Cudo's continuing adventures in America

HeresHoping

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 July 2012
Messages
2,335
Location
Between the Moors and the Dales
Visit site
I have to admit, whilst showjumping is not my thing (closet eventer with a string of lame horses to her name) and I don't do geldings (string of unsuitable partnerships on that score), I am green with envy. He is, as Zero says, some horse. So exciting to watch.
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site
I have to admit, whilst showjumping is not my thing (closet eventer with a string of lame horses to her name) and I don't do geldings (string of unsuitable partnerships on that score), I am green with envy. He is, as Zero says, some horse. So exciting to watch.

Thanks. I really am so fortunate to have found all of you and as such found my way to him. By far the greatest horse of my career.

For those that are oooing and ahhhing over the show rounds let me tell you, schooling at home is a challenge. And he has taken months to stops snorting and blowing at a set of rails on the ground. He has a little spin and change of tack is not a welcome concept. But at a show he is as professional as they come. He makes my days better and he's done everything I had hoped and elevated my riding a ton.

Em
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site
Update from the states. It's either hot or wet right now. I have 7 jump rails in my garage waiting to finish being painted as it's been too humid to finish what I started 4 weeks ago. I will get to them but not right now it seem.

Yesterday Cudo and I did a heavier jump school in prep for a bigger show this weekend at the US Equestrian Team Headquarters in New Jersey. We will be doing the Low Amateur Owner division (1.20-1.25) and for fun I tossed in the Friday 1.25 welcome stake. Devin Ryan has a horse in there also so finally we have found some competition!! 33 or so others in the welcome and 10-14 in the division. So we have to work to get any ribbons this weekend. I am hoping since it's my birthday Sunday that maybe things will go well enough in a larger class. Fingers crossed.

Here's the video: https://youtu.be/WTEUoS22_S0

We have this show this weekend and then we wheel him right back to the Zone 2 Jumper Team Championships the following Thurs-Sun. We even have a jog for this!! It's a Nations Cup format and though we're only doing the 1.10 High Adult Amateur section I am hopeful that we can string together a bunch of good rounds.

Then on 9/3 (Labor day here) we have a local Mini Prix that while it's unrecognized a lot of top horses who regularly do the big shows come and compete. Should be a lot of fun.

But the big show on the calendar is The American Gold Cup at the end of September. http://www.theamericangoldcup.com/

This is a BIG DEAL show. I am loving that I can go up for 4 days and watch the best of the best when I am not competing. I will walk all the courses and try to absorb as much knowledge as I can.

Then we're not sure what we'll do in Oct/Nov. Nothing is planned yet. I'm debating between doing more lessons and a boot camp of sorts before the winter indoor season fires up, or showing as normal.

Soooo that's life from the colony. I hope you all are enjoying your show seasons as well!!!

Em
 

Sheep

Well-Known Member
Joined
31 August 2011
Messages
5,589
Location
Northern Ireland
Visit site
Sounds like he is going really well - brilliant to follow your progress - super boy! Good luck for the upcoming competitions. Do let us know how it all goes.
And happy birthday too - is it this Sunday (19th?) - if so, my birthday too ;)
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site
Sounds like he is going really well - brilliant to follow your progress - super boy! Good luck for the upcoming competitions. Do let us know how it all goes.
And happy birthday too - is it this Sunday (19th?) - if so, my birthday too ;)

Yep, turning 47 on Sunday the 19th. Cudo was born on April 19th and I believe that the folks born on 19th's are just generally very very brilliant folks. :p

Thanks for the well wishes. I'll try to do my best!

Emily
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site

Northern Hare

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 October 2012
Messages
1,742
Visit site
Hi BD, that's fantastic well done - that must have been a shock to find yourself taking a tumble in the first class but the last round looked really great!

I've really enjoyed reading all your posts and watching the videos. Just checking back on YouTube it looks like Cudo arrived over with you at the beginning on Oct '17, so I bet you're delighted with your lovely horse in less than a year! I seem to remember that one of your aims when trying all those horses was to find a new horse who would take you to 1.20m so you must be so pleased to have done done that in such style - and at what looks like an amazing show! Thanks again for posting the videos.
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site
A whoops! And a well done! And a pity about the knock, but a much better looking round. What happened at fence 2, Em? He looked fine going into the first.

