lex2501
Well-Known Member
Billy had a couple of quiet weeks after Badminton but he soon got bored and let me know that he was ready to get cracking again which was pretty handy that we still needed a few more points to achieve a BD Summer Regionals qualification before the end of May, and I am also really keen to get back to Badminton next year to set the record straight so we need to try and get some RFs in the bag before July...
So BD first and we went to Sparsholt to have a crack at 2 prelim qualifier classes. The standard is always very high at Sparsholt and I arrived to see some really quality horses in the warm up so I decided not to get too concerned about the placing but to focus on not giving away silly marks and trying to get the all-important points. I had 15 points already, so just needed 4 to get the qualification.
Billy has been totally and utterly spoilt by our fantastic sponsor Horseware so he was looking utterly stunning in his new kit, ready and waiting to get cracking
First up was Prelim 19 he was doing such a lovely test that I completely missed out the walk work and went straight into canter after my first trot circle oops! He finished a really smart test and the judge opened her window to say that she could tell I was enjoying it so much that she couldnt blame me for going wrong! I was so cross with myself and hoped it wouldnt be too costly.
The next test was Prelim 17 in the indoor school, and Billy decided that the beams of sunlight required jumping as we trotted around the edge and I couldnt help but laugh at him for being so daft! Thankfully he held it together during and performed a very solid test with only one cheeky spook.
My eyes nearly fell out of my head when I went to the scoreboard to see that he had won the first test on an enormous 75% even with the mistake, and was over 6% ahead of the horse in second! Hoorah, we had achieved our mission of qualifying! I felt totally spoilt when I saw that he had also won the second test on 70.87% - what a hero!! So 14 points and £40 prize money so a very successful day indeed And it was great to have Billy back on winning form!
Our first event after Badminton was the BE90 at Ascott Under Wychwood. It is a stunning event but a pretty long trip in the lorry for us. Given that I dont have long to try and get some Regional Final qualifications for the second half of the season I decided that I had better go so we set off up the A34 in glorious sunshine to arrive at the brilliantly organised event, which has superb going given the torrential rain they had suffered just days before.
I arrived in the dressage warm up where the steward told me I had 5 horses to go and Billy usually only needs 20 minutes so I wondered over and watched a few show jump. I returned to find that I only had 1 and a half horses to go before me so picked up the contact to an utterly WILD Billy! He was plunging in the canter so I cantered round and round and round, and round a bit more until he finally started cantering politely but he was still very lit up and hot so I was needing to sit very quietly. I headed over and didnt dare give him a canter around the edge of the arena as my rationale was that I need to at least try and get some reasonable marks for the trot work before setting him off!! I had to sit very very quietly through the test but luckily he held it together, although it felt on edge and I hadnt been able to ask for that extra bit of sparkle. I was a bit disappointed as my immediate reaction was that the score would never be good enough to get a RF qualification from, but I couldnt help but laugh at him he is such a goof! And Badminton had clearly gone to his head what a diva!!
I was so glad to have entered the BE90 as it meant I could stay relaxed about the jumping phases and just try to enjoy it. The show jumping warm up was the only bit of ground that had suffered, and Billy actually put in a stop to a pretty tall upright which I had seen a bold stride to. With hindsight this was actually a really useful shake up for us as he got his botty smacked, and I started to ride him properly. We went into the arena and I told myself to allow him forward but sit quietly and he jumped clear! Hoorah! We had a couple of messy jumps, but it was a confident round and both of us came out smiling. Smiles turned to grins when they called out my dressage score of 26!!!
Billy has always been pretty tricky in the XC warm up / startbox so my lovely Dad came down with me as he sees himself as a bit of a Monty Roberts I can only assume that the atmosphere at Badminton has gone to Billys head as he was nucking futs and the worst he has ever been. He is usually fine with someone on the ground but Dad couldnt get anywhere near him as he was exploding in such a big way. I have to admit to being pretty terrified as he nearly unseated me multiple times. I cant mill near the start box so it was pretty annoying when someone nipped in front of me as he gets worse and worse the longer we are down there. Thankfully I had a very considerate starter, and best of all two of the kindest fellow competitors I have ever come across. A lovely girl who I think was Christelle Durrant (if anyone knows her please pass on my thanks!!) took it upon herself to help me in any way she could, and her and her lovely boy scooped us up and another rider went on the other side and they literally herded me into the box. She was actually in the startbox with me when I set off! How exceptionally kind I really dont think I would have got in without the help of them.
He bolted out of the box and over fence 1 so I had a real battle on my hands to get him to concentrate on the fences as 90 doesnt really back him off. We had a few messy jumps and the handbrake was firmly kept on most of the way. He made it feel easy for a clear round but I headed back to the lorry with no clue as to whether they might have eliminated me for missing 2 countdowns at the start, or whether we would have racked up time penalties for having kept a lid on him.
Whilst washing him off they called out over the tannoy that we were provisional winners of the section which was thrilling, however we were cautious not to get too excited until it was confirmed on the scoreboard. Cue enormous smiles all round when the scoreboard showed that we were 2 seconds over the time which was good enough for the win! What was even more thrilling was that we had somehow lead from start to finish
I now have the biggest thanks to make to all of the organisers and sponsors of Ascott Under Wychwood. The prizes were absolutely phenomenal - £137 prize money, £100 Devoucoux voucher, a Devoucoux numnah, and a gorgeous rosette and sash! It was so lovely to have a really well attended and friendly prize giving which was definitely one of the highlights of my eventing career to date so a massive thank you and I will be returning again!
