Sammi and Hunter Valley ( Gizmo) met up at Pau and they enjoyed the wall to wall sunshine that the event had from Monday through until Thursday evening. Alex Franklin had flown down to help Sammi on the flat and they worked Gizmo quietly a few times before his test which Sammi was not over happy to discover was early on with a draw of number 13.

As they cantered into the arena they made a stunning picture and Giz really did strut his stuff in his first 4 star test. Sammi rode beautifully and Gizmo decided to leave the spooking for another day and they had a truly uphill outline throughout with some super changes. The trot work was polished and the medium and extended trots quite the highlights. A couple of really very minor mistakes but overall probably one of his best ever tests and a mark of 42 put them into 2nd place, just a mark behind Sir Mark Todd at this early stage of the game.

The nicest thing of all is that Sammi was so happy with him and the test and because she is such a perfectionist that doesn't happen all that often!