I headed to France with Fiona Russell a free lance 4* groom, whom I have worked with for many years and she has groomed many times for me with Dax Van Ternieuwbeke, since I first started competing him.
Also on board was KBIS Starchaser “Star” and KBIS Starlet “Doris”. Star unfortunately wasn’t right on our arrival so we thought a little French mini break would do him the world of good. Doris on the other hand found the atmosphere in the dressage arena overwhelming which continued on the cross country course – all I can say is “Princess Moment”. She is hugely talented and a dream to ride, but on this trip she had clearly decided to compete on her terms.
What can I say except Dax Van Ternieuwbeke “Pluto” was such a star in France, we finished best brit with an individual place of 13th finishing on 55.6 with the team finishing in 3rd place.
I often refer to him as the mighty “Pluts” which he lived up to on this trip, he was originally brought as a hunter but it was decided he was ‘too smart and naughty’ for the hunting field clearly he was up for the very challenging Fontainebleau competition which proved a pretty testing few days with showjumping and cross country courses up to height and the time tight over strong tracks.
For a further review of Fontainebleau CICO*** please visit click here