Borde Hill

[LoneRanger]

Howdoo

Just wondered how everyone thought the cross country course rode today. I wasn't convinced that the going was great when i walked it and am not sure whether to run tomorrow. I'm hoping the rain may start to soften it overnight though. I'd be grateful for any opinions.

Cheers

 

[Hattikins]

well i rode the intro at 11.30 today and i was told to be careful as it was "really slippery", actually it rode really nicely

and my mare didnt slip once and i was going at a pretty good pace, i was much more concerned about the dressage and SJ where she slipped badly in both...

 

[eventingdiva]

I did the intro today, and the ground was fine, mine didn't slip in any of the phases, she lots of big studs in though! x

 

[LoneRanger]

Ah ok, thanks for letting me know. I'll stick some big studs in then and try to stay in a good rhythm to avoid slippage. Hope you both had a good day.

 

[Hattikins]

yup studs were essential today

 

[H-J]

Sjing was slippy but the rest was fine.

Spider didnt slip all day

 

[KatB]

Come on then HJ and Hattikins, reports please?!

 

[lizzie_liz]

Yes reports please, am eager to read how everyone got on

 

[prudunce]

well i jumped at 5.30 and ground was yuck,hardly any clears s.j&xc due 2 ground as SJ on slope and a few tight turns meant quite tricky.I had 4 faults sj on a turn to no.3 as shes slipped and 1 silly stop on P.N xc course at 6pm as it was a tight turn,4th from home b4 last water crossing,we just lost my xc pace and it confused her.Mate was watching me 2day and has wivdrawn from 2 mrws classes as ground was quite bad.Dressage was vrey unfare in my class(sec G),my mare stumbled twice in same place due to unlevel ground!!!! not ideal really and a bit unfare 2 run arena on sloping ground! i expect they may be saving nicer ground 4 2mrws??

 

[sarahs]

I rode there today at about midday and it was lovely, but big studs required, there is quite a bit of grass there, and it did rein a hell of a lot there. I really dont know if I would run tomorrow, , is ifs not to far I would go and do your dressage and check it out, the novice course did look nice !
Good Luck if you do decide to run!

 

[wendygood]

thought going was perfect bout 12

 

[Mel85]

I rode at 6pm, in fact, prudunce, you were following me! Going was not great, I had 17 time penalties because wasn't worth going for the time and slipping.

Dressage area for section G was absolutely appalling. Not impressed and SJ was very slippery, I had 3 down on my mare who has jumped clear every time out this season.

 

[prudunce]

Thankgod it was not just me thinking ground(arena was sh*te) we pay huge entry fees and the least they cud provide is a decent flat dressage arena!and that judge was so rude! ok so no1 can change the weather,we was just unlucky jumping so late! Did u see the results 4 our class??did Mat selby win(had fab dressage score)how does he do that??where r u based&where is your next event??be nice 2 meet up!

 

[Mel85]

We must have been warming up at xc start together without realising it! What colours were you in?

I was really unimpressed with the dressage, there was no steward around at the time either, we were all sorting ourselves out. I have to admit, I won't be going back to Borde Hill. I'd heard it was fab, but not impressed really. Yes Matt Selby did win on 21.5, got 2 time penalties to add to 19.5. I thought my mare did a nice test...long way to go for that score though!

I'm based in Wiltshire so was quite a trek for us! We stayed Saturday night with my parents because they are only a mile away from Borde Hill, so worked out ok.

My next event is Llanymynech - miles in the other direction! Staying away for the weekend with friends there so that will be good. After that am going to Milton Keynes for PNRF - hopefully that one won't be abandoned like Stockland Lovell was! Wish they'd just cancelled before I'd got soaked walking xc and then even wetter working in for dressage!!!! Oh well!

Where are you based? Where are you going next?

 

[prudunce]

I was in pink hatsilk,small bay mare! u??no stewards around 4 me either,infact the oldbat(judge)came out her car and told me to hurry up!!(why wasnt i told i was due in?).??plus i cudnt see where u get in(didnt go down 2 well wiv the WITCH).so she prob hated me from word go!!
Didnt get my testsheet,but wud have liked 2 see wat they said 4 me to get crap score!
Anyway,im hoping to do Eridge(kent)end june,then not sure??this was only my 4th BE event and only 2nd P.N,so not done much todate! working so hard on dressage lessons&she goes fab in lessons,sh*te at events as gets distracted!! must do lots of unafil dressage 2 get her use 2 it??

