From the start he felt like a very happy pony. Possibly something to do with the 11.5miles of hooning round Hankley common with the hunt on a fun ride on Sunday! He was beautifully forwards and much sharper off my aids.
Initially we tried something different with the flying changes - activating with my new inside leg before asking for the change with the outside leg because trying to soften him to the new bend with the reins just makes him change as soon as he feels me ask for the change in flexion so hoping this way will help him soften through the ribcage and do a better change. So, in the video you can see initially our right to left change is late behind but then trying this way he is through from behind, possibly still a little short in the length of stride but at least not late. He was still anticipating a bit and not exactly on my aids but it's something we can work on.
We did some work on doing flying changes on a 20m circle as may help him, especially with the tension/anticipation. He is funny as he just doesn't get the point of changing if we're not changing direction and once he realised we weren't he refused to change. Shows he needs to be more off my aids in the change and not just be anticipating because we're changing direction. Video shows some lovely clean changes from right to left (as well as left to right which are normally good), probably the most through he's been in this direction:
Finished with couple of lines of 4 time changes - not our best as he was enjoying himself so much he was charging off after each change and struggled to fit 3 of them in! Must watch he doesn't anticipate the right to left change as well or we end up with a 3 time change.
On to the canter HP - straight away managed the whole diagonal across the 3/4 length school as in AM98. Think about staying behind the diagonal line, try to keep the activity with the inside leg and just place the outside leg back to get the right positioning but don't shove him over too much. Make sure really ride the corner before you start as well and keep it steady and active, don't let him just run sideways. Still a work in progress but big improvement on before.
Finished with running through AM98 - make sure don't lose the quarters on the 8m trot circle. Must have him straight after the trot HP before can get the medium trot. In the walk piris don't nag him all the way round, create the energy then turn the shoulders. Straightness was definitely lacking a bit today and all the changes were wild but he does make me laugh when he's like that - it's nice to see him enjoying himself!
Group lesson at LMEQ. In the warmup had to work on getting him forwards and back whilst keeping the connection and not letting him get strung out. Then moved on to some trot/canter in jumping position - alternating between standing up and folding right forwards. Hard work on the legs!
Then onto a grid - started with trotting into a single x pole and built up to 2 whoppingly wide oxers. Felt Monts question if I was serious wanting him to jump them from the nothingy canter that results from trotting over a x-pole but it really made him sit back and power over them - he didn't knock them down! Video doesn't show the extent of the width of them - definitely wider than anything I've done before.
slow mo version:
We then did the grid back at x poles with no hands on the reins - reins tied in a knot on the neck - eeeeek! First time I wasn't quite brave enough to drop the reins but I did it the 2nd time when they went to uprights and then 3rd time they went to little oxers and we had to do hands on head over first jump, hands on shoulders over 2nd one and on hips over 3rd one - certainly a balance challenge for me and Monts - interesting how much he naturally sped up through the grid without me telling him to wait for each fence. Never done anything like this before but it was fab fun (if a little scary!)
Finished with jumping round a course - saw a few slightly, wildly forwards strides but he also shortened up nicely when he needed to. Just need to really work on keeping the connection - something Chris is always going on at me about.
Most of today's lesson was spent trying to get him to listen to me and soften and stop crossing his jaw. Had him in the snaffle bridle and he was spooking at the wind and being a plank. Spent ages on a circle lifting the inside leg high and moving him sideways away from the inside leg. Must also carry the outside hand and not drop it and attempt to pin him down. We did this in trot and canter. Also making sure he doesn't slow down in the transitions, especially the downwards ones. Keep him hot off the leg at all times, a small touch should mean go and he should keep going until asked to stop. In the walk, worked on bringing the legs back slightly and thinking piaffe to try and sharpen him up a bit. He must be thinking forwards all the time.
