August was an extremely hectic month for HTSG Scholar Alex Bragg and it started with two horses competing at the Festival of British Eventing at Gatcombe Park.  It was a very successful event with Shannondale Percy finishing 2nd in the Intermediate championships.

In the CIC*** British Open Championships Barrichello finished 9th and won the trophy for the youngest horse in the top ten.  That is very exciting for the future!

After Gatcombe it was off to Homme House with five youngsters and there were some sold performances with two in the top 10...

Next up was Hartpury and it was Alex's birthday weekend.  There was no win or top placing for the birthday boy but he was happy with the two younger horses in the CCI* class...

Following Hartpury Alex had three rides at West Wilts with young horses all going well and two in the top 10.  Then it was onto Somerford Park with 6 horses and the star of the stable was My Lucky Day finishing 2nd in the Intermediate - what a great name for a successful horse!  There were also 2 more top ten finishes.

After Somerford it was a trip across the Irish Sea to Millstreet for Alex with 5 horses, three in the CIC** and two in the CIC***.  Well it was definitely worth Alex making the trip as he took 2nd on Zagreb and 5th on Alactraz II in the CIC** and he placed 3rd on Barrichello and 4th on Shannondale Percy in the CIC***.  What the below video of Alex explaining the SJ course.

Last event of the month for Alex was Burghley, known as the biggest four star in the world.  Alex headed there with top horse Zagreb.  Dressage went well but Alex was a little disappointed with his score to be 14th before XC.

On the XC Alex was having a fantastic ride and was just getting into the middle of the course when he had a very unfortunate fall at the Maltings.  The good news is they were both fine and will be back in action at Blenheim next week.

Both of our HTSG Training Scholars, Alex Bragg and Laura Collett, are in action at the SsangYong Blenheim Palace Horse Trials next week, and we are putting them to work!

Alex and Laura will be hosting a course walk (CIC course) on Thursday 13th September at approximately 11:30am. This will be a fantastic opportunity for HTSG members and their guests to get a detailed insight of the course and ask our scholars any questions. The course walk is free of charge to members, and £10 for guests (including a donation to the event's nominated charity). We would like to thank the organiser's of Blenheim for allowing this to happen.
​Please email mgibb@live.co.uk to reserve your place. Numbers will be limited.

We are very excited to announce that Alex has kindly agreed to present a Master Class on behalf of HTSG on Sunday 16th September in the Marlborough (Main) Arena at 10:00am. 

Alex will ride one of his horses and be joined on the ground by Spencer Sturmey. Please do join us for what promises to be an educational and entertaining session.

Tickets are available for the WEG supper being held on Saturday 15th September. All of the action from the cross-country at Tryon will be shown live on the big screen, as well as some exclusive behind the scenes footage from Team GBR. Please see the attached flyer for more information.

The organiser's of the SsangYong Blenheim Palace Horse Trials have secured support for a dedicated Owners, Athletes and Trainers (OATs) facility for this year’s event, and as well as the owners of horses who are competing, they are very kindly offering members of HTSG to use the facility.

The facility will be supported by Theraplate UK whose wave vortex stimulation therapy products are aimed at equine, dog and human rehabilitation and are used by vets, rehab centres and several riders.

The Owners, Athletes and Trainers marquee will be located adjacent to the main arena collecting ring allowing owners and HTSG members to watch the horses prepare for CCI3* dressage and the show jumping phases of the 8&9-year-old CIC3* and the CCI3* as well as a great place to see the ‘south lawn’ loop of the CCI3* cross-country on Saturday.

There will be tables and chairs inside, a garden area with patio furniture, complimentary refreshments, daily papers and lifestyle magazines and from the sponsors complimentary tea and coffee and a welcome glass of fizz! 

Please ensure that you wear your HTSG badge to gain access to this facility.

Finally, we would like to wish Alex and Laura, as well as any HTSG members with horses competing, the very best of luck for a safe and successful Blenheim.

We look forward to seeing you.

With best wishes,

HTSG Committee

Alex had a very busy and successful July, starting with 6 horses competing at Barbury International Horse Trials with four horses finishing their sections in the top ten...

After Barbury, Alex headed to Jardy in France and wow what an amazing event it was for him.  Zagreb performed out of his skin in the Event Rider Masters (ERM) CIC3* section to lead from start to finish to claim a famous win.  Not to be out done, Shannondale Percy finished 3rd in the other CIC3* section and in just their second competition together Alcatraz came 9th in the CIC2*.

After all the excitement of Jardy it was back home for Alex and Team Bragg for 7 horses at Dauntsey and then onto Aston Le Walls with four in the Intermediate - there was more success with two 3rd places for Bonmahon Blue Mist and King of the Mill.

After Aston Le Walls, Alex headed to Osborne House on the Isle of Wight for the inaugural London Capital & Finance Osborne Horse Trials.  All three horses (Zagreb, Barrichello & Alcatraz) went well with star of the show being Barrichello taking second place.

To round up the month Team Bragg were out in full force at Wilton Horse Trials with an unbelievable 8 horses competing.  There were another 2 winners, King of the Mill in the Intermediate and Cobalt De Dugny in the BE100.

Barbury International Horse Trials was first up for Laura in July with 5 horses in action.  Two top 10 results in the CIC2* and an excellent 9th in the Event Rider Master CIC3*.

After Barbury Laura had a quick trip to Tweseldown and then onto Jardy in France with three horses, one in CIC1*, 2* and 3*.  Star of the three was London 52, finishing in 11th place in the Event Rider Masters CIC3* class.

Back on home soil Laura had a successful visit to Dauntsey Park with two young horses both winning their classes...

dAston Le Walls was the next event for Laura and again another busy one with 5 horses competing, 3 in the Advanced, 1 Open Intermediate and 1 Novice.  Laura's successful month continued with another double win, with Hanson DHI in the Novice and Dacapo in the Advanced 8/9 yr old class.

Sadly after this successful weekend Laura had some sad news to announce, which was that her recently retired four star campaigner Grand Manoeuvre (Milo) had been put down aged 14, just a few months after being retired.

The month was rounded out with British Eventing updating their leading horse and rider tables and we were very pleased to see that Laura had moved up to 5th in the rider standings and Mr Bass continued to hold onto his number one position.