Llewi's turn today. Seriously hot day, he was sweating when I got him in from the field! Sharer had taken him for a muddy hack yesterday and his feet were plastered in mud so spent ages scrubbing all that off then off we went. Got there to find the warmup field was their SJing field. Llewi's worst nightmare. He cannot cope with jumps, we unloaded next to one and he had a heart attack. Bad bad start to the day. Got on and found the least jumpy bit of the warmup but wasn't enough room to do much and he was so tense every time we went near a jump. There was some shooting going on a few fields away too which just made for a very tense pony.
1st test was P12 and he towed me round. There was a XC jump just at the top end of the arena which he of course had to spook at so that dropped us a few marks and then he muddled his final halt and jogged in his free walk, all losing us valuable marks. Finished on 63.6% which was disappointing given his recent scores - came =9th out of 22 in our arena so not awful but nowhere near as good as he can do and not good enough to get our team through to the L&SE champs which I feel really bad about as the others did really well. Bloody pony and his jump phobia - grrrrr.
Had an hour before the next test so let him eat grass in the shade and chill out then climbed back on for Riding Test 11. He had chilled out considerably which was nice and did quite a sweet test. Someone decided to make some noise resembling a hunting horn and a load of dogs started barking over the hedge during our FWLR which led to a "slight" loss in concentration and I will fully admit to not riding my best due to being overhot and overtired but it generally went ok. Was most pleased with the G&R reins in canter on the left rein as he just stayed in a lovely outline for the whole 3 strides. Suffered from the too much neck bend left rein problem again which need to work on more at home, but not too bad. Got 68.8% which was lower than everyone else in the team although 2 different arenas running so cant directly compare everyone. Anyway, turns out that was good enough for 6th and for our team to win! So, we are through to the L&SE Champs in the Riding Test at least!
Next step is the National Riding Test qualifier and National Open dressage qualifier next Sunday - Llewi is doing the RT and Monty the Novice for the teams then they are both doing another novice as individuals.
Then just debating whether to enter Llewi for the BD at Pachesham on the Wed evening - 2 outings in a very short space of time but then he seems to benefit from going out often and I do want to try and get some Area Festival sheets and he wont go to anymore dressage after that for a good couple of wks.
Sunday 26 June 2011
Monty Rackham BE90 25-06-11
Yesterday went down to Rackham at a lovely civilised time for once. I'd asked for late times and then ended up in an afternoon section so didn't even get up till 9am - bliss! Also took less time than I thought to get there so we were there by 1.15 and my dressage wasn't till 4.20pm. Took a nice leisurely walk round the XC course watching the BE100 as we went. Thought the BE90 looked lovely - few little questions like 2 steps up to a slightly angled brush and the trakehner followed by 2 angled dog kennels with the 2nd one a bit narrow (separately numbered but we dont do alternatives as we're normally too slow anyway without turning circles everywhere!) The BE100 looked like it had quite a few more questions though - quite a few skinnies as final parts of combinations, difficult line from a roll top with brush to a corner and the new sunken road was causing problems!
Course pics of the BE90 here:
BE90 course pics
So, finally time came to get on and we walked over to the dressage warmup, stopped to talk to the steward for a minute then before I knew it we were in orbit somewhere as the poxy pony threw one of his nap attacks. Description from the ground was a big rear followed by a series of mini fly bucks. Managed to lose a stirrup (he normally saves these naps for when I have my nice secure jumping saddle on!) but just about stayed in the plate. Naughty bad pony. Put him into trot to try and settle him and had to remove his ears from up my nose as he jigjogged around like a loony. The XC was the other side of the hedge and the SJ was the other side of the marquees but it doesn't normally turn him into a loony! He has been half dead at home all week so I wasn't expecting a mad thing to warmup! Fortunately he did settled and then did some of the nicest work I've ever had from him. Although every time we had a walk break he turned into a jigjogging giraffe again, launching into canter every time I put my leg on. He's normally really hard work on the flat so dont know what got into him! There was me worrying he wasn't fit enough at the moment. Thought we might try trotting into the arena to avoid the napping but that didn't work as we quickly ended up facing the wrong way so tried again in walk and got him over there, then he went back to jigjogging giraffe and I had visions of a dressage test in the 50's. Fortunately he settled and then went on to produce the best test of his life! The only thing we fluffed was the final centre line where he swung his quarters right and did a wonky halt but to be honest I was so relieved we had got through it I just didn't correct him. We got 30.5!!!!! Three 8's and straight 7's for collectives and only four 6's in the whole test. Am so chuffed with him. Sub-30 test here we come!
So, onto the jumpies. My worst part at the moment - I'm either fiddling and hooking him back or kicking him onto ridiculous long strides and firing him flat. Mission today was to just relax and ride in a rhythm which we mostly managed in the warmup and we got him up in the air with a few bigger fences. Got him in the arena with no napping - didn't hang around at the entrance, got them to open the gate and just trotted straight in. 1st half of the round I managed to just sit there and we got lovely strides into everything, I heard him wallop the planks (which had been causing lots of probs) but he popped over the next 3 fine. I just could not see a stride to the double though and hooked him back so much he had no choice but to put 2 strides in a 1 stride distance and managed to clear them bless him. Again too close to the next one, but then got a nice stride to the final line. Turned round at the end and the planks were still up and the commentator announced clear round - was amazed they'd stayed up as sure we'd clouted them (more to come on that later!) but pleased with pony for not knocking fences down despite my rubbish riding.
