In hindsight possibly an outing too many this week but as Merrist Wood is on our doorstep it seemed wrong not to enter as they don't hold much BSJA there and the indoor is huge and lovely. Although Monts (and a lot of other horses) do seem to find it quite spooky.
Warmed up outdoors okish although he was a bit behind my leg (a bit like yesterday but not as bad). First class was Discovery Qualifier with 120 odd in the class so I think they made it quite technical. The oxers were certainly max width and everything looked up to height with lots of dog legs and turn backs. I liked the second phase though and really hoped we could get through to it. He jumped the first 7 fences great. I was really pleased with how well I thought out my dogleg lines as these have always been my nemesis, tending to cut corners and end up on half strides which to oxers this wide isn't a good idea but no probs today then we had a long 9 strides down to final skinny and he just got a bit flat and tipped it. Argh! Why is it he always has to have one fence down!
http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/mhphotos/albums/bsja_area_44/456327_173942/browse/360/?w=800&h=468
http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/mhphotos/albums/bsja_area_44/456327_173942/browse/361/?w=800&h=468
http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/mhphotos/albums/bsja_area_44/456327_173942/browse/363/?w=800&h=468
Half hour break for him. Walked the 1.05m and they hadn't really put the fences up much, maybe couple had gone up a hole but the course was pretty twisty as it was an open speed class - one round against the clock. Don't think we'll enter another of those in a hurry! Watched the first few go and 2 fell off and 2 got eliminated - great start! We got the first fence ok but then made a complete mess of the turnback to fence 2 and demolished it - he hates doing that so we were also all wrong to the upright at 3 and demolished that too, shot off into the corner, made an awful turnback to the double with huge oxer going in (that we had made a super job of in the first class) and got right in the base of it - he levitated, landed on the back rail and put 2 strides in the double - what a mess. Down to the skinny he'd had down in the Discovery and he got in a bit close but cleared it fine (why is that - put him on a good stride and he has things down, bury him to a vertical and he'll almost certainly clear it) Round to an oxer to vertical on related 3 strides that he cleared nicely and then it was a nasty turnback to the planks. He had hesitated slightly at these planks in the first class and I'd seen them cause a lot of problems before realising they were the ones that Dan chucked me off at 8yrs ago and put me in hospital with concussion and a broken wrist. This wasn't a good thing to remember and consequently I rode them very hesitantly and not on a good line and he ran out. Gave him a pat as really my fault, not his and came back round in a better canter and on a good line and he jumped them fine, rode a good dogleg to big oxer at 9 and good to the final one stride double. I think after the first crash I just needed to stop and circle and get us back together but you can't do that in the middle of a round so it just got worse and worse. He wasn't really believing me when I said for him to go forwards and take me - not sure if it was Merrist Wood syndrome as does make them back off in there as quite spooky or whether he was a bit tired from yesterday or a bit of both but you really need to both thinking positively forwards to be jumping that height (and especially width).
Getting in far too close to the skinny but clearing it:
http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/mhphotos/albums/bsja_area_44/456327_173943/browse/63/?w=800&h=468
Number 6 - making it look easy:
http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/mhphotos/albums/bsja_area_44/456327_173943/browse/64/?w=800&h=468
The dreaded planks:
http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/mhphotos/albums/bsja_area_44/456327_173943/browse/65/?w=800&h=468
Final double:
http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/mhphotos/albums/bsja_area_44/456327_173943/browse/66/?w=800&h=468
He's having 3wks off now to recharge his batteries as he's been a busy lad since his last break after Badminton. Then it will be more and more SJ practice. I'm going to let our BSJA membership go though as in a whole year we've been to all of about 8 shows and not managed to go clear, let alone win any money so I'll just jump on a ticket. I wan't to keep doing BSJA rather than unaffiliated to get the extra level of technicality and the widths of the oxers though. Would never have tackled a 1.05m at the beginning of this year so we have improved, just not our day today.
Sunday 9 November 2014
Saturday 8 November 2014
Crofton Manor BD 08-11-14
Not the ideal weather for our Medium debut - blowing an absolute gale but at least the rain stayed away.
Monty felt pretty flat as soon as we entered the warmup which didn't really bode well. Had to do a lot of sharpening up and didn't really feel like he was taking me forwards which isn't a great feeling when you're about to do the hardest test of your life! Made sure to do lots of sideways and lots of transitions and a bit of medium trot.
