Sprig
Well-Known Member
I thought I would write a report on our first competitive outing as I know you all like a bit of variety. (sorry, I have no idea why I can't do paragraphs on here - most of the cut and paste bit looks OK).
A bit of background. I bought my cob as an un-backed, very nervous and pretty much unhandled 6yo last October. I backed him myself, having never done it before, and we have taken things pretty steady due to a combination of lack of facilities and a desire to build a good long term relationship.
Today we were entered in the 30km ride at Cirencester Park. My husband was at home babysitting (do you call it that when it is his own child?!) so I was on my own and hence no crew. I was interested to see how the pony would get on with the vet (you have a farrier and vet inspection before you start) as he is still pretty nervous of other people. Well, no need to worry as he had a fantastic heart rate of 32bpm. So off we set to tack up and start our ride. Walking back to the trailer I noticed a lady I had seem having trouble mounting earlier as her horse was being naughty. She was not having control issues going to the start and was suggesting to her husband that she would just give up and go home. I asked if she would like to ride with me and she said she would so, despite planning to do our own thing it looked like we would now be baby sitting! I rode with her for the first 5 miles or so which was a bit frantic and faster than I would have planned to go. It was also a bit annoying for my pony as he trotted slower than hers and cantered faster so he was constantly having to switch between the two. Once she seemed settled I dropped back and let her ride off with somebody who was going faster than me.
I then had the route to myself for a while which was lovely. It was a more varied route than I had expected with grassy rides mixed in with sandy tracks through the trees. The latter were a welcome break from the sun that had decided to make an appearance contrary to the forecast. After a few miles a group of three riders caught me up. They were made up of 2 arabs and an eventer whos owner started taking her to endurance rides to curtail her silly, spooky behaviour and apparently it has worked wonders and now she combines both. This group very kindly let me tag along and I rode with then the rest of the way. It did mean that I was going faster than planned. My plan originally was to ride round in 3 hours as that gave me the best chance of getting a Grade 1 (the top score your score is done on a combination of time and horses heart rate 30 mins after completing). I decided though as the pony was feeling good and wanted to ride with the others we would, even though it might mean a higher heart rate at the finish. I figured this was worth it if it meant his first endurance experience was an enjoyable on for him.
For the rest of the ride we hardly saw anyone else as the riders had spread out by then. Due to crewing restrictions the organisers had provided manned water points around the park where a volunteer was posted to offer the horses water and a slosh. This was great for me as it meant I was at no real disadvantage due to having no crew with me.
We completed the 30km in 2 hrs 27mins. After 30 mins the pony trotted up sound and had a heart rate of 45 beats per minute. This gave us a Grade 2 score, which is great for a first time out and in that completion time as well. Secretly I am a bit disappointed as the pony was 1 beat per minute of getting a Grade 1 so if we went a little slower we would have probably got it (we could have gone as slow as 3hrs and not dropped down a grade on time). I so proud of him and looking forward to next time. Sadly it is almost the end of the season so we will probably only get one more ride in before winter arrives.
Sorry it turned in to a bit of an epic and no pics until the pro-pics are up.
A bit of background. I bought my cob as an un-backed, very nervous and pretty much unhandled 6yo last October. I backed him myself, having never done it before, and we have taken things pretty steady due to a combination of lack of facilities and a desire to build a good long term relationship.
Today we were entered in the 30km ride at Cirencester Park. My husband was at home babysitting (do you call it that when it is his own child?!) so I was on my own and hence no crew. I was interested to see how the pony would get on with the vet (you have a farrier and vet inspection before you start) as he is still pretty nervous of other people. Well, no need to worry as he had a fantastic heart rate of 32bpm. So off we set to tack up and start our ride. Walking back to the trailer I noticed a lady I had seem having trouble mounting earlier as her horse was being naughty. She was not having control issues going to the start and was suggesting to her husband that she would just give up and go home. I asked if she would like to ride with me and she said she would so, despite planning to do our own thing it looked like we would now be baby sitting! I rode with her for the first 5 miles or so which was a bit frantic and faster than I would have planned to go. It was also a bit annoying for my pony as he trotted slower than hers and cantered faster so he was constantly having to switch between the two. Once she seemed settled I dropped back and let her ride off with somebody who was going faster than me.
I then had the route to myself for a while which was lovely. It was a more varied route than I had expected with grassy rides mixed in with sandy tracks through the trees. The latter were a welcome break from the sun that had decided to make an appearance contrary to the forecast. After a few miles a group of three riders caught me up. They were made up of 2 arabs and an eventer whos owner started taking her to endurance rides to curtail her silly, spooky behaviour and apparently it has worked wonders and now she combines both. This group very kindly let me tag along and I rode with then the rest of the way. It did mean that I was going faster than planned. My plan originally was to ride round in 3 hours as that gave me the best chance of getting a Grade 1 (the top score your score is done on a combination of time and horses heart rate 30 mins after completing). I decided though as the pony was feeling good and wanted to ride with the others we would, even though it might mean a higher heart rate at the finish. I figured this was worth it if it meant his first endurance experience was an enjoyable on for him.
For the rest of the ride we hardly saw anyone else as the riders had spread out by then. Due to crewing restrictions the organisers had provided manned water points around the park where a volunteer was posted to offer the horses water and a slosh. This was great for me as it meant I was at no real disadvantage due to having no crew with me.
We completed the 30km in 2 hrs 27mins. After 30 mins the pony trotted up sound and had a heart rate of 45 beats per minute. This gave us a Grade 2 score, which is great for a first time out and in that completion time as well. Secretly I am a bit disappointed as the pony was 1 beat per minute of getting a Grade 1 so if we went a little slower we would have probably got it (we could have gone as slow as 3hrs and not dropped down a grade on time). I so proud of him and looking forward to next time. Sadly it is almost the end of the season so we will probably only get one more ride in before winter arrives.
Sorry it turned in to a bit of an epic and no pics until the pro-pics are up.
