BSPS Summer Championships

MONDAY 

As we arrived on the showground in a fleet of lorries, we were wondering what the new venue would bring and we were not disappointed. Sorting out all our stables took ages. Thanks to everyone who helped, all hands on deck made the afternoon go much quicker, well that and a few glasses of Pimms. Setting up camp - not quite as glamorous as our RIHS camp, but in the rainy conditions that evening it made no odds as we all moved indoors. Lisa Jackson - team caterer for the evening made a fabulous Chilli, Rice and Nachos - no mean feat for nearly 40! Precedence was set for the rest of the weeks cooks to follow! Claire and Laura entertained us with Andy Cooks carriage outfits  that they temporarily borrowed- Sorry Andy but it was funny! Serious winds on Monday night ripped our canopy off the side of our wagon. Unfortunately no picture of it, as at that point we weren't excatly laughing about it!

TUESDAY

Tuesday dawned and we work rode all the ponies and prepared for the Young Judges competition. Charlotte with her 14 Show Hunter Pony and Cerys with her 13h Show Hunter Pony, both agreed to be the guinea pigs and the whole team went down to the side of the ring to support them while they tried to navigate their way through a sea of young judges, trying not to take any of them out.

Tuesday evening saw the first camp meeting, plans were laid for Wednesday and everyone went off with their own little lists. Team caterers for evening were Mandy and Maggie, who despite consuming several bottles of wine whilst preparng their feast conjured up a full roast beef dinner for us all, with a little help from Keith too. A great meal washed down with several bottles of Pinot Grigio and some Mamma Mia, found Sally with her leg stuck in the slats on the bed and Amanda head first in the cab!

WEDNESDAY 

Wednesday arrived - now for the serious stuff! We had a brillant day - taking 1st in 3 HOYS qualifiers - Emma Jackson on Highmead Sheer Chance her 14.2 Show Pony was first in the ring in the HOYS class, but there was no pressure as she has already qualified. However Jimmy went beautifully and won the class proving his worth as a HOYS contendor. Next, keeping up the momentum was Chloe Renshaw-Smith on Chaseford Aloof, they had already qualified, although her Mum hadn't been there to see her do it first time. However she won again today, this time Karen was firmly at the ringside. Strike 2!

Caitlin Galbraith on her Large Intermediate - The Perfect Gent then went into the ring for her last opportunity to qualify for HOYS. Caitlin spends so much time work riding for everyone else that we were hoping she may qualify today but Pete is only a young horse and we all wanted to be realistic. Caitlin's Mum Lisa called to say 'I think Caitlin has won, or maybe they are doing it in reverse order and she is last' However she had won and qualified for HOYS, making her the 26th combination on the team to be heading to the NEC!! Well Done Caitlin and Big Pete!

Nearly everyone who went into the ring on Wednesday came out with a rosette - quite an acheivement at the Summer Champs.

Cerys Wyn Jone and Rivenhall Height of Fashion were 3rd in the Novice 128cms Show Pony, while Julie leading Pendock Jade was 4th in the HOYS M&M Lead Rein class with Amelia Newby. A run of 5ths now hanging up in the tack room - Breamish Julian and Archie Manners 5th in the Heritage Lead Rein, Rhos Elise and Poppy Duncalf 5th in the Novice 138cms Show Pony, Dykes Diplomead and Poppy Duncalf 5th in the Heritage First Ridden and Tidesbrook Oliver Twist and Marissa Haddon 5th in the HOYS 128cms Show Pony.  Caitlin then partnered her Novice Small Intermediate Show Riding Type - Giselle of Brynoffa in a huge class and came 8th - not bad going for only her 3rd outing in the ring. All the ponies tucked up in their stables, off to camp for our nightly meeting (slightly rowdier than last night) and a few glasses of champagne to toast the day and the qualification. Kati Choynowski was the evenings chef and she arrived in camp looking very tanned after only having just returned from 2 weeks away. As she had been away she had missed menu planning and oops - Roast Beef dinner for a second night. With Marie and Keith helping Kati serve a feast was delivered to the table, there is still half a cow in our outside fridge! The most amazing Dauphionse potatoes we had ever tasted left us fighting over the leftovers! A little bit more Mamma Mia and a few bottles of wine and a slightly earlier bed.....

