In this personal video log addressed to Putter, Tina, and Jake, the speaker recounts competing the warm‑blood horse Bruno at the Tryon three‑day event (3DE) in North Carolina. The narrative walks through each phase—dressage, cross‑country, and show jumping—highlighting scores, strengths, and areas for improvement. Dressage earned a 28 overall, with the walk receiving a low 6.5 that likely cost the win. Cross‑country was a clean round but finished five seconds over the optimum time due to the rider’s stride management and subtle communication gaps; the horse showed excellent galloping ability, cleared large ditches, but displayed occasional nervousness and a tendency to jump too big. Show jumping was a clear round, moving the pair from fourth to second after two competitors knocked a rail. The speaker credits coaching from David O’Connor, Silva, and Eric de Vander, and reflects on Bruno’s temperament, fitness, and jumping style. Looking ahead, the rider plans a three‑to‑four‑week rest, then aims for Aiken in January and the Bruce’s Field Grand Prix, hoping to build a stronger partnership and achieve a winning performance. The tone is reflective, appreciative, and cautiously optimistic, emphasizing both the horse’s current capabilities and the potential for future growth.
Chapters
This is a video for Putter, Tina and Jake. We took Bruno down to the Tryon three day event, the full three day event in North Carolina. It was great to see. Jake came along to cheer Bruno on and see a lot of Annie's mates. And Bruno was great. He was really, really good in all three phases. I feel like we're just starting to gel. We're starting to get to know each other. And we nearly, nearly won the thing. We were in the three star long class, which is a little bit easier than where Annie had him. And he was at the four star level. And after Malvern Park, I realized that I don't know Bruno well enough. So it was great actually competing him in one level lower than what he's capable of. I felt like he found it easy and we're sort of building a bit of a partnership. So this is dressage, I think this was on Thursday. And he put in a good test. It was a strong field of horses, I think. I know it's 30 or 40 horses in it. Not to be a whinger, but apparently this is the worst part of his test. The judge didn't like the horse's walk. We got sevens and eights in the trot and canter and then the Judges scored a 6.5 in the walk. Ultimately might have cost us the win, but anyway, not to. Not to matter. So Bruno, I think he got like a 28 in the dressage, which is pretty good. And then cross country day was obviously the most important. We got all of his. Well, most of his cross country around here thanks to the live feed. And he's great. He's still. I'm not, not quite in sync with him still. Like sometimes I balance him for a jump and then he really slows down or I think I see a forward one to the jump and he doesn't quite lock onto the jump like thought he would. But it's a. It's almost like a bit of a communication flaw between me and Bruno and it's. You can't really see it on the video. It's more of a feeling that I get when I'm riding him. I believe in time we will, as we sort of get more and more connected, that will get better and better. We've, you know, been practicing a fair bit at home, been taking a fair few lessons on him, got some dressage training, a little bit from David o' Connor and then obviously Silva helped me on him a bit. And he's a funny horsey. He gets a little bit nervous, but he doesn't get hot. Like, he sort of gets a little bit nervous within himself. And again, it's something you can't really see on the video. It's a. He sort of internalizes a little bit of his pressure. So, you know, trying to get him forward and free and showing off his paces, sometimes he sort of cramps up a little bit and hides a little bit from your leg. So I think that's my main goal going forward for next year, is to try and, you know, get him a little bit more forward and extravagant in the dressage because he. I believe he'll put in a cracking dressage test starting next year. He's got great paces and nosy stuff. So obviously this was a big run for him. It was a big performance. It was sort of a, I think a bit over three miles. There was a long hill at the end of the cross country. Unfortunately, the live feed that I've got here doesn't show it, but he's a little bit tired going up the last hill. He's a very, very good jumper. And sometimes, if I had to criticise Bruno, he jumps too big over the cross country jumps and over jumps. You know, he's a warm blood horse. So we're. We're always sort of working on his fitness. He was 10th to go. I believe if he went later in the dressage school, you know, like, if he went the second day, he would have got a better score. But this was the part that we were most looking forward to. Obviously, he gave us a good run around Virginia two weeks ago and then a disappointing run before that at Morven park, so I was a little bit nervous. But Eric de Vander come and gave me some cross country lessons with him and got him thinking quite forward sometimes. Bruno has a little bit of a look at the ditches and there was two big ditch jumps on the cross country and he flew over both of them. Didn't even see him. So that part of him feel like I've got the hang of. We were five seconds over the time. And. To me, it wasn't because he was slow. There was a couple of jumps that I was sort of slowing down too much for. Like, see that Tricana there? I think in time, I've got to learn to see if I can jump that a little bit more out of stride. Like, I think I added one too many strides to that jump. And there was a number of fences around the course where I felt like I sort of balanced him and then slowed him down and steadied him up for Too many strides and I think once I get the partnership better with him, we'll have that sort of communication all ironed out where we'll be able to take the fences on out of stride. Bruno, even though he's a warm blood horse, he does have a good gallop. He's quite impressed. He tired a little bit up the last part of the course, but his actual speed and his length of stride's good. The sunlight was horrible. We were pretty early to go on Saturday morning. We went at about 8:30 and bloody sun was in your eyes. And there was a couple of jumps where you could hardly see them just because the sun was blaring in your eye. But not to make too many excuses, check that one. Sweet. Bruno, like the other events I've had, has had a big cheering squad. The announcer always gives him a good introduction and obviously a lot of people know who Bruno is and through Annie and him being sort of competing in this region, so he's got his own little fan club. So my plan after this is to. I'm going to give Bruno actually three or four weeks rest. Thinking back on it, I've been sort of training him pretty hard since he arrived and been galloping him and jumping him and taking him to competitions. And I feel like it would do Bruno good just to chill out a bit, take it easy, put his feet up and rest up a little bit. He came through this event very sound. He wasn't stiff or sore after the cross country and show jumped very well. But I think mentally too, had a big year, obviously a big change, moving up to our place and good for him just to hang out in the paddock a bit. So this was his show jumping around. He always delivers in the show jumping. I wouldn't have ridden a better horse in the show jumping. I mean, he just balloons into the air and kicks his hind end up. It's really, really awesome to. We were in fourth place coming into the show jumping and lucky for us, there was two horses ahead of us that took a rail down. So we finished in second place, which. Pretty good, Pretty good performance. The horse that won just been purchased from Europe and obviously a really, really good horse. And, you know, I think our performance was good, but it wasn't the best performance that we will be able to come up with. I think with more time will be able to come up with a winning performance. So give him a bit of time off and then I plan to go to Aiken with him in early January. Part of me would love to run him at the Bruce's Field Grand Prix Eventing. I just feel like there's a huge support for Annie and Bruno in Aiken, and I've already got my sights set on trying to win the Bruce's Field Eventing Grand Prix there, just because Bruno's a hero in Aiken. And it would be awesome to try and get amongst that one and win that one. So, obviously, it's been a tough year for you guys, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate that you've sent Bruno my way. It's a real thrill to ride him and a real privilege and honour.
