Yesterday had a lovely little 20min schooling session with him nicely swinging along, soft in the contact etc then went out for a quick 20min hack and he was quite happy and forwards so I thought nice preparation for today.
Up at 4.30am and down the yard by 5.15am. Pony came galloping over at the sound of my voice - weird hearing galloping hooves coming towards you in the dark. Got to BCA at 7am despite an attempt by the truck to foil us by trying to overheat 5mins from home. Limped it there ok though.
He warmed up ok for the dressage, got him soft without rushing him. Not sure what happened in the test but he stuck his nose out and wasn't in front of my leg at all. Got told off in Sunday's test for rushing him out of his rhythm so tried not to push him on too much - it felt really slow and he just wasn't reacting to my leg aids. Because he wasn't forwards he was hollow and it just wasn't very nice. The canter felt a bit more forwards but still not round. Not a good start for the Regionals.
Onto the SJing - he knocked the vertical once in the warmup which was good as it always sharpens him up a bit once he knocks one. He then jumped it and the oxer fine so in we went and he jumped a super clear. It looked tiny compared to the 100 at Munstead last week! Made mincemeat of the nasty line of oxer to skinny planks at 6 and 7, popped through the double on one stride as I remembered to ride forwards at it although surprised I did as they took that opportune moment to announce my hideous dressage score of 42. Worst ever score eventing by far. Previous worst at 90 was 37.5, My dressage mojo has seriously got up and left! We got 32 at Borde Hill end of August but since then they've been getting worse! We had 37.5 at T/down, 39 at Pulborough and now 42!!! I've had him back checked, changed his saddle to one that I know fits him better, clipped him and changed his feed from slug mix and calmer to rocket fuel and propell plus and ditched the calmer. He warms up nicely, he schools well at home and then we go in the arena and he dies and goes all backwards on me. Wondering about trying a different warmup regime at Pulborough - might just take him for a gallop then only do a very short warmup so he doesn't use up all his nice, forwards good work in the warmup! Got a lesson on Sunday so will see if we can ride through a test and work out what's happening. Very disappointing. Wish I'd gone to the Regionals at WW in Aug now as things were going well then! So, 42 left us last after dressage - I've never been last before - not something I want to repeat!
XC perked him up - he even had a naughty moment outside the start box which he hasn't done for a while as a horse came flying through the finish. He set off well, jumped everything no probs, made it feel easy, definitely ready to move up to 100 jumping wise. We were 15secs inside the time which is fine by me as that's about 100 speed which is what we've got used to working at now. Funny to think when we did BCA in June we were 50secs slower and got a whole stack of time faults (it was torrential rain in my defence!) but have learnt a lot about speed control and not wasting time setting up/riding away from fences since then.
Finally finished 29th out of 35. :(
Gonna give him a few days off now then lesson on Sunday and concentrate on flatwork and forwardness this week before Pulborough next weekend. It is the end of a long season and he's now done 12 events and lots of training and other bits and bobs so he might be getting a bit jaded but he seems absolutely fine about the jumping, just no energy or willingness for the flatwork. He's having his teeth done tomorrow and I'm toying with running some blds on him just to put my mind at rest with regards to anything physical but then I think I've checked everything out I can! Perhaps he just needs a holiday now. Might take him hunting after Pulborough - that will no doubt recharge his batteries - he loves his hunting!
Tuesday 27 September 2011
Saturday 24 September 2011
Lesson/schooling
Lesson with Laura on Thursday evening - have basically blocked him by concentrating too much on his front end and arguing with him so lost the throughness completely. We worked on quite a long rein for a while just concentrating on my position - shortened my stirrups and worked on keeping my lower leg stiller and underneath me without swinging my knee in and out, bum more underneath me and upper body back. Then Laura got on him and had a few arguments with him to unblock him. I got back on him and could feel his back was swinging much better and he was much free-er.
Today schooled him and just concentrated on keeping him soft in front. Started reluctant to stretch down but then got him to start stretching out and down and then more round and then picked him up a little but let him keep quite a soft, relaxed, slightly lower outline. Did some nice trot-walk-trot transitions over X on the diagonal line.
Then we did some jumping - worked on getting him in a nice forward canter and riding forwards for a stride - pleased as only got it wrong once and that was when then jump was tiny. Built up size and width of the jump and ended up with front bar top of the red wings which is 1.05m (3ft6) and the back bar was 3rd hole down from the top of the wings -about 3ft8. Spread was a good 3ft and had the ground poles set out in front and behind so good base spread. He jumped to the right a couple of times when approaching the smaller jump off the left rein, but managed to straighten him out and then he jumped well.