Well.... he's done it once before. At his first 'big' American show. The commonality between then and now is probably my nerves. That said I really have no clue. And falling was a new element. That said I think it was a much needed reminder to wake up and be an active participant rather than thinking that once I set the cruise control that all will be perfect beneath me. I did more and better things after I hit the dirt so all's well that ends well.

Northern Hare - Actually I got him in February. I went on a buying trip in October and the horse I loved massively failed the vet. (But good news he's for sale now for 2x the price so you all can buy him!) Cudo didn't arrive until 2/10/18.


YCBM - I'll let you know. I have asked a friend who runs one of the bigger sales sites in the US for Jumpers and Hunters.


Em
 

Northern Hare

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 October 2012
Messages
1,742
Visit site
Northern Hare - Actually I got him in February. I went on a buying trip in October and the horse I loved massively failed the vet. (But good news he's for sale now for 2x the price so you all can buy him!) Cudo didn't arrive until 2/10/18. Em

Of course - apologies - we have our dates the other way round (dd/mm/yy), so I looked at 2/10 and took that to be 2nd Oct - that would have been impressive enough - but 10th Feb is even better!
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site
Of course - apologies - we have our dates the other way round (dd/mm/yy), so I looked at 2/10 and took that to be 2nd Oct - that would have been impressive enough - but 10th Feb is even better!

Yep 6 months and change is a pretty good start. Nice to be figuring things out more and more. I found a bit he likes better, a full cheek waterford. We had been using a slow twist loose ring but I was thinking that he didn't need the edge as a surface that had more play to it. And I was right. Now we're just getting him some bit cheeks as the bottom edge of the full cheek can actually slide into his mouth. Oh that's not good!!! But should be right as rain after we fix that.

Em
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site
My apologies, I realized I forgot to come back and write a more complete summary of events.

Ok so since we leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow for the next show, allow me to summarize the past one a little more briefly.

First this show was the first one where I FINALLY had more than 2 competitors to ride against in my classes. I had entered what's called the Low Amateur Owner Jumper division which is contested at heights between 1.20-1.25. For fun I had also entered the 1.25 Welcome stake. That was on Friday after my first AO class.

When we got there we had a look around and saw the lay of the land. There was a not very big indoor where most folks were warming up and then there were 2 jumps at the ring where folks were mostly just popping a final fence or two. The ring was lovely and the fences were very nice.

I took him into the indoor to warm up and there were many others in there with me at the same time. Oddly Cudo was backed off by all this activity and seemed to take a while to get into his groove both flatting and jumping. It probably didn't help that I had to pull out of an approach a couple times as people were flying by us like gnats and jumping fences we had been headed for without calling out. (Jumps were not flagged, so that they could all be approached from both directions)

I made my way to the ring and popped a few jumps there. When it was our time we went in, had a nice look around and set off. I switched my whip to my left hand and tapped him on the shoulder so he knew it was there as he has shown the odd/random left side spook or glance off before. Jumped the first just fine with plenty of scope and cantered the 6 strides to the second fence (a simple vertical). Except at stride 5 he decided to prop and leave stage right. Admittedly I think my shoulder were too far forward as the little prop knocked me loose enough that combined with his stage left maneuver I hit the ground. I had enough time to think "Oh this is gonna hurt" on the way down and it did. My right butt cheek took the brunt of things. All these fancy footing rings are lovely for the horses, but they feel awful if you get dropped.

I got up, Cudo got caught and I was apoplectic with embarrassment. I had just been talking to Devin Ryan in the warmup and now I looked the fool. I knew doing the 1.25 welcome was now a horrible idea so I took my breath and got John to hold Cudo and went to the office to shift things around. I scratched from the welcome and added him into an open 1m class in the Am. I kept him in the AO class after but I was fully aware that I could scratch that too if needed. We sulked off home and I had a lot of time on the heating pad overnight.