THURSDAY

Blue Riband day beckoned and we were to start on a roll again. We got 7 through to the second phase on Saturday - Poppy Duncalf riding Glenhuntly Hoity Toity 128cms Show Pony, Poppy Duncalf on Rhos Elise 138cms Show Pony, Alexa Choynowski on Fofsway Perdita in the SP First Ridden, Chloe Renshaw-Smith on Chaseford Aloof in the SP First Ridden, Emma Jackson on Thimbley Final Edition in the 14h Show Hunter Pony, Charlotte on Tamarind Fascination in the 14h Show Hunter Pony and finally Poppy Duncalf riding Annandale Darcy in the 122cms Show Hunter Pony class. What a morning!

Then followed a run of well placed 4ths - Caitlin rode Pete in the Young Intermediate Show Riding Type and came 4th, Alexandra Hollings and Parkhill First Edition were 4th in the 128cms Dennybeck and Waxwing Pastille ridden by Freddy Welford was 4th in the Heritage Tiny Tots LR.

A slight misunderstanding pursued at 12.30pm, when our Novice M&M Lead Rein - Polaris Unicorn, 4 years old and only been to 2 shows, owned by Alison and Tony Georgakis was meant to be entering the ring. Whilst we all tried to contact Julie who was sauntering up the stable lines - to inform her the class was going in, she told us that it was only 12.15 - well it was on her watch which was running 15min slow. Panic set in and Julie flew to the ring, looking as though she was trying out for the Olympic running squad, with Corney trotting beside her like a Welsh Section D.... They made it, jockey on board and Millie, Julie and Corney came 4th in a large and experienced class, which should stand him in good stead for next season. He is off home now for a well deserved holiday!

Keeping up the run of results in the afternoon, Poppy partnered Dykes Diplomead in the Novice M&M First Ridden class and won. Well Done Poppy. A jockey swap and Barney then went into the Novice M&M Open Small Breeds with Jessie on board and came 3rd. A very good afternoon for him.

Back to camp for the nightly meeting which again was noiser and took even longer than the previous evening. Many jokes being banded about the chefs for the evening - Marie & Louise possibly serving us Roast Dinner. However we sat down to meat and potato pie and mushy peas - mashed beautifully by Maries own fair hands! Several helpings later, a few glasses of wine and a little bit of dancing to gues what - Mamma Mia. Steven demonstrated some vital dance moves with Lisa Jackson and the result was one table less in camp!

FRIDAY

A lie in until 7am and off we went for Day 3. A mixed day of results but everyone gained a rosette and the ponies went well, even although they must have been beginning to think that the 3rd day of showing was a sick joke!

Alyshia Haddow and Strinesdale Distinction had a very good day with 5th in the 148cms Open Show Pony and 5th in the Part Bred Arab, this pair are really getting it together and looking to HOYS now. Poppy Duncalf was 4th in the Champion of Champions on Rhos Elise, then went onto take 5th in the Open 138cms Show Pony another consistent result for this baby pony in her first year competing. Rebecca Anderson and Parkhill Beckham did a lovely show in the Open 133cms Show Hunter Pony and finished a well deserved 3rd. Whilst in the 122cms Show Hunter Pony Annandale Darcy and Poppy Duncalf came up to win the class with a foot perfect show. Whilst Caitlin had finished her work riding,   she and her Mum decided to go hacking around the showground.

