Did the majority of getting Monty ready last night, painted his socks persil white and plaited him so not too much to do this morning.
Here he is in the field last night looking all shiny and clean:
Final polish up this morning, rolled up his plaits and we were off to BCA actually eventing again - woohoo!
Arrived with plenty of time to go and look at courses - quick run round the XC as basically the same as last time I rode it but didn't want to make any silly mistakes. Watched a few SJ and it looked fairly straightforward and not very big. Ground was looking good thank god!
Got him ready for dressage and got over there with 25mins till my time to be told only 2 to go before me! So, didn't quite do the warmup I had planned and as a result didn't quite have him as up and in front of me as I should have done.
Here is a little pic from the warmup:
And a short video:
Test itself went ok. First centre line felt good but then he slipped twice in the corner which upset him a bit but recovered for the turn across the diagonal, half circles felt nice and the canter work was balanced (got all 7's up to this point and an 8 for the canter) then for some reason she only gave him a 6 for his 2nd half circle and said he could be lighter in the contact - felt ok and looks ok on vid so possibly bit harsh but hey ho, then back to all 7's for his canter and down into walk (I felt he fell into the trot transition but she must have missed that!). Then an 8 for his free walk but only a 6 for his medium walk as he was resisting the pick up a bit and I felt he might jog if I insisted so played it safe. Then he did a lovely final centre line and a beautiful square halt but swung his bloody quarters a mile off to the left so chucked away another couple of marks there - annoyed that I didn't ride that better as only got a 6 and could have been an 8. Straight 7's for collectives. "Pleasant test, could step under more from behind to support the shoulder more but well done". Score: 30.5 Can easily see where we lost a few marks there which is super frustrating as the section was incredibly close.
Video:
Quick change and onto the SJ. Gave him a canter round on the less chewed up bit of warmup then popped a few fences. He felt a bit uneasy on the chewed up ground so didn't do much, just tried to get him going forwards into the fences. Had to be led into the arena as usual but once in there he was super. Was riding without a martingale or flash and in his dressage saddle after jumping lesson last week where he jumped much better (less is more!). He jumped a lovely clear. Did feel I had to push him on for a few fences to make sure he didn't try and chip in but he responded and left them up so all good and he didn't feel like he was having any problems with the ground.
Video:
Another change of kit and off to the XC. He was well up for it in XC warmup - ground was super and he as off like a rocket and happy to tackle the warmup fences nice and forward. Problems came when we attempted to go anywhere near the start. He was not having any of it and was even rearing when being led. We managed to get over there and get into the box a few times but then only had 15secs left and not enough time to leave and come back in so ended up trying to make him stand in the box which resulted in him standing vertical with me. Luckily managed to just turn him round, kick him hard just as the started said go and we launched out of the box like a flipping rocket. Kept up the pace all the way round - in hindsight could have taken it a bit easier but been working at BE100 speed recently and want to crack on with them so good to keep him in that rhythm. Didn't really need to check at the fences as mostly kind profiles with easy lines. Checked him back slightly for the corner but then ended up seeing a long one so probably shouldn't have bothered! Flew the carved thing to the ditch. I kicked on to the brush like it was a 6ft hedge out hunting and he didn't think it was worth a flyer so tucked in a little one meaning the photos are god awful! Up the step and he nearly fell up it as was locked onto the Novice brush, but managed to convince him which fence was his, on over another box thing and down the step no probs, another roll top then he was tanking towards the water so took a good pull and just trotted through there before very nearly forgetting the rolltop on the way out was my part b! Jumped that and then flew the last which is a decent brush. 20secs inside the time which is prob about BE100 speed so happy with that but being that far off the optimum dropped us a couple of places below those who were on same dressage score.
Video of last couple of XC fences:
Hatcam video:
After XC:
Hung around for a bit to find out we had come 9th. Ridiculously close top 10. 29.5 would have got me 4th place and a Reigonals Qualification so gutted I didn't ride the dressage a bit better :( We're always so close to these pesky Regionals but never seem to quite get there. Last chance for this year at Rackham next week.
Afterwards took him off to the spa to spend 10mins with his legs in freezing cold salty water partly to help his poorly feet and also partly as he has a tendency to puffy legs these days so thought it would do him the world of good.
Waiting to go in the spa:
Here he is in the spa:
And here is he back at home relaxing:
Looking good :-)
ReplyDelete