Sunshine Here We Come!

We are so excited to be heading to Spain in February to jump on the Sunshine Tour for 3 weeks!

The trip has always been talked about within DE ranks, and last autumn it looked like 2020 may be the year for the whole team; some young horses were set to make the trip to be sold whilst competing in Spain, and the timing would suit some of the older horses who finished their 2019 season relatively early. However, between young horses selling and growing, the numbers quickly dropped…but we decided Lauren and I would crack on anyway as so many other factors have fallen perfectly into place. As well as developing this crop of horses (several of which will be put on the market this autumn), I hope to properly scope out the trip as a potential regular venture for Dassett Eventing to educate and sell some of our young stock in future years.

Horse wise, the stunning 6yo, Dassett Showgirl, will compete in a mixture of Young Horse classes and the Small Tour competition. She is raring to go this season having had such a quiet 2019 with all her growing. We hope the trip will help her catch up on lost mileage. HHS Dassett Class, Drombane Dassett and Call Me Dassett will all aim to further their experience ahead of a season at Advanced level this year – we could end up jumping some pretty big classes (for eventers anyway!) in the Medium Tours. I am also delighted to be riding our jump trainer’s horse in some of the proper classes, which will be very exciting and great experience for me as a rider.

Lauren will be making the 3 day journey south on Friday 7th February in convoy with Nick Skelton’s trucks and her boyfriend, Olly, at the wheel. James, Ella and I will fly out a few days later and we have a selection owners and supporters coming out for various blocks of time over the three weeks. We are also very grateful to former full time DE team member (and current part time helper!), Alice Harrison, who will be helping Lauren and I for the first 10 days. The venue looks very exciting with outstanding facilities and no fewer than 18 arenas! Let’s hope the tour’s name proves to be true with plenty of lovely, warm Spanish SUNSHINE!

We head home on Monday 2nd March, so will miss the first weekend of the 2020 eventing season, but figured that was an acceptable price to pay! Hayley, Craig, Sue and Amelia are all happy with their horses and their pre-season plans ahead of March. Without exception, all horses are currently on great form following a December of recharging batteries. We will keep you updated in the build up to both the eventing season and our trip to Spain…