BunnyDog
Well-Known Member
Hi again all!!!
The retooling tour continued this past week at the oldest horse show in the USA, the Upperville Colt and Horse show in Upperville, Virginia. (Outside Middleburg, Virginia which is one of the biggest rich bed's of American Equestrian life)
We journeyed down there to compete in a somewhat unusual competition called the Master's division. I'm going to try to explain the rules a bit as even riding in it, it was a touch difficult to remember that the tasks were pretty basic and there were no huge challenges in the division itself.
It was a 4 round competition. For riders over the age of 50. (My first year being eligible)
Rounds 1, 2 and 3 - Were all Table 2 Clear Round Classes. To simplify things I am including the current USEF definition:
"Clear Round (Table II) - The first round is decided by adding together the faults incurred over the course and any penalties for exceeding the Time Allowed. Horses with clear rounds or equal faults remain equal. "
So we did Round 1 at 1.10m and everyone who was clear split the prize money equally and remained ranked equally and qualified for the Saturday class of Round 3. You needed to have a clear round in either Round 1 or Round 2 to qualify for Round 3. You could drop a bad round in either Round 1 or 2 as long as you were clear somewhere to get to Round 3. You could NOT use Round 3 as a drop score. And then after round 3, the top 12 ranked riders got to do a 6 fence jump off which decided the end results.
Seems simple but I swear I was re-reading the rules daily.
So Thursday we competed in Round 1 and were clear. So we got a clear round blue ribbon, slightly different from a winner's blue ribbon and split the $2500 prize money amongst the 10 of us who went clear. Yippee!!! Almost covered the cost of his stall at the show!!! Cudo was fantastic and was jumping in great form and the listening and ability to compress was really holding together nicely. Yes, at 15 and nearly 51 you'd think we would have needed this before now but now that it's finally here it's like going from having an outhouse 100m away from your house to suddenly having a wc inside with hot water. HUGE difference and it makes life so much better.
Onto Friday we tackled Round 2 also 1.10m, going first in the order and again he was just unreal. Jumping so well and round and balanced and able to adjust. No chicken wings or pumping seat from me and working harder on doing less is more. None of the mental demons from our rough rounds a year ago in the same ring. All was well and butterflies and lollipops as my old friend would say. Clear again. And what made it better/more interesting was that of the 14 entries, only the 4 from round 1 who'd had a fault and thus not qualified for round 2 had returned to ride with me. I had long before decided to do all the rounds as this was an exercise on keeping my head together and stay with the plan as my brain is sometimes the downfall of our success. One benefit to staying in there was that the rules were the same. 5 entries, 5 clears, we all split Friday's $2500 prize equally. So wow....up to $750 in earnings!!!! Covered the stable, and the costs of the 2 class entries and some association fees!!!
So Saturday rolls around and we have round 3 and then the jump off to follow for the top 12 of the 14. I'm early in the order again and a bit disappointed that what was supposed to have risen to 1.15m for the course has instead become a 1.10m course with two fences set at 1.15m. I know the course designer a bit so I asked about it and the short version is that he'd been watching the previous two rounds and felt that the bulk of the competitors needed to stay close to 1.10. Probably a fair statement from what I'd seen but for myself I was bummed not to have a bigger course all around.
So we go in and stuck to the plan and amazingly it all worked still. Our 3rd clear round in 3 days. I know this shouldn't seem like the big deal, but it really is. The consistency and control and adjustability is all coming together. My riding is improving (At 50 years old!!) and he is improving (At 15 years old!). So we came out and waited for the jump off.
Here's what you need to know..... in my past I have done a lot of jump offs and gone VERY fast. I galloped race horses for a decade, and while I wouldn't still call myself a speed demon, I LOVE going fast. I do not fear speed and I know what I can do with a great horse going fast.
So it was a short jump off, 6 fences. honestly the trick was that you had to jump #6 and half turn back to #7. Both 6 and 7 were narrower verticals. I knew I needed to balance for both. I knew I could make up time on the gallop to the last by leaving out a stride. (Cudo's super powers). And I felt good about it.
I went in and rode almost all of it to plan. Except I got a flat jump to 6 and didn't balance in the half turn quick enough and cut the turn sharper than needed given my competition. Sadly we ticked #7 and it fell. I still rode the finish as expected and stopped the timers at 24 seconds and change. But fastest 4 faulter relegated me to 9th place. I was very disappointed in myself but overwhelmingly proud of Cudo and excited about our future this season. I've slept on it since then and I know that this is the sport. Risk vs reward and the best thing I can do is use this to remind myself not to make the same mistake the next time. Who knows.....the win that eluded me on this error might return on a bigger level. I can only hope. BUT...we made back the entry fee for the class ($450) so the total show costs for this event was a mere $174. Obviously hotel, gas and food was not covered but winning back $1200 was not a bad weekend!!! Even my hubby was happy!!!!
So here's the videos for you to watch if you like.
I combined ALL the rounds to one YouTube Link.
The time codes for each round are:
Round 1: - 00:00
Round 2: - 01:33
Round 3: - 03:21
Jump Off: - 05:15
My trainer is VERY excited and generally most agree that this improved ride will translate back to the bigger heights and make our lives much better. We did a few bigger classes in May and I can't wait for the next show, tentatively scheduled for July 1 at Twilight Jumpers. (That evening show under the lights in Virginia also)
Thanks as always for following along with one of the BEST things to come out of England in a while. Cudo is just a star and has an ever increasing following over here as well.
Oh and here's our fun TikTok Music video as well. I thought "It's Tricky" was exactly the right sentiment for the weekend. Ha ha ha.
https://www.tiktok.com/@xctrygirlus...1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7064012529277994502
Enjoy!!!
