Took Monts to Frensham Manor on Sunday to try and grab a few more points for Summer Regionals. Wasn't expecting to get all 6 of them but needed 5 from a Qualifier so hoped we might get them.
He was nasty in the warmup - resistant and not going forwards. He did do a lovely left canter half pass that looked fab in the mirrors, not so good on the right and there were some other nice bits but he felt stuffy generally, a bit like he had in the warmup at Hambleden but I'd put it down to the hard ground there.
First test was N39 - it's a tough test but I like it as plenty for him to do well and pick up marks on. A lot of it felt pretty resistant though. I'd even given up on the test by the medium walk and kicked him on to give me more which meant he jogged. I thought it wouldn't even get a qualifying score and contemplated going home! Decided to stay and warm up for Elem and see how he went.
Got back on for Elem and got told we'd won the Novice outright on 71.4%!!! Our first plus 70% score - couldn't believe it! He got an 8 for his first bit of medium walk (the bit without the joggin!), 8 for his canter-trot-canter on the left rein and 8 for final bit of trot, down centre line, walk and 8 for for final halt. Collectives: 777, 6.5 7, 77, 87. Eight for my riders position and seat - whoop! He got a 5.5 for breaking in the walk, 6.5 and 6 for the medium trots (which I thought were non-existant) and otherwise all 7's and 7.5's!!!!! "A lovely partnership and obedient transitions. At times could take hocks more under especially in medium trot" - Margaret Drewe. Next closest score behind us on 68%!
So, warmup for Elem was better - more forwards. Ran through bits of the test as never ridden it before and we were first in for Elem so warmup mostly to ourselves. Never ridden E59 before - think it is a test that could really suit him but it needed a lot more polish. Pleased with the attempt though. Same judge as the Novice. He came 3rd on 66.562%. He got 7.5 for his leg yield left and 7.5 for final halt. I kicked him in the medium walk again so he broke a tiny bit but still got 6.0 - he really is chucking away valuable marks by not walking forwards in his lovely walk that he can do so must work on this next 2wks before Badders. 7's for entry, first 1/2 circle, 2nd 1/2 circle, free walk, canter left and canter-trot-canter, G&R reins over A in canter, first part of simple change right to left. 6's for medium trot, first medium canter and final medium trot down centre line, otherwise 6.5's. 7,6,6.5,7 for collectives. "Horse trying very hard but now needs to take hocks more under to aid balance and ground cover"
Thursday 24 April 2014
Chris B SJ lesson 23-04-14
Usual warmup on the flat. Must remember to let him out as well as shortening him up. Get off his back but keep him round.
Remember when enter the ring give him a gallop in a forward seat before collecting up the power and sitting in the saddle.
x-pole to oxer. I had to press him closer to the oxer in order to try and get him to either knock it or snap up quicker. He was good and kept clearing it until it got rather huge and also Chris had put the front rail a hole higher than the back and I pushed him right into the base of it so he clonked it good and proper. Felt weird leaving it on that but Chris said "super" so all was good! He didn't touch anything else all lesson so it definitely works. Must make sure to keep heels down, fold slightly and release, don't counter rotate with the hands.
Moved onto an upright, round to a water tray and then down a treble. Chris offered to put the final part down but I didn't think it was necessary as should be on the right spot for take off by final part of treble (hopefully!) Monts proved me right and flew round no probs.
Next was a longer course with upright, tight left corner, oxer to upright on 4 forwards strides, then tight turn off corner to water tray followed by curving line 5 strides to oxer and then a one stride double straight into the corner. It was a bit hairy from water tray to oxer and we rather cut the curve off to make it on 5 - Chris said his own had been doing the same though so not to worry. He'd asked me to halt after the one stride double so he didn't keep falling in round the corners so I sat back and asked him to woah but he felt like he thought I might be half halting before the rather inviting looking arena fence that had one hell of a drop on the other side of it so I thought twice about that and let him go round the corner. I have a feeling he might have tried to jump it!
Final course. Upright, tight left, oxer to upright on 4, water tray, curving line to oxer, up over the treble starting with meaty oxer off tight right hand turn, left handed to one stride double tight out of the corner. Chris said to just sit up and woah a bit in the 4 strides and he clearly woahed too much as found ourselves chipping in a 5th and somehow clearing it, got in a bit deep to water tray so had to kick on to make oxer on 5 - potentially could have curved the line more and made 6 in hindsight but Chris didn't crtiticise. We were a bit flappy after that though so he had to remind me to sit up, heels down and re-organise round the corner before up over the treble which he flew and then down over the double easy peasy. Re-rode the oxer to upright on 4 no problems to finish. Chatted to Chris about how he's clearly still needing me to be saying go to have the confidence to go on the forwards stride and just have to remember that or he will chip in. He jumped brilliantly though - full of confidence at the moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8loj-X8pymY
Remember when enter the ring give him a gallop in a forward seat before collecting up the power and sitting in the saddle.
x-pole to oxer. I had to press him closer to the oxer in order to try and get him to either knock it or snap up quicker. He was good and kept clearing it until it got rather huge and also Chris had put the front rail a hole higher than the back and I pushed him right into the base of it so he clonked it good and proper. Felt weird leaving it on that but Chris said "super" so all was good! He didn't touch anything else all lesson so it definitely works. Must make sure to keep heels down, fold slightly and release, don't counter rotate with the hands.
Moved onto an upright, round to a water tray and then down a treble. Chris offered to put the final part down but I didn't think it was necessary as should be on the right spot for take off by final part of treble (hopefully!) Monts proved me right and flew round no probs.
Next was a longer course with upright, tight left corner, oxer to upright on 4 forwards strides, then tight turn off corner to water tray followed by curving line 5 strides to oxer and then a one stride double straight into the corner. It was a bit hairy from water tray to oxer and we rather cut the curve off to make it on 5 - Chris said his own had been doing the same though so not to worry. He'd asked me to halt after the one stride double so he didn't keep falling in round the corners so I sat back and asked him to woah but he felt like he thought I might be half halting before the rather inviting looking arena fence that had one hell of a drop on the other side of it so I thought twice about that and let him go round the corner. I have a feeling he might have tried to jump it!
Final course. Upright, tight left, oxer to upright on 4, water tray, curving line to oxer, up over the treble starting with meaty oxer off tight right hand turn, left handed to one stride double tight out of the corner. Chris said to just sit up and woah a bit in the 4 strides and he clearly woahed too much as found ourselves chipping in a 5th and somehow clearing it, got in a bit deep to water tray so had to kick on to make oxer on 5 - potentially could have curved the line more and made 6 in hindsight but Chris didn't crtiticise. We were a bit flappy after that though so he had to remind me to sit up, heels down and re-organise round the corner before up over the treble which he flew and then down over the double easy peasy. Re-rode the oxer to upright on 4 no problems to finish. Chatted to Chris about how he's clearly still needing me to be saying go to have the confidence to go on the forwards stride and just have to remember that or he will chip in. He jumped brilliantly though - full of confidence at the moment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8loj-X8pymY
Saturday 19 April 2014
Hambleden BE100 18-04-14. We won!
