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 This yard visit has been postponed until later in the year - full details will be provided in due course.
An exciting and exclusive members visit to Alex Bragg's yard in Somerset has been arranged for the 24th June. Alex is one of the HTSG Scholars for 2018 and has kindly agreed to host a yard visit for 20 members. The day will include:
The visit will be at Poplars Equestrian, Chilton Trinity, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA5 2BG. It will start promptly at 10.30am and is expected to finish after lunch at approximately 1.30pm. As this event is limited to just 20 members please complete the below contact form to register your interest in attending. This form will be closed on the 18th June or as soon as 20 members have registered an interest. The beginning of May saw our busiest and most exciting time of year, Badminton Horse Trials. After a very challenging start to the 2018 eventing season with many cancellations it was great to be at the biggest and best 4* event in the world and also enjoy some bright sunshine.  As always the Horse Trials Support Group had our members marquee just a stone’s throw from the main arena, offering members a great place to meet friends, watch the action on screens, enjoy good quality food and attend several events put on by the Committee. 197 members took up their Badminton passes this year which represents the majority of our membership – it was wonderful to greet so many of you in the marquee. We hosted a number of events throughout the four days of the event which included:
   
  Photos © Fiona Scott-Maxwell
 Laura Collett with the many prizes from our raffle We would like to thank our members and guests for their generous support at these events over the four days.
Last weekend our second training Scholar for 2018 Laura Collett headed to Chatsworth International Horse Trials to compete on three horses in the CIC3* - Dacapo, London 52 and top horse Mr Bass.
Laura and Mr Bass were competing in the first leg of the Event Rider Masters series. 
Photo © Fiona Scott-Maxwell
Laura and Mr Bass scored a personal best in the dressage and were leaders after the first phase on a score of 25.3. Laura was quick to directly thank the Horse Trials Support Group for the additional training her scholarship funding has allowed her to secure.
On Sunday Laura headed into the show jumping as overnight leader and last to go, but unfortunately had four faults with one fence down. The show jumping proved tricky with only nine of the 39 competitors jumping clear and within the time.
Photo © Fiona Scott-Maxwell
Heading into cross country everything was still to play for as at Chatsworth the time is incredibly influential. Laura and Mr Bass jumped a lovely clear round with just 6.4 time penalties to finish an excellent fourth place.
Photos © Fiona Scott-Maxwell
Although Laura was a little disappointed to have four faults in the show jumping, the key thing about this run is that it was a really good preparation run for the 4* event at Luhmuhlen in just over four weeks time.
Redpath Ransom was a little tense with the atmosphere heightened as it always is on Friday afternoon. Alex said ‘Both my boys tried really hard on their dressage. Zagreb performed a consistent test for a competitive sub 30 score. Redpath Ransom’s nerves got the better of him and the tension prevented him from picking up good marks’. We saw Alex again on Friday evening along with fellow scholar Laura Collett as they were presented with their Training Scholar awards at our Cross-Country Preview Evening. Their humour was well received by the crowd, who valued their insight into the course.
Saturday dawned bright, we bumped into Alex walking the course and he was happy and looking forward to the day. Zagreb was early out on the course and stormed confidently round, unfortunately breaking a pin at Fence 18. It was great to see them through the finish with a smile.     Alex & Zargreb - Photos © MDR Photo The great sadness of the afternoon was the catastrophic injury to Redpath Ransom on the flat towards the end of the course - until then he had given Alex an amazing ride around the course with Alex really getting the crowd cheering at the lake. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the entire team.         Alex & Redpath Ransom - Photos © MDR Photo Alex bravely presented Zagreb for the second horse inspection on Sunday morning. Simmone and Heather had Zagreb looking fantastic and he passed with no problems. The show jumping course caused many problems and was very tight for time. Zagreb jumped a great round for just 4 faults and the crowd appreciated Alex’s obvious pleasure with his horse.  Photo © Fi Boughton Overall, it was not the Badminton the team were hoping for but we are delighted to hear of new horses joining the team in the coming weeks and look forward to the yard visit to meet them all in June (keep an eye on Facebook and here on the website for more info).
It is with enormous sadness that I have to report that Jane Rook died in hospital on the night of Thursday 5th April following a fall at home earlier. Jane had not been well for a number of years.
Jane will be remembered for her love of all equestrian sports, her love of life, strength of character, an incredible hostess, her kindness and fun, but always making sure we did the right thing . She would tell us what to do but always in a very kind way. I remember in the very early days of the HTSG Marquee at Badminton it was polystyrene cups and sandwiches in horrible plastic boxes not like we have today! Jane Rook and I decided it all needed an upgrade so rushed down to the Director’s Tent and borrowed or should I say pinched some flowers, sourced a caterer and since then it has gone from strength to strength. Laurence and Jane’s hospitality was known world-wide, either in a marquee or out of a car boot, but especially at their wonderful home Beverston Castle near Tetbury. It was second to none and I remember feeling very grown up when Mark & I progressed from being asked for dinner to being asked to stay for the duration of Badminton Horse Trials where we stayed every year till Jane became unwell. What fun we all had, and following the Badminton cocktail party Jane thought nothing of asking 40 people back to Beverston for dinner. My job was to make sure the flowers from the tables in the HTSG marquee at Badminton were taken back to Beverston for the tables! Jane loved her involvement with the HTSG serving on the committee for a while, being an amazing DC of the Beaufort Pony Club and her Chairmanship of the Pony Team. All the children adored her and her generosity was legendary and being a stickler for correctness. Jane will be sorely missed and it has been a privilege to call her a true friend and someone who helped me so much throughout my time with the HTSG.  Once again Zip Travel are organising a tour to the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games at Tryon International Equestrian Centre, North Carolina, in September. See the below flyer for more information - please note the hotel information has changed since the HTSG Spring Newsletter was sent out.   |
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