Well true to form a good dress rehersal did not always result in good performances!! My ponies were mainly completely wild at their first proper event of the season at Tweseldown this weekend. There were some rather 'expressive' tests, a nice way of saying they were little rebels! That said Luke performed like a seasoned campaigner to do a lovely test, as did Jack and Rowan.

Luke and Jack jumped lovely showjumping rounds and the others were all continuing their wild streak with Rowan trying very hard at his first attempt in a main arena, and thankfully the rebels all proceeded to redeem themselves with five fabulous clears cross country. Poor Jack managed to tread on a stone on the way to the start of the XC and we had to withdraw him, such a shame for his owner Gill Watson as I'm sure he would have come home with another ribbon to add to his collection, especially after such an immaculate show jumping round!

Congrats to Lydia for a good weekend at Tweseldown on her 3 ponies, she posted some good results so very well done.

To back track slightly our mad week began with 11 of the team running at Aston followed by 2 days at Squad training for a show jumping clinic with Luis Alvarez. I took Luke, Q and Sprout and found it really helpful and inspiring to be working with such a great coach and to be training along side the 'A'listers of NZ eventing. That said I was really proud of my ponies and although we came away with plenty to work on I don't think they were outshone by the cool kids, and I can't wait to start putting what we learnt into practice.

So, looking forward we have Gatcombe and Belton to focus on, they are all now able to start some outdoor show jumping training on grass after a winter on the all weather, and all the ponies are very much looking forward to being turned out in their fields again after a long winters stabling, always a great way to relax them and help them perform better, so heres hoping we see a marked improvement over the next month!



Much love to all luc x

And they're off...

Hooray, after what seems like a very long winter Team Jackson's season started with a bang this weekend at Aston le Walls unafilliated horse trials. We had 12 runners across the various divisions, and excitingly we managed 11 double clears, winners and a couple of placings! Congratulations to Lydia for winning the PN on her lovely mare My Royal Touch aka Missy Moo, and I was really chuffed to win the Novice on Gill Watson's Wellshead Munnings.

Our new 2 legged recruits, Liv and Little Luc were amazing under pressure, they certainly had a baptism of fire as my times meant I had to ride 5 rounds of show jumping and 5 rounds of cross country within an hour and a half. The girls ran a slick show with help from Mum, Dad, Kathy Hoffmann and the Greenlees family. Huge thanks to all.

Sunday saw Team Jackson hitting the road, moving all 14 horses back to Tetsworth. Again thanks to the girls this proved a far less stressful manoever than I had anticipated. Another huge thank you.

Onwards with the mad week, and Liv and I set sail for Marlborough with three horses for our first official team NZ squad training. A jump clinic with Luis Alvarez Cevera. Watch this space to hear how we fared, and a full update from Tweseldown and our first affiliated outing of the year..let the games begin!

Well spring is nearly here, and Team Jackson will be moving from Aston le Walls back to Tetsworth in a fortnight, my how time flies! We have been out competing at last, with three dressage shows and a few show jumping shows. The ponies are getting fitter and a good deal friskier, and their first eventing run is just around the corner thank goodness. Two highlights of the last few weeks are Sprout's win in a Medium class with his best score ever of 73%, it would seem that our work with Gill and Andrew Fletcher this winter is paying off and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he can maintain the new and improved version through into the season. Our other excitement is a new equine recruit Sportsfield Quality, who is owned by Paul Donovan and with whom I hope to aim for Bramham. So we're starting 9 horses in the Unafilliated horse trails here at Aston le Walls and then on to Tweseldown later in the week.

Nearly Spring?

Well Team Jackson has had an interesting winter. We have had a changeover on the staff with Mary Mason setting out for a career in drama and she has been replaced by Olivia Lee who seems to be settling in well in her first month with us.

Thanks to the inclement weather we have moved the entire team including 15 horses to Aston le Walls for January and Febuary to take advantage of Ann & Nigel Taylors expertise and their fabulous indoor school, XC course(which we hope opens soon), dressage shows and the unafilliated horse trials. Oh and I nearly forgot to mention the benefits of having some very friendly local pubs in which to while away the long winter evenings!

With Luke now on the official NZ squad we have made the most of some very welcome funding by having once fortnightly dressage lessons with Andrew Fletcher, although less welcome are the 4am starts to make it there in time for 7am lessons. Still his help has been much appreciated and the fruits of our labours will hopefully be plain for all to see as we aim for all our FEI marks to be in the 40's this year!

