Blake's Heaven Endurance | Sport & recreation

Blake's Heaven Endurance

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18.01.2022 Bondo State Forest- 6,400 hectares of magic in the Brindabella Mountains between Tumut and Canberra. Huge eucalypts and pines make the fresh alpine air even fresher. Views over mountains and valleys to take the breath away (if it was not already taken). As well as stunning scenery, the 80k and 40km rides were notable for hills ,rocks and slippery mud to focus and frustrate horses and riders. There were many sections where walking was the safe option for our booted horses.. D...espite this, in the 80km Ian on Marat was 3rd middleweight, Fia on Hiraani was 2nd Lightweight and Simone on Adventuress was 4th middleweight (due to a mix up with divisions). Huge thanks to Ian for re-glueing Hiraani's boots on Saturday! In the 40km, Jesse on Mountain Ash Tabasco (Emo), Talea on Avalon and Caroline on Bombora cruised around, to remind these horses what hills are. Anita withdraw new horse Annabelle and Tegan on Heather vetted out lame, but not without some gain. There is always more to learn, which makes this sport annoying, but also intriguing and always a challenge. Great photos by Jo Arblaster, See more

09.01.2022 Just about everything at the Matar Stables Bullio Cup was supersized, including the weather! Despite the wind, hail storm, rain, wind, sun, wind, rain (repeat), the Bullio team and their helpers put on a very classy event. Special mention to Scott Davenport for re-making the course in the last few days to make it safe after 100mm of rain in the area. Blake's Heaven was there in force with 10 horses in the 120km main event and one in the 40km camped on the thigh high grass. Bu...t we had a surprise before vetting on Friday - when out of the blue, Bombora got a muscle cramp and was lame. This was pretty devastating, but in the end it may have been a blessing as Jesse gave his horse Emo (Mountain Ash Tabasco) to Talea, and Jesse then became head strapper to the rest of the team!. Even better, Bombora was fine the next day. Our new line up was 9 horses in the 120 and what fantastic results we had. We were not out to win in a very competitive field, but Ian on Wind set a fast pace with Tegan on Marat, in the hope of Tegan placing, Ian withdraw at 100km but Tegan went on to win 3rd Junior after a gallop finish - which she lost, but no shame as Marat was up against a big thoroughbred! Next to finish were Fia on Venus, Simone on Adventuress, and Anita on Heather. All horses were great and to their surprise, after aiming just to get around, Fia and Simone were 3rd Lightweight). Finally the BH Gorgeous Girls came home - Talea on Emo, Monica on Larry, Kali on Carousel, and Celia on Hiraani. Again, all vetted through brilliantly - mission accomplished! Our 40km rider Alex had another great ride on Rashid and is ready to step up to 80km. Alex's father Mark arrived to see her vet- and to rescue Ian's float as, : unlike our horses, Ian's Touareg was not going to make it home. Massive thanks to Loretta for being camp mother, and to Loretta, Jesse and Celia's mother Deb for strapping (which means so much more than strapping). The weather (and grass) made everything harder but success made it all worthwhile. Most pics by Jo Arblaster, Animal Focus, See more

05.01.2022 After months of idling, it was a treat for Blake's Heaven and many others to at last have an endurance destination, with a two day carnival at Bullenbong, near the Rock in the Riverina. We had a huge camp with nine BH bred or owned horses, plus Monica's Birrali Lawrence (Larry). With BH Carousel competing on both days, that made 11 entries over the Saturday and Sunday - and all were successful! Although the course was flat, it had its own challenges, with lengthy boggy and s...lippery sections and no undulation to inspire the horses. In the 80km event, Talea held Bombora to novice speed (much to his annoyance) to keep Jesse and Mountain Ash Tabasco (Emo), and Monica on Larry, company. They completed the course of around 82 km in 6h 09, excluding late departures. Also in the 80km, Fia on Venus, Simone on Adventuress and Ian on Marat went faster, completing in 5h 19 for 3rd LWT and 6th MWT. Given that the horses had minimal fast training due to various issues, this was a great effort. All horses finished looking great. In the 40km events, on Saturday Kali and Carousel went around with guest Nadine on Hiraani in 3h 14. Carousel and Kali then backed up on Sunday with new rider Alex on Rashid for another good completion. Perhaps most exciting, young BH Winter Knight completed the 20 km (more like 24 km) ride, in fine style, ridden by Deb Pippen. This was the first outing for both Deb and Knight, whose dam is BH Morning Dew and sire was "the stallion next door"..Well done to Ian for starting Knight and Deb on her successful ride. Thanks also to Loretta, Pen, and Simon for helping. Let's hope the COVID-19 restrictions keep moving in the right direction! See more

