Bonzo goes outdoors - hmmm... (pics)

J

JenniferB

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Ok this is clearly very dull compared to some of the exciting results this week but hey ho, here we go!

Took B to Rowallan to jump Fenwick intro on Saturday - aim being to actually jump a 1m class before Blair (nothing like good preparation...). Got there in good time to tack up and walk track, Bonzo was absolutely vile and kicked the **** out the lorry from the minute we got there till the minute he barged me down the flipping ramp - gotta love youngsters!

Decided to do the BN and the 1m amateur qual. Walked the BN and it all seemed ok except for a bit of a spooky filler going away from the gate. He worked in sweet as you like then went in the ring and his eyes went out on stalks! The top end of the ring was clearly very scary, and we nearly parted company going past the terrifying judge's box! Cue a pretty tense horse and rider combination, he jumped the fences well enough but was not anything remotely like rideable in between the fences and was a bit wiggly. Proof of this is the pro 'tog had to delete all but one of the shots he got ha ha:
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/stevenpics/photo?photo_id=453762475&vendor_id=3092
Somehow managed to finish on 4 faults, so not too bad at all for his 2nd BN.

Decided to tighten up his noseband a bit as he was opening his mouth to run round the corners - cue a very grumpy B!
Went into the 1m amateur and he was a different horse - cocky little brat! Totally towed me to the first two fences but settled a bit. He had a bit of a baby moment coming back to the black and orange fence, lost impulsion and didn't quite make it to the fence at the right place. Instead of saying 'no' he just pinged, and only breathed on the back rail on the way down to finish on 4 faults again (and got 3rd as it was pretty quiet and nobody was doing all that well!). Pics:

http://www.photoboxgallery.com/stevenpics/photo?photo_id=453765428&vendor_id=3092
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/stevenpics/photo?photo_id=453765747&vendor_id=3092
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/stevenpics/photo?photo_id=453766110&vendor_id=3092
http://www.photoboxgallery.com/stevenpics/photo?photo_id=453766469&vendor_id=3092

CC welcome, I know I need to be a bit more behind him - too much over his shoulders and not letting him open up properly - bad mummy! Working hard on it at home. He's still a bit gangly and dangly, but you can forgive a 5yo at his thirs ever and first outdoor show I suppose...
 
Wow, he is looking fab! (and very smart all plaited up) Look at the height he's giving the fence in the first photo! :D Sounds like a very good first time outdoors for him, he will be a superstar.

Although make sure you have your sticky jods for Blair and are ready for wiggliness as he may well be rather boggle-eyed there! ;)
 
Thanks hon! Think he likes the fences a bit bigger - he was so much more switched on at the 'lofty heights' of the 1m open lol. I'm scared of frightening him, but he's so flipping bold! Could be very very wiggly at Blair - will have to be careful to dodge the tree. Having real bitting issues, he felt stupidly strong in the bigger class on Saturday but my 'eyes on the floor' reckons that I was maybe choking him off a bit which is why he felt strong, and to be fair the pics suggest that my reins were defo on the short side! What do you think?
 
FigJam said:
Not that I'm agreeing Nic is rubbish at SJ, but "What she said"! ;) If you'd seen my SJ on Sat you wouldn't accept a leg up off me, never mind CC! :p

Bump bump for any real SJ-ers out there. :)
Click to expand...

I am, and I'm OK with it. I figure trying not to fight it is the best option!
 
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