Laura Collett

Isleham 2010
Laura took 3 horses to Isleham. Fernhill Cristal was 3rd place in the ON. Vancouver was 9th place in the IN. GI Master Caster was 12th place in the ON. Well done Laura, great start to the season.

15th March 2010 update
Laura has asked me to update you on her recent outings. Last week at home started with dressage lessons and a show jumping session later in the week. On Wednesday she took Vancouver and Jitterbug to The Hand Equestrian Centre to do some BSJA jumping. Both jumped very well and Jitterbug jumped double clears in the foxhunter and the newcomers and picked up 2 rosettes. Vancouver jumped double clear in the foxhunter and in the newcomers unluckily rolled a pole at the last fence, but Laura was pleased at his overall performance. The weekend has seen a busy few days at Tweseldown. On Friday Vancouver, GI Master Caster (Caster), Jitterbug, Fernhill Cristal (Cristal) and Noble Bestman (Steve) all performed. Cristal finished fourth on 35.9 penalties having added 4.4 time faults to his very good dressage. He will go to his first open intermediate trial at Lincoln on Saturday, along with Vancouver and Ginger May Killinghusrst. Vancouver finished just behind Cristal in fifth on a score of 38.1, having rolled one pole in the show jumping. Caster finished just out of the money in 13th, having decided to run him slower cross country and just let him settle into a good rhythm. Jitterbug had her first outing in 18 months and was extremely lively in the dressage which marred her faultless jumping display, however we’re not too worried as her next outing is at The British Open in Birmingham. Steve just had his dressage and returned on Saturday to do the jumping phases. On Saturday we returned with Noble Bestman (Steve) and Royal Hilarity (Hills). Steve just needed to jump, which he did superbly and did a lovely double clear. However this was a very long drawn out day due to a delay at the event. Luckily the organisers coped brilliantly and were extremely helpful and managed t o run the whole day’s competition except one section, by some small miracle! Hills also on his first outing of the season was extremely fresh in the warm up for the dressage and managed some beautiful acrobatic manoeuvres, shame they are not required! In the arena he did settle slightly and managed to score 32, despite being tense. This was followed by a double clear to finish 7th. On Sunday saw a return to the event too, and the lorry now knows its own way there!!

Laura's news!
Life at Membury has been a little busy of late. We went to Gatcombe Park for two days, on the first day I took my new ride Eliza Sangsters Mere Oak (Jambi) to do the novice. He did a lovely test despite being a little ring rusty and scored 28.1. This was followed by 4 faults in the showjumping, he had jumped a flawless round until we got to the last upright when he took his eye off the fence and took the top rail with him. He jumped a super round across the country to finish the day and collected 2.4 time faults but i was delighted with his first run with me. This left us in first place less than one penalty infront. Not a bad start! Uno di Landro (Landro) was having his first novice run the year and scored a very impressive 19.5 in the dressage, followed by one down show jumpimg. I took hime slowly cross country in order for him to read the fences himself and enjoy the whole experience. He jumped brilliantly and came home with 16 time faults. A very encouraging result for him and I am looking forward to his next few outings. Then on Sunday we headed back with Vancouver who had a late entry in the OI. He did a goods dressage to score 34.1 followed by a not so good appearance in the show jumping. He stopped in the middle part of the treble, having landed very short and unable to make the distance. Luckily he came round again and popped over it second time round. This resulted in 19 faults but he followed up his misdameanor with a faultless round across the country. He is heading to his first CIC** at Burnham Market at the weekend. During the week, I had a jumping session with Yogi at Boomerang. I find a change in venue helps to keep the horses fresh and looking for new things. Then on Wednesday I headed to Somerley Park with GI Master Caster (Caster) and Noble Bestman (Steve). I couldn't quite believe they were running after all the torrential rain we had had over the previous few days. Needless to say we were towed in, albeit backwards!! Both horses tried their best in the dressage, getting stuck in the mud occasionally and scored perfectly reasonable marks. Against all the odds they both jumped super clear rounds in the jumping but when I went cross country on Caster he appeared to dislike the going and slipped into a fence badly so I pulled him up. There will always be another day. So I then decided not to run Steve as his next outing is at the NEC doing a working hunter class! The week ended with a long drive to Burnham Market with four horses on board. The Lochore family did a fantastic job with the ground and keeping the event going. I had Fernhill Cristal, Vancouver and Ginger May Killinghurst in the CIC** and Mere Oak in the intermediate. Quite a luxery of four horses over three days! Mere Oak was a winner in the intermediate having scored 32.3 in the dressage and then jumped a double clear with a few time faults. He has yet to blot his copybook and is the main yard winner so far! Cristal did a good test depite being very tense in the wind and did not enjoy my tails flapping around on his back! He too jumped a super double clear and came third in his first attempt at this level. Ginger did a good accurate test to score 45.8 just behind the leaders. Her jumping is improving all the time and despite two down I was happy with her overall performance in the ring. Cross country was awesome, but we had a slight miscommunication coming out of the water and she locked onto the advance fence, and when I said no, she argued and dropped her head and by that point we had gone past my intermediate fence. Whoops!! However it is still a learning curve for me with her and I am very priviledged to ride such an amazing cross country horse. Vancouver did a good dressage to score 48. However he picked up a stone bruise and so was not presented at trot up on Friday morning so sadly had to be withdrawn. Typically as with horses he was right as rain come Saturday morning, but it was obviously not meant to be. A long way to go for an expensive dressage test!! The week ahead is fairly hectic as I have been invited to the NEC to take part in the Eventers Challenge on Thursday evening with Jitterbug and also the Saturday I return with Noble Bestman for the Working Hunter class. During all this I am also competiting at Weston Park with a couple of horses. We are still trying to sort out the logistics of the whole operation!! At home things are going well and I'm pleased to say Hunters Legend has been coming over for me to ride, I hope to be out eventing on him soon. Also I have been given the ride on Nicky Betteridge's My Mexico. He will have his first run with me at Sapey.

