ann-jen
Well-Known Member
Well after the miserable weather we've been having it actually wasn't too bad on Saturday and as this venue is quite close by I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get there which was nice. Also one of my fellow liveries came to watch as she's contemplating doing some BSJA on her horse and she wanted to check out the venue. It was lovely to get some help in the warm up as I usually have to go to shows on my own and just have to jump whatever anyone else has up or keep getting off to adjust the fence.
Jenny was really lazy in the warm up but jumping really well so I felt quite confidant going into the CR. The approach to the first jump was awful though - it was an oxer with a wall filler stuck in a corner but because of where the other jumps were in the arena the only way you could approach it was off a kind of 20m circle. Jenny was too busy nosing at the crowd and only saw it at the last minute and did a huge cat leap over it and then proceeded round the rest of the course at 100mph! The first combination was a 1 stride double - it walked a bit short and we near enough bounced through it!
She still managed to go clear though despite going far too fast and jumping far too big over most of the course. I think the funny approach to the first fence just unsettled her a bit plus the approach to fence 2 was really long - right round the other side of the arena so it gave her a chance to get a bit of a hold.
When we went in to the BN, she jumped fence 1 a bit better as she was ready for it this time but I managed to have a little rub on fence 2 which came down
I had a good hold of her coming into the first double and this time managed a reasonable 1 stride in between and she jumped the rest of the course fab. I was disappointed to have the fence down - I'm not sure why although my friend said loads of people had it down and she thought it might of been that the long run in between fence1 & 2 meant horses switched off a bit. Anyway after Jen going like a steam train in the CR I was still pleased with our round in the BN as she was a lot steadier - although it was a real effort on my part to achieve this. The other positive is that I wasn't half as nervous as last time and do feel like its getting easier the more we go.
Jenny was really lazy in the warm up but jumping really well so I felt quite confidant going into the CR. The approach to the first jump was awful though - it was an oxer with a wall filler stuck in a corner but because of where the other jumps were in the arena the only way you could approach it was off a kind of 20m circle. Jenny was too busy nosing at the crowd and only saw it at the last minute and did a huge cat leap over it and then proceeded round the rest of the course at 100mph! The first combination was a 1 stride double - it walked a bit short and we near enough bounced through it!
When we went in to the BN, she jumped fence 1 a bit better as she was ready for it this time but I managed to have a little rub on fence 2 which came down