First class was the Discovery - technical as always at Parwood - there were many related distances, tight turn backs and dog legs. Not a great stride to the first but then got things sorted until I nearly missed the sharp turnback to the wall at 6, lost the canter quality and got in too close. I did react, sit up and wait for an extra stride on the dogleg though which worked well as met that fine. Then rode like a pansy to the smallest upright on the course which somehow he cleared from a naf stride. Another tight turnback to the first fence in the 2nd phase which I didn't ride forwards to and again he helped me out. Got my act together for the big oxer at 10 and then sat and waited for 7 strides again in the dog leg. He got a fraction close and brushed it in front but I think we'd have struggled to get there on 6 strides. I would have had to start turning over the fence and cut the corner to make it on him. We then came round to a huge oxer and got a bit of a flyer which meant I was a big disorganised round the sharp right hand corner into a huge double and he just brushed both parts which was a shame as actually made it on a good stride. Round to the last and clear. So, a disappointing 12 faults but still pleased with the majority of it - rider needs to remember to think ahead and keep the power up round the tight corners. More practice needed, as ever!
We started with the Medium Freestyle and came 3rd with our joint highest score at this level of 67.33%. Bit of a mistake in the right canter half pass and our trot music needs a bit of tweaking so actually capable of upping that to nearly 69% without too much effort which is encouraging! Feeling much more established at this level than on our first attempt a year ago. Comment from Debbie Pateman was "Charming horse with lovely attitude" 7's for harmony, choreography, degree of difficulty with 6.5 for rhythm and music. All marks between 6.5 and 8 in the test except the right canter HP which got 5. All the half passes needed clearer bend with the SI needing more engagement. 7.5 for extended walk and an 8 for his first halt.
Onwards to our first go at Advanced Medium Freestyle. Was pleased to just get round managing all the moves where I planned them. Only one change didn't come off which was the most difficult one changing from counter canter to counter canter, otherwise all went to plan. Same music issues with it all being a bit quick for him now so need to tweak but otherwise a good start. Sadly judge isn't Monty's biggest fan. Marion Terry couldn't think of anything nice to say about anything in the test. His best mark of 6.5 came for his left to right changes. Otherwise 5's to 6's. Even his walk only got 6's. SI got 6's, HP got 5's. Needs more bend, suppleness, bend, bend etc. 6.5 for choreography and music. 6 for difficulty, rhythm and harmony. Onwards and upwards. 59.5% is a start at least but it's actually his lowest mark at Advanced Medium and music normally allows some higher marks.
Need to sit on my arse! He has this ability to pull me out of the saddle without me really noticing - must remember this, sit up and ride him up in front of me.
Generally still need to keep him softer and rounder.
In the changes need him to be soft to the new lead before asking for the change.
In the canter half pass if think am struggling to get enough sideways then collect. Use weight in direction of travel. Use inside leg for more jump.
Trot was good - more uphill and more cadence. In the shoulder-in, make sure not to have too much inside bend on the left rein and enough on the right rein.
Planned the floorplan for my Advanced Medium Freestyle next weekend. Fingers crossed it comes off!
Under the floodlights tonight - fortunately Monts is used to that so managed to behave himself. I was really pleased with how he went. His trot work felt much more secure and we even had some moments of feeling that he was really uphill and through and easy to sit to! This is definitely progress. We do need to do some more homework on the counter canter though as he managed to throw in another unrequired flying change just before the simple change so no chance of doing the simple change which meant 4's for two movements. Both flying changes came off well though and generally it just felt much more established than our last attempt and still only our third try at this one. Chuffed to score 64.852%. Without the two 4's (assuming same marks as on the other rein) we'd have finished on 66.4%!!
We scored 7's for the entry, both 10m circles in trot, the extended walk, the first simple change, right canter half-pass and both flying changes plus 7.5 for first bit of medium walk. Collectives - 7, 6.5, 6.5, 6.5, Despite the 4's we still improved 3.5marks on last time we did this test under the same judge 2 months ago and without the 4's would have been 9marks! Huge improvement and so excited as still so much more we can improve on! Especially pleased to get a clean right to left change worthy of a 7!
