In this video, the narrator recounts taking the horse Barney Rubble to the Fair Hill Horse Trials to compete in the Open Intermediate. He describes the cross‑country course as a highlight, noting its length, big jumps, and challenging terrain. Despite initial doubts about Barney’s dressage ability—given the horse’s high‑energy, nervous nature—the narrator details a pre‑competition routine (walker, lunging, warm‑up) that helped achieve a respectable dressage score of 30, earning second place overall. The show‑jumping round on grass proved tough, but Barney performed carefully and cleanly. The narrator reflects on Barney’s overall improvement, increased familiarity with intermediate level work, and his suitability for three‑day events. Looking ahead, the plan is to run one more intermediate in three weeks, add gallops, and target the three‑star long format at Bromont in early June, with aspirations of eventually competing at four‑star level. The video emphasizes Barney’s growing rideability, mental game challenges, and the team’s optimism about the upcoming season.
Chapters
Hello everyone. This is a video for the Barney Rubble Syndicate. Well, guys, we took Barney Rubble down the street, well about half an hour down the road to the Fairhill Horse Trials to contest the Open intermediate. This was the venue that the old Fairhill three day event used to run. So it's got some very fond memories. For me, the best thing about this competition is the cross country course. The cross country course is, is awesome. Like it's a big, long course. It's where the three day event was. Big jumps, a long, long hill and it was a seven or eight minute course and Barney was fantastic. Now, I've got to be honest with you, I was a bit terrified for the dressage because as we all know, Barney's not the kind of horse that you can pull off the trailer and, and expect to do a good dressage test on. But he did well, I cheated a little bit. I put him on the walker at home for about half an hour before we put him on the trailer. And then Stephanie lunged him, actually before I rode him. And then I warmed him up for about 20 minutes, 30 minutes. And I was thrilled with him actually. I really thought that there was no chance of getting a good dressage test just because he's a nervous, tense, high energy animal and we usually need an event where we get there a day or two before to really wear him out. But either Barney was getting feeling sick or we're improving because he did not a great, great test, but a pretty good test. He got a score of 30. So a couple of things. I do think he's improving in his training and I also think he's getting way more sort of used to this level. Like all the shoulder ins and the haunches in and the rein backs and the simple changes through canter. We've just been doing it for a year now, so he's getting seasoned and I mean, as I've always said to you guys that he's as fancy as horses I've ever had, but he's a wild man. But he kept his cool, Barney. So we finished second after the dressage, which is pretty impressive. Just, you know, eventually I think at the big, big competitions he'll win the dressage every time, you know, when we're, when it really counts. But now he's starting to produce decent scores at these sort of training events, I suppose you'd call it. I mean, it's an official horse trial, but we're sort of utilising this event to prepare him for our spring goal. And our spring goal. Well, it's sort of a summer goal is going to be the three star long at Bromont. I think it's in June, early, early June up in Canada. Montreal, Canada. And I think the timing is perfect for Barney. He's. He's starting to feel very, very good around the intermediate courses. The dressage is starting to come and the, you know, the cross country's good show jumping. He's very reliable in the show jumping and I don't know, I feel like we're in a place where we can not just go to Bromont but we're going to go up there and try and win the thing. And I think he's tailored made for three day events. Barney, he's a galloping machine and, and we'll get him a little bit fitter. I'll run him one more time probably in three weeks time for one more intermediate and then put some gallops into him and then we'll do this long format three day event. So it's sort of. It's an FEI level event except it will be a nine or ten minute course which to me sounds heavenly for Barney. I can't wait to be riding him tired around the cross country. Well, not tired, not wrestling with him the whole way. Which I sort of felt with this weekend at Fair Hill. It's a longer course and it was actually quite nice. He took a bit of a breath and relaxed and he jumped around very, very. So the, the dressage you're seeing here was on Friday and then Saturday was show jumping on the grass and he jumped very well. And then sadly we don't have much of the cross country just because I was riding a number of horses and this is a great cross country course but it sort of goes up and down gullies and over hills and around corners and it's hard to actually spectate the event. So we got a little, little bit of the road crossing. But no, he was, he was tricky. It was, it was hard to get a clear round in the show jumping. So we were second after the dressage on a score of 30. I think from memory there must have been 20 something horses in the class. It was hard to get a clear round in the show jumping. Barney is such a careful jumper and I feel like he's getting more rideable. Show jumping on the grass on top of this hill was tough just because the cross country was running close by and could hear the loudspeakers. But he is as careful and scopey jumper as I've ever had. Obviously the, the challenge with Barney is the mental game of trying to just get him to take a breath and calm down. But he will turn himself inside out to get his legs out of the way, not to touch these rails like this treble a b sea going downhill. And it was a very, very short distance. And every horse hit the front rail of that OXA except Barney. He just catapults himself in the air. Anyway, guys, I feel like we've really turned the corner this season with Barney. You know, the level we're at now is pretty close to advanced, which is a major goal, and we're starting to tick some boxes. You know, our plan early this year would be go to the three star long at Bromont and, you know, I think we're going to have a real horse for next year. Four star horse for next year. And who knows where Barney can take us, but he's definitely coming around. He's bold and brave and as you can see here in the, in the cross country, he's. He wants to run and he pulled up good and healthy and sound, and I feel like we're in tremendous form and getting better and better this season.
