2017 Event season has come to an end … I’d like to say a huge THANK YOU to all my owners who allow me to ride such awesome horses and to my sponsors who have supported me throughout this year – without them none of this would be possible!
I am so very fortunate for the amazing team that surrounds me, horses and humans alike. As ever there have been ups and downs but I definitely feel lucky to have had more ups than downs. All the horses have performed to the best of their ability and the babies have come on in leaps and bounds. I’m beyond excited to be moving into 2018 season with the string of mega horses that I’m lucky to have in my yard.
Highlights from 2017 season include:
CALMARO – “Mario” has had a great season, successfully moving from BE100 to Novice, with 4 Novice wins and 6 other top 10 places. Exciting young horse for the future.
COOLEY AGAIN – “Nostrils” had a very unfortunate ending to the season at Boekelo CCI***, I was beyond gutted to have had a fall at the final combination on XC, he didn’t deserve that at all, he just lost his footing coming down the bank and hit the brush at the bottom which sent us both plummeting to the ground. The rest of his season had been fantastic with 3rd at Millstreet CIC**, 4th at Burgham CIC**, 8th at Ballendenisk CIC*** and 10th at Tattersalls CCI***.
DACAPO – “Cal” had a brilliant first season at 2* level finishing 2nd at Houghton CCI** and 7th at Ballindenisk CCI**. He finished in the top 6 in 5 Intermediate runs – Mr Consistent!!
GRAND MANOEUVRE – “Milo” had a nightmare at Badminton when he slipped over on the concrete before the first trot up, although he passed the trot up, he was too sore the next day, so we made the heart breaking decision to withdraw. We had a very enjoyable rest of the season finishing 8th at Bramham CIC***, 9th at Barbury ERM CIC*** and 7th at Blenheim ERM CIC***.
LONDON 52 – “Dan” made a winning step up to Intermediate level and followed that win with 4 top 4 placings at Intermediate. He then finished 6th at Burgham CIC**, 2nd at Millstreet CIC** and ended the year with 2nd at Ballindenisk CCI**.
MR BASS – “Chuck” has been a superstar this season, not only did he give me my first 3* WIN at Ballindenisk CIC***, he then followed with another 3* WIN at Burgham CIC***. He ended the year with a 2nd at Blenheim CCI***. It’s so special to have produced him from a 4yo and I can’t wait to tackle his first CCI****. He also finishes the year as No.1 on the Holsteiner event horse studbook rankings.
RANDALSTOWN QUEST – “Leo” made his eventing debut in July with a 3rd place finish in BE100.
SIR PAPILLON – “Papi” exceeded all my expectations by finishing 4th at Le Lion 7yo World Championships. He was terrified by the crowds and atmosphere in all 3 phases, but he trusted me throughout …. 1 unlucky rail, meant we missed out on a silver medal but I honestly couldn’t be happier with him. He also had an Intermediate win and 10th at Houghton CCI* earlier in the year.
CHANGES…. Horses, Owners & Updates!
A serious low point for me was when Clive Smith decided to move PAMERO 4 to Gemma Tattersalls. It was devastating for myself and my team who had such high hopes for “Pee”. Having to say goodbye to horses we adore is heart breaking but I was fortunate to have some super horses at home to keep me smiling and looking forward.
At the end of the season we sold COR DE CYRKON – He’s gone to a fantastic home and we wish him all the best with his new owners!
Delighted to welcome some new Owners’:-
Chris Clementi who has bought 50% share of FLIGHT MASTER (George) with Maggie Sargent – a lovely, 4yo who I found last November at the Gorse Bridge “Go for Gold” sale.
Esther Lewis who has bought 50% share of RANDALSTOWN QUEST (Leo) a super 5yo who evented at BE100 this year and qualified for BYEH 5yo Championships.
The futures bright with some more exciting babies joining Team Collett:-
LYJADOR 3 – “Nate” – 4yo Bay Gelding. Owned by Maggie Sargent.
FIREBALL – 3yo Dark Brown Gelding. Owned by Maggie Sargent, Lucinda Campbell and Tracey Collett.
QUISSINY – “Cucumber” – 3yo Grey Gelding. Owned by Lucinda Campbell and Tracey Collett.
OUTBACK – “Ozzy” – 3yo Bay Gelding. Owned by Tracey Collett.
THE MONEYMAKER – “Sparky” – 2yo Chestnut Gelding. Owned by Maggie Sargent and Tracey Collett.
NEW Team member – Hannah Parfitt joins as Yard Groom
Hannah joined the team on the 7th August, having just completed a breeding season with the National Stud, following her achieving her Diploma in Stud Practice and Management. She has high standards of horse welfare & yard management. She has a long-standing passion for horses having evented herself up to Novice level.
Special thanks must go to my home team of Jodie Owen, Jimmy Little & Lily Bradstock who have been simply amazing this year looking after the horses at the yard whilst Zanie & I are away competing.
YARD MOVE
I have some exciting news … Team Collett will be moving yards at the end of January 2018! We are currently waiting for the new stables and new arena surface to be installed before the big move! There is lots of grazing which will be amazing and the location is fantastic! The new yard will be located at Penhill Farm, on Salperton Estate (I’m sure many will remember the lovely event that used to run there in June).
I’m super excited but don’t have a moving date as it’s all dependant on how long the work takes. It was super timing as Charles & Meregan Norwood had decided to put Windy Hollow on the market, so things have worked out perfectly for us both.
2018 Aims/Events
With the string of horses that I have in my yard, the 2018 season can’t come soon enough! In the mean-time I am gearing up to go out show jumping in next couple of months and have training dates planned. Here’s to an amazing 2017 and hopefully an even better 2018.
