blood_magik
Well-Known Member
We've been busy busy busy this weekend but I have to say the early starts have definitely been worth it given what we achieved. 
Saturday was a 4am start so I could let my house bun out for a bit before heading up to the yard to feed and plait ready for our second attempt at BD. My usual helper (Supergroom) was away on holiday so my dad and I decided to leave a little bit earlier just incase - good thing, too, because we ended up taking the wrong turn off (too busy gabbing) and arrived ten minutes after I'd planned.
The boys were perfectly happy munching away so we headed over to the secretary to get my bridle numbers and find out which arena we were in before I went to get changed into my whites. Raz was up first so we got him off the trailer and pretty much flung his tack on as it suddenly started chucking it down - he was rather unimpressed and practically dragged me over to the indoor warm-up just as soon as his girth was done up.
Once on I concentrated on getting him relaxed and bending around my leg, especially on the right rein as he can be a little stiff on that side. He felt pretty good - a little tense but he's generally pretty spooky and I'd planned on giving him a few minutes to mooch about on a long rein before we went in for our test.
Inside, I took him straight up to the judge's box and rode a few big circles both ways (there wasn't room to work in around the outside) so we approached it from both directions before the bell went and we had to start.
He felt okay until we hit G and then the head came up to ogle the judges. I had to work quite hard to get him into the top left corner but apart from that he felt pretty good - a lot more relaxed than the last time we were out in April. Unfortunately I had a blonde moment and halted at the wrong marker at the end so we lost quite a few marks there and ended up coming 4th on 66.61%.
Next up was Blue. He felt nice and forwards during my warm-up, and was really sharp off my leg but that came back to bite me when we went in for our test as he broke into canter when I put my leg on a little more to push him into one of the corners. He had a little look at the judge's box as we came up the centre line and had a bit of a tantrum when I asked him to halt at the end but in general it was a sweet test, if a little babyish in places. He ended up on 65.7-something% (6th) and the judges comments said that he needs to work from behind into the contact a little more, which I agreed with wholeheartedly.
His second test felt a lot nicer but still had a few blips. He broke to canter again and jogged in one of the medium walks but we got a nice square halt at the end without any argument and he didn't try to throw in a flying change during the canters across the short diagonals. A 3% improvement for 68.80% and 3rd in my section, which my trainer was very happy with given that it was Blue's first dressage outing.
Last up was Raz's novice test. He felt nice and fresh yet relaxed so worked on a few transitions and mediums before letting him mooch on a long rein again. This time, he didn't spook at the judge's box and I felt like I could let my hands go forwards a little more. His medium trots were a little cautious but apparently enough not to warrant a 'not shown' comment. Unfortunately, I didn't get him balanced enough in the first counter canter and he changed a stride or so before the trot transition but I thankfully managed to keep the CC the next time. We ended up third on 69.83%, which was a 9% improvement on our last novice
and 0.34% behind 2nd.
pics:
Then today I took Blue along to a local venue to have a go at a bigger class. New Trainer (NT) had asked last week if we were planning on jumping this weekend and truth be told, I hadn't really given it any thought as we were already out dressage-ing. Anyways, I had a look at the schedule and unfortunately for me, the only class I was eligible for was the 1.05m open. I tentatively broached the subject with my dad a few days later and we agreed that I should try a few bigger fences and then try to have a lesson with At-home trainer (AT) a few days before to try a course.
The single bigger fence felt fine so I booked in with AT on Friday to try linking a few fences together. We didn't go as high as I'd hoped but it went okay, bar the approach to the second combination where I got left behind and kind of threw myself forwards to go with the movement.
[video=youtube;c3yPSJLNNBU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3yPSJLNNBU[/video]
AT agreed that we were good to go for the 1.05m so I asked one of the girls I know from the yard to enter us while I was at dressage yesterday, thinking that I was less likely to pull out if the class had already been paid for.