Today schooled him and just concentrated on keeping him soft in front. Started reluctant to stretch down but then got him to start stretching out and down and then more round and then picked him up a little but let him keep quite a soft, relaxed, slightly lower outline. Did some nice trot-walk-trot transitions over X on the diagonal line.
Then we did some jumping - worked on getting him in a nice forward canter and riding forwards for a stride - pleased as only got it wrong once and that was when then jump was tiny. Built up size and width of the jump and ended up with front bar top of the red wings which is 1.05m (3ft6) and the back bar was 3rd hole down from the top of the wings -about 3ft8. Spread was a good 3ft and had the ground poles set out in front and behind so good base spread. He jumped to the right a couple of times when approaching the smaller jump off the left rein, but managed to straighten him out and then he jumped well.
Sunday 18 September 2011
Camp report
Bright and early Wed morning we set off down to Three Maids Chasers near Winchester for a 2day residential camp. Settled Monty into his stable and met our instructor for the 2days who fortunately was an eventer who has competed to Intermediate.
We started off by heading out onto the XC course - did a little bit of flat to warm them up - got told to put stirrups up a hole to help stabilise lower leg and then we went to play with some fences. He started off pretty sticky which is quite normal for him but we got him going. Then he tried to do a huge nap on the way to a scary haycart type fence and bogged off sideways back towards the group. Full cheek snaffles not always the best for horses that do this as they just set against them. Anyway, got back on with it and kicked on over the scary fence. We played with the water and then did a skinny coming up a step out of the water then few strides then skinny which he did well. Unfortunately couldn't play with jumping into water as too deep. We then did big drop down to a roll top which he did very genuinely and stayed nice and straight. Then gave everyone a lead over the ditch on the way home.
In the afternoon we went and did some SJing. When the jumps were around 80cm he was super happy just popping them in a really steady canter and we got a great stride to every jump. That canter doesn't have the power to jump the bigger fences though. We worked on using a single barrel as a jump and he did run out the left when we took the guide poles away so just stuck with the guide poles for this session as a new exercise for him. then we made it into a double of single blue barrels with guide poles and 2 strides in between which he jumped well. We did an upright and then a choice of doglegs, left to planks or right to another upright and then made it all into a course. Then for me he put them all up to 1m-1.05m and we popped round them but still in our little canter which meant we couldn't make the related distances and he knocked them all down. So, then we had to make a bigger more forwards canter, see a bigger stride and open him up which then meant we could make the related distances and he jumped clear.
The next morning we went back out on the XC, this time with instructor riding as well so we could go round the whole UKChasers course. First of all we strung together a little course of our own choice. Avoided the napping back to the group but made the mistake of cantering through the water to the skinny and he ducked out the left so trotted back through and he jumped it fine. If in doubt - trot! Then we moved on round the course - started with a combination through some woods which is similar to the one at Munstead so v good practice. Started by popping over rails then down a step, back up a step and over a skinny log - got told we did it far too steady and managed to fit 5 strides in a 3 stride distance from step to log and to go back and ride it! So we did and got the 3 strides and told that's how to do it! Then we did a bigger rails in, step down then really steep hill up, over log then back down and out over another log. Really unbalancing all those hills but v good practice for Munstead. Onwards to a ditch which Monty gave a good lead over and then we had a lovely canter up the hill and considering most of them overtook him he was very good. Jumped the trakehner no probs then onto a bank complex with some little skinny chairs after. Let 2 of them go ahead and we popped off the step, several strides then skinny then opened him up and flew the big PN height corner followed by PN height and width big box fence. Back to the bank complex and did step up, step down and much closer skinny chair and he never felt like wavering so v pleased with that. Finished with a big table and then a skinny arrowhead and big pats :)
Afternoon involved a dressage test which he was pooped for but it wasn't bad. Bit lacking sparkle but he did everything where it should be and tried to give me a bit of decent medium trot. Got 8 for 1st centre line and also for the canter-trot-canter trans on the 20m circle right rein. Rest 6's and 7's. Felt like he was swinging his quarters a lot and generally against the hand and again, couldn't get a nice still final halt. We then worked on getting him straighter on the left rein by using outside flexion but he was kinda knackered by this point - so much so he was just ignoring me completely when I asked for trot. Basically conclusion is I dont have control of his shoulders which is why the quarters are swinging and we are getting far too much neck bend on the left rein and losing the right shoulder.
Really pleased with how he coped with being away - he ate well and seemed really settled in his temporary stable compared to how he was at the RC Nationals which was obviously a huge atmosphere. Good for him to go away and it be a lot more chilled.
Had a great time and learnt loads!
