forcing cancellations. In my wisdom, I'd upgraded to 1* again, but had had an entire month off competing, so we were a bit rusty! Still Snip did a reasonable test in wet conditions at Colac. He also SJ quite well, but slipped into jump 4, nearly falling, meaning I had to turn a circle before the next fence, incurring a "refusal" and a bucketload of time penalties :( He otherwise only had once fence down. XC was brilliant to finish 12th in a large field and gain an all important MER (qualifier). 


Our last event of the season was Avenel at Greenvale. We did a great dressage, good XC (it was tough), but felt the heat and tiredness, coming unravelled in the SJ. Still to finish 10th in a large 1* class was quite the achievement, given our "greeness" back at this level. Bring on 2017! 

I have also kept another member of "Team Ranga" ticking along. Ted is coming along well & will hopefully be out and about this year. His Mum, Koyuna Tabitha recently had a big win in the SA Young Rider 1.30cm SJ classic, so he has a lot to live up to! 



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