blood_magik
Well-Known Member
A few weeks back, a friend and I set ourselves a goal of trying a Newcomers before the end of the year and we agreed that we'd do the first one at home. Well, today was the last show of the year at home and I'm pleased to say that we did it. 
But before I get to that, our last outing was to the Scottish Branch show at SNEC. I attempted to jump Mr. T around the 95cm but managed to leave my spurs at home (they travelled with the yard) so it was a bit hit and miss... He didn't have any issues with the height but he had a pole and then stopped in the middle of a double.
I popped Beau around the meter open (no 1.05m) and he jumped really well - he hesitated once he'd taken off at 3 and managed to whack me in the face (he's a sensitive soul and hates getting things wrong) but to be fair to him, he really pulled his socks up afterwards.
Lenny and Raz jumped with my trainer and came third (he also won the turnout prize) and seventh respectively in big classes (I think there was something like 63 in Lenny's and 70-odd in Raz's). Lenny appears to have gotten some of his confidence back so my trainer is going to jump him for a little longer while I concentrate on our flatwork until he finds the right bit for us to jump in.
Beau's round:
[video=youtube;6gWyAVpXwBs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gWyAVpXwBs[/video]
For some insane reason, I've decided I'd quite like to have a go at doing the mini six bar at the local Hogmanay show, so I had a practice in one of my lessons. We ended up jumping 1.25-1.30 ish, which was absolutely terrifying because it's been years since I jumped anything bigger than 1.20m. If anyone wants a laugh, here's the video of the last attempt through the grid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jSR6Zcs-Og
Onto today - I jumped Dad's horse round the British Novice first. He was a little lazy in the warm-up so I tapped him (barely) with my stick when I went in, only for him to light up like the fourth of July.
Humping and squealing aside, he jumped well until I fired him at a double - We had the first part down and then I circled when T started pratting about, so we ended on 8 faults.
Next up was big B and we did the 1.05m first. There were a few tricky turns into the fences that had me a little worried but only because I find it hard to get Beau to bend to the right without falling in through his shoulder. Other than that, the only other thing was the water tray but that's a phobia of mine - Beau will jump them all day long, no bother.
I got a nice stride to the first fence, which was nice and inviting, and then the same again to the *slightly* bigger (huge) oxer at two. Three was one of the horrible turns to a fence just off the corner but Beau is more than happy to bend to the left so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Got the right distance to four and then it was the second of the nasty turns - I kicked (silly me) and then got slightly left behind when the big guy went on a long one, but I managed to get myself sorted and we got the right striding to the green OKD fence (also huge). I put my leg on for the water tray (mistake) and then got marginally close to the next fence (absolutely mahoosive blue oxer) but Beau cleared it no bother. I kicked (again) to get the last line and got a little closer than I would have like to the final fence (mahoosive, also).
So, into the jump off we went. I was drawn last to go so Beau and I went for a wander around the paddocks before heading back into the warm-up. He was feeling good (read: cocky) so I kept our warm-up pretty minimal to try to keep him from boiling over. I'd decided not to go for it and I tried my best to sit quietly, which worked until we came to the lamppost fence just off the corner - I kicked but this time I got the striding right (whew!) and we finished clear. No placing this time but I'm happy because it's been a while since we've done a 1.05m.
[video=youtube;xCOTb-ydVjQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCOTb-ydVjQ[/video]
Supergroom kept an eye on the big guy for me while I walked the course for the Newcomers. I did my best to remind myself that it was only one hole bigger but there were a few look at the size of *that* moments when I walked up to some of the fences. Thankfully, they were mostly on a related distance and that made them just a smidge less scary. Being the big wimp that I am, I moved my number down the board to near the end so I could watch a few and then went to find a mounting block big enough for me to get on my horse without pulling a muscle.
Beau was a bit tired but that worked in my favour because it meant that he was more inclined to listen when I told him to wait and I'm just so pleased with how he jumped, even though we didn't get all the way round.
One to two was the same as the last class but I sat quietly and I thought we hit a better take-off spot than in the 1.05. Three was the water tray to the big scary blue oxer - I rode a slightly wider line and didn't end up burying Beau in the fence (result!) but after that things went a little bit wrong. I took the turn wider and ended up getting a little close to the first part of the combination. Beau jumped it (but had it down) and then there was a moment where I considered pulling him out of the second part before deciding against it - I kicked and we got an extra stride in but left it up, and then I kicked some more to get the five strides to the next big oxer.
After that, I decided to retire. He'd done everything I asked of him and gotten me out of trouble a few times, and I didn't want to ruin things by burying him in another big fence in case it hurt his confidence.
[video=youtube;BAXyY-sql8k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAXyY-sql8k[/video]
So, that's probably going to be it for us this year. I don't know if we'll get out before the Hogmanay show but I still have loads I can be doing at home in the meantime.
