So much has been going on, I hardly know where to start! After Belton, Bobs’ (Law Choice) went to Chatsworth to compete in the CIC***. I gave Kate Jupp a lift as she lives locally to me, and because Chatsworth is a long old way away, it was a great help to share the cost of the diesel. We had a slightly interesting journey as the sat nav (which has since been thrown out of the window) decided to direct us to a tiny humpback bridge, which would have beached the lorry, so after some nifty reversing (my truck is 40ft long and I had to go backwards for nearly a mile) we finally reached the stabling. It was definitely worth the tricky journey, however, as the stabling was great and they even put on a BBQ for us as a welcome!
My test wasn’t until late on the Saturday afternoon and Mum and Jane Kier (Bobs’ owner) had driven up from London to see their superstar perform. He was really good and produced a nice accurate test, if a tiny bit flat. But overall I was pleased and he was lying 7th in a big class with a lot of top senior riders. The course was flipping huge but this was my third three star CIC so I’ve become slightly more numbed to the enormous size of the fences. The one that went six inches over my head however still made me feel slightly green.
After another fab clear round in the show jumping where he went literally airborne, we set off cross country feeling fairly sick, well I certainly did! I must sound like a stuck record but he was awesome yet again, going direct everywhere and finishing full of running, even if I did have to navigate around a mother, baby and pram, two fences from home! I was a bit disappointed to pick up 20 time faults but after looking at the score board I was still pretty quick and ended up finishing 6th! I also won the best U25 prize. Not a bad day at the office!
The other ponies have also been busy. Gladys has had a slight confidence issue in the show jumping but after some really successful BS shows is back on the road to being marvellous again. Maisie has also been busy and is growing in confidence all the time, perhaps sometimes a little too sure of herself but I am in no doubt that a big result is around the corner! Every time I jump her I have to resist the temptation to go higher and higher as she just seems to have such endless scope. Boy is feeling better than ever, he achieved a personal best in the dressage at Hambleden and after a clear round show jumping I was well in the hunt. Unfortunately a pilot error lead to an omission of a fence, so that was the end of that, but I redeemed myself with a double clear at Aston le Walls and then a top ride at Pontispool. He now heads to Longleat and Salperton and then contests his first Advanced at Aston. Keep your eye on him - he’s gonna be a good un!
We have had a bit of bad luck involving my Grandfather’s brood mare Dizzy. She was in foal to Ben’s Afaere and was at stud ready for foaling when she developed really severe colic. We got her through the night with some really strong painkillers, but she was no better at all the next morning so we unfortunately had to have her put down if there was any chance of saving the foal. We managed to get the filly foal out and she looked pretty good for a while, but died that evening due to respiratory issues. It’s such a shame as they were both lovely.
So to Bramham. I had been working incredibly hard to be totally prepared and Bobs and I were both feeling on flying form. We set off on Wednesday morning for the long drive up to Yorkshire and I also took Gladys with me to keep her tuned up. Bobs felt pretty wild when we got there but this is normally a good thing as he can be a bit flat and lazy. He trotted up great and then it was my test on the Friday. The judges seemed to be marking really high so I was quite nervous, especially as this was probably the biggest occasion that I had ridden at since my memory lapse at Blenheim last year. I had no need to worry as he was fantastic and really rose to the occasion. There were plenty of mistakes and areas to be improved on, but I was pleased overall and ended up in 5th after dressage so well in touch.
The course was something else entirely; it was by far the biggest and most testing thing that I’ve jumped and the rumours floating round the lorry park about it being completely unjumpable and bigger than Badminton had quite a lot of truth in them!! I don’t think that I have ever been so 
nervous, but thankfully fellow blogger Jon Pitts and I were speaking regularly about how I was mentally preparing and approaching each stage of the competition. It was very important that I held on to my self-belief and recognised what a good season I had been having on the run up to Bramham, so there was no reason why I couldn’t perform at my best.
I set off feeling terrified but overall very determined... I was not going to cock this up! I went long at the water at fence 5 but apart from that I had the most amazing ride and stuck to my plan about being more positive and less interfering into my fences in order to save more time. Coming into the third last, a ridiculously huge ditch and brush palisade, the jump judge stepped out with her red flag. It was a complete nightmare as Bobs was really tired by this point and to stop him for 10 minutes and then have to pick him back up and ask him to jump some more huge fences felt really mean. He managed it, however, and we came home with 4 time faults, faster than I had dared hope and we ended the day in 3rd.
The show jumping was big and technical and started out causing a huge amount of trouble. Bobs felt a little tired but jumped his socks off and didn’t feel like touching a pole. But I made a real mistake at the planks and we had it down. I think he just took his eye off the fence for a second as I was asking for one more stride and he tipped it in front. It was a shame as that 4 faults dropped me down to 4th but overall I am thrilled with how he went and really excited about what is to come from him. I am also now qualified for Badminton... that's a seriously scary thought!!
There is still loads to be doing now we’re home from Bramham. It feels like we’ve got to get back to reality, as when you’re away you seem to be in a sort of three day bubble! I am really thrilled to have been invited to Express Eventing and preparations for that have already begun, and my other ponies are all ready and raring to go - just looking at the diary is making me feel tired!