Baydale
Well-Known Member
Just in case you thought I'd had a dressage diva drama, or taken a liking to hospital food (again
): nope, neither is the case, I've just had a busy few days and laptop meltdown. Apologies to anyone who I've inadvertently ignored
, I'll catch up later.
Firstly my Friday: this was taken up with sheet-
shovelling and pony-polishing before setting off cross country schooling with Marty (ably piloted by Sarah) and Cal (now re-named "Cow" thanks to my hilarious 
OH). All started well, with Marty testing S's lightning reactions and Cow becoming increasingly whizzy and lacking steering. Eventually he chilled but we did very little other than out of walk/jog/trot to give him time to understand the whys and wherefores of it all, as enthusiasm and tension are not good partners cross country. I was a bit down-hearted about how green he was but cheered up watching Marty strut his stuff in his usual "don't tell me what to do" manner.
Saturday was a bling day, with Chubby and Chunky (Jupiter and Marty) going to Arena UK to do some unafflicted stressage, just Prelims, but M is no dressage fan and Jup is only a fan of freestyle
, so they needed the practice. Both went surprisingly well, and the only major errors were a monster at A prompting Jup to canter down the centre line in his first test. Marty was a bit tired but really on-side and tried so hard for me, such a lovely feeling, whereas Jup was only good because I worked his bouncy little butt off inbetween tests. Marty was 2nd with 68.75% in the first test and Jup 5th with 65.8%, then Marty was nowhere with 66.6% (I thought it was the better test tbh
) and Jup was 5th again, with 68.75. Oh, and why did I not remember that grakles are a no-no at dressage? Dur. Thankfully a little girl on a grey pony had also made the same mistake and they hadn't eliminated her, so they had to let me off with it too.
Sunday morning I woke up with that horrid "where am I?" feeling (no smutty comments thanks, I was at home and had only had two glasses of wine the night before). I was in two minds whether to go hunter trialling or not but knew meardsall_millie would never let me hear the end of it if I bottled out. I did a quick bit of teaching and riding beforehand before rattling off to Brooksby in the Big Baydale Bus for the RC intermediate class, round the Intro course. My organiser/advisor, m_m
, told me what colour numbers I was looking for and I sprinted round with various facial expressions, from to . Jup was on first so I was carbed up (bagel and honey) in readiness for the marathon, m_m near the finish with oxygen and a silver space blanket. We zig-zagged over the first couple, bounced over the bank at 3 and then had to ride for my life over the next two (person hiding behind the hedge at one and scary white beehive fence). Bless him, when he got to them he jumped really well, not batting an eyelid at the trakehner and just being really careful at the coffin, but he got better as he went round and needs a few more rounds like that.
Funny photos, mainly due to my "sit down and shove with wide hands 5 strides out" technique, but also due to my voluminous breeches, an Ebay bargain that are the right size, just for someone with even more thunderous thighs than me (click right arrow for more):
http://www.photo-kinesis.com/042510...iate/nicky mcdonnell 104/slides/IMG_1736.html
Please note that neither Jup nor Cow are prone to dangly forearms, but both jumped the rolltop looking like they'd only be safe over 2ft 6in.
I got my breath back within about, ooh, 20 minutes and got Cow ready. It was with some trepidation that I started warming-up as he was yee-ha-ing every time a horse on course galloped the other side of the hedge, but he settled ok eventually. The tactics were to be trotting mainly, but cantering if he felt soft in himself and was listening to me. He set off quite sweetly and ballooned the first couple then did a big at the bank at 3, so we trotted on and popped off, strongly over 4 and the scary beehives at 5, then he just got better and better. There was lots of patting and "good boys" and he was really cute, cautious enough over the drops to not scare himself, bold over the ditches, with steering and brakes...what more could I ask for?
http://www.photo-kinesis.com/042510...iate/nicky mcdonnell 139/slides/IMG_1861.html
Orange juice and kettle chips for those who've made it to the end, you're hardcore, definitely. Feel free to take the mickey about my humungous breeches - trust me, after I've washed them once they should be just right.