What a day!
A real leisurely start given our dressage wasn't until 2.40pm. We arrived at Hambleden just after 1pm, had a wander to get my number and assessed the ground for what studs to use for dressage. It was pretty firm but with the potential to be a little slippery on top so decided on just a little outside one on the backs to try and minimise concussion to his delicate front feet. He was stuffy in the warmup. I could tell he wasn't enjoying the ground. I took him further up the warmup to near the XC warmup to see if I could liven him up but he wasn't interested. Even going round the arena when I tried to stop him anticipating a transition he threw his head up in the air and told me to get lost which isn't like him. Our test went the same way - he did everything where it should have been but he wasn't as soft and round as he can be because he wasn't really coming through from behind with any power. It felt rather delicate and I think if I'd pushed him he'd have told me where to go. I thought it might get mid 30's - definitely not our best show. Here is the video:
So, then we had 2.5hrs to kill before SJ. Always a danger when you've got that much time to end up in a last minute rush. We wandered down to watch some SJ, met up with a few friends, had a natter, had some food and then off to walk the XC. I knew it was the same route as previous yrs when I've been to watch and had seen the photos online so had an idea what to expect. Considering it is a course described as one for those thinking of stepping up to the next level I didn't see anything that would challenge us. No corner, no trakehner. Really the time would be the only thing as it was quite twisty turny through the woods.
Back to the scoreboards to check our dressage score and nearly fell over when I saw we'd got 21.5 and were leading the section by 5 marks. That's a personal best for us by 3 marks. It felt nowhere near as good as the tests he did at Hartpury last week but I've come to the conclusion I know nothing about what the judges are looking for! It wasn't just me, my friend with me agreed it really wasn't his best work.
So, pressure on, time to not mess up the jumping! Got back to the lorry and fairly predictably ended up in a bit of a rush. He slipped unloading from the lorry and I had a sudden panic about studs and whacked a few more in as worst thing for him is to lose confidence in the ground and I was mindful he'd slipped behind in our lesson on grass on Wednesday whilst knowing I had to protect his front feet from excessive concussion. Got on and warmed him up for the SJ - kept the jumping to a minimum - the ground was solid and he wasn't enjoying it. Jumped one big oxer and he flew it so in we went. He jumped a fantastic round. The course was really well built with lots of fillers and I had hoped that would play in his favour and get him up in the air and it did! He cleared everything by a mile, I got a good shot into every fence, the ground was much much better and he stormed round. What a buzz! Remembered what Chris had said to keep the power up round the corners before an oxer, to hold for the shorter strides for the verticals, made sure to cut the corners as lots were getting time faults - finally it just all went to plan.
Quick changeover and off to XC. Popped him over each warmup fence once but again warmup hard so no need to do very much. Managed to get him to do the start box rather sensibly for him, just kept him walking on the left rein, in the front and out the back and then turned around and off we went. The commentator had been giving us the big build up while we were walking round the box. I knew we had enough in hand for a few time pens but I just aimed to go at the speed I needed to to get round safely. Jumped the first two nicely then jumped huge over the brush at 3, spooked his way through the woods to the drop palisade at 4 but over safely.
Fence 4:
Then on down the hill, steady and turn right to a big table, steady up through a deeper bit of ground then right again to a spooky table type jump with white rope round the edges. I saw a longish one which might not have been sensible at a spooky fence he was likely to back off so employed my best pony club kicks and over we went! Then steadied right back for a tight turn to two steps down - wasted some time here but didn't want him to slip on the turn and the ground was deep on the steps so popped down those from a trot, then on through a twisty bit of wood and suddenly straight in front of you is a bounce up 2 decent steps but he popped up no probs and galloped on over a sheep feeder then steady back for 2 hanging logs on a 5 stride right handed curve which involved taking the second skinnier log on an angle but he just made it feel so easy. Gallop on to the water, popped in, picked up canter, got in a little close to the exit element but over safely, spooked at something in the woods, flew sideways, round the corner then over a curved hanging log, kick on again before steadying up for a real skinny little chunky log which he really locked onto and flew then a bit more spooking at some tree roots which probably didn't set us up great for a double of curved logs which had walked on 2 strides but I got in really deep to the first part and landed really steeply. He is so clever he just tucked in 3 strides and popped out no probs (although the photos aren't the prettiest!)
Here he is on the way to the coffin:
The coffin walked a slightly short two strides but was on rising ground so should be a comfy two. Had watched several earlier, one flew through on one, one nearly fell over it trying to do it on 3, most made it look easy on two. Monty dropped back to trot just before, quietly popped over the ditch then leg on and made it feel easy on two. The commentator can be heard saying that was one of the best they'd seen all day (proud moment!). Then kicked on for the last!
Heard the commentator say as we walked back to the lorry that we were 8 seconds over time so 3.2time pens to add giving us a finishing score of 24.7 which would be hard to beat. We were very near the end of the section so didn't have long to wait before they read out the top 10 over the tannoy and we had won! Wow! I am so chuffed with how much more confident we both are at this level now. He takes his confidence from me so ultimately it's all down to me and any balls up in the past have been totally my fault. I have worked seriously hard on increasing my knowledge and skill and it's so lovely to have it all paying off.
Hatcam:
Dressage sheet - two 9's for his centre lines and plenty of 8's including one for my riding!
A real leisurely start given our dressage wasn't until 2.40pm. We arrived at Hambleden just after 1pm, had a wander to get my number and assessed the ground for what studs to use for dressage. It was pretty firm but with the potential to be a little slippery on top so decided on just a little outside one on the backs to try and minimise concussion to his delicate front feet. He was stuffy in the warmup. I could tell he wasn't enjoying the ground. I took him further up the warmup to near the XC warmup to see if I could liven him up but he wasn't interested. Even going round the arena when I tried to stop him anticipating a transition he threw his head up in the air and told me to get lost which isn't like him. Our test went the same way - he did everything where it should have been but he wasn't as soft and round as he can be because he wasn't really coming through from behind with any power. It felt rather delicate and I think if I'd pushed him he'd have told me where to go. I thought it might get mid 30's - definitely not our best show. Here is the video:
So, then we had 2.5hrs to kill before SJ. Always a danger when you've got that much time to end up in a last minute rush. We wandered down to watch some SJ, met up with a few friends, had a natter, had some food and then off to walk the XC. I knew it was the same route as previous yrs when I've been to watch and had seen the photos online so had an idea what to expect. Considering it is a course described as one for those thinking of stepping up to the next level I didn't see anything that would challenge us. No corner, no trakehner. Really the time would be the only thing as it was quite twisty turny through the woods.
Back to the scoreboards to check our dressage score and nearly fell over when I saw we'd got 21.5 and were leading the section by 5 marks. That's a personal best for us by 3 marks. It felt nowhere near as good as the tests he did at Hartpury last week but I've come to the conclusion I know nothing about what the judges are looking for! It wasn't just me, my friend with me agreed it really wasn't his best work.
