Donkey does more dressage...

Befney3

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& is actually quite good at it.

I've just written a whole report then managed to delete it 'cos I'm a complete computer numpty so here's the shortened version.

Yesterday Me & Chili entered our first BD competition. Well, except the one test we atempted last year & scored a horrible 54% for a shockingly awful test. We've been doing a few unaffiliated tests over the last couple of months & have done o.k so BD seemed like a good idea. Yesterdays test was P13 which seemed quite nice & was at the yard I'm based on so at the end of last week I was feeling quite positive.

Unfortunatley I've had a fairly stressful weekend & start to this week so was a bit of a mess by the end of Monday & found I really couldn't ride one side of Chilli, who in turn, had decided he could just take the mickey & canter on the spot & snatch the reins every other stride. Opps!

Luckily I had a lesson booked for Tuesday evening & my lovely intructor got on Chilli first before putting me on for a nice relaxed walk, trot & canter. I was told to stop stressing the 'poor horse' out, relax & not upset him. After my lesson I was sent home to get a good nights sleep so I was focused & awake ready for my test at 10.26am.

When I arrived at the yard my instructor was there 'cos he was taking two other liveries to another competition. He took over my plaiting efforts (I think he was worried about my tendancies to turnout 'showjumper style') & gave me some last instructions for working in & riding the test as he had to set of before I got on.

Anyway, once I got on Chilli felt ace. He worked in lovely & the test was good. I managed to ride a slightly wobbly centre line & nearly forgot the trot-walk-trot transition but Chilli was very good. I had hoped to come away with a +60% score so was very pleased to see we had got 63.33%.

I also managed to bribe my friend to be my photographer so here's some pictures...


Waiting for the bell
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The test
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Good boy!
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Thanks for reading. xx
 

diggerbez

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hey well done :D Chilli is looking fab, your friend is a good photographer! someone from my yard was there yesterday and said the puddle on the centre line was a pain in the a$$! she wasn't sure whether to go through or round and her horse is a bit nappy so didn't want to wind him up right at the start! :eek:
i've got a lesson with D on Sunday...got very told off last time for "not taking dressage seriously " (snore zzzz :rolleyes:) going to be in SO much trouble now as bloody horse won't trot, is just in hyper show jumper mode at the minute...:eek:
 

Befney3

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diggerbez, thanks. He's going really well at the moment. David has made a huge difference to our schooling &, as you can see, he's even bullied me into a dressage saddle. He gets quite cross if he catches me with my jumping saddle. lol.
Luckily Chilli is puddle proof. There have been times where the arena is more puddle than surface & he just happily paddles thro. How did your friend get on?
Hope your lesson goes well on Sunday. Personally, I can't see anything wrong with 'showjumper mode'. lol. I've been banned from saying the 'j-word' after announcing that my improved canter makes jumping so much easier & that I might start jumping more again.

Prince33Sp4rkle, thanks. He's actually not as big as he looks. He's a weedy 16.1 but I'm only 5'1" & do ride a bit short.
I think you could be right about the browband. I've seen one with little stars in it but it was black & my tack's brown. I might have a look for one at Badminton. I need a new jacket too, that one's a bit too big & quite long.
 
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