It’s over a year since I was last at an international show. This time the organisation and anticipation were complicated with COVID -19 issues. Starting with how safe would we be on the ferry, anticipation of filling up with diesel in Holland, how safe the show would be etc.

April and I set off on Tuesday 20th July at 3.30 for Dover. The new lorry and the fact that we can now gain 20 minutes by turning right out of the gate made excellent time and we were checked in by 5.45 for the 8.30 boat. Less sailings mean longer waits which always is a pain. However, no school trips meant that the ferry was virtually empty and we had a comfortable sofa each for a snooze with our face masks on. We made excellent time to Peelbergen (Kronenberg) arriving at about 2.30. A very pleasant surprise as I had presumed the sat nav thought it was still on England time. Luckily it’s a bit brighter than me. There were just enough horses stabled already so our girls didn’t feel lonely and we were able to get them settled, Hayed and watered and everything set up for the week.

On Wednesday I worked the horses in what was the main sand arena for the rest of week. Heidi was particularly fresh so she got a short ride in the afternoon as well. All the horses trotted up well ready for an early start in the five year olds on Thursday.

BE Khalissy got the show off to a good start with a lovely clear in the five year olds, followed by Heidi who just had one down in jump-off of the six year old section. Askeaton then jumped the seven year old class in the lovely grass arena. She hasn’t jumped a lot of 1.30’s since last year, and she jumped round very easily, just making up more distance than I anticipated on the grass, but feeling very confident.

On day two the 5&6 year olds jumped on the grass. Khalissy has never jumped on grass before and was super green, jumping like a helicopter for one time fault and a fence down, but Heidi absolutely ate up the grass for a fantastic round over a strong enough course for her. She was slightly let down by me missing the second turn in the jump off to finish one out of the money.

Askeaton then jumped a great round in the seven year olds on the grass, I don’t know what I was up to but I managed to get her a time fault, but she certainly was jumping very well.

Saturday started with the seven year old final. This was a very strong 1.35, a proper grand prix track and as much as Askeaton has jumped since Hickstead last summer. She had two fences down in the last line when she started to get a bit tired, but she gives me real confidence that she is always trying to get from the start to the finish, and I felt very pleased with her.

BE Khalissy then jumped the 5 year old Grand Prix, which was a nice, but full up 1.15 and she felt much less green on the grass, but just had a disobedience coming past the gate after fence 3 and one fence down. All in all this was a big step up in class for her, and although she was a little bit naughty in this round, she settled down quickly and got back to work.

BE Khalissy - 5 Year Old Grand Prix Week 1

Heidi then jumped the six year old Grand Prix for two fences down. Once again a big enough test for her, and she just can get a bit flippant when she is super confident, and at the moment I am riding her quite forward to make sure she feels confident that she has enough scope for these bigger fences.

Hurricane Heidi - 6 Year Old Grand Prix - Week 1

Altogether I was very pleased with the horses in the first week. They were all bold and willing. Rather unsurprisingly we were all a little bit of match practice, especially on the grass and at a different level of competition than we get on a regular basis in the UK.

I didn’t jump on Sunday, so we hand grazed the horses twice each and then were able to watch both the 1* and 2* Grand Prix.

April and I had a lovely time hacking the horses round the woods opposite the showground on Monday and Wednesday and I gave them a good school on the flat on the Tuesday. Then they trotted up again on Wednesday night all ready to start again on Thursday morning for the second week.

It was nice to wake up on Monday morning to find that Ellen Peters had arrived from Lier with Shane’s horses and the news that Georgia Tame and Jack Ryan were coming for week two. April and I helped Ellen set up the stables for Georgia and Jack who were arriving in the middle of the night. See below for April’s amazing ability to push a barrow with 7 bales of shavings at a time compared to my pathetic 3.

