We have reached the end of yet another year and the last six weeks were jammed packed with Equitana, Adelaide and the inaugural 'Eventing in the Park' in Perth.
It was Sydney’s turn to hold Equitana this year at Homebush. Stuart was invited to be the course designer for the Express Eventing so he was on foot and not horse back. The course was co-designed by John Vallance and it managed to test the riders with the use of two arenas. Stuart and Karen were on the CopRice and Hidez Stands, which kept them busy over three days.
Stuart meets some fans at Equitana
It was then time to leave for the 2-day trip over to Adelaide where Pluto Mio and Sydney contested the CCI**** and Annapurna was in the CCI**. It all seemed to be falling into place with the Pittard’s Pluto Mio and Annapurna both leading their classes after the cross country day; Annapurna finished in 2nd place after having an unlucky rail and Pluto finished in 5th after having two rails (not sure how by the amount of air he gave them which can be seen in the picture below) and it was great to have John and Jane, their owners, in attendance. Our own horse Sydney however struggled with the collection in the dressage so, as he was placed at the lower end of the field, we decided not to run him and risk injury and save him for another day. Channel 7 will be showing the event on TV on New Year’s Day so make sure you tune in.
Equestrian Australia organised a Gilbert Bockmann Show Jumping Clinic, which Stuart attended on Lansina and Queen Mary – Gilbert made the comment that he wanted to take Queen Mary back with him to Germany as he liked her so much, which is always nice to hear.
It was great timing for the clinic as it was the Sydney Show Jumping Classic that following weekend. Over the two days of jumping War Hawk, Lansina and Queen Mary were ridden by Stuart, Gossip Girl was ridden by Jaymee and Sydney was competed (now ridden by Gemma). The stars of the show were War Hawk and Queen Mary with the only clear rounds.
The last event of the season was all the way over in Western Australia at the inaugural 'Eventing in the Park' in Perth. Stuart was invited to ride and was kindly loaned a horse called Max Almighty, owned by the Pither family. The event was a fantastic addition to the calendar with lots of corporate tents, everyone dressing up and the winner getting a car as first prize. Stuart unfortunately missed out on the car by 0.02 of a second – which I think Gemma was upset about as she was hoping to drive it back across the Nullarbor now that she is on her L plates!! It was a wonderful event.
So close but we missed out on the car!
We welcomed Carlchen Exklusive to Tinney Eventing recently - he is the horse that Karen bought when she was in Germany. He has settled in well and we look forward to getting him out and about in 2014. An early Christmas present also arrived as we took delivery of our very smart Logan Float. Watch this space, as our trusted Guardor float will be for sale in the New Year.
Make sure you visit our Face book page (Tinney Eventing) to keep you updated with pictures and news of what is happening at Tinney Eventing in 2014.
We’re already planning for next year we have got our list of clinic dates ready to go, so contact us for more information.
We could not have made it through the year without so many people, especially all of our wonderful owners – John & Jane Pittard, Kathy Ward & Pete O’Connell, Tim Game, Corinna and Darren Huskinson and Susie Clapton. Also thank you to our amazing Sponsors CopRice, Bates, Horseland, NatureVet/CEVA, Hidez, Ecomist and Kingsland as well as the veterinary team at Agnes Banks and Brett Hudson our talented farrier and not forgetting too all the grooms, working students and Peter for all tireless efforts throughout the year.
All the best for Christmas and see you next year
Stuart, Karen and all at Tinney Eventing