Onto the XC - best bit! Determined to make the time after our slow round at BCA and he flew! He didn't wobble at anything. He took a stride out to fence 1, then flew 2 and 3:
Floundered through the woods as the ground was revolting, popped out lovely over 4, spooked a bit to the double at 5 and we nearly lost our line to the 2nd part but he came back to me and jumped it fine then popped through the sunken road at 6 and 7 no probs:
Back into some more woods and through some revolting ground to fence 8, he then shot out of the woods like someone had set a rocket up his arse spooking at who knows what. Took all my power to turn him right and we went over the ditch to rolltop at far too quick a speed for my liking - fortunately he quite likes ditches so no probs there! Galloped onto the stick pile and saw a flier and then steadied for the 2 steps up to the brush which he popped up like a pro - love the video - he makes it look so easy! Then onto the water no probs at all:
Onto the trakehner, got a bit of a rubbish stride so let him move over to the right a bit to give himself a bit more room but never any thought of stopping:
Onto the angled dog kennels no probs at all then popped the hanging rail with piggies underneath it:
And flew down the hill to the finish - what a fab round! It was roasting hot by this point in the day but he recovered nicely so I think I can stop worrying about his fitness. Commentator announced double clear and the results and we were in 4th. Bit gutted as was really hoping for top3 and another RF qualification but still super pleased as he couldn't have done any better.
Then took a look at the SJing vid from earlier only to see had quite clearly knocked the planks down and the judge must have missed it. Legged it to the secretary to sort it out as they were just about to do prize giving. It dropped us from 4th to 7th but still very pleased with him as personal best in the dressage and only 4 faults so not awful. Checked the XC times and we were 25secs inside the optimum. Talk about sublime to the ridiculous! Somewhere in the middle would be quite nice!
Off to take my other one to the RC Area dressage/riding test qualifiers now. Not sure my legs are up to doing anything useful so preparing to get slaughtered in the riding test. Hope the little one is in a co-operative mood!
SJing vid:
Course pics of the BE90 here:
BE90 course pics
So, finally time came to get on and we walked over to the dressage warmup, stopped to talk to the steward for a minute then before I knew it we were in orbit somewhere as the poxy pony threw one of his nap attacks. Description from the ground was a big rear followed by a series of mini fly bucks. Managed to lose a stirrup (he normally saves these naps for when I have my nice secure jumping saddle on!) but just about stayed in the plate. Naughty bad pony. Put him into trot to try and settle him and had to remove his ears from up my nose as he jigjogged around like a loony. The XC was the other side of the hedge and the SJ was the other side of the marquees but it doesn't normally turn him into a loony! He has been half dead at home all week so I wasn't expecting a mad thing to warmup! Fortunately he did settled and then did some of the nicest work I've ever had from him. Although every time we had a walk break he turned into a jigjogging giraffe again, launching into canter every time I put my leg on. He's normally really hard work on the flat so dont know what got into him! There was me worrying he wasn't fit enough at the moment. Thought we might try trotting into the arena to avoid the napping but that didn't work as we quickly ended up facing the wrong way so tried again in walk and got him over there, then he went back to jigjogging giraffe and I had visions of a dressage test in the 50's. Fortunately he settled and then went on to produce the best test of his life! The only thing we fluffed was the final centre line where he swung his quarters right and did a wonky halt but to be honest I was so relieved we had got through it I just didn't correct him. We got 30.5!!!!! Three 8's and straight 7's for collectives and only four 6's in the whole test. Am so chuffed with him. Sub-30 test here we come!
So, onto the jumpies. My worst part at the moment - I'm either fiddling and hooking him back or kicking him onto ridiculous long strides and firing him flat. Mission today was to just relax and ride in a rhythm which we mostly managed in the warmup and we got him up in the air with a few bigger fences. Got him in the arena with no napping - didn't hang around at the entrance, got them to open the gate and just trotted straight in. 1st half of the round I managed to just sit there and we got lovely strides into everything, I heard him wallop the planks (which had been causing lots of probs) but he popped over the next 3 fine. I just could not see a stride to the double though and hooked him back so much he had no choice but to put 2 strides in a 1 stride distance and managed to clear them bless him. Again too close to the next one, but then got a nice stride to the final line. Turned round at the end and the planks were still up and the commentator announced clear round - was amazed they'd stayed up as sure we'd clouted them (more to come on that later!) but pleased with pony for not knocking fences down despite my rubbish riding.
Onto the XC - best bit! Determined to make the time after our slow round at BCA and he flew! He didn't wobble at anything. He took a stride out to fence 1, then flew 2 and 3:
Floundered through the woods as the ground was revolting, popped out lovely over 4, spooked a bit to the double at 5 and we nearly lost our line to the 2nd part but he came back to me and jumped it fine then popped through the sunken road at 6 and 7 no probs:
Back into some more woods and through some revolting ground to fence 8, he then shot out of the woods like someone had set a rocket up his arse spooking at who knows what. Took all my power to turn him right and we went over the ditch to rolltop at far too quick a speed for my liking - fortunately he quite likes ditches so no probs there! Galloped onto the stick pile and saw a flier and then steadied for the 2 steps up to the brush which he popped up like a pro - love the video - he makes it look so easy! Then onto the water no probs at all:
Onto the trakehner, got a bit of a rubbish stride so let him move over to the right a bit to give himself a bit more room but never any thought of stopping:
Onto the angled dog kennels no probs at all then popped the hanging rail with piggies underneath it:
And flew down the hill to the finish - what a fab round! It was roasting hot by this point in the day but he recovered nicely so I think I can stop worrying about his fitness. Commentator announced double clear and the results and we were in 4th. Bit gutted as was really hoping for top3 and another RF qualification but still super pleased as he couldn't have done any better.
