Bank holiday weekend plans

Wheels

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It is strange MP

Although different judges obviously have different opinions too so it might well be that your better test was better but just that judge is particularly harsh?

I wish I could even have managed a 5 in my last novice test for medium trot, only got 4s and a comment saying 'not medium'

Well no, they were just lengthened steps I suppose but thought it was a bit harsh for a clearly young horse in a novice test!
 

ihatework

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Well gigantasaurus pony went off for his second attempt at novice, and off he trundled before crack of dawn down M5 to avoid the bank holiday traffic to Pontispool.

Dressage was pretty good, it was the harder test for him with LY, stretchy trot serpentine and WtC but he really tries his heart out and almost got a clear round (story of the day!) to get low 30’s.

Showjumping was MAYHEM. When will BE learn that trying to run to start list order never works. Ho hum. SJ volunteer got a lot of flack and was stressed and at times quite rude (as were some of the competitors), but her orders came from the BE steward who needs to take responsibility for the shambles.

Anyway, despite that he jumped probably his best round yet and was unfortunate to breathe on the middle of the treble to have it down.

XC had even the pro’s mumbling!
It was very strong - some max height/width dimensions tables,owlhole, a double of upright corners on a curve and plenty of combinations using banks/hollows with hanging logs and skinny triples. The first water was a decent log directly in on a right turn out up a double of blue steps to an offset skinny triple!

Perfect if you are just about to upgrade to intermediate but not so perfect for a greenie.

Anyway, he ate most of it up, was super honest on his line in the technical stuff, felt scopey over the big stuff and was only caught out by his first proper jump into water - had a look then came around and popped in well on second attempt.

So not great on paper but definitely his best run to date, only his 7th affiliated event and we are now on course for Nunney, Barbary and then a 2*
 

Wheels

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Well gigantasaurus pony went off for his second attempt at novice, and off he trundled before crack of dawn down M5 to avoid the bank holiday traffic to Pontispool.

Dressage was pretty good, it was the harder test for him with LY, stretchy trot serpentine and WtC but he really tries his heart out and almost got a clear round (story of the day!) to get low 30’s.

Showjumping was MAYHEM. When will BE learn that trying to run to start list order never works. Ho hum. SJ volunteer got a lot of flack and was stressed and at times quite rude (as were some of the competitors), but her orders came from the BE steward who needs to take responsibility for the shambles.

Anyway, despite that he jumped probably his best round yet and was unfortunate to breathe on the middle of the treble to have it down.

XC had even the pro’s mumbling!
It was very strong - some max height/width dimensions tables,owlhole, a double of upright corners on a curve and plenty of combinations using banks/hollows with hanging logs and skinny triples. The first water was a decent log directly in on a right turn out up a double of blue steps to an offset skinny triple!

Perfect if you are just about to upgrade to intermediate but not so perfect for a greenie.

Anyway, he ate most of it up, was super honest on his line in the technical stuff, felt scopey over the big stuff and was only caught out by his first proper jump into water - had a look then came around and popped in well on second attempt.

So not great on paper but definitely his best run to date, only his 7th affiliated event and we are now on course for Nunney, Barbary and then a 2*

Sounds awesome and scary!! Well done
 

JFTDWS

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I had a similar issue towards the end of my "dressage phase" with F, though at a lower level - I would go out and get 61/62% every time - at novice, elementary or medium. It didn't seem to matter if he was a slug, or if he went round spooking at everything, or didn't put a foot out of line and felt terrific - the score was always the same, even if the videos / photos / feel were completely different. In the end, I decided dressage was a daft game and went to play polocrosse instead. There's always another even dafter sport out there, waiting round the corner.
 

milliepops

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haha, just trying to imagine Kira doing polocrosse o_Oo_Oo_Oo_O:p

Up to now, there's been so much variation, different tests - within a level the difference between easy and hard tests is massive. 2 tests in a day, then the different judges - I think the lack of consistency in scoring gets lost in all that.
But now it's pretty transparent! they can't all be right. which test really was the 63 percenter, and what are the others really worth? 53? 43? 73??! I literally got off yesterday thinking, at last, we've cracked it, one tiny silly error but all the proper work nailed. then picked up sheet... Oh. :confused:

Never mind, team comp might be out of our grasp but music leaderboard looks promising so we will do a bit of that for a mental break :D She likes cantering about to 1990s Dr Dre :cool:

You're dead right, it is a daft game. But outside of the competition bit the actual training is interesting and absorbing and our lessons are the thing I love most about riding so that's the important thing I guess.
 

