Sarah_Jane
Well-Known Member
I was lucky enough to have two horses to ride at Bickenhall both competing in their first BE event. Ash as many of you will know I bought in January having done nothing and this event was one of a lot of firsts for him! Not only was it his first BE event, it was his first time doing a cross country round, jumping outdoors, doing dressage outdoors, having studs in and even being plaited. Kenny my other ride has done a bit more with his owner in the last year but she asked me to do his first few outings BE as he can be a little spooky cross country.
Our times were pretty tight so I had to be a tad more organised than usual, although Kenny's owner took charge of Kenny producing him ready when required. Ash was first on for dressage and he warmed up very sweetly and obediently. The test I was pleased with, it was obedient and he was fairly relaxed, some transitions particularly to and from canter were a bit hollow and the walk didn't really step forward enough. Kenny produced a similar test although the better bits were better, but there were moments of tension and he came behind the vertical a little. We were consistent both horses scored 36 which I was a little disappointed with particularly Ash's score but both horses perhaps don't show a novice enough outline. Lets face it dressage and understanding what dressage judges are looking for has never been a strong point!
Showjumping was reasonable height for Intro although jumping well. The ring wasn't the easiest being on a slight slope but the the course was nicely built. Kenny went first and despite being a little onward bound at times coped well and produced a nice clear round.
Ash on the other hand really showed his lack of experience and jumped a very green round, not really in front of my leg. Possibly I didn’t adapt very well from riding one forward going and onward bound horse that wanted to jump off long strides to Ash who is more correct and likes jumping off a deeper stride. We had a few misses where I should have held rather than push for a longer stride but other than a pole at 7 he did manage to clear them and I wasn't too disappointed. (Note to self get some BS classes outdoors before next time!)
Cross country as expected was top end of Intro. In particular the water and fence 6 a small log jumping towards a slope down into woods seemed to be the main areas to cause a stop. I was very aware that this was Ash's first round and planned to take it relatively easily and make sure I took good wide lines into everything so he had plenty of time to see the fences and work out what he was doing. We had a long wait in the warm up but once on the course he jumped the first two fences well. Three was a decent hay rack with some bright blue paint on it and we came into that wobbling severely, I clamped my leg on and we rather clambered that, the related at 4 and 5 were better and gave good positive jumps. The bogey at 6 I gave him plenty of room and he hesitated but went and then after a simple fence out the woods we came to the water which was perhaps the most difficult fence for a real novice. Had rather a hollow jump in as I kept hold of his head so he couldn't jinx on landing and then only trotted through the water and out over the brush but he popped it and carried on before giving a lovely jump over the ditch.
From this point on he really gained confidence and did the combination, chase fence, ditch, drop and palisade confidently. We finished with a few time faults but I hadn't hurried and I think he will gain a huge amount of confidence from that run.
A quick wash down (the horse not me!) before I swapped onto Kenny. He is much more experienced but has had some minor issues with water in the past. He jumped well until 6 where he suddenly slammed the brakes on, a very strong leg and he jumped it from almost a standstill but not quite so we stayed clear, he popped over the one before the water nicely but turned to water, saw it and backed right off. I had to be very strong with my leg to keep the forward motion whilst keeping him straight as well. Again after this he jumped much better having the odd look at a few but not any serious hesitations, He came back clear and comfortably inside the time as with his extra experience I allowed him to go a little quicker.
In a strong section (Open class so quite a few horses with points) I was delighted to finish 6th with Kenny and 10th with Ash, which for their first runs BE was a brilliant start. Ash has learnt a lot from his experience and hopefully with another months work under his belt will move up top BE100 at Stockland Lovell. It was lovely to have another horse to take eventing and I will give Kenny another run HC in the BE90 at Stockland Lovell before his owner takes over.
There are videos of each horse in all 3 phases on my blog http://www.shoestringeventing.co.uk/my-blog.htm
So what do you think of my overgrown bog pony as we affectionally refer to him?
Our times were pretty tight so I had to be a tad more organised than usual, although Kenny's owner took charge of Kenny producing him ready when required. Ash was first on for dressage and he warmed up very sweetly and obediently. The test I was pleased with, it was obedient and he was fairly relaxed, some transitions particularly to and from canter were a bit hollow and the walk didn't really step forward enough. Kenny produced a similar test although the better bits were better, but there were moments of tension and he came behind the vertical a little. We were consistent both horses scored 36 which I was a little disappointed with particularly Ash's score but both horses perhaps don't show a novice enough outline. Lets face it dressage and understanding what dressage judges are looking for has never been a strong point!
Showjumping was reasonable height for Intro although jumping well. The ring wasn't the easiest being on a slight slope but the the course was nicely built. Kenny went first and despite being a little onward bound at times coped well and produced a nice clear round.
Ash on the other hand really showed his lack of experience and jumped a very green round, not really in front of my leg. Possibly I didn’t adapt very well from riding one forward going and onward bound horse that wanted to jump off long strides to Ash who is more correct and likes jumping off a deeper stride. We had a few misses where I should have held rather than push for a longer stride but other than a pole at 7 he did manage to clear them and I wasn't too disappointed. (Note to self get some BS classes outdoors before next time!)
Cross country as expected was top end of Intro. In particular the water and fence 6 a small log jumping towards a slope down into woods seemed to be the main areas to cause a stop. I was very aware that this was Ash's first round and planned to take it relatively easily and make sure I took good wide lines into everything so he had plenty of time to see the fences and work out what he was doing. We had a long wait in the warm up but once on the course he jumped the first two fences well. Three was a decent hay rack with some bright blue paint on it and we came into that wobbling severely, I clamped my leg on and we rather clambered that, the related at 4 and 5 were better and gave good positive jumps. The bogey at 6 I gave him plenty of room and he hesitated but went and then after a simple fence out the woods we came to the water which was perhaps the most difficult fence for a real novice. Had rather a hollow jump in as I kept hold of his head so he couldn't jinx on landing and then only trotted through the water and out over the brush but he popped it and carried on before giving a lovely jump over the ditch.
From this point on he really gained confidence and did the combination, chase fence, ditch, drop and palisade confidently. We finished with a few time faults but I hadn't hurried and I think he will gain a huge amount of confidence from that run.
A quick wash down (the horse not me!) before I swapped onto Kenny. He is much more experienced but has had some minor issues with water in the past. He jumped well until 6 where he suddenly slammed the brakes on, a very strong leg and he jumped it from almost a standstill but not quite so we stayed clear, he popped over the one before the water nicely but turned to water, saw it and backed right off. I had to be very strong with my leg to keep the forward motion whilst keeping him straight as well. Again after this he jumped much better having the odd look at a few but not any serious hesitations, He came back clear and comfortably inside the time as with his extra experience I allowed him to go a little quicker.
In a strong section (Open class so quite a few horses with points) I was delighted to finish 6th with Kenny and 10th with Ash, which for their first runs BE was a brilliant start. Ash has learnt a lot from his experience and hopefully with another months work under his belt will move up top BE100 at Stockland Lovell. It was lovely to have another horse to take eventing and I will give Kenny another run HC in the BE90 at Stockland Lovell before his owner takes over.
There are videos of each horse in all 3 phases on my blog http://www.shoestringeventing.co.uk/my-blog.htm
So what do you think of my overgrown bog pony as we affectionally refer to him?
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Look at the extension through the water - Ash looks seriously classy to me! 
Sounds like a great weekend. 