Then took a look at the SJing vid from earlier only to see had quite clearly knocked the planks down and the judge must have missed it. Legged it to the secretary to sort it out as they were just about to do prize giving. It dropped us from 4th to 7th but still very pleased with him as personal best in the dressage and only 4 faults so not awful. Checked the XC times and we were 25secs inside the optimum. Talk about sublime to the ridiculous! Somewhere in the middle would be quite nice!
Off to take my other one to the RC Area dressage/riding test qualifiers now. Not sure my legs are up to doing anything useful so preparing to get slaughtered in the riding test. Hope the little one is in a co-operative mood!
SJing vid:
Friday 24 June 2011
Training sessions
Tue - flatwork with Llewi. Worked on trying to keep him round in the downwards canter to trot - I need to ride him more forwards into the transition, use my seat more and use less hand - this is the one trans where he really resists me so I need to work around this and sort it as so many tests have canter to trot across the diagonal and if I'm not on a circle I just cant do it nicely on him! At least he was sound as when he came in from field he had a distinctly fat right fore just above his fetlock. Clipped hair away to find mud fever like lesion on the side of the leg - suspect he's been playing with the electric fence again and given himself rope/tape burn which has gone manky. Pesky pony. Cleaned with hibi and after some research discovered antibiotics allowed for comp horses so started him on 5day course as got RC Area Qualifiers on Sunday.
evening - jumping lesson with Monty and Rachel from HHO forum. Worked on trying to keep the rhythm whilst creating the bouncy SJ canter. Stop launching him at fences. When I put my leg on that last stride or 2 that I see a nice stride it just makes him flatten and launch at the fence hence knocking it down. Too late to alter things then and he doesn't alter anyway so better to just sit there and wait for the fence - count to the fence and dont fiddle and hook him either. We did a mini grid and he just got his feet in a right muddle - took a stride out and ended up jumping both final parts with one rein in a right hunting safety seat which then knocked his confidence big time and we had to take half the grid down and start again. And I think it's all my fault for firing him at fences and making him fling himself over them. Grrrrr. Other thing to remember is always to turn him to the line off my outside aids - helps to keep the rhythm and keep him from falling onto his inside shoulder on the turn.
Wed - Monty - nice short fast hack up the ranges - he felt a bit lethargic on the way out, had to use some leg which is a first on a hack with him but once we got to the bit he likes he was as up for it as usual and towed me up the gallops hill and all the way to the fenceline.
Thur - flatwork with Monty. Similar to last Thur - worked on lots of direct transitions, get him up in front of my leg, but boy was he hard work - being very lazy at the moment - thought grass was meant to make them wild, not dead! Daren't take him off the calmer though as he'll go all spooky again. Got my dressage sheet through from BCA and he only got one 8 for his FWLR, otherwise comments about lacking impulsion in canter and too much inside neck bend on the left rein (grrrrr as this is something I do on both of them as my left hand is so over-dominant - need to seriously work on this) So, anyway, I got my direct transitions and I got my right canter without head chucking again so this is definite progress. Changed the way I ask for the right canter slightly and really thought about lifting him into it with my inside leg whilst keeping the outside rein contact rather than using too much outside leg. Definitely seemed to help. A bit more impulsion would be nice though! Think the spurs might have to come out for schooling sessions to sharpen him up a bit as he really objects to the whip still.
Fri - flatwork on Llewi at lunchtime. Some more work on downwards transitions, ran through the riding test for Sunday and forgot the G&R in canter both times - doh! Mustn't do that on Sunday. Remember to sit up in trot, keep legs long in canter and look as pretty as possible! I do hate riding tests. Llewi was good though, only minor spooking which we kept under control and generally did everything ok.
Fri evening jump schooling with Monty - wanted to rebuild some confidence after Tue evening and work more on the rhythm. Put my little spurs on so could create some more energy. Built a 2ft9 upright with planks, oxer and some canter poles. Canter poles are great - need to use them more often. Used 3 of my strides between them which was about right then started raising the poles until we had an ascending bounce grid (did roll the poles out a few inches when I put the final part up to about 2ft3) Think he could do with doing more of this and can easily fit in 4 fences down the long side so definitely doable. Really tried to think about rhythm on the way in and just sit there with leg on and it seemed to work well. Then moved onto coming round to the planks after doing the grid and just waiting for it and he jumped it nicely both ways. Oxer was in the middle of the school so not an easy turn and wasn't getting the best line to it which affected my rhythm as did knowing how wide it was so was struggling with my tendency to fire him at it. When I did sit and wait I ended up far too close and he had to really leap it but he did still clear it so I need to trust his ability to clear a fence from a variety of take off points and stop firing him at them. When I got off to put the bounce grid up into fences also put my other fences up 2 holes so vertical was about 3ft3 and spread 3ft but also 3ft wide with groundlines about 4ft wide. Found it very difficult to stop myself firing him at the spread but we jumped the vertical nicely. Spurs helped to create some energy but he is still feeling a bit lethargic. He's never the most energetic to jump at home but still. I have poked his back and I still think he's got some muscle spasm at the back of the saddle so I need to sort the saddler to come and look at them asap. Dreading tomorrow a bit - last chance to qualify for Regionals at Rackham - perfectly capable of it all going well, but chances are something is gonna go wrong! At least ground wont be hard with all this rain!
