[RC] Fernvale FEI and AERA ride report - Part 1 - Jay Randle
Hi All
The weekend's weather consisted of periods of very hot bright sunlight interspersed with cool cloudy patches with a very sneaky cold breeze.... just ideal strapping conditions.... NOT! In fact, the strapping was quite difficult at times, with care needed to make sure the horses coming in off a hot track did not cramp in the time it took to get to the Vet Gate. Fog greeted the early departures in the 120km event at 4am, and was still evident as the 45km training riders got underway at 7am. The 82km events started at 6am, so no headlights were necessary for these riders.
This ride, which included FEI** 120km, FEI* 82km, AERA 82km and AERA 45km events, was based at the Fernvale Rodeo Grounds, which has adequate facilities for all. This ride is run by the Fernvale Endurance Riders Club, headed up by Paul and Caroline Fitzgerald, a relatively new but very active club in SE Qld, having already run quite a few rides since its inception.
The Splendacrest camp included 10 horses, of which we incurred 1 withdrawal due to an injury, and 9 good completions! Additionally, 5 of the Splendacrest riders were "head-hunted" to ride for other people, and 4 of them completed well! So I'm a very happy trainer today!
In the FEI** 120km ride, Rod Strahan decided to withdraw Shardell Azrark after the first loop due to a significant, although small, cut on the horses' stifle, probably caused by an overhanging branch or something similar. This was quite a shame, as Azrark was looking great otherwise, and vetted through in 3 minutes after the first loop of 37km with his usual incredibly low heartrates.
John Dugan rode his lovely chestnut mare, Performance Park Lady Kharisma, to a good completion, while Kristan Kershaw completed her second FEI** 120km ride in only 8 days (having gone to the Collie, WA ride last weekend) on Bullarto Fiorelli. NZ import Kimberley Ryan rode Splendacrest Fiesta to 4th Youth placing in 9:47.... thanks Kristan and Kim for taking care of these two great mares.
Splendacrest riders Tarni Kittel, Clio Rauch and Angela Head were also all successful in the FEI** 120km event, with Tarni gaining 5th Youth placing on Cherox Bluebeard (owned by John Davidson), Clio completing well on Willowvale Sirahh (owned by Yvonne Knight), and Angela gaining 10th Youth placing on Rachem Mustava Heart (owned by Dallas and Andrew Blakely).
In the FEI* 82km event, Renae Kuhn rode Bourhani Albaraq and Gerard Bou rode Splendacrest Sayirah to cross the line together, placing 6th and 7th in the Open division in 5:48. Johan De Bruto rode Bacchante Silver Lace (owned by Shane Hopkins) to place 17th in 7:05. Marcia Burger rode a wonderful horse owned by Dallas and Andrew Blakely, to complete her first open ride and her first FEI ride in fine form! Congratulations Marcia!