Didn't have long before going back in for AM92. Lost him a bit in the canter work and fluffed the 2nd change totally so had to walk. Pleased with left trot SI again - they both really flowed tonight - right not so good today. Canter half passes could be better too - he was a bit resistant. I felt he really went for the extended trot for once - it was fab for him! Needs refining but at least he was giving it a go! It got a 6 which I'm happy with at this level. His first medium trot got a 6.5 which is fab! Rare we get anything more than a 6. Consistent 6.5's with a 7 for the extended walk and 7.5 for medium walk on the first page of marks - big improvement from last time (3.5 more marks just on the first page). Next set of marks - got a 3 for our change that didn't happen (it didn't happen last time we did this test either but judge didn't notice that time and gave it a 6!) Got a 7 for walk to canter, otherwise mix of 6's and 6.5's. The changes got 6.5, 3.0, 6.5, 5.5 (last time got 6.0, 6.0, 5.0, 5.0). Finished on a 7 for the final halt. Collectives: 7.0, 6.0, 6.5, 6.5. Finished on 63.918% so half a percent better than out last attempt. 5 more shiny points and finished our Winter Regionals qualification at this level! Eeeeek! Regionals at Advanced Medium. Didn't see that one coming when we did our first Medium one year ago to the day. He just keeps on surprising me with how much he improves every time I ride him. What a horse!
Started with a bit of loosening up on the flat while the previous lesson finished. He was lovely and soft and he gave me a line of three 4 time followed by three 3 time changes on first ask. Clever boy!
We moved on to work on the pole exercise with 2 poles and varying the strides between it. Started with 5 then moved on to 4 which was the only one we struggled with which showed up my weakness of seeing a stride at a faster pace (something to work on!) We got it up to 8 strides without trouble and I think he could easily have done 9 or even 10. Had to work on keeping the connection and not letting him stick his head up in the air and run which is what happened when I aimed for less strides. (More homework)
We then moved on to our favourite x pole to oxer exercise. Ended up with a decent sized oxer which he was pinging no probs.
We then moved on to jump a course. He was super keen and we got all the stridings fine, just fluffed up the turn to the big purple oxer as was over-thinking the tight left turn afterwards and didn't keep the power up through the turn. Even managed to mostly land on the correct leads and the one time we didn't we got a change sorted fairly quickly. Chris said it was super and we were the only ones not to have to repeat any of the course :) Love him when he's really taking me forwards and just makes it all feel so easy!
Chris is off back to Australia now until the New Year but he said next year we will try and work on keeping him that little bit more connected so he's not running around with his head stuck up in the air quite so much. I think I'll need to watch how he manages that one with Monts as at 16 he is rather stuck in his ways. His canter and general softness has improved heaps though so will certainly give it a go as will allow me to adjust him round a course a bit more rather than him just running on his forehand more and more. He said it would also help us XC. Tentatively planning entering a Newcomers off the back of this lesson - just have to hope we don't go clear in the first phase and need to do the jump off!
We started with SJ in the morning. A group session with 5 of us. Started with a x-pole then an oxer. Had to try and aim for the deeper spot. He didn't want us to be pushing them for a longer one but holding them with power for a deeper take-off point. Said this is important as the fence height goes up as you don't want to be diving at fences and they will be more likely to chip in as fence gets bigger. We jumped a course a couple of times, but it was only at BE100 height with no combinations which was a little disappointing as the course was billed as working on the skills to be able to go Novice and I didn't really feel we did enough on this. It was good practice to jump on grass though as the undulatons definitely make a course more challenging. Was told to try and keep the canter more forwards through the turns then just sit down and wait for the fence. Video below - course wasn't really big enough to get me riding him as forwards as he needs to be to go well. I tend to resort to my old backwards riding when they don't give me the fear factor!