I actually felt okay this morning considering. We arrived with only ten left to go in the previous class so I wandered round to have a look at the course and gauge how big/technical Robert the course builder was building. The discovery actually looked quite invited so I was quietly confident that I wasn't going to have a heart attack when I walked the course for my class.
NT walked it with me when the time came and kindly hung about to warm us up, which was slightly awkward when AT appeared and came to stand on the other side of the fence.
Blue was a little sluggish coming into the first oxer so I gave him a nudge with my spur and he soon started listening again. I didn't have quite as much warm-up time as I would have liked but the ring steward was getting a bit annoyed with people not being ready to go when their number came up so we popped one last upright, checked the girth and then headed through the tunnel to the arena.
I made a few mistakes but nothing too horrendous. We were a bit underpowered to the first and just rubbed it, and then had two down as I didn't commit to any specific distance. Four, I got too close to and then I saw a crap stride at five coming off the corner and had to slip my reins over the second part of the double. But I think we recovered okay considering.
[video=youtube;DzD50ISyiFE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzD50ISyiFE[/video]
I got a little deep to a few so I obviously need to continue working on that but I felt that my hands were much better today, especially over that fourth fence when he had to really stretch to get us out of trouble. The pace also needs some work as I think it looked like we were out for a Sunday stroll instead of jumping but overall I'm really happy. It felt pretty comfortable, even if Blue did nearly jump me out of the saddle over a few of the fences.
Pics...
Modelling the lovely rug he came with:
And some stills of him jumping because I still can't quite believe just how much scope he has.
And my dad said he'd treat me to a pro pic for getting round in one piece but I couldn't decide and ended up buying three.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=973960590241&l=5e07a1ec5d
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=973960450521&l=df04cc9830
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=973960500421&l=a20d0e273a
I've provisionally set myself the goal of being consistent around a Newcomers track by the end of the year now that Blue and I seem to be clicking properly and I'm going to have a go at the open workers class at the Grandslam show next month so we've got plenty to be getting on with. Hopefully it will be onwards and up-up-upwards from here on in.
Thanks for reading.
Saturday was a 4am start so I could let my house bun out for a bit before heading up to the yard to feed and plait ready for our second attempt at BD. My usual helper (Supergroom) was away on holiday so my dad and I decided to leave a little bit earlier just incase - good thing, too, because we ended up taking the wrong turn off (too busy gabbing) and arrived ten minutes after I'd planned.
The boys were perfectly happy munching away so we headed over to the secretary to get my bridle numbers and find out which arena we were in before I went to get changed into my whites. Raz was up first so we got him off the trailer and pretty much flung his tack on as it suddenly started chucking it down - he was rather unimpressed and practically dragged me over to the indoor warm-up just as soon as his girth was done up.
Once on I concentrated on getting him relaxed and bending around my leg, especially on the right rein as he can be a little stiff on that side. He felt pretty good - a little tense but he's generally pretty spooky and I'd planned on giving him a few minutes to mooch about on a long rein before we went in for our test.
Inside, I took him straight up to the judge's box and rode a few big circles both ways (there wasn't room to work in around the outside) so we approached it from both directions before the bell went and we had to start.
He felt okay until we hit G and then the head came up to ogle the judges. I had to work quite hard to get him into the top left corner but apart from that he felt pretty good - a lot more relaxed than the last time we were out in April. Unfortunately I had a blonde moment and halted at the wrong marker at the end so we lost quite a few marks there and ended up coming 4th on 66.61%.
Next up was Blue. He felt nice and forwards during my warm-up, and was really sharp off my leg but that came back to bite me when we went in for our test as he broke into canter when I put my leg on a little more to push him into one of the corners. He had a little look at the judge's box as we came up the centre line and had a bit of a tantrum when I asked him to halt at the end but in general it was a sweet test, if a little babyish in places. He ended up on 65.7-something% (6th) and the judges comments said that he needs to work from behind into the contact a little more, which I agreed with wholeheartedly.
