abbijay
Well-Known Member
Grab a drink, this won't be short...
Saturday morning we set off from Cheshire to travel to Keysoe for our first ever qualified for dressage show. I hate towing on the motorway so a hundred and thirty five mile journey was very daunting to me. My big pony loaded like a pro (he used to be awful) and off we headed. The traffic gods were smiling at us and we didn't hit a single queue, and my ageing dad's bladder also held up so we didn't have to make a loo stop either!
We arrived 30 minutes earlier than we'd planned and the Spanish champs were in full flow. When we unloaded there were tail coats and prancy ponies everywhere - the confused looks from them were priceless. We headed to the stables and I was horrified when I put Alfie in. He's a 15 year old, arthritic, 18.1hh purebred clydesdale. The stable paced out at less than 10x10! I'd put on my booking that if they couldn't provide a 12x12 to reject my booking. I threw a diva strop in the office that was met with a "not our problem" response. I had no alternative I just had to hope like hell he didn't try to lie down overnight.
We went over for the arena walk a little early and planned to use the general exercise areas but they were prepping for the PSG Spanish Prize giving; well we looked like proper hillbillies with my cart horse and me in casual riding gear among the prancy ponies and tailcoats. Arena walk and stretching session complete I left Alf with his bucket of tea and took my dad to check in to the B&B. It was lovely, just what we needed for the night so I took a shower while my dad watched Strictly and we headed off to a pub for tea (Thanks Catembi for the recommendation). An excellent feast with a pint of local ale which my dad insisted on paying for was a lovely bit of daddy-daughter time.
We returned to the stables at 10pm to put his night net in and change his rug (and to check he hadn't tried to lie down!) Back to the B&B to get a good night's sleep.
I woke up at 4.15 coughing and couldn't get back to sleep so I lay in bed until 6.30 when Dad got up. We were leaving the B&B as a couple were also heading up to the yard but they were walking the mile there as they didn't have a car! I've always believed if you do good things good things will happen back to you. So I offered them a lift to the yard. We hastily rearranged the car so we had 4 seats and headed up.
Alf was waiting for us and after being mucked out and fed we killed time for an hour before we needed to get going.
We were first on in our ring at 10.30 for the Pure Bred Draught Intro Championship and did a 20 minute warm up that was going very nicely. We came down to the ring and Alfie just dropped off me. It was so frustrating. We turned towards A for entry and my whip wasn't visible to either judge so I dropped him a quick one (although from his reaction anyone with half a brain would know what I'd done). He went fine but it wasn't until after the walk section that he started to move forwards for me. There were no errors but it also wasn't quite what we are capable of. It was only 45 minutes until our Prelim so I had no time to think about it.
A quick drink and hay stop before we tacked back up.
This time our warm up was... unorthodox! We arrived in the busy indoor warm up 5 minutes before our test. A speedy tack check and then I popped a few walk to canters. This was helping but he still wasn't ahead of me so I decided to use our "big" canter. This is not just a polite, medium canter. It is huge, thundering and quick canter. It is not the usual sight in a dressage warm up! We headed down to the arena and I asked for trot. The warm up had obviously livened him up because he popped into a beautiful collected canter instead. I wasn't going to tell him off for going forward so instead we proceeded to our arena that way and when we turned along the side I asked for medium canter (not big canter but I got a good difference). The judge C looked up and smiled at us. We got it back together and in we headed for Prelim 19. Alfie was with me every step of the way, he gave me everything in there. At the final halt I was brimming over with pride. massive pats and I swallowed back the tears.
In the car park we reconvened with Dad who knows nothing about dressage but knew from my reaction that it had gone well. A facebook friend came from Cambridge to meet Alfie and support me. She said well done and then asked if Dad had checked the scores from the Intro. No, he hadn't thought to. Her smile said it all. 6 months of qualifying and hours of hard work had paid off, I burst into tears. My first pony, bought from a trekking centre and 3 years ago I was told I would be lucky to ever sit on him again had won a championship. We're not red rosette people this was a big deal.
The boy was put in bed to chill with half a packet of polos and I went to get a coffee and watch some more tests.
When prelim scores started to be posted I'd scored a PB of 67.6%. I couldn't have been happier. As more scores trickled in I wasn't in the lead but I was ahead of a few and it looked like I was going to make 2 ridden prize givings. By the end of it all I was third!
We got a sash and 2 beautiful rosettes and I rode round with an enormous smile on my face. Dream come true.
Time to go home, the boy was tired and getting grumpy by this stage so I was shocked that he just walked straight onto the trailer and off we went. The traffic gods smiled again and we were home in 3 hours, Alf treated to a night in bed after his long few days and I went to show my hubby and kids the pictures and my spoils.
