Kate and Sue headed off this weekend in ‘Big Blue’ (our bigger lorry) to Nunney with three horses for Kate’s first international event since she’s been back from her pregnancy. Call Me Dassett (Casper) owned by Sheena Hawkin, Lesley Rocher and Dassett Eventing had a great run in and Dassett Code (Smartie) had great runs in the CCI-3*S and CCI-2*S, and Dassett Select (JJ) came home with a fantastic double clear and third place in the novice.
This was a first international run for Alice Rocher’s Dassett Code (Smartie), as he contested the CCI-S2*, and he really rose to the occasion. He produced a 33 dressage, which was probably the best test he is capable of producing at the moment. Sadly fence one and fence three both rolled in the SJ, before the rest of the round thankfully improved! He cruised round the challenging 2* cross country track clear, answering all the questions with ease. Sadly the SJ rails dropped the pair from the placings, but Kate has formed a great partnership with Smartie from just a couple of runs together, building on Alice’s training from last year, and we were all delighted with him today.
Lesley Rocher, Sheena Hawkin and Dassett Eventing’s Call Me Dassett (Casper) was also contesting his first international since Blenheim 2018, and he produced a competitive 32 dressage and lovely showjumping round in the 3*. Despite his lack of recent mileage he dealt very well with the questions out on the cross country, but unfortunately picked up a 20 at the influential water complex. Although it was disappointing to have this on his score, we are so pleased with how quickly he’s got back into the swing of competing, and this is a reminder this horse can be rather cautious at water! His fitness is building all the time, and we are looking forward to seeing them back at some big competitions soon.
Dassett Select (JJ) once again lived up to his nickname of “Mr Perfect Pants”, delivering a solid dressage test and then jumping a super double clear to finish third in his novice section. Kate has only been competing JJ since her return (as with Dassett Code), and it’s very exciting to see them producing fantastic results like this after such a short time together. Let’s hope he can produce a similar result in his next run at Farley Hall!
Nunney has definitely been worth the long drive, and Kate looks to have a very talented group of horses in her string. They will all have benefitted in both experience and fitness, and the rest of the season looks to be very promising for them as they continue to ascend the levels.
