One of the most rewarding things over the last few months has been seeing my gorgeous 5-year-old, Double Time FW loving his eventing… and he’s pretty good at it too! He’s had 3 runs and 3 double clears, each with nice tests!

We had a great time at Barbury in the 90cm class a few weeks ago, making nothing of the course or the blue water! We took it steady down the hills, adding just a few time faults to put him out of the top 10.

Moving on to Solihull 90cm and he felt even more grown up! A great test and an easy double clear inside the time to finish 3rd! At some point he will be offered for sale, but in the meantime I am loving producing him with his very exciting future in mind. He has all the right attributes to be a top class Junior horse of the future!

Reflections on Barbury

It was so wonderful to be back at Barbury! We were very spoilt, with the ground AMAZING, the courses beautiful, the organisation brilliant, and a picturesque estate to gallop around, doing what we love with people who share our passion for the sport. Barbury is not just a popular venue for riders, but also for owners, sponsors, and spectators who can witness nearly all the action from one vantage point. 

It was a funny feeling driving back on to those grounds with a very green 5-year-old starting his career – the last time I was there it was for an iconic date in our international eventing calendar, skipping around 3* and 4* courses.

How lucky we are that, thanks to Musketeer Events and The Cotswold Cup, people can still experience what Barbury has to offer. However, I can’t help but feel sad that it is no longer that special date in July to show off top class international eventing, gaining valuable experience around tracks and terrain that set you up for the remaining season with British Eventing. It felt very obvious that I was not the only one missing the international fixture.