We started off by heading out onto the XC course - did a little bit of flat to warm them up - got told to put stirrups up a hole to help stabilise lower leg and then we went to play with some fences. He started off pretty sticky which is quite normal for him but we got him going. Then he tried to do a huge nap on the way to a scary haycart type fence and bogged off sideways back towards the group. Full cheek snaffles not always the best for horses that do this as they just set against them. Anyway, got back on with it and kicked on over the scary fence. We played with the water and then did a skinny coming up a step out of the water then few strides then skinny which he did well. Unfortunately couldn't play with jumping into water as too deep. We then did big drop down to a roll top which he did very genuinely and stayed nice and straight. Then gave everyone a lead over the ditch on the way home.
In the afternoon we went and did some SJing. When the jumps were around 80cm he was super happy just popping them in a really steady canter and we got a great stride to every jump. That canter doesn't have the power to jump the bigger fences though. We worked on using a single barrel as a jump and he did run out the left when we took the guide poles away so just stuck with the guide poles for this session as a new exercise for him. then we made it into a double of single blue barrels with guide poles and 2 strides in between which he jumped well. We did an upright and then a choice of doglegs, left to planks or right to another upright and then made it all into a course. Then for me he put them all up to 1m-1.05m and we popped round them but still in our little canter which meant we couldn't make the related distances and he knocked them all down. So, then we had to make a bigger more forwards canter, see a bigger stride and open him up which then meant we could make the related distances and he jumped clear.
The next morning we went back out on the XC, this time with instructor riding as well so we could go round the whole UKChasers course. First of all we strung together a little course of our own choice. Avoided the napping back to the group but made the mistake of cantering through the water to the skinny and he ducked out the left so trotted back through and he jumped it fine. If in doubt - trot! Then we moved on round the course - started with a combination through some woods which is similar to the one at Munstead so v good practice. Started by popping over rails then down a step, back up a step and over a skinny log - got told we did it far too steady and managed to fit 5 strides in a 3 stride distance from step to log and to go back and ride it! So we did and got the 3 strides and told that's how to do it! Then we did a bigger rails in, step down then really steep hill up, over log then back down and out over another log. Really unbalancing all those hills but v good practice for Munstead. Onwards to a ditch which Monty gave a good lead over and then we had a lovely canter up the hill and considering most of them overtook him he was very good. Jumped the trakehner no probs then onto a bank complex with some little skinny chairs after. Let 2 of them go ahead and we popped off the step, several strides then skinny then opened him up and flew the big PN height corner followed by PN height and width big box fence. Back to the bank complex and did step up, step down and much closer skinny chair and he never felt like wavering so v pleased with that. Finished with a big table and then a skinny arrowhead and big pats :)
Afternoon involved a dressage test which he was pooped for but it wasn't bad. Bit lacking sparkle but he did everything where it should be and tried to give me a bit of decent medium trot. Got 8 for 1st centre line and also for the canter-trot-canter trans on the 20m circle right rein. Rest 6's and 7's. Felt like he was swinging his quarters a lot and generally against the hand and again, couldn't get a nice still final halt. We then worked on getting him straighter on the left rein by using outside flexion but he was kinda knackered by this point - so much so he was just ignoring me completely when I asked for trot. Basically conclusion is I dont have control of his shoulders which is why the quarters are swinging and we are getting far too much neck bend on the left rein and losing the right shoulder.
Really pleased with how he coped with being away - he ate well and seemed really settled in his temporary stable compared to how he was at the RC Nationals which was obviously a huge atmosphere. Good for him to go away and it be a lot more chilled.
Had a great time and learnt loads!
Monty SJing Sparsholt 11-09-11
Class 1:95cm - not a bad round - bit tight in that size school as we're not great at turning and jumping and lack power out of the corners but did ok for just one fence down.
Class 2 was the 1m and suddenly they looked huuuuuge and v scary! Amazing what a difference 10cm makes. I hooked him back far far too much, panicing every time I couldn't see a stride and he ended up launching himself into orbit to clear the fences. Terrible riding. Did amazing just to have one down. Plus silly judge gave us a refusal at the first fence as I circled to get my canter going in the tiny space but didn't cross the start finish - will make sure to be careful about that in future.
this is my fave one:
2 strides in a 1 stride double is not comfortable!
Monty BE100 Munstead 18-09-11
Off to Munstead today for our BE100 debut. Nice leisurely start with dr not until 2.24pm and Munstead being only 10miles down the road.
Was at RC camp earlier this week so hoping for good things SJ/XC as we did a lot of work on our jumping technique. Course walk was good - looked at the 90 and was glad we were doing the 100 which was a good start. Tried not to look too hard at the rather large and deep ditch at the trakehner at 5 but otherwise nothing to trouble us.
