Vale Olivia….
Tonimbuk 2016 would be an emotional round for us. As many of you are aware we lost a dear friend Olivia Ingliss last week doing what she loved. We had her in our thoughts for this weeks event and if the stars aligned would dedicate our performance to her.
With 5 on board we raised anchor and set sail for Vic. At 12 am Friday morning the steam bell rang and with wind in her sails HMSMJET pushed off and we were heading up stream. 10 hours later we docked in the MM (mildy moist) Tonimbuk horse trials. This week Heidi may only have 5 to ride this week, this means 5 separate tests and courses. As many of you may know she has been busy over seas in Sweden recently for a skin cell transplant, Heidi has kindy donated (not quite donated, she has actually sold some skin cells for 7 million Euro) for generic run of the mill catwalk models to look more like Heidi there fore maturing into supermodels. That being said she flew in to the venu in the private helicopter to grace us with her presence one more time.
With Eve, Mouse, Hunter, Candy and Kai equissaged, fed and tacked up my Blonde bombshell of wife selected her rides at will and began to ride into the sun set. Some of you may have read that as a romantic description of Heidi (Megan) riding off into the sun set, what I meant was she rode them ‘until’ the sun set, no wonder she has legs like she does with the amount of toning they get with the riding..
Kai Was first up, the most recent addition to MJET who was improving in leaps and bounds. With placings and wins already under his Belt in the Intro class the black warmblood was to compete in his first Pre-lim this week. A good test was handed in by the combination, however in her quest for 100% perfection Heidi was sure there were many improvements to be made. Kai would finish in 3rd position after dressage in put him in excellent position going into SJ. The spooky indoor proved to catch the dressage bred Warmblood out like many before him. Unfortunate as his natural jump is so amazing which was evedent as he flew over some of the fences (is there a limit as to how high OVER the jump you can go???sheeesh!!!) with 2 rails down (in fact 1 rail and a spooky stop) the rookie eventer would slide well down the rankings after SJ. Long way to go with Kai, but it is all there and we cant wait for the coming year to unfold to see what he can do with it all. CC will be another learning curve for us, another test for him and another installment of his eventing Journey.
Eve would be next in the intro class, the chestnut warmblood has been getting stronger and stronger and is excelling in her training which is clear to see in her results. Today would be no exception, another good dressage test (which Heidi thinks she could also improve) Eve did enough in the judges eyes to also win the dressage. The intro class would also be SJ today and SJ she did. Making short work of the indoor intro track which was no easy task. A spooky dark indoor claimed a few scalps and rails prior to the mare competing but luckily for us and her amazing owners Eve would jump clear to extend her lead in the Intro class! With CC to follow the mare was in the best possible position to bring home the chocolates tomorrow.
The next one to walk the plank would be the Huntman, Hunter, History, poo crew.. you have never known a horse to have so many poo tattoo s in the most amazing locations. One does wonder how an animal with no opposing thumbs can rub poo into these places but he is able to make it happen. When the impressive grey in his new eventing body is asked how he has made the transformation from Show Hack to eventer his reply is simple “I took 6-12 months of Heidi slim shakes, I joined up as a 12 month member of “but be gone” and “tummy tucks and me” all on sale from Heidi, I got a terrific deal from her as well!” we can all say Hunters new body has been quite the transformation. If the jockey is anything to go by then this horses is going to be looking amazing come M3DE. Hunter warmed up well and was looking calm and relaxed. Heidi had been working on keeping his frame up through out the entire test which he worked very hard in doing. Some minor mistakes by the grey but a much more balanced test in a better frame Hunter would sit in 3rd place on a 47.2 as he steams forward with his eyes firmly set on the 3* class. Slightly disappointed in this score as such a huge discrepancy in the judges but again, that is Australian dressage judging for you….The SJ phase for the Hunt man wasn’t until 7:20 pm so the team was getting weary, some of the team members were staying ‘well hydrated’ which would prove crucial in this long day!! Rails were falling and although the indoor is the new recipient of a brand new set of LED lights it is still a spooky un natural place to be. The big crowd created a huge amount of atmosphere where the Hunt man was no stranger to in his former life of Showing. What a round, Hunter made short work of this course a display of pure power and scope. Huge credit to Heidi who has patiently coached Hunter building confidence and here we are at the end result. An amazing clear round Which would see the pair jump 1 position into 2nd place after SJ, well within striking distance for tomorrows CC. Hunter Jumped a Lovely Clear SJ round and was Clear on Jumping to land him in 2nd place at the events end.
Mouse would be up next and like all our horses today a calm relaxed warm up was excellent preparation for what ‘seemed’ like her best test to date. The naturally uphill frame of the mare along with her distinct bouncing trot and floating canter makes it hard for her not to win or place highly in the dressage. Well this is what we thought until today.. Judging 101 strikes again, Mouse scored her worst test score to date with one of her best tests to date.. not sure how we make sense of that one.. currently in 7th position with some of the field yet to complete their tests. SJ to follow on Tomorrows phase. 3 rails in the SJ and a clear CC course would see Mouse finish in 18th place.
Last but certainly not least was Candy, ‘(Kirby Park Impress’). Having a nice weekend off last week whilst the youngsters flew the KP flag at Lockignton Candy was ready to add to impressive performance 2 weeks ago in Sydney winning the 3*. Candy has had a pretty extensive work load with a lot of schooling through the much harder movements which are required for the 3* and 4* tests. She tries so hard and is getting stronger and more confident every day. I know I say that a lot (getting stronger and more confident) but for these horses doing so many different new movements they are constantly changing. As they get stronger and more educated they find the movements much easier, this is where our preparation has landed us with Candy. Her flying changes, her counter canter, halts and reign backs all require so much effort and balance to bring in the big scores (7’s or 8’s if your in Australia), week in week out she is schooled and is always improving and getting stronger.. Today would be a mixed day. Candy was so good in her warm up, her overall test (like Hunters) was brilliant but some movements lacked that strength and balance I just spoke of. Flying changes were good, halts were lovely and her floating trot and walk should have impressed the judges that little bit more. Candy handing in a lovely test which we were happy with landing her in 1st position only marginally in front of Miss Amanda Ross on her beautiful horse Diesel by .2 of a penalty. Kirby Park Impress winning the dressage on a 49.8. A beautiful clear SJ round saw Candy retain the lead into the final CC phase. Heidi was a little concerned about Candy in the CC warm up, a flat and lifeless feeling was reported and whilst in the start box a cough and runny nose was enough for Heidi to raise her hand and withdraw the Mare from the competition. Highs and lows of the sport.. Vets would later inform us that our girl had a minor infection and a short course of rest and meds would see her back to full strength.
Until next time,
Megan, Jd and the MJET crew