BE100 HIGHCLERE - Oh dear... :(

Chloe_GHE

Chloe_GHE

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Thank you so much everyone for the xc vibes and good luck but we didn't even get that far
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Boxed up at 6.30am and whizzed off again to do our SJ and XC. Arrived and got him out studded up whilst he munched grass, tacked up and went to put on bridle undid headcollar with reins round neck and he suddenly went down to roll!!!!! cue lots of bridle flapping and verbal encouragement from me to get him to get back up. He only went down on his front legs and thank god he didn't get to the flopping on his siide part, but it was relly wierd
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checked girth/boots weren't too tight and generally checked he was fine mother walked him about whilst I got changed and he seemed fine, so just chalked it down to an odd happening and got on (he has done something like this once before when I booted him too tight and he lay down and bit his boots to indicate his discomfort! but they were fine.....*puzzled*) thought about taking gag to warm up just incase but didn't (1st error)

Warmed up for SJ checking he felt fine and he did popped the X and he ballooned it felt fab then the 2nd time normal jump but really using his back, popped an upright twice and he was fab waiting and soft and perfect stride. Felt a bit slippy despite his studs and thought about putting some bigger ones in the front but didn't do it (2nd error) went to jump the parallel and he went on a horrid flyer and had it down, tired several times to jump it and he skidded into it and stopped. went to jump x and upright to get confidence back and he just went long everytime and wouldn't wait at all.

At this point in time if I could go back I would have got off put bigger studs in the front, and changed to the gag, but hindsight is a wonderful thing...

Had to go in the ring, and he just went wooden, went into 1st and he went to stop, booted him and he crashed over it, and tanked off, reins everywhere and 2 fast approaching just had time to sit back and hold and he cleared 2 then p*ssed off again, was a 180degree turn back on yourself for 3 and managed to get some control but not much as he tanked off again had that down and just ran away with me too 4 which he semi stopped at then leapt and had down
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things were not going well, and it was all just becoming a bluur of poles, crashes and me frantically trying not to get my arms ripped out their sockets and not gallop into every fence
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managed to stead himj to 5 smallest upright on the course and he STOPPED!!! TWICE!!!! watching the video back he skidded into it it both times and so I'm putting this down to him feeling really unhappy on the ground. Round to 6a 6b which he jumped really nicely and left up then 7 biggest scariest fence on the course and I smacked him with the whip a few strides out to get the stopping idea out of his head, flew this and onto planks which he had down behind then managed to get a good stride and some control to the last and he cleared it. So we ended on a HUGE score and were CR (which sadly doesn't stand for clear round
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So so disappointed, all the recent work we have been doing has been going so well with our last 2 rounds in comp at 1m being clear and 1 down, and he has been going sweetly in the snaffle, but today was a different story
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I think with control, and bigger studs I could have got him back and put more leg on and actually been able to be in charge. It was a horrible feeling just a horrendous stream of loosing control, and fences coming too fast
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So....I am doing something I have never done before....giving up
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JOKE!!!!

I am going to send him to my SJ instructor Rosie Moss for a week of intensive sj schooling with her, I will go over for a couple of lessons and hope to end his stay with her competing him to see wht he is like, and then me with her coaching (Have never palmed my horses off on a pro to sort out issues before so feel a bit wierd and sort of like I'm cheating?....)

He has come so far and now he schools so well but I have to put my hands up and say that when atmosphere, nerves, and competition environment are present I can't make it work. I feel like a bit of a failure but I think it's better that I use her as a litmus test to make sure it's me and not him so that we can move forward and crack this once and for all. It's very disheartening putting so much effort into him when it all goes well but then in comp it's a different story
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He goes away next weds for just over a week then we have MK3DE where thankgoodness the sj is the last phase!!!
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FYI - His back/teeth/saddle etc are all fine so his performance is not pain related, unless to him I qualify as a pain!
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Really wished we could have gone xc as it was riding so well although I saw some v v tired horses who 6 fences from home were breaking into trot they were so pooped, and one horrid semi-rotational fall at a big wide hay rack as we were walking home
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but thankfullt both rider and horse seemed ok.

Oh and bought this pic of the last to cheer myself up, and coz he is such a good jumper some of the time...

Oh forgot to say in my cloud of gloom that his 37 dressage put us 15th/40 in a section of pros and at our 1st PN!!!!! so pleased with him for that what a little star his dressage has come on so far...now for the sj to catch up
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Tea and cereal if you got this far, got up early and skipped brekkie so eating it now!
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pic courtesy of james payne
 
Bad luck, he just didnt sound happy!!
I know how you feel about getting someone else on, I felt awful, as if I had totally failed, you havent at all, you just need a different pair of eyes and feel on it, both for him and you!!
I hope it all works out!!
 
