Suzy
Well-Known Member
So, it just wasn't meant to be today :-( But what a cracking new event.
I was second in my section (crack of dawn start) and it was quite drizzly when we arrived. In an economy bid, she doesn't have back shoes on and generally is very foot sure, EXCEPT on hard ground that has recently been rained on. She found the dressage arena quite slippy so performed an average test to score 32.6 (shame as she can do a lovely test) but not a million miles of the pace.
I thought the SJ was quite tricky for Intro - lots of dog legs and quite up to height. However, she's a good SJ so did a lovely clear.
The XC was beautifully built, not technical but quite big for an intro. It was a long walk from the lorry park but had a lovely warm up area. The organisers had spent a fortune on the going by laying a xc track of crushed stones and reseeding with grass to guarantee (they hope) good going - and the going was good (but was also my undoing).
We set off xc and she was going beautifully. The time seemed quite tight, but she's nippy so I wasn't worried. We were almost home, when on the approach to the smallest jump on the course (by miles) I lost my steering a little and had to cut in a little tighter than I would otherwise.
At this point sod's law came into play and as we turned she ended up right on the edge of the stone treated grass. As she put her hindleg down, all the stones moved out from under her (as there was nothing left to hold them in being the edge of the path) and her hindlegs went from under her. We both ended up sitting on the floor looking at one another in surprise. We were both fine so clambered back on and finished clear (we had no penalties for the fall as it was on the flat).
However, as I can't vault on like Mark Todd, we clocked up 14 time penalties as a result so were totally out of the running. Very gutting and I felt so sad for my poor pony as she tried really hard and didn't deserve it. The ironic thing is that I think the same would've happened even if she was shod and studded behind.
Thankfully she's not hurt and will live to fight another day, but that day won't be the Intro Finals at Aston le Walls :;-(
I hope everyone else had a good day - the PN looked lovely too, with a few decent questions.
I was second in my section (crack of dawn start) and it was quite drizzly when we arrived. In an economy bid, she doesn't have back shoes on and generally is very foot sure, EXCEPT on hard ground that has recently been rained on. She found the dressage arena quite slippy so performed an average test to score 32.6 (shame as she can do a lovely test) but not a million miles of the pace.
I thought the SJ was quite tricky for Intro - lots of dog legs and quite up to height. However, she's a good SJ so did a lovely clear.
The XC was beautifully built, not technical but quite big for an intro. It was a long walk from the lorry park but had a lovely warm up area. The organisers had spent a fortune on the going by laying a xc track of crushed stones and reseeding with grass to guarantee (they hope) good going - and the going was good (but was also my undoing).
We set off xc and she was going beautifully. The time seemed quite tight, but she's nippy so I wasn't worried. We were almost home, when on the approach to the smallest jump on the course (by miles) I lost my steering a little and had to cut in a little tighter than I would otherwise.
At this point sod's law came into play and as we turned she ended up right on the edge of the stone treated grass. As she put her hindleg down, all the stones moved out from under her (as there was nothing left to hold them in being the edge of the path) and her hindlegs went from under her. We both ended up sitting on the floor looking at one another in surprise. We were both fine so clambered back on and finished clear (we had no penalties for the fall as it was on the flat).
However, as I can't vault on like Mark Todd, we clocked up 14 time penalties as a result so were totally out of the running. Very gutting and I felt so sad for my poor pony as she tried really hard and didn't deserve it. The ironic thing is that I think the same would've happened even if she was shod and studded behind.
Thankfully she's not hurt and will live to fight another day, but that day won't be the Intro Finals at Aston le Walls :;-(
I hope everyone else had a good day - the PN looked lovely too, with a few decent questions.
