Friday morning dawned in a typically "Le Lion" type of way.. cold and misty! But the rain had cleared again which made riding more pleasant although the ground in the main arena could not be classed as anything other than deep. Not that the organisers could do any more than they had.. the arena had been moved slightly so that yesterdays track now sat on the three quarter line.

Luckily for Sammi and Faerie Magnifico ( George) they were early in this morning so didn't suffer the worst of the going. George is, as Jonelle says, "dinky" and in those conditions it is good to either be dinky or an all out hunter. As predicted George tippy toed across the top of it, kept a smile on his face throughout and showed extraordinary confidence in his first Championship! He was relaxed enough to show off his super walk which earned him an 8.5 from one judge and his canter work was both uphill and balanced which is not that normal for most 6 year olds.

Sammi rode him quite beautifully, Hels had him looking a picture and it was a score of 27.2 that was posted which leaves them in 5th spot and just 1.3 marks off the lead. Some 8 years ago his half sister, Faerie Dianimo ( Maggie May) scored a 58... albeit under a slightly different scoring system but although she rose up to eventual 16th she was nowhere like in touch by 1.3!

And if he turns out to be even half as good as her then we will all be happy!