A rather late ALW report. GBO gets a new name.

SpottedCat

SpottedCat

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So last Saturday I made the trek up to ALW because I thought the pair of us needed a nice 90cm outing before going BE again.

Prep has been, err, interesting - on the one hand I've had lessons, done BD and even won some ££ BS. On the other, GBO (now renamed ASBO horse - but more of that later) has been malingering via pulled shoes and a recurring abcess.

Set off to pick up a friend en route, and arrived to discover ASBO horse had actually popped an external panel out of the side of the lorry. Kick board was still intact, so I made the executive decision to ring lorry man and arrange to drop it off that evening, curse ASBO horse a lot and then carry on. Didn't hear a peep out of him at any point on the lorry from then on - perhaps he thought his work was done?!

Arrived at ALW, failed miserably to leave enough time to trek from box to dressage, and had a v over excited horse as XC ran on 2 sides of the dressage. He started well - 7s and 8s with 'good balance, cadence and power'. Things then declined rather rapidly until the final movement where his jubilation at going eventing could no longer be contained and he tried to canter up the centre line. Sideways. I shook my head ruefully at the judge, who smiled in a commiserating fashion (I'd sacrificed the movement by making him halt, submit and do it properly). End result was a forgettable 39.5 and a comment of 'patiently ridden'! As luck would have it, there was a break directly after me, so the lovely stewards let me go and instill some discipline in him, which was greatly appreciated by me if not by him!

Went to watch the SJ - met the very nice PaddyMonty and nearly got squashed by a horse rearing and landing on the grandstand :eek:

SJ was running v behind, so a bit of hanging about later and we made it in. PaddyMonty videoed it for me, so here it is. I can only say horse and I had a disagreement to 4, who knows why?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4byFo666fes&feature=youtube_gdata_player

A nice clear under our belt we headed off to the XC. Suffice to say it was clear, in the time but a bit wild as ASBO horse is a bit better with something more to back him off. Pics linked below:

http://www.equestrianphotography.co...184847&zenid=b0ae9ae1b54a15aef93d04cb923166ce

http://www.equestrianphotography.co...h=1591_2771_2773_2777_2792&products_id=184511

So another DC under our belts (lucky as after the lorry antics and the dressage I was threatening to just turn him loose there on the basis he's a brown horse with no markings so untraceable...), we headed home. Except as I drove out of the gate the speedo stopped working, meaning the limiter also stopped working.

Got home, unloaded, then drove lorry to lorry man...but the drama was not over - it kept feeling like the power was going - no revs at all, then it'd kick in again. By the time we limped there and got home it was 1am - and I had to pack because a taxi was picking us up at 6.45 to get a coach to Gatwick as I am currently snowboarding in Andorra. 6 hours a day on the slopes is quite restful in comparison to that little day!
 
Hope you're liking Andorra!

Congrats, what a good start to the season (bar the ASBO!) onwards and upwards :)
 
Sounds like a very long day (lucky you now in Andorra) but a very successful start to the season, and a chance to blow the cobwebs away :D
 
LJR - the day started at 6am and finished at 2.30 am the following morning! The coach trip to Gatwick was also eventful - an old lady fainted and her daughter was convinced she was dead :eek:
 
Sounds like a good enough first outing, can't expect anything other than excitement really! :)

Hope you are having a good time snowboarding! :D
 
Snowboarding is amazing thanks - have had a couple of private lessons with Diego the Argentinian and can now ride switch and do 180s - the latter is a bit hit and miss as confirmed when OH was videoing earlier! I was, until recently, utterly rubbish at snowboarding (much like showjumping - I'd blame sports beginning with S except I am quite good at skating!), but like with the SJ, two decent trainers later and I am at least enjoying myself doing both, which is the main thing!
 
Well, I keep offering a home to ASBO horse, where he will get mega cuddles and be spoilt rotten, even when he is being grumpy, and you know we are not far from you.

Well done for a good day, and unaffiliated is a great way of sorting out err, disagreements without it going on your record He is looking good though. Sorry about the lorry thought and enjoy your break in Andorra.

I did laugh at the name of your instructor, as thats the name of a certain grey 13.2 welsh section C that Mini TX is going to ride for a while. If you knew the horse, you would understand why I am sniggering.......
 
