Hambleden International Horse Trials

Louis;  second event of the season was the CIC* at Hambleden International Horse Trials in Henley.
Hambleden is a beautiful event. The cross country course runs through acres of stunning bluebell woods and the entire venue is always immaculate.

The CIC* was held over two days, Louis was drawn to perfo his dressage test on Saturday afternoon in the sunshine.  We posted a leading score of 41.1 gaining lots of eights for his canter work and medium trot and even a nine from one judge for his canter trot canter transitions.

The show jumping was well built and colourful in an arena full of yellow dandelions. We went onto the cross country with four faults from the jumping so still in a very competitive position.
The cross country course had two water elements and many combinations up and down hill.
Unfortunately about forty minutes before we ran the heavens opened and the rain poured down.... which made the course EXTREMELY slippery. We flew round with minimal braking (as my reins were so wet and I was unable to grip them) but this also meant it was harder to ride for the time as when I would usually only slow down a fraction for a turn but instead I really had to pull up. We gained 4.8 time penalties and finished 5th, I was really pleased with the way Louis finished, he felt fit and could have gone on to do more.