diggerbez
Well-Known Member
Had fairly early times for the BE90 at Kelsall today- supposed to be at a party tonight, but having got up at 4am i am really doubting that i am going to make the party- so might as well have just had normal times in the end 
Weather was lovely but ground was quite holding. not suprising given the amount of rain there has been in the last week- from what i could gather they were having huge problems building a SJ course because there were so many boggy bits (for those of you who don't know kelsall, its very hilly so they are limited to what flat areas there are)- as it was the SJ warm up wasn't the best, but they did the best they could
Dressage. given that my horse seems to have been possessed by the devil recently i haven't done/ been able to do much schooling with him for about 4 weeks. he's turned work avoidance into an art form
so really wasn't expecting much in the DR- he's gone all stiff and resistant on me, have a DR lesson on weds tho so hopefully will get it sorted out. annoying as he is easily capable of a sub 30 test. anyway, in the end we got a generous 37.5 I'm really sorry if you had to witness it, was probably the worst test i've done on this horse!
SJ- as usual was completely crapping myself. i need to learn to trust him as he hardly ever stops anymore, but lack of practice in a comp environment is having an effect i think (guess what i'm doing over the winter?
) He tapped a few out in the collecting ring (very unlike him)- but i think he didn't overly like the ground/ side of the hill he was having to work off!
As usual i rode like an idiot in the ring but he was very genuine and (despite being a bit 'looky') jumped everything and got his legs out of the way for a clear (hairiest moment was when i didn't ride in the middle of the double and got 2 strides instead of one
)
I have to say it was one of the most 'up to height' intro SJing courses i've ever seen... not that it was mahoosive, but it was bigger and squarer than i seem to remember them being

XC- had been looking forward to this bit as Capt Mark Phillips is now the designer. haven't seen the course for a while but have jumped there loads on other horses, so was looking forwards to a totally new course- but disappointed really that it was very 'the same'. It was a very nice course, always has been there, but nothing really different, just a few jumps moved around. I do hope he didn't cost the organisers £££s!
(or possibly the PN and Nov courses have been changed??)
Warming up, had a slight panic that i really couldn't stop in the collecting ring but figured at least he's now got the idea that he needs to go forwards?! Well, on the course he was AWESOME! he took everything on, really attacked it- the only thing he backed off was the water and thats fine as he's never really liked water but he is getting better with it
i was a bit worried about the log thing and then a curved turn to the corner- he;s only ever jumped one corner at Llanymynech and he climbed over that one- but he jumped it really nicely! also thought he did the slightly offset double near the end great. i'd walked the distance as a long two, short three, so really kicked on to it and he was very straight through on the two strides. am feeling much more confident about the XC phase on him now, and i think we are starting to trust each other....just wish the same would happen in the SJ!
Was also really pleased to get no time pens- at least i know he's going at about the right speed!
Decided not to wait for PG as there were quite a few with better DR than me- but just as i got home a friend called and said i was 8th!!
she was going to collect my rosette for me and post it on, sad i realise as its only a rosette but when you are as rubbish as me you don't get many at BE 
So all in all, for a complete muppet and green 5 year old, a good day's work!
Crumpets and cupcakes (and a splash of rum and coke) for reading
Weather was lovely but ground was quite holding. not suprising given the amount of rain there has been in the last week- from what i could gather they were having huge problems building a SJ course because there were so many boggy bits (for those of you who don't know kelsall, its very hilly so they are limited to what flat areas there are)- as it was the SJ warm up wasn't the best, but they did the best they could
Dressage. given that my horse seems to have been possessed by the devil recently i haven't done/ been able to do much schooling with him for about 4 weeks. he's turned work avoidance into an art form
SJ- as usual was completely crapping myself. i need to learn to trust him as he hardly ever stops anymore, but lack of practice in a comp environment is having an effect i think (guess what i'm doing over the winter?
I have to say it was one of the most 'up to height' intro SJing courses i've ever seen... not that it was mahoosive, but it was bigger and squarer than i seem to remember them being
XC- had been looking forward to this bit as Capt Mark Phillips is now the designer. haven't seen the course for a while but have jumped there loads on other horses, so was looking forwards to a totally new course- but disappointed really that it was very 'the same'. It was a very nice course, always has been there, but nothing really different, just a few jumps moved around. I do hope he didn't cost the organisers £££s!
Warming up, had a slight panic that i really couldn't stop in the collecting ring but figured at least he's now got the idea that he needs to go forwards?! Well, on the course he was AWESOME! he took everything on, really attacked it- the only thing he backed off was the water and thats fine as he's never really liked water but he is getting better with it
i was a bit worried about the log thing and then a curved turn to the corner- he;s only ever jumped one corner at Llanymynech and he climbed over that one- but he jumped it really nicely! also thought he did the slightly offset double near the end great. i'd walked the distance as a long two, short three, so really kicked on to it and he was very straight through on the two strides. am feeling much more confident about the XC phase on him now, and i think we are starting to trust each other....just wish the same would happen in the SJ!
Was also really pleased to get no time pens- at least i know he's going at about the right speed!
Decided not to wait for PG as there were quite a few with better DR than me- but just as i got home a friend called and said i was 8th!!
Crumpets and cupcakes (and a splash of rum and coke) for reading
Last edited: