coedcae
Well-Known Member
Although we ended up with the big E, oddily enough I really enjoyed my day and was really pleased with how she went.
As some of you may have remembered I decided to stop eventing my mare in June as she had really lost the plot, verging on the edge of getting dangerous, with mega stresses at the start of the XC and ducking and diving as we went round. To the extent that I thought there was something wrong with her eye sight. I had the vet give her a thorough going over and apart from the melanomas, he could find nothing wrong.
So, I have spent all summer giving her time to chill, reschooling and making life as stress free as possible. By September I had my old horse back, so decided to give her a 2nd chance and entered B&W, as I remembered it as being a fairly easy PN.
I asked my instructor to come with me, as its not easy to describe what she is like. Dressage she warmed up nicely but I felt she was rather stuffy in the test. She never performs as well on grass but she did a calm, accurate test to score 34. I was really pleased
I then whizzed round the XC course, as I only had 40 mins before I needed to warm up for the SJ.
I thought it was quite a tough PN, there had obviously been alot of problems on Saturday at Fence 6, a skinny triple brush (on a downhill), to 2 steps down, followed by another skinny triple brush. Apparently, only about 1 in 6 riders got over it and by Sunday they had changed it, to just the 1st triple brush and the steps, or the steps and the 2nd triple brush.
Fence 4, looked tricky, a pheasant feeder type thing, riding on a curve to a huge corner, also on a downhill. The rest I didnt think would be a problem for her, apart from Fence 11 a hedge with one stride to a ditch, jumping from light to dark. She has never been good with ditches and whenever she jumps one, even if she has done it hundred times, she'll jump miles higher than she needs to, balloning up into the air.
Got back to warm up for the SJ and she was going fab. My instructor says I should warm up for the dressage as if I'm doing the SJing, as she was really moving in trot and pinging off the floor in canter. Anyway, she jumped the most beautiful clear. I was beaming, she felt so wonderful, I was nearly pinged out of the saddle over every jump.
On to the XC.... I waited as long as I dared in the lorry park, as she only needs to be 3 mins in the warm up and then needs to go. But got up there and there were loads waiting, after about 10 mins, she was starting to lose the plot. She goes into a nappy type of thing, rearing and spinning round, every time she gets to a point in the direction of the lorry. So I asked the steward if I could take her back and she suggested taking her over to what must have been the warm up from the day before. She settled more in there and I could keep her moving without worrying about her leaping on top of someone.
Got to the start, by which time my instructor was back from walking the course and warned me about Fences 8ab and 9, three skinny roll tops, on a curve, as she seen a horse and rider come down trying to turn
Luckily, at the start box, there was enough space to keep my mare moving and we only had one hissy fit of rearing and spinning, where the starter asked very politely if I could try and not kill him
Set off and she was going beautifully, I got her in a lovely rhythm and she was making mincemeat of everything. I was really enjoying myself, she gives you such a fantastic feeling XC, really flying. But more importantly was that she wasn't charging off, getting underneath fences, spooking left and right between fences, as she had at Longleat.
So got to Fence 11, the hedge with ditch behind, and she was locked on to the hedge and then just on the last stride she spotted the ditch on the otherside and slammed on the brakes. Brought her round and she popped in and stopped sharp at the ditch, nearly came a cropper but clung on. Final try at just the ditch and she was having none of it. I could see she was genuinely terrified. I turned round to the Fence judge and he agreed we were eliminated.
So had a long walk back to the lorry park.
My instructor was so disappointed for us, as we would have been 3rd had we completed the XC but I was really pleased as it confirmed what I had thought, that her brain will always let her down on the XC. As we have schooled over loads of different ditches but of course they are all slightly different. The way she reacts at the start, I think shows that she is worried by it, rather than enjoying it. She has a huge amount of ability and scope but is too much of a stress head.
I really don't enjoy just going SJ or dressage, but I plan to do some BSJA with her this winter, as she really has a good pop. In the spring I may try and get her in foal. I need to speak to the vet first, to see if her melanomas will stop her from taking.
I've had her since she was a yearling (10 now) and spent a huge amount of effort on her, as she is not an easy horse, we've overcome loads of things but I think its time to finally time to call it a day with the eventing.
