lex2501
Well-Known Member
I'm really enjoying the steady flow of eventing reports now the season is upon us so keep them coming guys 
My season kicked off at Tweseldown for the BE100 Open with Murphy, the larger grey one. I have had him for about 11months now and really enjoyed my first season with him last year at 100/Novice level. He is the best possible type of schoolmaster. Having been at intermediate with Andrew Nicholson, Daniel Sibley and Lucy Wiergersma he knows his job inside out but he doesn't hand it on a plate if I ride him like a numpty! Over the winter I have worked really hard trying to find all his hidden buttons and it seems to be paying off
So Murphy, myself and super-groom (Stan the JR)
set off at the very sociable time of 9.30 to arrive at Tweseldown with time to walk the course and watch a few SJ before our dressage at 12.30.
The course was pretty much as it usually is. The only thing I was mildly concerned about was a house to corner at fence 13. My concern was really to do with the distance as I watched one do it on 3, one on 4, and one on 5
Murphy is dead straight and not got an enormous stride so I opted to sit up for 4. Apologies to S_J for not getting photos - phone had hidden itself in lorry 
I can't resist sharing this pre-dressage photo - a very rare smile from the grumpy large grey one!!
He warmed up quite sweetly but got a little strong and opinionated at times so I had to work quite hard to soften him and remind him who is meant to be boss
Something felt a little odd on my right leg so looked down to find that the zip on my boots had gone ping!! Thank god I had long black socks on underneath but it still wasn't the most elegant of looks! Mum turned up as I was called for my test so no time to try and sort the boot. Trotted across to the arena allowing Murphy to have a good snort and spook at the white boards, horn tooted and in we went...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XVm...DvjVQa1PpcFPm_2hg463qCY50tlhqErKyIYKrXmqXbd8=
His trot work was lovely and we got 8's for both serpentines, and our change of rein at the beginning. He gets quite strong in the canter and in the past I have hung on as a result, which totally kills the hindleg. This was an improvement, but I can still see that I need to allow him forwards more - the beauty of footage, it felt like I was flying! The walk has always been our Achilles heel. He gets incredibly tense and pokey, but when I put the leg on the quarters just swing all over the place. The first bit of medium walk and the free walk are an enormous improvement for us gaining 7s but still a work in progress. You can see how yuk the second bit of medium walk is - any suggestions for improving this would be greatly appreciated!!
I was over the moon to find that we had gained a personal best of 30 for the test which left us in 4th place in a field of 41. The best was on 29 and two others on 29.5 so I was exceptionally proud of my lovely large grey one.
Mum then taped me into my boot - thank goodness for black electrical tape! - then onto the SJ. Enormous thanks to Squizz who came and battled the herd of grooms around the warm up fences to get me a sensible sized oxer to warm up over The ground was a little deep on take offs and landings so I didn't do too much. My plan had been to crawl into a tall and wide-ish oxer to try and get him to land on a back rail before going in but he kept jumping his heart out so I left it there and went in. I'm being very brave and posting the video although I know it is very wild and woolly! I knew I needed to be quite bold with him as he can get a bit spooky and the more I dare him, the more careful he is. I definitely let the stride and frame get longer and longer the further round we went which is something I need to work on, but the main thing is that it was clear which put an enormous grin on my face!! I was also met by the OH when I came out of the arena - first time he has come to watch me in over 3 years He picked a good day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU2M...DvjVQa1PpcFPm_2hg463qCVWIqMUkmvOTDgzosXTnh_A=
Please note that I have full permission from the lovely lady from the John Britter stand to post these photos - Star can vouch for this too
So then onto the best bit.... xc!! He never warms up brilliantly so I popped a few then headed down to the start box where he grew about 2 hands but was a very clever boy and managed to keep all four legs on the floor whilst we waited for the 15 second warning We shot out of the start box and got a great shot to the first which is on a bit of a grotty line. I vividly remember thinking how awesome it was to be back doing what I love best and I'm pretty sure I had the biggest grin plastered across my face as I let him run down to fence 2 Sat up and checked for fence 2, and the little sod practically pulled the reins out of my hands and dragged me into the base of the fence for a bit of an uncomfortable jump. He fought with me for the next few fences and we had a very dodgy moment at 6 which is a drop pallisade with 4 strides running downhill to a brush. Luckily he kept his line and recovered very well. By that point I knew I needed to get a bit tough with him as it was getting hairy so I gave him a sock in the chops and from that point I had a VERY polite Murphy who was waiting for his fences!! The house and corner combination rode brilliantly on 4, and he ate up the rest of the course and made it feel easy peasy. Galloped on through the finish clear to be met by the very lovely Star for a good chin wag whilst Murphy dragged me back to the lorry. Star then looked at me like a fool while I started sponging Murphy off - who didn't have a drop of sweat on him and looked like he had just strolled around the park 
So we settled him on the lorry and went to the score board to find that I had finished 1 second inside the optimum. I would love to put this down to good judgement, but I think luck is probably a better explanation!
Luckily for them, but unluckily for us, the 3 ahead of us had also finished on their dressage scores so we ended up in 4th with some prize money and a frilly. Not a bad start to the season at all and I am super proud of my horse as we were only 1 penalty behind the leader. It's only taken a year for me to learn how to ride him!! We are off to Somerley next for another 100Open then will be stepping back up to Novice at Portman. Little grey one, who was very cross at being left behind, will be off to Munstead and Larkhill so hope to see some of you there!! Thanks for reading - I'm not very good at keeping these short!!