evening - jumping lesson with Monty and Rachel from HHO forum. Worked on trying to keep the rhythm whilst creating the bouncy SJ canter. Stop launching him at fences. When I put my leg on that last stride or 2 that I see a nice stride it just makes him flatten and launch at the fence hence knocking it down. Too late to alter things then and he doesn't alter anyway so better to just sit there and wait for the fence - count to the fence and dont fiddle and hook him either. We did a mini grid and he just got his feet in a right muddle - took a stride out and ended up jumping both final parts with one rein in a right hunting safety seat which then knocked his confidence big time and we had to take half the grid down and start again. And I think it's all my fault for firing him at fences and making him fling himself over them. Grrrrr. Other thing to remember is always to turn him to the line off my outside aids - helps to keep the rhythm and keep him from falling onto his inside shoulder on the turn.
Wed - Monty - nice short fast hack up the ranges - he felt a bit lethargic on the way out, had to use some leg which is a first on a hack with him but once we got to the bit he likes he was as up for it as usual and towed me up the gallops hill and all the way to the fenceline.
Thur - flatwork with Monty. Similar to last Thur - worked on lots of direct transitions, get him up in front of my leg, but boy was he hard work - being very lazy at the moment - thought grass was meant to make them wild, not dead! Daren't take him off the calmer though as he'll go all spooky again. Got my dressage sheet through from BCA and he only got one 8 for his FWLR, otherwise comments about lacking impulsion in canter and too much inside neck bend on the left rein (grrrrr as this is something I do on both of them as my left hand is so over-dominant - need to seriously work on this) So, anyway, I got my direct transitions and I got my right canter without head chucking again so this is definite progress. Changed the way I ask for the right canter slightly and really thought about lifting him into it with my inside leg whilst keeping the outside rein contact rather than using too much outside leg. Definitely seemed to help. A bit more impulsion would be nice though! Think the spurs might have to come out for schooling sessions to sharpen him up a bit as he really objects to the whip still.
Fri - flatwork on Llewi at lunchtime. Some more work on downwards transitions, ran through the riding test for Sunday and forgot the G&R in canter both times - doh! Mustn't do that on Sunday. Remember to sit up in trot, keep legs long in canter and look as pretty as possible! I do hate riding tests. Llewi was good though, only minor spooking which we kept under control and generally did everything ok.
Fri evening jump schooling with Monty - wanted to rebuild some confidence after Tue evening and work more on the rhythm. Put my little spurs on so could create some more energy. Built a 2ft9 upright with planks, oxer and some canter poles. Canter poles are great - need to use them more often. Used 3 of my strides between them which was about right then started raising the poles until we had an ascending bounce grid (did roll the poles out a few inches when I put the final part up to about 2ft3) Think he could do with doing more of this and can easily fit in 4 fences down the long side so definitely doable. Really tried to think about rhythm on the way in and just sit there with leg on and it seemed to work well. Then moved onto coming round to the planks after doing the grid and just waiting for it and he jumped it nicely both ways. Oxer was in the middle of the school so not an easy turn and wasn't getting the best line to it which affected my rhythm as did knowing how wide it was so was struggling with my tendency to fire him at it. When I did sit and wait I ended up far too close and he had to really leap it but he did still clear it so I need to trust his ability to clear a fence from a variety of take off points and stop firing him at them. When I got off to put the bounce grid up into fences also put my other fences up 2 holes so vertical was about 3ft3 and spread 3ft but also 3ft wide with groundlines about 4ft wide. Found it very difficult to stop myself firing him at the spread but we jumped the vertical nicely. Spurs helped to create some energy but he is still feeling a bit lethargic. He's never the most energetic to jump at home but still. I have poked his back and I still think he's got some muscle spasm at the back of the saddle so I need to sort the saddler to come and look at them asap. Dreading tomorrow a bit - last chance to qualify for Regionals at Rackham - perfectly capable of it all going well, but chances are something is gonna go wrong! At least ground wont be hard with all this rain!
Sunday 19 June 2011
Dressage reports
Start with Llewi on Wed.
Off to Great Bookham again - Llewi seem to quite like it there. Weather wasn't too great - sideways rain always nice esp when your pony doesn't like the indoor school warmup so you have to use the field. Good thing pony is used to loud bangs as they must have been doing some shooting in the field behind which was making everyone jump!
1st test P13 - apart from some random noise (not a loud bang!) in the field behind us just as we went down the centre line which shot us down there at 90mph. Surprisingly that didn't send him into ultra tense mode for the whole test and he did a lovely sweet test - really showed off his potential. So pleased with him. Was still amazed to see scores and find out we won out of 15 on a score of 71.7%!!!!! He got an 8 for his paces, 8 for FWLR. Clever pony.
Had an hour before next test so little break back at the trailer then back on for N20. 2nd Novice since coming back into work. Nice test apart from 12m circles which are rather hard to judge. His medium trot still doesn't exist but everything else went sweetly and again no tension, no spooking - yay!!! Really pleased to get 68.8% (same judge - list 4) - had to wait till next day to see results but 3rd out of 12 and qualified for the Sunshine Tour Champs. More 8's for his FWLR. Just need to work on not having too much left bend as judge commented on getting him into equal contact on both tests.
