Round Two - Elite Class

Heat One

Like before in Round One, Round Two was set to be on a very wet and gloomy bank holiday weekend at the Thame showground. But the weather had yet again to defeat the spirit of all the teams competing in the National Horsebaording Championships 2014, and seven Elite teams strode out onto the ground ready to battle it out.

As beautiful as the Thame showground was, it also came with some problems. The long grass that covered it caused the boarders some difficulty as it increased the friction between the board and the ground which inevitably slowed them down. The ground itself was also hard for the horses, but at the same time the long grass made it slippery, so most teams opted for studs to ensure a firmer grip on the ground.

As the morning session of Heat One commenced, all teams seemed to have the same idea in their heads and wanted to set the fastest time possible as quickly as possible. We at Horseboarder Magazine can only speculate, but we presume flashbacks of Round One’s terribly muddy ground continued to stay fresh in everyone’s minds! As fun as it was rolling around in the mud, it seemed no one wanted to wait until the ground got that bad again.

Do or Die were first out and set a great time of 85.84s, but Icandy, clearly making use of the path carved out by Do or Die in the grass, managed to set an even faster time of 83.11s. Then, for the rest of the morning, no other team seemed able to match it, not even Icandy themselves. Mad ’Atters weren’t too far behind though; their fastest time being 85.80s, beating Do or Die. Ihorse came trotting in behind them with 90.72s. And our reigning National Champs, Dead Pigeon, failed to even complete a run.

There were two teams, Norfolk ‘n’ Good and Designated Drinkers, who faced a change to their line up and both teams seemed to be finding it difficult to gel at first. Norfolk ‘n’ Good, in the absence of their usual boarder Allen Hare, used stand-in boarder Aiden Beamish and although the team set times for each run, they weren’t as fast as normal. Their fastest came in at 107.59s. Designated Drinkers, however, were a little faster with their boarder Luca Grillo who had never entered a competition before and who had never raced the Elite course before. Hats off to you, Luca, for your valiant effort! Designated Drinkers managed to score a time of 101.66s.

So at the end of the morning session of Heat One, the rankings were as follows: Icandy, Mad ’Atters, Do or Die, Ihorse, Designated Drinkers, Norfolk ‘n’ Good and Dead Pigeon.

Onto the afternoon session of Heat One and the long grass had been flattened over the duration of the morning session, so our teams were fired up and determined to beat their set times. Unfortunately there had been some light drizzle, making the ground slicker to race on. Would this hinder or help our teams? Let’s find out.

Do or Die raced first again and, going for glory, they smashed Icandy’s morning time and set a new fastest time of 81.46s. Then Icandy, perhaps a little too unsettled by Do or Die’s new time, unfortunately failed to set a time in the afternoon session and were unable to beat Do or Die. The majority of the other teams, however, managed to improve on their times. The most successful at beating their own time was Norfolk ‘n’ Good, who were clearly beginning to gel quite well now and managed to shave 9.59s by scoring a new time of 98.00s. Still, this wasn’t enough to come in the top three. Ihorse also improved greatly on their morning session by 7.9s and getting a score of 82.82s. Designated Drinkers kept up their pace they had set before and scored a respectable 91.75s but Mad ’Atters were still way out ahead of them with 83.50s.

The last team to race, with no completed runs in the morning session, were Dead Pigeons. When they loaded themselves up in the pits, most thought they would have a conservative run, because if they had no score for Heat One, they would not be able to gain an average score for the Round (as it is made from the best score on Heat One and best score of Heat Two). However, no conservative run came from the pigeons as they rocketed out of the starting pits, not holding anything back. As they made it through the cross over section of the course, they past the commentary box with a split time of 70.03 seconds - exactly the same as Do or Die.

Charlie Buss let the throttle out on Nabo as they flew round the last corner and as they turned on to the straight, only 30 meters away from the finish line, Ross got taken on to his toes. The crowd let out a gasp of horror as Ross was thrown to the floor and Charlie and Nabo crossed the finish line with no boarder and no recorded time. This left Dead Pigeon in 7^th place and out of the race for Round Two.

With Heat One all wound up, the leader board showed Do or Die in 1^st place, Ihorse in 2^nd and Mad I’Atters in 3^rd. But with another Heat left in Round Two, and only 2 seconds between the top three positions, it could all change. So let’s see what happened.