So, pressure on, time to not mess up the jumping! Got back to the lorry and fairly predictably ended up in a bit of a rush. He slipped unloading from the lorry and I had a sudden panic about studs and whacked a few more in as worst thing for him is to lose confidence in the ground and I was mindful he'd slipped behind in our lesson on grass on Wednesday whilst knowing I had to protect his front feet from excessive concussion. Got on and warmed him up for the SJ - kept the jumping to a minimum - the ground was solid and he wasn't enjoying it. Jumped one big oxer and he flew it so in we went. He jumped a fantastic round. The course was really well built with lots of fillers and I had hoped that would play in his favour and get him up in the air and it did! He cleared everything by a mile, I got a good shot into every fence, the ground was much much better and he stormed round. What a buzz! Remembered what Chris had said to keep the power up round the corners before an oxer, to hold for the shorter strides for the verticals, made sure to cut the corners as lots were getting time faults - finally it just all went to plan.
Quick changeover and off to XC. Popped him over each warmup fence once but again warmup hard so no need to do very much. Managed to get him to do the start box rather sensibly for him, just kept him walking on the left rein, in the front and out the back and then turned around and off we went. The commentator had been giving us the big build up while we were walking round the box. I knew we had enough in hand for a few time pens but I just aimed to go at the speed I needed to to get round safely. Jumped the first two nicely then jumped huge over the brush at 3, spooked his way through the woods to the drop palisade at 4 but over safely.
Fence 4:
Then on down the hill, steady and turn right to a big table, steady up through a deeper bit of ground then right again to a spooky table type jump with white rope round the edges. I saw a longish one which might not have been sensible at a spooky fence he was likely to back off so employed my best pony club kicks and over we went! Then steadied right back for a tight turn to two steps down - wasted some time here but didn't want him to slip on the turn and the ground was deep on the steps so popped down those from a trot, then on through a twisty bit of wood and suddenly straight in front of you is a bounce up 2 decent steps but he popped up no probs and galloped on over a sheep feeder then steady back for 2 hanging logs on a 5 stride right handed curve which involved taking the second skinnier log on an angle but he just made it feel so easy. Gallop on to the water, popped in, picked up canter, got in a little close to the exit element but over safely, spooked at something in the woods, flew sideways, round the corner then over a curved hanging log, kick on again before steadying up for a real skinny little chunky log which he really locked onto and flew then a bit more spooking at some tree roots which probably didn't set us up great for a double of curved logs which had walked on 2 strides but I got in really deep to the first part and landed really steeply. He is so clever he just tucked in 3 strides and popped out no probs (although the photos aren't the prettiest!)
Here he is on the way to the coffin:
The coffin walked a slightly short two strides but was on rising ground so should be a comfy two. Had watched several earlier, one flew through on one, one nearly fell over it trying to do it on 3, most made it look easy on two. Monty dropped back to trot just before, quietly popped over the ditch then leg on and made it feel easy on two. The commentator can be heard saying that was one of the best they'd seen all day (proud moment!). Then kicked on for the last!
Heard the commentator say as we walked back to the lorry that we were 8 seconds over time so 3.2time pens to add giving us a finishing score of 24.7 which would be hard to beat. We were very near the end of the section so didn't have long to wait before they read out the top 10 over the tannoy and we had won! Wow! I am so chuffed with how much more confident we both are at this level now. He takes his confidence from me so ultimately it's all down to me and any balls up in the past have been totally my fault. I have worked seriously hard on increasing my knowledge and skill and it's so lovely to have it all paying off.
Hatcam:
Dressage sheet - two 9's for his centre lines and plenty of 8's including one for my riding!
Final score sheet:
Onwards and upwards to Badminton now - just hope we haven't peaked a couple of weeks too early!
Wednesday 16 April 2014
Chris B SJ lesson - 17-04-14
Started with x pole to oxer in the school. Each time it went up it back pole went up first before making it a square oxer. Wasn't always getting our 5 strides exactly right and had a few interesting differences of opinion over which way we were turning afterwards - fortunately managed to stay in the plate! Reminded to make sure give with hands over the jump in a forwards, smooth releasing way not to counter-rotate or whatever he calls it where I occasionally pull back before releasing. Remember to keep weight down through heels to enable to absorb the movement of the jump and go with him - always go with him and always give him plenty of room with my hands. At one point we were a bit off it and I went proper hunting seat on him - Chris didn't think too much of that! He was clonking the front rail a fair bit so Chris put the fence down slightly and he got a crack behind him with the lunge whip on take off. He would never hit him - he just flicks the whip behind him as he goes to take off - makes him give them a bit of extra height. Next time round put it back up to 1m25 oxer and he flew.
Then out to the jumping field. Nice course set up - Chris popped it down to around 1m05. He said to go in and gallop him - get him thinking forwards, then back into a big, controlled canter and off we went. Started with vertical, landing on the right rein, then tight turn round to an oxer over a water tray which he went to look at but responded well to leg on, then down the hill to a skinny vertical which he charged at, round the corner to another big square oxer and I didn't see the nice, forwards one and held him so he knocked it down in front then had to chase for 6 big strides (Chris had said before to make it on 6 forward, not 7 backward strides) to a 1 stride double of verticals. He is so clever with his feet - despite being way too forwards into it, he shortened and cleared both parts. Then on round to the treble which he had a bit of a look at but had a good stride so leg on and through we went then hold for 4 shorter strides to a skinny rustic vertical which he made easy. Chris said he saw a lovely forward stride to the oxer that we should have taken but having landed short for taking a short one to then think and take 7 stride as he was lucky to get through the double in one piece.
Round again and he put up the final vertical to 1m10 and also made the first part of the treble a square rather than ascending oxer. This time I had to try and hold him a bit better down the hill from water tray to skinny and open him up round the turn to the big square oxer then ride forward for the first 3 strides before just sitting and waiting for the double of verticals. So, we managed to hold a bit for the skinny then opened him up and saw a lovely stride into the oxer and he clouted it which put me off my controlled 6 strides so that was still a bit hairy. Treble then 4 strides to skinny rustic lovely though.
Final time and we just did water tray to skinny to oxer to double. Sat and held and actually got him back and underneath me after the water tray then could ride powerful canter to skinny, big powerful canter round to the oxer and he jumped it brilliantly. I still didn't manage to just woah him for the final 3 strides into the double but it was better.
Definitely biggest course I've jumped on grass with him and well chuffed with the treble. Didn't have any disunited nonsense so need to remember to think round my course so we don't have any landing on the wrong lead as that always messes us up. Remember to gallop him and open him up on entering the ring, then big powerful canter. Get the canter back for verticals, keep it big and powerful for oxers. See the shorter stride into a vertical, go for the bigger open stride into an oxer. Rebalance him after the fences - really sit up and make him come back to me.
Best of all, Chris offered to come and warm us up for the jumping at Badminton - I'd been thinking of asking him but fab for him to offer! 3wks to go!
