BSJA + vids - one day we'll get it right!!

[catembi]

Manor Farm today, in the pouring rain, for a pretty frustrating day.

I tried our new tactic of martingale + minimal warm-up - the more I warm up, the stronger he gets, then if I try to ride him through it, he goes flat & on the forehand. He knows his job by now, so half a dozen jumps is plenty.

First up was the British Novice, where we had a pole for no good reason. It was an upright, & he was maybe a little close, but it was def jumpable from there. Grrr.

Onto the 95 cm, which has stopped looking quite so big. We were jumping in the pouring rain & had a pole or 2 for no good reason.

After that, we had a think. Adrian has jumped 2 discoveries before - one was way too early when he was 4, soon after I got him, & we scrambled round but it wasn't pretty. The second was about 6 months ago & we got 1/2 way round - it was when he was going thru his bronco phase & he kept bucking in front of the jumps & landing disunited with zero impulsion. V hard to ride.

So, should we quit while we were ahead & go home, or should we push our luck when he'd already jumped 2 classes & go for it? What decided me was that he hadn't actually made it into any jump-offs & we'd only done a short warm-up, so he hadn't really done enough to justify being tired.

The course did look on the large side, but what the hell, we were going to have a crack.

Off into the torrential rain again. I was trying to ride in a determined manner cos he was out of his comfort zone & I really wanted him attacking rather than defensive. It worked to a point - we got round & altho the extra height was a surprise to him, it wasn't a problem. But we had another 2 down which I don't think I really deserved.

But the others in the class were 1 elimination & 2 four-faulters, so we weren't a mile off the pace.

Good points:

-no stops

-saw a good stride to every jump except the last jump in the disco

-when I couldn't see a stride & sat there like a muppet, Adrian kindly took one out for me & saved the day

when he should really have stopped & told me to ride it properly.

-martingale is controlling the head carriage

-no running off. He got a bit strong once or twice, but at no point were we careering round like maniacs.

Now we just need to leave the bl**dy jumps up! There was hardly anyone there today & a DC in ANY class would have placed us. We've been stuck on £87 for ages & I want some more on his card.

See what you think:

British Novice

http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s258/catembi/?action=view&current=VIDEO_014.flv

95 cm

http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s258/catembi/?action=view&current=VIDEO_015.flv

Discovery

http://s154.photobucket.com/albums/s258/catembi/?action=view&current=VIDEO_016.flv

 

[Weezy]

Have you tried putting him in a mexican grackle with the combi? If he was mine, I think I would. I would also try doing a lot more canter work to try and get him more connected through his body - it is coming, for sure, but I just see him as being rather disengaged and not putting enough into your hand, instead running through the bridle...but then what do I know

Good on you for going out in the rain, better woman than me!

 

[RachelFerd]

he reminds me a little bit of Ferdie, in that the impression he can give is of looking a bit quiet and lacking in impulsion, but the feeling you get from being sat on top, is that you are actually very wary of getting run off with (or bounced with!)

same as ferdie though in that in the effort to keep it calm and rhythmic, it can also get flat and disconnected... and I agree with what weezy has said.

part of it also has to be, sadly, that some horses are just going to have poles sometimes if they aren't very careful by nature. Ferdie isn't careful by nature (but he's ace cross country as a result..) and I think I have bought a similar one in Tia, who is very bouncy and full of impulsion by nature, but again doesn't have a real desire not to touch the pole under any circumstances. Which is not to say you can't jump clear rounds... and often it's better this way, as they horse will still jump when they're in the wrong place, rather than the kind that will stop because they don't want to touch it so badly.

 

[CrazyHippo1]

Ahh sorry I wasn't there today, Mum had to work, although I think Im quite pleased I was sat inside with tea instead of out in the rain!!

Maybe we should try and combine our horses! Mine is so careful she'll rarely have a pole, but she will stop whilst your guys lovely and bold but just a little careless! My internets a bit rubbish at the mo so vids aren't really working, is he knocking them in front or behind?

Where are you off to next? x

 

[catembi]

Manor Farm AGAIN on Sunday. There isn't a 95 cm so we will be doing BN & then disco, all being well. We're going to jolly well win some money whether he likes it or not...

Then we've got a break til 28th Sept so he can have a couple of free w'ends.

Think he knocks them in front - one of his front legs is dangly. However, he never stops unless I've done something spectacularly stupid, which is something, & he's completely indifferent to fillers or spooky conditions.

Agree to some extent re the canter - we've only just started working on it in flatwork lessons, but it's *miles* better than it was.

 

[TableDancer]

TBH It doesn't look too bad at all to me, I think you should give yourself, and him, a bit more credit. It's the first Disco you've done for some time so to go round in a good rythmn looking confident and professional is a big step forward - ok, he rolled a couple of poles but he didn't look at all like stopping (that was him stopping at an oxer off the corner in a thread a few days ago wasn't it?

)

ETA: just read your last post and it must have been someone else stopping - sorry

Agree with Weezy that he just needs to be a bit more connected - you can see that your reins sometimes go floppy in the corners, where you need to be driving his backend under him into a contact. Then you will have a better quality canter to jump from. It's not really a eureka moment thing, you just have to keep working at it, canter improves, can jump bigger, canter improves, can jump bigger etc etc. FWIW he doesn't look careless to me, I think he'll be fine in that respect once his backend is more engaged and he can lift the front end. In fact, I really like him

Let us know how you go on Sun - I can feel a Disco clear coming on

 

[catembi]

Oh thank you TableDancer!

Yes that was us stopping a few days ago

- I've got a mental block re seeing a stride to a // off a corner so sat there like a lemon both times. After I posted about it, everyone said to really *ride* the corner so the engine stays running, which is what I tried to do today. He isn't stoppy at all unless I'm having a major dither & then he's more

than naughty, & if I re-present properly, he'll quite happily forgive & forget & pop over.

I just sometimes get brain freeze at a crucial moment.

He's only just 6, so can't be expected to salvage every instance of muppet riding

 

[TableDancer]

Glad I'm not going mad - I was one of the ones who said ride stronger round the corner

There you are, you see it worked!! Keep working away along the lines you are already, and you'll get there. Like I said, there's lots to like about him (reminds me of a horse I had who was a proper little jumper! BTW, Are you little or is he big?

)

 

[catembi]

He is a 16.1 ISH by Coevers Diamond Lad, and his build is more towards the ID end of the spectrum than the TB. I'm 5 ft 1 & around 8 st. He's actually smaller than Cat (in avatar) who was 17 hh, by Cruising & very strapping!!

The boy *can* jump if he feels like it - the photo on Horsequest or Horsemart that made me go & see him showed him jumping a // at 1 m 40. It's just a question of persuading it out of him on a consistent basis rather that a one-off mad chuck at a big jump for a sales photo.

 

[TableDancer]

Great breeding then

Reckon you couldn't be too offended if I say you're small rather than him big then

The Irish horses often go on maturing for years don't they - he could be a lot stronger and more balanced next year.

Good luck on Sunday - keep us posted

 

[Scribbles]

He's lovely, well done =)

The only thing I could think (only wathed first vid sorry!) was that when he knocked the pole, he was really running downhill on his forehand. So maybe try working on your related distances etc at home to bring him up a bit?