The tack room now brimming with rosettes, off we went to camp for our final meeting of the Champs 2008. Unfortunately it did not resemble a meeting at all and was adjourned after 2hours of story telling, jokes and toasting the teams successes with yet another Pimms. Julie Cook had an unfortunate choking fit with a packet of Pringles! Kirsty, Heather and Karen were the nominated cooks for the evening and with the children getting the hang of lining up for their dinner, the evening of Spaghetti Bologaise went down a treat. With rain coming down heavy at this point, we all retreated to the lorry for the evening. So much for an early night - a drawing competition then ensued (not your normal entertainment!) between Steven (with an Art degree!) and Fiona. Julie coordinated the evening, with 5 rounds and everyone voted in an X Factor style, not that we are all competitive! Fiona did win, even although Steven said she didn't. Here are two drawings of our chicken Derys - you can decide who actually won!!

SATURDAY

The last day and some very sleepy children and some even sleepier ponies!

However we were to go out with a Bang! Jessie Duncalf partnered Barney in the Red Division Premier League. She did a fabulous job and won her class then went onto take Champion - her place now booked in the evening performance. A little while later she again rode Barney, this time in the Champion of Champions and she was obviously on a roll as she won this class and took the double as she went Champion in this section too. Brill riding Jessie Well Done. She had just booked her second slot in the evening performance!!

Emma Jackson and Thimbley Final Edition had a great last day too, they also won their Red Division Premier League 143cms Show Hunter Pony section and then later in the day took 4th in the Blue Riband and 3rd in the Champion of Champions. Well done Emma, all that hard work paid off!

Not to be outdone by her sister, Poppy was determined that she was going to get into the evening performance with one of her rides. She was 8th on Rhos Elise in the Blue Riband Final, Ella was so tired she actually closed her eyes indoors in the line up. 4 days of showing had proved very tiring!! However Poppy was then to ride Annandale Darcy for Jenny and Stepahnie Leech in the Champion of Champions Show Hunter Pony which she went onto win. In the Championship Poppy knew she had to pull it out of the bag if she wanted to get indoors at night. And she did - Champion, she was now in the Champion of Champions final alongside her sister!

However Darcy's run of success was not to stop there - partnered by Tristan in the Lead Rein Pony of Show Hunter Type and faced with a barrage of obstacles, Tristan, Darcy and Julie finished off the day in style with a win and then Reserve Supreme in the Mini Premier League Red Division. Some super riding today Tristan Well Done!

Now Julie Cook was the nominated chef of the evening, however due to technical difficulties we all ended up taking over the tent outside the fish and chip van. The lady serving did think it was a joke when we ordered 21 fish and chips, 12 sausage suppers and 5 chicken nugget suppers. With our dinner in plastic trays and the Champagne flowing, we all had a lovely dinner - Wel done Julie CooK!

Off we all went to the evening performance. Jess and Barney were first in and did a brill job. They took Reserve Supreme in the Premier League Red Division. Both girls then went into the Champion of Champions Supreme a did a very good job. While they were not placed the whole team loved watching them in the ring that night. Well done to Julie Cook who took the Supreme Blue Riband title with her 148cms Show Pony- Valentinos Royal Touch!

Back to camp for some celebratory drinks and guess what a litte bit of Mamma Mia! (Never want to hear that CD again!) At 8 the next morning Amanda went back to sleep because she thought it was still dark due to the fact that she was still wearing Karens sunglasses from the night before!

The end of Champs 2008 - a great week was had by all. Thanks to the caterers - they had a mammoth task and the food was wonderful. Thanks to all the work riders - Emma, Duncan, Caitlin, Jess and Georgia - the ponies went beautifully and that is thanks to all your behind the scenes hard work. Thanks to Claire and Laura for endless mucking out, haying, watering and feeding. Thanks to Sally for 4 days of plaiting, we know your fingers must have aching by Saturday!

Thanks to the ponies for trying their hardest in the ring (mostly!) and for giving their riders such an enjoyable week. But most of all we want to Thank the Team as a whole for the fantastic team spirit amongst the children and the adults - our results are a credit to every person involved. BRING ON HOYS!!!!!!!!!!

 Our messages of Thanks.... (Thank you for them, they mean a lot!)