I woke up Saturday and was determined to ride much better than my Friday showing. So we go to the 1m class and I rode him like the dirtiest stopper in the world. And he never looked at a thing. We were clear and did our jump off and I turned the accelerator on a bit. We went quick and managed to finish 4th out of 14 entries. I felt like he was fine and whatever happened the day before was no longer in play. So we went back to the next AO class, which was a speed class. I haven't really asked him to go too fast at our shows. But surely if ever there was a time to be pushing and going on a bit, I think now might be a wise moment. So I wet in the ring with the mindset that we would just do our best at a healthy clip. He was a friggin star!!! I knew he can turn, I knew he can slice lines and I know the height isn't an issue. Amazingly we went fast enough to capture the lead. But we had to sit through another 7 riders after we went to see if it would hold. Shockingly it did!!! I beat 10 people and won a class with money and actual other people. (Shock didn't cover it!) I laughed at the horse show fates, but enjoyed it nonetheless.

Sunday we just had the classic for the AO. I was still wondering if he'd be ok without a low prep round, but my hubby was adamant that no, this is the path forward. You both know your jobs, he's been in the ring and jumps the jumps, don't baby him. Hold yourselves to your competent knowledge. So we did. It was an interesting course. I have never seen a course that started with 5 verticals. I knew it was a trap to get us to pull something somewhere, and yet we still ticked #4. Once the rail fell I decided it was probably a better choice to school a bit on our lines and changes for the rest of the round. I know there were enough other riders who'd be clear to make placing highly unlikely even if we were the fastest 4 faulter. So we finished with a tidy round and I think Cudo was happy for the lack of pace as the humidity from the prior two days had sapped him a bit. I can see on the 3rd to last fence on the video that he didn't snap his knees in his typical manner. I think he was just a shade tired. So we finished with 4 faults and 4 time faults. I was thrilled with him and very excited about our future.

I don't mind saying that Friday night I was questioning everything and one of my friends suggested that we should back down to a lower level. That just because I had done big before, and he had done big before, it didn't mean we should just rush into doing it together and it would work. It's a sensible comment but I just wanted to crawl into a hole. I hadn't rushed. I had taken my time, we had done 3 successful shows at this height already. Was this the perception of me from the outsiders? It really bothered me and I didn't sleep well at all. Looking back I think it motivated me much more.

So now this week we have the Team championships and I am on an Adult Amateur High team that competes at 1.10-1.15m. Cudo's had 2 days off rolling in the mud and lying in the deepest straw stall in front of his fan. I'll hack him today and get on the road tomorrow. We're getting him in the ring with either a 1m or a 1.10m class tomorrow am before the championships actually begin. We have to be on the grounds by 11 and the jog is Friday at 12. Followed by the first Individual round. It's a Nations Cup format so Individual round on day 1, 2 team rounds on day 2, and a final individual round on day 3.

Sadly John has to work so he'll try to get pics maybe Saturday but definitely Sunday.

Thanks for following us.

Emily
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site
This was a long show and I am still a bit tired, but overall extremely "Chuffed" (I think that's the English word) with Cudo as a whole.

To summarize this was our competition schedule and events each day:

Thursday: Had to be at grounds by 11 for check in for the Team competition. Did a 1.10m open round just to get him in the ring. You won’t believe this, but I was thrilled with him. It was a good round, though intentionally slow, so I had 9 time faults and then I thought I we were jumping off for a medal of some kind and tried to slice fence 9 that just really was way too extreme of a line, so we had a silly runout. But I stayed on and re-jumped it so all was fine. Honestly the round gave me a ton of confidence in the weekend as a whole.

Video is here: https://youtu.be/I7R6HU2Cj7k

Friday: We had the jog at 12pm (on a ring surface instead of packed anything) and that went fine.

Video here: https://youtu.be/bhOhqoV0NWI

Friday afternoon we had our first class for the Team champs and it was a Table Section 1 class which is a speed class. No faults converted though, so if you pull a rail you have 4 faults and your time. The goal being to go clean and fast as the time for this first class would decide any ties after the last round on Sunday. And boy did Cudo take that seriously. I have watched the video and I see points where we could have gone faster but we did a solid round, solid enough to sit in 2nd out of 17 riders.

