I definitely felt that the horses had done enough jumping not to need a practice jump on Monday. I rode them all early to avoid the Monday chaos in the main arena and cantered them all over a few poles, just to check steering and rideability and to get my eye in a little bit. They all went into week three still feeling very well in themselves, in fact Askeaton felt fitter than she has ever felt before.

Tuesday started with BE Khalissy in the five year olds in the main ring. She felt particularly sassy the minute we got into the ring, and although she is always very honest to jump she had one fence down towards the end of the course, slightly marring her 100% Tuesday record. Next up was Askeaton in the seven year olds in the second ring. Having not had the most brilliant week two with her I was a little bit tight and nervous, but she actually jumped a brilliant clear round to finish just out of the money. I wasn’t terribly proud of my riding a couple of times towards the end of the course when I rather lost my rhythm, but I was very pleased with her.

Last one of the day was Heidi who jumped an absolutely brilliant round for a low placing in the six year olds. She seemed very excited and super confident to be in the ring, but I was a bit pathetic and should have turned inside to the last line, but I was thrilled with her. She has risen to every challenge this year and seems to find this level very, very easy.

Wednesday started with Askeaton in the seven year old Grand Prix in the main ring. I thought it was not too big, but very technical, and that the course builder had made a lot of use of the natural slope in the ring, and had also mixed up the distances so that some were forward and some would be slightly short for Askeaton. She started the course really well, and I had an early pole when I went on a slightly long one to a downhill vertical, she then jumped through the combination brilliantly, but I never had a good shot to the following oxer, and as I’d already had a pole I turned a circle. She jumped it very well, and jumped the rest of the course really well, just having one more pole. The courses she is jumping now are big, 1.35, and technical, and it would be interesting to see how the courses in Kronenberg would ride now that she has more experience.

Heidi jumped a good round in her Grand Prix and was really unlucky to have a pole in the first round, and Khalissy then jumped a really lovely double clear in the five year old Grand Prix to finish just out of the money.

So sadly our last day of jumping dawned on Thursday. Three weeks had gone so quickly. Askeaton was first to jump in the seven year old, 1.35 two phase in the main ring. She jumped one of her best ever rounds, once again a pathetic rider failing to turn inside kept her out of the prizes, but it was great to finish on such a good note with her. She has had a less than perfect year: she had three months box rest in the winter with her bruised pedal bone, and then had six weeks off in the summer when she had a sarcoid removed from her girth area, so she has progressed very quickly to be jumping such big courses, one after another, by the end of the year.

Khalissy had her first go at jumping in the top ring, she felt very tired, and I think she got a little bit less bounce from the sand, especially compared to the grass ring which she was used to jumping in. She had two fences down, but she has also had a very good show, with four placings from five clear rounds from nine competitions, and I am really excited about her six year old year. She is scopey, brave and careful and once she has had a holiday I can work on her flat work which will help enormously once it is more established.

Last to go was Heidi in the six year old two phase on the grass. She jumped an absolutely brilliant round to finish 9th. I think it was a very fast class, as she really did a very neat and quick jump-off. It was lovely that she had a rather triumphant last week as she had been a star all show.

I was very pleased with all three horses. I think I could ridden better at times, especially on Askeaton, and certainly I could have been a bit more competitive in the last week. But the horses have come on well in a short competitive season, which perhaps demonstrates that they maybe don’t need quite such a long show season, or that we could break it up more, rather like the old eventing year which ran from March to June and then started again at the end of August because, before modern ground preparation and all weather arenas, the ground was too hard in the summer. It was the first time I have done a tour with only young horses, and that made it very hard to pay any bills. But I did feel that for the first time people were noticing the horses, and we had quite a lot of interest in both Heidi and Askeaton. One of the great advantages of international shows in general, and tours in particular, is that people can see the horses compete against their peer group, and also they can watch them over several rounds, so that one less than perfect round can be forgiven. Also the courses in Vilamoura were excellent: really flowing for the five and six year olds, and progressively technical for the seven year olds. But all the courses ride on forward distances which gives the horses so much confidence and scope. We all hope that we might have a future star in our stable, but if they are to star on the international stage they need to be educated on that stage too.

I am really privileged to be able to do such lovely shows with such nice young horses. It’s nice to meet up with English friends and make some new European friends too. We had lovely neighbours throughout the show, and were incredibly lucky that we had stables that were neither boiling nor flooded. This has been the first year that I have had a home groom that is able to come to shows with me in April, and I think it has made a huge difference, both to the horses and me. I am totally relaxed about the horses and their routine and that they are going to be happy and ready every day. They are very sweet horses, but being all girls they all have their little idiosyncracies, and particularly Askeaton has become so much more relaxed both at shows and at home this year.

I am lucky to have fantastic support from Saracen Horse Feeds, our horses always look so well, and Lizzie Dury and Lottie Payne are always there at the end on the phone. I have product support from MacWet Gloves, which were essential in Week 2, Premier Performance CZ supplements, Just Equine and World Wide Tack, and great after sales service from Jo Burdett at Fabbri Boots.

I spent Thursday night in the lorry so we could set off bright and early to begin the long trek home. We were slightly delayed as it took 20 minutes of knocking on a caravan door to rouse someone to let us out. The first day’s drive was absolutely stunning, quite ironic, as we had done most of the drive over the Sierra de Gata in the dark on the way down to Vilamoura on a rather wiggly road which had made me quite grumpy, it was still a wiggly road on the way back, but absolutely stunning mountains, lakes and castle, made even more beautiful by the autumn colours. We stayed in Salamanca again, all by ourselves this time, and then set off over the Pyrenees on Saturday morning. We set off in darkness, driving due North, and gradually there was the most amazing sunrise on our right, throwing the wonderful skylines of the Pyreneean towns we passed.

Not many service stations are as beautiful as this.

On our way south we passed a beautiful seaside town about 100 metres from the autoroute, so on the way home we were ready for it: Orio, on the Spanish side of the border, and April took a photo. I love this drive so much that Mark and I are hoping to take a driving holiday over the Pyrenees, stay in Salamanca and then also explore the Sierra de Gata.

We stayed in Dax the second night, and watched Boris and his henchman on the BBC as they declared a second lock down for England. Not something that enhanced the thought of a long, boring drive through France for two days. As we neared Le Mans it started to rain and it rained until we got off the train in Folkestone preparing us for the English winter.

April and I are isolating on top of lockdown while the horses have a couple of weeks off. They were absolutely thrilled to go out in the field on Tuesday. It’s lovely to be home and to see Mark and all the other pets, and see Emma who is looking quite big now. Who knows when we will be able to get out and about, but we can give the horses a quiet return to work, and enjoy the lovely hacking here while we wait and see. I can’t wait to be able to see Anna and Sophie and Rory, and to see Sophie’s new house. The first few days of isolation have gone quite quickly with all the washing, unpacking and putting everything back in it’s proper place. It’s strange, but calming, to have no immediate plans. Hopefully the government will keep to it’s word and not extend this lock down after the beginning of December - but they have proved untrustworthy in every way so far so we can only hope.

Vilamoura Champions Tour Week 3