Saskia's Festival Report!
11th June
Ciara, Lisa, Orlaith and Saskia plus horses, tents/vans and Grooms (Paul, Ivan,the Frawley’s and John) arrived in Stradbally. Horses were stabled, vans were parked, Tents were erected and in the case of the Frawleys, the sheets were turned down on their comfy hotel beds. Yet again, Ciara and Paul’s tent proved a challenge; let’s hope by next year they get the hang of it!
John and Paul volunteered to undertake the mammoth task of heading into town to hunt/gather some of the necessities essential to life in the wilderness and to glean what information they could about important current affairs.
90 minutes, three pints and one bucking bronco routine late the travellers returned with a bag of ice and the important news France nil, Uruguay nil.
12th June
An early start for the Milestoners. Saskia and Shannon were first of the mark with a very convincing donkey impersonation in the Small Hunter, Section 1 (Shannon has picked a few things up from her new field Buddys). Surprisingly they were not placed despite debut groom; John’s best efforts with the magic Sponge. Ciara and Busby and her more experienced groom, Paul were up next in the Small Hunter, Section 2. Busby and Ciara put in a respectable performance and finished mid-way in a very large class.
Ciara and Busby and her growing team of grooms (Paul and John) were back in the showing ring again in the afternoon and achieved a well deserved 4th place in the Small Riding Horse.
In the intermediate jumping arena Lisa and Tommy and Saskia and Shannon both managed respectable rounds over what was an extremely tricky track (only 12 clears in the whole competition).
Orlaith and Dougal began their day beautifully by coming 1st in their section of the Advanced Primary Dressage and then finishing 5th in the final. The winning streak continued with a 5th place in the Performance Hunter.
However, the most impressive performance of the day had to be Lisa who had the difficult job of doing call-up for the intermediate jumping for the afternoon. Lisa managed to remain calm and organised despite the tears and the temper tantrums (and that was just the horses) and kept the competition moving.
The day was concluded with a trip to the pub, a Chinese takeaway, the England /USA match, a camp fire and a long discussion over whether Rooney lived up to the hype and that first fence in the show jumping.
13th June
Everybody was a little tired and in the case of the campers, a little smelly, at this stage.
Ciara, who had spent most of the night defending our campsite from a sheep invasion, made her Stradbally exit early on in the day with her Green Rosette fluttering in the Breeze.
It was Prix Caprilli and Working Hunter for Saskia and Shannon. Both horse and rider were tired but behaved well.
On the other hand, Orlaith and Dougal had clearly slept well and added two more ribbons to their collection with a 6th in the Prix Caprilli and a Clear Round rosette.
Lisa and Tommy started the day with a clear in the Intermediate Power and Speed. Lisa’s last competition was the Performance Ex Racehorse. Lisa and Tommy had come third in this event at last years festival when they competed in the pouring rain however despite the similar weather conditions and a clear jumping round, the pair did not make it into the ribbons this year.
Overall it was a good year for the Milestone Lodgers at the festival with a total tally of 6 rosettes’ (Well done Orlaith, Dougal, Ciara and Busby) and already there are big plans afoot for next year (Musical Ride).
Ciara, Lisa, Orlaith and Saskia plus horses, tents/vans and Grooms (Paul, Ivan,the Frawley’s and John) arrived in Stradbally. Horses were stabled, vans were parked, Tents were erected and in the case of the Frawleys, the sheets were turned down on their comfy hotel beds. Yet again, Ciara and Paul’s tent proved a challenge; let’s hope by next year they get the hang of it!
John and Paul volunteered to undertake the mammoth task of heading into town to hunt/gather some of the necessities essential to life in the wilderness and to glean what information they could about important current affairs.
90 minutes, three pints and one bucking bronco routine late the travellers returned with a bag of ice and the important news France nil, Uruguay nil.
12th June
An early start for the Milestoners. Saskia and Shannon were first of the mark with a very convincing donkey impersonation in the Small Hunter, Section 1 (Shannon has picked a few things up from her new field Buddys). Surprisingly they were not placed despite debut groom; John’s best efforts with the magic Sponge. Ciara and Busby and her more experienced groom, Paul were up next in the Small Hunter, Section 2. Busby and Ciara put in a respectable performance and finished mid-way in a very large class.
Ciara and Busby and her growing team of grooms (Paul and John) were back in the showing ring again in the afternoon and achieved a well deserved 4th place in the Small Riding Horse.
In the intermediate jumping arena Lisa and Tommy and Saskia and Shannon both managed respectable rounds over what was an extremely tricky track (only 12 clears in the whole competition).
Orlaith and Dougal began their day beautifully by coming 1st in their section of the Advanced Primary Dressage and then finishing 5th in the final. The winning streak continued with a 5th place in the Performance Hunter.
However, the most impressive performance of the day had to be Lisa who had the difficult job of doing call-up for the intermediate jumping for the afternoon. Lisa managed to remain calm and organised despite the tears and the temper tantrums (and that was just the horses) and kept the competition moving.
The day was concluded with a trip to the pub, a Chinese takeaway, the England /USA match, a camp fire and a long discussion over whether Rooney lived up to the hype and that first fence in the show jumping.
13th June
Everybody was a little tired and in the case of the campers, a little smelly, at this stage.
Ciara, who had spent most of the night defending our campsite from a sheep invasion, made her Stradbally exit early on in the day with her Green Rosette fluttering in the Breeze.
It was Prix Caprilli and Working Hunter for Saskia and Shannon. Both horse and rider were tired but behaved well.
On the other hand, Orlaith and Dougal had clearly slept well and added two more ribbons to their collection with a 6th in the Prix Caprilli and a Clear Round rosette.
Lisa and Tommy started the day with a clear in the Intermediate Power and Speed. Lisa’s last competition was the Performance Ex Racehorse. Lisa and Tommy had come third in this event at last years festival when they competed in the pouring rain however despite the similar weather conditions and a clear jumping round, the pair did not make it into the ribbons this year.
Overall it was a good year for the Milestone Lodgers at the festival with a total tally of 6 rosettes’ (Well done Orlaith, Dougal, Ciara and Busby) and already there are big plans afoot for next year (Musical Ride).