Showjumping in the morning in the main arena at Blenheim with the magnificent backdrop of the palace behind us gave Hunter Valley ( Gizmo) plenty to look at. He does love to have a good look at his surroundings and there was more than enough to keep him entertained on Saturday morning.

It was a big and technical track with the usual ERM very tight time. The ERM showjumping is the equivalent of a 1m 30 speed class in pure showjumping terms and Sammi rode her socks off to make time and was slightly unlucky to just tap out a front rail. It was a good round and it was great for Gizmo to get back in the sort of atmosphere he has not seen since Bramham.

A long wait until the cross country started at 3pm and you will be glad to hear that Ed was in charge of Charlie Birch so he had a far less traumatic time than the day before! He was still gripping his whip very firmly and had decided that wearing just one gum boot was the cool thing to be seen to do.

Sammi and Giz set off looking very positive and they quickly got into a very forward rhythm and they did look spectacularly neat and quick through all of the combinations. It was a brilliant round up until the bogey fence of the day which was the brush arrowhead out of the coffin which horse after horse misread and ended many ERM hopes throughout the day! Sammi did nothing wrong and maybe Giz could have tried harder but you have to wonder about a fence that caused so many problems no matter which way you rode it.

It was a good completion though and now Sam just has Oasby OI to pop around before the hike down to Pau which seems a very long time away at the present!