Video here: https://youtu.be/ZfFejuQv_IY

Saturday: We had “team day.” This consisted of 2 rounds over the same course with no speed component in the 2 rounds. Just Table 2 courses, which means go in do the course inside the time with no faults. (Basically Eventing Show jumping style) The kicker was coming back and doing it a second time once they had seen the track and doing it clean again. I had a fantastic team of 3 other lovely ladies. 3 of us had been in the top 6 of the first round so there was some hope that we might be able to be competitive. We went in and amazingly produced clear rounds with all but 1 of our horses so we were standing on a score of 0 with our drop score. Cudo and I had jumped last and so the Chef asked if I was comfortable being the jump off rider to jump for the gold and silver. 1 rider from each team tied for a medal placing had to jump off for the medal. I went first and I honestly was just a tick slow. Not really intentionally, but I can see on video where I was not ‘going’ as much as normal. We did our jump off in 37 seconds and the other rider managed to beat me and get a 35 second round. But still we earned the silver medal out of a total of 4 teams. And 3 rounds and 1 jump off in, Cudo and I were still holding second with a score of 0. It was a good day!!!

Video of round 1 here: https://youtu.be/doZPxeGg0q0

Video of round 2 here: https://youtu.be/_bJs1pIkpU4

Sunday: We had our last individual round. 1 round just clear and inside the time. The times from Friday’s speed rounds were going to determine the individual placings if we all were still on a 0 score. Reverse order of standings meant that I went second to last. I was nervous but not in an “I can’t do this” way but more in that the law of averages and being able to jump another clear was wearing on me. I typically make mistakes… I mean we all do in subtle ways, and I am still figuring him out. But I did walk the course when the ring was set for their Grand Prix so when it was actually put down to 1.15 and I walked it again I was laughing. 1.40-1.45 actually didn’t look bad. I kind of want to head that way and I think Cudo could do it too. 😊 I tried to use what I knew from jumping stadium at the old long format 3 days. I knew he was tired and I didn’t do a lot. I did a bit of stretching while off his back and worked long and low before jumping only 5 warm up jumps. The girls in 4th and 3rd had gone clear. I had to go clear to stay in second and I doubted seriously that the horse in first would touch anything. So I went in and set off. 1 and 2 were good 3 was nice, and he sailed over 4 but was sucking back as he gave a big look at 5 and added a stride. He did an ugly bunny hop and left 5 up so I got after him and pushed him forward through the rollback turn to the triple at 6abc. He went through that fine even with the forward distances but then my most common problem emerged again, I didn’t get my reins back quite enough and didn’t half halt as much as was needed on the way to the style fence at 7 and I knew it had a feather touch top rail and sadly we took it down with a good clunk. I groaned internally but then tried to fight out the rest of the course to keep it to just 4 faults. Cudo, per usual, hates hitting fences and was careful the rest of the way. The in and out at 10ab wasn’t pretty but we got it done and by 11 and 12 he was back to sailing the jumps in his typical style. And then like all shows, it was done. I couldn’t get the rail back, all that was left was to thank my horse for helping me along and to learn from these moments so that in the future we will make it on the podium instead of being relegated to 5th place. We had a fun time in the victory gallop and I got off his back and promised him even more treats.

Video here: https://youtu.be/hHTP3Hi6mFM

We cooled out and bathed him and indeed stuffed him full of stud muffins and apple flavored treats. Then we had to pack up and go home. And then we were home, he was out in the field and I was a rider staring at a pink ribbon kicking myself for what might have been. It’s not a big deal, this isn’t our true goal but you all know… you get to thinking of how cool it would be to win or be placed high and when it doesn’t come to fruition, well there’s that moment of being bummed.