Had a lesson on Monty with Simon yesterday and we worked on getting superduper forwards instant reactions to my leg. We did some work on shortening the walk with Simon on the ground with the long tickling stick and we got 2 steps of piaffe! 2 whole fabby steps! Offset the naughty nappy little shite spooking at something up the top end of the school and using it as an excuse to turn it into a nap attack - grrrr. Took Llewi along as well just to work him somewhere different and he was fine in the little school, spooky monster in the big school though - he's so frustrating.
Today took Monty to Merrist Wood for our 2nd ever Novice. Also entered him in the music class as fancied doing 2 classes and not getting up too early! Never got time to ride him to the music but watched a video of him and played it and it didn't seem too far off. No time to do him his own music yet - it takes soooooo long I dont know I'll ever have time. I like long arena tests, lots of room but they do appear to be rather complicated esp N35! I just could not get it into my head, I dont normally have a problem with learning tests and haven't had one called in yrs but couldn't learn this one until Thur evening as had to remember Llewi's for Wed. Fortunately the lovely Sarah agreed to call it for me which was a bloody good thing as had no idea what was coming next as I rode it! He didn't warm up great - I tried to work on same techniques as Thur evening when he went so well and we finally got right canter transition without hollowing but it just wasn't working. He was really resistant about changing to right bend and it didn't get much better when we went in.
He was spooking at the white boards on the way round, centre line started off great, forwards and straight but the further down we went (and it's a long long way 60m!) he got more and more above the bit so when we went to turn right at C he was well above the bit and hollow - yuck (got a 5 for that)! Fortunately he did then settle a bit and the middle of the test wasn't too bad (mix of 6's and 7's) - canter/trot/canter on a 20m circle not quite my idea of fun on this horse though! Then he broke to trot early in the canter across the diagonal so we got a 4 for that. He then did a lovely stretchy trot circle for a 7 except when I went to retake the reins he spied something outside the arena, did a massive spook and then refused to submit again so we went round the final 1/2 10m circle onto the centre line like a frigging giraffe which got him another 5. Bonuses were getting a 7 for his medium canter on 20m circle - he did it really well and came back to working canter nicely so got a comment of "clear trans back". 7's for his walk work which all went nicely too. Strange weird extended collectives got us 766 for paces, 66 for impulsion, 65 for submission and 76 for rider. Finished on 61.54% which was probably slightly generous but we'll call it very fair and encouraging. Ended up 10th out of 15 so could have been worse.
Did feel a bit like going home, but stuck around to see if we could make a better job of the music. Concentrated on soft and forwards in the warmup. Went in and went round on the left rein as easier to get him soft. I find it really hard to get him soft and listening when only allowed round the outside of the arena. Much easier when allowed in the arena and can do some changes of rein and get him round my inside leg. Anyway, much nicer test - still trans to right canter lets us down and he comes above the bit in the medium trot but otherwise quite good. Big improvement on earlier. Got us 67.78% and we won but there were only 2 in the class and the other one was doing Advanced Medium so would have been much harder to score highly. Technical marks got 65.6% and artistic got 70%. Comments: "I loved the canter choreography, music score catchy but not always the best fit for this horse (canter)" 7.5 for choreography, 7 for music and harmony, 6.5 for rhythm.
So, onwards and upwards. He is quite capable of Novice so we will stick at it - it's certainly more of a challenge than Prelim! Jumping lesson on Tue. Rackham BE on Sat - it better not piss it down again or I wont be impressed! Sun is RC dressage qualifier for Llewi.
Wednesday 15 June 2011
Monty BCA BE90 12-06-11
yuck yuck yuck - i know we needed rain but did we have to have all of May's rain in one day?
I think I got the best of the day which was yet another 5am start as it was only spitting during my dressage and only really came down when I was tacking up for XC.
Dressage he was in spooky mode and didn't like the 2 big pots of flowers at A so we had some tension but it was obedient enough. Predicted mid 30's so pleased enough with 34.5 athough I do wish they wouldn't announce it as you're 1 stride away from the 1st fence in the SJ! Was having a few stud issues - fine day for it but appear to have mullered my threads and my studs wouldn't screw in properly so was a bit wary of the ground. Had to be led into the SJ arena as mr.nappy decided he couldn't walk past the scary wooden hut. Got going and he was a bit spooky and a bit careless and we finished on 8 faults although he clattered at least 2 others so am lucky it wasn't more! He can have days like that - I need to do some more work on getting him to snap up quicker in front as he always belts them out in front when he has one down.
Had to give myself a talking to to make myself go XC as it was tipping it down and I was already on 42.5 and quite fancied going home but off we went. Again, had to be led over to the start box as he didn't like going through the trees and round the starters hut. Pesky nappy, spooky thing. I had decided not to chase the time due to the ground being on the soft side (who would have thought I'd say that a wk ago!), my stud issues and my current score but equally I wasn't deliberately going slowly. Did have to remind myself to kick on between fences a few times as I think I was half asleep and happily cruising round! In all the time I was warming up no-one went clear at the corner at fence 7 but was determined to do the straight route esp as already on a lower score so worth testing him with a harder fence. So, he flew round 1 to 6 no probs, the line to 7 was awful - round a long curving right hand bend where he was spooking at something on the left so shooting right anyway and then you had to change to left bend to get a straight line at the corner which was pretty narrow as it had a huge flowerpot on the wider bit so not leaving you much to aim at - everyone was just shooting out the right hand side. We didn't get the best line but he's not really one for running out to the right - he had a slight wobble and we were a bit close to the flag but nothing major. He had more of a wobble at fence 9 which was just a narrow carved log with brush on top but bit of leg and we were fine then popped over the ditch 3 strides later. Left his back legs on the first part of the combination to the step down as he saw the step halfway over but not badly. Slight wobble into the water as he got confused by looking at the BE100/Novice options and nearly lost me out the side as he plunged out the other side and spooked at the Novice fence. Flew over the last and kicked on through the finish.