JFTDWS

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Oh absolutely - I gave up competing before I gave up dressage (and does one ever really give up dressage with horses - you just change your style, your approach, your outcomes remain largely the same). The training is the only side of dressage I'd seriously return to, though for now, I'm too busy doing stupid things!
 

Wheels

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The training is the best and most fun bit for me but I do find I focus more and improve more quickly if I have something specific to aim for

Competing is fun too but i could probably live without it
 

j1ffy

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Oh bummer jiffy :( do you have scores for another go?

(cheers)

Thankfully yes - our real Area target is end of August at Hartpury or Sparsholt. Wellington was a trial run with the hope of qualifying if the stars aligned, so it doesn’t matter too much and has given me a kick up the backside to be more black and white with Indio about softening the neck and accepting the contact.

Sorry to read that your PSG marks are stuck in a rut. I had the same experience at Elementary and it’s incredibly frustrating 😒. Enjoy some music then see how you feel!
 

Asha

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We’ve had a great weekend ! Started with farm ride and gallops for me and Pip with Aria . Aria was a prize knob , decided that she couldn’t jump anything in front of Pip , this is the same horse that goes out on her own doing BE and flies everything in sight. With a little telling off , then behaved. Pip was her usual awesome self until we got to the gallops . We led the way , about 1/4 of the way up someone was stood by the side of he gallops with a dog , clearly unusual but not scary . However, Pip thought it terrifying, and came to a halt and spun round , cue me exiting by the side door . Landed on my feet , asked scary person to give me a leg up , they wouldn’t , so had the walk of shame back to the bottom so I could get back on. Aria then led the charge back up and we followed . My Irish draught managed to keep up ( although I’m told they didn’t get to sixth gear ) 😂😂😂. Jumped a few logs / pipes on the xc and generally had a great time .

Today daughter and Finn did a hunter trial 70cm and came 2nd to qualify for the Eland lodge championship in September. She’s over the moon . Finn is a true diamond 💎
 

Chippers1

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I bought a couple of professional photos too, with it being our first ode and all 😉
Credit to Emma Lowe Photography
20190526_222306.jpg
20190526_222253.jpg

The green one took me a bit by surprise as he did a bit of a slow leap over it, hence looking down 😅

Asha that sounds like great fun!
 

Fiona

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Well done everyone out and about this weekend...

Asha that sounds like something my spooky Connie would do lol...

Gorgeous pics chippers x

I feel for you wheels 😖😖😖 sooo frustrating.

I had a super weekend... Fionn and I WON our SJ/XC competition on Saturday with a super double clear, he was so confident and brave..

Then F did a brilliant swim and run at PC Tetrathlon on Sunday and was 1st in Triathlon section, we couldn't get Daisy there to do the riding as my second driver is still on crutches..

Off on holiday today to Portstewart for a few days..

Fiona
 

Wheels

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Brilliant pics chippers and very well done Fiona! You must be very proud. Enjoy your few days hols

I rode yesterday :) woohoo

Mostly in walk and a wee bit of trot but great to be back on board. Hand did hurt afterwards but it was worth it. Will ride again this evening.
 