Today I am better and so appreciative of my big boy. He is getting a pulsing treatment this am to help with those undoubtedly sore muscles and we have a show (only 1 or 2 classes) a week from today on Labor day. It’s a local unrecognized mini prix set at 1.25. I’ve always watched but never had the horse to ride it. So this time we’re in and then the next show isn’t until Sept 27th, so Cudo will get a week’s break and then fire up again. He’s getting 3 days off this week, well timed with a heat spell, and then we’ll go into the Monday show gently.

I hope you all are enjoying the ride. God knows the number of people who are now intrigued with horses to be found in England just went up again this weekend. A couple Grand Prix riders even took note of Cudo. So watch out… the Americans might be onto the English sales horses. Ha ha ha.

Emily
 

VRIN

Well-Known Member
Joined
7 February 2008
Messages
2,528
Visit site
'Chuffed' is definitely the right word! Well done. Its good that its not all easy as you can really appreciate it when all goes well!!
 

teacups

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 December 2011
Messages
1,471
Visit site
Thanks for these updates - I love reading them.
As well as that, it's lovely to hear of a horse purchase which has gone so well! You are clearly having a fabulous time working together with him.
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site
I still haven't a clue how American SJ works, but am still thoroughly enjoy reading your updates.

This made me laugh, which I really needed as I had to put down my 18 yr old boy "Lad" Thursday and so any humor is more then welcome at the moment.

OK let me try to explain American Show jumping.

1) The ultimate goal is still first and foremost to jump clean

2) Usually we have a speed component as well. Whether it's a speed class or a class with a shortened jump off where you want to jump clean and be fastest

3) The Nations cup format that we did last weekend is VERY RARE. I have only seen Nations cup formats with actual Nations Cups. That said it still was cool to jump 3 full rounds and 1 jump off clean in a row.

4) The Team competition thing is a new entity. The US Show Jumping folks are trying to find a way to spot younger talent across the countryside. This is one of the programs. The whole program details can be seen and read here: https://ushja.org/programs/jumper/ch_aahome.aspx


So Cudo has been well rested. I gave him 3 full days off and so far we have only done light flatwork going into Monday's show. I might ship him to a place for a long trail ride today. I'm waiting to see how I feel. I was trying to give myself today to kind of get through the worst of the grief from Lad's death since it's a long weekend and no one needs me for anything. But I would also like to do well in the Monday class so a little torn.

Let me know if there are specific queries about our classes and how the rules work. I can try and explain a bit more.

Em
 

Northern Hare

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 October 2012
Messages
1,742
Visit site
Hi BD! Thanks for posting your show report - I really enjoyed reading it and watching the videos - you and Cudo are doing so well!

Really sorry to read you've lost one of your other horses though - that's a sad time for you.

Good luck for your show on Monday - hopefully some good rounds with Cudo will help to lift your spirits a bit after your loss.
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site
Monday show report. Apologies for the delay. Work has been a bit chaotic and then today I had my second procedure to remove a bit of skin cancer from my face. Fun times!!! But I am home today and now have time to post.

So first and foremost it was REALLY hot. As in, we brought a fan from home so while in the trailer he would be able to be cooled off. Game plan was simple, do the 1.10m speed class then wait and let him cool off again. I brought plenty of ice and planned to give him a nice ice bath cool off, ala the old style vet boxes at my three days. So we got ready and went out. VERY short warm up and then we got a bit lucky. The clouds came over and we got a breeze and a light drizzle as we went into the ring. Easy course and he was so on. We went in and he was raring to go. He was great all the way around. I overshot the roll back to the 8th fence and had to swerve a bit to get back online. We finished well and they announced that I was the new leader. And that held up, we did win this class.

Video here: https://youtu.be/G-7hrqRboeM?list=PLKBarO_NR9rgNc5Slv2uLRl8125uELIqg

So we quickly got him back to the trailer and right as we walked in the downpour started. He was warm but not bad and the ice bath did a lot to helping him cool down. We got him settled in his trailer and let him relax with 2 fans blowing on him and some fresh hay and water. So then I went down and waited to walk the mini prix course. After the rain came through we had a bit more mud but the footing was holding up fine. We had an interesting course and I was psyched to ride it, but no more storm clouds around and a lot of direct sun so I was trying to judge how much riding he would need before we went in.