Got on and walked round to the dressage then promptly got off again as they opened the SJ course for walking. SJing is my least favourite phase so tried not to look too hard at the width of the fences!
Back on for a short dressage warmup whereby the heavens opened although fortunately rain stopped for the test itself. Test wasn't too bad and he did everything where it should be and obediently but it wasn't forwards and it severely lacked sparkle. Was hoping for mid 30's. Got back to trailer and the heavens opened again. Went to look at score and was tempted to go home! 39 is not quite what I'd hoped for and left us 29th out of 41 :(
Fortunately the rain stopped again so decided to go and SJ and see if he woke up a bit. Didn't really fancy going XC with a less than forwards horse over our first BE100. Jumps seemed to wake him up a bit, knocked a couple in the warmup but went in a jumped a super super round. Just got fence 6 a bit wrong and got in too close but he launched into orbit to clear a pretty wide oxer. Rest of the round was pretty smooth for us though so very pleased with that.
So, onto XC. Quick warmup and off we went. Had a good look at fence1 and decided the brush might eat him so orbited over that and it seemed an awfully long way down! Eventually we landed and made it over 2 and 3, if a bit stickily - gave him a wake up smack on the shoulder and he went well over the chair at 4 then onto the dreaded trakehner. Looked up, kicked on but he clocked the ditch last minute and threw in a huge catleap over it which didn't make for a very comfy landing but we were over!
Neatly through the coffin and then another slightly awkward jump over the "hump" at fence 7.
Then on to the skinny log at 8 before down a steep hill into the dark woods and then pop up the bounce steps and up and out over the log pile which he did very neatly. No probs through the water and then long gallop, round a corner and got a good stride to the pheasant feeder. Through the trees and out over the skinny hanging log then round to the sheep feeder where he insisted on clearing the brush again! Sharp left to the arrowhead then good gallop over the flowerbed, steadied up for the corner which he hopped over and then fab gallop over the big oxer, no probs over the sharks teeth, a little close to the 2nd last then flew the last but did have to kick him through the finish - he seemed tired for the first time ever.
Was expecting some time faults but we managed to get 9secs inside the time so finished on our dressage score of 39. Ended up 14th out of 41. Not bad for our BE100 debut considering 5mths ago I was wibbling about going round an 80cm course! Dr got 5's for both our centre lines as 1/4's right. 7's for canter work, 6's for other stuff. 7656 for collectives. "Some tension over the back and into the hand spoiling some promising work"
Just need to refind our forwards button for the dressage as last few tests have been a bit lacklustre. Appreciate today he might have been a bit tired after doing a lot of jumping at camp on Wed/Thur but he has been a bit reluctant to do anything resembling work recently. Still quite happy to bomb around the ranges and try and kill me on the roads by leaping into oncoming traffic because a banner on the fence looked at him wrong on Tuesday. He has had a rather busy season so not sure if he's just fed up with working but he's got a couple of important events coming up so would like to instill some forwardness again! We've got BE90 Regionals in 9days time then was aiming for the Tweseldown unaff champs mid Oct then he is going to have a nice holiday. Not sure if he is really lacking energy and needs different feed or whether that wont make any difference? He is on a calmer as it seems to reduce the spooking out hacking so I could drop that and hope I survive to tell the tale to see if that livens him up in general. Considered a short course of Propell Plus or some other similar rocket fuel (may have to employ draw reins for hacking if I do that though!). I could change his feed a bit - he is currently on Spillers slow release cubes (1 round scoop), 1.5cups of Outshine, 1/2 scoop of Alfa-A Oil and TopSpec Comp Balancer once daily. I could change to Spillers quick release or add in a small amount of Power/Performance or similar. Have got physio on thursday to make sure it's nothing physical. I could check some blds to make sure he's not got a virus or something. I might be panicing about nothing and over-analysing as usual but need to rejuvenate him somehow for our last few events. Any ideas please?
Was at RC camp earlier this week so hoping for good things SJ/XC as we did a lot of work on our jumping technique. Course walk was good - looked at the 90 and was glad we were doing the 100 which was a good start. Tried not to look too hard at the rather large and deep ditch at the trakehner at 5 but otherwise nothing to trouble us.
Got on and walked round to the dressage then promptly got off again as they opened the SJ course for walking. SJing is my least favourite phase so tried not to look too hard at the width of the fences!
