CAMDEN SHOW
We survived a very hot day at Camden on Friday 19th March.
It was a very long day,we needed to leave in the dark and we returned in the dark.
I had a good day by winning both the 1.20m and 1.30m two phase events on Greenbah.
I had to wait until 5pm to have my first ride of the day.
Sometimes,waiting until late in the day takes your entusiasm away but I was determined to have a go and all went well.
Liz on Ceasar had two down in the 2nd phase of the 1.20m.
Nick with his D grader jumped two beautiful clear rounds in the D grade.
With his 2nd horse Quindoctro he had one down in the C grade.Nick drove homewards to Adelaide after the show.
His three weeks here training preparing for the Easter shows back home.
At Camden the courses were great, the organisation ditto but the ground was a bit hard!!!
I am very spoiled because my ground at home is practically perfect all year round, grass over natural sand.
Harry the university boy made a short social visit to the show.
After getting used to the new timetable of his life he is looking forward to having a few days break to ride.
I have been to Mudgee for a clinic and heading to Perth for a few days teaching as well.
This weekend is a vacant one for jumping while we prepare for the big one,Sydney Royal.
I will be the parent ,coach, minder etc this time as I do not have a horse qualified to start there.
Too many hot days left, bring on the cooler weather please.

We have been to a couple of training days while we waited for the next shows to come.
The weather has been very hot and humid very tough on both human and beast.
Castle Hill Ag Show was splendid,beautiful grounds, lovely jumps good Course Designer, what more could we want.
Liz and I went round and round.
Liz won a Junior 1.25m on Ceasar and I was 2nd on Greenbah in a 1.25m class.
Harry was our helper which was much appreciated.
His horses have been holidaying like him until now.
Harry started University at UWS Penrith so he has been acclimatising to uni life.
Nick Crowe from South Australia, has been over here for a few weeks having some lessons with his two smart horses.
Nick is keen to step up to be competitive at the highest level he can and he has been
working hard just ask him!
Camden is on this Friday,two rounds lovley ground gear and CD again.
I am teaching this weekend at Mudgee.
Monday is looking like a quiet day.Perth is next on my teaching calendar the following week.

MARCH ALREADY
We have competed at Nowra and Maitland Show's so far.
Nowra's ground despite all the rain held up pretty well.Warren Priestly did a good job with his courses.
We didn't win any prizes there but Cooper the D grader was 6th in one of his classes.
Liz had a fast time in one class on Lady's First but had the last fence down,that sort of show.
Maitland was next and the fortunes were much better there.
The ground was just getting to the firm side remarkably,the show was well run by the Hunter Vally Jump club with Sue Bettingdon designing good courses.
Liz and Ceasar were on fire in the Young Rider classes to run third both days and be runner up Country Champion.
Lady's First also jumped very well in the big D grade.
I rode Greenbah to be 2nd in a 1.20m class on the second day. We were double clear the first day in the 1.20m but a medium fast round was about 10th!
Cooper found the arena a bit daunting and knocked a couple down for not looking where he was going.
We have been to a couple of training days with the horses and Liz has been staying at Rod Brown's for a week or two learning about the routine in a big stable.
Castle Hill and Camden are coming up in the next week or two and Easter is racing towards us.
Liz is riding Ceasar in the Junior and the Pony Club Team jumping.

New Year

The New Year is up and running, I have been watching and riding in the George Morris Clinic.
He is a genius teacher no doubt.
The improvement from everyone is enormous.A bit of application from the riders and their horses blossom.
George is very strict to his ideals. The basics of foundation training are all written down and have been used for centuries!!!
I have been teaching in Qld at the Warwick Horse trials Summer Clinic.
Everyone should remember Warwick as they were the first quarantine for EI in 07.
This week it is Dubbo.
The weather has been extremely hot and I am looking forward to cooler times, hurry up please.
Our first show will be next month.
Colleen

