Fun in the sun (and hail!) at Belton International Horse Trials!

We had 3 days of fun at Belton International Horse Trials over the last weekend. On Friday Future Phoenix had her first Novice run and was superb over strong SJ and XC tracks. She showjumped in a deluge of hail which meant Emma could hardly see the fences. Phoenix was unfazed though and jumped a fabulous clear round. On the cross country track, which was as big and technical as usual for Belton, she was brilliant through the water and all the skinnies, angles and offsets. A hesitation at the bogey fence, the ‘key hole’ which is a completely enclosed circular sunken road, resulted in 20 penalties, but once she’d worked out the question she popped straight through it, and we were delighted with the manner in which she had responded to a serious step up in level.

On Saturday I attended a BE organised workshop for Controllers and Commentators. What an eye opener that was! It is far more involved and difficult than I could possibly have imagined as you have different people talking in your ears whilst you’re trying to talk about a completely different subject. It’s like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time! It was a brilliant day and my thanks go to Janet Plant and Henry Symington for organising and running such a well structured and informative day.

On Sunday, our young stallion Future Illusion took part in the Stallion Parade and we were delighted with his behaviour and the amount of interest he generated. My Stud Manager (Kelly) and I spent Saturday evening decorating my lorry with photos, awards and rosettes that Louis had won and had an absolute ball. After the parade we had drinks with prospective breeders with a DVD of Louis playing in the background, whilst munching on a selection of nibbles! It was tremendous fun and we had lots of laughs all day. Thanks to Belton Horse Trials for hosting the parade, and Gemini Stud for sponsoring it, it was a brilliant addition to their programme of events and we hope it will go from strength to strength over the next few years.