XC in the afternoon which was fab. Key point was to only go as fast as you can slow down to tackle the fence safely. Speed comes later. Monty was thinking otherwise. There were 3 of us and he thought this was rather like team chasing and got rather excited! I quite like him like that though :) Tweseldown have built several new coffin complexes which was awesome for the ditchy orange one. First one with hanging log either side I rode quite strongly but will never trust him at this kind of fence and wanted to reinforce that his only option is to go! He made that easily so turned round and came back through with a log to ditch to triple brush 4 strides later - aced this one too. Clever boy! Then we did a step down to a meaty right corner on a left hand curve. He jumped this brilliantly. A real test would be to do it the opposite way though - right curve to left corner could prove more tricky - sadly wasn't set up to try this. We flew the big fence with the roof on it then a little arrowhead off a tight left hand bend no probs. This was all in the schooling area.
We then set off round the course which was flagged from the hunter trials still. Just doing the 100 fences as no Novice ones but working on solid foundations so if the fences got bigger the basics were there. The theme was still not to be pushing for any long strides. We had to slow down enough that we could get a nice, powerful jump not a long, flat one as if they try and chip in from that kind of canter it could end in trouble. We even did a trial start from the start box and true to form Monts bounced around like tigger as one of his friends had already gone first - daft pony! Lots of fun though. Managed the duck out of the water no probs this time (his eyes were out on stalks last time) and we also did the log drop into water, curving line out to the duck which was more of a Novice question. Got told to ride more forwards to the drop as would result in a more comfy jump into the water. I tend to back off at the last minute with drops but can ride them more boldly, especially when followed by another fence. We then had to gallop down the racecourse to a log pile with an upright front going as fast as we wanted but making sure we steadied up in time to make sure we were going a safe speed for the log pile and didn't tackle it on a long one. Finally moved on to a table followed by a 90degree left turn to a hanging log under trees to a ditch round a right hand bend through trees to a left hand corner. Got a little close to the left corner but really pleased with how he tackled the hanging log to ditch. Kept my shoulders back and rode positively forwards all the time. He feels super confident at the moment. Long may it last!
On Wednesday we went for our first lesson with Eileen o'Connor. Aim of the game being to work on me and really sort out my position which I feel is letting us down at the moment. Thankfully she very kindly said it is nowhere near as bad as I think it is and should definitely be able to improve it. She also complemented me on my feel - not the first person to say such a thing which is positive. Main things I had to think about were bringing my bum underneath me more, shoulders back and down and hands up. She had me hold my reins a different way with them running through my hands from top to bottom instead of bottom to top as said it was much harder to fix them that way. She put my stirrups up a hole as said that would help stabilise my lower leg instead of me reaching for the stirrups. We did lots of trot-canter-trot transitions on a circle - need to move my legs around less to give the aids for the transitions. They are already in a good position, don't move them around.
Then took my stirrups away - don't think I've ever taken them away on Monts before! I had to maintain the same leg position as with stirrups but without gripping up with the knee - that used a lot of leg power! We did lots of turns on the forehand, walk and trot on a circle getting him to cross his inside leg over as then he's softer and easier to sit to. Then we did trot SI on the 3/4 line, making transitions to and from walk, all in SI - pretty hard without the wall to lean on. Always thinking about shoulders back and down. Mustn't let him bear down on my hands in the transitions - short, sharp aid to say no he must carry himself. Homework to reach behind my shoulders with my hands, use a teatowel if needed initially and open my shoulders to stretch the muscles that have become tight.
Then yesterday I had my second lesson with Damian Hallam at Parwood. In the warmup he said he could already see we'd been working on getting the trot more powerful, needed to remember to keep shoulders back and swing hips forwards but much better. Quick look at the walk piris - he's still not taking me forwards through them - need the walk to be really going somewhere so I can concentrate on just bringing the shoulders round, not energising the walk in the actual piri. Really had to sharpen him up to get this. Also worked on when we pick up from the free walk not to have 2 circles worth of conversation about straightness and outline in the walk - must pick up and be sharp with him if needed as need to be ready to go into trot/canter as soon as I want to.
