The 2015 spring hunter trials season began in earnest with bumper entries supporting Foresterseat’s charity competition.
With competitor numbers capped at 250 horse-and-rider combinations, organiser Sue Cheape who hosts the contest alongside her husband Ewan on their farm near Glenfarg said she was thrilled that the proceeds of the competition and a raffle raised £2,300 for the Royal Highland Education Trust.
The charity is geared towards taking the classroom to the countryside and giving every child in Scotland the opportunity to learn about food and farming.
Changes and improvements to the course, designed by Sue and built by Colin Campbell and John Robertson, were well received.
Kicking off the proceedings, both the winners of the open sections had returned to Foresterseat to go one-better than the second places they achieved in previous years.
Stopping the clock bang on the optimum time of the cross country, 22-year-old full-time groom Caitlin Wood, from Pittenweem, was the first to collect a red rosette by nailing the senior open win.
She topped the class on Paradox, owned by Lady Diana Lindsay.
“I’ve worked as a groom at Lahill, for Lady Lindsay, for the past four years and Paradox has always been a favourite of mine. I love my job,” said Caitlin.
Although many horses are just taking the first steps of their season, this 17-year-old Dutch warmblood by Caritas is headed towards his summer break following a full winter with Fife Foxhounds.
“He was feeling very fit and ready for the hunter trial,” said Caitlin.
“He would have happily gone around several more times.”
Proving himself bold and very competitive Paradox previously won the hunt race at Balcarres with Caitlin last year, and on their last outing to Foresterseat was narrowly pipped into a second placing.
Prior to this, Lady Lindsay had intended to event Paradox herself at BE90 level at Balcarres, in 2012, only to be denied by the weather.
“The event has such a fun, friendly atmosphere about it,” Caitlin reflected on Foresterseat.
“The course also jumped amazingly, with the jumps all beautifully built, and the ground conditions were perfect.”
Nicknamed ‘Naughty’ at Lahill, Paradox is a firm favourite of many. “He’s always up to no good and often unties himself and the other horses on the yard.”
Caitlin said spending the winter hunting has definitely helped with cross country. “There’s plenty of big solid walls and hedges that you encounter when you’re hunting that really help you to build trust in your horse.
“It also helps as the cross country fences don’t look anywhere as big in comparison,” she added.
With a new addition to her own herd following the purchase of a new mare called Melody Caitlin hopes to be able to get out to more competitions throughout the summer, when time allows.
“My dream is to event, eventually,” she added.
The junior open class win went to Fife Hunt Pony Club member Pollyanna Smith and her consistent 12-year-old 14hh Connemara gelding Cookie.
A jack of all trades and a mother-daughter share within the family, Cookie has proved himself the ultimate all-round pony.
“It was brilliant fun,” explained Pollyanna, 13. “The course rode really well.”
She said new fences sited early in the course were encouraging: “That was followed by some really tricky, technical ones including skinny shark’s teeth before a nice big gallop up the hill.”
From there, a new loop in the course, which allowed the track to stray into a different field for the first time, helped the fences to flow towards the challenge of the water complex.
“Huge credit has to go to Sue and her team for such a busy, well-run event,” added Pollyanna’s mother Laura.
“The course really was beautifully presented.”
Last season Pollyanna a pupil at Dollar Academy came full circle after both beginning and ending her hunter trials season with wins at Craigie and Kinnaird.
Amid the enjoyment she gets out of cross country, Pollyanna also focused on working hunter classes, achieving a sixth place at the Royal Highland Show last year.
To get into gear for 2015 she took Cookie to some unaffiliated dressage and showjumping over the winter.
“It’s made a big difference to have Howe back on our doorstep,” said Laura.
At the indoor facility Cookie and Pollyanna took second place in the 90cm during the FHPC New Year jumping competition and were also fifth in the 1m class as part of the team for the Sprot Cup.
They will shortly make their British Eventing debut together at Eden Valley.
Also gearing up for the event season, Perthshire rider Liz Fincher and her striking dun Connemara pony Ivor picked up where they left off last season with a win in the adult intermediate section.
Ivor, a son of Slaney, which was bred out of Sheeba’s Last and is a full Connemara, has proved highly versatile for Liz.
Reflecting on a recent run of success including a grand slam of class wins across the Power X competitions at Inchcoonans that provided them with the open winter league title Liz said: “Ivor’s feeling just great at the moment.”
Although they hadn’t made it out cross country schooling ahead of the contest, Liz said both she and Ivor were keen to get going.
“He was really happy to be there,” she said of the rising 14-year-old gelding, also known as Slaney’s Last or Big Gunns which she has now owned for around three years.
“I was delighted with his clear round. That’s all I really set out wanting to achieve,” said Liz, who works for law firm McCash & Hunter.
“Winning was a bonus,” she added.
