MissDeMeena
Well-Known Member
We set off to Cleobury at about 9:00 driving through weather that didn't really know what it wanted to do, bit of rain, bit of sun, alot of wind.. we arrived at 12:15 ish with some luck, as the event wasn't sign posted, apart from two small signs to 'Hillocks Farm'.
Everything seemed nice and compact, the dressage although close to everything else was just out of sight due to the lay of the land.
So Ernie is draged out of the lorry into thankfully blue sky.. stud up, tack up and on i get and make my way over to the ploughed mud that is the dressage warm-up (i promise not one green blade of grass in sight) he warmed up nicely so in we went.. the arena centre line and outside track was also a sea of mud
We fluffed up our second canter transition but apart from that i thought our test was ok, nothing special but then i wasn't going for 'special' i was just after a qualifying mark which is 50 or better, and it would have been a bonus not to be last after dressage.. Therefore i was very pleased with our mark of 39 and to see that there were 3 on a worse score
hehe so not last..
Dashed off to walk the course and made a new friend on the way, who was very funny and seemed to be a seasoned pro of 'Cleobury horse trials' and could therefore tell me how things were going to ride
Onto the ShowJumping, the warm-up here wasn't quite the mud bath of the dressage, although it was patchy in places, as was the SJing itself.. again he warmed up sweetly and as there was a lack of people coming forward to jump, i said i'd go... He jumped brilliantly up till the combination which was the second last, it was riding long (which i hadn't payed attention to).. i saw too much of a deep shot into the first part, which he had down, i then had to chase him through it thankfully Ernie has a bigger motor than your average Ferrari so made up the ground easily, after the combination was a related distance to the last fence, which we were then close to, so took a pull to meet it on a fab stride
Just had the one down, which i was pleased with, as there were only 4 clear rounds (and i didn't miss out any fences
)
Onto the XC and for some reason nerves were creaping up on me, but although i was close to feeling sick a little voice in the back of my head told me not to worry as i alway seem to ride better when i'm nervous
Again warmed up sweetly untill a certain pro asked to push infront of me, but as they had several other horses to ride i couldn't really say no.. by the time i did get to the start box Ernie was about ready to boil
the starter called 1min and we were fine, then they called 15 seconds so i moved round to the front of the start box (no side entry) at which point Ernie stood-up and waved to all his fans a couple of times, thankfully the starter stoped counting and wated for Ernie to come back down to earth again, at which point she [the starter] timed it perfectly and counted me from 5sec as i went into the box, turned round and off we went.. a little too fast for my liking into the first fence which seemed only a few strides from the start, so had to take several pulls into it.. onto the second [a hedge] i thought i can't go hooking all the way round, so saw a nice flyer into this which kept Ernie happy
, steady into fence 3 [small tyers with a bit of a drop landing] and onto fence 4 [not quite a skinny] by now Ernie has decided that i can have my breaks back again.. bypass fence 5 and fence 6 (don't worry, i was ment to) cantering steady through the bog past them
and onto fence 7 [big spread/dog kennels] saw a nice shot into that.. down the hill to another hedge to see that the course builders were still trying to repair it (from a previous faller)
they all jumped out the way just in time.. i didn't see too good a stride into that, but good enough.. up the hill and onto another big table/spread, see another flyer
down hill to milk stand, and pop that perfectly, sharp turn to the first question, a very skinny log with a drop landing and sharp turn back to another skinny, skip through that for fun
and push-on up the hill to fence 12/13 which could have been jumped together or you could circle.. i stupidly made an on the spot decision to try jumping the two together (having decided not to on walking the course) i got my line all wrong into the first part and Ernie cantered past it without even knowing what he was ment to do, so came back and jumped it the long way perfectly.. onto 14 another big post/rail spread, fly that and gallop onto 15 [the diamond] jump the right hand quicker option, sharp right turn into another hedge, fly that and onto a small step/bounce/skinny, fly that in fine style (even if i do say so myself
) onto 18 a log, 19abc a water all good, 20 another skinny hedge this time, fly that.. 21 a skinny bullfinch on a dogleg, fly that.. 22abc very skinny point to a big ditch/bank with another skinny on top, i thought we looked pretty pro through here
galloped on through another boggy patch to a hedge/open ditch (i never walk these fences, as think they look scary if you get too close) fly that, and the next fence another hedge, onto the second last which was another water, saw perfect shot into the narrow ish log with drop landing to another log and in, kicked on out and to the last fence and through the finish.
So i got what i came for, a qualifying result
had a FAB ride XC apart from a stupid mistake (on my part), and finished up 11th
Everything seemed nice and compact, the dressage although close to everything else was just out of sight due to the lay of the land.
So Ernie is draged out of the lorry into thankfully blue sky.. stud up, tack up and on i get and make my way over to the ploughed mud that is the dressage warm-up (i promise not one green blade of grass in sight) he warmed up nicely so in we went.. the arena centre line and outside track was also a sea of mud
We fluffed up our second canter transition but apart from that i thought our test was ok, nothing special but then i wasn't going for 'special' i was just after a qualifying mark which is 50 or better, and it would have been a bonus not to be last after dressage.. Therefore i was very pleased with our mark of 39 and to see that there were 3 on a worse score
Dashed off to walk the course and made a new friend on the way, who was very funny and seemed to be a seasoned pro of 'Cleobury horse trials' and could therefore tell me how things were going to ride
Onto the ShowJumping, the warm-up here wasn't quite the mud bath of the dressage, although it was patchy in places, as was the SJing itself.. again he warmed up sweetly and as there was a lack of people coming forward to jump, i said i'd go... He jumped brilliantly up till the combination which was the second last, it was riding long (which i hadn't payed attention to).. i saw too much of a deep shot into the first part, which he had down, i then had to chase him through it thankfully Ernie has a bigger motor than your average Ferrari so made up the ground easily, after the combination was a related distance to the last fence, which we were then close to, so took a pull to meet it on a fab stride
Onto the XC and for some reason nerves were creaping up on me, but although i was close to feeling sick a little voice in the back of my head told me not to worry as i alway seem to ride better when i'm nervous
Again warmed up sweetly untill a certain pro asked to push infront of me, but as they had several other horses to ride i couldn't really say no.. by the time i did get to the start box Ernie was about ready to boil
So i got what i came for, a qualifying result