As some of you may have remembered I decided to stop eventing my mare in June as she had really lost the plot, verging on the edge of getting dangerous, with mega stresses at the start of the XC and ducking and diving as we went round. To the extent that I thought there was something wrong with her eye sight. I had the vet give her a thorough going over and apart from the melanomas, he could find nothing wrong.
So, I have spent all summer giving her time to chill, reschooling and making life as stress free as possible. By September I had my old horse back, so decided to give her a 2nd chance and entered B&W, as I remembered it as being a fairly easy PN.
I asked my instructor to come with me, as its not easy to describe what she is like. Dressage she warmed up nicely but I felt she was rather stuffy in the test. She never performs as well on grass but she did a calm, accurate test to score 34. I was really pleased
I then whizzed round the XC course, as I only had 40 mins before I needed to warm up for the SJ.
I thought it was quite a tough PN, there had obviously been alot of problems on Saturday at Fence 6, a skinny triple brush (on a downhill), to 2 steps down, followed by another skinny triple brush. Apparently, only about 1 in 6 riders got over it and by Sunday they had changed it, to just the 1st triple brush and the steps, or the steps and the 2nd triple brush.
Fence 4, looked tricky, a pheasant feeder type thing, riding on a curve to a huge corner, also on a downhill. The rest I didnt think would be a problem for her, apart from Fence 11 a hedge with one stride to a ditch, jumping from light to dark. She has never been good with ditches and whenever she jumps one, even if she has done it hundred times, she'll jump miles higher than she needs to, balloning up into the air.
Got back to warm up for the SJ and she was going fab. My instructor says I should warm up for the dressage as if I'm doing the SJing, as she was really moving in trot and pinging off the floor in canter. Anyway, she jumped the most beautiful clear. I was beaming, she felt so wonderful, I was nearly pinged out of the saddle over every jump.
On to the XC.... I waited as long as I dared in the lorry park, as she only needs to be 3 mins in the warm up and then needs to go. But got up there and there were loads waiting, after about 10 mins, she was starting to lose the plot. She goes into a nappy type of thing, rearing and spinning round, every time she gets to a point in the direction of the lorry. So I asked the steward if I could take her back and she suggested taking her over to what must have been the warm up from the day before. She settled more in there and I could keep her moving without worrying about her leaping on top of someone.
Got to the start, by which time my instructor was back from walking the course and warned me about Fences 8ab and 9, three skinny roll tops, on a curve, as she seen a horse and rider come down trying to turn
Luckily, at the start box, there was enough space to keep my mare moving and we only had one hissy fit of rearing and spinning, where the starter asked very politely if I could try and not kill him
Set off and she was going beautifully, I got her in a lovely rhythm and she was making mincemeat of everything. I was really enjoying myself, she gives you such a fantastic feeling XC, really flying. But more importantly was that she wasn't charging off, getting underneath fences, spooking left and right between fences, as she had at Longleat.
So got to Fence 11, the hedge with ditch behind, and she was locked on to the hedge and then just on the last stride she spotted the ditch on the otherside and slammed on the brakes. Brought her round and she popped in and stopped sharp at the ditch, nearly came a cropper but clung on. Final try at just the ditch and she was having none of it. I could see she was genuinely terrified. I turned round to the Fence judge and he agreed we were eliminated.
So had a long walk back to the lorry park.
My instructor was so disappointed for us, as we would have been 3rd had we completed the XC but I was really pleased as it confirmed what I had thought, that her brain will always let her down on the XC. As we have schooled over loads of different ditches but of course they are all slightly different. The way she reacts at the start, I think shows that she is worried by it, rather than enjoying it. She has a huge amount of ability and scope but is too much of a stress head.
I really don't enjoy just going SJ or dressage, but I plan to do some BSJA with her this winter, as she really has a good pop. In the spring I may try and get her in foal. I need to speak to the vet first, to see if her melanomas will stop her from taking.
I've had her since she was a yearling (10 now) and spent a huge amount of effort on her, as she is not an easy horse, we've overcome loads of things but I think its time to finally time to call it a day with the eventing.
