We drove up on Sunday night as my mum struggles to drive the lorry for too long in 1 day so made a bit of a camping trip out of it. We popped to the event first to walk the course. Hmm! It was rather large, especially a big brush fence with a drop on the other side at 11.
Here's a photo. I'm stood on landing side and I'm 5 foot 8!
It didn't seem very technical which I was relieved with, so trying hard to ignore the sheer size of the fences, I repeated my mantra "I can do this" and set off to our stabling. We went on to have a few drinks and played monoply until very late which kept my mind off things.
In the morning, we arrived with plenty of time, and walked the course again. Fence 11 had evidently grown inside my head so I was quite relieved when I saw it! At this point the course actually looked jumpable and I was very excited!
So I warmed up for my dressage and he was going beautifully. I kept having to remind myself that the fellow competitors warming up were not all far better than me and that I DID deserve to be here. Luckily they were running early..think I need to start warming up for 20 minutes as the last 3 outings I've been ready before my time.
Looking very smart warming up!
So went to trot around the outside of the ring and Squirrel pointed his toys and grew a hand.
and in we went!
I felt I had to work quite hard to keep my trot bouncy and didn't really feel I achieved the impulsion and movement he can do, but I thought it was a fair test. My 15m circles were accurate, he was AMAZING in the leg yields, my medium trot left a bit to be desired as I asked and had no reaction so booted him so he did lengthen but unbalanced in the process
I was pleased he came back nicely after medium canter as he does have a
tendency to get keen and tank off a little. My canter across the
diagonal with a simple change was a bit...pokey I felt, which was a
shame as he did it beautifully warming up. I completly overshot my
centre line in canter and almost forgot to trot at x then landed in a
heap at G So I was pleased as he did lots nicely and I hadn't felt the movements all came up very quickly like I did this time last year. I felt we deserved around 37, although my mum and Jason (OH) were looking extremely pleased and after watching the video I grudgingly brought my estimate down to 35 as he did look very yummy!
Photos shocked me - he amazes me how much he has improved in this phase. I used to look at photos and be very down hearted as he was so on the forehand the whole picture was flat and he hardly looked round. Now look!
Now the show jumping! This was causing carnage. Very few clears, I saw plenty of 12s, plenty of 16s and even higher! The time also seemed rather tight as lots were getting TP. The distances walked a bit funny and it was quite undulating. He warmed up nicely although I limited it as it was pretty hard, and kept him on his toes afterwards with lots of walk to trot transitions. May of worked a bit too well as when I popped a fence just before going in I almost got tanked off with
I got a great shot to number 1
had 2 down..I've looked at the video and not really sure why, I might let myself off that one although it was going uphill so perhaps I should of kept the impulsion better. I came round the corner to 3 and heard them announce my dressage score of 29.5!!!!! Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would maintain the scores we've been getting at novice! So I promplty buried him into number 3, had to give him a slap on the shoulder and he cleared it for me.
I then practically galloped him at number 4 and got way ahead of him so he had to put a tiny one in and went through it.
I then gave myself a shake - I had said I would be happy with 8 but no more [although that was before I knew how much trouble it was causing] and rode the rest very nicely if I may say so myself.
And he delivered and jumped the rest beautifully.
Big smile in this one - I had a good shot in at the treble and knew it ahaha!
I did have 1 time fault though.
I felt much more confident about the XC at this point, although I knew how badly I wanted a clear round...I wasn't planning on going for time too much, although I did intend to ride it just as forwards as I do at BE100 because when we went novice last time, I decided we were just having a hack round and he was backing off the fences because of that.
My concerns regarding lack of XC lately were pointless, he knew what to do. Luckily, fairly quickly, we were in the start box and away! He jumped the first 3 fences beautifully out of his stride.
Fence 4 was a big double of tables, the first scared me as it was very gappy but apparantly I forgot I was on super horse! He jumped in fab, I sat and panicked and tried to hold him for an extra stride but luckily he took charge, told me where to go and jumped it FAB!
Next was a roll top going downhill to a step up, bounce over a little log. I wasn't worried about it as we'd jumped a far nastier step up, bounce to fence at Larkhill which he made feel easy.
And he did again, he popped down the roll top, up the step and pinged over the log.
Next was a big meaty table which didn't feel as big riding into it now I remembered I was sat on Super Horse and he took it in his stride.
Next was a big spread with a brush at the back, 2 strides off a turn. I said to myself when I walked it, as soon as I turn, I need to ride forwards. Which I did and he jumped it beautifully. Next was a trakhner although the ditch wasn't anything to write home about. Oddly enough this was where he had a bit of a spook so he had a growl and jumped it well in the end.
Then down a hill and round a corner to a double - a rail then a corner. I steadied him for it, looked for my line, found it and rode it like I planned (
) and he locked on and knew what to do.Then it was a double of houses, 4 strides on a turn, which he did beautifully. Then number 11, the dreaded huge brush fence! Well. It was amazing. The landing took forever but it was sweet and lovely.
Then it was a tiny carrot oxer as a let up, before 2 wide houses which you had to jump at an angle on 2 short strides. I had considered turning a circle in between and accepting the 20 penalities if I didn't think we could do it, but he jumped it superbly.
Next was a skinny corner of a hedge which he did perfectly. Then the water, first it was a rail to be jumped on an angle then a couple of strides before cantering through a bit, then a turn to a drop with a little log on top into the water, and 3 strides to a little fence in the water.
He backed off the first rail so had a smack, and I had to work hard to keep him going forwards but he bounded off the drop and over the fence in the water. It was just 2 simple but big fences to finish which felt easy at this stage!
And we did it! We went clear and it felt EASY!!
After lots of cuddles and getting him sorted, I checked the scores. People were getting a fair few time faults, so was curious about mine as I had felt fast but I didn't push it as we weren't there to win today, and I was a little concerned about fitness.
We had 4.8 time faults in the end which was fine with me. It also earned us 8th place and our first BE point!!
I am so so proud of this horse. He is a fantastic creature and I adore him.
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