The Highs and Lows of Barbury Cross-Country

Sunday saw a great day of cross-country action at the Barbury International CIC ***. It was a very exciting format, scheduled in reverse order of go with the start list. Each rider's time was also in full display to the crowd, so they could see how close to the time each horse was.

Neville gallops in the rain at Barbury

 Neville  was early to go in the field. He ran during the only rain of the day, which did not bother him. He started out quite settled, for him, and was jumping well through the first third of the course. At the second water we jumped in awkwardly, landing flat-footed; we regrouped and kicked on for the final element, which we got to very deep. Poor old Nev caught his forearm, twisted, and I flicked off the side and got a taste of the English turf. Nev went on to gallop around the course for another 10 minutes.

Otis

 Otis was next out a couple of hours later.  He started out a little aggressive, 
but settled in after about 8 fences.  The further around the course he went the better he jumped.  I was very surprised to see that I was only 20 seconds slow as I 
approached the finish, as my plan was to go a little slower.  All in all, I was 
really happy with him all weekend.

One of the last to go for the day was Remington. The little guy set out well 
and jumped the course with ease. I tried to be economical on the turns to save a 
few seconds here and there and he finished well with 6 time penalties, which was 
good enough for 6th.  In hindsight our rail on Saturday was expensive, costing us 
the silver medal. It was great to have Ron and Densey here cheering him on.

The big vet check is today, with the team announcement tonight.  Fingers 
crossed.

Boyd