What a shame, but then at least you learnt a couple of lessons without hurting yourselves.

Good luck with MK, I'm sure you'll be back on form by then.

PS There's nothing wrong with SJ boot camp.
 
thank you
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I feel like a bit of a loser getting a pro to get us over this hump, but I spose lots of other people do it. I just feel extra guilty coz I have brought him on from scratch and guess I feel like I should be able to sort the sj myself....but I can't
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*snif snif*
 
Oh no!!
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Dont beat yourself up Chloe- EXACTLY the same thing happened with me in the PN SJ at Highclere about 2 years ago now I think it was.

I really, honestly think that there is something funny and odd about the ground for that SJ warm up and in the actual arena. Because my horse went really really odd when he was jumping there as well and just simply, could not get the right spot to any fence. He was obviously very unhappy and he had never, ever SJ that bad before. We did go into the arena and he jumped everything, but it felt terrible so I pulled him up after about the 4th fence.
I do think that the ground there is funny. Some horses can cope with it, and others can not. Mine just felt unbelievably unhappy on it.

I think I would just forget about today, the ground IS un-naturally odd and I would go and do a SJ session with soap at Hoplands in a few days time, and I'll bet you that you will find that he is back to normal...
 
maybe the ground might have been an issue but it seemed ok...ddin't think it should have been that slippy but maybe it is deceptive, and I should have used the big studs...will never know...

Jules - no he was okayed by the physio last week, teeth just done and shoes are spot on, he feels fab, but it just all went to pot. I'm really confident that it's no physical reason as even if he is the tiniest bit 'off' I can fell it and he let's me know.....just one of those days?....hhhmmmm....will see what rosie says when she gets on him! No one except me has ever ridden him! poor Soap will be in for a shock!
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You can always think of the what if's when you have the time to look back! But you musn't - everything happens for a reason (excluding really bad stuff)

and when I was little my mum used to say (shes not horsey)
"you never know if they've (the horse) got a headache or a tummy ache ....we all have off days"

of course I thought she was stupid but actually she is right, how would we know?

your horse is fantastic-you know that but he's not a robot
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and you got a lovely picture

anyway i'm sure your not too upset your quite a professional with your competitions so ill stop wittering on with myself
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your wittering made me
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Yeah will put it down to a few bad tack choices and an off day.... I told my OH on the way home and he said 'well it was very early start maybe he's not a morning person!'
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What a shame!!!!

Don't beat yourself up and get disheartened though. You've worked so hard and seen so much improvement, horses are always 3 steps forwards and 1 back. Sounds like he lost his confidence on the ground to me, especially as he stopped as it's so unlike him!!!

The pro idea sounds like a great one to me. It really really isn't a failure of any kind, pride comes before a fall remember and it can be so so useful to have someone more experienced (who you trust) to help iron things out.

Chin up
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Well done for trying!! Horse's do have ways of making u feel its all our fault eh!!! Sounds like a lack of confidence(due to the ground??studs)and more brakes needed to help u!! Not sure u need advice on bitting/?but i have had so many probs with finding a suitable bit(not too severe but more brakes needed).Found that a waterford combined with kineton is ideal for my tank,seems if P's happy in his mouth then his sj is 100%easier(prob obvious).Found out(trial and error),(P ,my nag) likes to open his gob when jumping,where as id been strapping it shut!!! Better luck at nxt event,.Id do an intro to regain confidence??then move up level after that??u will be more relaxed at a slightly lower level(i know i wud) :
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What a shame -he seems to have some on leaps and bounds in the recent months. Do you think (im sure you have thought!) that the trying to get down could have been a bit of colic or just a bit of belly ache, and thats why he did that jumping?? I now know what its like to get a CR and it feels horrid as you know you can bo it and like you i just wanted to go XC on Buster but yes hindsight is a great thing!! Bit wise he sounds a little like song, he started off in a snaffle at his 1st few events and just got stronger and stronger - i tried a myler after alot of different bits and it worked a treat, luckly now hes back on a snaffle but im not sure how long this will last!
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You will be fine at MK and after a week of boot camp you will both be back on form!
 
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told my OH on the way home and he said 'well it was very early start maybe he's not a morning person!'

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He might be sort of onto something - have you done a day before section before? Just thinking that normally you have ridden the dressage and warm up for it before your SJ and therefore he could ride differently due to that?

There is nothing wrong with "Boot camp" - better than just ploughing on and destroying each others confidence. I'm sure between you and your instructor it will all come right - pic looks lovely
 
Poor you - what a disappointing day!!

Are you sure he isn't feeling a bit colic-y, the trying to lie down sounds very odd, and I know I can't concentrate at all with a tummy ache.

