CVI** Saumur - Easter 2004
We left for Saumur on Wednesday the 7th of April and caught the midnight ferry at Calais, we arrived at Saumur at 10am on Thursday and the horses jumped eagerly off the Lorry. Bowler knew where he was of course as it is his 6th visit and he feels very much at home there.
Lucy rode Tiny and I rode Bowler on the Friday morning before the vetting. Bowler felt like he was going to buck me off any minute but as usual was the perfect gentleman. We
got the horses ready for the trot up, Tiny first who showed the crowd a
clean pair of heels and then Bowler - the oldest horse in the competition -
who looked really superb next to a smiling Lucy.
We met up with all of Tiny and Bowlers vaulters and had a short training
session in the afternoon. The sun was shining.
Day two started early. Tiny was my first horse in with Pippa ( first
international competition ) and Karin B from Switzerland. Nerves got to Pip
a little and she messed up her stand, I was pleased with the rest of her
compulsories though. Bowler was next with my girls, Aska and then Philip.
They all went well.
Tiny then had to run in again, this time with Blake
Dahlgren (USA), Ararat (Spain) and Jon Blake (Arrow). They were all
pleased with themselves.
We all started to warm up for the freestyle and soon discovered
Lucy had injured herself, she was in agony by the time she had to vault and
Katherin Townsend tried very hard to ease the strain. By the end of the day
we finished with Sarah, Liz, Philip, Karin, Ararat, Blake and Jon going
through to the next round.
Aska finished with a very creditable 5.2 and we
were very proud of her. Lucy was disappointed with her final result but
considering the extent of her injury I was pleased. Katherin and the French
Physio were really helpful. Pippa redeamed herself with her freestyle and
has some lovely photos to remember her first CVI** by.
The sun was still shining and Nici took me upto the Castle for coffee and cake. (Heaven -
strawberries and cream ! )
Day three started with Tiny going in with Karin, she thought that was very easy ! They went much better and her compulsories were higher. Bowler followed three horses later and then Tiny nearly at the end as Ararat was lying in third place. We had a long break before the freestyles and could manage to watch the SEVT Team complete a very nice freestyle with Henry going beautifully. They finished second - on the podium at Saumur - with a very good score for the time of the year.
Karin's freestyle didnt go so well, but she tried her hard moves and they nearly paid off. Liz and Sarah both went well and Philip tried a new freestyle.
The girls finished 11th for Liz and 14th for Sarah , Joey Eccles did a super job with Henry and her dad lungeing and finished 9th. I think I'm right in saying we've never had so many vaulters through to the second round. All of the British Vaulters did really well. My sister and her husband who now live in France came to support us and watched all of the freestyles. The sun was still shining.
Philip finished 10th on Bowler , Jon Blake 12th on Tiny. Which leads me to the star of the show for us, who had to be Tiny. She was amazing with Ararat's freestyle. She worked so hard all weekend without moaning once. Katherin took great care to massage both of them on Saturday night and then helped Tiny survive Sunday.
Summary of Results
| CLASS | NAME | HORSE | LUNGER | SCORE |
| MALE | ||||
| 1 | Devon Maitozo (USA) | Abu Dhabi | Petra Reichelt | 8.211 |
| 2 | Kai Vorberg (Ger) | Picasso | Kirsen Graf | 7.954 |
| 3 | Ararat Martin (Spain) | Grateley Limelight | Julie McNally | 7.804 |
| 4 | Blake Dahlgren (USA) | Grateley Limelight | Julie McNally | 7.531 |
| 6 | Ronald Van Cronenburg (Hol) | Casanova | Elena Trockel | 7.237 |
| 10 | Philip Beasley (GB) | Bowler II | Julie McNally | 6.930 |
| 12 | Jon Blake (GB) | Grateley Limelight | Julie McNally | 6.602 |
| FEMALE | ||||
| 1 | Ines Juckstock (Ger) | Westpoint | Ruth Juckstock | 8.147 |
| 2 | Maud Bousignac-Dumont (Fra) | Brian Babiere | Alice Defremont | 7.808 |
| 3 | Sabrina Mettler (Swi) | Quirello Von Sax | Ursula Zosso | 7.579 |
| 9 | Joanne Eccles (GB) | WH Bentley | John Eccles | 7.198 |
| 11 | Elizabeth Watson (GB) | Bowler II | Julie McNally | 7.167 |
| 14 | Sarah Watson (GB) | Bowler II | Julie McNally | 6.993 |
| 16 | Karin Banholzer (Swi) | Grateley Limelight | Julie McNally | 6.817 |
| 21 | Ann Rogerson (GB) | Zigournay | Helen Rogerson | 6.635 |
| 23 | Lucy Bell (GB) | Bowler II | Julie McNally | 6.585 |
| 29 | Rosie Howard (GB) | Baroque | John Eccles | 6.259 |
| 33 | Pippa Capstick (GB) | Grateley Limelight | Julie McNally | 5.687 |
| 39 | Aska Inoue (Japan) | Bowler II | Julie McNally | 5.233 |