His second test felt a lot nicer but still had a few blips. He broke to canter again and jogged in one of the medium walks but we got a nice square halt at the end without any argument and he didn't try to throw in a flying change during the canters across the short diagonals. A 3% improvement for 68.80% and 3rd in my section, which my trainer was very happy with given that it was Blue's first dressage outing.
Last up was Raz's novice test. He felt nice and fresh yet relaxed so worked on a few transitions and mediums before letting him mooch on a long rein again. This time, he didn't spook at the judge's box and I felt like I could let my hands go forwards a little more. His medium trots were a little cautious but apparently enough not to warrant a 'not shown' comment. Unfortunately, I didn't get him balanced enough in the first counter canter and he changed a stride or so before the trot transition but I thankfully managed to keep the CC the next time. We ended up third on 69.83%, which was a 9% improvement on our last novice
and 0.34% behind 2nd. pics:
Then today I took Blue along to a local venue to have a go at a bigger class. New Trainer (NT) had asked last week if we were planning on jumping this weekend and truth be told, I hadn't really given it any thought as we were already out dressage-ing. Anyways, I had a look at the schedule and unfortunately for me, the only class I was eligible for was the 1.05m open. I tentatively broached the subject with my dad a few days later and we agreed that I should try a few bigger fences and then try to have a lesson with At-home trainer (AT) a few days before to try a course.
The single bigger fence felt fine so I booked in with AT on Friday to try linking a few fences together. We didn't go as high as I'd hoped but it went okay, bar the approach to the second combination where I got left behind and kind of threw myself forwards to go with the movement.
[video=youtube;c3yPSJLNNBU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3yPSJLNNBU[/video]
AT agreed that we were good to go for the 1.05m so I asked one of the girls I know from the yard to enter us while I was at dressage yesterday, thinking that I was less likely to pull out if the class had already been paid for.
I actually felt okay this morning considering. We arrived with only ten left to go in the previous class so I wandered round to have a look at the course and gauge how big/technical Robert the course builder was building. The discovery actually looked quite invited so I was quietly confident that I wasn't going to have a heart attack when I walked the course for my class.
NT walked it with me when the time came and kindly hung about to warm us up, which was slightly awkward when AT appeared and came to stand on the other side of the fence.
Blue was a little sluggish coming into the first oxer so I gave him a nudge with my spur and he soon started listening again. I didn't have quite as much warm-up time as I would have liked but the ring steward was getting a bit annoyed with people not being ready to go when their number came up so we popped one last upright, checked the girth and then headed through the tunnel to the arena. I made a few mistakes but nothing too horrendous. We were a bit underpowered to the first and just rubbed it, and then had two down as I didn't commit to any specific distance. Four, I got too close to and then I saw a crap stride at five coming off the corner and had to slip my reins over the second part of the double. But I think we recovered okay considering.
[video=youtube;DzD50ISyiFE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzD50ISyiFE[/video]
I got a little deep to a few so I obviously need to continue working on that but I felt that my hands were much better today, especially over that fourth fence when he had to really stretch to get us out of trouble. The pace also needs some work as I think it looked like we were out for a Sunday stroll instead of jumping
but overall I'm really happy. It felt pretty comfortable, even if Blue did nearly jump me out of the saddle over a few of the fences. Pics...
Modelling the lovely rug he came with:
And some stills of him jumping because I still can't quite believe just how much scope he has.
And my dad said he'd treat me to a pro pic for getting round in one piece but I couldn't decide and ended up buying three.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=973960590241&l=5e07a1ec5d
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=973960450521&l=df04cc9830
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=973960500421&l=a20d0e273a
I've provisionally set myself the goal of being consistent around a Newcomers track by the end of the year now that Blue and I seem to be clicking properly and I'm going to have a go at the open workers class at the Grandslam show next month so we've got plenty to be getting on with. Hopefully it will be onwards and up-up-upwards from here on in.
Thanks for reading.