THE FESTIVE SEASON IS UPON US.
Our last show for the year was at SIEC.
We had one of those shows where we didn't go badly we just didn't go wonderfully.
As always there is something to learn from each competition.
Liz was 5th in a 1.05m on Lady's first, Ceasar unfortunately didn't reproduce the same form of the previous week's so no prizes there.
My horse had the one fence down-itis.Although he jumped well in the 1.25m's and did a good job over the big water jump in he main ring we didn't trouble the winners as they say.
Harry with Valondra did go well in the 2nd ring in the 1.10m-1.15m.
Not yet fast enough to be up the top end of the line but a couple of clear rounds and an 8th in those classes shows he is making ground.
I thoroughly enjoyed riding in the main arena (which is huge) and Leopoldo Palaicido the Course Designer is a genius.
His schedule is amazingly busy and for him to come to Australia every year is wonderful.
All horses will have about three weeks off while we focus on Christmans and New Year.
Harry is off on a family holiday, Liz goes away for a week to the beach and Steve and I will be looking after the horses.
It is hot and very dry here, so with a couple of truck loads of horses to move should a fire be near we need to wait for our break.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR.
Look out 2010.

LIZ AND CEASAR 2ND.

The Sydney Jumping Club End Of Year Championships is a huge show.
The Club has run the champs for a very long time but in the last few years the size has really been ramped up.
The show is truly huge, two days and something like 1300- rounds jumped!!!
Liz and Ceasar were 2nd in the 1.20m Junior Championship,showjumping's young gun Tom McDermott was 1st and third.
David Sheppard from Victoria was the main Course Designer,he built at the recent Shepparton World Cup show and his courses are a delight and a challenge to ride.
Liz was 2nd on Lady's First in a 1.05m class.
In another class the mare slipped on a corner and gave Liz a bump on the nose when she nearly came off, the variances of riding!
Harry just had Valondra there as the other young mare has had a cough.
There have been a few horses in the district with similar symptoms,sometimes fat legs,yellow mucous from the nose bit like flu bug's in people.But strangely, she is the only horse on the property with the bug.
Val jumped very well in the 1.10m with a couple of clear rounds so we are looking for bigger heights very soon.
Greenbah and I jumped double clear in the 1.20m and 4 penalties on the 1.30m on Saturday but on Sunday he was kicked in the shoulder by a horse (not ours)as he was coming out to the ring.
Not great, I think it did affect him as he didn't go as well.
A couple of hot days now as we prepare for the ISS Tempo show this weekend and then we can relax and enjoy the Festive season.

BIG NEWS FROM WODONGA.
LIZ AND CAESAR WIN THE JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP.
At the Wodonga World Cup show last weekend Liz jumped a big course to win the main Junior class.
Naturally she is ecstatic, Ceasar sailed around in the very wet conditions to be the fastest clear round.
She won a rug and $300.00!
The weather wasn't kind the first two days, same as most of NSW over 39'.On Friday night the rain started and kept going until Sunday.It made a big difference to the conditions we jumped under, as the outdoor ring was very slipperary.
The indoor arena as anyone who has competed there is very small, but I say get in and learn how to ride in there.
The Course Designer (indoor)was Lesson Sirrett and he is very experienced.He always builds positive tracks.
We all had some classes indoors and Harry said he is very keen to ride again indoors.
Harry jumped a clear round and just missed a place in the 1.05m with Valondra.
Harry and Val are getting to know each other better and better.
In the 1.10m D grade Championship they had the last fence down. The course was strong size wise, but that is good for Valondra.She has a big jump and horses like her are actually better to ride when the jumps are bigger.
I jumped a good round on Greenbah in the 1.25m class with one down. I had a couple of indoor starts, he wasn't sure about these jumps coming at him from all directions.He jumped well enough and I am also getting to know him better.
Millie Clarke from Berry was here on work experience with her young horse.
We had some fun and she came with us to Wodonga.
She did very well with him and should do very well with him next year.
We have a week off, well a couple of days and very soon the End Of Year Championships at our local jump club followed by the season ending ISS at SIEC.
I have a picture of my young horse Corvette. He is starting out on his foundation training with my good friend and very good horseman Mark Rodney.
Corvette is by the Current NSW Showjumping Champion imported horse Conquistador(Belgian) and the mother is also an imported Belgian warmblood.
I bought him last winter as a two year old from Oaks Sporthorses in Camden.
So far he is a good boy. Corvette is very light on his feet with lovely soft movement.
We are a long way from Grand Prix but one has to start somehwere.