Fontainebleau was amazing! We arrived at the showground Wednesday afternoon having stabled two days at the "Hippodrome de la Solle" less than 10mins away. Perfect stables, perfect parking.... perfect timing.
There was a warm up class on the Grand Parquet (main arena) Thursday afternoon, whereby you could essentially jump whatever you wanted within the time frame of 90 seconds. I decided to just stroll around the ring and let Merlin have a good canter around it, there was no need to jump after the last two shows and he was certainly in great spirits with nothing but grass around him!
FRIDAY 24th June 2011
1m50 Rolex Ranking GP Qualifer 30,000€: Jump Off Class
We were double clear!!! 9th place overall
There were 73 riders on the startlist and my oh my what a collection of riders and horses - the top of the top all the way. Only 23 would qualify for the GP that day, there were 26clears after the first round so needless to say, I was absolutely thrilled with our 9th place.
Result List:
http://www.worldsporttiming.com/contenu/documents/0001_003118.pdf
I decided to give the big man a break on the Saturday as we were already qualified for the GP - good job too as the heat was really taking a lot out of them.
SUNDAY 26th June 2011
Grand Prix 1m55/60 120,000€ CSI4
It must have been over 30degrees that day, I had merlin out and about for some light exercise bright and early to avoid the crowds and flies. Only 40 riders in total qualified for the Grand Prix plus 3 that were pre-qualified (Kevin Staut, Eric Navet, Philippe Le Jeune). Walking the course I felt I needed to step back for a minute just to take it all in: this would be the toughest class we'd done all year with the highest prize money and level of riders. 18th to go in the class and we had a fence down after the triple combination - I think I just moved him up a gear and ended up too forward to the fence. Such a pity, we were 17th anyhow and I couldnt be happier. We certainly held our own against the competition, and the buzz from riding in that ring with that crowd will keep me going for while.
Result List:
http://www.worldsporttiming.com/contenu/documents/0001_003166.pdf
Check out the video from the Grand Prix above.
The lorry arrived at Ballylawn early this morning - boys are home safe and sound. Next up Francis will taking Heracross to the Premier League shows in Omagh and Blessington to try to qualify for Dublin Horse Show. Merlin will have a two week vacation in the fields and then I hope to take him to the CSI4 in La Coruna (Spain) - still hoping on an invitation. In the meantime will get cracking on Clear CC to see if she will be ready for Lanaken this year.
Will keep you posted as always :-)