Back on for a short dressage warmup whereby the heavens opened although fortunately rain stopped for the test itself. Test wasn't too bad and he did everything where it should be and obediently but it wasn't forwards and it severely lacked sparkle. Was hoping for mid 30's. Got back to trailer and the heavens opened again. Went to look at score and was tempted to go home! 39 is not quite what I'd hoped for and left us 29th out of 41 :(
Fortunately the rain stopped again so decided to go and SJ and see if he woke up a bit. Didn't really fancy going XC with a less than forwards horse over our first BE100. Jumps seemed to wake him up a bit, knocked a couple in the warmup but went in a jumped a super super round. Just got fence 6 a bit wrong and got in too close but he launched into orbit to clear a pretty wide oxer. Rest of the round was pretty smooth for us though so very pleased with that.
So, onto XC. Quick warmup and off we went. Had a good look at fence1 and decided the brush might eat him so orbited over that and it seemed an awfully long way down! Eventually we landed and made it over 2 and 3, if a bit stickily - gave him a wake up smack on the shoulder and he went well over the chair at 4 then onto the dreaded trakehner. Looked up, kicked on but he clocked the ditch last minute and threw in a huge catleap over it which didn't make for a very comfy landing but we were over!
Neatly through the coffin and then another slightly awkward jump over the "hump" at fence 7.
Then on to the skinny log at 8 before down a steep hill into the dark woods and then pop up the bounce steps and up and out over the log pile which he did very neatly. No probs through the water and then long gallop, round a corner and got a good stride to the pheasant feeder. Through the trees and out over the skinny hanging log then round to the sheep feeder where he insisted on clearing the brush again! Sharp left to the arrowhead then good gallop over the flowerbed, steadied up for the corner which he hopped over and then fab gallop over the big oxer, no probs over the sharks teeth, a little close to the 2nd last then flew the last but did have to kick him through the finish - he seemed tired for the first time ever.
Was expecting some time faults but we managed to get 9secs inside the time so finished on our dressage score of 39. Ended up 14th out of 41. Not bad for our BE100 debut considering 5mths ago I was wibbling about going round an 80cm course! Dr got 5's for both our centre lines as 1/4's right. 7's for canter work, 6's for other stuff. 7656 for collectives. "Some tension over the back and into the hand spoiling some promising work"
Just need to refind our forwards button for the dressage as last few tests have been a bit lacklustre. Appreciate today he might have been a bit tired after doing a lot of jumping at camp on Wed/Thur but he has been a bit reluctant to do anything resembling work recently. Still quite happy to bomb around the ranges and try and kill me on the roads by leaping into oncoming traffic because a banner on the fence looked at him wrong on Tuesday. He has had a rather busy season so not sure if he's just fed up with working but he's got a couple of important events coming up so would like to instill some forwardness again! We've got BE90 Regionals in 9days time then was aiming for the Tweseldown unaff champs mid Oct then he is going to have a nice holiday. Not sure if he is really lacking energy and needs different feed or whether that wont make any difference? He is on a calmer as it seems to reduce the spooking out hacking so I could drop that and hope I survive to tell the tale to see if that livens him up in general. Considered a short course of Propell Plus or some other similar rocket fuel (may have to employ draw reins for hacking if I do that though!). I could change his feed a bit - he is currently on Spillers slow release cubes (1 round scoop), 1.5cups of Outshine, 1/2 scoop of Alfa-A Oil and TopSpec Comp Balancer once daily. I could change to Spillers quick release or add in a small amount of Power/Performance or similar. Have got physio on thursday to make sure it's nothing physical. I could check some blds to make sure he's not got a virus or something. I might be panicing about nothing and over-analysing as usual but need to rejuvenate him somehow for our last few events. Any ideas please?
Tuesday 6 September 2011
Lesson report 06-09-11
Off to a new yard today in Sutton Green for a lesson with Tracey.
We started with trying to straighten him out a bit so we did shoulder-in on the right rein then we turned it into renvers (never done that before but he made a good effort) and then we did travers on the left rein. He needs to do lots of these exercises to try and straighten him - SI/renvers on the right and travers on the left to stop this quarters in to the right thing. More forwards off my leg - stop nagging him, he needs to maintain the movement by himself. Work the movements round the short sides as well as down the long sides.
Moved into trot and immediately he was a lot softer in the contact so as we have found before a lot of lateral work in walk really helps him to soften. We did some turns down the centre line remembering not to let him drop and run onto his forehand on the turn - must keep him up in front and think passage around the turn. Keep left leg forwards, right leg back and dont let the quarters swing out on the turn. Need to prepare for the turn and ride it, not just fling him round the corner. Quite ok to start the centre line from the opposite rein to the way you're turning at the bottom - dont change diagonal until the corner.