Then out to the jumping field. Nice course set up - Chris popped it down to around 1m05. He said to go in and gallop him - get him thinking forwards, then back into a big, controlled canter and off we went. Started with vertical, landing on the right rein, then tight turn round to an oxer over a water tray which he went to look at but responded well to leg on, then down the hill to a skinny vertical which he charged at, round the corner to another big square oxer and I didn't see the nice, forwards one and held him so he knocked it down in front then had to chase for 6 big strides (Chris had said before to make it on 6 forward, not 7 backward strides) to a 1 stride double of verticals. He is so clever with his feet - despite being way too forwards into it, he shortened and cleared both parts. Then on round to the treble which he had a bit of a look at but had a good stride so leg on and through we went then hold for 4 shorter strides to a skinny rustic vertical which he made easy. Chris said he saw a lovely forward stride to the oxer that we should have taken but having landed short for taking a short one to then think and take 7 stride as he was lucky to get through the double in one piece.
Round again and he put up the final vertical to 1m10 and also made the first part of the treble a square rather than ascending oxer. This time I had to try and hold him a bit better down the hill from water tray to skinny and open him up round the turn to the big square oxer then ride forward for the first 3 strides before just sitting and waiting for the double of verticals. So, we managed to hold a bit for the skinny then opened him up and saw a lovely stride into the oxer and he clouted it which put me off my controlled 6 strides so that was still a bit hairy. Treble then 4 strides to skinny rustic lovely though.
Final time and we just did water tray to skinny to oxer to double. Sat and held and actually got him back and underneath me after the water tray then could ride powerful canter to skinny, big powerful canter round to the oxer and he jumped it brilliantly. I still didn't manage to just woah him for the final 3 strides into the double but it was better.
Definitely biggest course I've jumped on grass with him and well chuffed with the treble. Didn't have any disunited nonsense so need to remember to think round my course so we don't have any landing on the wrong lead as that always messes us up. Remember to gallop him and open him up on entering the ring, then big powerful canter. Get the canter back for verticals, keep it big and powerful for oxers. See the shorter stride into a vertical, go for the bigger open stride into an oxer. Rebalance him after the fences - really sit up and make him come back to me.
Best of all, Chris offered to come and warm us up for the jumping at Badminton - I'd been thinking of asking him but fab for him to offer! 3wks to go!
Sunday 13 April 2014
British Dressage Winter Championships 13-04-14
Keep having to pinch myself that we really did just go to the Winter Championships. Never in a million years did I think I'd ever manage to get Monty's dressage to the level where he could even qualify let alone turn up and do a damn good job. He was utterly awesome for the entire day. I really couldn't have asked for more from him.
It took us about 3.5hours to get there on Friday afternoon due to rather a lot of traffic after we left the M4. Finally arrived around 5pm and priority was to get Monty worked and settled in as the gala evening started at 7pm! Dragged the poor boy off the lorry and straight into one of the warmup arenas. Considering the long journey he worked brilliantly. Really pleased with him. Tucked him up in his stable, grabbed some food and settled down to watch the gala evening which was great fun and took some good tips away from the Anna Ross Davies demo, especially about training the medium trot - half halts before and after the corner then not letting them run all the way across the diagonal, ask with convinction, get a response, rebalance then ask again. Checked in on Monty and he'd been a good boy, had a drink and eaten his dinner. He was in the nice airy, permanent barn stables and seemed settled.
Up bright and early at 5.30am - I was first in the barn at 6am! Gave Monts some brekkie then did the first stage of plaiting before hopping on for the arena walk. Spent a good half hour wandering round the indoor arena as this had the biggest atmosphere for him to adjust to. Buzzing with other horses but mostly everyone was well behaved. Monts did have a bit of a rearing and going backwards effort when a tablecloth dared to flap at him. Large queue quickly formed behind us - very embarassing! Other than that he coped ok. We were allowed inside the arena which was great as I could practice walking down the centre line and turning right to replicate the view he'd get in the test! Then headed off to the outdoor arena to have a wander round the Petplan arena but this wasn't very spooky so he was pretty chilled so we didn't spend long there.
Got off him and had just under an hour to tart him up for our first test - P17, the Prelim Winter Championships. Managed to forget to put his massage pad on which was a bit silly but was so nervous! Didn't do much in the warmup with him as really didn't want to overcook things knowing he potentially had to do 3 tests that day. Probably didn't get him as supple as I could have done. Doing three Championship tests in a day is not how I'd like to do it. Much better to do a full warmup and have him firing on all cylinders for each test but had to do our best. Went down to the holding area before the main arena and had another trot and canter round then in we went - through the tunnel and into the main arena - wow! Had a trot and a canter round and then the bell went and off we went. I thought he did a brilliant test. He was calm and relaxed, he did every transition where I asked, he was soft and obedient and I could not have asked him to do any more for me. Came out and couldn't help shedding a few tears on him. We've been on quite a journey the last few years. For him to come to the Winter Champs and trust me enough to perform at his best in such an atmosphere means an awful lot to me.
We ended up scoring 65.96% which left us in 15th place out of 20 but 1% more and we'd have been in 8th place so it was very tight in the middle of the class. Sadly we had followed the winner into the arena and Monty was always going to struggle in comparison. Trainer helped me warmup and watched the test and felt he was a bit harshly marked but this was the Nationals and they were just expecting that bit more and he's hardly a natural dressage horse. He gave it his best shot and that's all I could have hoped for and I'm over the moon with him. The sheets are interesting - judge at E gave him straight 7's except for his walk where tension finally got to us and I didn't feel I could ride him forwards to show the amazing walk he really has. Judge at C hammered him for lack of suppleness and judge at M had him on the same mark as the one at C.
Popped him back in his stable for a chill out before concentrating on the next stage of events! 9am by this point. Next test at 11.15am so a little bit of time to kill - wandered around, watched some of the other people in my class and before long it was time to get back on for the N38 - Area Festival Championships. Fabulous trainer was there again to help us warm up and he was really going for it. Discovered a medium trot that I didn't know he had - not a bad time to find it! Went into the outdoor arena and he was mr.chilled - such a good boy. He did a stonking test. Again, I couldn't have hoped for more - every transition bang on the marker, no mistakes and he even had a damn good go at a medium trot. Judges were marking hard. Didn't think my score of 66.37% sounded that good but it left us in 5th place in the first round, just half a mark behind 3rd place and comfortably through to the second rounds in the afternoon.
That left us with an awful lot more time to kill! Finally the nerves had subsided enough for me to eat something, wandered around the shops, chatted to various people, watched some gorgeous horses in the Advanced Medium Open and then off we went again. Poor Monty! At 3.30pm, for the fourth time that day I got back on him (having finally remembered to put his massage pad on!) and toddled off back to the Petplan arena. I expected him to feel tired but his eventing fitness played to our advantage and he still felt full of go. Here is a little video of him warming up:
He went back into the arena and pulled yet another fantastic test out of the bag for me. I think we were both a little tired but those watching said it looked like his best test of the day. Whatever the result at this point I was just absolutely chuffed with how hard he had tried all day in such a big atmosphere. The marks ended up dead close again. Those watching felt our mark of 65.97% was a bit harsh. Sadly I knew the judge at C wasn't our biggest fan after she judged us at the Regionals. She had us down in 21st place. Judge at E had us in 9th. We ended up in 13th place out of the final 30. I had really hoped he would make top 10 but 13th is still a massive achievement for my little man and for him to not make a single mistake all day is amazing. He was foot perfect and went as well as our level of work at the moment would allow for which is all I could ever have wished for. He also won an award for best Senior horse in the Area Festival. I forget that he is now 15 and counts as a Veteran!