And finally... Timehop tells me that it's a year to the day since Beau and I jumped out first British Novice so I dug out the video of our round and well...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0TD1yOqYn0
Thanks for reading.
But before I get to that, our last outing was to the Scottish Branch show at SNEC. I attempted to jump Mr. T around the 95cm but managed to leave my spurs at home (they travelled with the yard) so it was a bit hit and miss... He didn't have any issues with the height but he had a pole and then stopped in the middle of a double.
I popped Beau around the meter open (no 1.05m) and he jumped really well - he hesitated once he'd taken off at 3 and managed to whack me in the face (he's a sensitive soul and hates getting things wrong) but to be fair to him, he really pulled his socks up afterwards.
Lenny and Raz jumped with my trainer and came third (he also won the turnout prize) and seventh respectively in big classes (I think there was something like 63 in Lenny's and 70-odd in Raz's). Lenny appears to have gotten some of his confidence back so my trainer is going to jump him for a little longer while I concentrate on our flatwork until he finds the right bit for us to jump in.
Beau's round:
[video=youtube;6gWyAVpXwBs]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gWyAVpXwBs[/video]
For some insane reason, I've decided I'd quite like to have a go at doing the mini six bar at the local Hogmanay show, so I had a practice in one of my lessons. We ended up jumping 1.25-1.30 ish, which was absolutely terrifying because it's been years since I jumped anything bigger than 1.20m.
If anyone wants a laugh, here's the video of the last attempt through the grid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jSR6Zcs-OgOnto today - I jumped Dad's horse round the British Novice first. He was a little lazy in the warm-up so I tapped him (barely) with my stick when I went in, only for him to light up like the fourth of July.
Humping and squealing aside, he jumped well until I fired him at a double - We had the first part down and then I circled when T started pratting about, so we ended on 8 faults.
Next up was big B and we did the 1.05m first. There were a few tricky turns into the fences that had me a little worried but only because I find it hard to get Beau to bend to the right without falling in through his shoulder. Other than that, the only other thing was the water tray but that's a phobia of mine - Beau will jump them all day long, no bother.
I got a nice stride to the first fence, which was nice and inviting, and then the same again to the *slightly* bigger (huge) oxer at two. Three was one of the horrible turns to a fence just off the corner but Beau is more than happy to bend to the left so it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Got the right distance to four and then it was the second of the nasty turns - I kicked (silly me) and then got slightly left behind when the big guy went on a long one, but I managed to get myself sorted and we got the right striding to the green OKD fence (also huge). I put my leg on for the water tray (mistake) and then got marginally close to the next fence (absolutely mahoosive blue oxer) but Beau cleared it no bother. I kicked (again) to get the last line and got a little closer than I would have like to the final fence (mahoosive, also).
So, into the jump off we went. I was drawn last to go so Beau and I went for a wander around the paddocks before heading back into the warm-up. He was feeling good (read: cocky) so I kept our warm-up pretty minimal to try to keep him from boiling over. I'd decided not to go for it and I tried my best to sit quietly, which worked until we came to the lamppost fence just off the corner - I kicked but this time I got the striding right (whew!) and we finished clear. No placing this time but I'm happy because it's been a while since we've done a 1.05m.
[video=youtube;xCOTb-ydVjQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCOTb-ydVjQ[/video]
Supergroom kept an eye on the big guy for me while I walked the course for the Newcomers. I did my best to remind myself that it was only one hole bigger but there were a few look at the size of *that* moments when I walked up to some of the fences. Thankfully, they were mostly on a related distance and that made them just a smidge less scary. Being the big wimp that I am, I moved my number down the board to near the end so I could watch a few and then went to find a mounting block big enough for me to get on my horse without pulling a muscle.
Beau was a bit tired but that worked in my favour because it meant that he was more inclined to listen when I told him to wait and I'm just so pleased with how he jumped, even though we didn't get all the way round.
One to two was the same as the last class but I sat quietly and I thought we hit a better take-off spot than in the 1.05. Three was the water tray to the big scary blue oxer - I rode a slightly wider line and didn't end up burying Beau in the fence (result!) but after that things went a little bit wrong. I took the turn wider and ended up getting a little close to the first part of the combination. Beau jumped it (but had it down) and then there was a moment where I considered pulling him out of the second part before deciding against it - I kicked and we got an extra stride in but left it up, and then I kicked some more to get the five strides to the next big oxer.
After that, I decided to retire. He'd done everything I asked of him and gotten me out of trouble a few times, and I didn't want to ruin things by burying him in another big fence in case it hurt his confidence.
[video=youtube;BAXyY-sql8k]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAXyY-sql8k[/video]
So, that's probably going to be it for us this year. I don't know if we'll get out before the Hogmanay show but I still have loads I can be doing at home in the meantime.
And finally... Timehop tells me that it's a year to the day since Beau and I jumped out first British Novice so I dug out the video of our round and well...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0TD1yOqYn0
Thanks for reading.
