Mike Jackson Eventing

Eventing finally kicked off at Aston-Le-Walls where all the horses faired pretty well. Then it was straight into the serious stuff in the CIC*** at Belton with my parent-in-law’s horse Kangasong (Joey), who went well in all three phases – finishing with a super clear cross-country. See below.

Direct Courage (Courage) and Carole Mortimer’s Bold Impulse (Beau) both finished 2nd in their respective BE100 and novice sections at Solihull. Clemie Stonehouse’s horse Oscar XXI also did a smart test (29.5) and jumped well in his BE100 section.
 
 
Direct Mission’s (Arden) pleasing form continued coming 3rd in the intermediate at Withington and Wallaby finished 12th in his (intermediate) section. Treloar (Theo) successfully stepped up to novice with a confident double clear – gaining his first point.

We’re all rather proud of my double page spread on ‘Becoming a Field Master’ in Horse & Hound – see below (18th April 2013) just in case you missed it!
 

There’s been no eventing action for Team Jackson this month with Swalcliffe, Gatcombe and Goring Heath all cancelled due to the wet conditions – such a disappointing start to the season especially as the horses are so fit and well.
 
On the up side we’ve had more opportunities to practise and more time to try and thaw out! I’ve had some interesting and insightful jumping lessons with Ros Bevan (who owned the famous Badminton winner Horton Point) on Bold Impulse (Beau), Wallaby (Wally) and Direct Mission (Arden) who’ve all benefited from a pair of fresh eyes.
 
After a number of weather-inflicted false starts I finally got my day field mastering for the Heythop at Sarsden, which turned out to be one of the busiest meets of the year. Sea Summer Bay (Paddy) and King of the Glen (Glen) didn’t let me down leading a field of over 140 in style.  The going was spot on, we jumped some pretty decent hedges and I managed to get the field home – so all in all a good day.
 
Sea Summer Bay (Paddy) shows his class and making my way home with King of the Glen (Glen) after a long day:

 

 

I’m not going to lie – going away on a last minute break was a good idea! A blast of sun certainly recharged the batteries and with hunting off for a couple of weeks the horses didn’t even have to miss any of the fun. The children had a great time away and it was good to spend time as a family without any (equine) interruptions…

The hunting season is winding down now and the focus is getting the horses totally prepped for eventing. It was exciting to put in the first entries of the season – first outing is Swalcliffe and then on to Gatcombe which is one of my favourite local events.

We’ve been busy practising clear round show jumping at the Unicorn Centre again and also out cross-country schooling at Chedworth. It’s always fun when the horses have their first run round a course again and it was encouraging to see how they’ve matured over the winter months.

I’m particularly pleased with our young Irish recruits. Richard Oliver’s lovely new horse Chantry Big Ben (Benji) is showing real promise already, as are the two four year olds ‘Digger’ and Equestrian Direct’s ‘Cool Guy’, which I also have high hopes for in the future.

Does anyone fancy building us an indoor? No, just a thought… a very snowy start to 2013 for all of us, but we’ve managed to keep the horses occupied. A few days on the walker and then some serious digging meant we could then get the horses working in the ménage again. We’ve also been to the Unicorn Centre in Stow for some indoor clear round jumping, which has been extremely useful in the icy conditions.

Hunting been pretty much abandoned over the last couple of weeks but we did get out on foot (well the quad really) for the local meet in Turkdean. It was disappointing to miss out on field mastering that day.

 
On the plus side we’ve managed to get in some serious sledging and I’ve also been busy planning the horses’ event schedules. It’s hard to believe the season starts in less than 5 weeks – although we’re not looking to bring Team Jackson out until the middle of March.

 
I’ve also entered two triathlons this summer – just to keep busy! I thought it would be good to have a back up plan to get to Rio!

Finally, we’d like to welcome Charlene Jolly to the team –she’s come over from France for a few months as part of her university placement and was introduced to us via my saddle sponsor Forestier – www.forestier.com. Bienvenue ainsi!

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you all had an enjoyable festive break.

We spent Christmas in Cirencester with the Gaskell side of the family, followed by a brief trip to Yorkshire to fulfil my best man duties. I’ve known the groom – Mat Lodder (who’s a professional polo player) since pony club and it was a great day despite me having a few nerves doing the speech. Thankfully I managed to achieve a few laughs with no major blunders.

Back home with the horses Trealoar (Theo) and Chantry Talland Bay (Reilly) have both been enjoying their hunting even in the bog like conditions. I guess it’s good practice to have a few natural water complexes to contend with in between the jumps!

Noah and ‘Sleeping Beauty’ out with the Heythrop and taking centre stage at the meet in Cold Aston.

The horses who’ve been having a break in the field are now coming in to get fit and we’re all very much looking forward to having a full house again. It’s not just the horses though – I’m back in the gym with Calum Taylor (who specialises in rider fitness www.calumtaylor.com) to make sure I’m back to peak fitness for the start of the season.

The hunting season is now in full swing (see below – a beautiful morning with the Heythrop Hunt) and we’ve also been busy with the youngsters back at the yard. Some of the other horses are still enjoying their holiday out in the field but will be back to boot camp in the next couple of weeks.

We had an enjoyable trip to the Monart sale in Ireland earlier this month with some of our supporters. It was nice to catch up with the other event riders ‘out of season’ and we came back with a couple of promising young horses so it was definitely worth the trip over.
 
 
 
A few of us from the Heythrop had a fun day with the Cottesmore Hunt in Leicestershire – see Wallaby (Wally) below popping the post and rails before it was destroyed by the rest of the field! Wishing you all a Merry Christmas – we’re very much looking forward to the 2013 season!

It was an easy run down the Fosse Way for one of the last events of the season at Calmsden – a very relaxed venue set on hilly established turf that thankfully drains well. We were very pleased with Mr Harley Quin’s win (Harley – see below) a promising new ride for me who did a lovely test (27.5) and breezed round the BE100 cross-country track. The Equestrian Direct horses also went well in their sections and Teddy Bere III (Rolo) felt altogether more settled in his dressage test.

Mr Harley Quin (Harley) went on to complete his first novice at Norton Disney and Carole Mortimer’s Bold Impulse (Beau) finished 5th in his novice section.

The highlight of this month was our lovely weekend away (without the children!) to Richard and Rosemary Oliver’s beautiful home in Cyprus. It was a very welcome blast of sunshine and a good way of winding down at the end of the season.

I’ve been signed up as a field master for the Heythrop this season so as soon as we touched down it was back to the yard to get ready for cubbing. Noah and Florence also had their first day with the Heythrop at Lyneham, which involved crossing two fields and having a picnic by the water jump – sounds like a nice option to me!

It was a busy start to the month with the novice horses running at both Aston-le-Walls and Goring Heath over the same weekend. It was worth the effort though – Richard Oliver’s Sea Summer Bay (Paddy) won his section at Goring Heath with a 28, double clear. Paddy also came 4th in the novice at West Wilts the following week.

Bold Impulse (Beau) went well in his novice run at Aston and followed this up with a double clear at West Wilts. I was encouraged by Trealor’s (Theo) performance at both events in the BE100 although his improvement is not translating to the score sheet just yet.

Wallaby (Wally) had his first run in a while at West Wilts, and Sea Summer Bay (Paddy) continued to impress with another double clear and 2nd placing at Pontispool. Bold Impulse (Beau) also finished 9th in his novice section.

It was a busy day for Equestrian Direct’s horses at Moreton Morrell – Direct Courage (Courage) and Direct Puissance coming 3rd and 6th respectively. Teddy Berre III (Rolo) had encouraging moments despite a disappointing dressage mark and two down show jumping.

We had a fleeting trip to Ireland in between all the action, which was fun and useful for contacts. We brought back a nice young hunter to sell on and a pony for the children (still not sure how I got conned into this!).

With a couple more practice runs under our belts we set off for Osberton three day – Wallaby (Wally) and Sea Summer Bay (Paddy) running in the one star, Bold Impulse (Beau) in the Young Horse Championships and Direct Mission (Arden) in the two star.

The weekend started well with all the horses putting in smart tests. Wallaby (Wally) and Sea Summer Bay (Paddy) both jumped fantastic clears cross-country with just a few time faults (see Paddy’s XC picture below). Paddy who is relatively inexperienced at this level then went on to jump a brilliant clear in the show jumping. Wallaby (Wally) also jumped well and collected two points for his efforts.

A frustrating moment in the two star cost me a good placing with Direct Mission (Arden). Bold Impulse (Beau) had a slightly disappointing show jumping round, but a super clear cross-country was a nice way to finish off our first season together.

I was really pleased with all three horses at Hartpury CCI**. Kangasong (Joey) jumped double clear and Direct Mission (Arden) finished 15th – clear cross-country and just one pole rolled in the show jumping. After a disappointing start in the dressage Tickles had an unlucky 20 penalties cross-country but learnt from the experience and still finished well.

We had a busy weekend at Solihull – one of the first lower level events not to be cancelled with the recent wet weather. Ironically it was boiling hot! I had my first ride on Carole Mortimer’s lovely new horse Bold Impulse (Beau) – a smart test (25), one down and clear cross-country left him in 6th spot. Teddy Bere III (Rolo) jumped a nice double clear in the BE100. Trealoar (Theo), Dukono (Poof) and Equestrian Direct’s Direct Courage (Courage) also had educational rounds in the BE100. Sea Summer Bay (Paddy) had his first run for a while and despite being a bit rusty in the show jumping was back to form by the cross-country.

A trip up the M6 to Somerford Park proved worthwhile with both Direct Mission (Arden) and Tickles both notching up points in the intermediate. Wellington (which replaces Highclere in the eventing calendar) was also encouraging for both Tickles and Direct Mission (Arden), who finished 6th and 9th respectively. Kangasong (Joey) did a lovely test and jumped double clear in the advanced. Direct Courage (Courage) was the best of the BE100’s with a double clear and a 4th rosette.

 
Despite a glowing write up in this month’s Cotswold Life unfortunately Kangasong (Joey) was slightly off after his advanced run at Wellington so will be missing his CCI*** run this autumn. Another disappointment to add to a character-building season but we’re hoping he’ll come out even better for an enforced regroup this coming spring.

It’s been an inspiring couple of weeks watching Great Britain’s equestrian teams do so well at London 2012. We were lucky enough to have tickets to the final day of the 3-day at Greenwich Park and thoroughly enjoyed watching the eventers win their well-deserved silver medal. Watching Charlotte Dujardin (who teaches me) win her double Olympic gold was also pretty special.

Direct Mission’s (Arden) win at Bicton earlier in July in the Novice Regional Final (which qualified him for the Novice Championships) was really pleasing. Unfortunately as Gatcombe was cancelled he didn’t’ get to go this year but it’s nice to have back on form with a good qualification to carry forward.

With events a bit thin on the ground because of the wet it’s been difficult to keep the horses match fit. I took some of the youngsters (Dukono – Poof, Sea Summer Bay – Paddy and Treloar – Theo) to Dauntsey but used it as a combined training session to save their legs on the ground.

We were thrilled to welcome Alexandre from Forestier (saddle makers based in France) to the area for a few days. We did a number of yard visits to show off their beautiful tack and also got to practice our French, which I can confirm is pretty poor!

We also had a visit from Cotswold Life – they’re following me in the run up to this year’s Blenheim Horse Trails so keep a look out in next month’s magazine.