Some video stills:
It took us about 3.5hours to get there on Friday afternoon due to rather a lot of traffic after we left the M4. Finally arrived around 5pm and priority was to get Monty worked and settled in as the gala evening started at 7pm! Dragged the poor boy off the lorry and straight into one of the warmup arenas. Considering the long journey he worked brilliantly. Really pleased with him. Tucked him up in his stable, grabbed some food and settled down to watch the gala evening which was great fun and took some good tips away from the Anna Ross Davies demo, especially about training the medium trot - half halts before and after the corner then not letting them run all the way across the diagonal, ask with convinction, get a response, rebalance then ask again. Checked in on Monty and he'd been a good boy, had a drink and eaten his dinner. He was in the nice airy, permanent barn stables and seemed settled.
Up bright and early at 5.30am - I was first in the barn at 6am! Gave Monts some brekkie then did the first stage of plaiting before hopping on for the arena walk. Spent a good half hour wandering round the indoor arena as this had the biggest atmosphere for him to adjust to. Buzzing with other horses but mostly everyone was well behaved. Monts did have a bit of a rearing and going backwards effort when a tablecloth dared to flap at him. Large queue quickly formed behind us - very embarassing! Other than that he coped ok. We were allowed inside the arena which was great as I could practice walking down the centre line and turning right to replicate the view he'd get in the test! Then headed off to the outdoor arena to have a wander round the Petplan arena but this wasn't very spooky so he was pretty chilled so we didn't spend long there.
Got off him and had just under an hour to tart him up for our first test - P17, the Prelim Winter Championships. Managed to forget to put his massage pad on which was a bit silly but was so nervous! Didn't do much in the warmup with him as really didn't want to overcook things knowing he potentially had to do 3 tests that day. Probably didn't get him as supple as I could have done. Doing three Championship tests in a day is not how I'd like to do it. Much better to do a full warmup and have him firing on all cylinders for each test but had to do our best. Went down to the holding area before the main arena and had another trot and canter round then in we went - through the tunnel and into the main arena - wow! Had a trot and a canter round and then the bell went and off we went. I thought he did a brilliant test. He was calm and relaxed, he did every transition where I asked, he was soft and obedient and I could not have asked him to do any more for me. Came out and couldn't help shedding a few tears on him. We've been on quite a journey the last few years. For him to come to the Winter Champs and trust me enough to perform at his best in such an atmosphere means an awful lot to me.
We ended up scoring 65.96% which left us in 15th place out of 20 but 1% more and we'd have been in 8th place so it was very tight in the middle of the class. Sadly we had followed the winner into the arena and Monty was always going to struggle in comparison. Trainer helped me warmup and watched the test and felt he was a bit harshly marked but this was the Nationals and they were just expecting that bit more and he's hardly a natural dressage horse. He gave it his best shot and that's all I could have hoped for and I'm over the moon with him. The sheets are interesting - judge at E gave him straight 7's except for his walk where tension finally got to us and I didn't feel I could ride him forwards to show the amazing walk he really has. Judge at C hammered him for lack of suppleness and judge at M had him on the same mark as the one at C.
Popped him back in his stable for a chill out before concentrating on the next stage of events! 9am by this point. Next test at 11.15am so a little bit of time to kill - wandered around, watched some of the other people in my class and before long it was time to get back on for the N38 - Area Festival Championships. Fabulous trainer was there again to help us warm up and he was really going for it. Discovered a medium trot that I didn't know he had - not a bad time to find it! Went into the outdoor arena and he was mr.chilled - such a good boy. He did a stonking test. Again, I couldn't have hoped for more - every transition bang on the marker, no mistakes and he even had a damn good go at a medium trot. Judges were marking hard. Didn't think my score of 66.37% sounded that good but it left us in 5th place in the first round, just half a mark behind 3rd place and comfortably through to the second rounds in the afternoon.
That left us with an awful lot more time to kill! Finally the nerves had subsided enough for me to eat something, wandered around the shops, chatted to various people, watched some gorgeous horses in the Advanced Medium Open and then off we went again. Poor Monty! At 3.30pm, for the fourth time that day I got back on him (having finally remembered to put his massage pad on!) and toddled off back to the Petplan arena. I expected him to feel tired but his eventing fitness played to our advantage and he still felt full of go. Here is a little video of him warming up:
He went back into the arena and pulled yet another fantastic test out of the bag for me. I think we were both a little tired but those watching said it looked like his best test of the day. Whatever the result at this point I was just absolutely chuffed with how hard he had tried all day in such a big atmosphere. The marks ended up dead close again. Those watching felt our mark of 65.97% was a bit harsh. Sadly I knew the judge at C wasn't our biggest fan after she judged us at the Regionals. She had us down in 21st place. Judge at E had us in 9th. We ended up in 13th place out of the final 30. I had really hoped he would make top 10 but 13th is still a massive achievement for my little man and for him to not make a single mistake all day is amazing. He was foot perfect and went as well as our level of work at the moment would allow for which is all I could ever have wished for. He also won an award for best Senior horse in the Area Festival. I forget that he is now 15 and counts as a Veteran!
Posing:
Chatting with trainer just before final test:
"If I shut my eyes maybe she isn't really going to make me do a third test!"
Some video stills:
Chris Burton SJ lesson 09-04-14
Started with the canter work. Cluck and kick - one aid, big response then sit and hold him in the canter with core. Mustn't rely on my legs to keep him going every stride. When I stop riding he thinks he needs to walk. Needs to maintain himself better. On the left rein must keep him straight into the outside rein. He needs to sit in the canter, keep the power and hold himself. Then send the canter forwards, then bring it back. The more adjustable his canter is, the more likely we are to meet our fences in the right place.
We did the x-pole to oxer exercise and he was really powering over it - he kept nearly jumping me off! The idea was to change the rein after each jump so open the new inside rein but without fail he landed on the left lead so this is something we really need to work on at home. He lands on the right lead when we jump fences on a diagonal and it's obvious we're going right afterwards but if there's any chance we might be going left he favours the left lead. This is why we then end up going disunited when we turn right so must get him listening to that opening of the inside rein more so we can stop the disunitedness as this is what leads to him having fences down.
Moved onto a course which had a vertical off the corner which Chris warned some of his had found difficult to get right then 4 open strides to a parallel then round the corner and back across a x-pole oxer before going up the long side over a 2 stride double of verticals. He did the firs bit fine and didn't struggle with the line off the corner but then did exactly what I did at Portman and tried to fire him into the first vertical, he chipped in and somehow cleared it. Must wait for the fence to come to me. However, there is a fine line between doing this and hooking him back into a nothingy canter. Or there is in my brain! Must learn to just sit and ride the powerful canter and let him back off and put the extra stride in if there is room, not chase him for non-existant ones!
