catembi
Well-Known Member
So the saga continues...
Adrian is a 5 yo ISH who does BD & BSJA. He is very laid back & easy going at home & gets wildly excited at shows, despite the fact that we're usually doing something every weekend. He has now won £67 BSJA, but at shows he bucks in the warmup, then takes hold & runs off every time he's pointed at a jump.
So today we went to Manor Farm & instead of our usual myler french link, we were using a tom thumb with rollers on it borrowed from my sj coach. I'd tried it in my last lesson & it gave me just enough whoa to have some control.
Started warming up & for once A couldn't take hold & run off, which infuriated him so he was bucking 4 x more than usual. He jumped the warm up jumps quite nicely & they were pretty big. Went into the British Novice & it was soooo weird having some control! Usually I get tanked off with & have to try & see a 'forward' stride. I tried to check him back in between jumps, then sit still & leave him alone on the approach. Had 3 down because it was strange for both of us jumping at sj speed instead of xc speed. (Altho he's okay in lessons.)
Decided to go in the 95 cm to have more practise at being in control. The first 2 were uprights on the long side at max height, so I checked him back on the short side, then left him alone & he jumped them really nicely. Then had to go round the short side & across the next long diag to no 3. He bucked about 4 strides out & had his head right in the air & to one side, & he just couldn't jump like that. I stayed calm & rode a smooth curve back round to it, being v careful not to hang onto him, but altho I was kicking like mad (& had my spurs on) & smacked him, he absolutely wouldn't go forward & kind of ground to a halt. Even if it had been 2 wings without anything between them, I'd have had the same prob as he was so upset about his mouth that he just wouldn't go fwd. So we were eliminated.
I had the same prob when I tried a kimblewick - I could slow down but he wouldn't jump in it. His teeth were done yest - the EDT said that they weren't bad at all, & now they're spot on. He's in a comfort bridle & a properly fitted WOW.
So now what?? He's v fwd going in the Myler but I totally can't stop or slow down, & anything I can hold him in, he won't jump in. He also really hates having his mouth strapped closed so I've abandoned his flash as it aggravated him. V v bored with BN, but we need to sort out our issues before we move onwards.
TBH, I'm feeling despondent about competing in general. We've spent £££££ over the past couple of years on a house with land, lorry, manege, Adrian (and Cat before him), WOW, do 2 sj & 2 dr lessons a month with v good trainers... & I'm STILL cr*p.
I try soooo hard, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to do more than bump along the bottom of BSJA & score 58 to 61% BD. It was the same with Cat too - loads of lessons etc, but we always got 58 to 61% BD, prob averaging 59.something so we rarely got a point & when he got ill, we were having 4 fault-itis at NC & I'd done one 1 m 15 by accident cos o/h wouldn't get up so we missed NC.
So I wonder if I have just reached my limit as a rider. V v fed up with myself today.
Sorry if I sound pathetic, but this has been concerning me for a while.
Adrian is a 5 yo ISH who does BD & BSJA. He is very laid back & easy going at home & gets wildly excited at shows, despite the fact that we're usually doing something every weekend. He has now won £67 BSJA, but at shows he bucks in the warmup, then takes hold & runs off every time he's pointed at a jump.
So today we went to Manor Farm & instead of our usual myler french link, we were using a tom thumb with rollers on it borrowed from my sj coach. I'd tried it in my last lesson & it gave me just enough whoa to have some control.
Started warming up & for once A couldn't take hold & run off, which infuriated him so he was bucking 4 x more than usual. He jumped the warm up jumps quite nicely & they were pretty big. Went into the British Novice & it was soooo weird having some control! Usually I get tanked off with & have to try & see a 'forward' stride. I tried to check him back in between jumps, then sit still & leave him alone on the approach. Had 3 down because it was strange for both of us jumping at sj speed instead of xc speed. (Altho he's okay in lessons.)
Decided to go in the 95 cm to have more practise at being in control. The first 2 were uprights on the long side at max height, so I checked him back on the short side, then left him alone & he jumped them really nicely. Then had to go round the short side & across the next long diag to no 3. He bucked about 4 strides out & had his head right in the air & to one side, & he just couldn't jump like that. I stayed calm & rode a smooth curve back round to it, being v careful not to hang onto him, but altho I was kicking like mad (& had my spurs on) & smacked him, he absolutely wouldn't go forward & kind of ground to a halt. Even if it had been 2 wings without anything between them, I'd have had the same prob as he was so upset about his mouth that he just wouldn't go fwd. So we were eliminated.
I had the same prob when I tried a kimblewick - I could slow down but he wouldn't jump in it. His teeth were done yest - the EDT said that they weren't bad at all, & now they're spot on. He's in a comfort bridle & a properly fitted WOW.
So now what?? He's v fwd going in the Myler but I totally can't stop or slow down, & anything I can hold him in, he won't jump in. He also really hates having his mouth strapped closed so I've abandoned his flash as it aggravated him. V v bored with BN, but we need to sort out our issues before we move onwards.
TBH, I'm feeling despondent about competing in general. We've spent £££££ over the past couple of years on a house with land, lorry, manege, Adrian (and Cat before him), WOW, do 2 sj & 2 dr lessons a month with v good trainers... & I'm STILL cr*p.
So I wonder if I have just reached my limit as a rider. V v fed up with myself today.