Wasn't really expecting to go inside the time but was a bit dismayed to see 14 time faults (35secs over time limit!) I really do need to learn how fast to go. I made the time at Borde Hill 2wks ago though and didn't feel I was that much slower today but he was a bit more spooky. Oh well, I'm happy that we went clear where many others didn't and that we made it back in one piece considering ground, weather, studs etc. Rather take it slower and get home safely and at least it meant I didn't need to hang around for a prize giving in the pouring rain! Gotta think of the plus points!
XC fence 5
XC fence 10
Show-Jumping
piccie from Borde Hill BE90
whole course album
I think I got the best of the day which was yet another 5am start as it was only spitting during my dressage and only really came down when I was tacking up for XC.
Dressage he was in spooky mode and didn't like the 2 big pots of flowers at A so we had some tension but it was obedient enough. Predicted mid 30's so pleased enough with 34.5 athough I do wish they wouldn't announce it as you're 1 stride away from the 1st fence in the SJ! Was having a few stud issues - fine day for it but appear to have mullered my threads and my studs wouldn't screw in properly so was a bit wary of the ground. Had to be led into the SJ arena as mr.nappy decided he couldn't walk past the scary wooden hut. Got going and he was a bit spooky and a bit careless and we finished on 8 faults although he clattered at least 2 others so am lucky it wasn't more! He can have days like that - I need to do some more work on getting him to snap up quicker in front as he always belts them out in front when he has one down.
Had to give myself a talking to to make myself go XC as it was tipping it down and I was already on 42.5 and quite fancied going home but off we went. Again, had to be led over to the start box as he didn't like going through the trees and round the starters hut. Pesky nappy, spooky thing. I had decided not to chase the time due to the ground being on the soft side (who would have thought I'd say that a wk ago!), my stud issues and my current score but equally I wasn't deliberately going slowly. Did have to remind myself to kick on between fences a few times as I think I was half asleep and happily cruising round! In all the time I was warming up no-one went clear at the corner at fence 7 but was determined to do the straight route esp as already on a lower score so worth testing him with a harder fence. So, he flew round 1 to 6 no probs, the line to 7 was awful - round a long curving right hand bend where he was spooking at something on the left so shooting right anyway and then you had to change to left bend to get a straight line at the corner which was pretty narrow as it had a huge flowerpot on the wider bit so not leaving you much to aim at - everyone was just shooting out the right hand side. We didn't get the best line but he's not really one for running out to the right - he had a slight wobble and we were a bit close to the flag but nothing major. He had more of a wobble at fence 9 which was just a narrow carved log with brush on top but bit of leg and we were fine then popped over the ditch 3 strides later. Left his back legs on the first part of the combination to the step down as he saw the step halfway over but not badly. Slight wobble into the water as he got confused by looking at the BE100/Novice options and nearly lost me out the side as he plunged out the other side and spooked at the Novice fence. Flew over the last and kicked on through the finish.
Wasn't really expecting to go inside the time but was a bit dismayed to see 14 time faults (35secs over time limit!) I really do need to learn how fast to go. I made the time at Borde Hill 2wks ago though and didn't feel I was that much slower today but he was a bit more spooky. Oh well, I'm happy that we went clear where many others didn't and that we made it back in one piece considering ground, weather, studs etc. Rather take it slower and get home safely and at least it meant I didn't need to hang around for a prize giving in the pouring rain! Gotta think of the plus points!
XC fence 5
XC fence 10
Show-Jumping
piccie from Borde Hill BE90
whole course album
Wednesday 8 June 2011
Monty Merrist Wood evening dressage
Afternoon off for me. Spent it dodging rain showers, pulling ragwort, picking up poo, making haynets and feeds and then finally at 4.45 got on Llewi for half hour. Took him in the school and he was good boy - we worked on canter gears, simple changes etc. Right canter was having a real tendency to go 4 time today though - not sure if linked to his stifle or not - he's always had a tendency to go 4 time but it does make me worry about his leg. Anyway, we managed a fairly calm session with only a very occasional spook which is always nice. Prob take him to GBEC again next week and try a Novice. Debating whether to renew BD membership at the moment or just do eventers membership over winter which would save me £37 and mean not having to pay till October, but would mean no area festivals.