Heat Two

The morning session didn’t start off too well for our current leaders, Do or Die, as they missed a gate and only manage to register 110.38s. Icandy took full advantage of this, gaining 82.29s and once again taking the top spot whereas Mad ’Atters and Ihorse, who had both done so well in Heat One, didn’t register a time at all for their morning session. Designated Drinkers, however, continued at a steady pace and got 94.50s with their new boarder Luca looking extremely comfortable on his board. But Norfolk ‘n’ Good seemed to be having troubles once again and only managed 107.83. Dead Pigeon appeared to be back on form again and registered one of the fastest times of the weekend at 81.36s but it still couldn’t put them in the running. It just goes to show, though, what a formidable force they still can be.

In the afternoon session, neither Dead Pigeon nor Norfolk ‘n’ Good nor Icandy managed to secure a time. Ihorse managed to put in a time of 85.06s this time, but it still wasn’t enough to match Icandy’s morning time. Designated Drinkers built steadily on their times and managed 93.45s but it still wasn’t enough for the top three. Do or Die registered a time on their last run of 85.53s which placed them in second but, at the last minute, Mad ’Atters gained a 82.56s run, knocking Do or Die into third.

So, at the end of Heats One and Two, and to sum up the weekend, the positions were as follows:

1^st – Icandy

2^nd – Mad ’Atters

3^rd – Do or Die

4^th – Ihorse

5^th – Designated Drinkers

6^th – Norfolk ‘n’ Good

7^th – Dead Pigeon

With less than 4 seconds between the top three teams, there’s still everything to play for in the coming Rounds. Who have you got your bets on?

Round Four is on its way to the Hampshire County Fair on the 4^th and 5^th May. Be there to see it all live in action and check back here for a blow-by-blow account of the highlights. 

Round Two - Novice Class

Heat One

The novice class kicked off with a fast paced start. Seven teams entered this round and Blur of the Moment looked to be the favourite to win after their convincing win at Fonmon Castle in Round One.

With a stand-in horse rider, Blur of the Moment were fist to hit the track and did so at a very

conservative pace with Dan Hallam even getting the chance to mime reading a book as he went round. They managed to set a steady time of 67.59s. Predator also had a good morning session, using Dan Hallam from Blur of the Moment as a stand-in for their boarder. They managed to set a time of 57.92s.

Ambush, however, seemed to be struggling as a unit and were unable to complete a run in the morning due to some issues with their horse. Despite their communication issue, there were some very convincing shows of speed from this team.

                                                                                                                           

Consider it Dun were up next and as this was their first competition as a full team, Rosie Barber and her horse Levi felt they had something to prove. They shot out of the starting area and flew around the course, not acting like a Novice team at all. Their horse, Levi, is a similar build to that of Amba from Do or Die in the Elite class – i.e. they both like speed! It was an amazing sight to see this little 14’1 power house run and they managed to set a time of 58.67s in the morning session.

Halter Ego were next with Tom Kilroy (from Do or Die) as boarder, and they looked up for the challenge of this course and rider Laura Rose felt safe in the knowledge that they could hit the track at any speed with an Elite boarder behind them. And they did just that! Tom looked unusually unsteady behind the team but at the end of the morning session, they had set a time of 54.51s.

Sunny side Up were back and it was brilliant to see this all-girl team back in action. They were unable to practice much over the winter and the team struggled to get round the course because of this. But improvements in Sarah Hill’s board riding could definitely be seen, and both audience and competitors spurred them on around the course. Unfortunately though, no time was recorded in the morning session.

UK Boarder Force were last to run and, shooting out in their purple colours, this team showed a real fast-paced attack on the course, but unfortunately they missed a couple of gates and were only able to score a 88.49s.

In the afternoon session of Heat One, the novice teams faced the same issues that the Elite did with a drizzle of rain on the grass making the ground more slippery, dwindling the amount of grip in the arena. But all the teams pushed hard, as all of them wanted to take home the trophy.

Ambush managed to set down a good paced time and kept themselves in the fight with a 61.89s run, but they still looked like they were holding back and having some slight issues. We at Horseboarder Magazine definitely think this is a team to keep your eyes on because when things click for them, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Blur of the Moment changed their stand-in rider and despite a big crash on their first run after boarder Dan Hallam got more speed than he bargained for, they managed to set a 59.73s time. They all hoped that they had done enough until Katie Bourn, Blurs usual rider, returned for the second day.