): nope, neither is the case, I've just had a busy few days and laptop meltdown. Apologies to anyone who I've inadvertently ignored, I'll catch up later.Firstly my Friday: this was taken up with sheet-
shovelling and pony-polishing before setting off cross country schooling with Marty (ably piloted by Sarah) and Cal (now re-named "Cow" thanks to my hilarious OH). All started well, with Marty testing S's lightning reactions and Cow becoming increasingly whizzy and lacking steering. Eventually he chilled but we did very little other than out of walk/jog/trot to give him time to understand the whys and wherefores of it all, as enthusiasm and tension are not good partners cross country. I was a bit down-hearted about how green he was but cheered up watching Marty strut his stuff in his usual "don't tell me what to do" manner.Saturday was a bling day, with Chubby and Chunky (Jupiter and Marty) going to Arena UK to do some unafflicted stressage, just Prelims, but M is no dressage fan and Jup is only a fan of freestyle
, so they needed the practice. Both went surprisingly well, and the only major errors were a monster at A prompting Jup to canter down the centre line in his first test. Marty was a bit tired but really on-side and tried so hard for me, such a lovely feeling, whereas Jup was only good because I worked his bouncy little butt off inbetween tests. Marty was 2nd with 68.75% in the first test and Jup 5th with 65.8%, then Marty was nowhere with 66.6% (I thought it was the better test tbh) and Jup was 5th again, with 68.75. Oh, and why did I not remember that grakles are a no-no at dressage? Dur. Thankfully a little girl on a grey pony had also made the same mistake and they hadn't eliminated her, so they had to let me off with it too.Sunday morning I woke up with that horrid "where am I?" feeling (no smutty comments thanks, I was at home and had only had two glasses of wine the night before
). I was in two minds whether to go hunter trialling or not but knew meardsall_millie would never let me hear the end of it if I bottled out. I did a quick bit of teaching and riding beforehand before rattling off to Brooksby in the Big Baydale Bus for the RC intermediate class, round the Intro course. My organiser/advisor, m_m, told me what colour numbers I was looking for and I sprinted round with various facial expressions, from to . Jup was on first so I was carbed up (bagel and honey) in readiness for the marathon, m_m near the finish with oxygen and a silver space blanket. We zig-zagged over the first couple, bounced over the bank at 3 and then had to ride for my life over the next two (person hiding behind the hedge at one and scary white beehive fence). Bless him, when he got to them he jumped really well, not batting an eyelid at the trakehner and just being really careful at the coffin, but he got better as he went round and needs a few more rounds like that.Funny photos, mainly due to my "sit down and shove with wide hands 5 strides out" technique, but also due to my voluminous breeches, an Ebay bargain that are the right size, just for someone with even more thunderous thighs than me (click right arrow for more):
http://www.photo-kinesis.com/042510...iate/nicky mcdonnell 104/slides/IMG_1736.html
Please note that neither Jup nor Cow are prone to dangly forearms, but both jumped the rolltop looking like they'd only be safe over 2ft 6in.
I got my breath back within about, ooh, 20 minutes
and got Cow ready. It was with some trepidation that I started warming-up as he was yee-ha-ing every time a horse on course galloped the other side of the hedge, but he settled ok eventually. The tactics were to be trotting mainly, but cantering if he felt soft in himself and was listening to me. He set off quite sweetly and ballooned the first couple then did a big at the bank at 3, so we trotted on and popped off, strongly over 4 and the scary beehives at 5, then he just got better and better. There was lots of patting and "good boys" and he was really cute, cautious enough over the drops to not scare himself, bold over the ditches, with steering and brakes...what more could I ask for? http://www.photo-kinesis.com/042510...iate/nicky mcdonnell 139/slides/IMG_1861.html
Orange juice and kettle chips for those who've made it to the end, you're hardcore, definitely. Feel free to take the mickey about my humungous breeches - trust me, after I've washed them once they should be just right.
