burtie
Well-Known Member
Well I thought I'd give this comp report thing a try!
After a successful first event at Larkhill a few weeks ago, I was talked into going to Bovington by my good friend Harriet20.
The course looked up to height and a lot more spooky than Larkhill, but other than a very scary ditch nothing I didn't think we could do so I was reasonably happy.
We had very civilised times with our dressage at 11.26 then about 45mins to the showjumping and 30 mins to the XC which would be tight with the walk back to lorry back to change.
He was a bit excited in the Dressage warm up but soon settled and I was very pleased with his test as he is used to doing Dressage only on a surface. We scored a respectable 25.5. I can honestly say it's my first ever dressage test on a rugby pitch but the surface was lovely!
As we were running a bit late it was a quick change and then a quick hike up to the showjumping. As we got 4 time penalties in the jumping at Larkhill, which is rather embarrassing we knew we had to push on a bit. It felt super fast to the dressage diva in me, but apparently was just right and we got a clear with no time penalties this time! Yeah!
By now I'm getting quite excited and trying not to let my competitive side come out as I know if I rush him on the XC he'll stop or run out. He's not the bravest soul and definitely likes to approach new things from a good SJ canter.
Things didn't get off to a great start when 100 yards out the start box we stopped dead, with him feeling like a startled rabbit. Luckily we got our act together and preceded to the first fence, but I kept him really off the leg in a good SJ canter from this point!
As we progressed I could feel him getting braver and braver and other than a sticky jump over the scary ditch he felt lovely. We came home clear but had trotted a few times and had come back to walk at the water so a knew I was well over the time. In fact I ended up with more time penalties than my Dressage score so we definitely need to work on speed!
But I was totally thrilled with a double clear and am now looking forward to the next one.
After a successful first event at Larkhill a few weeks ago, I was talked into going to Bovington by my good friend Harriet20.
The course looked up to height and a lot more spooky than Larkhill, but other than a very scary ditch nothing I didn't think we could do so I was reasonably happy.
We had very civilised times with our dressage at 11.26 then about 45mins to the showjumping and 30 mins to the XC which would be tight with the walk back to lorry back to change.
He was a bit excited in the Dressage warm up but soon settled and I was very pleased with his test as he is used to doing Dressage only on a surface. We scored a respectable 25.5. I can honestly say it's my first ever dressage test on a rugby pitch but the surface was lovely!
As we were running a bit late it was a quick change and then a quick hike up to the showjumping. As we got 4 time penalties in the jumping at Larkhill, which is rather embarrassing we knew we had to push on a bit. It felt super fast to the dressage diva in me, but apparently was just right and we got a clear with no time penalties this time! Yeah!
By now I'm getting quite excited and trying not to let my competitive side come out as I know if I rush him on the XC he'll stop or run out. He's not the bravest soul and definitely likes to approach new things from a good SJ canter.
Things didn't get off to a great start when 100 yards out the start box we stopped dead, with him feeling like a startled rabbit. Luckily we got our act together and preceded to the first fence, but I kept him really off the leg in a good SJ canter from this point!
As we progressed I could feel him getting braver and braver and other than a sticky jump over the scary ditch he felt lovely. We came home clear but had trotted a few times and had come back to walk at the water so a knew I was well over the time. In fact I ended up with more time penalties than my Dressage score so we definitely need to work on speed!
But I was totally thrilled with a double clear and am now looking forward to the next one.
