Mt Arthur Coal Scone CNC (24-25 September)

The Bimbadeen crew headed to the Mt Arthur Coal CNC at Scone with a team of nine horses.  The beautiful venue was looking amazingly green and the new work on the cross country course had everyone talking.  Rain through Saturday night made the going perfect.  Shane had a successful weekend to win the CNC3* by over 12 points on Taurus, they lead the dressage had the fastest time of the day and jumped a clear showjump round to win by a big margin.  Contenda won the CNC1*, he also lead the dressage and finished on his dressage score to win the class.  WP Sister Act was having her first 1* start and she really stepped up to the challenge and placed 6th in a competitive class.  Shanghai Joe went well in the Pre Novice but finished outside the placings this week.  APH Moritz went well but a cheeky run out at a big apex saw him finish out of the placings.

Soigne rode Gold in the 3* they also had a run out at the same fence as Moritz, but it is a good tune up for both these combinations before they head to Adelaide 4* in November.  Soigne's young star Warrego Collateral Damage had his first 1* start and went well to place 3rd.

Niki rode Wisteria Lane who had a few time penalties cross country to add to her good dressage score to place 4th.  Niki also rode Milford Monarch in his first 3* start, they jumped super cross country and showjumping in finish in 11th place.

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Jumping in the Park (18 September)

Shane took three horses to the Jumping in the Park and Soigne took her 3* horse Gold.  Shane jumped two good rounds each on Contenda and APH Moritz to place 10th and 11th respectively.  Taurus found the huge atmosphere a little unsettling so did not place but it was a very good outing for them all.  Soigne also jumped well to finish just behind Shane.

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Bowral Dressage (18 September)

Niki rode Wallstrasse (Walter) and Wisteria Lane (Kirra) at the Bowral Dressage Championships.  Walter has recently had a diet increase and it seems the additional feed has made him feel a little too good resulting in some very cheeky moments.  His first test was full of mistakes, so a bit more hard work before his second test meant a much better performance and 2nd placing.  Seems so of the other horses must have not been on their 'A' game either as Walter managed to be Reserve Champion Advanced horse.

Kirra is still establishing herself at Elementary level but did two very nice tests for 2nd place in both classes, beaten by a very fancy horse ridden by Rodney Martin.  Kirra was Reserve Champion Elementary horse.

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Sydney International Three Day Event (8-11 September)

A very successful competition for Shane and his team of horse's.  Shane rode Justine Donohoe's Contenda in the Pre Novice.  Justine was unable to attend this competition as she gave birth to a baby boy on Wednesday, congratulations Justine.  Contenda want very well to finish on his Dressage score and place 2nd.  In the CCI1* Shane rode Michelle Hasibar and Brett Jones' Virgil.  Shane was thrilled with Virgil who also finished on his dressage to place 5th.

In the CCI2* Shane had two rides' his own Il Vici and David and Sandra Burton's Statford Neo.  Il Vici finished on his dressage score to place 2nd, Statford Neo added two rails and .4 cross country time penalties for finishing 1 second over the optimum time to finish in 5th in the class.

Shane was the test rider for the Dressage phase of the CCI3* class, he rode Taurus.  They put together a very good test scored well and received many positive comments.  If they had been in the competition Shane and Taurus would have lead the field in the dressage phase.

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Dressage NSW - Clarendon (3-4 September 2011)

Shane and Niki headed to Clarendon to fine turn their dressage skills.  This competition was a lead up to the State Dressage Championships for the Dressage riders so there were lots of very fancy combinations in attendance.  The Bimbadeen Team performed very well.  Contenda is needing an official dressage score of higher than 55% to complete his AWHA Stallion Classification.  Contenda certainly was up to the challenge and won the official 2C with an outstanding score of 70.78% he also placed 7th in the 2D.  Shane also rode APH Moritz in the two medium classes, Moritz went well and is maturing into a consistent performer.

Niki rode her Mum's Wallstrasse in the two medium classes, Walter went well to score 66.67% in the 4B to place 4th behind Daniella Dierks' sensational trio. In the 4C they made a few errors to finish in 8th position.  Niki also rode Wisteria Lane who is still a little green at Elementary level, she went well to pick up 6th place in one of the test.

Niki returned on Sunday with Wallstrasse to compete in the Advanced tests.  They were thrill to place 2nd and 4th in the two test beating some very strong combinations in only there second attempt at this level together.