Em
The retooling tour continued this past week at the oldest horse show in the USA, the Upperville Colt and Horse show in Upperville, Virginia. (Outside Middleburg, Virginia which is one of the biggest rich bed's of American Equestrian life)
We journeyed down there to compete in a somewhat unusual competition called the Master's division. I'm going to try to explain the rules a bit as even riding in it, it was a touch difficult to remember that the tasks were pretty basic and there were no huge challenges in the division itself.
It was a 4 round competition. For riders over the age of 50. (My first year being eligible)
Rounds 1, 2 and 3 - Were all Table 2 Clear Round Classes. To simplify things I am including the current USEF definition:
"Clear Round (Table II) - The first round is decided by adding together the faults incurred over the course and any penalties for exceeding the Time Allowed. Horses with clear rounds or equal faults remain equal. "
So we did Round 1 at 1.10m and everyone who was clear split the prize money equally and remained ranked equally and qualified for the Saturday class of Round 3. You needed to have a clear round in either Round 1 or Round 2 to qualify for Round 3. You could drop a bad round in either Round 1 or 2 as long as you were clear somewhere to get to Round 3. You could NOT use Round 3 as a drop score. And then after round 3, the top 12 ranked riders got to do a 6 fence jump off which decided the end results.
Seems simple but I swear I was re-reading the rules daily.
So Thursday we competed in Round 1 and were clear. So we got a clear round blue ribbon, slightly different from a winner's blue ribbon and split the $2500 prize money amongst the 10 of us who went clear. Yippee!!! Almost covered the cost of his stall at the show!!! Cudo was fantastic and was jumping in great form and the listening and ability to compress was really holding together nicely. Yes, at 15 and nearly 51 you'd think we would have needed this before now but now that it's finally here it's like going from having an outhouse 100m away from your house to suddenly having a wc inside with hot water. HUGE difference and it makes life so much better.
Onto Friday we tackled Round 2 also 1.10m, going first in the order and again he was just unreal. Jumping so well and round and balanced and able to adjust. No chicken wings or pumping seat from me and working harder on doing less is more. None of the mental demons from our rough rounds a year ago in the same ring. All was well and butterflies and lollipops as my old friend would say. Clear again. And what made it better/more interesting was that of the 14 entries, only the 4 from round 1 who'd had a fault and thus not qualified for round 2 had returned to ride with me. I had long before decided to do all the rounds as this was an exercise on keeping my head together and stay with the plan as my brain is sometimes the downfall of our success. One benefit to staying in there was that the rules were the same. 5 entries, 5 clears, we all split Friday's $2500 prize equally. So wow....up to $750 in earnings!!!! Covered the stable, and the costs of the 2 class entries and some association fees!!!
So Saturday rolls around and we have round 3 and then the jump off to follow for the top 12 of the 14. I'm early in the order again and a bit disappointed that what was supposed to have risen to 1.15m for the course has instead become a 1.10m course with two fences set at 1.15m. I know the course designer a bit so I asked about it and the short version is that he'd been watching the previous two rounds and felt that the bulk of the competitors needed to stay close to 1.10. Probably a fair statement from what I'd seen but for myself I was bummed not to have a bigger course all around.
So we go in and stuck to the plan and amazingly it all worked still. Our 3rd clear round in 3 days. I know this shouldn't seem like the big deal, but it really is. The consistency and control and adjustability is all coming together. My riding is improving (At 50 years old!!) and he is improving (At 15 years old!). So we came out and waited for the jump off.
Here's what you need to know..... in my past I have done a lot of jump offs and gone VERY fast. I galloped race horses for a decade, and while I wouldn't still call myself a speed demon, I LOVE going fast. I do not fear speed and I know what I can do with a great horse going fast.
So it was a short jump off, 6 fences. honestly the trick was that you had to jump #6 and half turn back to #7. Both 6 and 7 were narrower verticals. I knew I needed to balance for both. I knew I could make up time on the gallop to the last by leaving out a stride. (Cudo's super powers). And I felt good about it.
I went in and rode almost all of it to plan. Except I got a flat jump to 6 and didn't balance in the half turn quick enough and cut the turn sharper than needed given my competition. Sadly we ticked #7 and it fell. I still rode the finish as expected and stopped the timers at 24 seconds and change. But fastest 4 faulter relegated me to 9th place. I was very disappointed in myself but overwhelmingly proud of Cudo and excited about our future this season. I've slept on it since then and I know that this is the sport. Risk vs reward and the best thing I can do is use this to remind myself not to make the same mistake the next time. Who knows.....the win that eluded me on this error might return on a bigger level. I can only hope. BUT...we made back the entry fee for the class ($450) so the total show costs for this event was a mere $174. Obviously hotel, gas and food was not covered but winning back $1200 was not a bad weekend!!! Even my hubby was happy!!!!
So here's the videos for you to watch if you like.
I combined ALL the rounds to one YouTube Link.
The time codes for each round are:
Round 1: - 00:00
Round 2: - 01:33
Round 3: - 03:21
Jump Off: - 05:15
My trainer is VERY excited and generally most agree that this improved ride will translate back to the bigger heights and make our lives much better. We did a few bigger classes in May and I can't wait for the next show, tentatively scheduled for July 1 at Twilight Jumpers. (That evening show under the lights in Virginia also)
Thanks as always for following along with one of the BEST things to come out of England in a while. Cudo is just a star and has an ever increasing following over here as well.
Oh and here's our fun TikTok Music video as well. I thought "It's Tricky" was exactly the right sentiment for the weekend. Ha ha ha.
https://www.tiktok.com/@xctrygirlus...1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7064012529277994502
Enjoy!!!
Em
