only_me
Well-Known Member
So another eventing report from Billy and I! This time it was our area eventing for PC (yes, I am still eligible lol), the open class, and we didnt have the best run up to it.
The event was on Sunday and the Monday before he came in from the field very slightly lame nothing in his leg & he was worse on sand. It wasnt a lameness as such but more that he felt short. Left him a day but was still short. On Wednesday the physio came out who found that he was very sore in his shoulder and thought that he probably got his foot caught in a hole in the field. Luckily she was able to sort it out & Ive never seen Billy react so dramatically! He was so so much happier after his session & was completely sound
So roll on Sunday to the event. And the heavens opened!! It poured from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. Ive never been as wet before my jacket was soaked through completely & was still wet the day after!! Billy also started to foam at the neck and every time I patted him on his neck the stain came out of my gloves & he started to turn blue
The actual test wasnt awful, obviously not helped by the pouring rain & strong winds everytime we halted bill turned his bum into it! Can't really blame him But some bits were nice, although slightly confused by the judges comment that in the free walk he had a lateral walk? & gave us a 5 we have done a lot of dressage and never had that comment before, so not too sure what she actually meant! Normally he gets an 8 for his free walk. But overall we finished up with 33.8 leaving us 3rd after dressage!
Next up was the showjumping, where the rain decided to ease up very slightly Was slightly concerned as was a big course on slippy grass & also because have discovered that he appears to jump better with just a sheepskin half pad under the saddle but wasnt sure if it would rub with the amount of rain. I have also found that its easier for me to get my leg on him and support him more before the fence if I ride without spurs.
I get incredibly nervous before showjumping but Very pleased to say we only had 1 down (last part of the treble) and he jumped really really well
So then on to the cross country. It was quite a tricky course & very twisty, not helped by the copious amounts of rain. It was also the first time Ive been xc without spurs on him. Billy was very excited at the prospect of getting to go xc started to get very strong in the warm up and he shot out of the start box like a horse possessed
He flew over the first fence (stone wall) and leapt over the second fence, a big parallel on a slope, but was a bit too keen as we stumbled on landing (it fell away) but I was able to maintain my position which helped him sort himself out & we kept going. Galloped across to a roller and then to the first question on the course, a white palisade with a slight drop 3 curving strides to an arrowhead brush skinny. Billy just ate this up and made it feel very easy
Then across the field to a roller and back up the field to a hedge, then up the hill over a Helsinki log. Past the lorry park and over a big stone wall and then onto what was a very tricky combination.
We had to cross a road, and then had a double of corners, on a very tight angle. If you jumped A straight on you wouldnt get turned for B, so you had to jump A on an tight angle at the wide base end of the corner. Then it was 2 strides to the next corner. Billy was an absolute star here He kept his line and locked on, never wobbled and was fab! Made it feel very easy Someone even told us that we rode it perfectly! Very pleased with Bill here
Then after the corners we galloped across to another combination which was a double of houses jumped on an angle, then flew across to an upright Billy started to get a bit more excited and I had to remind him that I was still the boss Across the field to a log and the sharp right to a jump up 1 stride to a skinny roller. Very pleased with him here he jumped this really well! Then across to a coffin, then a trakener and over a log with a drop. Short jump across and over a brush and then jump down into the water, jump out and then over a skinny. Steep hill up and then over a haycart to finish!
Very pleased with Billy, he was an absolute superstar xc and very pleased with him unfortunately we ended up with quite a few time penalties but so did everyone else in our class, but our team still managed to finish up 2nd and I managed to finish 4th individually
So apart from the rain it was a fab day! Thanks for reading, can offer some tayto crisps Also apologies for the size of the photos, not sure how to resize
The event was on Sunday and the Monday before he came in from the field very slightly lame nothing in his leg & he was worse on sand. It wasnt a lameness as such but more that he felt short. Left him a day but was still short. On Wednesday the physio came out who found that he was very sore in his shoulder and thought that he probably got his foot caught in a hole in the field. Luckily she was able to sort it out & Ive never seen Billy react so dramatically! He was so so much happier after his session & was completely sound
So roll on Sunday to the event. And the heavens opened!! It poured from the moment we arrived to the moment we left. Ive never been as wet before my jacket was soaked through completely & was still wet the day after!! Billy also started to foam at the neck and every time I patted him on his neck the stain came out of my gloves & he started to turn blue
The actual test wasnt awful, obviously not helped by the pouring rain & strong winds everytime we halted bill turned his bum into it! Can't really blame him
But some bits were nice, although slightly confused by the judges comment that in the free walk he had a lateral walk? & gave us a 5 we have done a lot of dressage and never had that comment before, so not too sure what she actually meant! Normally he gets an 8 for his free walk. But overall we finished up with 33.8 leaving us 3rd after dressage!Next up was the showjumping, where the rain decided to ease up very slightly
Was slightly concerned as was a big course on slippy grass & also because have discovered that he appears to jump better with just a sheepskin half pad under the saddle but wasnt sure if it would rub with the amount of rain. I have also found that its easier for me to get my leg on him and support him more before the fence if I ride without spurs. I get incredibly nervous before showjumping but Very pleased to say we only had 1 down (last part of the treble) and he jumped really really well
So then on to the cross country. It was quite a tricky course & very twisty, not helped by the copious amounts of rain. It was also the first time Ive been xc without spurs on him. Billy was very excited at the prospect of getting to go xc started to get very strong in the warm up and he shot out of the start box like a horse possessed
He flew over the first fence (stone wall) and leapt over the second fence, a big parallel on a slope, but was a bit too keen as we stumbled on landing (it fell away) but I was able to maintain my position which helped him sort himself out & we kept going. Galloped across to a roller and then to the first question on the course, a white palisade with a slight drop 3 curving strides to an arrowhead brush skinny. Billy just ate this up and made it feel very easy
Then across the field to a roller and back up the field to a hedge, then up the hill over a Helsinki log. Past the lorry park and over a big stone wall and then onto what was a very tricky combination.
We had to cross a road, and then had a double of corners, on a very tight angle. If you jumped A straight on you wouldnt get turned for B, so you had to jump A on an tight angle at the wide base end of the corner. Then it was 2 strides to the next corner. Billy was an absolute star here
He kept his line and locked on, never wobbled and was fab! Made it feel very easy Someone even told us that we rode it perfectly! Very pleased with Bill here
Then after the corners we galloped across to another combination which was a double of houses jumped on an angle, then flew across to an upright Billy started to get a bit more excited and I had to remind him that I was still the boss
Across the field to a log and the sharp right to a jump up 1 stride to a skinny roller. Very pleased with him here he jumped this really well! Then across to a coffin, then a trakener and over a log with a drop. Short jump across and over a brush and then jump down into the water, jump out and then over a skinny. Steep hill up and then over a haycart to finish!
Very pleased with Billy, he was an absolute superstar xc and very pleased with him
unfortunately we ended up with quite a few time penalties but so did everyone else in our class, but our team still managed to finish up 2nd and I managed to finish 4th individually So apart from the rain it was a fab day! Thanks for reading, can offer some tayto crisps
Also apologies for the size of the photos, not sure how to resize 
I saw some pics on fb, and the skinnies were skinny.