We had a great start to our third week in Spain. A week on the grass which is always fun. Arietta set off with a clear round in the 1.20, a really good confidence builder for both of us, followed by Khalissy who also jumped a clear They finished just out of the placings on the first day. I then jumped a very jolly Askeaton in the 1.10. She was very pleased to be jumping and just had four faults where she was a bit strong.

On Saturday both Askeaton and Khalissy jumped clear in the 1.20, Khalissy getting a nice placing and I jumped Arietta in the 1.30. It was strong enough but she made it feel easy enough that I decided to jump the 1.35 Grand Prix on Sunday.

Askeaton had lost some fitness here and felt tired after jumping in Saturday so I never intended to jump her on Sunday. Khalissy jumped really well round the 1.20 in a gale amidst flying poles and we had a 17 minute wait to jump the last fence while they fetched wings that wouldn’t blow over. I walked the course for the GP thinking it would be quite a a step up and quite big for Arietta and I but not out of the question. Luckily the delays in Khalissy’s class meant I didn’t have time to over think it. She jumped the first fence well, just got a bit deep to fence two and I rode like a lemon to fence three! After that I got my act together and she flew the rest of the class clear. What a wonderful horse she is, she really knows very little and has never jumped at this level and I am very rusty.

All in all a very good week. I came out here full of doubts and not sure how much I was enjoying the sport and the opportunity to jump so consistently and the improvement in the horses has so far made this a very positive experience.

The weather has been consistently poor, currently we are on the third day of heavy rain which isn’t encouraging for anyone. The ground in the ring for Khalissy and Askeaton looks good so we’ll warm up and see how it goes. Arietta is due to jump in the worst of the forecast, so I will literally take a rain check.

Four weeks has flown by, and whilst I’m not looking forward to the drive home I will be very glad to get there. It’s been a long show for April too. The days are long, especially the competition days and the weather has given us added challenges. I’m very lucky to be here, but it’s a strange life away from home.

Sunshine Tour 2022 - Week 3