EVENTING IRELAND AMATEUR RIDERS TAKE ON BRITISH EVENTING ALDON 3 DAY EVENT. TEAM ALDON Caroline O’Leary and Balcarrig (Killian) Zoe Kavanagh and Castlekirk (Red) John Joe Grace and Mon Plaisir (Monty) Jane Grace and Push The Button (Henry) Aldon International, 23rd-27th October, the last event on the British Eventing calendar. Included are the 3 day long format classes (roads, tracks, steeplechase and cross-country) 3BE100 (qualifier for the Mitsubishi Grassroots Championships at Badminton Horse Trials) and 3BE100 Open. Caroline, Zoe and John Joe competed in the 3BE100 class; Jane competed in the 3BE100 Open section. We left Ireland on Wednesday morning in two vehicles, John Joe and Jane in one and Zoe and Caroline in Jane O’Flynn’s lorry, driven by Gordon Bryan. Due to a freak accident on the preceding Sunday, Jane O’Flynn was ruled out of action. Step forward Gordon, our Knight in shining armour, providing much banter and amusement along the way. Jane O’Flynn was only a phone call and text away throughout the weekend, and her guidance proved invaluable to us all. The dressage took place on Friday. Caroline, the first of our group to perform, produced an accurate, flowing and relaxed dressage test. It put her in 15th place overnight in a field of nearly 50. Few marks separated the whole class. Red and Monty were a little on the excitable side to produce their very best in this phase, they were ready for the next action-packed day! Jane and Henry’s test put them in 6th place at the end of day 1. Saturday was the day we had been most concerned about – none of us had taken on a long format 3 day event before. Checklist:- • Fitness • Maps of each phase, and walked • Time allowed for each phase • Equipment for 10 minute box • Starting times The cross-country course resulted in several eliminations for our competitors, so we were delighted to complete the challenging day with bouncing horses beneath us. Jane and John Joe were clear inside the time, Zoe had a couple of time penalties and Killian, full of running after the steeplechase phase, gave Caroline a small steering issue. Our horses passed the Sunday morning trot up and went forward to show jump in the main arena. Caroline and John Joe had 8 faults, and Zoe produced a foot perfect clear round to finish 18th. In the Open division, Jane had 4 faults and completed in a creditable 6th position. The organisers and officials at Aldon were so helpful and made us all feel very welcome, likewise all of our fellow competitors we met over the weekend. Sadly no Badminton qualifications this time, however, experience and enthusiasm gained in abundance for the next time! See the report and photo printed in this weeks Irish Field :)
Posted on: Sun, 16 Nov 2014 21:29:44 +0000
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