In preparation for the Area Festivals on Thur we ran through P19 all the time thinking up and forwards, esp in the transitions. In the trot to canter he wants to jump up/back into the trans and into collected canter - need him much more forwards at this level. Worked on medium trot to canter letting the canter just appear and he was really leaping into it. Then must think jump, jump, jump in time with the canter - push him up and forwards into my hand. Must must go forwards at all times, do not let him suck back into this nothingy collected canter. Biggest thing of the session was really riding this big canter. Then back into big, forwards trot. Forwards, forwards, forwards through every transition. Need to think bold - ride the horse forwards and ride for every mark.
Also need to work on wayward left leg - it goes far too far back and I put far too much weight in my right leg - explains why my left gaiter has worn away - left leg not stable at all. In trot, we took away my right stirrup only on the left rein and I nearly fell off but was fine when took away left stirrup on the right rein! Left leg going too far back doesn't help the tendency to swing the quarters right.
We started with trying to straighten him out a bit so we did shoulder-in on the right rein then we turned it into renvers (never done that before but he made a good effort) and then we did travers on the left rein. He needs to do lots of these exercises to try and straighten him - SI/renvers on the right and travers on the left to stop this quarters in to the right thing. More forwards off my leg - stop nagging him, he needs to maintain the movement by himself. Work the movements round the short sides as well as down the long sides.
Moved into trot and immediately he was a lot softer in the contact so as we have found before a lot of lateral work in walk really helps him to soften. We did some turns down the centre line remembering not to let him drop and run onto his forehand on the turn - must keep him up in front and think passage around the turn. Keep left leg forwards, right leg back and dont let the quarters swing out on the turn. Need to prepare for the turn and ride it, not just fling him round the corner. Quite ok to start the centre line from the opposite rein to the way you're turning at the bottom - dont change diagonal until the corner.
In preparation for the Area Festivals on Thur we ran through P19 all the time thinking up and forwards, esp in the transitions. In the trot to canter he wants to jump up/back into the trans and into collected canter - need him much more forwards at this level. Worked on medium trot to canter letting the canter just appear and he was really leaping into it. Then must think jump, jump, jump in time with the canter - push him up and forwards into my hand. Must must go forwards at all times, do not let him suck back into this nothingy collected canter. Biggest thing of the session was really riding this big canter. Then back into big, forwards trot. Forwards, forwards, forwards through every transition. Need to think bold - ride the horse forwards and ride for every mark.
Also need to work on wayward left leg - it goes far too far back and I put far too much weight in my right leg - explains why my left gaiter has worn away - left leg not stable at all. In trot, we took away my right stirrup only on the left rein and I nearly fell off but was fine when took away left stirrup on the right rein! Left leg going too far back doesn't help the tendency to swing the quarters right.
Sunday 4 September 2011
Monty Tweseldown unaffiliated Intro 04-09-11
Been away at Burghley last couple of days so Monty has had 2 days off. Nice times for today so I thought - 11.14, 12.14 and 12.49
Away from the yard bang on time to arrive dead on 9am. Panic no.1 - watching someone's dressage test thinking that's not the one I've learnt! Oops! Doofus here had learnt BE92 instead of BE91, probably as I dont even remember ever reading the schedule! So, quick learn of that and then off to walk the SJ - v bright and colourful as usual but nothing that should cause Montster a problem. Off to the XC - almost identical to the BE course we did in May so easy to learn. They had moved a couple of fences to slightly different lines but otherwise the same. Got back up to the car, looked in the programme (should have looked at it walking round really) and there was a chair listed after the sunken road before the water that I hadn't seen whilst out walking - hadn't seen any notes in the secretary about fences being taken out - cue huge panic no.2 about having missed a fence on the course walk but no time to go and see!
Anyway, onto the dressage - seemed to warm up ok, considering 2days off not especially enthusiastic but not bad. Not to self - dont practice walk to canter in the warmup for a prelim with a clever orange pony! So, we went in for our test which I have now decided is beneath him - not enough to keep the orange brain occupied. He was really sweet round most of it though - bloody quarters swung right down the first centre line - no idea why suddenly having such a huge problem with this but it needs sorting quick! But after that it was all good until picked him up into trot after the walk and he went straight into canter - gah! That messed up the turn down the final centre line which was wobbling all over the place (4 for that movement) and then the halt which he took too long organising his feet for so got a 5 and "moved". Really disappointed with a score of 37.5 (worst all season) which fortunately I didn't hear until after XC or I might have just gone home given the weather which was about to descend on us! Even without the final mistakes we'd only have got about 36. 7666 for collectives. "Fair, elastic paces. Needs to develop equal bend on both reins and come more through from behind" List 6 judge. :(
So, ran off after dressage to try and find this mystery missing fence but no sign of it - concluded programme wrong and toddled back to the trailer (legs v tired after Burghley yesterday!) Halfway back the monsoon started - I was in my dressage gear with no hat and no waterproof coat so by time I made it back to trailer I was completely soaked. It came down heavier and heavier and heavier - the car park became a lake and I could barely see the arenas. Looked like they were carrying on though so with 5mins to go before SJ and no sign of a let up I had to get on - quick trot down to the SJ, popped over a few warmup fences and in we went - fortunately not many had jumped since the rain so ground wasn't too trodden up but it was slippery and he kept putting in short ones - bless him, he jumped out of his skin to clear most of them, just got a slightly long stride at the huge oxer at fence 6 and he failed to get enough lift out of the bog and took out front and back rails. No videos today as phone doesn't like monsoons!