Best of luck with the boot camp.

Fiona
 
It was a very imposing and spooky course. The last 3 BE100s we've been to were Stockland Lovell in May, Smiths Lawn and Burnham Beeches and the course was in a whole different league to all those - not ideal for a first one! Don't be despondent - just pick an easier one next time.
 
Ok, the SJ was the biggest and most technical and leary SJ we have ever seen at PN and this is 5th year eventing BE. TBH the Intermed fences that were already up in the ring weren't much bigger. Late this evening the Int course was built using the same doglegs as the PN - - that tells you something.

The ground was great later in the day but I bet the heavy dew on the grass this morning gave a bit of a false feel.

Don't give up do as much SJ as possible until it becomes second nature. Try to go BSJA rather that unaff as the courses will be better and give him more confidence.
 
Yeah my first thought was colic but he came out the box and straight away wanted to eat the grass then after grazing happily as soon as I unclipped his head collar he went down no pawing or prep just went doen on his front legs. So thinking it may be colic checked his girth (really loose) and walked him about on a loose lead and he didn't attempt it again.....just doesn't make sense...thought about it a bit more and this morn his droppings were v loose and like that all day, and when we got back he drank loads and his tummy gurgled so gave him a bran mash tonight and watched him for a while and he seemed happy munching...maybe it was a touch of tummy upset...he ate loads of the grass yesterday and it had lots of sheep dropping in it so i wonder if that might have upset him.....v un-Soap behaviour

Thistle - I thought the sj looked big with lots of horrid dog legs and sharp degree turns no7 particularly looked rather meaty, so was odd when he stopped at 5 probs the smallest on the course! Not the best choice for a 1st time PN but we had planned to do WWEC unaff and BE PN before today but the BE was cancelled
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Still I guess on the bright side we got round and did jump all the jumps just not clear or that happy....there's always another day....
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sorry I'm a bit of a hoarder of old PMs! clear now. All being well Soap will be at 'sj boot camp' then, did think about sending him to RS but Rosie is closer and means I can see him on the way home from work each night to give him a cuddle
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Sorry to read this Chole, sounds as if the ground may have been influential. Maybe its just nerves on both your parts?

It will be interesting to hear what a pro makes of him and her suggestions to you for improvement, keep us updated
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So sorry to hear it didn't go well. Know how it feels to miss the XC, we were elim in the SJ last time out and I was gutted. Great shot of the last SJ, so I'm sure all can be fixed.
Are you going to WW in a couple of weeks?
 
Shame, but happens to the best of us sadly.

Quick question - have you done any SJ in a snaffle at BE before? Because I can SJ my horse in a snaffle all day long at home, or training, or in fact anywhere which isn't BE, but take him BE in a snaffle and you may as well have a kitkat in his mouth! It is a complete waste of time for all concerned. His loaner hated how he felt in a pelham, but he was completely in charge, and, er, well, she wasn't, resulting in many fences down when she SJed him at BE events. I stuck him back in the stronger bit (for everything, not just BE), and low and behold he is polite and not a one-horse demolition machine!

They know the difference you know, and sometimes you have to accept that whilst everyone (particularly on boards like this) will tell you if you school well enough/long enough/correctly enough you can do it in a snaffle, that isn't always true. If it was, you'd never see any of the pros jumping a horse in anything but a snaffle. And that certainly isn't the case!
 
Oh no, what a shame, nightmare, a lot of horses do act totally different in the arena, much buzzier.
must admit, i prefer them over-bitted than under-bitted for jumping, if you have quick control then you can always soften and ride forward again, but if you are hauling and having no effect (we've all been there) then there's no way you can ride forward, if you did it would be lunacy.
sounds like a very good idea to send him to your trainer, it's not failure at all. even some of the top pros send horses away for intensive training sometimes.
well done on your dressage, well done on managing to finish the round on a good note, quite an achievement by the sounds of it.
 
sorry to hear this chloe...but well done for finishing the SJ...i'd have probably forgotten where i was going in all the panic
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its annoying when sj is your bogey phase as you have to get through before XC! my ex racer is very similar to how soap sounds - he could be like that SJ but then is a machine XC. it could be just a bit of tummy ache (my TB gets this quite a bit- its not quite colic but there is def something wrong with him- if he's had a lot of rich grass/haylage) combined with crappy ground- mine is very highly strung and one bad shot in the collecting ring would lead to disaster in the ring- i think its the TB brain...can't cope!
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don't feel bad about the boot camp- i think its actually more commendable to admit that you need a bit of professional help than to struggle on on your own...plus you will hopefully get results/get back to enjoying your eventing much quicker that way...and thats what its all about
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