The Final Weekend

Well and this is where it all ended. Charlotte du Jardin with Valegro took the Small Tour title and Juan Manuel Munoz Diaz the Big Tour with our favourite 'pocket rocket' Fuego XII.

Charlotte came into the ring and from the moment she started it was clear that she was not going to give any points away! Sheer grit and determination showed with every movements. It was easy in the end and a well deserved victory.

Fuego was the crowd's favourite and a popular winner. Wouldn't we all want one like him?!! The crowd here at Montenmedio are so enthusiastic - there is always a rowdy bunch of young supporters who aren't afraid to show their approval - and the atmosphere is electric. The showmanship of the spanish horseman is something to see - the pride and grace of the rider and the flamboyance of the white stallions. It's a combination that is wonderful to watch.

The majority of the british riders felt that the pressures where high on their horses to compete at what was effectively three international competitions back to back. The horses simply get tired. However everyone makes such progress. And were else can you find so many trainers in one place to choose from!

Come next year? Please don't be shy to contact us and find out more - either just to visit or how it works with bringing horses. It's a treat. julia@classicdressage.com

Wednesday 17 March and gossipy snippits

Well thanks to some top sleuthing we have discovered the story behind the strangely parked blue car. Hire cars have a really tough time in this part of Spain and we never see one without some decent dents, including our own red Leon. It seems that nobody takes much care of their motor here, hire car or their own.

However seeing the little blue car standing on it's nose was unusual. Apparently an English groom drove it into a car parking space and forgot to hit the brake peddle and went straight over a precipice into the ditch and then thought she could reverse out. This was first thing in the morning so we can only assume that the night before had been fun!

It may have been a quiet day today with lots of sunshine but the competition was hot with the first half of the Grand Prix and the second half of the PSG

Carl has withdrawn Uthopia from the GP as the horse has a long season ahead and has now proved himself to be a potential World Championship team horse.

Two Sox and Maria Eilberg lead in the GP and Charlotte and the incredible Valegro won the PSG, though Silvia Zimmer on Broadway 24 is closing the scoregap and came a very good second. Lisa Hopkins took third place, she is having a terrific show with her two small tour horses.

Tuesday 16th March - Happy Birthday Peter!

Another lovely day - first half of the PSG running in the afternoon, 2nd half Wednesday. Main news is that Carl has decided not to run Uthopia for the show this week. It can be hard for young horses - 3 big shows back to back - so sad for spectators but probably great decision for a great horse!

Today was Peter Storr's birthday and he visited for the day to lunch with friends.
It was a delight to catch up with Leida Collins Stryjk again. She is expecting a baby boy (her third) in June and is still slim as a reed. To ensure the new baby becomes a Bermuda passport holder, they will be there for a month before the birth. Tim's family all live there.

It's rather strange that this is our first "proper" Monday. Normally Mondays are our rest day. Horses are walked or hacked out, riders have the chance to unwind and we explore the local countryside or lounge around our courtyard reading trashy novels.

Last Monday, if you remember, was a competition day after the Saturday washout so we missed out and todays challenge is to make up for it.

Part of the joy of renting a house in the white town on the hill behind the showground is the slice of Spanish life that you get the chance to experience. There is a supermarket where you will meet every Sunshiner Tourer staying in Vejer de la Frontera and loads of tiny specalist food shops; bakers, pork/sausage/beef butchers, fruit & veg and fishmongers where you can try out your Spanish and buy delicious ingredients with very few food miles.

So having got food for supper this evening with Kevin Sparrow orgainised we spent a few hours wandering around the old town peering around open doorways into hallways and courtyards decorated with wonderful blue and white tiles. So if you are thinking of coming to the Montenmedio and don't fancy a hotel then we can highly recommend the holiday house experience.

One of the things that strikes you about the Sunshine Tour is the friendly atmosphere. Part of this is due to the relaxed pace of life here and part due to the fact that horses and family are central to every Spaniard's heart.

Looking through the list of competitors you also see that it is very much a family affair - the Eilbergs, the Huttons, the Rawlins, the Stumpf sisters, the Barbancon sisters, the Galiza Mendes', the Lewis' and quite a few husband and wife teams.

Well time to open the wine, put the supper on and get Kevin up to speed on the news and the parking photo shot that he missed on Sunday..............

Sunday 14th March

Can you believe that we have visitors, go out a lot, eat and drink too much and bang goes our good intentions of writing the blog every day. Well we're BACK. Pip cooking a Sunday Roast (yes truly), Rus on computer (what's new) and Dane, Pauline and Nicky comning round for dinner.

This weekend has been fantastic weather, all you would expect from the Sunshine Tour. And the Brit results have been outstanding! Carl and Charlotte continue to dominate with Uthopia and Valegro but Maria and Michael Eilberg, Henriette Andersen, Lisa Hopkins, Henry Boswell and Charlie Hutton are all right up there in the line-up.

And that's not to mention our Young Riders - we will log a special post on their progress later this week.

