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Well I thought I could post just for the comedy value.....
I managed to get a late entry to a local hunter trial today, and went for the 80cm class. Walked the course yesterday and felt absolutely fine, nothing that bothered me in the least - cue instant worry about whether I was being totally cocky and arrogant, or whether I was being realistic!
Arrived today and I knew what I had to do - got him ready and warmed up according to my plan, luckily there was a lot of room so I really got him going in a lovely forward canter on both reins, to try and get enthusiasm and oomph! It seemed to work well, he was being pretty zingy in the warm up and we jumped a few times with clear steering and no problems
The first fence wasn't that far away from the start so leg on, forward riding and clear steering - he tried to wobble and I was firm, ditto with fence 2 which was a relatively narrow box. Then fence 3.....and he simply ground to a halt right in front of the fence. I was kicking and steering, I smacked him with the whip, but there was just nothing there! Represented and he popped it fine.
So we carried on.... he was wobbly, I was determined and steered, we jumped! Then again at fence 7......all forward movement disappeared, and we stopped. And again, jumped it fine the second time.
So we carried on..... he was getting slightly less wobbly, but still not quite as forward as I would like. Got to fence 19, he had a hissy fit approaching the fence, I insisted and steered, he whipped sideways and slipped right over onto his side, dumping me onto the ground. I had a heart stopping 2-seconds-that-felt-like-an-hour while he lay there, then I stood up and said 'come on then' and he got up - thank goodness! I checked him over, walked him around, trotted him around in hand - he seemed fine. I was pretty disgusted that not a single official came over to see if we were OK I must say. I used a small fence to get back on and walked and trotted him under saddle, he seemed absolutely normal so I thought we would pop a small fence to end on a good note. He jumped with huge enthusiasm, so I went on to the next fence which was the one we had fallen at - again, lovely jump and really forward
So we finished the course in brilliant style, he was fabulously forward and lovely to ride. I steered and kicked, nothing was a problem - it was fabulous
Then he finished off the day by smacking me in the head with his head when I was washing him off, dislodging a contact lens which will never been seen again!
So today's learning points are to ALWAYS put studs in whatever the ground is like, and always carry a spare pair of contact lenses in the car
(I did have my glasses, but I hate wearing them!)
And if anyone has any ideas on how I stop the sluggish coming-to-a-halt business I would LOVE to hear them, it is so frustrating because it isn't predictable and he can be amazing!
I was on my own again, so just a picture of him grazing happily afterwards....
I managed to get a late entry to a local hunter trial today, and went for the 80cm class. Walked the course yesterday and felt absolutely fine, nothing that bothered me in the least - cue instant worry about whether I was being totally cocky and arrogant, or whether I was being realistic!
Arrived today and I knew what I had to do - got him ready and warmed up according to my plan, luckily there was a lot of room so I really got him going in a lovely forward canter on both reins, to try and get enthusiasm and oomph! It seemed to work well, he was being pretty zingy in the warm up and we jumped a few times with clear steering and no problems
The first fence wasn't that far away from the start so leg on, forward riding and clear steering - he tried to wobble and I was firm, ditto with fence 2 which was a relatively narrow box. Then fence 3.....and he simply ground to a halt right in front of the fence. I was kicking and steering, I smacked him with the whip, but there was just nothing there! Represented and he popped it fine.
So we carried on.... he was wobbly, I was determined and steered, we jumped! Then again at fence 7......all forward movement disappeared, and we stopped. And again, jumped it fine the second time.
So we carried on..... he was getting slightly less wobbly, but still not quite as forward as I would like. Got to fence 19, he had a hissy fit approaching the fence, I insisted and steered, he whipped sideways and slipped right over onto his side, dumping me onto the ground. I had a heart stopping 2-seconds-that-felt-like-an-hour while he lay there, then I stood up and said 'come on then' and he got up - thank goodness! I checked him over, walked him around, trotted him around in hand - he seemed fine. I was pretty disgusted that not a single official came over to see if we were OK I must say. I used a small fence to get back on and walked and trotted him under saddle, he seemed absolutely normal so I thought we would pop a small fence to end on a good note. He jumped with huge enthusiasm, so I went on to the next fence which was the one we had fallen at - again, lovely jump and really forward
So we finished the course in brilliant style, he was fabulously forward and lovely to ride. I steered and kicked, nothing was a problem - it was fabulous
Then he finished off the day by smacking me in the head with his head when I was washing him off, dislodging a contact lens which will never been seen again!
So today's learning points are to ALWAYS put studs in whatever the ground is like, and always carry a spare pair of contact lenses in the car
(I did have my glasses, but I hate wearing them!) And if anyone has any ideas on how I stop the sluggish coming-to-a-halt business I would LOVE to hear them, it is so frustrating because it isn't predictable and he can be amazing!
I was on my own again, so just a picture of him grazing happily afterwards....