Then did another course with a difficult line off the corner to the vertical then 4 big strides to the oxer. He made the turn to the vertical nicely but did find the 4 strides long in the small arena. He trusted me and went on it though. Course was around 1.05m-1.10m and that looks normal to me now which is such a nice feeling.
Little video:
We did the x-pole to oxer exercise and he was really powering over it - he kept nearly jumping me off! The idea was to change the rein after each jump so open the new inside rein but without fail he landed on the left lead so this is something we really need to work on at home. He lands on the right lead when we jump fences on a diagonal and it's obvious we're going right afterwards but if there's any chance we might be going left he favours the left lead. This is why we then end up going disunited when we turn right so must get him listening to that opening of the inside rein more so we can stop the disunitedness as this is what leads to him having fences down.
Moved onto a course which had a vertical off the corner which Chris warned some of his had found difficult to get right then 4 open strides to a parallel then round the corner and back across a x-pole oxer before going up the long side over a 2 stride double of verticals. He did the firs bit fine and didn't struggle with the line off the corner but then did exactly what I did at Portman and tried to fire him into the first vertical, he chipped in and somehow cleared it. Must wait for the fence to come to me. However, there is a fine line between doing this and hooking him back into a nothingy canter. Or there is in my brain! Must learn to just sit and ride the powerful canter and let him back off and put the extra stride in if there is room, not chase him for non-existant ones!
Then did another course with a difficult line off the corner to the vertical then 4 big strides to the oxer. He made the turn to the vertical nicely but did find the 4 strides long in the small arena. He trusted me and went on it though. Course was around 1.05m-1.10m and that looks normal to me now which is such a nice feeling.
Little video:
Have asked next time if we can jump on grass as be good to work on getting the balance in the bigger canter.
Sunday 6 April 2014
Catch-up on various things - competing, lessons, XC schooling
Sara-Jane Lanning lesson - Merrist Wood 04-04-14
We worked on developing his medium trot more - really pushing the medium out of him rather than erring on the side of caution - need to push him on round the entire arena and encourage him to really open up.
Need to make sure he doesn't overbend towards the inside in his canter transitions, thereby popping out through the outside shoulder and propping with his neck so not coming through from behind.
We ran through bits of N38 which all went well and he finished with a lovely square halt with his bottom nicely underneath him. His halts are definitely improving. Just need to make sure to use my legs into the halt, make sure he doesn't halt too abruptly and make sure the front legs step up equally.
Also did some super straight medium canters up the long side, but need to watch the quarters don't swing in when collecting again and he does need to come back to me a bit quicker so we make a more obvious transition.
Chris Burton SJ - 26-03-14
Did the canter poles exercise to start with and now his canter is so much softer and he's much stronger he made it easy. Started with 5 strides and increased it to 8 strides one at a time.
Then moved onto an oxer on the centre line and changing which direction we went afterwards, making sure he landed on the correct lead by opening my inside hand which worked well as long as I remembered which way we were going! He wasn't really going forwards though, poncing around in a dressagey canter after doing the canter poles so Chris made us get going a bit round a small course (I say small but it was a good 1m high - that just seems small these days!)
XC schooling - Boomerang - 18-03-14
First XC session of the year. Did lots of work with the water including jumping fences on the edge so landing in the water and steps in and out plus just cantering through lots to build up his confidence with water. He did all this well and no probs with the ditch or steps. We did a combo of steps down, through water, over brush, sunken road and 5 strides to a Novice corner which he made feel easy.
I did try a shaped skinny brush with a very narrow part to jump and just totally messed up getting him back after a long gallop, held him and held him for a stride, he tried to go right to make more room, was confronted with the much higher bit of the brush from a nothing canter and so ducked left and I did a lovely somersault over the top of the jump. Bang - first time for air jacket going off! Was good though as I didn't hurt at all afterwards!
Finished with the big, Novice sized trakehner and he flew it - useful session.
Other videos:
BD - Priory - 16-03-14
N34 in the small outdoor first - idiot moment when we went in about having to go near a hedge - doh! After we got over that it was quite a nice test but definitely a bit tense down the hedge side of the arena. Scored 66.875% and won the Restricted section so that was nice.
It was quite a hot day and he totally went off the boil by the second test which was N38, the Area Festival Championship test. He wasn't forwards and therefore wasn't connected enough and the outline crept out longer. Scored 64% - grrr, just short of a qualifying score and only came 3rd. Need to somehow learn not to let him get away with doing that to me!
Carl Belson SJ clinic - Merrist Wood - 12-03-14
Canter poles to start with which he did nicely and then built that into a little grid which again he popped through well. Built up to a course including two 1m10 spreads on a 4 stride distance which may well have terrified the life out of me a while back but was off a nice gently corner and we just popped through easily. Had a really tight turn to do at the end of the course and managed to get him back and round it and over the next fence all in one piece. Our SJ is definitely improving lots. Just a shame we still seem to be knocking a pole in most rounds - bit frustrating.
Ginny Howe Arena XC clinic - Farley Hall - 09-03-14
Useful clinic working on skinnies, angles turns etc. No real changes to our technique at all other than trying to remember to open hand after jump to indicate direction of travel. Just really useful to challenge him with lots of accuracy questions.
Afterwards we then stopped off at the gallops and did some fitness work. Three lots of 5min canters with the middle one at Novice speed. Think he enjoyed himself!
We worked on developing his medium trot more - really pushing the medium out of him rather than erring on the side of caution - need to push him on round the entire arena and encourage him to really open up.
Need to make sure he doesn't overbend towards the inside in his canter transitions, thereby popping out through the outside shoulder and propping with his neck so not coming through from behind.
We ran through bits of N38 which all went well and he finished with a lovely square halt with his bottom nicely underneath him. His halts are definitely improving. Just need to make sure to use my legs into the halt, make sure he doesn't halt too abruptly and make sure the front legs step up equally.
Also did some super straight medium canters up the long side, but need to watch the quarters don't swing in when collecting again and he does need to come back to me a bit quicker so we make a more obvious transition.
Chris Burton SJ - 26-03-14
Did the canter poles exercise to start with and now his canter is so much softer and he's much stronger he made it easy. Started with 5 strides and increased it to 8 strides one at a time.
Then moved onto an oxer on the centre line and changing which direction we went afterwards, making sure he landed on the correct lead by opening my inside hand which worked well as long as I remembered which way we were going! He wasn't really going forwards though, poncing around in a dressagey canter after doing the canter poles so Chris made us get going a bit round a small course (I say small but it was a good 1m high - that just seems small these days!)