My season kicked off at Tweseldown for the BE100 Open with Murphy, the larger grey one. I have had him for about 11months now and really enjoyed my first season with him last year at 100/Novice level. He is the best possible type of schoolmaster. Having been at intermediate with Andrew Nicholson, Daniel Sibley and Lucy Wiergersma he knows his job inside out but he doesn't hand it on a plate if I ride him like a numpty! Over the winter I have worked really hard trying to find all his hidden buttons and it seems to be paying off
So Murphy, myself and super-groom (Stan the JR)
The course was pretty much as it usually is. The only thing I was mildly concerned about was a house to corner at fence 13. My concern was really to do with the distance as I watched one do it on 3, one on 4, and one on 5
Murphy is dead straight and not got an enormous stride so I opted to sit up for 4. Apologies to S_J for not getting photos - phone had hidden itself in lorry I can't resist sharing this pre-dressage photo - a very rare smile from the grumpy large grey one!!
He warmed up quite sweetly but got a little strong and opinionated at times so I had to work quite hard to soften him and remind him who is meant to be boss
Something felt a little odd on my right leg so looked down to find that the zip on my boots had gone ping!! Thank god I had long black socks on underneath but it still wasn't the most elegant of looks! Mum turned up as I was called for my test so no time to try and sort the boot. Trotted across to the arena allowing Murphy to have a good snort and spook at the white boards, horn tooted and in we went...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XVm...DvjVQa1PpcFPm_2hg463qCY50tlhqErKyIYKrXmqXbd8=
His trot work was lovely and we got 8's for both serpentines, and our change of rein at the beginning. He gets quite strong in the canter and in the past I have hung on as a result, which totally kills the hindleg. This was an improvement, but I can still see that I need to allow him forwards more - the beauty of footage, it felt like I was flying! The walk has always been our Achilles heel. He gets incredibly tense and pokey, but when I put the leg on the quarters just swing all over the place. The first bit of medium walk and the free walk are an enormous improvement for us gaining 7s but still a work in progress. You can see how yuk the second bit of medium walk is - any suggestions for improving this would be greatly appreciated!!
I was over the moon to find that we had gained a personal best of 30 for the test which left us in 4th place in a field of 41. The best was on 29 and two others on 29.5 so I was exceptionally proud of my lovely large grey one.
Mum then taped me into my boot - thank goodness for black electrical tape! - then onto the SJ. Enormous thanks to Squizz who came and battled the herd of grooms around the warm up fences to get me a sensible sized oxer to warm up over
The ground was a little deep on take offs and landings so I didn't do too much. My plan had been to crawl into a tall and wide-ish oxer to try and get him to land on a back rail before going in but he kept jumping his heart out so I left it there and went in. I'm being very brave and posting the video although I know it is very wild and woolly! I knew I needed to be quite bold with him as he can get a bit spooky and the more I dare him, the more careful he is. I definitely let the stride and frame get longer and longer the further round we went which is something I need to work on, but the main thing is that it was clear which put an enormous grin on my face!! I was also met by the OH when I came out of the arena - first time he has come to watch me in over 3 years He picked a good day http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jU2M...DvjVQa1PpcFPm_2hg463qCVWIqMUkmvOTDgzosXTnh_A=
Please note that I have full permission from the lovely lady from the John Britter stand to post these photos - Star can vouch for this too
So then onto the best bit.... xc!! He never warms up brilliantly so I popped a few then headed down to the start box where he grew about 2 hands but was a very clever boy and managed to keep all four legs on the floor whilst we waited for the 15 second warning
We shot out of the start box and got a great shot to the first which is on a bit of a grotty line. I vividly remember thinking how awesome it was to be back doing what I love best and I'm pretty sure I had the biggest grin plastered across my face as I let him run down to fence 2 Sat up and checked for fence 2, and the little sod practically pulled the reins out of my hands and dragged me into the base of the fence for a bit of an uncomfortable jump. He fought with me for the next few fences and we had a very dodgy moment at 6 which is a drop pallisade with 4 strides running downhill to a brush. Luckily he kept his line and recovered very well. By that point I knew I needed to get a bit tough with him as it was getting hairy so I gave him a sock in the chops and from that point I had a VERY polite Murphy who was waiting for his fences!! The house and corner combination rode brilliantly on 4, and he ate up the rest of the course and made it feel easy peasy. Galloped on through the finish clear to be met by the very lovely Star for a good chin wag whilst Murphy dragged me back to the lorry. Star then looked at me like a fool while I started sponging Murphy off - who didn't have a drop of sweat on him and looked like he had just strolled around the park So we settled him on the lorry and went to the score board to find that I had finished 1 second inside the optimum. I would love to put this down to good judgement, but I think luck is probably a better explanation!Luckily for them, but unluckily for us, the 3 ahead of us had also finished on their dressage scores so we ended up in 4th with some prize money and a frilly. Not a bad start to the season at all and I am super proud of my horse as we were only 1 penalty behind the leader. It's only taken a year for me to learn how to ride him!! We are off to Somerley next for another 100Open then will be stepping back up to Novice at Portman. Little grey one, who was very cross at being left behind, will be off to Munstead and Larkhill so hope to see some of you there!! Thanks for reading - I'm not very good at keeping these short!!
