ecrozier
Well-Known Member
Very very many thanks to Millbrooksong and her mum for taking these photos and sending them to me!
I also went on the Horse magazine clinic at Boomerang with Major Richard Waygood, and had an absolutely awesome afternoon. I must admit, prior to going I was terrified J would embarass me (as he has many times in the past!) and thought as very much riding club competitiors rather than BE-types, and also being on a 15hh arab - we would be the combination with the most issues, and probably look very small, hairy (him not me I hope!) and unprofessional!
However I was thrilled when we got there and both other horses were relatively little too, so we didn't look too silly, and all 3 horses were at relatively similar levels, either doing or just starting Intro.
So as millbrooksong said in her post we all warmed up (and yes, J was definately the most out-of-control cantering in a group! Thankfully he only behaves like that in a group!
)
We then did some jumps out of trot which I hate....
Doesn't look as bad as it felt thankfully!
We then moved on to jumping out of canter and this was our first fence...v pleased as I thought he would have a strop at this - never seen anything like it before - but he flew over!
Then off to the banks and water complex....J is usually pretty good about steps etc, and although when I first had him he wouldn't go near water, we have conquered that over the years so much better now! There was also quite a scary croc to jump but apart from one silly stop at that the first time, he was awesome, even giving leads off the (quite big!) steps....
After those, we went on to do a combination with a bank, which he sailed through and were told it was great so didnt have to do it again
Then on to the sknnies. Never done much in the way of skinnie before but didnt seem to bother J - amazing that this horse used to be eliminated within first 3 fences every time out! We started with a wooden skinny, then went on to gradually narrower tyres, and ended up jumping them in sequence!
Got this one slightly wrong first time!
Tyres
Narrow tyres (can you tell I kicked the flag first time and didn't want to kick it again?!)
Big tyres (well, big for us anyway!
)
Then on to the next ditch complex - he was awesome again, didn't even bat an eyelid even over big ditch to big (again, I thought they were huge for us!) barrells, when I managed to drop my rein over ditch - and he still held his line and jumped the big barrells!!
Then finally to the second water combination. Again, he was a superstar, had one stop at the owlhole as I wasn't quite committed enough through the water
But then when we strung the combination together and jumped the owl-hole into the water, then a sharp left (doubled back on yourself) up a step and over a banana!! First time through he put a big one in over owl-hole, and I lost my stirrup but thought 'sod it' and carried on....and he jumped through perfectly. Second time through he was absolutely foot perfect, and we called it a day!
So all in all a fabulous day out, he was just brilliantly behaved, and I really appreciated that perhaps we are of a standard to do intros next year. I also learnt how valuable it is to know your horse very well, as J has a habit of chipping a short one in before some fences, but because I know him so well I am prepared for it and know to keep my shoulders back etc which makes me look like a better rider than I am....in actual fact it is self preservation rather than skill - jumped way too many fences on my own in the past!!
Any CC or comments welcome and appreciated!
I also went on the Horse magazine clinic at Boomerang with Major Richard Waygood, and had an absolutely awesome afternoon. I must admit, prior to going I was terrified J would embarass me (as he has many times in the past!) and thought as very much riding club competitiors rather than BE-types, and also being on a 15hh arab - we would be the combination with the most issues, and probably look very small, hairy (him not me I hope!) and unprofessional!
However I was thrilled when we got there and both other horses were relatively little too, so we didn't look too silly, and all 3 horses were at relatively similar levels, either doing or just starting Intro.
So as millbrooksong said in her post we all warmed up (and yes, J was definately the most out-of-control cantering in a group! Thankfully he only behaves like that in a group!
We then did some jumps out of trot which I hate....
Doesn't look as bad as it felt thankfully!
We then moved on to jumping out of canter and this was our first fence...v pleased as I thought he would have a strop at this - never seen anything like it before - but he flew over!
Then off to the banks and water complex....J is usually pretty good about steps etc, and although when I first had him he wouldn't go near water, we have conquered that over the years so much better now! There was also quite a scary croc to jump but apart from one silly stop at that the first time, he was awesome, even giving leads off the (quite big!) steps....
After those, we went on to do a combination with a bank, which he sailed through and were told it was great so didnt have to do it again
Then on to the sknnies. Never done much in the way of skinnie before but didnt seem to bother J - amazing that this horse used to be eliminated within first 3 fences every time out! We started with a wooden skinny, then went on to gradually narrower tyres, and ended up jumping them in sequence!
Got this one slightly wrong first time!
Tyres
Narrow tyres (can you tell I kicked the flag first time and didn't want to kick it again?!)
Big tyres (well, big for us anyway!
Then on to the next ditch complex - he was awesome again, didn't even bat an eyelid even over big ditch to big (again, I thought they were huge for us!) barrells, when I managed to drop my rein over ditch - and he still held his line and jumped the big barrells!!
Then finally to the second water combination. Again, he was a superstar, had one stop at the owlhole as I wasn't quite committed enough through the water
But then when we strung the combination together and jumped the owl-hole into the water, then a sharp left (doubled back on yourself) up a step and over a banana!! First time through he put a big one in over owl-hole, and I lost my stirrup but thought 'sod it' and carried on....and he jumped through perfectly. Second time through he was absolutely foot perfect, and we called it a day!
So all in all a fabulous day out, he was just brilliantly behaved, and I really appreciated that perhaps we are of a standard to do intros next year. I also learnt how valuable it is to know your horse very well, as J has a habit of chipping a short one in before some fences, but because I know him so well I am prepared for it and know to keep my shoulders back etc which makes me look like a better rider than I am....in actual fact it is self preservation rather than skill - jumped way too many fences on my own in the past!!
Any CC or comments welcome and appreciated!