In the course we had a 5 stride related distance from an oxer to an upright and he jumped in boldly over the oxer and then just ploughed on through the vertical. I said to Chris this was exactly what he did at Munstead and he said no excuse as he wasn't on a bad take off point so should have picked up. He whacked up the vertical and then the oxer to make him try a bit harder and we proceeded to mess it up in about every way possible, Mainly because we weren't getting a good stride to the first oxer because I wasn't managing to keep the power coming through and control his quarters going through the turn so he was then landing short or long from the oxer and messing up the striding to the vertical. The vertical was skinny and I managed to catch the wing once and knock the whole thing flying! It must have been 1m20 though and he wasn't finding the height a problem. Had another couple of 1m10 fences in the course and he was making them feel easy and I'm feeling so much more confident coming to fences this size now. Did get told I was putting one too many strides in each time to the big brown vertical - I still haven't mastered how forwards the ideal SJ canter is and it doesn't do me any favours to do collection exercises first as then I get stuck in a dressagey canter. I think it happens at events too - we both get stuck in dressage mode! We did get it right eventually but by god it took some work - one day I will crack this SJ!
XC schooling - Boomerang - 18-03-14
First XC session of the year. Did lots of work with the water including jumping fences on the edge so landing in the water and steps in and out plus just cantering through lots to build up his confidence with water. He did all this well and no probs with the ditch or steps. We did a combo of steps down, through water, over brush, sunken road and 5 strides to a Novice corner which he made feel easy.
Then 2 Novice triple brushes on a curve which he made feel so easy.
I did try a shaped skinny brush with a very narrow part to jump and just totally messed up getting him back after a long gallop, held him and held him for a stride, he tried to go right to make more room, was confronted with the much higher bit of the brush from a nothing canter and so ducked left and I did a lovely somersault over the top of the jump. Bang - first time for air jacket going off! Was good though as I didn't hurt at all afterwards!
Finished with the big, Novice sized trakehner and he flew it - useful session.
Other videos:
BD - Priory - 16-03-14
N34 in the small outdoor first - idiot moment when we went in about having to go near a hedge - doh! After we got over that it was quite a nice test but definitely a bit tense down the hedge side of the arena. Scored 66.875% and won the Restricted section so that was nice.
It was quite a hot day and he totally went off the boil by the second test which was N38, the Area Festival Championship test. He wasn't forwards and therefore wasn't connected enough and the outline crept out longer. Scored 64% - grrr, just short of a qualifying score and only came 3rd. Need to somehow learn not to let him get away with doing that to me!
Carl Belson SJ clinic - Merrist Wood - 12-03-14
Canter poles to start with which he did nicely and then built that into a little grid which again he popped through well. Built up to a course including two 1m10 spreads on a 4 stride distance which may well have terrified the life out of me a while back but was off a nice gently corner and we just popped through easily. Had a really tight turn to do at the end of the course and managed to get him back and round it and over the next fence all in one piece. Our SJ is definitely improving lots. Just a shame we still seem to be knocking a pole in most rounds - bit frustrating.
Ginny Howe Arena XC clinic - Farley Hall - 09-03-14
Useful clinic working on skinnies, angles turns etc. No real changes to our technique at all other than trying to remember to open hand after jump to indicate direction of travel. Just really useful to challenge him with lots of accuracy questions.
Afterwards we then stopped off at the gallops and did some fitness work. Three lots of 5min canters with the middle one at Novice speed. Think he enjoyed himself!
BD - Fairoak Grange - 05-04-14
N28 first in the indoor. It improved as it went on - he started off a bit stuffy which always results in him not truly accepting the contact equally but after the first canter I felt it improved although strangely judge gave 2nd serpentine half a mark less than first one and his left canter less than the first one on the right rein. What do I know?! Only got 6.5 for his walk work which is a shame as he's capable of much more - she wanted to see it more active. I need to work on being braver in the walk as he's got a fabulous walk but I tend to be a bit conservative in case he jogs. 7, 6.5, 6.5, 7 collectives - "much to like. Needs to be a little more supple and through over the back for more engagement and lightness". Judge was Pat Watts. Score 67.08% for 3rd in the Rest, 5th overall in a big class.
Had a 45mins breather then back on for second test. Got on his case a bit more in the warmup to try and get him to give me more of what he was doing in my lesson the night before. He didn't like it much but he is a lazy sod sometimes and always want to put in minimum effort! Up to the big outdoor arena for N38. I thought he wobbled a bit down the centre line but we got a 7.5 with comment of "straight and active". Then an 8 for his first trot-walk-trot. Sadly numpty rider forgot it was a half 15m canter circle, not 20m so lost a couple of marks there. Mostly 7's for rest of test. 7.5 for 2nd trot-walk-trot and for his free walk and an 8 for his final halt. 6's for his medium trot - rushing, not medium - one day we might crack the medium! Straight 7's for collectives. Judge wrote "A joy to watch. Such a consistent test. When you have developed his medium trot his marks will be higher" Judge was Angela Cardiff. 2nd Rest and Overall on 69.52% in another big class. He would have won the Open section on that score. Frustratingly would have got over 70% without my mistake and bagged another point towards Regionals but still, 9 points in one outing isn't bad. Got 13 altogether now so just need another 6.
Had a 45mins breather then back on for second test. Got on his case a bit more in the warmup to try and get him to give me more of what he was doing in my lesson the night before. He didn't like it much but he is a lazy sod sometimes and always want to put in minimum effort! Up to the big outdoor arena for N38. I thought he wobbled a bit down the centre line but we got a 7.5 with comment of "straight and active". Then an 8 for his first trot-walk-trot. Sadly numpty rider forgot it was a half 15m canter circle, not 20m so lost a couple of marks there. Mostly 7's for rest of test. 7.5 for 2nd trot-walk-trot and for his free walk and an 8 for his final halt. 6's for his medium trot - rushing, not medium - one day we might crack the medium! Straight 7's for collectives. Judge wrote "A joy to watch. Such a consistent test. When you have developed his medium trot his marks will be higher" Judge was Angela Cardiff. 2nd Rest and Overall on 69.52% in another big class. He would have won the Open section on that score. Frustratingly would have got over 70% without my mistake and bagged another point towards Regionals but still, 9 points in one outing isn't bad. Got 13 altogether now so just need another 6.
Thursday 3 April 2014
Portman BE100 02-04-14
Feels like only yesterday we were at Munstead for first event of the season. Nice to do a couple in a row to get going. So yesterday we toddled off to a new event for us - Portman is down in Dorset, south of Salisbury so a bit of a trek for us but the alternative was Larkhill which we've done several times at BE90 and done the BE100 in a hunter trials so fancied something different. The forecast wasn't good but apart from a couple of light showers it was quite a nice day for eventing - Monty is much better when it's cool.
