catembi
Well-Known Member
I've decided to try to get 4 DCs for BN & today was the start of our campaign!!
The run up went okay - last jumping lesson was a good'un, ditto dr lesson on Sat, even managed to get him clipped again yest so he looked like a proper sj-er & not a woolly mammoth. Even cleaned my boots & cleaned & oiled my tack last night!
This am, managed to get o/h up in time to give A's tail a good wash in Vanish (bl***y greys...) Got there in good time. It was our first time jumping at Manor Farm as they started doing aff jumping around the same time that Cat got sick. The new owners have really improved the venue.
So far, so good... but it all came unravelled in the warm up. Schooled yest in my brand new manege, which is riding deep atm as it's still a bit fluffy, & A could hardly be bothered to put one foot in front of the other. But this am... to start with, he bucked every time I pointed him at a jump, then he bucked every time I asked for canter, then he bucked every time I asked for trot, and then...well, he just bucked!! Was planning to swap tactics & warm up a la dressage ie lots of trans to get him to settle, blah de blah, but he was being rather mental & I didn't like my chances of staying on much longer so we came out. It was 5 yo 'wahey, we're jumping!!!!' rather than nasty, 'right, you're coming off' but it wasn't fair on the other competitors to have a nutcase grey doing rodeo.
Went third in the class to get it over with. The starting bell was a REALLY loud horn which scared him, so did a lap of the school in gallop, spooking at jumps as we went.
First jump was a // which I thought would be okay off the L rein, but it rode differently from how it walked so I changed my mind & came from the R, then we were off. Flew the first, just about got him back for the 2nd, another //. 3rd was a double, 4th an upright, 5th a big //. Very strong at this stage & couldn't decide whether to yank him back before the next upright or let him keep coming. Did the latter so he got a bit deep & took it with him. 7 was another double, // to upright, 8 was an upright, then we had a hairpin bend to 9, a rustic // which blended in with the surface so was actually quite hard to see, but he flew it.
I feel a lot more confident now cos even when he's being a total d**khead, he still comes out & does his job, & BN doesn't seem to be any height at all for him. I just need a plan to deal with the rodeo & manic excitement. But I was suprised at how nuts he was as yest he was dead as a dodo. Still, I'd rather have enthusiasm as I hate having to kick to a jump.
Any ideas gratefully received... School for 20 mins at home before we leave? Try a calmer??
We also got to meet CrazyHippo1 & Leanne from here which was good. They'd been having a successful time in the CR & Leanne's a gorgeous horse.
So our next outing's prob combined training at The College...maybe that will be my first comp report without an embarrassed face, or maybe not!!!!
The run up went okay - last jumping lesson was a good'un, ditto dr lesson on Sat, even managed to get him clipped again yest so he looked like a proper sj-er & not a woolly mammoth. Even cleaned my boots & cleaned & oiled my tack last night!
This am, managed to get o/h up in time to give A's tail a good wash in Vanish (bl***y greys...) Got there in good time. It was our first time jumping at Manor Farm as they started doing aff jumping around the same time that Cat got sick. The new owners have really improved the venue.
So far, so good... but it all came unravelled in the warm up. Schooled yest in my brand new manege, which is riding deep atm as it's still a bit fluffy, & A could hardly be bothered to put one foot in front of the other. But this am... to start with, he bucked every time I pointed him at a jump, then he bucked every time I asked for canter, then he bucked every time I asked for trot, and then...well, he just bucked!! Was planning to swap tactics & warm up a la dressage ie lots of trans to get him to settle, blah de blah, but he was being rather mental & I didn't like my chances of staying on much longer so we came out. It was 5 yo 'wahey, we're jumping!!!!' rather than nasty, 'right, you're coming off' but it wasn't fair on the other competitors to have a nutcase grey doing rodeo.
Went third in the class to get it over with. The starting bell was a REALLY loud horn which scared him, so did a lap of the school in gallop, spooking at jumps as we went.
First jump was a // which I thought would be okay off the L rein, but it rode differently from how it walked so I changed my mind & came from the R, then we were off. Flew the first, just about got him back for the 2nd, another //. 3rd was a double, 4th an upright, 5th a big //. Very strong at this stage & couldn't decide whether to yank him back before the next upright or let him keep coming. Did the latter so he got a bit deep & took it with him. 7 was another double, // to upright, 8 was an upright, then we had a hairpin bend to 9, a rustic // which blended in with the surface so was actually quite hard to see, but he flew it.
I feel a lot more confident now cos even when he's being a total d**khead, he still comes out & does his job, & BN doesn't seem to be any height at all for him. I just need a plan to deal with the rodeo & manic excitement. But I was suprised at how nuts he was as yest he was dead as a dodo. Still, I'd rather have enthusiasm as I hate having to kick to a jump.
Any ideas gratefully received... School for 20 mins at home before we leave? Try a calmer??
We also got to meet CrazyHippo1 & Leanne from here which was good. They'd been having a successful time in the CR & Leanne's a gorgeous horse.
So our next outing's prob combined training at The College...maybe that will be my first comp report without an embarrassed face, or maybe not!!!!
