In April 2020 and in the interest of legacy I wrote a Wikipedia entry recording the thoughts and notable works of Harveywetdog. I admit I was ignorant of the rules concerning self promotion on Wikipedia and consequently my entry was correctly deleted and my account expunged from the system. As a result my original words and links were sadly lost but nevertheless here is a rewrite. Perhaps when I'm gone someone will be able to enter it onto Wikipedia as a fitting epitaph for my time on the Harveywetdog Project.
Hartpury Festival of Dressage 2022 - some thoughts from me
Let’s face it as soon as Imhotep was withdrawn from competition due to mild cholic, basically the soul was taken out of the event.
Rising stars
While it shouldn’t be just about one person of course it often is and if you’re amongst the top five dressage riders in the world your absence isn’t going to go unnoticed. Charlotte Dujardin has given Hartpury some very special moments in the past and I’m sure will do so again in the future, but for now we just have to hope Imhotep makes a full recovery.
With both Dujardin and Hester missing, Richard Davison deciding not to run Bubblingh and Fiona Bigwood not running Hawtins Delicato I felt the field in the big tour was definitely lacking true top British horsepower. But I needn't have worried as a collection of mostly overseas riders stepped forward to please and surprise your intrepid videographer.
Abi Lyle (IRL), Caroline Chew (SGP), Jayden Brown (AUS) and Kathleen Kroencke (GER) did not disappoint. In this list I’ve saved the best until last. What a rider; I’d already suggested that Hartpury needed to brush off its German National Anthem when I read EuroDressage’s report of the team coming for the Hartpury Europeans (see below). The disc got an early run out on Saturday night after Kathleen’s win in the GP Freestyle. I sensed the combination made a couple of tiny errors in the GP thus handing victory to Fiona Bigwood in that class so the anthem could have been out twice over the weekend.
I accept I don't get out much but I have to say Kathleen's performance came as a complete surprise to me. It was like she decided to just turn up and steal the show. Great reward for someone who decided to move from Europe to England in the middle of Brexit; at least she'll have gas this winter.
Gareth Hughes put in several careful performances over the weekend and was rewarded with a win in Sunday’s Grand Prix Special. The Special also gave me the chance to appreciate Lewis Carrier (GBR) as another up and coming rider and of course Andrew Gould who appeared genuinely delighted with the KWPN stallion Genie's performance in that class to take third place behind the two GB team riders.
An awful lot of PSG
Looking at the small tour and the Premier League I seemed to video a lot of PSG and we have to accept that for a lot of horses this is the pinnacle of their careers. A combination of camera capabilities and my condition meant I decided not to go inside (and would therefore miss the Gala Evening) hence I videoed the Elite Stallions Young Horse PSG Qualifier outside. "Alive and Kicking" was a new Charlotte Dujardin horse for me and she went on to win the Elite Stallions Championship. Hawtins San Floriana, a horse I haven't videoed since 2018 winning Medium Gold at the winter Championships (she competed at the Festival at Advanced Medium in 2019) took first place in one of the PSG classes on the first day of Premier League competition.
"I don't know why my camera can't find it's own way around a PSG test by now"
We also saw Harveywetdog favourites Katie Bailey and Becky Moody in the Elite Stallions class. Another pleasing test came from Anna Jesty in the PL PSG and I've yet to publish her test in the YH PSG. After that it all became a bit of a blur but somehow I managed to video 60 tests across the four days I visited the Festival with the peak coming on Friday when I reckon I took home 200 GB of video. I shall now work through these and set them up for release on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday at 07:30 PM as has been my normal practice this year.
Looking Ahead
Next for Hartpury is the FEI European Championships for Junior
and Young Riders in Eventing and Dressage at Hartpury University and
Hartpury College which is basically four Championships in one split across the two disciplines and two age ranges. We definitely need a shorter title and for now I think I'll run with "Hartpury Junior & Young Rider Championships" or #HartpuryEuropeans. I took a look at the cross country course and was glad to see evidence of watering and aggrovating going on (other ground care machinery is available).
I guess we'll have to wait a little longer to find out who will make the Senior GB team. The fact that neither Imhotep and Bubblingh appeared while Gareth was not riding his selected horses may mean a decision has already been communicated. The BEF press release, presumably by Winnie, the master of the understated media statement, may only tell half the story the other half being "we'd decided to spare the team horses the heat".
(Update 23/7/2022 - both Bubblingh and Imhotep, both of whom had initially been due to appear at Hartpury, were confirmed as Team horses for the Herning Dressage World Championships).
I don't know, I was well outside the media bubble and don't know what was discussed. But as I said we should know soon enough as they're travelling in a couple of weeks time and we are all aware of the problems getting a horse across the channel can cause these days.
David spent approaching 50 years in Her Majesty's Electricity Supply Industry before retiring
He was part of the highly successful design team on the Sizewell B Nuclear Power Station Project before spending 25 years producing safety cases to keep our aging AGR fleet generating for the good of the nation
He is responsible for the Harveywetdog YouTube Channel which he maintains as an outlet for his creative talents
David is currently recovering from blood cancer but refuses to be a victim
All views are his own but might be influenced by the drugs he's currently having to take
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