Bit of a trek down to the dressage arenas past the XC warmup so his eyes were out on stalks and his ears up my nose! He is such a good boy now though - as soon as we got to the warmup he knuckled down and was soft and obedient. Worked on lots of transitions to get him listening. The arena was chewed up round the track and he really isn't a fan of that kind of ground so was pleased that he listened to me and apart from falling from trot to walk and a silly spook in the free walk at a different coloured patch of ground he did a lovely test. Judge gave me a crazy big grin at the end which I figured must be a good sign! Clearly it was as we scored 31 which is not as good as our usual scores recently but was good enough for 5th place after dressage and we got a few 8's too :)
Onto the SJ. I walked the course and it seemed ok. There was a 5 stride related distance, a 4 stride related distance oxer to upright which is our worst, a 2 stride double and a 1 stride double plus some planks going uphill and it was causing utter carnage. Loads of cricket scores, hardly any clears. The ground had cut up and was riding quite deep but otherwise couldn't see why it was proving so tricky. He didn't much like the ground in the warmup and wasn't really in a big enough canter so was diving over the fences a bit. Got him a bit more forwards before we went in and he tried really hard. I let him down but not thinking about landing on the correct leads so he landed wrong after the 4 stride distance, got disunited round the corner and was then wrong into the 2 stride double, got in deep and had the first part down - gutted as otherwise such a nice round and he deserved a nice clear as he really is a careful jumper.
Onto the XC - didn't fancy an hour's wait, especially with rain forecast so got changed and over we went which worked well as only a few others in the warmup. Popped a few warmup fences, got him going forwards and all was well until it came down to going over to the start box. Silly pony. Had to be led around but once over there he wasn't too bad. The course was quite technical. Definitely the toughest BE100 we've done. There were a few things I was worried about. A big tyre jump, 2 strides to a ditch then right handed turn to a chair that I took my time to get my line too.
Then after a double of tyre jumps we had a big house, right handed turn to a left corner. I have always hated corners and his default is to run out to the left, let alone coming off a right hand turn where his default is to fall out through his left shoulder. I walked this a few times and planned my route carefully. I actually thought the Novice was an easier option with taking the house on an angle and then straight line to a right corner!
Then we had a big picnic table followed by the water with the exit fence on an angle with an easy run out route to the left
Then 2 fences 2 strides apart on the angle, again with the second one with the easy route to the left. They were numbered separately but had no intention of taking a long route. All good tests for him.
Having been bang on the too fast time limit at Munstead I thought I'd have plenty of time in hand to set up for the combinations so made sure to kick on between fences but wasn't overly concerned about the time. Made sure I really set up for everything and he was brilliant. Saw a long one to the house before the corner, he was 2 strides straight on for the gap before I sat up and pointed him right at the corner and then kicked on and he flew it on a perfect stride. So so pleased with him. He can be really cheeky with his left runouts so really impressed he listened and answered the question. Had a bit of a misunderstanding about striding to the fence out of the water which was our only iffy moment - otherwise he flew.
Gutted to find out we had 1.2 time pens XC. There are loads of places we could have made up 3 seconds but I thought I had loads of time and forgot to take into account the holding ground and how much time the more technical nature of the course would take up compared to Munstead when I just kicked on and we flew round. Still, I'm glad I spent the time to set up for the combinations and we both learnt lots from that course so I'm glad I chose to go and try somewhere different. Lovely, friendly, well run event - would definitely recommend a visit. Great old hunting type turf for the XC and good, meaty well built jumps.
So, we ended up in 9th place, just missing out on a Badminton Regionals qualifiying spot rather frustratingly. Without the time pens we'd have been 6th or without the SJ fence we'd have been 2nd. So near yet so far! When I've finished kicking myself for my own mistakes I'm still pleased with the day and especially with how he went and I must remember I've never evented at this level before and you can't expect to win everything from the word go!
Final scores:
Dressage Winter Champs next week then Hambleden BE100 the following week which will be another good challenge and I will remember to kick on!
Full course pics here:
Bit of a trek down to the dressage arenas past the XC warmup so his eyes were out on stalks and his ears up my nose! He is such a good boy now though - as soon as we got to the warmup he knuckled down and was soft and obedient. Worked on lots of transitions to get him listening. The arena was chewed up round the track and he really isn't a fan of that kind of ground so was pleased that he listened to me and apart from falling from trot to walk and a silly spook in the free walk at a different coloured patch of ground he did a lovely test. Judge gave me a crazy big grin at the end which I figured must be a good sign! Clearly it was as we scored 31 which is not as good as our usual scores recently but was good enough for 5th place after dressage and we got a few 8's too :)
Onto the SJ. I walked the course and it seemed ok. There was a 5 stride related distance, a 4 stride related distance oxer to upright which is our worst, a 2 stride double and a 1 stride double plus some planks going uphill and it was causing utter carnage. Loads of cricket scores, hardly any clears. The ground had cut up and was riding quite deep but otherwise couldn't see why it was proving so tricky. He didn't much like the ground in the warmup and wasn't really in a big enough canter so was diving over the fences a bit. Got him a bit more forwards before we went in and he tried really hard. I let him down but not thinking about landing on the correct leads so he landed wrong after the 4 stride distance, got disunited round the corner and was then wrong into the 2 stride double, got in deep and had the first part down - gutted as otherwise such a nice round and he deserved a nice clear as he really is a careful jumper.
Onto the XC - didn't fancy an hour's wait, especially with rain forecast so got changed and over we went which worked well as only a few others in the warmup. Popped a few warmup fences, got him going forwards and all was well until it came down to going over to the start box. Silly pony. Had to be led around but once over there he wasn't too bad. The course was quite technical. Definitely the toughest BE100 we've done. There were a few things I was worried about. A big tyre jump, 2 strides to a ditch then right handed turn to a chair that I took my time to get my line too.
Then after a double of tyre jumps we had a big house, right handed turn to a left corner. I have always hated corners and his default is to run out to the left, let alone coming off a right hand turn where his default is to fall out through his left shoulder. I walked this a few times and planned my route carefully. I actually thought the Novice was an easier option with taking the house on an angle and then straight line to a right corner!
Having been bang on the too fast time limit at Munstead I thought I'd have plenty of time in hand to set up for the combinations so made sure to kick on between fences but wasn't overly concerned about the time. Made sure I really set up for everything and he was brilliant. Saw a long one to the house before the corner, he was 2 strides straight on for the gap before I sat up and pointed him right at the corner and then kicked on and he flew it on a perfect stride. So so pleased with him. He can be really cheeky with his left runouts so really impressed he listened and answered the question. Had a bit of a misunderstanding about striding to the fence out of the water which was our only iffy moment - otherwise he flew.
Gutted to find out we had 1.2 time pens XC. There are loads of places we could have made up 3 seconds but I thought I had loads of time and forgot to take into account the holding ground and how much time the more technical nature of the course would take up compared to Munstead when I just kicked on and we flew round. Still, I'm glad I spent the time to set up for the combinations and we both learnt lots from that course so I'm glad I chose to go and try somewhere different. Lovely, friendly, well run event - would definitely recommend a visit. Great old hunting type turf for the XC and good, meaty well built jumps.
So, we ended up in 9th place, just missing out on a Badminton Regionals qualifiying spot rather frustratingly. Without the time pens we'd have been 6th or without the SJ fence we'd have been 2nd. So near yet so far! When I've finished kicking myself for my own mistakes I'm still pleased with the day and especially with how he went and I must remember I've never evented at this level before and you can't expect to win everything from the word go!
Final scores:
Dressage Winter Champs next week then Hambleden BE100 the following week which will be another good challenge and I will remember to kick on!
Full course pics here:
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