"Did I do good Mum?"
tbc....
So BD first and we went to Sparsholt to have a crack at 2 prelim qualifier classes. The standard is always very high at Sparsholt and I arrived to see some really quality horses in the warm up so I decided not to get too concerned about the placing but to focus on not giving away silly marks and trying to get the all-important points. I had 15 points already, so just needed 4 to get the qualification.
Billy has been totally and utterly spoilt by our fantastic sponsor Horseware so he was looking utterly stunning in his new kit, ready and waiting to get cracking
First up was Prelim 19 he was doing such a lovely test that I completely missed out the walk work and went straight into canter after my first trot circle oops! He finished a really smart test and the judge opened her window to say that she could tell I was enjoying it so much that she couldnt blame me for going wrong! I was so cross with myself and hoped it wouldnt be too costly.
The next test was Prelim 17 in the indoor school, and Billy decided that the beams of sunlight required jumping as we trotted around the edge and I couldnt help but laugh at him for being so daft!
Thankfully he held it together during and performed a very solid test with only one cheeky spook.My eyes nearly fell out of my head when I went to the scoreboard to see that he had won the first test on an enormous 75% even with the mistake, and was over 6% ahead of the horse in second! Hoorah, we had achieved our mission of qualifying! I felt totally spoilt when I saw that he had also won the second test on 70.87% - what a hero!! So 14 points and £40 prize money so a very successful day indeed
And it was great to have Billy back on winning form!
Our first event after Badminton was the BE90 at Ascott Under Wychwood. It is a stunning event but a pretty long trip in the lorry for us. Given that I dont have long to try and get some Regional Final qualifications for the second half of the season I decided that I had better go so we set off up the A34 in glorious sunshine to arrive at the brilliantly organised event, which has superb going given the torrential rain they had suffered just days before.
I arrived in the dressage warm up where the steward told me I had 5 horses to go and Billy usually only needs 20 minutes so I wondered over and watched a few show jump. I returned to find that I only had 1 and a half horses to go before me so picked up the contact to an utterly WILD Billy!
He was plunging in the canter so I cantered round and round and round, and round a bit more until he finally started cantering politely but he was still very lit up and hot so I was needing to sit very quietly. I headed over and didnt dare give him a canter around the edge of the arena as my rationale was that I need to at least try and get some reasonable marks for the trot work before setting him off!! I had to sit very very quietly through the test but luckily he held it together, although it felt on edge and I hadnt been able to ask for that extra bit of sparkle. I was a bit disappointed as my immediate reaction was that the score would never be good enough to get a RF qualification from, but I couldnt help but laugh at him he is such a goof! And Badminton had clearly gone to his head what a diva!! I was so glad to have entered the BE90 as it meant I could stay relaxed about the jumping phases and just try to enjoy it. The show jumping warm up was the only bit of ground that had suffered, and Billy actually put in a stop to a pretty tall upright which I had seen a bold stride to. With hindsight this was actually a really useful shake up for us as he got his botty smacked, and I started to ride him properly. We went into the arena and I told myself to allow him forward but sit quietly and he jumped clear! Hoorah! We had a couple of messy jumps, but it was a confident round and both of us came out smiling. Smiles turned to grins when they called out my dressage score of 26!!!
Billy has always been pretty tricky in the XC warm up / startbox so my lovely Dad came down with me as he sees himself as a bit of a Monty Roberts
I can only assume that the atmosphere at Badminton has gone to Billys head as he was nucking futs and the worst he has ever been. He is usually fine with someone on the ground but Dad couldnt get anywhere near him as he was exploding in such a big way. I have to admit to being pretty terrified as he nearly unseated me multiple times. I cant mill near the start box so it was pretty annoying when someone nipped in front of me as he gets worse and worse the longer we are down there. Thankfully I had a very considerate starter, and best of all two of the kindest fellow competitors I have ever come across. A lovely girl who I think was Christelle Durrant (if anyone knows her please pass on my thanks!!) took it upon herself to help me in any way she could, and her and her lovely boy scooped us up and another rider went on the other side and they literally herded me into the box. She was actually in the startbox with me when I set off! How exceptionally kind I really dont think I would have got in without the help of them.He bolted out of the box and over fence 1 so I had a real battle on my hands to get him to concentrate on the fences as 90 doesnt really back him off. We had a few messy jumps and the handbrake was firmly kept on most of the way. He made it feel easy for a clear round but I headed back to the lorry with no clue as to whether they might have eliminated me for missing 2 countdowns at the start, or whether we would have racked up time penalties for having kept a lid on him.
Whilst washing him off they called out over the tannoy that we were provisional winners of the section which was thrilling, however we were cautious not to get too excited until it was confirmed on the scoreboard. Cue enormous smiles all round when the scoreboard showed that we were 2 seconds over the time which was good enough for the win! What was even more thrilling was that we had somehow lead from start to finish
I now have the biggest thanks to make to all of the organisers and sponsors of Ascott Under Wychwood. The prizes were absolutely phenomenal - £137 prize money, £100 Devoucoux voucher, a Devoucoux numnah, and a gorgeous rosette and sash! It was so lovely to have a really well attended and friendly prize giving which was definitely one of the highlights of my eventing career to date so a massive thank you and I will be returning again!
"Did I do good Mum?"
tbc....
