Fedarman B - Kentucky Three Day Event - April ‘24 - Syndicate Update

This is a video for the Annie Goodwin Syndicate. Well, guys, we've had a whirlwind trip to Kentucky, three day event and all I can say is mission complete. It was a big, big show for Bruno, really important contest and he absolutely delivered. I'm very, very pleased with him in all phases. Obviously we could have done a little bit better here and there, but all in all he really showed his class and quality. So his dressage was on Friday lunchtime, I think, and he did pretty good. I feel like in the dressage we sort of had him going as well as we could. The warm up, I feel like we got perfect. Bettina was there helping out. Silva was my main coach and Bettina sort of chimed in here and there. His actual frame and everything was fantastic. And the great news is finally I got a test where I got two good flying changes. That's obviously been Achilles heel this year. I feel like we've been getting the good flying changes at home and then at the competition. I've never seemed to pull them off. So through lots and lots of practice and good preparation, we got good flying changes. The only problem was this part. In the five star test, you go rein back to canter. Unfortunately, in the four star test, you go rein back to trot. And that was basically that little blip there sort of ruined our competition a bit. We got a three and in a strong field of so many top, top horses that making a mistake like that ultimately was devastating because the rest of the test was very, very good. And I'm not sure if he was a little bit tense or if I was a little bit sharp. I really wanted him to go from rein back straight into trot. The judges love it when there's not a walk step. And I don't know if I sort of spurred him a little bit more or less. Like I said all of last year at Le Morlan and Po. I mean, we just practiced so many times that rain back to right canter in the five star test. So it was a real shame, guys, because without that blip, he would have been in the 20s. I think he would have been probably alongside Connor, about 28. So that was a real bugger because anyway, we finished fourth overall, which is was pretty impressive considering the quality horses that were in there. But would have, could have, should have, sort of. I'm agonizing over the same thing with the other horse, Connor Commando. I had a couple little mistakes here and there. And anyway, let's not focus on the split second of disappointment and look at these beautiful Flying changes here and the kids. The key is to get the canter quite short and balanced and get him to rock back and sit back and comes up with a beautiful change over the next couple weeks. I think what we've got to try and do is if you see halfway down his neck, this is sort of the highest point in the canter. And we really want the head piece of the bridle to be the highest point. And he finds that hard. We've got to work him quite round to get him using his back. But then ultimately, when we're in front of the judges in the ring for about seven minutes, we've got to have his ears the highest point. This is the harder of the two flying changes. And again, it was pretty good. It's not perfect. It was a little bit stiff, but the actual leg coordination was good. So I've got to check the scores, but I think we got a seven for it or six and a half, but there was lots of eights and nines. Sadly, my goal was to get in the 20s and I got interviewed after. And he's a great dressage horse and he's great under pressure. I still have yet to get a perfect dressage test on him, and I know I sound like a broken record, but I'm still yet to get through one of these dressage tests on a clear round, if you know what I mean. Like a perfect dressage test with no mistakes. And when we do that, he'll be very, very competitive. It's frustrating because it's not like he's hot or silly in the ring. He's very rideable. I don't know, it's bad luck or it's never bad luck, but maybe it's a bit of a coincidence or something where. And sometimes you can try too hard. Sometimes I feel, with Bruno putting too much pressure on him and really making him do something, you know, sometimes puts a little bit too much tension. So. But anyway, I think we were. I was checked scores. I think we're maybe in the top 10 or 11 after the dressage. The good news was the cross country was unbelievably tough, and the time was very, very hard to get Bruno in. The cross country was just fantastic. He did it very, very easy again, kicking myself a little bit. He was. He was two seconds over the time, which doesn't sound like much, but the competition was so tight. If you look at the. The final scorings, like everyone was within less than a point of each other. I started out a little bit cautious. If I Had to kick myself sometimes at the beginning of the cross country course, he gets a little bit too keen and