Another 2nd place in a big class

Kelly Logan
May 25
2 min read

25 May

Horse and rider gracefully clear the second fence with impressive form indoors.

What a good boy Fred - 2nd in the ponies and 2nd overall from 20+ entries in a very strong 80cm SJ Sunshine and Trailblazers Championships qualifier class.

Jane had set a fabulous course (as always) but this one made the riders put their brains in. Last to go, and watching the second half, I could see it was a very competitive class, with times all between 28-31, a couple were quicker but had fence 8 as everyone was going for the line, going slightly across fence 8 to get inside fence 3 and round to fence 9.

The pony in before me did it clear in 21 seconds. It was tidy, scopey and quick - fair play, very well ridden by the little rider and a fantastic partnership.

Then it was my turn. I practiced the line for fence 8 by cutting back to fences 2 and 5, so that I had it for fence 8. We cut in and I turned hard, slightly heart in mouth as he came down to the shoulder and lost some impulsion in the turn to fence 9 (an 85cm spready) - followed by excitable encouragement from me as I used everything to try and scoop him up and throw him over - but he said "I had it mum, don't get so carried away "

We finished on 27.41 to take 2nd overall and in the pony section. I was delighted when I got the full list of results and discovered that (after the super duper pony on 21) we weren't just the 2nd fastest clear round but the 2nd fastest on course. Sometimes you are beaten by those who went for it and had 4 faults, but he was actually outright fastest across all - bar the super duper pony. Jane split the class so we ended up 2nd in the ponies, if it had been seniors/juniors split, we'd have won. Anyhoo. I'm just bloody delighted.

AND SO WE GET ANOTHER QUALIFICAITON FOR SUNSHINE TOUR AND THE TRAILBLAZERS CHAMPIONSHIPS!!

Having qualified again for both Sunshine and Trailblazers, I can now choose to do the jumping at Trailblazers.....

As ever, thank you to Jayne for the endless support and encouragement. I almost didn't do it because I was tired and in pain from IBS...