Festive_Felicitations
Well-Known Member
On Sat I took Beau to his (our) first straight DR comp in about 3 years, no expectations of placing but thought it would be a fun day out. As we are having lovely weather and he takes ages to warm-up I decide to hack there and save the $50AUD it would cost to get a lift.
Unfortunately this was probably the expensive option as I think I now have to replace my hard hat. When I put my (rather long) hair up in a bun and hairnets (only way to tame it) it invariably ends up tilting my Hhat forwards a bit as the bun gets in the way of the harness and limits my range of vision. I came round a slight bend in the trail, and totally failed to see the head height tree branch that left me lying (as much as you can in a DR saddle) on Beaus bum seeing stars, fortunately he just stopped till I recovered my wits and my reins. *I'm going to maintain that if I hadn't hat my hat on I would have seen the branch and ducked*
Eventually made it, collected my jacket from mum, passed the gear check and warmed up. He was going nicely by the time I had to head over for my first test(Prelim 1B) and I was vaguely optimistic about how it would go -> downhill from the first halt at X. He decided that he didn't want to trot circles and he much rather watch everyone else and lean on the forehand which meant that most of the test looked like this:
There is a video but its refusing to load at the moment...
To score 55.9%, with all 5's and 6's on the DR sheet which I thought was perfectly fair as he was a little bastxrd. The highest score in the class by the time I left was only 58.5% and the lowest 45% so middle of the field and fair based on the others I watched.
As I know he can go much better I decided to get on his case a bit and get slightly better behaviour for the second test (Novice 2B) which I only read on Monday and thought Oh Crxp!!! Well he was SO much better!!! I was so happy with him! And got some stunning (or so I think) photos:
Final halt:
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRCRiN6ctwk
As you can see from the video it wasn't all that pretty and the final score was 53.4% with marks ranging from 7 to 4. We got 7's for both extended canters, the first leg yield (thanks for the tips) and something else, and 4 for the free walk which is summed up in this pic:
to be fair he did have a runny nose and was blowing it (I could see big snoggies flying out at one point and almost got the giggles), however I do like the photo as he appears to be smiling for the camera...
And 4's for the canter to trot transitions at X where he just leant on my hand.
So lots to work on but overall I was delighted with how he went in the second test as he listened and tried for most of it and didn't shy at the white cones and edging..
If anyone got this far I would love any CC of the video, I realise I need to stop my hands from bouncing (didn't realise how much they moved till I saw the vid!) and keep my leg nearer the girth and not so far back.
Large glass of home-made lemonade and what's left of the Spag.bol for getting this far!
Unfortunately this was probably the expensive option as I think I now have to replace my hard hat. When I put my (rather long) hair up in a bun and hairnets (only way to tame it) it invariably ends up tilting my Hhat forwards a bit as the bun gets in the way of the harness and limits my range of vision. I came round a slight bend in the trail, and totally failed to see the head height tree branch that left me lying (as much as you can in a DR saddle) on Beaus bum seeing stars, fortunately he just stopped till I recovered my wits and my reins. *I'm going to maintain that if I hadn't hat my hat on I would have seen the branch and ducked*
Eventually made it, collected my jacket from mum, passed the gear check and warmed up. He was going nicely by the time I had to head over for my first test(Prelim 1B) and I was vaguely optimistic about how it would go -> downhill from the first halt at X. He decided that he didn't want to trot circles and he much rather watch everyone else and lean on the forehand which meant that most of the test looked like this:
There is a video but its refusing to load at the moment...
To score 55.9%, with all 5's and 6's on the DR sheet which I thought was perfectly fair as he was a little bastxrd. The highest score in the class by the time I left was only 58.5% and the lowest 45% so middle of the field and fair based on the others I watched.
As I know he can go much better I decided to get on his case a bit and get slightly better behaviour for the second test (Novice 2B) which I only read on Monday and thought Oh Crxp!!! Well he was SO much better!!! I was so happy with him! And got some stunning (or so I think) photos:
Final halt:
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRCRiN6ctwk
As you can see from the video it wasn't all that pretty and the final score was 53.4% with marks ranging from 7 to 4. We got 7's for both extended canters, the first leg yield (thanks for the tips) and something else, and 4 for the free walk which is summed up in this pic:
to be fair he did have a runny nose and was blowing it (I could see big snoggies flying out at one point and almost got the giggles), however I do like the photo as he appears to be smiling for the camera...
And 4's for the canter to trot transitions at X where he just leant on my hand.
So lots to work on but overall I was delighted with how he went in the second test as he listened and tried for most of it and didn't shy at the white cones and edging..
If anyone got this far I would love any CC of the video, I realise I need to stop my hands from bouncing (didn't realise how much they moved till I saw the vid!) and keep my leg nearer the girth and not so far back.
Large glass of home-made lemonade and what's left of the Spag.bol for getting this far!
He looks gorgeous I really like the 3rd pic, stunning! You're not the only one to have 'adult johds'!!! I had a white pair once and was tacking up my horse in its field by the side of the road, and was getting alot of beeps! Only when I got home did I see that you could see sttraight through them to my pink pants!!!! Ooooops!
Well done