Next to race was Predator, with Dan Hallam standing in as boarder. He managed to beat his own team’s time and set a 55.93s for Predator. Straight after them, Consider it Dun came flying out with horse Levi attacking the ground and boarder Rich showing some real skill around the course. They managed to sneak just in front of Predator with 55.62s.

Halter Ego also had a fantastic run, setting a 53.30s time with Laura Rose seemingly paying no attention to her boarder at all and just going as fast as she could, hoping Tom would simply stay on. Not a bad tactic, it seems!

Sunny Side Up fought valiantly and it was clear that they were improving with each with run, but unfortunately no time was recorded for them in the afternoon of Heat One either. Apparently someone’s eggs were scrambled, not fried.

Last to run were UK Boarder Force, and what a run it was! They showed their physical prowess and smashed all the previous times with 52.72s. Natalie Free and horse Cabbage, seemed to storm around the course and not once did she look back to see if her boarder was ok. Olli showed some intense boarding skill and the team earned themselves the top spot for the end of day one. They even left some Elite teams worrying about how fast this team would be when they qualify for their class.

So, the end of Heat One the rankings were as follows: UK Boarder Force, Halter Ego, Consider it Dun, Predator, Blur of the Moment and Ambush.

Heat Two

Both Ambush and Halter Ego failed to record a time in either the morning or afternoon sessions of Heat Two. But Blur of the Moment continued to improve on their times set in Heat One. They scored 56.39s in the morning and 53.94 in the afternoon.

Predator continued their steady streak, recording a time for each run. The fastest in the morning was 57.47s and even better in the afternoon with 55.34s. Consider it Dun also continued to make progress, recording 58.77s in the morning and 55.95s in the afternoon.

Sunny Side Up started to find their stride and only missed one run out of the four. Their fastest was in the afternoon with 88.18s which was a great improvement on their morning time of 93.66s. It was really great to see this team’s hard work and perseverance pay off for them, so well done guys – great job!

But out in front, completely smashing not only their own time but everyone else’s as well was UK Boarder Force. They had a great time of 57.03s in the morning but annihilated that in the afternoon with 52.28s. Clearly this is a team to watch out for. The Elite’s definitely better look out!

So, as I’m sure it’s not surprising, here are the results after the end of Heat Two and the winners of Round Two:

1^st – UK Boarder Force

2^nd – Predator

3^rd – Consider it Dun

4^th – Blur of the Moment

5^th – Halter Ego

6^th – Ambush

7^th – Sunny Side Up

Our Novice teams are doing absolutely brilliantly so far this season, so make sure you catch them in action this bank holiday weekend for Round Four at the Hampshire Country Fair on the 4^th and 5^th May. Good luck to you all!

Interview with two-time National Champions, Dead Pigeon

I’m here with Ross Towner, boarder from Dead Pigeon, unfortunately Charlie Buss, rider for Dead Pigeon, couldn’t make it to chat to us today, but as the two of them are also a couple, as well as team mates, I’m sure Charlie won’t mind Ross speaking for her. So Ross, how are you feeling about the season ahead?

-      I can’t wait! There’s a lot of horseboarding coming up now so it should be pretty good. Pretty Knackering, but good.

Well that’s good to hear. So Dead Pigeon are the two-time National Champions for the Horseboarding Championships, it must feel good hearing that. I’m guessing you’re hoping to be three-time National Champions too?

-       Yeah of course! For me, I’ve only really done it once seeing as I was pretty much out for the first season, apart from a couple of races, due to a dislocated knee. But, yeah, we definitely want to do it all again.

So, getting down to it, what went through your minds last year when you realised you had won for the second time?

-      We sort of realised it on the last race so that meant that we were really relaxed, which made it all a lot more enjoyable because the pressure wasn’t really on any more.

How did it feel when it was announced then?

-      For me personally it was wicked because it was the first time I’d done slalom and because I had to just watch it the year before because of my injury.

How would you say you achieved such an impressive feat?

-      For me personally, I think Charlie is the best rider and that we have the fastest horse. Charlie and I are together so I think as a team it helps because we can sort of say anything to each other! I wouldn’t say I was the best boarder in the competition by a mile, but I suppose my best attributes are that I’m up for going fast.

