It’s not often we have two shows in a weekend and we knew preparing nine ponies was always going to be a tough one.
Our Saturday morning the alarm was set for 3:00 am so we had enough time to sort out the animals and leave the yard by 4:30 am for the two and half hour journey to Heathfield Agricultural show in Sussex. Driving through pouring rain we had our fingers crossed, hoping that we wouldn’t find it cancelled when we arrived. Fortunately after the miserable start, the sun shined on us for most of the day.
Our showing started with Snelsmore Lalique winning the Mare class; getting off on the right foot. On Snelsmore Quaffle’s first appearance of this year, she won the Yearling class and went on to take Reserve Junior Champion, a magical day for her.
Snelsmore Orchid managed a second place in the two-to-three year-old class and finally Snelsmore Jasper finished the day nicely by winning the Stallion class, Miniature Champion and Reserved Supreme. The only down side to the day was poor Cliff and Jasper got a soaking during a thunderous down pour in the Grand Parade only for the sun to reappear as soon as the parade finished, typical! This wasn’t going to dampen our spirits though, we had a fantastic day; easy for me to say I suppose, I watched the last class from a nearby trade stand and was some what dryer.
The Downs Group Show was the second day of our busy weekend. After a later start, we set off for the beautiful setting of Buckhurst Park in Sussex, with a set of dry clothes and five different ponies. Our team today included Snelsmore Madonna and Snelsmore Mandrake as we were keen to support new classes for intermediate ponies.
With this only being Madonna’s third outing, we were very pleased when she floated around the ring and won her class, beating Cliff and Mandrake into second place. Snelsmore Quick Silver, our yearling colt, didn’t really behave at his best and came forth; no first place for naughty boys like him. Snelsmore Oasis did her job beautifully for such an inexperienced pony and won the two-and-three year-old filly class.
As the day drew to a close, it was Snelsmore Jacqueline’s turn to perform in a strong mare class. She kept the side up by taking home a first place rosette. In the Championship we were pleasantly surprised that Madonna went on to win the Miniature championship and continue to be Reserve Supreme Champion.
What a fantastic day, little did we realize there was still more to come. Tired but thrilled with our efforts. we got home in good time. We had left our son James on foal watch and arrived home to what seemed a fairly quiet scene. However, on opening the yard gates I notice Lucy Locket standing beside a new coloured foal. After we’d got over that shock, we then realised on closer inspection that Lullaby also had a foal that wasn’t with us that morning! Two beautiful filly foals bouncing around the field, all happy and healthy. What a great end to our day!
Two shows and a double trouble surprise
It’s not often we have two shows in a weekend and we knew preparing nine ponies was always going to be a tough one.
Our Saturday morning the alarm was set for 3:00 am so we had enough time to sort out the animals and leave the yard by 4:30 am for the two and half hour journey to Heathfield Agricultural show in Sussex. Driving through pouring rain we had our fingers crossed, hoping that we wouldn’t find it cancelled when we arrived. Fortunately after the miserable start, the sun shined on us for most of the day.
Our showing started with Snelsmore Lalique winning the Mare class; getting off on the right foot. On Snelsmore Quaffle’s first appearance of this year, she won the Yearling class and went on to take Reserve Junior Champion, a magical day for her.
Snelsmore Orchid managed a second place in the two-to-three year-old class and finally Snelsmore Jasper finished the day nicely by winning the Stallion class, Miniature Champion and Reserved Supreme. The only down side to the day was poor Cliff and Jasper got a soaking during a thunderous down pour in the Grand Parade only for the sun to reappear as soon as the parade finished, typical! This wasn’t going to dampen our spirits though, we had a fantastic day; easy for me to say I suppose, I watched the last class from a nearby trade stand and was some what dryer.
The Downs Group Show was the second day of our busy weekend. After a later start, we set off for the beautiful setting of Buckhurst Park in Sussex, with a set of dry clothes and five different ponies. Our team today included Snelsmore Madonna and Snelsmore Mandrake as we were keen to support new classes for intermediate ponies.
With this only being Madonna’s third outing, we were very pleased when she floated around the ring and won her class, beating Cliff and Mandrake into second place. Snelsmore Quick Silver, our yearling colt, didn’t really behave at his best and came forth; no first place for naughty boys like him. Snelsmore Oasis did her job beautifully for such an inexperienced pony and won the two-and-three year-old filly class.
As the day drew to a close, it was Snelsmore Jacqueline’s turn to perform in a strong mare class. She kept the side up by taking home a first place rosette. In the Championship we were pleasantly surprised that Madonna went on to win the Miniature championship and continue to be Reserve Supreme Champion.
What a fantastic day, little did we realize there was still more to come. Tired but thrilled with our efforts. we got home in good time. We had left our son James on foal watch and arrived home to what seemed a fairly quiet scene. However, on opening the yard gates I notice Lucy Locket standing beside a new coloured foal. After we’d got over that shock, we then realised on closer inspection that Lullaby also had a foal that wasn’t with us that morning! Two beautiful filly foals bouncing around the field, all happy and healthy. What a great end to our day!