Borde Hill BE100....There's always another day! (pics)

[Hattikins]

Well am disappointed as not what I had hoped for and really felt it was Jack's day today, but clearly it wasnt meant to be and the dressage and SJing more than made up for it

We've been working very hard to improve his power in the dressage and although he by no means did his best test yesterday, in the undulating tufty arena yesterday he produced a test clearly the judge approved of. Managed a 33.5 for 3rd place after dressage and was pleasantly surprised as judge was happily awarding marks in the 40s to the majority of the section!

Onto the SJing and I couldnt have been more chuffed to bits (probably the reason why Im feeling philosophical about the day's outcome!!) for his little cobby self he felt on springs and had a real "let me at them" attitude today which was lovely to see as this was only our 3rd BE100 together and I find SJing rather nerve jangling He jumped a stonking round for a clear which were few and far between yesterday (think i perhaps saw 1 person jump clear in the half hour i watched!) This was his 13th SJing clear in a row at a BE event!

Over 2:

Little close to 3:

Knees up for no. 8:

And a nice forward one to finish over no.9:

Sadly a good XC to round off the day wasnt to be, perhaps he jarred himself a little in the SJing or he was majorly distracted XC by the revving motorbikes half a metre away from him but he just wasnt himself, not enthusiatic at all once he was out on course which isnt like him so we called it a day approaching fence 8. He's got so much mileage left in him it just wasnt worth beating him round on the hard ground (despite the fab job they'd done on it) and shredding his confidence when he's such an genuine little pony competing at the top of his scope capabilities. So we're saving him for another day and hoping there's an outside chance of swapping to the BE90 at BCA to give him a boost.

Chocolate to all, I need plenty to coax me into revising for my 1st year exams!!

 

[Kelpie]

awe, that's too bad - tho sounds like a sensible decision to have stopped to live to fight another day, so much pats on the back to you for that. Wish more people would do that when they should (and yes, although they'd done a great job with the ground, there's only so much that can be done with it.....).

 

[star]

aw, he's gorgeous and super well done for the first 2 phases. perhaps will see you at BCA!

 

[only_me]

He looks lovely!

You are right, there is always another day, and it takes a good rider to recognize that

 

[Thursday]

Well done! Very pretty horse!

Best of luck with the exams!!

 

[Thistle]

I really like him, he is a lovely type.

I'm a firm believer in pulling up if you are not happy. Far better than injuring your horse.

 

[SpruceRI]

Perhaps he really found the ground too hard A? He's probably the type that prefers it a bit on the boggy side, like Rosie.

If their hearts' not in it, you're right to pull up. Nothing worse than kicking on and going round with doubt in your mind.

Let's hope it rains soon.

x x

 

[Ranyhyn]

I always think it's really nice to hear people pulling up and giving their horses a great if allbeit shorter day - rather than ragging them. He's a very smart looking horse - lovely face!

 

[Pidgeon]

Congrats on the super DR and SJ, he looks lovely in the photos. You made the right decision XC to pull up if he didn't feel right, at least you have him for another day

 

[Hattikins]

Thanks all He's a keeper because he's such a lovely person so there's no pressure to push him despite the fact obviously getting some more good results on him would be nice, there's no rush

Madhossy: Really well done with Rosie, I had a peek at the score boards and you looked to have a fab day with a rosette to top it all off

 

[alwaysbroke]

Well done on the dress and sj, and for pulling up when you didn't feel he was right, totally the right thing to do. He looks a lovely boy.

Good luck with your exams

 

[Hattikins]

Well done on the dress and sj, and for pulling up when you didn't feel he was right, totally the right thing to do. He looks a lovely boy.

Good luck with your exams

Thank you, re. exams - eek can't wait for them to be over! its been a long old term and we finish much later than other uni's

 

[Eventer96]

Well done on the two phases and good on you for pulling up if he didn't feel right. Shall see you at BCA hopefully- If I can be moved into the BE90 (which I am praying for!).

 

[Chloe_GHE]

aww love the head shot at the end
what a little pocket rocket he is, looks fab in the sj, maybe he was just feeling the ground?... Good luck for his next BE90

P.S. I am VERY impressed with so many consecutive clear sj rounds at BE!!!!!! Tres jealous!!!!

 

[NR99]

Well done HK, brilliant SJ and dressage - hope we have plenty of rain between now and BCA

 

[Firewell]

Sounds like you made the right decision, it's just not worth it is it, especially when he's so fabulous.
It probably was the ground, it's been so hard for so long . Really good dressage and showjumping, what a clever boy he is .

 

[diggerbez]

i love love the sjing pics of him and his tidy little legs! hopefully it was just the hard ground he didn't like and he'll be firing on all cylinders next time

 

[FlipFlop5]

He's such a cutey! well done for the first 2 phases, hopefully his mind will be in it at the next event - he looks like hes got a lot to give.