First test was M61 - bit of a spook at the boards down near the judge but a nice canter around the arena and then back to trot and down the centre line - super square halt and a good move off for a 7.5. I could feel the tension in his trot though and it was making it flipping difficult to sit to. Was definitely bouncing more than usual and struggling to keep my weight down in my stirrups as he was needing more leg than usual. Still we managed 7's for both shoulder-ins and 7.5 for the two half 10m circles. Medium/extended trots didn't really happen and 6's were generous. Half passes were surprisingly good though and earned 7 for left and 7.5 for right!! Sara Jane has been telling me they are good but have to confess I thought she might just be being nice! Watching the video though he is really crossing over nicely.
Had a bit of a blip in the walk work because the arena next door rang their bell and in the wind I thought it was my bell and I'd gone wrong so I trotted down to the judge and she rang her bell and we had a bit of a discussion mid test about bells! I did manage to convince her of my confusion though and that I knew where I was going and she didn't give me an error of course so that was nice. She didn't seem very impressed with us at this point so I did lose a bit of focus and felt like giving up! I didn't really ask for much in the extended walk so got a 6 but 7 for collected walk, 7 for the walk to canter and also the 10m circle. Only a 5 for his HP which needed more suppleness to bend and also then he was on 3 tracks on the centre line. 7 for his medium canter across the diagonal though and no wanting to change so that was good. 6.5 for his trot to canter right and right canter 10m circle then after starting a nice canter HP right he just suddenly broke to trot and then had a complete hissy fit about going back into canter. It's not unknown for him to have hissy fits but normally in the snaffle he just throws his head up and then settles again. In the double when he chucks his head the curb catches him in the mouth so he had a full on tantrum in the middle of the test which got us a 3 - our first 3 lol! Managed to get him going again and got 6.5 for extended canter across the diagonal and 6.5 for final halt.
7, 6, 6, 7 for collectives. Judge was Joy West who said "Super horse with much to offer. Just needs to create more activity behind at times" We were in the training section so score didn't count but we actually beat the 3 in the Restricted section and finished on 65%. Over the moon with that for a first test. We actually beat the horse who won the Medium Restricted Area Festivals at Wellington this year! Video doesn't look as bad as it felt although is clear I am not sitting as soft as I can and he is tending to drop his poll so need to do more work in the double with him to get him used to it and get him up in front of me. He is easier to flex and keep round in it but no good if he is dropping down on my hands.
Getting ready:
Nice square halt to start with:
Some trot:
Some half pass:
medium canter:
video:
M61
Half hour break then back on for a short warm up - just did a bit of travers, rein back, walk piris, counter canter and simple changes as these are the extras in M75. At this stage hadn't seen sheet for M61 and had felt it hadn't gone great so wasn't sure if had bitten off more than I could chew with M75 being the Championship test but thought might as well give it go! Tried to have him more up and in front of me in the warmup and keep that for the test.
warmup video:
warmup
Got a nice canter round the outside of the arena bar a bit more spooking at the advertising boards by the judges box. All ready to go down the centre line when he has a freak out at something just before A at which point I was committed to entering and entered amidst tempi changes and bunny hopping before screeching to a sideways halt somewhere to the left of X. When I asked him to move he went backwards for 6 strides before finally deciding to go forwards. Again, this would have been a reaction to him getting caught in the mouth with the curb when he chucked his head up to spook. Not a lot I can do about that. When his head comes up it totally changes the position of the bits and it's so sudden I can't loosen the rein immediately. I'm sure he will learn it's not a sensible thing to do! Anyway judge clearly wasn't paying much attention to the circus act or was feeling in a forgiving mood as we got a 5 and the comment "cautious in before X and quarters L in halt, stepped back" - ha ha!
Putting that behind us the rest of the test went really well! He got 6's for his SI and travers as I didn't have quite as much bend as in the first test, we were probably both a bit tired at this point. HP got 7 for right and 6.5 for left though so that is really encouraging. I feel his lateral work has real potential to score good marks. 6.5 for both 10m circles as he was dropping his poll again. 6's for the mediums as he hurried. 6.5 for rein back - nice square halt and obedient but dropped his poll. 7 for extended walk. 6.5 and 5 for walk piris - she said he stuck in the 2nd one although video shows him continuing to step so not sure what she was looking at! Nicely into canter and medium canter although only got 6.5 and 6 for this as she wanted more ground cover in the medium. 6.5 for his HP left, 6 for CC as wanted more uphill then a 7 for his simple change which he did really nicely. Just really have to watch the quarters don't swing. 5.5 for canter HP right as quarters were trailing a bit, doesn't look too bad on video though - definite potential. Lost a bit of balance in the CC this way as was definitely anticipating a change but still managed an ok simple change for a 6. 6.5 for a nice extended canter into counter canter, 6 for extended trot as hurried but he did show some difference. 5.5 for final halt as he took the tiniest step back. 6, 6.5, 6.5, 6 for collectives. Judge was Sue Russell and she said "Obedient horse, some nice transitions but needs to develop a little more lateral suppleness and bend for higher marks" Finished on 62.16% and ended up 6th out of 7 in the Restricted but it was quite close and he's definitely got potential to gain quite a few more marks in that test with a bit more polish. Really pleased with him coping with the wind without too many hysterics and achieving our ambition of points at Medium level, not just one but 5 of them (ok, theoretical points as we were in Training sections but that doesn't make a difference to the marks) Loads for us to work on but definitely no reason not to keep taking him out at Medium level and improving! Definite aim for Advanced Medium next year. Trainer thinks we can do it so we shall go for it!