Socially it's been great fun. Jordi Domingo and his girlfriend Linda Swande have arrived from Barcelona this weekend, where they left 10cm of snow in the city centre!
Jordi was on the Spanish team last year with Prestige and was Sunshine Tour Big Tour Champion last year.

More tomorrow

Wednesday 10th March

Our first really stunning day today. Sunny and warm though cold in the shade. It was a quiet day with an Owner's class this morning and the trot up at lunchtime. After that nothing was planned in the arenas so we left and had a quick sunbathe yes sunbathe next to our swimming pool! in jeans and fleeces to start with, and the courtyard stops all wind, then tshirts only and fabulously warm.

Last night's dinner was at what we had always thought was a trucker's stop. wrong. a gourmet delight of fresh red crayfish and locally reared t-bone steaks. the rest is history...! Not the cheapest restaurant - i think they sniffed the sunshine tour crowd.....

Tuesday 9th March

Rowan Lewis (above) on the gorgeous Blakes Da Vinci. Annabelle Collins is entering the arena (left) with Vejer de la Frontera in the background and Joanne Vaughan is flying the flag for Estonia top left.

Gabriela Stumpf (below with her sister Katherina on foot) comes each year from Vienna, bringing either showjumpers or dressage horses. Now that's versatile!

This morning saw the Owner's Class run up in arena 1 in bright sunshine with a stiff cool breeze. I can never get my head around what exactly the Owner's class is. There seem to be a generous amount of professionals in the class as well as the owners that i assumed the class was for. So this report will focus on some of the super real owner/riders! I loved this pic of Dame Pauline Harris ( above) as you can see her trainer Dane Rawlins looking grumpy in the background!

The National PSG was underway when we left, with Lisa Hopkins in the lead with Likeur.

Monday 8th March

Never before has there been a competition on a Monday, the DAY OFF. But never has there been so much rain on a Saturday! Today's Grand Prix Special was convincingly won by Carl Hester and Sasha Stewart's Utopia with 73%. Maria Eilberg was second and also in the line up was Juan Manuel Munoz and the gorgeous Fuego XII (see pic right) and Henriette Andersen on Louis D'Or.

This week we should see the debut of Dame Pauline Harris and her new mount Hexagons Ollright, the dutch grand prix horse she recently bought from Laurens van Lieren. She will be competing in the Owners class and will spend the next 2 weeks getting aclimatised to this gorgeous horse.

One common line we hear from all the Europeans and and other regular visitors to the Sunshine Tour is how much they enjoy watching our top riders, namely Carl. Particularly relevant this year, so many people remember Utopia when he competed here in the young horse classes with his owner, Sasha Stewart. Carl is given huge praise for producing horses when so many top professionals seem to 'go through' so many young horses.

Sunday 7th March

Today was a fab day with Carl winning the GP and Charlotte winning the Int I. The showground were mesmerised with both combinations and loved the standards being set! Charlotte was so excited about Valegro "It's only his second outing at this level and he makes it feel so easy". She was clearly very excited about their achievements. The Int I prize giving was well represented by Brits with Charlie Hutton, Michael Eilberg, Henry Boswell and Lisa Hopkins all in the money.

And the sun shone today. No idea how they managed to drain that huge arena overnight but they did. No problems today. Dogs as usual running wild around the arenas - one little scrap happened in the ring while Dane was riding but Sydney (bless her cotton socks) soldiered on happily looking fabulous. The shop sold some emergency winter coats again today and we took delivery of the new season Goode Rider clothing.

Because of the shocking weather yesterday the GPS is running tomorrow from 10am. So no Mondays off for us - it's all work work work!

Saturday 6th March PART ONE

Rained off!! GP postponed until tomorrow. But Young Riders should run this evening 630ish. Last week they pumped the water out of the warm up arena and sounds like they'll do the same today. We had torrential rain all night however as the forever optimist i believe it's now done - SUNSHINE tour here we come!!

The showground was quiet with most riders having an early heads up so staying put at hotels while grooms and helpers walking the horses out. Enjoyed breakfast with the usual suspects, Dane Rawlins (Isn't this terrible - I'm off shopping) and his wife Maureen (How many pairs of white breeches DO you have with you?).

We'll pick up a full set of results and post tonight!

Friday 5th March

Awoken by the sound of some Sparrows with Spring on their mind this morning just before it got light. I think they must like the acoustics of our high-walled courtyard. They were closely followed by the Swallows noisily telling their friends that our tiny swimming pool was the place to swoop to for a quick drink.

We felt a little guilty for all of you freezing your butts off in Northern Europe as we left the house for the showground dressed only in a light fleece. Rain was forecast for later in the day so we took coats but fortunately did not need them.

Arriving at Montenmedio we slipped immediately into our old routine of checking up on the previous days results and the running order for the day, whilst drinking cafe con leche and eating toasted rolls.

The Brits managed a one two in the Inter II yesterday. Michael Eilberg came out in pole position with Marakov on 67.8% just pipping Henriette Andersen on Lous D'or by 0.2%. The other Brit placed in the 'Tour classes was Lisa Wilcox taking joint third in the PSG.