Good luck with the exams, got my last final tomorrow :s

 

[Hattikins]

Thank you I think he's finding the full transition to BE100 slightly more daunting than we expected, he wants to do it but his confidence just isnt sky high yet. He jumped such a super double clear at tweseldown last weekend that I know he has it in him it's just going to take a little longer than I had anticipated.

NR99: Yes everyone pray for rain before BCA! we desperately need some

diggerbez: he is very tidy both in front and behind, there were horses making such a hash of the SJing and although our round didnt looked effortless or stylish, he is very workmanlike

Chloe: I couldnt believe it when i looked at his record and counted the clears! I cant last forever but it makes me happy for now

Flipflop: hope your final exam went well, I just cant even begin to know where to start revising there is just so much that i dont even understand!!

Eventer96: fingers crossed for a downgrade for us both, though will probably run him anyway in the BE100 if they can't swap me especially if we've had some rain as he's so close to being ready

firewell: its been ridiculously hard been praying for rain everyday and yesterday all we got was 15mins of drizzle!

 

[measles]

Well done on the first two phases and much respect for pulling him up. A true horseperson He is a lovely looking horse and hope you ahve a great next run

 

[SamuelWhiskers]

Fabulous, at least you about won the combined training competition

Well done on the decision to pull up, difficult i'm sure, but there is always another day and it'll happen with his and yours confidence up there, rather than slogging on for a bad round.

What a lovely boy he is.

 

[smac]

Well done, sounds like a good decision. Super little horse, very smart. BCA 100 is a good one for confidence so you shouldnt worry too much- the show jumping is always up to heighht though.

We were at Borde Hill and the 100 sj on the sunday was carnage- only two or three clears in one section! Then those that survived the sj- a large number failed to walk the xc properly and everyone was getting eliminated for missing out number 8!

I thought the judges were marking awfully hard all day as well- 2 of the horses we took, one (be90) has been in the 20's all season, and the other (be100) never over 34 in 3 seasons eventing and both had 39! very shocked- although all but 1 of the three came home in the money so can't complain.

We didnt return on the Monday as our reliable 100 horse took a fall in the water and was smashed up a bit, the show vets attended and they were called to 6 more horse falls in the 2hours after our fall so decided it wasn't worth running the the 3horses on Monday

 

[OneInAMillion]

Well done, it sounds like you made a very sensible decision. He is so good looking and such a lovely coloured

 

[KatB]

measles sums it up, you are a fantatsic horse person Lovely report, and you're doing a fab job with him, especially as you've produced him pretty much from scratch!! Well done Good luck for your exams

 

[bigboyrocky]

hes gorgeous! looks like a lovely neat little jumper fingers crossed hes back to his normal self for his next outing!

 

[TableDancer]

He is soooooo gorgeous, love his little face and his tucky tucky knees Well done on 2 out of 3, isn't that just eventing for you , and on a sensible decision re XC. Could easily have been ground-related, it's tough on these pony-horses when it's like concrete, tzhey just don't cope well - we have the same with T's pony...

We are at BCA on Sat so might see you there?

 

[NR99]

We are at BCA on Sat so might see you there?

Seems there will be a massive HHO outing at BCA, maybe we should all stick a red carnation in our car/lorry grilles

 

[Rosiefan]

Going XC in 3rd position is very exciting but it can so easily pile the pressure on to push too hard so very well done for being sensible enough to retire. He's such a lovely boy, your Jack

 

[Hattikins]

measles: thank you, he's a sweetie (can be cheeky mind you!) but I'm mindful that when he's out of his comfort zone I don't want to break his spirit.

smac: so sorry to hear yours was one that had an unnecessary ducking in the water both the SJing and XC as you say caused carnage and I definitely feel there was enough cause for concern on saturday for the water to have been removed for sunday or even rerouted through the intro water splash instead...

Oneinamillion: He thinks he's rather lovely too! Very vain and likes to be spotless all the time (not that im complaining )

KatB: well i can't take all of the credit, he'd had fantastic grounding as a 4,5,6yr old but we seemed to click well when he was a youngster on our rare outings so its nice to be able to carry on that partnership now How's your girlie at the moment?


bbr: Thanks my fingers are crossed too

TD: you're absolutely right and i think perhaps his enthusiasm SJ may have been what undid his XC a little? No idea but hopefully it was just a small blip. If Jack had the scope T's lovely Noffy has I'd never want for another pony ever! Probably wont see you sadly at BCA as think im running sunday but best of luck

RF: Thank you I just felt it wasnt worth using the miles in his legs when there are hopefully many more days to come

 

[KatB]

Sounds good to me She's fine, usual temperamental self, but generally going well thank you Needs more outings really to keep her !!