Gill Watson has continued to be incredibly supportive, although we haven't been based with her, she has trekked up the motorway to keep an eye on our gang and with any luck we'll be jumping many many clear rounds as a result.

We have been making tentative plans for the season ahead, and with the chance of going to Burnham Market, Chatsworth, Saumur, Houghton, Bramham and Luhumulen for spring FEI's life is about to get pretty exciting. Fingers crossed, so its head down to continue with our dressage blitz and see you all soon once the season gets underway.

Wonderful Winter

Well, we seem to be surviving the British version of 'global warming', but I can't say that it makes life very easy. Lydia and I currently have 10 horses in work, but thankfully only 5 of which are living in. We made a 'team policy' to try and leave as many horses hairy and living out in the fields as possible until Boxing Day, so that we can start their fitness work but maintain a semblance of normality to our lives by having the occasional day off!

I am excited to report that we have a new member of staff starting in the new year...watch this space for an update! With potentially about 15 horses living in by then we are certainly looking forward to the extra support.

Our winter has been much cheered by the thrilling news that Luke has been named on a New Zealand squad for 2012, which is something of a dream come true. It has helped add focus and enthusiasm to these slightly tedious months of short days and essential but somewhat dull roadwork and gradual fittening of the gang for next year.

I hope you all have a very happy and enjoyable festive season and I look forward to attmepting to keep you all more regularly updated in 2011 as the build up to the Olympics continues. In the mean time an enormous thank you to all those who have played a part in Team Jackson's wonderful 2010. It has been a very exciting and progressive year. It is in no small part thanks to the help of so many supportive friends, owners, and 'Team members' who I am lucky enough to say are too numerous to mention, but I think you know who you are!! I can't wait to build on our successes of this season and becoming a serious force to be reckoned with on the circuit next year....

French Finale?!?!

Well what a month team Jackson has had, apologies for the delayed update. After Luke ran so well at Blenheim we decided to postpone his winter holiday and aim him for the 4 star at Pau in the South of France, and to aim Jack for the 2 star as he had such an interrupted season.

In preparation we ran both horses in the OI at Oasby, where they both did reasonable tests, had one down each show jumping and nice steady clears XC. The main objective being to give them a happy successful outing and return in one piece in time to make the 2 day trip to Pau.

I travelled with my sister who was the worlds best super groom all week for me in France, and two members of the Irish team, Lousie Lyons and Captain Brian Curran Cournane, his groom Anto and Laura Shears Groom Caroline, so the lorry was fairly full! We left Tetsworth at 4am on Sunday morning, and arrived in Pau on Monday afternoon after a short break at Poitiers to rest both horses and drivers.

After a couple of days light work for the horses to recover from the journey Luke had his trot up on Wednesday, and Jack his dressage on Thursday. Jack performed his best test to date and scored a very respectable 51 which left him in 14th place. He coped very well with the atmosphere and made very few errors in a nice flowing test. Sadly his owner Gill Watson was busy with British Eventing duties and missed his international debut in the dressage but arrived in time for Luke's dressage on friday. Luke's test was certainly a personal best for him. He scored 58 which was higher than i'd hoped for but again was very relaxed and tried really hard in his first 4*.

XC day dawned so misty that neither Jack nor I could see an awful lot for the first 5 fences of our round! He ran really well though for certainly his biggest challenge so far to jump a clear round with 11 time faults, very respectable given how twisty the track was. I have to admit walking the 4* track for the first time filled me with awe! Pierre Michelet is a genius course designer producing not only a huge bold attacking course but also extremely twisty and technical. Luke gave 100% the whole way around jumping quite beautifully. He was extremely unlucky to have his score card marred by 20 penalties having jumped so high over the middle drop element of a combination that he landed on his nose and wasn't able to see the final part. Apart from that he was brave and straight and for the most part fairly obedient. Completing our first 4* XC felt like a real milestone. Something I have always dreamt of doing and finally had the chance to go for it.

Both boys trotted up well on Sunday morning and looked as immaculate and fresh as they had on day one which is a massive credit to my wonderful back up team both out in Pau: Gill Watson, my parents, and my sister, and the gang back at the yard. Huge thanks to all.

