Ambers Echo
Still wittering on
I've already posted this on the weekend plan thread but I'd like to look back after the next event or three so having it here makes it easier to find in the future! Plus I go on a bit more on this thread in case anyone can offer some advice.....
Mixed fortunes at the ODE at Eland for the ponies.
2 good dressage tests (good for where they are at not GOOD good...). Ginny clear SJ, Max with an uncharacteristic run out for 4 faults. Then the wheels came off....
There were 2 warm up arenas which was a bit odd. You started in one by fence 5 then moved down to another one by the start. Fence 5 was on a bend curving left away from the 2nd warm up area and the straight on option was back to that area. And it was mowed with a gap in the ropes so it was an obvious run out risk. Max napped there - shot out to the right through his shoulder and was half way to the other horses, then reared when she tried to turn him back. Sadly she lost her nerve and retired. I wish I had stood there as she'd have carried on! She often has a brief wobble and says she wants to get off but her instructors and I never let her and she is then fine. I know that if she had got him past that point then he would have probably been fine the rest of the round. But never mind - they came home safe which is the main thing.
Then Ginny went on strike at fence 13 which went past the 2nd warm up area! She just planted. Poor Katie was trying her best to unstick her feet and move her forward but she was like 'nope I have finished now'. Then the rider behind overtook and Ginny took off after it. "Wait for meeeeeee" and flew round the rest of the course at a gallop as the horse in front was really shifting. I wondered whether there were rule against getting towed round and she'd be eliminated. But apparently not. She did keep her distance at least.
This was Ginny's first ever ODE. In fact her first ever XC round. A lot to ask of a young pony and she coped well in general.
Pic of her giving a box plenty of space! This was shortly before she went on strike LOL. I am excited for her potential when she grows up a bit.
Max's napping is more challenging. He seems bold at times but actually I think he lacks confidence. Last Spring he came back into work after 3 months off with strangles and napped at every event: dressage, SJ and Xc for a few weeks. By the end of the season he was flying and jumped well round full up unaff 70 and 80 courses at Eland.
This season he kept up the SJ over the winter and is fine SJ now. No napping at all. But he has napped XC at clincis and at the event once the courses started opening up again. He rears and spins which is obviously alarming!Always either at the start box/over the first couple, leaving the other horses (in a clinic) or going past a collecting ring. And he can duck out too towards other horses as he did at Eland yesterday. Izzy rides him quietly. Leg on, hands soft, keeps him turning. Any other advice?
Hopefully a few more trips out and he'll settle down again.
Mixed fortunes at the ODE at Eland for the ponies.
2 good dressage tests (good for where they are at not GOOD good...). Ginny clear SJ, Max with an uncharacteristic run out for 4 faults. Then the wheels came off....
There were 2 warm up arenas which was a bit odd. You started in one by fence 5 then moved down to another one by the start. Fence 5 was on a bend curving left away from the 2nd warm up area and the straight on option was back to that area. And it was mowed with a gap in the ropes so it was an obvious run out risk. Max napped there - shot out to the right through his shoulder and was half way to the other horses, then reared when she tried to turn him back. Sadly she lost her nerve and retired. I wish I had stood there as she'd have carried on! She often has a brief wobble and says she wants to get off but her instructors and I never let her and she is then fine. I know that if she had got him past that point then he would have probably been fine the rest of the round. But never mind - they came home safe which is the main thing.
Then Ginny went on strike at fence 13 which went past the 2nd warm up area! She just planted. Poor Katie was trying her best to unstick her feet and move her forward but she was like 'nope I have finished now'. Then the rider behind overtook and Ginny took off after it. "Wait for meeeeeee" and flew round the rest of the course at a gallop as the horse in front was really shifting. I wondered whether there were rule against getting towed round and she'd be eliminated. But apparently not. She did keep her distance at least.
This was Ginny's first ever ODE. In fact her first ever XC round. A lot to ask of a young pony and she coped well in general.
Pic of her giving a box plenty of space! This was shortly before she went on strike LOL. I am excited for her potential when she grows up a bit.
Max's napping is more challenging. He seems bold at times but actually I think he lacks confidence. Last Spring he came back into work after 3 months off with strangles and napped at every event: dressage, SJ and Xc for a few weeks. By the end of the season he was flying and jumped well round full up unaff 70 and 80 courses at Eland.
This season he kept up the SJ over the winter and is fine SJ now. No napping at all. But he has napped XC at clincis and at the event once the courses started opening up again. He rears and spins which is obviously alarming!Always either at the start box/over the first couple, leaving the other horses (in a clinic) or going past a collecting ring. And he can duck out too towards other horses as he did at Eland yesterday. Izzy rides him quietly. Leg on, hands soft, keeps him turning. Any other advice?
Hopefully a few more trips out and he'll settle down again.
