catembi
Well-Known Member
Well, this is my first comp report for a while without a
...
Last time we went jumping, Adrian had a fit of the broncos in the warmup to the extent that I had to take him out, then in his round he was so fast & furious that it was a bit like doing a gymkhana...
Since then, my trainer has totally re-worked his diet for me & also lent me a Myler, so today was the day to see if all the tweaks were working!
The day got off to a good start cos for once I'd remembered to change my WOW flaps the day before, plus o/h was not only up early but also in a good mood. (o/h, early & 'good mood' do not normally occur in the same sentence...) Thought about washing A's tail, but decided to be a devil & leave it. After all, it won't make him jump any higher.
Got there in good time, walked the course (British Novice) which looked okay, then started warming up. The first couple of jumps were okay, then Adrian lit up & got v strong. He's miles better in the Myler so altho he sticks his head up & argues for a bit, he then gives in, & the arguments are getting shorter all the time. He's trying to get his tongue over the bit & is in the process of working out that he can't any more!
But... NO bucking!!
Didn't warm up for too long as he does tend to get stronger & stronger if he's just doing the same couple of jumps, so we went in fairly early. No 1 was an upright on the centre line & quite hard to get to, also not v big, & normally with little uprights A decides that he might as well trip over them rather than jumping properly. Today he picked his feet up nicely, & then we had to nearly double back on ourselves for no 2. This was another upright, but A was being v strong & wouldn't turn, so by the time he was facing the right way & looking at the right jump, we were on top of it & somewhere between walk & halt.
I didn't think he could jump from there, but gave him a hopeful nudge & he actually came through for me & jumped it. There was a long related distance to a fairly long double, so sat down & rode to get my stride.
TBH, that was the end of our disasters for the day. I pointed him where I wanted to go & he jumped whatever was in front of him, & we got our 2nd ever clear at BN!!
There were 14 clears out of around 30 starters, & o/h & I discussed tactics & decided I was going to go for a steady clear to put towards BN 2nd round. Unfortunately no-one told A...
I was totally trying to stick to the plan, but cos he was excited, he wouldn't turn, so I was having to turn with one hand on his neck & one on the rein. Which resulted in some totally accidental tight turns, & we came out in 3rd place, & had slipped to 4th by the end of the class.
So that was our first ever double clear, & our first winnings together bsja. He'd won £40 with the dealer, & now he's got another £11 to add to it. He did get v excited in the lap of honour & I had to head him into the wall to stop him & avoid careering out of the school & galloping thru the warmup, but that's a great improvement cos last time out I had to 'use' the wall twice in my round
So not such a funny report as usual, but never fear - we'll be out & about dressaging in a week or two which should be good for some unplanned 'happenings'
Video to follow when o/h works out how to transfer a video tape to digital.
Last time we went jumping, Adrian had a fit of the broncos in the warmup to the extent that I had to take him out, then in his round he was so fast & furious that it was a bit like doing a gymkhana...
Since then, my trainer has totally re-worked his diet for me & also lent me a Myler, so today was the day to see if all the tweaks were working!
The day got off to a good start cos for once I'd remembered to change my WOW flaps the day before, plus o/h was not only up early but also in a good mood. (o/h, early & 'good mood' do not normally occur in the same sentence...) Thought about washing A's tail, but decided to be a devil & leave it. After all, it won't make him jump any higher.
Got there in good time, walked the course (British Novice) which looked okay, then started warming up. The first couple of jumps were okay, then Adrian lit up & got v strong. He's miles better in the Myler so altho he sticks his head up & argues for a bit, he then gives in, & the arguments are getting shorter all the time. He's trying to get his tongue over the bit & is in the process of working out that he can't any more!
But... NO bucking!!
TBH, that was the end of our disasters for the day. I pointed him where I wanted to go & he jumped whatever was in front of him, & we got our 2nd ever clear at BN!!
There were 14 clears out of around 30 starters, & o/h & I discussed tactics & decided I was going to go for a steady clear to put towards BN 2nd round. Unfortunately no-one told A...
So that was our first ever double clear, & our first winnings together bsja. He'd won £40 with the dealer, & now he's got another £11 to add to it. He did get v excited in the lap of honour & I had to head him into the wall to stop him & avoid careering out of the school & galloping thru the warmup, but that's a great improvement cos last time out I had to 'use' the wall twice in my round
So not such a funny report as usual, but never fear - we'll be out & about dressaging in a week or two which should be good for some unplanned 'happenings'
Video to follow when o/h works out how to transfer a video tape to digital.
