The 2011 competition season has ended for the team at Carlile Complet Eventing with three main efforts concluding our year, plus two changes which will have a significant impact on our future . . . 

Popof des bois at Bleinheim palace CIC***. Photo by Ken Hardman.

Beautiful Blenheim, then Popof moves on. At the CIC three star international at Blenheim early in September, Popof des Bois was placed 14th out of 65 starters. Held in one of the most beautiful stately home parks in England, the competition was a wonderful experience. Some nervousness was evident in the dressage with too many minor errors however the jumping phases made sure this was not a dressage competition. With a superb clear cross country Tom and Pops were one of only five couples inside the optimum time. The show jumping was also influential and even though they tipped one pole they again moved up the order.   

As fairly widely reported in the equestrian press this was to be Toms’ last outing with Popof before he moved on from CCE, from now on he will be ridden by Sidney Dufresne. We are pleased that he stays with a French rider and particularly happy that it is Sidney who has shown his exceptional talent in both France and the UK over the last two years.

Similarly, Pyroman de Brioux also left us at the end of September and will be ridden in the future by Karim Laghouag. We wish the best of good luck to both of the new pairings.

Young Event Horse French National Finals. We dashed back from Blenheim in order to be ready for the start of the week long Young Event Horse National Finals. by the end of the week we were delighted to have three finish in the prize money. In the five year old class Farenheit de Pecos, 'Fred' to his friends, was classed 'Excellent'. He was not quite as relaxed as usual in the dressage but was his usual fast and confident self around the cross country course and, with a clear show jumping round, he moved up to finish 12th out of the 80 starters. Farenheit is an Anglo-Arab son of the racing sire Khanjer Joli. Since arriving here at CCE he has proven to be one of the calmest and most consistent youngsters we have had so we particularly pleased with this result that well reflects his abilities and potential. Meanwhile stable mate Sirocco du Gers also went double clear jumping. After the dressage he was fractionally ahead of Farenheit, this despite an uncharacteristic change of leg during the counter canter. He finished in 17th position overall classed 'Trés Bon'. Sirocco fell behind Farenheit due to the peculiarity in the young horse finals of the inclusion of penalties for the subjectively judged conformation and jumping style .

In the six year olds Raybann du Casteras performed a nice dressage and continued Tom's sequence of clear cross country rounds, however two poles dropped her down the order to finish in a nevertheless respectable 17th place also classed 'Trés Bon'.

Farenheit du Pecos through the water at Pompadour. Photo by Pauline Chevalier.

The beautiful Raybann du Casteras. Photo by Pauline Chevalier  .

Eventing Grand National - Final Results. The fifth and final leg of the eventing Grand National was held at Jardy, Versailles, from the 23rd to the 25th of September. Without Pops or Pyroman to call on Lea de Teilluel moved up for this her first outing at Advanced level. We were happy with her dressage and she did a very fast, comfortably clear cross country round, however tiredness on the last day led to three poles down and a final placing of  9th. Lea only began eventing at the end of 2010 and so we are more than happy that she has shown her potential at the top national level, we will see what progress another winter of training will bring.

Tom and Gwendolen Fer, the CRE Midi-Pyrénées team, finished second overall in the Grand National series with Tom comfortably winning the under 26 year old challenge, a fantastic result that is a marvelous high point to the end of a notable competition season.

Léa de Teilluel enjoying her first Advanced cross country. Photo by Pauline Chevalier.

November and December are usually quiet.

The CRE Midi-Pyrénées team, Gwendolen Fer with Tom.  Photo by Pauline Chevalier.  

Photos by Pauline Chevalier.

