sfward
Well-Known Member
Well Saturday was Missie's first pre-novice, at Allerton Park, one of my favourite events
It isn't normally considered to be a first time run at any level and she is only just 5, so I was feeling a tad nervous beforehand wondering if I was being a bit over-ambitious! I felt a little happier on walking the course though as it was as I expected, big and bold but fairly straightforward, which I thought would suit her as she is so bold and brave.
Warming up for dressage she was a little tense which was a new development - I think she is getting the hang of this eventing lark and now knows what is coming after the boring dressage bit! She felt a little on her toes during the test but managed a reasonable job for 35.5, just losing marks for straightness (her and me!) as we still have a bit of a problem with her throwing her shoulder out which has a knock on effect on my position (end up sitting left), but on the plus side she was much lighter in her mouth and more even in both reins so I think we're making progress despite the mark being not as good as Richmond...
The SJ was running about 40 mins late so we had far too much time walking around getting nervous and watching other people go. When we finally got to go in she jumped a lovely round over a very twisty track, just having number 2 (upright on odd bending line) down in front - we just got a bit close and she didn't get her legs out of the way in time (Silly mother can't manage a whole SJ round without missing at at least 1 fence...!!) Very irritating but being a 4 faults expert now I'm being philosophical and I'm pleased with an improved round even though it did cost us a place in the end.
As usual we saved the best til last on the XC. By fence 2 we were already flying - I had a bit of a job getting her back for fence 3 which was step up to gas pipe - I overheard the commentator remarking that we were 'not wasting any time' or something to that effect! Over the enormous brush near the lake we flew, then whizzed through the busy line of fences in the wood very neatly. Had a slight sticky green moment at the sunken road which was causing quite a few problems, but she was really honest and went. I was really pleased with her at the narrow barrels before the water as she hasn't jumped many narrows but she was straight as a die. Actually pulled me through both parts of the water then took a whole stride out at the sheep feeder, which she obviously enjoyed as I almost got p***ed off with on the way to the next fence! Fortunately she has enough of a brain to listen before a fence so she came back nicely and we made a nice job of the next two, and then she was really honest at a nasty narrow upright rail next to the lake as we didn't get the best of strides. Took the last 2 in her stride and through the finish for a lovely clear
She's such a fantastic galloper, she makes it feel easy and obviously loves it; I think with a bit more experience she's going to be a fab XC horse.
Although she gets quite strong she listens and comes back and is so neat over a fence so it doesn't worry me any more. I didn't realise quite how fast we'd gone until I looked at the scoreboard and realised we were 1 sec off being penalised for going too fast - and I didn't kick once
So all in all a good day!
Looking forward to our next outing at Aske on Saturday, probably a different sort of test as it tends to be a bit more technical.
Well done if you got this far
Piccies to follow hopefully...
S x
Warming up for dressage she was a little tense which was a new development - I think she is getting the hang of this eventing lark and now knows what is coming after the boring dressage bit! She felt a little on her toes during the test but managed a reasonable job for 35.5, just losing marks for straightness (her and me!) as we still have a bit of a problem with her throwing her shoulder out which has a knock on effect on my position (end up sitting left), but on the plus side she was much lighter in her mouth and more even in both reins so I think we're making progress despite the mark being not as good as Richmond...
The SJ was running about 40 mins late so we had far too much time walking around getting nervous and watching other people go. When we finally got to go in she jumped a lovely round over a very twisty track, just having number 2 (upright on odd bending line) down in front - we just got a bit close and she didn't get her legs out of the way in time (Silly mother can't manage a whole SJ round without missing at at least 1 fence...!!) Very irritating but being a 4 faults expert now I'm being philosophical and I'm pleased with an improved round even though it did cost us a place in the end.
As usual we saved the best til last on the XC. By fence 2 we were already flying - I had a bit of a job getting her back for fence 3 which was step up to gas pipe - I overheard the commentator remarking that we were 'not wasting any time' or something to that effect! Over the enormous brush near the lake we flew, then whizzed through the busy line of fences in the wood very neatly. Had a slight sticky green moment at the sunken road which was causing quite a few problems, but she was really honest and went. I was really pleased with her at the narrow barrels before the water as she hasn't jumped many narrows but she was straight as a die. Actually pulled me through both parts of the water then took a whole stride out at the sheep feeder, which she obviously enjoyed as I almost got p***ed off with on the way to the next fence! Fortunately she has enough of a brain to listen before a fence so she came back nicely and we made a nice job of the next two, and then she was really honest at a nasty narrow upright rail next to the lake as we didn't get the best of strides. Took the last 2 in her stride and through the finish for a lovely clear
So all in all a good day!
Well done if you got this far
S x