Jack didn't show jump particularly well with 16 penalties, but i think he and i will have both learnt a lot from our trip. Luke on the other hand was jumping the round of his life, giving the sizeable fences some serious air time. Then disaster struck on the turn between the treble and the last line when he saw himself in the big screen, whipped round and i fell off. Mortified doesn't even come close. Of all the things to happen, that was not part of the game plan at all. Some very supportive comments from fellow competitors and their trainers made me feel somewhat reassured that Luke was so quick that I didn't have a chance to stay on but to be honest I'm sure there was something I could have done to avoid such a catastrophy! It is a total NIGHTMARE to end on such a bad note. I am hoping it is all part of a master plan to make me a better rider, stronger competitor and nicer person!!

On the plus side both horses travelled home well and I am pleased they are happy and sound enough to enjoy their holidays and aim for greater things in 2011. I too am now going to recharge by not riding a horse for a day or two and spending a few days away between now and Christmas.

Thank you everyone for your support this season through some great highs and some very pesky lows. As we all know that is the nature of our sport and I can't wait to come out and make 2011 a season to remember for all the right reasons.

Brilliant Blenheim Boys:

I think I can categorically say that this weekend has been my best ever 'weekend at the office'. Luke, Willy and Sprout did us all proud at Blenheim Palace *** event.

Luke did his best test ever to score 52. He dealt well with the main arena, and to crack the elusive 50 barrier just needs to work more 'uphill'. Sprout and Willy both tried very hard and did all their 'new moves' to the best of their current level, and we were all very disappointed with their marks of 61 and 60 respectively. Mrs Tucker is usually a very accurate judge, although normally marks the lowest of the three, and she was nearly 10 marks ahead of the others! I decided that although they weren't going to be competetive as I would have liked this weekend, from an education point of view they had done some good work at a new level in considerable atmosphere and they were none the wiser about the judging!

The cross country walked fairly big and an imposing track, but I felt slightly less technical than Bramham had been in the spring. The going was as perfect as you could get. The optimum time was longer than Burghley at 10 min 56 sec, for the CCI which was a challenge in itself, particularly with the hilly terrain and the long water crossings.

Luke was a star. He gave me a wonderful ride XC, and we really felt a complete partnership. He answered my every wish with a magic clear round and 11 time faults. Retrospectively I could have run a little quicker, but I didn't know him well enough to know where his tank reaches empty, the answer is ... it doesn't! He finished full of running and we both were grinning.

Sprout and Willy had their CIC show jumping on Saturday evening. Sprout was second to jump and pinged around clear, delighted to have so many supporters there to watch...he thought the entire grandstand was full for him. Willy was unlucky to jump nearly 45mins later than his alloted time, coupled with a 25 min hack to the arena and an hour wait for Sprout to jump. By the time our turn came around I think Willy was a bit 'over it', and I don't blame him! Once we started he tried his socks off and only a little difference of opinion on approaching the planks resulted in 4 faults. He certainly tried hard for me, and in future I can be a little 'cooler' about my warm up.

The CIC cross country was on Sunday morning, after Luke sailed down the trot up to pass the dreaded inspection. Willy ran first, and after our little splash at Hartpury I was keen to complete a nice clear. He pulled out all the stops and gave me a fantastic spin. He made a copy book job the whole way round, and was very kind to me when I over-rode the second water and made life harder than it needed to be. A big thumbs up for Willy, who came back having learnt an awful lot and seeminly really enjoying himself.

Sprout ran second and with the benefit of my experience on Willy made the track feel effortless. He apparently lost a hind shoe at fence one, but didn't miss a beat from start to finish and I felt overwhelmingly proud of him.

Lastly Luke's CCI show jumping. He felt calm and relaxed but not overly tired and jumped probably as well as I've ever felt him. He gave a great demo of 3rd day show jumping, and I was really sad for him that he had an unlucky 4 faults at the last double. He certainly couldn't have tried harder or jumped better. Very annoyingly any other year, this would qualify us for Badminton, but for 2011 they have changed the qualifications and we missed out by 2 places...dammit.

Still, I now have two ponies qualified for CCI3* and one for CCI4* so I really couldn't be happier. The three boys did personal best performances in all three phases this weekend, and I feel extremely lucky...thank you to my amazing support team for making my dreams come true!