Week two started hot and got hotter and hotter. Thursday morning started with Khalissy and Heidi in the 5 and 6 year olds on the sand. Khalissy surprised me by being very fresh and rather off with me, resulting in two down. Heidi actually jumped beautifully but possibly was also a little bit forward, and Askeaton took me totally by surprise by being a little bit naughty which is very out of character. Note to self: they are fit young horses and need more work - so I rode both Khalissy and Askeaton for an hour in the afternoon - and they certainly needed it, they both were full of energy.

On Friday everybody was on the grass. Both Khalissy and Heidi jumped really well for a fence apiece. This might not sound brilliant, but my horses are all young, and all stepping up a little bit in class. Askeaton then also jumped very well in the seven year old class, in spite of my making the most dreadful job of getting her to the first fence.

The Young Horse Grand Prix day was different in the second week due to there being an extra class of Ambassador or Veteran riders. This meant a fairly long wait for another very stiff 7 year old Grand Prix. Askeaton had the first fence, which rather rattled me, she then had a vertical that I buried her to and we turned a circle when we had a misunderstanding. I came out feeling that it had been a disaster and that I hadn’t done her justice at all. But actually Shane who was watching was actually very pleased with us both, and particularly pleased with Askeaton who he thought was turning into the jumper he hoped she would be. When I watched the video I was actually surprised to see that really we had only made two mistakes, and that actually she had jumped very well, and I hadn’t done so bad a job after all. It was lovely to see Shane and Chloe’s breeding operation at Breen Equestrian beginning to bear real fruit at Kronenberg. Their homebreds and the horses that they breed in partnership with the Pysarenkos in Ukraine were lovely and looked a force to be reckoned with in the young horse classes.

Khalissy seemed to jump quite greenly again in the 5 year old Grand Prix, which was a very meaty 1.15, but she so nearly jumped a clear round, just having a massive spook at the second last fence. However, I would have never done the turns that Jack Ryan did to win in the jump-off.

I was quite worried about jumping Heidi in the final as the fences had got quite a lot bigger than she has jumped before, but I needn’t have worried, she rose to the occasion brilliantly and absolutely romped round.

April and I had a very nice dinner, with social distancing, at the restaurant while we watched the big class in the sand arena. A very nice end to a very good show. It was April’s first stay away show with me, or with anybody, and she was fantastic. The horses were happy and immaculate, and all I had to do was ride them which makes it all so much easier.

We set off for home early on Sunday morning and made excellent time, getting home for about 2.30 so the horses spent the afternoon in the field.

April had a very well deserved day off on Monday while the washing machine and I got to work, and in the afternoon I went to collect Shadow - Pepper’s replacement from David and Louise Simpson. Not even two weeks later she has definitely made herself at home here. Actually although she’s meant to be a girl, I’m not absolutely sure. But definitely she has a big place in our hearts already.

While I was away we got the fabulous news that Sophie is having a baby in February which is very, very exciting. We have had Sophie and Alex home for a lovely hot weekend, and finally we’ve had an evening in the beautiful garden at the Griffin in Fletching.

It’s now full speed ahead packing up for Bolesworth. We leave on Friday for a two day training show, before the Young Horse Championships start on Wednesday. BE Khalissy will jump the five year olds, Askeaton the seven year olds and Hurricane Heidi is going to do the 1.20 series, because last year the six year olds were very big. The weather forecast looks very unsettled, so although we do need rain, I hope we don’t get too much while we are at Bolesworth. I had a good training session with Trevor Breen on Friday, all the horses jumped confidently and well, none the worse for Kronenberg, but a few timely tweaks on the riders’ bad habits.

As always many, many thanks to Saracen Horse Feeds and to Premier Performance CZ. Saracen’s feeds make keeping the horses happy and healthy so easy, and we made good use of Recovery Mash on the hot days to rehydrate the horses and top up their electrolytes quickly. Premier Performance have been supporting us with supplements this year, and Camilla Zanna is very hands on with her help, I think this is really helping giving the horses optimum support for the best performance. As always I love my MacWet gloves - you cannot beat them in any weather, they never, ever slip, and they are climatically controlled, so they are never too hot or too cold either.

CSIYH1*/CSI2* Kronenberg

CSIYH1/CSI2 Kronenberg