02.01.2022 Roseberg Forest- a new ride and a challenging one. Huge thank you to the ride organising committee for putting on this event, and for changing part of the course to remove some very boggy sections which would have been dangerous. There were nine horses in the Blake's Heaven camp, all but one entered in the 80km. And once again we had 100 per cent success! Ian on Marat and Fia on Venus again went up the front. The course had a lot more hill than expected and once again the ho...rses stepped up from their fitness level. Ian and Marat were second Middleweight and Fia and Venus second Lightweight, in 5h 07m. Venus again with a perfect logbook. At rising 18, she is chasing Bombora in the lifetime km, but unlikely to catch him as his count keeps growing too! Next was Monica on Birrali Lawrence in his first ride out of novice, 6th LWT in 6h 51. Carousel and Hiraani had to slow down in leg 2 (the shorter leg) as it was Hiraani's rider, Nadine's, first 80km, so came in at 6h 59 for equal 9th LWT. They finished with Anita on Heather. This was a beautiful group as Heather is Hiraani's dam and Carousel is her sire! A great BH family. Talea on Bombora and Jesse on Emo finished 20 minutes later, being cautious as these horses had had virtually no hill training . Well done to both, the horses are definitely hill fit now! The final horse and rider in our camp also did extremely well. . Young Tegan Ashby rode her new horse Annabelle, on her own, in both the Saturday 20 and Sunday 40km, with great success. Well done Tegan and Annabelle, we are all proud of you! Special thanks to Lauren Stevenson and Loretta Basei for coming to help, and braving extreme cold on Sunday morning Loretta is new to the sport but learning fast, while Lauren was kept very busy looking after us all- especially Tegan and Hiraani ,as Nadine arrived late on Saturday and it was her first 80km. Thanks Lauren and Loretta for also being great company and for minding the dogs! See more

01.01.2022 The Blake's Heaven team gathered at Bondo Forest in the Brindabella Mountains last weekend. As the National Capital ride (Brookvale) on the Canberra side of the Brindabellas had to be cancelled due to special COVID-19 related factors, this ride was dropped in to its place , which was good news for riders. BH again had a big team with 9 horses in the 85 km and 1 in the 40km. This time, sadly, we did not have 100 per cent completion, with three of us going out on heart rate -... as did many others. The overall success rate in the 85 km was only 68 per cent. This was probably due to a number of factors. The course was at high altitude. It had stretches of huge rocks, lots of slippery and boggy mud, massive hills, heat and very little water apart from muddy puddles in long sections. In addition, the ride base was covered in long clover, which caused muscle issues for Venus. On the plus side, Adventuress and Simone were second Lightweight, Wind and Ian, and Heather and Anita were equal 4th Middleweight, and Tegan on Marat was 1st Junior. Talea and Bombora and Celia on Hiraani completed with perfect logbooks, and Alex and Rashid enjoyed their second 40 km ride. Once again, all horses are now fitter after a COVID-enforced break. Everyone had a lot of fun, despite the disappointments. Thank you to our wonderful strappers, Lauren, Loretta and Pen - you made everything easier. Thanks also to Jo Arblaster and SandB Photography for some lovely pictures. See more