{97702}
...
I was in two minds whether to post this because - to put it mildly - things did not quite turn out as I had hoped. But there were some good points, and it was a very good learning experience for me (i.e. never trust Jensen over a fence!)
Dressage was OK-ish - Ruy Fonseca was trying his best to run everyone over in the warm up
but we prevailed and Jensen was going quite nicely. Sadly when we went into the arena i found it was waterlogged and covered in mole hills - so we squelched down the centre line and tripped our way around left canter transition is still my bete noire and unfortunately the corner where the transition was required was the worst in the arena - cue no left canter. Sigh, thanks Jensen! 38.3 was more generous than Id been expecting....
SJ was incredibly easy, as youd expect at an 80. Jensen pinged over the fences like they werent there, including the more visually scary ones.....except for fence 2, an innocuous little fence that he decided to duck out at. I was so cross with him and me that we jumped the rest in double quick time.... 4 to add
And then the XC - oh dear. Again, as youd expect at an 80, nothing bad on the course - there was a brush fence with one stride to a teeny B element which I thought he might not like, a hanging log which needed firm steering as it was relatively narrow, and a hay wagon of the type that Jensen hates.
Set off over the first and his eyes were out on stalks, I always seem to forget how green he is! I rode firmly at the first and that was fine, up the slope to the second which was a tiny log between two bushes - and he ducked out. It was entirely my fault, the fence was so easy I hadnt given it a second thought and just pointed him at it assuming he would pop over it. Hmmm.
Over fence 3, then uphill again to a feeder box fence - he caught sight of the fence as we came over the ridge and shot off sideways, didnt like the look of it at all. Another 20. Regained control, sat up, kicked and steered, over we went. Hay wagon, brush double fence, scary bright pallisade, ditch and rail - all fine. Galloped uphill to another easy bench fence - slid out sideways, no thank you very much.
At that point of course we should have been eliminated but XC control were very generous (or maybe couldnt count!) and let me carry on - I was listening to the tannoy and watching out for red flags or anxious fence judges but nothing!
The wall and the hanging log were fine - and then he did it again at a ordinary half roll-top thing before the water. Through the water, two more fences and we had finished - it was great to finish, obviously we were eliminated at the end!
You will be asking yourself what on earth I was doing - once he had done it once I should have ridden EVERY fence as I did the difficult ones and we would have been fine. Believe me, I am wondering the same thing in hindsight!!! I really thought that as he settled into the round he would become more relaxed and less slippery, clearly that wasnt the case and I am a total idiot! An expensive learning experience.....
My aim for the day was a double clear and I suppose I can take a little consolation from the fact that if I hadnt ridden like a wet lettuce that would have been very very easy for us to achieve - Jensen has loads of scope and loves his jumping, so now I know what a little **** he can be then we will try again with more purpose.
I have got a lovely pic of him going over an XC fence but I cant add it on my phone, Ill try later. Onwards and upwards..... and shoulders back, leg on and steer at EVERY SINGLE FENCE!
Dressage was OK-ish - Ruy Fonseca was trying his best to run everyone over in the warm up
but we prevailed and Jensen was going quite nicely. Sadly when we went into the arena i found it was waterlogged and covered in mole hills - so we squelched down the centre line and tripped our way around left canter transition is still my bete noire and unfortunately the corner where the transition was required was the worst in the arena - cue no left canter. Sigh, thanks Jensen! 38.3 was more generous than Id been expecting....SJ was incredibly easy, as youd expect at an 80. Jensen pinged over the fences like they werent there, including the more visually scary ones.....except for fence 2, an innocuous little fence that he decided to duck out at. I was so cross with him and me that we jumped the rest in double quick time.... 4 to add
And then the XC - oh dear. Again, as youd expect at an 80, nothing bad on the course - there was a brush fence with one stride to a teeny B element which I thought he might not like, a hanging log which needed firm steering as it was relatively narrow, and a hay wagon of the type that Jensen hates.
Set off over the first and his eyes were out on stalks, I always seem to forget how green he is! I rode firmly at the first and that was fine, up the slope to the second which was a tiny log between two bushes - and he ducked out. It was entirely my fault, the fence was so easy I hadnt given it a second thought and just pointed him at it assuming he would pop over it. Hmmm.
Over fence 3, then uphill again to a feeder box fence - he caught sight of the fence as we came over the ridge and shot off sideways, didnt like the look of it at all. Another 20. Regained control, sat up, kicked and steered, over we went. Hay wagon, brush double fence, scary bright pallisade, ditch and rail - all fine. Galloped uphill to another easy bench fence - slid out sideways, no thank you very much.
At that point of course we should have been eliminated but XC control were very generous (or maybe couldnt count!) and let me carry on - I was listening to the tannoy and watching out for red flags or anxious fence judges but nothing!
The wall and the hanging log were fine - and then he did it again at a ordinary half roll-top thing before the water. Through the water, two more fences and we had finished - it was great to finish, obviously we were eliminated at the end!
You will be asking yourself what on earth I was doing - once he had done it once I should have ridden EVERY fence as I did the difficult ones and we would have been fine. Believe me, I am wondering the same thing in hindsight!!! I really thought that as he settled into the round he would become more relaxed and less slippery, clearly that wasnt the case and I am a total idiot! An expensive learning experience.....
My aim for the day was a double clear and I suppose I can take a little consolation from the fact that if I hadnt ridden like a wet lettuce that would have been very very easy for us to achieve - Jensen has loads of scope and loves his jumping, so now I know what a little **** he can be then we will try again with more purpose.
I have got a lovely pic of him going over an XC fence but I cant add it on my phone, Ill try later. Onwards and upwards..... and shoulders back, leg on and steer at EVERY SINGLE FENCE!
