Posted on 26th July 2020 by Kate Rocher-Smith
And we’re back in action! Aston saw seven of Team DE’s horses have their season (re-)start!
Day one was Intermediate and Novice day. I gave Call Me Dassett (Casper) his first run since Blenheim 2018. Despite a jog in the walk and 2 unscripted flying changes, he still managed to bag a 33 dressage. He followed this up with a class, steady double clear and never missed a beat on the XC – I really couldn’t have said what a large gap he has had. He was certainly absolutely delighted to be eventing again!
I also rode HHS Dassett Class (Matt) in the Intermediate, and I think he wins the gold star award! He also got 33 in the dressage and jumped a spot on double clear. Thanks to our Spanish SJ trip, I was hopeful this phase would be much more established…and it was. He jumped a great clear round. He then was an absolute pro around the XC track and felt very established, which is very exciting. To top things off, he also managed to finish 8th!
Craig was on board his trusted partner, MBF Dassett Legacy (Zam) in the Intermediate. Their way of going was much more established in the dressage, even if they were a touch ‘ring rusty’, so came away with a score of 35 dressage. But this reliable pair was totally on track with a fast double clear to finish 9th.
And to complete a day of ‘double clear bombs’, Dassett Curra Candy (Candy) and Craig also jumped a very professional double clear in the Novice. This top class 6yo mare must be destined for big things and made absolutely nothing of either jumping phase, to add only 0.8 XC time faults to her dressage score of 36 and finished just out side the top ten.
Three days later, Lesley Rocher and Sheena Hawkins lovely 6yo mare, Dassett Showgirl (Lola), ran in the BE100 (with a lovely 7.45am dressage!!). She did a very tidy test for 33 and just had one green moment in the final double to add 4 faults from the SJ arena. Having only done a couple of events last year, this mare is very short on mileage for her age and was a touch green heading out on the XC track. However, she improved as she progressed and was great actually at all the fences – just a bit spooky in between them! She still jumped clear and added 5.4 time faults to her score to finish in the mid teens.
The following morning (7.45am again!) was our final day of competition at Aston; I rode Andrea Burdett’s Dassett Forever Autumn (Autumn) and Alice Rocher rode her own Dassett Code (Smartie), both in the OBE100. Autumn nailed a really tidy test for a competitive score of 28 and added nothing from either jumping phase to take 6th place. This is such a lovely mare and both Andrea and I were delighted at how much she seemed to enjoy the whole day. Alice rode a very smart dressage test for a competitive score of 30 in her section. They were both a touch ring rusty, meaning two rails fell, but it has been a very long time since they have been out competing. They were storming around the XC until Smartie picked up a Novice B element in a bank complex and they missed their turn to a step, resulting in a frustrating 20 penalties. However, it was great for both of them to get back out on course and they definitely felt like they benefitted from the run.
All in all, a great first event and full credit has to go to the Aston-le-Walls team for running such a well organised and efficient event – we don’t underestimate the enormous effort that went into putting the five days of competition on and are incredibly grateful – thank you!