He warmed up well, **Side note: Imagine a warm up area with 3 practice jumps warming up 1.25m mini prix horses AND a bunch of .65m low derby ponies. To say it was unusual and a little rough would be an understatement** So we did only 5 warm up jumps and then went to take a shot at it.

It was a great round, almost. Fences 1-7 were amazing. He was going smoothly and nothing was causing that much of an effort to him. The triple was off a turn and was an oxer (8A) 2 strides to a vertical (8B) and then a 1 stride to the vertical at (8C). He came around the turn well and we got a step long to the A element. He cleared it easily but then he landed, did 2 strides AND then ran out left. UGH. I corrected him and re approached and he jumped it just fine, a little hesitation but still scopey as heck. Then he finished nicely over fence 9. I had pulled 8A on the second attempt so I think we had 8 faults but the results aren't posted and I might have gotten some time.

Now lets look at the obvious, this is the 4th left side runout at a show. We are going to have my vets and dentist to look at him. My ophthalmologist saw him last week because she was nearby (I am her secretary and she checked him as a favor to me). Our next show isn't for 2.5 weeks so we're resting him a few days and then going to do whatever he needs. We think it could be something small and I think the most frustrated person may be Lauren who I bought him from. This is all new and she is as confused as I am about where it's coming from.

Video is Here: https://youtu.be/m4bk9tegtGU?list=PLKBarO_NR9rgNc5Slv2uLRl8125uELIqg


So hopefully I can get this figured out, but we're onto American Gold Cup on 9/27/18. We should be ok and nothing planned after, but hopefully we'll have a couple more outings before the holidays.

Soooo that's where we are.

I'll post any news here.

Em
 

fetlock

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 August 2017
Messages
2,255
Visit site
This made me laugh, which I really needed as I had to put down my 18 yr old boy "Lad" Thursday and so any humor is more then welcome at the moment.

OK let me try to explain American Show jumping.

1) The ultimate goal is still first and foremost to jump clean

2) Usually we have a speed component as well. Whether it's a speed class or a class with a shortened jump off where you want to jump clean and be fastest

3) The Nations cup format that we did last weekend is VERY RARE. I have only seen Nations cup formats with actual Nations Cups. That said it still was cool to jump 3 full rounds and 1 jump off clean in a row.

4) The Team competition thing is a new entity. The US Show Jumping folks are trying to find a way to spot younger talent across the countryside. This is one of the programs. The whole program details can be seen and read here: https://ushja.org/programs/jumper/ch_aahome.aspx


So Cudo has been well rested. I gave him 3 full days off and so far we have only done light flatwork going into Monday's show. I might ship him to a place for a long trail ride today. I'm waiting to see how I feel. I was trying to give myself today to kind of get through the worst of the grief from Lad's death since it's a long weekend and no one needs me for anything. But I would also like to do well in the Monday class so a little torn.

Let me know if there are specific queries about our classes and how the rules work. I can try and explain a bit more.

Em

Glad to have cheered you up :) and so sorry to hear that you lost your boy. x
 

BunnyDog

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 November 2017
Messages
711
Location
USA
Visit site
Ok quick poll.....

Should I print a picture for the wall.... If so, which of the following????

Pic 1: Pink Jump

Pic 2:Liverpool

Pic 3: Head on

or

option 4, wait for something better.

My husband shot these and we have the high res files to make them pop, these are just the low res versions of them.

Let me know your thoughts!!!!

Em
 

Attachments

  • 37113441_10155721991132759_8799381584177266688_o.jpg
    37113441_10155721991132759_8799381584177266688_o.jpg
    437.8 KB · Views: 31
  • 42951818_10155905177432759_2481364162094039040_o.jpg
    42951818_10155905177432759_2481364162094039040_o.jpg
    219.7 KB · Views: 31
  • 40764747_10155842138202759_4077645537120092160_o.jpg
    40764747_10155842138202759_4077645537120092160_o.jpg
    146 KB · Views: 30
Top