June update
Round Up from the last few weeks….. Sorry for the delay in reporting on our activities in recent weeks, life at Membury has been hectic. We returned yesterday from a successful week in Scotland at Burgie. Minimee and Noble Bestman were both second in their respective classes. Fernhill Cristal was fourth in the CCI**, so he now has his qualifications for three star either next year or at the ends of this year. But more importantly he has been added to the Young Rider shortlist for 2010, the championships are in the Czech Republic at the end of July so fingers crossed we make the cut! Unfortunately I had a fall from Mere Oak in the same class but we are both ok and he will now run in a few novices in the coming weeks to boost his confidence, before possibly going to Hartpury CCI** in august. At the end of May we left for Ireland with Mere oak and Fernhill Cristal to do the under 25 CCI**. It started out a good week with them lying in first and second after dressage but sadly the week ended with them both falling at the same fence cross country, the water. Seemingly they both misread the question being asked. Luckily they were both unscathed and have come out of it with no long lasting effects, just made the journey home a long way! After a quick turnaround we left for Bramham with Ginger May Killinghurst and Rayef. We also had Jitterbug to do some BSJA classes up there and the mix and match. Ginger was a star in the dressage and headed the Young Rider class, sadly we were held cross country in front of the influential double of corners complex. When we restarted she was keen to get to the fence and jumped strongly over it and I struggled to turn her to the second part, so we ran past it, when represented she popped over it. So I just cruised home with her and collected some time faults and the annoying 20 penalties, but we had jumped round our first three star track together so I was happy enough. Amazingly she came out on Sunday morning looking really well and went on to jump a clear round show jumping which is normally her Achilles heel! Mean while Rayef had done a very good dressage to lie second in the CIC***. He had one show jump down but I was very happy with him as it was his first outing since Europeans in September last year. He was subsequently withdrawn as the ground was on the firm side and I am protecting him and his legs for the future. His main aim is Badminton 2011 so he will have minimal outings this year. Jitterbug was fourth in the mix and match and a good result for her as we jumped into the water over the three star fence, more than she has done before. Meanwhile at home things have been ticking along and it was the turn for the novices to have an outing before I left again. We took Minimee, My Mexico and GI Master Caster to Great Tew. Another good day out with rosettes being collected for second and third. We then left for Scotland after a manic turnaround…..

TEAM GBR
Laura Collett has been selected for Young Rider Europeans this year being held in the Czech Republic. She will ride Fernhill Cristal owned by Philip and Sarah Walker. Massive congratulations to Laura and her team! Maxavita are very proud to working with such a talented young rider.