Back to trailer to change for XC, still persistently heavy rain although full on monsoon had eased ever so slightly. Back to the bright green hat silk/XC jumper to match shiny new point 2 air jacket purchased at Burghley. Peeled off my show shirt and on with the jumper with huge difficulty! Despite help I was running rather late heading down to XC start. XC warmup was a bog - jumped one fence couple of times then gave up. Nearly didn't make it into the start box as thought about napping but just made it in in time to go on the starter's Go.
Galloped up the first track to find a massive lake with no way round so kicked on through that and then over the first, gallop down to the 2nd, shot round the corner on a right dodgy line to the 3rd and then great stride to the 4th. Dodgy line to the drop palisade at 5, ended up almost in trot as well so pony did v well to jump it, onto the double of boxes at 6, he had a good look at the first one on the way over and neatly popped 4 strides into the 3 stride distance. Round and boldly over the hanging log before up the hill to the corner which had a crater in front of it filled with water making it much bigger than it really is (one day they'll fill in the crater or move the fence!) so he got in mega close, almost left a leg but made it over. Down the hill and back to trot for the tight turn to hanging log at 9, took out the right hand flag then right turn up a hill, nice stride to identical log at 10. Really super bold through the sunken road (he seems to love these!), gallop on down to the water, bit unsure at the box brush before it but kicked on for a nice jump, trotted through the water and out over the hanging roll top, through the woods and over the hanging log to step down. Gallop on to the chair and then the final fence. We did it in 4.48 and the optimum was 4.59 which considering the course was almost identical to May when the time was 4.39 I think they wheeled a bit more generously as plenty of people made the time.
Really pleased with his jumping given the conditions, narked by the bad dressage mark as combination of that and the 4 faults SJ kept us out of the top 10 and he really should be top10 consistently at this stage given we're about to move up! Hoping the BE100 dressage tests will have a bit more in them to occupy him and pick up the marks. We finished on 41.5. Placings were all in the 30's. Feel he would have SJ'd clear if it wasn't for the crappy weather/ground - 2nd half of the class hardly anyone went clear compared to 1st half where majority were clear so definitely placings affected by weather. We were 14th in the end out of 44 starters which isn't bad considering everything, but still disappointed. Only 23 completed in my section who apparantly had many more probs with jumping than the other sections. I would have been 7th without the fence down, 5th without the dressage mistakes as well. Winner on 33 but top 10 all v close.
Think am going to take him down to Sparsholt for some RC SJing on Sunday - they have a 95cm and 1m class which should be just right for him in preparation for Munstead 100 in 2wks time. We have got last minute lesson on Tue evening then Wellington Area Festivals on Thur - nice mid morning times. Then am off to Blenheim on Sat although will ban myself from any more shopping after Burghley the last few days! Have to say - did feel rather smart in my new show shirt and stock and then my nice point 2 for XC. Llewi is off to his new home on Tuesday so this week is looking rather busy!
Away from the yard bang on time to arrive dead on 9am. Panic no.1 - watching someone's dressage test thinking that's not the one I've learnt! Oops! Doofus here had learnt BE92 instead of BE91, probably as I dont even remember ever reading the schedule! So, quick learn of that and then off to walk the SJ - v bright and colourful as usual but nothing that should cause Montster a problem. Off to the XC - almost identical to the BE course we did in May so easy to learn. They had moved a couple of fences to slightly different lines but otherwise the same. Got back up to the car, looked in the programme (should have looked at it walking round really) and there was a chair listed after the sunken road before the water that I hadn't seen whilst out walking - hadn't seen any notes in the secretary about fences being taken out - cue huge panic no.2 about having missed a fence on the course walk but no time to go and see!