Nice trot photo:
Monty felt pretty flat as soon as we entered the warmup which didn't really bode well. Had to do a lot of sharpening up and didn't really feel like he was taking me forwards which isn't a great feeling when you're about to do the hardest test of your life! Made sure to do lots of sideways and lots of transitions and a bit of medium trot.
First test was M61 - bit of a spook at the boards down near the judge but a nice canter around the arena and then back to trot and down the centre line - super square halt and a good move off for a 7.5. I could feel the tension in his trot though and it was making it flipping difficult to sit to. Was definitely bouncing more than usual and struggling to keep my weight down in my stirrups as he was needing more leg than usual. Still we managed 7's for both shoulder-ins and 7.5 for the two half 10m circles. Medium/extended trots didn't really happen and 6's were generous. Half passes were surprisingly good though and earned 7 for left and 7.5 for right!! Sara Jane has been telling me they are good but have to confess I thought she might just be being nice! Watching the video though he is really crossing over nicely.
Had a bit of a blip in the walk work because the arena next door rang their bell and in the wind I thought it was my bell and I'd gone wrong so I trotted down to the judge and she rang her bell and we had a bit of a discussion mid test about bells! I did manage to convince her of my confusion though and that I knew where I was going and she didn't give me an error of course so that was nice. She didn't seem very impressed with us at this point so I did lose a bit of focus and felt like giving up! I didn't really ask for much in the extended walk so got a 6 but 7 for collected walk, 7 for the walk to canter and also the 10m circle. Only a 5 for his HP which needed more suppleness to bend and also then he was on 3 tracks on the centre line. 7 for his medium canter across the diagonal though and no wanting to change so that was good. 6.5 for his trot to canter right and right canter 10m circle then after starting a nice canter HP right he just suddenly broke to trot and then had a complete hissy fit about going back into canter. It's not unknown for him to have hissy fits but normally in the snaffle he just throws his head up and then settles again. In the double when he chucks his head the curb catches him in the mouth so he had a full on tantrum in the middle of the test which got us a 3 - our first 3 lol! Managed to get him going again and got 6.5 for extended canter across the diagonal and 6.5 for final halt.
7, 6, 6, 7 for collectives. Judge was Joy West who said "Super horse with much to offer. Just needs to create more activity behind at times" We were in the training section so score didn't count but we actually beat the 3 in the Restricted section and finished on 65%. Over the moon with that for a first test. We actually beat the horse who won the Medium Restricted Area Festivals at Wellington this year! Video doesn't look as bad as it felt although is clear I am not sitting as soft as I can and he is tending to drop his poll so need to do more work in the double with him to get him used to it and get him up in front of me. He is easier to flex and keep round in it but no good if he is dropping down on my hands.
Getting ready:
Nice square halt to start with:
Some trot:
Some half pass:
medium canter:
video:
M61
Half hour break then back on for a short warm up - just did a bit of travers, rein back, walk piris, counter canter and simple changes as these are the extras in M75. At this stage hadn't seen sheet for M61 and had felt it hadn't gone great so wasn't sure if had bitten off more than I could chew with M75 being the Championship test but thought might as well give it go! Tried to have him more up and in front of me in the warmup and keep that for the test.
warmup video:
warmup
Got a nice canter round the outside of the arena bar a bit more spooking at the advertising boards by the judges box. All ready to go down the centre line when he has a freak out at something just before A at which point I was committed to entering and entered amidst tempi changes and bunny hopping before screeching to a sideways halt somewhere to the left of X. When I asked him to move he went backwards for 6 strides before finally deciding to go forwards. Again, this would have been a reaction to him getting caught in the mouth with the curb when he chucked his head up to spook. Not a lot I can do about that. When his head comes up it totally changes the position of the bits and it's so sudden I can't loosen the rein immediately. I'm sure he will learn it's not a sensible thing to do! Anyway judge clearly wasn't paying much attention to the circus act or was feeling in a forgiving mood as we got a 5 and the comment "cautious in before X and quarters L in halt, stepped back" - ha ha!