 

[LoneRanger]

Well, it honked it down with rain all day. I decided to give it a go to see whether my horse had got any better with soft going. Dressage arena very sticky, show jumping arena horrendous. My horse hated the going but some how managed to nurse him round with one fence down.

The going on the xc better than sj but I fell off half way round so don't know how the second half rode!!

I don't think you can really blame the organisers for the going, it's unusual to have this much rain all in one go. It's so unfortunate for them. Ah well, fingers crossed the sun comes back soon.

 

[Mel85]

I remember seeing you now! I was in purple/black - small bay mare aswell, although I expect mine was smaller!

What score did you get then? The dressage arenas at Borde Hill weren't particulary helpful for distracting them! The xc was very close to the arenas - my mare is normally very settled, but she was like a bomb waiting to explode up at the dressage yesterday, quite how she got 28.5 I'll never know, she felt horrible, I could hardly move a muscle!

Never been to Eridge - where are you based?

 

[Mel85]

Well done for giving it a go. Hope you're not too sore after your fall - which fence was it?

I agree, it is a shame for the organisers when they put in so much effort.

As for the sun coming back soon - then we'll have baked, rock hard going and we still won't be happy!

 

[LoneRanger]

Not sore at all thanks, landed on my feet! Fell at number 10 (the first part of the stockade thing), horse put an extra stride in because not confident of his footing and hit the fence pretty hard. I thought he was going to fall but he didn't and I ended up standing next to him! He's none the worse for wear and seemed unphased by it all.

Know what you mean about the weather, it seems to go from rock-hard to bog and back again so quickly. Ah well, plenty of events left this season. Have to say that I was impressed at how chirpy all the stewards were even though they must have been absolutely freezing.

 

[Hattikins]

Well done to everyone who competed

Glad you're not too the worse for wear loneranger

and lucky you landed on your feet as you might have ended up even soggier!!

Was back there XC ring stewarding for 5 hours this morning and i cant describe how unbelieveably cold it was - we were wet through and like blocks of ice!! i was huddled in the boot of our 4x4 with the clip board but the rain was just driving into the boot so i just got soaked!!!!!!!

all the competitors were lovely though and seemed to be managing to enjoy themselves even though they were all utterly drenched!!

 

[SpruceRI]

I was due to compete today but withdrew last night. Feel a bit crap about it now as I love Borde Hill, but my car has broken.

Although lovely friend had offered to transport us there, she was fence judging all day, so it would've meant arriving at 10am ish, waiting until 1.30pm for my Dressage, then SJ wasn't until 5pm ish and XC at 5.30pm. We were taking my trailer which leaks like billy-o, so even though under cover, we'd still have got drowned.

Walked the course with Prudunce yesterday and thought it was lovely, but we had non-stop rain last night, so can't imagine it was so lovely today.

Prudunce : Sharon is going to get your Dressage sheet if it's still available x

 

[igglepiggle]

Have to agree the dressage warm up was a nightmare, such a small part not on a slope with several arenas warming up together was bad enough without the constant whistle blowing and galloping of horses on the XC coming past. We normally do ok in the dressage but got 40, as he was so unsettled (our arena was nearest the XC). Nevermind!

 

[Mel85]

My arena was closest the xc as well and typically a horse came galloping past just as I was doing my free walk!!!!!

Oh well - it's all good experience!

 

[Hattikins]

[ QUOTE ]
My arena was closest the xc as well and typically a horse came galloping past just as I was doing my free walk!!!!!

Oh well - it's all good experience!

[/ QUOTE ]

that was the beauty of having dressage on saturday before the XC started though Hattie still managed to get a bit distracted!!!

 

[igglepiggle]

That would have been fab! At one point, I thought about warming up in the SJ warm up although the slope on that wasn't ideal either! Never mind, at least he concentrated on the XC during the XC!

 

[Hattikins]

whoops sorry i meant sunday not saturday