Anyway, onto the dressage - seemed to warm up ok, considering 2days off not especially enthusiastic but not bad. Not to self - dont practice walk to canter in the warmup for a prelim with a clever orange pony! So, we went in for our test which I have now decided is beneath him - not enough to keep the orange brain occupied. He was really sweet round most of it though - bloody quarters swung right down the first centre line - no idea why suddenly having such a huge problem with this but it needs sorting quick! But after that it was all good until picked him up into trot after the walk and he went straight into canter - gah! That messed up the turn down the final centre line which was wobbling all over the place (4 for that movement) and then the halt which he took too long organising his feet for so got a 5 and "moved". Really disappointed with a score of 37.5 (worst all season) which fortunately I didn't hear until after XC or I might have just gone home given the weather which was about to descend on us! Even without the final mistakes we'd only have got about 36. 7666 for collectives. "Fair, elastic paces. Needs to develop equal bend on both reins and come more through from behind" List 6 judge. :(
So, ran off after dressage to try and find this mystery missing fence but no sign of it - concluded programme wrong and toddled back to the trailer (legs v tired after Burghley yesterday!) Halfway back the monsoon started - I was in my dressage gear with no hat and no waterproof coat so by time I made it back to trailer I was completely soaked. It came down heavier and heavier and heavier - the car park became a lake and I could barely see the arenas. Looked like they were carrying on though so with 5mins to go before SJ and no sign of a let up I had to get on - quick trot down to the SJ, popped over a few warmup fences and in we went - fortunately not many had jumped since the rain so ground wasn't too trodden up but it was slippery and he kept putting in short ones - bless him, he jumped out of his skin to clear most of them, just got a slightly long stride at the huge oxer at fence 6 and he failed to get enough lift out of the bog and took out front and back rails. No videos today as phone doesn't like monsoons!
Back to trailer to change for XC, still persistently heavy rain although full on monsoon had eased ever so slightly. Back to the bright green hat silk/XC jumper to match shiny new point 2 air jacket purchased at Burghley. Peeled off my show shirt and on with the jumper with huge difficulty! Despite help I was running rather late heading down to XC start. XC warmup was a bog - jumped one fence couple of times then gave up. Nearly didn't make it into the start box as thought about napping but just made it in in time to go on the starter's Go.
Galloped up the first track to find a massive lake with no way round so kicked on through that and then over the first, gallop down to the 2nd, shot round the corner on a right dodgy line to the 3rd and then great stride to the 4th. Dodgy line to the drop palisade at 5, ended up almost in trot as well so pony did v well to jump it, onto the double of boxes at 6, he had a good look at the first one on the way over and neatly popped 4 strides into the 3 stride distance. Round and boldly over the hanging log before up the hill to the corner which had a crater in front of it filled with water making it much bigger than it really is (one day they'll fill in the crater or move the fence!) so he got in mega close, almost left a leg but made it over. Down the hill and back to trot for the tight turn to hanging log at 9, took out the right hand flag then right turn up a hill, nice stride to identical log at 10. Really super bold through the sunken road (he seems to love these!), gallop on down to the water, bit unsure at the box brush before it but kicked on for a nice jump, trotted through the water and out over the hanging roll top, through the woods and over the hanging log to step down. Gallop on to the chair and then the final fence. We did it in 4.48 and the optimum was 4.59 which considering the course was almost identical to May when the time was 4.39 I think they wheeled a bit more generously as plenty of people made the time.
Really pleased with his jumping given the conditions, narked by the bad dressage mark as combination of that and the 4 faults SJ kept us out of the top 10 and he really should be top10 consistently at this stage given we're about to move up! Hoping the BE100 dressage tests will have a bit more in them to occupy him and pick up the marks. We finished on 41.5. Placings were all in the 30's. Feel he would have SJ'd clear if it wasn't for the crappy weather/ground - 2nd half of the class hardly anyone went clear compared to 1st half where majority were clear so definitely placings affected by weather. We were 14th in the end out of 44 starters which isn't bad considering everything, but still disappointed. Only 23 completed in my section who apparantly had many more probs with jumping than the other sections. I would have been 7th without the fence down, 5th without the dressage mistakes as well. Winner on 33 but top 10 all v close.
Think am going to take him down to Sparsholt for some RC SJing on Sunday - they have a 95cm and 1m class which should be just right for him in preparation for Munstead 100 in 2wks time. We have got last minute lesson on Tue evening then Wellington Area Festivals on Thur - nice mid morning times. Then am off to Blenheim on Sat although will ban myself from any more shopping after Burghley the last few days! Have to say - did feel rather smart in my new show shirt and stock and then my nice point 2 for XC. Llewi is off to his new home on Tuesday so this week is looking rather busy!
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