Wellinton IV, Bengtsson and Gwenn left home very early bound for Royal Windor on Thursday 9th May. The weather was cold, raining and very windy when we arrived but the atmosphere was lively with carriages being pulled by ponies, people in fancy dress and lots of shetlands preparing for their Grand National. When we finally got the horses settled in their stables and everything set up it was Bengtsson that was first to jump in the 7 year old class, he jumped a lovely round but just had 4 faults and then later that day Wellinton IV was in the Grade A class and he lowered just two rails in the first round but again jumped well, I think the atmosphere and everything going on around him was a lot to take in! Not a bad start to the show. Day 2 started again with Bengtsson but this time he was in the main arena, he jumped a lovely clear in the first round but had an unlucky rail in the jump off , then Wellinton IV started in the Gents competition and just had a couple down towards the end of the course, Ricki was pleased with the way he jumped and thought that Wellinton was heading in the right direction for the Grand Prix on Sunday. Day 3 was an easier day for us with just Gwenn competing in the Kingsland Speed Stakes in the main arena and she didn’t disappoint producing another foot perfect clear round! Sunday arrived and Bengtsson was in first and started the day of on a high giving us a beautiful double clear and finishing 3rd, then onto the Alltech Grand Prix and Wellinton IV was fresh and ready to jump, the sun came out giving us and all the horses some well deserved warmth! Wellinton warmed up great and it showed in the main ring when Ricki and Wellinton produced the first clear round of the day to thundering applause from the crowd in the packed arena. With a 17 strong jump off and the height increased to 1.60m Wellinton and Ricki were drawn 4th to go and he had the most unlucky late falling rail going into the double, but he jumped fantastic and proved that he is a real star in the making! Ricki and Wellinton IV finished 12th and now look forward to Suffolk County show on 29th-30th May!