Eventing Grand National, better and better. After four legs the CRE Midi-Pyrénées team of Tom and Gwendolen Fer currently hold second place in the overall rankings with just one leg left to go. Tom has deployed two horses so far; Pyromane de Brioux who has really blossomed as the season has progressed and of course the inimitable Popof des Bois who has demonstrated admirable consistency in France this year. Grand National results have been; a creditable 6th place for Pyromane at Vittel in June, a superb second place for Popof at Saumur in July against a particularly strong field and then an unbelievable one two at Sandillon in August. Here it was Pyromane that won the dressage and also led after the cross but Pops that took top honours with a beautiful clear in the very influential show jumping. The final leg of the 2011 series will take place at Jardy, Ile de France, 23 – 25th September. Full results can be found at www.equitation-mp.ffe.com.

Young Horse finals. By mid June Tom had nine out of nine youngsters qualified for this month’s finals at Pompadour, for various reasons only six are planned to go. These are:

* 4 yr olds; Tsigane du Gers the consistent mare of Gérard Brescon and the male Gibson, a catch ride for Tom due to the temporary absence in the saddle of Benoit Parent.

* 5 yr olds; the hugely talented (and cheeky!) Sirocco du Gers and Farenheit du Pecos, our big hearted Anglo Arab sweety.

* 6 yr olds; Raybann du Casteras and DH Jeannot, another mare / male pair that are both huge jumpers. Raybann finished 4th in the young horse international at Sandillon in August and Jeannot took top honours in his age class at Cognac in July. Both of them are on form.

Next competitions: Popof and team head north for the CIC three star at Blenheim Palace, UK, from the 7th – 11th September and then Tom will dash back to Pompadour for the young horse finals that run from the 12th – 18th. The following weekend sees the fifth and final leg of the 2011 Eventing Grand National where Lea du Teilleul is planned to make her first appearance at this top level of national competition.

DH Jeannot entry into the lake at Cognac.

Pyromane de Brioux flying around Saumur. Photo by Pauline Chevalier.

Pyromane de Brioux tackled his first CIC** in May at Saumur. Eleventh after dressage out of 77 starters, they then moved up to 4th place with a brilliant clear round on the cross, one of very few couples to do so within the optimum time. However two poles in the show jumping the next day brought them down the rankings, but they still finished in the prize money. The show jumping faults cost them third place which would have seen Tom share an illustrious podium – Nicolas Touzaint won the class and a certain Mark Todd was second. Ah well, if only if.... The result was more than respectable and Pyromane showed he has the ability and temperament to go on to higher levels

Au revoir to Obscur. Tom and Obscure St Moeurs travelled to Jardy near Versailles early in May for the CCI* and finished a very creditable 5th overall. They had only one time penalty in the show jumping to add to their dressage score which is a fairly stylish way to work. Immediately after Jardy, Obscure returned to his owners and he will now continue his career with Camille Prudhomme, good luck Camille!!

Obscure St Moeurs on his way to 5th place in the CIC* at Jardy. Photo by Pauline Chevalier.

Disappointment at Bramham. The first outing for Popof des Bois at international three star level did not, unfortunately, go to plan. Tom and Popof were part of a large French contingent who travelled to Bramham in Yorkshire, the north of England, over the first weekend in June.  Pops was entered in the CIC*** and started well enough with a reasonable dressage test. Two poles in the show jumping didn’t have an adverse effect on their placing, but two refusals at the fourth fence on the cross country were definitely uncharacteristic, Tom decided to retire at that point. Probably the most frustrating aspect is the lack of apparent explanation, this is the first ‘objection’ from Popof in three years of competition. Fence 4 was a combination coffin type and it did cause difficulties for several other riders, but at the moment we remain baffled. The good news is that both rider and horse are unscathed.

Seven double clears out of eight classes. The young horses were out at both Tartas and Sandillon during May and, with only one exception, all performed with pleasing consistency. Highlights included a first place for Raybann du Casteras at Tartas also the first outing ever for Tefnout Palija who finished on his dressage score.

Tefnout Palija at only 4 years old completes his first event like an old pro. Photo and horse created by Pauline Chevalier.

