We had a relatively quiet weekend at Strathallan with only three horses running, 2 on the Saturday, then Inish on his own on the Sunday. Inish was the star of the two days and despite a small class for the 4yo qualifier, he performed well to lead the dressage,have an unlucky fence down in the showjumping, then go clear round the xc, resulting in a win by just one mark. He came home super confident and really felt like he had enjoyed the experience, so now may head down to the Championships which are held at Osberton at the end of September.
Wattie was entered in the 5yo qualifier, which was a competitive class in which he was up against (amongst others),the horse who stood second to him at Burgie in the Burghley young event horse class. This time the tables were turned, and whilst Annabel Salls horse Nordic Diamond Dan remained calm and composed, Wattie was extremely lit up in the dressage and was way off the pace from the start. This said though, our main aim was for a more consistent performance in the jumping after a disappointing outing at Eglinton, which he duly produced. A lovely double clear ended in 8th place, though sadly not good enough for a qualifying place.
Rare Hero was also having his first outing since the CIC* at Burgie and was in great form. He managed to contain himself in the dressage as much as he could, but we were no where near the leader Ruth Edge on 24.6. Ruth had a spectacular weekend winning all four of her classes entered by a huge margin, the rest of us were left trailing in her wake..! Jock rolled a pole in the showjumping but the popped round the xc for a good schooling round and now looks to find another outing after the excitements of Blair and Burghley.