Anyway, this evening took Monty to MW for P12. Somehow only ended up with 30mins to warmup which isnt' quite enough for him, plus he seems to have gone a bit backwards on me recently - he's almost too calm! He should be on enough food as he's keeping his weight fine, he's on conditioning cubes which have a high DE so should have enough energy. Wonder if his RelaxMe calmer is just doing a bit too much! He warmed up nicely enough but took him in and he just wasn't quite up in front of me enough. It was a sweet controlled test but a bit lacking sparkle - certainly no worse than what he did at the weekend though. Really pleased with both his canter to trots across the diagonal , stayed nice and round and just popped down into trot. Not quite as connected as he could have been in the trot work, centre line could have been straighter and he hasn't quite got the idea of stepping into a nice halt yet so def want to work on my centre lines and halts as next big thing to work on at home. Rather disappointed with 60.8% but only 5marks behind the winner and some poor person only got 41% so think the judge was just a bit hard. No positive comments whatsoever. Got a 7 for his trot 20m circle left and change the rein and his medium walk but otherwise all 6's and a 5 for his 20m circle right in canter because he dropped onto the forehand slightly apparantly! All 6's for collectives. "Well ridden but needs to be consistent between leg to hand to maintain rythum and balance" Always be suspicious of a judge who cant spell rhythm! I know she's not listed whereas Sunday's were so I think I'll just write this one off. I've learnt from the outing and I know I need to rediscover some impulsion while keeping the calmness and softness but that's the schooling process - before we had too much forwards and lots of resistance. Now we've got the softness we just need to get him a bit more up and forwards. Still, plenty of progress has been made and I'm pleased with how he is improving.
Sunday 5 June 2011
Orange boys go to a big exciting show!
Me and showing dont mix very well - never been one for cleaning anything unless I have to but decided it would be good for the little orange one's education to do a M&M class today (he's only ever done one before and I didn't remember any issues so thought it would be a good plan!) Sharer gave him a bath yesterday then I spent the evening scrubbing white socks and I hope the photos show my efforts!
Got to show in plenty of time - nowhere decent to warm him up though. Both warm up rings had jumps in them and he is petrified of poles and jumps so that didn't go too well. Asked for canter and got buck. Got canter and asked for extension and got buck buck buck. Good! So, hopefully we got that out of our system and finally in we went. It was like riding a steam train - thank god for the pelham! In the second lot of canter someone clattered the practice jump next door just as we went past which obviously necessitated a huge leap in the air, flying change, buck and then just stop dead (luckily all behind the judge!) Got going again and then they made us gallop in the go round - managed to keep a lid on him but it was more of a medium canter than gallop for safety's sake! Couldn't possibly stand still in the line up but did happily walk away to do his individual show which was foot perfect and again kept a lid on the bucking in the gallop.
trotted up nicely in hand too so bit disappointed to be called in 5th but the top 3 did look like county show horses and everyone went very nicely - v strong class for local show. Was sulking a bit until judge came up and said how impeccably schooled he was and how beautiful his manners were (guess she missed all the bucking and fidgeting then lol!)
here are the pro pics - he is the only chestnut in the class so easy to spot and there are some great ones of his gallop on page 4, but lots of him throughout the album.
I-visualise pro pics
and video stills:
quickly rushed off to find the other orange one and take him into P15 - warmed up in a tiny indoor school but he was really unsettled, screaming his head off and behaving like a complete numpty! This carried on into the test but fortunately he managed to make up enough marks on the bits that didn't involve screaming to somehow still come top of the class with 68% and a listed judge too so v pleased with that. He even got an 8 for the canter to trot trans across the diagonal which is not easy so v pleased with his progress.
Went to try and find somewhere better to warmup but only place was the working hunter warmup ring and then he thought he was jumping (reasonable given how much eventing he's done recently!) so we gave up on that and walked him round the car park trying to stop him screaming! 2nd test was P18 and he thankfully resisted screaming but instead decided that every time I sat to change diagonal I wanted canter! Judge must have missed the first one cos he got an 8 for that movement but he got docked a couple of marks the 2nd time he did it - grrrr. Few more 8's scattered through the test and a very nice 8 for my riding from another list 6 judge (same one as at Borde Hill last week) and we finished on 70% - his highest score yet! Class of 30 odd so v pleased to finish 2nd.
Anyway, his punishment for inattentiveness is to go by himself to Merrist Wood on Wed evening to do P12 - dont think I can cope with both of them again so soon! Riding back to the trailer we had an interesting nap attack at being made to walk up the hill instead of through the cars in a straight line and then we met a pushchair and umbrella all in one and had a complete freak out narrowly missing sitting on a car bonnet (rather expensive looking one too!) before finding forward gear again and gaining a comment of well sat from an observer. Poxy pony! At that point I decided I'd had quite enough of him for one day and despite their efforts with the ground it was still too hard for my liking so didn't bother entering the WH or the open SJ which I had as an idea for the end of the day.
So, all swap again and back to the little orange one for Novice dressage to music. Had absolutely no idea of a floor plan as couldn't remember it from the last time I rode it. Had something vague in mind with lots of contingency plans which turned out to all be needed! They had erected a speaker along the long side but covered it with a plastic bag coz of the rain (yes, we had rain today!) which they then took off just as we trotted down the side. Cue stop dead, leap in the air, spin round and bog off nearly depositing me on the floor in the process! Made it past and judge kindly leaned out and said we could have another circuit so round again to a slightly less extravagant spook and on with the music. It was an interesting floor plan I ended up devising - cunningly avoiding the speaker and the set of jumps just outside the gate. I basically ended up completely winging it and nothing really went to plan but I dont think it looked too bad in the end.