Have you been doing anything different in training this year? We haven’t heard much from you since the end of last season. Keeping things hush-hush?

-       Err no, we just haven’t been training! The ground has been so bad we just haven’t had a chance. I’ve got a new board now but I used it for the first time at Round One and I hadn't really trained on it beforehand. We generally train on season, I know that sounds a bit daft, but we sort of hang in there a bit at the beginning and then in the second half of the season we’re stronger.

Well that seems to be working for you, so maybe that’s where everyone else is going wrong!

-      Ha, maybe. I think we’re just lazy.

I suppose you could call it that too… Now moving on to this year. You've just come out of Round One - heard about the state of the grounds there. One word – mud! How did you find that?

-      Well the pressure came off to be honest because it was a matter of just getting round and getting a time. Nobody could really show their skills.

I suppose you were all on pretty even pegging because of it then?

-      Exactly, yeah. In a weird way it was more of a laugh than a proper comp!

How did you find the cross-over part of the course? It’s new this year to the Elite course and looks pretty tricky if you ask me!

-      I really like it actually. I’m not sure what everyone else thinks but, personally, I really like it. Obviously it’s a bit more technical, being right in the middle. But yeah I think it makes it a bit different for us.

So now that Round One is over, Dead Pigeon are in 2^nd position. How do you feel about that guys?

-      Pretty good really. Last year at this stage we only got one point and came in last so it’s an improvement! We were glad to just finish in the top three. We brought our second team, Mad ’Atters, with us as well so we were quite happy with second and third.

That is pretty impressive! But it does seem like Do or Die are holding firm on their promise of taking that title away from you.

-      Ha, yeah. They’ve been saying that for the last three years though. I’m sure one of these years they probably will. Tom’s a great boarder and he’s in a relationship with Millie (Do or Die’s rider) so they probably have a pretty similar team chemistry as us. It’s definitely going to be close though because we have a faster horse overall, but they have a quicker horse over a shorter distance. I’d say that Tom is one of the best boarders out there as well so it’s going to be tough.

I’m sure he’ll be pleased to hear you say that Ross! We know how much Tom likes to hear how good he is.

-     Oh yeah, he loves it. Probably best not to tell him that then!

Now I heard that Do or Die’s horse Amba had some pretty big talk pre-season. Something about eating dead pigeon for breakfast?

-     Oh yeah! [laughs] It’s sort of funny because me and Charlie are fairly chilled and find it more fun than anything. Since Tom’s come back into the sport, after his bad ankle, he just gives us stick all the time! But it is all part of the fun and we take it in our stride.

Does Nabo have anything to say back to that?

-      Ha! No, no. We do our talking on the track. Although, saying that, we’re using a different pony called Cookie for the next round and she would probably be a good horse for Tom seeing as she’s the size of a matchbox car. And so is he.

Oooh, burn! So it’s Round Two this bank holiday weekend at Thame, are you nervous at all?

-      We've had a slight issue with our main horse, Nabo, as he’s a little injured. It’s going to be a bit like riding in the unknown for this one. We have a different pony, Cookie, who is tiny and is a bit slow one handed, but we’re hoping she’ll be quick off the mark with Charlie’s using two hands on her.

So how do you think it will go?

-      Hopefully good because I think the weather’s going to be good but it all depends on if it’s going to be a big or small course.

Do you know what the size is?

-      Err no. It’s often small, which doesn’t normally suit us because we tend to go at a higher speed on a bigger course. But seeing as we have Cookie, who is much slower, we need a smaller course to compete.

I see. Well fingers crossed for a smaller course. Any fighting words for the other teams?

-      Err no, not really. It’s a bit too early to say. There’s a lot of new teams so I wouldn’t want to come across all war-like. I’d probably say Do or Die are our main competitors though. And after that? Probably Ihorse or Icandy but it’s early days yet so it’s really hard to call.

Well, it’s been lovely chatting with you Ross, thank you very much. We hope the weather’s a bit better for you next time around and we wish you lots of luck!

Can Dead Pigeon hold onto their title for a third year running? Find out for yourselves! The next round is coming soon to Thame Showground on the 20^th and 21^st April. To get your ticket, click here.