Over the bank holiday weekend (3-6 May), I was competing in the CSI2* Chepstow. I’ve been jumping at the Wales and West venue since I was on 128cm ponies and I’ve seen it evolve, change and improve in the past 10 years.
The old Castle Arena — now the Magic Arena — with its brand-new surface is now up to date and a great facility; we are lucky to have this show centre in Great Britain. And there is an added bonus. This new arena has taken quite a lot of classes out of other rings, opening up the working spaces. It’s fantastic to be able to work the horses not just in the warm-up arena, but to get the opportunity to use the old grass rings.
This show centre is close to our home and all our horses benefit from jumping there; it is so well organised. This was my first show with a new horse, Cabanus, an experienced 14-year-old who has jumped up to 1.50m level. This week was a learning curve for us but I love him already; he’s lovely to ride.
The courses were good, fair and up to height — a trademark of Chepstow International. Italian course-designer Andrea Colombo has done a good job.
I think the goal for this show is to introduce a second world ranking class. It would attract more competitors and make it a fantastic show — perfect for riders. And ideally, a sponsor would come forward to help make this happen.
The Broome family do a great job and are already putting on a new second international show in August — we aim to be there.
Ref Horse & Hound; 9 May 2019