Judge loved him - came up after and admired him, asked if she could take him home (nearly said yes!) and he won it on 75.3% got a 9 for his first halt! 8.5, 8, 8 and 8.5 for artistic marks. he did get a 5 for his free walk as he just wouldn't chill. Not a listed judge so possibly a little generous on the overall score given his tension in places but we are very proud of the nice red rosette given last year I was given less than 50% chance of ever riding him again.
Then my sharer got on him for her first test in years and the first time anyone else has ever competed him and he tootled round P18 without a spook in sight (different arena) and managed 6th place out of 30 odd. Watching it I thought she might be giving me and the big orange one a run for our money! So chuffed that he behaved for her as possibly thinking of loaning him out or even finding him a whole new home if someone very special wanted him so it's very reassuring that despite all his confidence issues he could do that for her.
So, a good day and even better, it is still raining harder than ever now (and hopefully is in Maidenhead too so perhaps BCA ground wont be too bad for Sunday!)
Got to show in plenty of time - nowhere decent to warm him up though. Both warm up rings had jumps in them and he is petrified of poles and jumps so that didn't go too well. Asked for canter and got buck. Got canter and asked for extension and got buck buck buck. Good! So, hopefully we got that out of our system and finally in we went. It was like riding a steam train - thank god for the pelham! In the second lot of canter someone clattered the practice jump next door just as we went past which obviously necessitated a huge leap in the air, flying change, buck and then just stop dead (luckily all behind the judge!) Got going again and then they made us gallop in the go round - managed to keep a lid on him but it was more of a medium canter than gallop for safety's sake! Couldn't possibly stand still in the line up but did happily walk away to do his individual show which was foot perfect and again kept a lid on the bucking in the gallop.
trotted up nicely in hand too so bit disappointed to be called in 5th but the top 3 did look like county show horses and everyone went very nicely - v strong class for local show. Was sulking a bit until judge came up and said how impeccably schooled he was and how beautiful his manners were (guess she missed all the bucking and fidgeting then lol!)
here are the pro pics - he is the only chestnut in the class so easy to spot and there are some great ones of his gallop on page 4, but lots of him throughout the album.
I-visualise pro pics
and video stills:
quickly rushed off to find the other orange one and take him into P15 - warmed up in a tiny indoor school but he was really unsettled, screaming his head off and behaving like a complete numpty! This carried on into the test but fortunately he managed to make up enough marks on the bits that didn't involve screaming to somehow still come top of the class with 68% and a listed judge too so v pleased with that. He even got an 8 for the canter to trot trans across the diagonal which is not easy so v pleased with his progress.
Went to try and find somewhere better to warmup but only place was the working hunter warmup ring and then he thought he was jumping (reasonable given how much eventing he's done recently!) so we gave up on that and walked him round the car park trying to stop him screaming! 2nd test was P18 and he thankfully resisted screaming but instead decided that every time I sat to change diagonal I wanted canter! Judge must have missed the first one cos he got an 8 for that movement but he got docked a couple of marks the 2nd time he did it - grrrr. Few more 8's scattered through the test and a very nice 8 for my riding from another list 6 judge (same one as at Borde Hill last week) and we finished on 70% - his highest score yet! Class of 30 odd so v pleased to finish 2nd.
Anyway, his punishment for inattentiveness is to go by himself to Merrist Wood on Wed evening to do P12 - dont think I can cope with both of them again so soon! Riding back to the trailer we had an interesting nap attack at being made to walk up the hill instead of through the cars in a straight line and then we met a pushchair and umbrella all in one and had a complete freak out narrowly missing sitting on a car bonnet (rather expensive looking one too!) before finding forward gear again and gaining a comment of well sat from an observer. Poxy pony! At that point I decided I'd had quite enough of him for one day and despite their efforts with the ground it was still too hard for my liking so didn't bother entering the WH or the open SJ which I had as an idea for the end of the day.
So, all swap again and back to the little orange one for Novice dressage to music. Had absolutely no idea of a floor plan as couldn't remember it from the last time I rode it. Had something vague in mind with lots of contingency plans which turned out to all be needed! They had erected a speaker along the long side but covered it with a plastic bag coz of the rain (yes, we had rain today!) which they then took off just as we trotted down the side. Cue stop dead, leap in the air, spin round and bog off nearly depositing me on the floor in the process! Made it past and judge kindly leaned out and said we could have another circuit so round again to a slightly less extravagant spook and on with the music. It was an interesting floor plan I ended up devising - cunningly avoiding the speaker and the set of jumps just outside the gate. I basically ended up completely winging it and nothing really went to plan but I dont think it looked too bad in the end.
Judge loved him - came up after and admired him, asked if she could take him home (nearly said yes!) and he won it on 75.3% got a 9 for his first halt! 8.5, 8, 8 and 8.5 for artistic marks. he did get a 5 for his free walk as he just wouldn't chill. Not a listed judge so possibly a little generous on the overall score given his tension in places but we are very proud of the nice red rosette given last year I was given less than 50% chance of ever riding him again.
Then my sharer got on him for her first test in years and the first time anyone else has ever competed him and he tootled round P18 without a spook in sight (different arena) and managed 6th place out of 30 odd. Watching it I thought she might be giving me and the big orange one a run for our money! So chuffed that he behaved for her as possibly thinking of loaning him out or even finding him a whole new home if someone very special wanted him so it's very reassuring that despite all his confidence issues he could do that for her.
So, a good day and even better, it is still raining harder than ever now (and hopefully is in Maidenhead too so perhaps BCA ground wont be too bad for Sunday!)
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