Jealous of the snowboarding, and the obvious skills despite your modesty ;) I dream of being able to do that, and not being a chicken and pistebashing my way down the mogul fields ;) :D

Sounds an interesting day out too - heard about the grandstand from P&M :eek:

Re the horsebox - ours did that too - was there a burning smell? Something had gone amiss with our brakes, and as a result they were coming on when we were driving, meaning we lost all power and kept having to stop and pump the brakes to release it. Garage annoyingly took ages to find the fault, and kept sending it back 'fixed' it was only when their main man returned he realised immediately what was going on :rolleyes:
 
Naughty GBO! Perhaps he'd heard he was in the 90cm and was so offended he re-arranged the lorry for you? Enjoy Andorra, I think my husband would be infinitely suspicious of anyone called Diego the Argentinian offering private lessons in anything!
 
tigers_eye said:
Naughty GBO! Perhaps he'd heard he was in the 90cm and was so offended he re-arranged the lorry for you? Enjoy Andorra, I think my husband would be infinitely suspicious of anyone called Diego the Argentinian offering private lessons in anything!
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Based on past expereince I would say that your husbands suspicion would be highly justified! ;)

Well done on a nice DC to start the season SC! Naughty ASBO horse rearranging your lorry for you.
Best of luck at your next BE event and I hope you are enjoying the snowboarding! It does sounds like a lot of fun!
 
Lol - husband thankfully not suspicious at all, more pleased that I have finally started to look half way competent on a board!! Diego did talk about his son and point out his wife so I think that perhaps I'd need to be significantly more attractive for husband to need to worry ;)

PS - what you see in the SJ vid is a result of many many hours of experimentation and patience by Chatter1. If it all looks like it needs to be taken down a notch then that means I have it right and he will jump clear 9 times out of 10. If it looks right and as though he is listening and waiting, we have about 3 down. I do not know why this is, but it makes me glad when people can see it as it means I have finally started to overcome competition nerves and ride him as he needs to be ridden for the clear. :)
 
He's a bit special in the SJ - result of a total loss of confidence after the ulcers. It is interesting though, as I think you are correct in what you are seeing - it just happens to work for this horse!
 
SpottedCat said:
PS - what you see in the SJ vid is a result of many many hours of experimentation and patience by Chatter1. If it all looks like it needs to be taken down a notch then that means I have it right and he will jump clear 9 times out of 10. If it looks right and as though he is listening and waiting, we have about 3 down. I do not know why this is, but it makes me glad when people can see it as it means I have finally started to overcome competition nerves and ride him as he needs to be ridden for the clear. :)
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When I watched the SJ vid the first thing I thought was "thank god someone who jumps with a proper energetic canter!" :D

Nice photos too :)
 
Thanks Saratoga! He was a bit wild to fence 4, but I have to ride him all bouncy and up together like that to stand any chance of going clear! Bound to be a bit ring rusty at the first event of the year, but as he's only touched one pole in competition so far in 2012 I am secretly quite pleased with us both (especially as that pole was first fence in a discovery that had the same first fence as the BN and all he did wrong was jump BN height again!)
 
It's amazing how much energy and jump the canter needs to really jump their best....but still be in control, soft and over their back.....something I am learning fast at the moment as I have spent too long trying to organise the canter of my big lad but have actually ended up killing it! :rolleyes:
 
Saratoga said:
It's amazing how much energy and jump the canter needs to really jump their best....but still be in control, soft and over their back.....something I am learning fast at the moment as I have spent too long trying to organise the canter of my big lad but have actually ended up killing it! :rolleyes:
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I'm going to jump on this bandwagon too! My clear rounds on one of mine tend to be when I dare mine a bit more and up the pace. If I keep putting him spot on into a perfect stride (usually by accident ;)) then he gets a bit casual... so my excuse for getting it wrong a bit is to dare him and keep him trying ;)! Who cares what it looks like if the poles stay up :cool:
 
Interesting isn't it? I don't worry much about what anyone except Chatter1 thinks of it, but I do welcome opinions. I reckon from the vid you'd be inclined to say his head's a bit high so therefore he's not totally over his back. However a well known trainer who is also a FBHS once told me to ignore anyone who told me his head should be in a different position as I'd kill his jump.

I'm personally going on the results - before Chatter1 had her influence on the whole deal, I'd never jumped a DC eventing ;)
 
Just to clarify - I have realised my comment may have come across as rude! - I'm not saying your round looks bad at all! In fact, I think he is looking pretty bloody good :)
 
SpottedCat said:
Interesting isn't it? I don't worry much about what anyone except Chatter1 thinks of it, but I do welcome opinions. I reckon from the vid you'd be inclined to say his head's a bit high so therefore he's not totally over his back. However a well known trainer who is also a FBHS once told me to ignore anyone who told me his head should be in a different position as I'd kill his jump.

I'm personally going on the results - before Chatter1 had her influence on the whole deal, I'd never jumped a DC eventing ;)
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As long as there is no block on the energy flow then they can carry their heads where they like :)
 
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