Full details of all Toms’ results can be found on the site of the Féderation Française d’Equitation at http://www.ffecompet.com/cavaliers and follow-up of the young horse rankings is available at http://www.shf.eu/classements.

Next competitions: The second leg of the Grand National series will take place at Vittel in the department of Lorraine, 10th to 12th of June, and Pyromane de Brioux will tackle his first advanced class there. Keeping him company on the trip will be Pleasure du Golfe who will enter in the show jumping CSI* run in parallel to the three day event.
The young horses will have their rehearsal for the national finals at Pompadour between the  21st and 23rd of June, in fact with nine horses entered this will also be a full deployment and stamina test for the whole Carlile Complet Eventing team!

The competition season is now running at full speed, fifteen of the seventeen horses currently here at Carlile Complet Eventing have competed so far this year with several outstanding results.

Rodez young horses ; a complete podium for Carlile Complet Eventing! With 28 starters in the class for 5 year olds we feel this result really shows the depth of our young horse power this year. Sirocco du Gers and Farenheit du Pecos (alias ‘Fred’) finished first and third, both on their dressage scores. Sapristi de Brenne HN filled the second place, he had one pole down in the show jumping but had sufficient margin after the dressage that it did not affect his placing. In the four year olds Tom’s own Ténareze (known as ‘Taz’ to his mates) had the first outing of his career at Rodez and finished a very creditable 3rd. All of the CCE young horses run in their respective Cycle Classique age classes.

Rodez, in the Aveyron department of the Midi-Pyrénées region, also hosted the first of this years’ Grand Regional series, this is a Pro 2 class (similar to Intermediate in the UK) and Tom won on Obscur St Moeurs, once again finishing with no additional penalties on his dressage score.

First place x 4! Two weeks later a similar sequence took place at one of our favourite venues, the agricultural college of Touscayrats in the Tarn department. Tom entered four classes and we are absolutely thrilled and somewhat stunned to be able to report that he won all four; Taz was 1st in the 4 year olds, Sirocco again led the fives with Fred 3rd and Sapristi 6th, and Raybann de Casteras won the 6 year olds with DH Jeannot in 2nd place. 

In the second leg of the Grand Regional Quinoa de la Grange won on his first outing of the year and Palatine du Banier was 2nd. This time Obscur showed that he is still a little green when he had a stop on the cross at a combination fence of two skinny brush arrow heads. We feel that will only be educational for him and he is still likely to move up a class to Pro 1 for his next outing.  

DH Jeannot on the cross.

Meanwhile the senior horses have also been in action; Popof des Bois began his season in the Pro Elite Grand Prix at Tartas and finished very satisfactorily on his dressage score in 8th place. There were very few clear rounds in the show jumping, which is not uncommon at Tartas, but Pops delivered one of them which helped Tom earn the prize for the highest placed rider aged 25 years or under. This competition was the first leg of the 2011 Grand National series (last months’ CCE News gives more details about Grand National). Both Lea du Teilleul and Pyromane de Brioux have started this season continuing to build in confidence, in particular they finished 2nd and 4th respectively at the CIC* at Rodez in mid March.

Pleasure de Golfe will be aimed at pure show jumping in 2011 and he has already made a great start with clear rounds in 1m35 classes at both Barbaste and Vacquiers. 

Space limits us to mention only highlights of the season so far, full details of Toms’ results can be found on the site of the Féderation Française d’Equitation at http://www.ffecompet.com/cavaliers 

Next competitions: The Easter weekend will see Pleasure tackling his first CSI* at Barbaste which will include his first 1m40 course. The last weekend in April will take us back to Touscayrats, this time for international CCI* and CIC* classes and early in May the young horses will be back in action this time at Tartas. In mid May we will head north to Jardy, Versailles for another international. Not too far off on the horizon will be Popofs’ first three star event, this is planned at the under 25 years CIC*** at Bramham in Yorkshire, UK, over the first weekend of June.

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Ténareze, Tom's own four year old, photo by Pauline Chevalier.

Team CRE Midi Pyrénées enters the FFE Grand National 2011. Carlile Complet Eventing has teamed with Gwendolen Fer of the Ecuries des Houarn to compete under the colours of the Midi-Pyrénées Regional Equitation Committee (CRE) in the 2011 Eventing Grand National. This exciting new team, 100% Pyrénéen, brings together two young, local riders that have both had very promising results in 2010. Gwendolen was the highest ranking female rider in France in 2010 and was placed 6th at the CCI**** at Pau. Tom rose into the top twenty national rankings in 2010 and won three international events at 1 and 2 star level, he also won the Criterium for seven year olds at the National Young Event Horse Championships.  

The strong support of the CRE is an excellent initiative to further their aims of assisting regional riders to achieve the highest levels of competition. 

The Grand National series runs throughout the season over five Advanced tracks: 

• Tartas, Aquitaine, 5th to 6th March
• Vittel, Lorraine, 10th to 12th June
• Saumur, Pays de la Loire, 22nd to 24th July
• Sandillon, Centre Val de Loire, 11th to 14th August
• Jardy, Ile de France, 23rd to 25th September

More information about the Eventing Grand National and the CRE Midi-Pyrénées can be found at the following sites: 

• www.grandnational.ffe.com/Grand-National-CCE
• www.equitation-mp.com

Leria du Ter and Gwendolen Fer.

First competitions of 2011, the season begins. The winter break has flashed by and, as this is written, the first competition of the season is upon us. The weekend of 18th & 19th February saw four CCE horses at Anglet on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, Palatine du Banier, Obscur St Moeurs, Pyromane de Brioux and Lea de Teilleul will tackle the Pro 3 class. The following weekend will see Pleasure du Golfe show jumping in the 1m30 and 1m35 classes at Barbaste, near Agen, Lot et Garonne. The weekend of the 5th & 6th March is the first step of the FFE Eventing Grand National. Then the young horses, at least the 5 and 6 year olds, will get their first outings of the year at Royan on the 12th & 13th March and then the first international outing of the season is set for the one and two star events at Rodez, Aveyron. 

DH Jeannot AA, photo by Pauline Chevalier.

New arrivals. Supporters of Carlile Complet Eventing will see from the above that some new names have joined our horse power since last November. Whilst space limits a full introduction this month here is a brief list of the newcomers:

• Tefnout Palija, 4 year old Anglo Arab (CR) bay gelding by Neremptah St Laurent and Griselda d’Alsy by Dancer Prince, owned, bred and much loved by the sport horse journalist Mrs Pauline Chevalier.

• Tsigane du Gers, 4 year old Selle Français bay mare by Rheingold de Luyne and Vieusinge de Maury by Jalienny, owned and bred by our founding supporter Gérard Brescon

• Tenareze, 4 year old Anglo Arab (CR) bay male by Jaguar Mail and Utopia de Maury by Quatar de Plape. ‘Taz’ as he is known at home is owned by Tom and was bred by Patrick Sisqueille.

• DH Jeannot, 6 year old Anglo Arab chestnut male by Jebeland Pontadour and DH Circina by Cinema, owned, bred and produced so far by Miss Eva Gygax and her father Dr Andreas Gygax.

• Sapristi de Brenne HN, 5 year old Anglo Arab olive chestnut male by Sarastro and Karen du Mee by Silver Rainbow, owned by the National Stud. Sapristi is officially the ride of Astier Nicolas however Tom has taken over whilst Astier completes his studies in the UK.

• Obscur St Moeurs, this handsome 9 year old Selle Français dark bay gelding is by Cabdula du Tillard and Fos’Mefier d’Rebel by Pamphile, owned by Camille Prudhomme.

• Lea du Teilleul,12 year old Selle Français bay mare by Flipper d’Elle and Bulbe de la Basle by Kings Road. Lea is owned by Carlile Complet Eventing.