Then we focused on the canter having done a lot of trot work last time. We really worked on the gears in the canter and making sure he kept the same outline and didn't bear down in front and tip onto his forehand when we changed gear. Generally it was ok when we went downwards but when we went up a gear his instinct was to run onto his forehand so really had to think about lifting the front end in the transition. We then moved that on to a proper medium canter really thinking about carrying the front end up throughout the medium canter and he did some brilliant ones. Damian said after the medium canter he always does a 10m circle with his in training so they are always thinking about the fact they will need to do a 10m circle after each medium and start to bring themselves back at the end of the long side. We did a couple of changes - first one left to right caught him by surprise and was early in front but 2nd one was good and even the right to left was clean, if not quite as through as it could be with the new inside hind. Damian said no need to keep working on them, they were just fine!
Finished with a bit of trot work. On a similar theme to Wednesday we worked on SI on a circle to mobilise the inside hind and keep his back soft. Leg yield across whole diagonal to also soften the back and it all became a bit easier to sit to.
Generally very pleased with him. He is a little superstar and gets better with every session! So much for me to think about though. My poor brain!
Onwards to jumping this week - will pick up the dressage again the following week in time for our Advanced Medium freestyle debut the following week.
Not done any competitive jumping since Blenheim 5weeks ago and not jumped apart from a quick schooling session at Parwood 10d ago when he felt good so decided time for some more BSJA.
Started with the 95cm class as not been out for a while and wanted a nice confident round. He was fab - jumped a great double clear. I made a dodgy turn from oxer at 2, right angled turn to double at 3 so he had to chip in and then I managed to chase him down a 5 stride distance and nearly got 4 in so again he had to chip in. Weird as I normally have to push for related distances but he had jumped in well through the double and had a good canter so just needed to sit there.
Video:
Piccies:
Not too long to wait before the Discovery. Didn't go up much but course got a lot more twisty in the second phase. Am always gobsmacked to make it through to the second phase but he jumped the first phase brilliantly meeting every fence spot on. I got a good jump into the 5 stride related distance and had to sit up and really wait to get a good stride out into the double but made it work. Just made one mistake trying to chase him to big oxer at 9 so he had to chip in - he cleared but landed on wrong leg and I didn't get it sorted in time for sharp turn back to big vertical at 10 so chipped in and had it down in front as way too close to clear it. Then carried on to the one stride double and got great strides to the last two big oxers. Really chuffed with how easy he made it all feel.
Realistically I knew entering the Medium Open that we were unlikely to come anywhere. I was right! We were 18th out of 22. We chucked away a good percent thanks to sticking in the walk piris but otherwise it was what I would call a clear round. Right half passes were a bit wobbly in trot and canter but generally he did everything obediently and softly. He could have been more up in his frame in the trot work. Finished on 62.07%. Ok I suppose considering how few tests we've actually done at this level.
A four hour wait before the Advanced Medium and he'd switched off a bit plus a new arena for him meant we didn't do a good test at all. He came in all wonky, trot work went ok but not really taking me forwards and no medium trot happened. He then jogged at the end of the walk which is one of his best bits. Canter half passes were wobbly and he managed to change in both the counter canters too late to correct it and pick up the counter canter again before the simple changes so chucked away a huge amount of marks here. He then dropped back to trot before the first change - did manage to get canter back to get the change and the 2nd one was clean although before my aids. Here is the video of the 2nd change and the final halt - the rest is too rubbish to show!
Amazed to score just under 60% and end up 16th out of 17. 63% would have got us in the top 6 so very close and very frustrating as he could have got that score without all the mistakes. Still, we've only done four Advanced Mediums and we still have gone from Prelim at Winter Regionals 20months ago to Ad Med at Area Festivals - it's been quite a journey. Give us another year to consolidate and I reckon we can be a lot more competitive. His outline has improved loads in the last year, he is much more uphill and looks much more at home at this level. I need to really improve my leg stability and keep my hands stiller in the trot work to be able to help him out more.
two pro pics I have bought and am waiting to arrive - I absolutely love the headshot - he is just gorgeous!