A quick guide to the classes might be helpful at this point. They are split up as follows -

BIG TOUR - This kicks off with a warm up Inter II followed by the Grand Prix, split over Friday and Saturday and a GP Special for the highest placed combinations on Sunday.
SMALL TOUR - There is the chance to warm up in the national PSG earlier in the week before the international class spread over Thursday and Friday, followed by the Inter I on Saturday and Sunday.

The 'Tour classes are held in the main arena next to the stables and restaurant and generally all other classes, except for the final "final" in week three, are held in another lovely sand arena. This is about a ten minute walk away along a sandy track through the umberalla pines and alongside the top class golf course.

YOUNG HORSE - These are for 5 and 6 year old horses and are judged on performance in the FEI young horse tests.

OWNERS - Don't let the term owners fool you. Anyone can ride these classes that wants to compete at Advancedish level and ride the FEI Juniors and Young Riders tests.

JUNIOR & YOUNG RIDERS - Just as you would expect these are tests for juniors and young riders.

You will notice that we are partisan, along the lines of patriotism or friendship, in the recording of results and erratic on the reporting of performance in the arena. This is because our main job is running the shop and we only get the chance to watch at quiet times. The other way we get our information is talking to people as they visit the bar, restaurant or loo, all closely located to our shop, or indeed when they come into browse in the shop. So if you are at the Sunshine Tour and want your story in our blog come and tell us!

A big thank you to Emily Hamblin who is riding the gorgeous grey, Royal Dancer here at Small Tour. Her mother volunteered her services hearing our cry of "where is a youngster when you need them?" during a Classic Dressage mobile phone crisis. One of our phones had suddenly stopped working mid conversation. We had then found a following a tiny microchip card on the table and had the phone in pieces trying to find where and how this tiny piece had fallen out. Emily fixed it in ten seconds!


We left the showground early today at about 5.30pm as we has a few domestic tasks including shopping and washing to do but not before a few competition snippits -

Grand Prix some initial results. Maria Eilberg is in the lead with 68.3%, followed by Henriette Andersen in second place and the other young Eilberg, Michael in fith place.
Small Tour. Valegro looked wonderful. Expressive and every ounce the "happy athlete"

Look forward to some great pictures tomorrow - We have both brought cameras but got sidetracked with 1. shop, 2. lunch, 3. gawping at adorable spanish horses, 4. hugs and kisses for friends and customers not seen for a year. Not to mention catching up with Rowan Lewis, Nicky Barrett, Carl Hester ("I can't manage another buffett dinner this holiday"), Team Boswell ("Make sure you try the carrot cake it's the best we've ever had") and of course out dear friend Henriette Andersen ("Do you REALLY have a washing machine at your house???").

Catch up soon!

Thurs 4th March

Our arrival day! Had heard such bad reports of the weather that we were so surprised to arrive on a sunny, warm and slightly muggy day. Arrived at the showground at 1pm and decided on a quick lunch before arranging our shop and its contents into the enticing retail experience our customers were going to expect. Our first sight at the showground was Dane Rawlins and Lady Pauline Harris having a quick bite to eat. We interrupted them of course and heard that Dane's daughter Annie was on her way out today as well.

Limited reports of the competition today but results were showing Michael Eilberg in the lead in the Int II with Henriette Andersen hot on his heels GO ENGLAND!

It wouldn't be a Classic Girls blog without a mention of food. Suffice to say that the Jamon Iberico was just as delicious as last year.

Sylivia Zimmer fortunately dropped by whilst we were attempting to turn our tiny box room into a chic boutique and bought a pair of spurs with cash, so giving us euros for a rather tasty steak supper in our "canteen" restaurant just around the corner from our rented house in Vejer. The name of the restarant is Las Perdices and seems very well known to locals and the Sunshine Tour crowd.

Getting out to supper was tricky. The torrential rain has meant that all the woodwork in the house has swollen horribly and it took all our strenghth and ingenuity to open the door to get out. Getting back in was no easier and we looked like a couple of inept middle aged hooligans trying to kick a door in .

The weather forecast is not promising for tomorrow, more heavy rain is forecast. The good news is that it is far better to be wet in 16 degrees than 3!

We bumped into a few of the Brits today and hear that Charlotte du Jardin and Carl Hester will be out competing for the first time tomorrow.

More news and proper results tomorrow!

We're taking our shop, Classic Dressage Collection, to the Sunshine Tour this week! For those of you who don't know about this extravaganza, the Sunshine Tour is a series of three weekends of International Dressage at a resort called Montenmedio. Very close to the southern most tip of Spain, you can see Morocco across the Straits as you drive alongside the Atlantic coast to the white walled hillside town of Vejer de la Frontera. It is the most exciting car journey!

We will arrive on Thursday 4th, as the competitions are underway. Our stock of gorgeous clothing and breeches will have arrived so we will be arranging and 'merchandising' our wares as soon as we get there. It takes longer than you think (our shop is around 3m x 2m!) as many regulars to the Sunshine Tour come and help us unpack and there is so much greeting and hugging to do! This will be our 6th year taking the shop to Spain and it is a truly stunning trip.

Now we have your attention ... keep reading as the updates will come thick and fast!