Nickymac
Well-Known Member
I'd not been to Eland before and what with everything having been cancelled lately, I was really looking forward to it even though I knew it was going to be a busy day.
I had Ross (my tall lanky One) and Austin (friend's cheeky sharp one) in the PAVO 5yr old class, and Fraser (OH's hunter-turned-eventer) in the PAVO 6yr old class. Austin managed to contain his cheekiness and did a 34 dressage, had one down showjumping, and was fantastic cross country, quick and bold and sharp as ever. I knew it would be a competitive section with the scores being close, but was hopeful that he might get placed, even with a fence down. Ross hadn't been anywhere since Burnham Mkt in April so I had no idea what he'd be like, but after a bit of bucking in the warm up he did a really sweet test. The judge stopped me when I'd finished and wanted to know all about his breeding etc, and said how mature he was (I think she meant fat!), so I was really chuffed to find out I'd got 30.5 and was in the lead. Not so chuffed when he then lost that lead by having the smallest upright down showjumping, but hey ho. He was brill cross country, never bat an eyelid at anything and looked a bit like - for those who remember him - King Boris, with his tail swishing the whole way round and the odd buck here and there just to show what a good time he was having! So, he ended up 7th and looks like he's qualified for the finals, poor Austin was 10th, one more starter and he would have qualified too (unless by any stroke of luck any of the ones placed above him have already qualified). So a good day for the baby horses.
Fraser was a complete and utter b****rd, he hates dressage at the best of times so warmed up with what my mum would called "a face on", but once we went in he felt a bit less plank-like and resistant and I expected a late-30s if not early-40s Unbelievably he got 28.6 which was about 5th, and it did look better on the video than it felt. He pinged around the showjumping and had one down, a related distance when he got very quick in the air and caught it behind. Onto the cross country, our last outing at Little Downham was his first novice and he gawped at a ditch at fence 4, landed in it and I came off, so I was a bit bothered about the meaty double of trakeheners at 7, but he was great. In an ideal world he'd like to gallop inbetween fences, then mince on the approach, just checking they're safe to jump, pop over, then gallop off again, so it was quite hard work to persuade him to crack on a bit, and I reckon we still wasted a couple of seconds at each fence while he was being Mr Cautious, but he was clear so I shouldn't knock him. I'm sure a season hunting with my OH on him will do him the world of good. So no placing for him but a very educational outing all in all.
It's been a while since I've ridden three at an event but it was great fun and I don't ache too badly....yet!
PS. Well done if you've got this far, sorry for rambling on so much
I had Ross (my tall lanky One) and Austin (friend's cheeky sharp one) in the PAVO 5yr old class, and Fraser (OH's hunter-turned-eventer) in the PAVO 6yr old class. Austin managed to contain his cheekiness and did a 34 dressage, had one down showjumping, and was fantastic cross country, quick and bold and sharp as ever. I knew it would be a competitive section with the scores being close, but was hopeful that he might get placed, even with a fence down. Ross hadn't been anywhere since Burnham Mkt in April so I had no idea what he'd be like, but after a bit of bucking in the warm up he did a really sweet test. The judge stopped me when I'd finished and wanted to know all about his breeding etc, and said how mature he was (I think she meant fat!), so I was really chuffed to find out I'd got 30.5 and was in the lead. Not so chuffed when he then lost that lead by having the smallest upright down showjumping, but hey ho. He was brill cross country, never bat an eyelid at anything and looked a bit like - for those who remember him - King Boris, with his tail swishing the whole way round and the odd buck here and there just to show what a good time he was having! So, he ended up 7th and looks like he's qualified for the finals, poor Austin was 10th, one more starter and he would have qualified too (unless by any stroke of luck any of the ones placed above him have already qualified). So a good day for the baby horses.
Fraser was a complete and utter b****rd, he hates dressage at the best of times so warmed up with what my mum would called "a face on", but once we went in he felt a bit less plank-like and resistant and I expected a late-30s if not early-40s Unbelievably he got 28.6 which was about 5th, and it did look better on the video than it felt. He pinged around the showjumping and had one down, a related distance when he got very quick in the air and caught it behind. Onto the cross country, our last outing at Little Downham was his first novice and he gawped at a ditch at fence 4, landed in it and I came off, so I was a bit bothered about the meaty double of trakeheners at 7, but he was great. In an ideal world he'd like to gallop inbetween fences, then mince on the approach, just checking they're safe to jump, pop over, then gallop off again, so it was quite hard work to persuade him to crack on a bit, and I reckon we still wasted a couple of seconds at each fence while he was being Mr Cautious, but he was clear so I shouldn't knock him. I'm sure a season hunting with my OH on him will do him the world of good. So no placing for him but a very educational outing all in all.
It's been a while since I've ridden three at an event but it was great fun and I don't ache too badly....yet!
PS. Well done if you've got this far, sorry for rambling on so much