Pretty chuffed with that for a season. Annoying the first event didn't go to plan with me putting my back out in the SJ but we then went on to complete a further eight BE100's plus Badminton. Six double clears. Four sub 30 dressage tests. Top score of 25. No XC jumping faults. Placed in the top ten in all events other than Badminton and top five in the last 6 events. Only two poles down in the whole season (excluding the huge jumps and crazy weather we had to deal with at Badminton) 70 FP's. One win. He has felt so secure at this level this year. Our jumping has improved loads. Dressage has been more hit and miss as it's quite hard riding BE100 tests after doing Advanced Medium as totally different way of going expected. Some fab results though and consistently in the top quarter after dressage. He really has been a total superstar!
Big thanks to our supportive sponsors West Kent Saddles for making sure his saddles fit and Calm Leisure for providing some super clothing for me.
Here's a little photo round-up!
South of England April - 9th:
Hambleden April - 10th:
Badminton!!!
Borde Hill May - 3rd:
BCA June - 4th:
Nunney June - 5th:
Rackham June - first!
Firle Regional Finals August - 5th - off to Badders again!:
Mission today was to work on moves from M69 and AM85 ready for Area Festivals next weekend. Get the forwards in the trot without rushing him, keep the roundness and softness in the counter canter and must keep the accuracy up. The changes are coming on every time we do them. So exciting the progress he is making.
We also did some tempi changes and managed our first line of five 4time changes - woohoo!
Here's 3 x 4time changes too:
And a run through M69 - a little bit of naughty anticipation at the walk to canter where he thought I wanted a pirouette but otherwise ok. Need to work on accuracy of HP to centre line then 10m circles. Also in the medium canter to trot he is anticipating walk so must practice those but generally pleased.
Nice easy run up to Blenheim to arrive on Thursday lunchtime. First error - realised hadn't told farrier to put stud holes in again when he came on Monday - doh. Fortunately the ground was excellent and he is pretty sure footed so wasn't too worried about doing a dressage test without studs. The first warmup was lovely - nice, big field, he was lovely and chilled and felt like he was working really nicely. However, we only got ten minutes before being ushered off on a 20min hack down a narrow track through the woods, past a bonfire and numerous other orange horse-eating objects. There were several horses coming the opposite way and no other horses going our way until the end when someone overtook us which really upset him. I wouldn't normally take him for a hack in a snaffle bridle, no martingale and a dressage saddle! I think he thought he was on some kind of sponsored ride and was very tense about the whole thing. We then came out of the woods into a grassy area where we had 5mins to warmup before our test. There were several dressage arenas, XC jumps and the arena eventing arena with tannoy for him to get used in 5mins! Needless to say that didn't really happen. He was tense and not really taking me forwards in a relaxed fashion for the whole test which was a pity as he was very obedient. He got 7's for the first two moves and an 8 for his free walk but otherwise all 6's/6.5's to finish on the same score as we did at Badminton which is about 5 penalties worse than his average mark. 35.8 - 11th out of 15. Not our finest hour. The hack back down through the woods was no less stressful. At one point we met a whole RC team trotting straight towards us who didn't slow down even when he started standing on his back legs. I had to shout at them to ask them to please walk. It really wasn't fun and definitely wouldn't be on my list of things to go and do again in a hurry! After that was over I paid a visit to the farrier and got him to put on my spare shoes complete with stud holes ready for the jumping on Sunday - expensive mistake that one!
Some photos thanks to the lovely Gary Horner:
This final halt probably sums up Monty's opinion of the whole thing!
Had a relaxing afternoon munching on bacon sarnies and chatting with friends then headed off to find our accomodation for the rest of the week. Settled Monty into his little field which he found a little confusing but sure he was happier to be out than stuck in a stable and we parked up for the night.
On Friday we took the horsebox back to Blenheim to watch while Monty stayed at home and munched. Met up with another friend for some shopping, watched some demos plus a lot of the arena eventing to see how the course was riding and chatted lots. Managed to mostly resist the shopping - just a new set of reins. Got back and did a little schooling session in the field with some trotting poles and a few little jumps including some on the angle to get his mind ready for the arena eventing.