Praising the track at Foresterseat, Liz said: “It’s a lovely course which is well laid out on a mix of terrain.
“It has a wonderful selection jumps,” she added.
The partnership now heads to the Gleneagles spring hunter trials fixture this weekend in preparation for early season BE runs at Dalkeith and Kirrie.
Last season they knocked on the door of the top prizes at many of the Central Scottish hunter trials finishing fourth at Gleneagles, Foresterseat and Craigie, before ending the season with a win at Strathearn.
In the first of the senior novice sections, Angus rider Gillian Fotheringham began Dunleer Dixie’s education away from the racetrack with a top score win.
Dixie, a rising seven-year-old bay gelding sired by Erhaab and bred by his owner Leslie Dick out of Andaleer raced over hurdles until October last year.
He had been trained locally to Glenfarg, at Duncrievie, by Lucy Normile.
Dixie has been with Gillian since November.
She said: “He wasn’t really enjoying racing, so his owners fancied giving him something else to do.”
The pick-a-fence at Foresterseat was their first competition together.
“I’m really looking forward to the year ahead,” said Gillian.
“The course at Foresterseat, as usual, was really well presented,” said Gillian, who also collected a steady sixth place with Ruth McLean’s Appaloosa gelding Capital Quinn in the open class after “forgetting to let off his handbrake”.
“Dixie got a little excited at the start but, once he was on his way, he enjoyed the scenery as much as the jumping,” she said.
She now hopes to fill Dixie’s calendar with some Retraining of Racehorse show classes, as well as providing him with the opportunity to get an all-round riding club education.
The second of the senior novice sections was topped by Callie Herd, riding Master-Jo.
equestrian@thecourier.co.ukResults
Senior open: 1 Caitlin Wood, Paradox; 2 Bea Munro, Newt; 3 Andrew Malcolm, Diamond Sam; 4 Lyndsay Combe, Chinook; 5 Claire Fraser, Nemo; 6 Gillian Fotheringham, Capital Quinn.
Junior open: 1 Pollyanna Smith, Cookie; 2 Hanna Cheape, Hob Nob; 3 Douglas Crawford, Pocket Rocket; 4 Sally Mair, Merlin; 5 Lisa Garrett, Rusticana; 6 Lucy Miller-Todd, Nantymynydd Euros.
Senior intermediate: 1 Liz Fincher, Ivor; 2 Jen Burnett, Harvey; 3 Rose Cartwright, Greno in the Pink; 4 Zoe Guild, Rubix; 5 Emma Lyle, Birr; 6 Louise Doherty, Corky.
Junior intermediate: 1 Anna Casasola, Just Dennis II; 2 Laura Ralston, Bobby Blue Eyes; 3 Cara Tonkin, Lefeva; 4 Luke Burnett, Jasper; 5 Judy Ralston, Deerpark Rebel; 6 Debbie McGregor, Megajackpot.
Senior novice (section a): 1 Gillian Fotheringham, Dunleer Dixie; 2 Lorna McElhaney, Cool Running; 3 Laura Chaffe, Calora Hills Hero; 4 Stacey Penman, Marlo; 5 Susan Kirkwood, Cianti; 6 Erica Double, Sheans Paddy.
Senior novice (section b): 1 Callie Herd, Master-Jo; 2 Lisa Murray, Shanghai Missy; 3 Lauren Burnett, Tigger; 4 Natalie McLintock, Mr Darcy; 5 Debarah Law, Hot & Spicey; 6 Isla Thomson, Mortistico.
Junior novice: 1 Flora Wilson, Pippin; 2 Jenny Holdsworth, Millie; 3 Megan McLaren, Sunset Clover; 4 Daisy Cross, Whimby; 5 Anna Thomson, Gracie; 6 Georgia Laurie, Glenmorangie.
Senior nursery novice: 1 Anne-Marie Greer, Ballynew Kyle’s Twin Cascade; 2 Corinna Vincent, Widget; 3 Katie McGregor, Fogas Adare; 4 Grace O’Keeffe, Jason; 5 Paige Gilchrist, Lola; 6 Rebecca Bond, Peggy Sioux.
Junior nursery novice: 1 Colette Swinley, Shiloh; 2 Sarah Broadhurst, Muffin; 3 Isla Meg Skene, Golly Gosh II; 4 Mary Crair, Dobbie; 5 Ben Smallwood, JJ; 6 Hugh Nichols, Miss Hazel.
Senior beginner: 1 Sharon Ross, Cody; 2 Sammy Wake, Spiral; 3 Leona Owen, Arrow.
Junior beginner: 1 Kieran Larder, Katie; 2 Jessica Garnett, Brad; 3 Georgina Haywood, Loner; 4 Teigan Cameron, Fraggle Rock; 5 Emilia Faulkner, Queen of Jazz; 6 Gabi Farquharson, Silvercraig Sundown.