Putting that behind us the rest of the test went really well! He got 6's for his SI and travers as I didn't have quite as much bend as in the first test, we were probably both a bit tired at this point. HP got 7 for right and 6.5 for left though so that is really encouraging. I feel his lateral work has real potential to score good marks. 6.5 for both 10m circles as he was dropping his poll again. 6's for the mediums as he hurried. 6.5 for rein back - nice square halt and obedient but dropped his poll. 7 for extended walk. 6.5 and 5 for walk piris - she said he stuck in the 2nd one although video shows him continuing to step so not sure what she was looking at! Nicely into canter and medium canter although only got 6.5 and 6 for this as she wanted more ground cover in the medium. 6.5 for his HP left, 6 for CC as wanted more uphill then a 7 for his simple change which he did really nicely. Just really have to watch the quarters don't swing. 5.5 for canter HP right as quarters were trailing a bit, doesn't look too bad on video though - definite potential. Lost a bit of balance in the CC this way as was definitely anticipating a change but still managed an ok simple change for a 6. 6.5 for a nice extended canter into counter canter, 6 for extended trot as hurried but he did show some difference. 5.5 for final halt as he took the tiniest step back. 6, 6.5, 6.5, 6 for collectives. Judge was Sue Russell and she said "Obedient horse, some nice transitions but needs to develop a little more lateral suppleness and bend for higher marks" Finished on 62.16% and ended up 6th out of 7 in the Restricted but it was quite close and he's definitely got potential to gain quite a few more marks in that test with a bit more polish. Really pleased with him coping with the wind without too many hysterics and achieving our ambition of points at Medium level, not just one but 5 of them (ok, theoretical points as we were in Training sections but that doesn't make a difference to the marks) Loads for us to work on but definitely no reason not to keep taking him out at Medium level and improving! Definite aim for Advanced Medium next year. Trainer thinks we can do it so we shall go for it!
Nice trot photo:
Video:
M75
M75
Sara Jane Lanning lesson - Merrist Wood - 07-11-14
First lesson in the double bridle and he seemed to accept it well. He did object when the curb chain was done to correct tightness though so had to have it looser and just watch not to use too much and end up with horizontal curb. Will need to get a curb guard for it.
Have to make sure to not let reins get too long as he tends to just sneak out the contact. Watch the amount of bend in the lateral work and make sure the shoulders lead in the HP, esp in canter. Need to get more inside bend before starting the canter HP as then he moves across much better. In the simple changes keep the walk collected, he get long and strung out then finds it hard to step back up to canter. In the canter down the centre line think shoulder-fore. Do lots of LY and HP in the warmup rather than too many circles to get him supple and thinking sideways.
In general she said we were doing really well and especially the HP has come on loads. Given how well his changes are coming on we should be aiming for Advanced Medium next year - pretty chuffed with that!
Have to make sure to not let reins get too long as he tends to just sneak out the contact. Watch the amount of bend in the lateral work and make sure the shoulders lead in the HP, esp in canter. Need to get more inside bend before starting the canter HP as then he moves across much better. In the simple changes keep the walk collected, he get long and strung out then finds it hard to step back up to canter. In the canter down the centre line think shoulder-fore. Do lots of LY and HP in the warmup rather than too many circles to get him supple and thinking sideways.
In general she said we were doing really well and especially the HP has come on loads. Given how well his changes are coming on we should be aiming for Advanced Medium next year - pretty chuffed with that!
Sunday 2 November 2014
XC clinic LMEQ with Chris Burton 01-11-14
Had a lovely warmup canter round the gallops before heading out onto the XC course. Chatted to Chris at the beginning of the session and agreed today wasn't the day to be jumping huge fences or over-challenging him. A nice, confidence giving end of season outing to end on a high was what was needed. Warmed up getting forwards canter then collect on a circle before moving on again making sure to keep the connection. Tried to make sure to ride positively to the fences and really soften my hands over the fence and he jumped brilliantly. Piccies here from our two warmup jumps which he flew - no stickiness at all which set the theme for the session. Clipped him the day before as he just so sweaty in our SJ lesson on Wednesday which I'm sure helped. He was forwards to all his fences which in turn meant he was straight. No wobbles at the skinnies. Got in a bit close to the corner first time but because I was riding forwards still he didn't think about a run out. Discussed with Chris whether to attempt the meaty Novice corner but the fact Chris didn't sound sure about it was enough for me to decline - save that for next season I think!
warming up:
Skinny to steps up
warming up: Playing in the water:
Finished with flying over the trakehners and through the owlhole. No hesitations. Super duper horse. Well chuffed with him. Great way to end the season and can't wait to get back out there again next season!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)