Saturday I decided it was a good idea to ride my bike back to Blenheim as my other half had disappeared off to London to watch cricket and I didn't fancy getting stuck in XC day traffic in the horsebox. I took rather a long route into Blenheim as may have misread the map and entrances slightly turning a 3mile cycle ride into an 8mile one! Meant I missed the first few XC riders and arrived rather out of breath! Camped out by the two flower pots on the mounds for a bit, then the coffin and spread to corners and then moved onto the main water for the majority of the class before finishing up at the Ariat Dew Pond for the last few. Then watched the high jump and finished up with watching the CIC*** SJ then a slightly shorter cycle home. The weather was lovely and it was a great day! No work for Monty today - figured I'd done enough in the saddle for one day! Also had come down with a yucky cold in the afternoon and was feeling pretty ropey by the evening.
Sunday I felt pretty horrid with cold and Monty seemed on edge from the moment I got him in, picking at his breakfast while I plaited him up. We headed back to Blenheim with a few hours to spare before we were on so time to catch a bit of the CIC*** XC and watch a few more in the arena eventing. They had parked us so the CIC XC ran literally past the back of the horsebox. Poor Monts was eyes out on stalks! Got on him and he was certainly forwards in the warmup, really attacking his fences which is always a nice feeling to get from him as he can be a bit stuffy at times! Went into the arena and tried to give him a quick look around as the arena was rather full of things to look at. Started off well, I tried to make sure I really rode forwards for the distances especially to fence 3 which was a one strided double going uphill, very brightly coloured and was riding long - watched a lot come in underpowered and chip in two strides. We did that well, then got a good turn uphill to fence 4 which he took out in front for no particular reason, Rest of the SJ's went smoothly then onto the XC. First two fine then sharp turn behind the big oak tree and a spread log jump which they had painted bright white and was right next to the edge of the arena where there was an Equitrek display of trailers. I'm not quite sure what made him decide he didn't like it but 2 strides out he just shot out to the left - totally wasn't expecting that at what looked like quite a straightforward jump (although had seen it cause some stops on the Friday). Naughty pony! Got a slap on the neck and came round again and cat leapt it but we were over. Onto the skinny lions - popped 3 strides in instead of two as was a bit backwards to the first then round to the angled brushes. Saw a good stride in and rode for it (he was a little sticky but not really anywhere to run as left took him into the scary crowd so on we went and made the 2 strides. Missed the sharp turn back we had planned to get a good line to the triple brush so had to do a ridiculous wiggle round in trot to get straight so didn't get a great jump over it but he was honest and straight. Finished coming round to the 1m10 skinny plastic joker fence - great stride and he went straight through it with his front legs. Disappointing round after he coped so well with it all last year but he was wired from the start this time. Staying away in unknown places does really get to him.
First part of the bright double at fence 3:
2nd angled brush:
Once we got him back to the lorry I noticed blood spattered up his leg. On closer inspection he had managed to tread on his heel and cut a slice into it. No bleeding now and he let me clean it up no problems so stuck a bandage on for the journey home and berated myself for not putting overreach boots on him. I never SJ in overreach boots but I think I will do from now even though it was the first time he's ever done anything like this in five years I'm still annoyed I could have prevented it with boots. Not quite sure where he did it - whether he lost his footing on one of the turns or did it when he ran out or took the awkward jump after I don't know.
the original wound:
today with the flap debrided and looking like it's starting to heal already:
Well, he was due a holiday anyway so he'll have some time off now until it all heals over enough not to be sensitive although he has showed no signs of pain or lameness from it which is positive so I don't think it'll be too long.
To top off the weekend, on the way home we stopped off at my parents' house to drop off the bikes we had borrowed, got back in the horsebox and it wouldn't start! 3hours later we finally got Monty back to the yard via a rescue horsebox. We had to leave mine where it was and it finally got rescued the next morning.