(Image purchased from Hoofprints to include social media use)
Saturday morning we set off from Cheshire to travel to Keysoe for our first ever qualified for dressage show. I hate towing on the motorway so a hundred and thirty five mile journey was very daunting to me. My big pony loaded like a pro (he used to be awful) and off we headed. The traffic gods were smiling at us and we didn't hit a single queue, and my ageing dad's bladder also held up so we didn't have to make a loo stop either!
We arrived 30 minutes earlier than we'd planned and the Spanish champs were in full flow. When we unloaded there were tail coats and prancy ponies everywhere - the confused looks from them were priceless. We headed to the stables and I was horrified when I put Alfie in. He's a 15 year old, arthritic, 18.1hh purebred clydesdale. The stable paced out at less than 10x10! I'd put on my booking that if they couldn't provide a 12x12 to reject my booking. I threw a diva strop in the office that was met with a "not our problem" response. I had no alternative I just had to hope like hell he didn't try to lie down overnight.
We went over for the arena walk a little early and planned to use the general exercise areas but they were prepping for the PSG Spanish Prize giving; well we looked like proper hillbillies with my cart horse and me in casual riding gear among the prancy ponies and tailcoats. Arena walk and stretching session complete I left Alf with his bucket of tea and took my dad to check in to the B&B. It was lovely, just what we needed for the night so I took a shower while my dad watched Strictly and we headed off to a pub for tea (Thanks Catembi for the recommendation). An excellent feast with a pint of local ale which my dad insisted on paying for was a lovely bit of daddy-daughter time.
We returned to the stables at 10pm to put his night net in and change his rug (and to check he hadn't tried to lie down!) Back to the B&B to get a good night's sleep.
I woke up at 4.15 coughing and couldn't get back to sleep so I lay in bed until 6.30 when Dad got up. We were leaving the B&B as a couple were also heading up to the yard but they were walking the mile there as they didn't have a car! I've always believed if you do good things good things will happen back to you. So I offered them a lift to the yard. We hastily rearranged the car so we had 4 seats and headed up.
Alf was waiting for us and after being mucked out and fed we killed time for an hour before we needed to get going.
We were first on in our ring at 10.30 for the Pure Bred Draught Intro Championship and did a 20 minute warm up that was going very nicely. We came down to the ring and Alfie just dropped off me. It was so frustrating. We turned towards A for entry and my whip wasn't visible to either judge so I dropped him a quick one (although from his reaction anyone with half a brain would know what I'd done). He went fine but it wasn't until after the walk section that he started to move forwards for me. There were no errors but it also wasn't quite what we are capable of. It was only 45 minutes until our Prelim so I had no time to think about it.
A quick drink and hay stop before we tacked back up.
This time our warm up was... unorthodox! We arrived in the busy indoor warm up 5 minutes before our test. A speedy tack check and then I popped a few walk to canters. This was helping but he still wasn't ahead of me so I decided to use our "big" canter. This is not just a polite, medium canter. It is huge, thundering and quick canter. It is not the usual sight in a dressage warm up! We headed down to the arena and I asked for trot. The warm up had obviously livened him up because he popped into a beautiful collected canter instead. I wasn't going to tell him off for going forward so instead we proceeded to our arena that way and when we turned along the side I asked for medium canter (not big canter but I got a good difference). The judge C looked up and smiled at us. We got it back together and in we headed for Prelim 19. Alfie was with me every step of the way, he gave me everything in there. At the final halt I was brimming over with pride. massive pats and I swallowed back the tears.
In the car park we reconvened with Dad who knows nothing about dressage but knew from my reaction that it had gone well. A facebook friend came from Cambridge to meet Alfie and support me. She said well done and then asked if Dad had checked the scores from the Intro. No, he hadn't thought to. Her smile said it all. 6 months of qualifying and hours of hard work had paid off, I burst into tears. My first pony, bought from a trekking centre and 3 years ago I was told I would be lucky to ever sit on him again had won a championship. We're not red rosette people this was a big deal.
The boy was put in bed to chill with half a packet of polos and I went to get a coffee and watch some more tests.
When prelim scores started to be posted I'd scored a PB of 67.6%. I couldn't have been happier. As more scores trickled in I wasn't in the lead but I was ahead of a few and it looked like I was going to make 2 ridden prize givings. By the end of it all I was third!
We got a sash and 2 beautiful rosettes and I rode round with an enormous smile on my face. Dream come true.
Time to go home, the boy was tired and getting grumpy by this stage so I was shocked that he just walked straight onto the trailer and off we went. The traffic gods smiled again and we were home in 3 hours, Alf treated to a night in bed after his long few days and I went to show my hubby and kids the pictures and my spoils.
(Image purchased from Hoofprints to include social media use)
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