Nickymac
Well-Known Member
So I finally managed to get Hector out eventing after a couple of months of him banging his legs together/getting pus in his foot/being sore in his back every time I did an entry.
I ran him last week at Oasby intermediate and he went pretty well, considering it was only his second outing this season: 35 dressage, one down sj and clear cross country, but I went steady as I wanted to get my clear for a two star qualification.
So, arriving at Aston in persistent rain and wind, I wasn't too enthused or hopeful about how my day would go. I walked the course and thought it was big and beefy but pretty straightforward: roll top in water at fence 5, skinny at 7, curving triple bar/ditch/triple bar at 10, corner at 15, big trakehner followed by bounce into water at 17 and 18. So, enough to do....
Warmed up for my dressage alongside WFP, Oli, JP etc - best just not to look too hard at how beautifully their horses are going and just concentrate on your own I reckon. Went in and H was better than he had been warming-up (that's the Cleveland Bay in him - just save the good bits for when someone is watching). Was quite pleased when I came out, which is usually when I get a c**p mark!
Went over to showjump, warmed up ok, then turned into Nutter Pony when he went in, spooking and bouncing about all over the place - not the best feel when everything was up to height and on related distances. Had the stile down as it was on a dog leg from a big oxer which he ballooned over, and my steering went a bit haywire. Also got 3 time but I wouldn't have wanted to go any quicker as it was getting slippery, and it seems lots of people got time.
Went to get changed for cross country and OH had a look to see if my mark was up: 29.5! Dead chuffed with that, so decided I had to put him under a bit of pressure as I would be in with a shout. So off we set, with H a bit shocked at having to go up a gear, and with him not having a gung-ho bone in his body, he wasn't always moving to the fences as I'd like, but that'll come with a bit more mileage. He was clever at the triple bar ditch combo as it was quite slippy by then, so put an extra ickle stride in at each part, then got really deep to the big wide one set in the hedge, but pinged over it with me on the buckle end. I quickly gathered up my reins for the trakehner towards the tradestands, handbrake turned to the bounce into water, which was more of a shuffle than a bounce for Mr Careful! Then up the step out to a log, up the big steps onto the bank then one more and we were finished, yay! I'd heard someone go round with 3.2 time so was disappointed to hear I'd got 12, but when I looked at the board later 11 or 12 was about average.
Hung about for ages to find out I was fifth, so H got 4 points for his efforts. Am very proud of him as he's had a bumpy ride (pardon the pun) over the last year, and it's really good to have him out enjoying himself (even though he'd rather have gone slower, lazy trog that he is!)
I ran him last week at Oasby intermediate and he went pretty well, considering it was only his second outing this season: 35 dressage, one down sj and clear cross country, but I went steady as I wanted to get my clear for a two star qualification.
So, arriving at Aston in persistent rain and wind, I wasn't too enthused or hopeful about how my day would go. I walked the course and thought it was big and beefy but pretty straightforward: roll top in water at fence 5, skinny at 7, curving triple bar/ditch/triple bar at 10, corner at 15, big trakehner followed by bounce into water at 17 and 18. So, enough to do....
Warmed up for my dressage alongside WFP, Oli, JP etc - best just not to look too hard at how beautifully their horses are going and just concentrate on your own I reckon. Went in and H was better than he had been warming-up (that's the Cleveland Bay in him - just save the good bits for when someone is watching). Was quite pleased when I came out, which is usually when I get a c**p mark!
Went over to showjump, warmed up ok, then turned into Nutter Pony when he went in, spooking and bouncing about all over the place - not the best feel when everything was up to height and on related distances. Had the stile down as it was on a dog leg from a big oxer which he ballooned over, and my steering went a bit haywire. Also got 3 time but I wouldn't have wanted to go any quicker as it was getting slippery, and it seems lots of people got time.
Went to get changed for cross country and OH had a look to see if my mark was up: 29.5! Dead chuffed with that, so decided I had to put him under a bit of pressure as I would be in with a shout. So off we set, with H a bit shocked at having to go up a gear, and with him not having a gung-ho bone in his body, he wasn't always moving to the fences as I'd like, but that'll come with a bit more mileage. He was clever at the triple bar ditch combo as it was quite slippy by then, so put an extra ickle stride in at each part, then got really deep to the big wide one set in the hedge, but pinged over it with me on the buckle end. I quickly gathered up my reins for the trakehner towards the tradestands, handbrake turned to the bounce into water, which was more of a shuffle than a bounce for Mr Careful! Then up the step out to a log, up the big steps onto the bank then one more and we were finished, yay! I'd heard someone go round with 3.2 time so was disappointed to hear I'd got 12, but when I looked at the board later 11 or 12 was about average.
Hung about for ages to find out I was fifth, so H got 4 points for his efforts. Am very proud of him as he's had a bumpy ride (pardon the pun) over the last year, and it's really good to have him out enjoying himself (even though he'd rather have gone slower, lazy trog that he is!)
