Hi Everyone,

May spells the end of the competition season as far as eventing is concerned her in NZ, but we had plenty to keep us occupied throughout the month. First up was Woodhill Sands, which is a fantastic facility North West of Auckland where they are able to run competitions all year round due to their fantastic black sand surface. We took Hebe, Jake and Cricket and all in all had a very good weekend. Hebe was second after dressage and did and lovely clear SJ and XC with just a few time faults to add to finish 6th.

It was the perfect prep run for Taupo 3 day a couple of weeks later. Jake continued to impress me, he too was 2nd after dressage and jumped a lovely double clear just picking up a few time penalties on the xc also to finish 6th. He felt fantastic and is a horse I am seriously excited about for the future. At just 4 years old he will have a decent holiday now before being brought back into work to prepare for the Spring season. Cricket was the joker of the pack this weekend with a few uncalled for antics in the 60x20! However, he jumped around well and he too will have a break over winter and let it all sink in before resuming in a few months.

The following weekend I took Hebe to some local SJ and he jumped a couple of lovely rounds, then it was home to cook a feast of a dinner for my Mum and Mother in Law for Mothers Day!

Taupo week had arrived and we were right to pack all our thermals and winter woollies as it was true to form and absolutely freezing down there! Fortunately though, the sun was shining and it was only the cold early mornings that we had to contend with! Hebe did a stunning dressage test to lead the class with 75%! I was absolutely delighted with him and couldn’t have asked for anymore. He blazed around the XC the next day feeling fantastic and he pulled up really well, so we were quite delighted to be the leader after two phases heading into the SJ. Unfortunately though, things went pear shaped from there and a couple of hours after the XC Hebe was obviously sore and it appeared had pulled a muscle in his shoulder. Despite our best efforts he was too uneven to present for the trot up the next day and we had to withdraw and make an early trip home. It was a frustrating end to a pretty up and down season, but that is horses and you just have to roll with the punches sometimes!!

On the way home from Taupo we picked up Bowie and Duke from our friends in Cambridge who had been looking after them and rehabbing them on their aqua walker. It was great to have them back and both of them are looking and feeling fantastic so it will be winter SJ and dressage for them and hopefully they will get a bit more competition exposure come next season.

On a totally different note, Alex and I are delighted to be expecting our first baby in October! I have kept it under wraps until the season was over, but now I am definitely starting to show and the word is out! Fortunately, it is well timed so I shouldn’t miss too much in the way of competitions and I have Alex and my sister Lizzie well primed to take over the reins for the shot time that I will be out of action!

Thats all for now..

Cheers,
Anne-Marie