then I have to sort of fight him back into the jump. And I set off over fence one and two, just a little steady and sort of held him back a bit there at fence two. It worked like it actually got him in a good balance. The only thing is it takes a bit of time away from the course. I believe the course was 6 minutes 42. And around the course you can sort of. We measure the course and, you know, I, I thought I was on the minute markers and I thought I made the time, but I mean, I watched this and timed it and I was one and a half seconds out, which sort of rounds out to two seconds out, which over six minutes 45 says it's not much, I know, but it's at this level, it's a sport of inches. He was bloody brilliant cross country, though. I mean, he is a fast, fast horse. If you have a look at him galloping and the ears are pricked. And I was seeing good distances to these galloping jumps. Like I said before, it was a very, very strong field. And I think he was the third, second fastest horse of the day, which is pretty impressive. I got a little close to the coffin here, but in typical Bruno style, he really fought for me. And that was the hardest jump on the course. That wiped out about a third of the field. Bruno was getting a huge, huge roar from the crowd. And the thing I love about Bruno is I feel like I can. I'm so confident. I can see a stride to these jumps, about six or seven jumps, strides out, steps out, you know, and I think that's what makes him so fast, is on those single galloping fences, for some reason on, on Bruno, I can just see my distance a long, long way away. He, he is a seasoned cross country horse now. I mean, it was a tough, pretty tough course, this course. And I have to say, Bruno did it like it was nothing. Every single jump was very straightforward. Next fence was tough and again, Bruno made it look like a pony club class. Seven strides to the skinny and then a inside turn, five strides here. Bruno did very well. Obviously there was a lot of hype there with this class. All a lot of the Olympic hopefuls were in the four star short division. Bruno underwent a vet check after the completion of the event, and he was very sound. So they're not saying too much for me, the Olympics. Obviously I've got another contender in Connor, and I have no idea what they're thinking. They vetted about, I think about seven horses at the competition and two were ours. And I think they're waiting to see what happens at Tryon Four Star Long next week and also Babington next week. And then I think they'll undergo another vet check for all the potential horses and sometime in May they'll make a decision. So anyway, we've done our best. We've had a good year last year and put on some good performances this year. And look at him flying around. I've got to say, he's a real trier. Sort of asked him to pick it up and sprint up the hill here. We're getting towards the last third of the course and he's got amazing pace, amazing speed, Bruno. And the wonderful thing about him, he's not strong in the hand. If I just sit up a little bit and steady him slightly, he knows the jump's coming up. Unfortunately, we incurred 0.8 time penalties which was 2 seconds over in horse and in rider. Well, Boyd's riding out of order here. The time in the show jumping here was very, very difficult. Bruno warmed up. We didn't hit any jumps in the warm up. This first line was supposed to be nine strides and my coach said, why don't you try and zip across there in eight strides to save a little bit of time. Bruno roared across there in eight strides and then I, I was really nervous about getting time penalty so I almost rode it a bit like a jump off and I could see the footprints of the other horses in the class and we were well inside the other footprints of the other horses on these turns. So it was very hard to make the time. And Bruno was seven seconds under the time, which in show jumping's a mile, a mile ahead. I'm so glad he's a good jumper because I'd never forgive myself if I had a rail down because in hindsight I overrode him a little bit. Like on this turn here, most of the horses stayed nice and wide and Bruno, I sort of cut right in and right at the last stride and turned up to the oxer and he's just a brilliant jumper. So my plan is to give Bruno a nice easy week this week. You know, this, this event wasn't that hard on him. It was only a 6 minute 45 cross country course. So I don't think it knocked his legs around at all by saying that. I've been sort of working him pretty hard, pushing him pretty hard in training, and I think he needs a bit of a break from me, if anything. I couldn't be happier with him, guys. He. He's a phenomenal horse. And sit back and see what happens. My hope is we have two horses on the Olympic squad, and obviously Bruno will be one of them. Anyway, guys, very, very pleased with him. Thank you for all the support, and the sky's the limit.