zaminda

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Lovely pictures Chippers!
Well done Fiona hopefully crutches won't be there too long!
We had an interesting day at West Wilts doing a combined training. We haven't done a lot of dressage so having warmed up beautifully in our newly in use spurs, as he doesn't find it interesting and therefore tends to drop behind the leg, we went in and behaved like we were being chased! We mainly managed to stay in the arena although we did jump the boards a couple of times as he was so wired. When he was listening he was still tense and too on it so not a great test with marks mainly 6 with one 6.5 and a couple of 4's.
The showjumping is always preferred over flat work so the spurs would have come off anyway but I certainly didn't need them yesterday! He was much happier up near the jumps popped over the practice fence well with a few epic flyers and went in and bounced round clear. The course was causing a few problems with most having something down.
I was very surprised when I collected my test sheet to discover we were 6th with a fairly positive set of comments from the judge all things considered!
I think we need a lot more practice so will see what else I can find although fitting it all in is proving hard.IMG-20190526-WA0000.jpgIMG-20190526-WA0001.jpg
 

oldie48

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Should have read this before posting my whingeing "having a bit of a wobble" report on the tack room! I am so bloody wet at times even I get cross with myself! Having taken Rose to a friend's on Friday to use her long arena, I didn't get round to actually going through my long arena tests because Rose was being nappy and somewhat distracted (tbfair there was a lot to look at!) We did go to Summerhouse on Saturday, pic attached, no more to say about that except although less than helpful at times in the warm up she did do a good test and we both learned something about each other. Sunday we hacked out and she was lovely, soft, forward and just a very happy mare to ride. Today we schooled, a mix of polework and schooling, it was a little inconsistent but generally OK. She will still drop me in canter without warning though, which is very annoying.
Loved jenni's pics and am totaly in love Gummy Bear, some super reports too. I hope those who had to cancel plans because of poorly ponies have better news now.TTY_6766-(ZF-1168-81937-1-001).jpg
 

Wheels

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Well my thumb is broken after all

The doc was not keen to give me recovery time but the thumb is now splinted awaiting a follow up visit with the fracture clinic although not sure when that will be either.

Boo
 

EllenJay

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Well my thumb is broken after all

The doc was not keen to give me recovery time but the thumb is now splinted awaiting a follow up visit with the fracture clinic although not sure when that will be either.

Boo
That's not good news - but at least you know what's wrong. Best advice, once the fracture has healed make sure you do all the physiotherapy exercises to make sure you get full mobility back.
Hope you get better soon.
 

milliepops

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bummer Wheels, but better to know and deal with it properly than soldier on and risk making things worse :/
 

Fiona

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Well my thumb is broken after all

The doc was not keen to give me recovery time but the thumb is now splinted awaiting a follow up visit with the fracture clinic although not sure when that will be either.

Boo

That is truly rubbish 😭😭😭

Fiona
 

milliepops

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Well we finished last week's weekend plans with another trip out for a music class. Had decided we ought to make one last push for the leaderboards as there aren't any more PSG musics that we can get to before the cut off date mid-june.

Kira's face sums up her feelings on the matter :rolleyes: she worked in really well, until the music for the horse immediately before us started, which seemed extra bangy and boomy. Kira does not appreciate bangy and boomy. :confused: she went into her shell like a scared snail and it was almost impossible to get her going again. Shame, but it does happen from time to time as she's quite an anxious little soul. She stood on her back legs rather than going to the test arena (cue "Oooohhhhh!s" from the people hanging around.. and we had to get a lead into the arena because she wasn't having any of it! :oops:

Anyway. Pleased enough with what happened next in terms of a rescue operation. she was super tight and tense and really backward as a result but it shows that the work is getting more established because despite that we got a smattering of 7s for the 4s on a curving line (so hard to coordinate!) both pirouettes (whoo hooo!) our centre lines (practice paying off) and the walk (no more being held to ransom slopping along). Plus a few 7s in the artistic scores. So although we got a bit of a pasting for her trotwork being backward and the fact that we couldn't really go up the C end of the arena (harmony score took a battering for that which is a shame because it's usually a mark hoover) we ended up on a 65 and FINALLY broke the 63% rut. Not an exciting score by any means, but I think we clawed back every mark that we possibly could :)

It's just awfully tiring being so frightened you know:

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milliepops

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Haha! She does wear her heart on her sleeve, rather.
Its emblazoned with flashing pink neon 😂
 
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