vam
Well-Known Member
Ok so clear round isn't exactly a competition and its really not as interesting or exciting as other things on here but I know it's been mentioned that there isn't many reports on here anymore so I thought I would do one. Might as well lay it all out there.
So it was a bit of a good and bad day at Felbridge clear round on Monday. Horse was good, I was bad.
So not the best prep leading up to it, Ive only jumped her when I first tried her 6 weeks ago and at my lesson the other week, even that was only over a couple of small fences so going somewhere spooky like Felbridge to do a course was perhaps a bit optimistic.
She loaded and traveled well (big relief), got there and left her in the lorry to see how it was going. They were running dressage as well so it wasnt as quiet as I had hopped but I thought I would see how she warmed up and go from there. Got back to the lorry to find she had sweated up. She is a pretty laid back horse but she is incredibly impatient. She was fussing and scraping before I loaded her and as soon as the lorry stops she starts scraping. She does it a feed times and when its time to go out in the field so its not so much stress of being on there just that she wants off and to crack on. I think she will get better with time but she will need to learn to stand on the lorry as its not always possible to tie her to the side at a lot of show grounds.
Anyway jumped on and she settled right down and off we went to warm up. First mistake of the day. I didnt put my name down earlier so by the time I got to the warm up there was going to be a long wait. There seems to be a real issue with multiple horse riders at Felbridge being badly organised, more so than any other place Ive been so I did get pushed down however the lady on the gate was on the ball and it wasnt as bad as it could have been.
As Jools is an impatient miss we did have to walk a bit in the warm up as she didnt want to stand around, fair enough. She did warm up really nicely, paying attention to me and not getting too distracted. I did see some long ones but thinking back I think they felt long because I wasnt burying her.
Had to wait some more then had a canter round and popped her over a fence again and went in. She had a good look round but did try and focus once we got going. Im super pleased with her, she had a moment at number 2 which was the bright orange filler and went from a standstill and although wobbled and looked a bit always went. I rode a bit defensively and possibly didnt have enough leg to keep her straight and forward but we got round clear.
Went back in a few horses later, she felt more confident but we came unstuck at 2 again, although she was taking me forward I really didnt have enough leg and we came to a stop again and did a slow mo from stand still. It wasnt pretty and I'm not pleased with myself for not slipping my reins going over but she seemed to forgive me. She was more bold through the rest of the course and again I didnt have enough leg on and was a bit braced, I did that just because they feel forward doesnt mean you take your leg off and sit like a passenger thing. Again I need to sit up more and not drop her just before a fence, I think I just let her run on a bit.
Loaded to go home perfect, wasnt impressed about stopping for diesel but unloaded at home without a care in the world.
I'm super pleased with her, she just need mileage. I however need to get over my brain freeze when riding a course, I struggled before at times but after 3 years since I last jumped a course it was pretty bad. I was angry, upset and disappointed after about how badly I let the mare down by not riding properly and dropping her in front of the fences. I looked back at the vids and realised I can take some positives, my lower leg was pretty stable and I didnt drop her as much as I thought. I was still too tense and handy but I think now Ive got that first show type ride done I can start to focus a bit more.
Vids of the warm up and the 2 rounds, warts and all plus a couple of pics because shes cute.... :biggrin3:
Warm up https://youtu.be/3GFtfJcdg38
First round https://youtu.be/SrgWwGdgQQI
Second round https://youtu.be/W2f1OmnQ5cI
So it was a bit of a good and bad day at Felbridge clear round on Monday. Horse was good, I was bad.
So not the best prep leading up to it, Ive only jumped her when I first tried her 6 weeks ago and at my lesson the other week, even that was only over a couple of small fences so going somewhere spooky like Felbridge to do a course was perhaps a bit optimistic.
She loaded and traveled well (big relief), got there and left her in the lorry to see how it was going. They were running dressage as well so it wasnt as quiet as I had hopped but I thought I would see how she warmed up and go from there. Got back to the lorry to find she had sweated up. She is a pretty laid back horse but she is incredibly impatient. She was fussing and scraping before I loaded her and as soon as the lorry stops she starts scraping. She does it a feed times and when its time to go out in the field so its not so much stress of being on there just that she wants off and to crack on. I think she will get better with time but she will need to learn to stand on the lorry as its not always possible to tie her to the side at a lot of show grounds.
Anyway jumped on and she settled right down and off we went to warm up. First mistake of the day. I didnt put my name down earlier so by the time I got to the warm up there was going to be a long wait. There seems to be a real issue with multiple horse riders at Felbridge being badly organised, more so than any other place Ive been so I did get pushed down however the lady on the gate was on the ball and it wasnt as bad as it could have been.
As Jools is an impatient miss we did have to walk a bit in the warm up as she didnt want to stand around, fair enough. She did warm up really nicely, paying attention to me and not getting too distracted. I did see some long ones but thinking back I think they felt long because I wasnt burying her.
Had to wait some more then had a canter round and popped her over a fence again and went in. She had a good look round but did try and focus once we got going. Im super pleased with her, she had a moment at number 2 which was the bright orange filler and went from a standstill and although wobbled and looked a bit always went. I rode a bit defensively and possibly didnt have enough leg to keep her straight and forward but we got round clear.
Went back in a few horses later, she felt more confident but we came unstuck at 2 again, although she was taking me forward I really didnt have enough leg and we came to a stop again and did a slow mo from stand still. It wasnt pretty and I'm not pleased with myself for not slipping my reins going over but she seemed to forgive me. She was more bold through the rest of the course and again I didnt have enough leg on and was a bit braced, I did that just because they feel forward doesnt mean you take your leg off and sit like a passenger thing. Again I need to sit up more and not drop her just before a fence, I think I just let her run on a bit.
Loaded to go home perfect, wasnt impressed about stopping for diesel but unloaded at home without a care in the world.
I'm super pleased with her, she just need mileage. I however need to get over my brain freeze when riding a course, I struggled before at times but after 3 years since I last jumped a course it was pretty bad. I was angry, upset and disappointed after about how badly I let the mare down by not riding properly and dropping her in front of the fences. I looked back at the vids and realised I can take some positives, my lower leg was pretty stable and I didnt drop her as much as I thought. I was still too tense and handy but I think now Ive got that first show type ride done I can start to focus a bit more.
Vids of the warm up and the 2 rounds, warts and all plus a couple of pics because shes cute.... :biggrin3:
Warm up https://youtu.be/3GFtfJcdg38
First round https://youtu.be/SrgWwGdgQQI
Second round https://youtu.be/W2f1OmnQ5cI
