_MizElz_
Well-Known Member
Ellie and I went to a local show today - our first time out doing 'proper' show jumping in many years. The day started well - I was absolutely chuffed to bits as I was able for the first time in six years to fit comfortably into the riding jacket that was made for me when I was 12 years old (bearing in mind the fact I am now 3 stone heavier and 10 years older!). My recently started Slimfast diet is obviously working some magic! 
We arrived nice and early, and the 2'3 jumping was well underway. They had already capped the entries for that, so I went ahead with my original plan and entered the 2'6, with a view to doing the 2'9/3ft afterwards. The only problem was, there were 56 in the class....and I was down 51st to go!
So we had a lot of hanging around, during which time Ellie reverted to her old show personality and went to sleep She's such a star; when I'm on board she's as sparky and spooky as anything, yet on the ground, she switches off completely, and has never been any different. The only thing that livened her up was the arrival of a little miniature colt - we knew the owner, and as she stopped to chat to us, Ellie totally freaked at the sight of the little chap - eyes bulging, nostrils flaring, the whole lot. She then started to dance around, whinnying to him, whereby the colt got a bit...ahem, 'colty' and started winding her up so much I had to take her right away from him! I honestly think she'd have lay down for him if given the chance - what a flooze I was then approached by someone and asked if I was Irish (because of my green jacket), whereby I had to confess that although I do have some Irish ancestry, my jacket colour is a mere throwback to my teenage obsession with a certain Irish showjumper, and a subsequent passion for all things green and burgundy
Anyway, eventually I got on board and started to warm up. This was marred by a few complete idiots galloping around the tiny warm up area with no control whatsoever. One nearly ran over my mum, another ploughed out of the arena and straight through a group of people with their dogs, whilst another one went straight through the rope barrier and completely panicked Ellie. At this point I took her out - there was no way I was staying in there - and investigated the possibility of entering the Clear Round as a warm up, but they had put the fences up to 3ft and it was a pretty crappy ring, so I ended up going back to the warm up, popping a couple and coming straight out.
So we went into the arena a little unprepared I guess, although Ellie has never been the kind of horse to need too much jumping in. She absolutely flew the first, had a bit of a look at the second (a gate) and then cantered on a beautiful stride to the third, a nice inviting triple bar. But right at the point of take off, she spotted a sack in the hedge just the other side of the fence, and completely put the brakes on! It was so funny; she's never been a stopper, and I debated for a second or two whether to give her a smack or not. Somehow it didnt seem fair to whack her - I've hardly ever had to hit her in the past and I had to give her the benefit of the doubt considering we're only just getting back to it, so I just gave her a pat and brought her round again. She popped it second time, although she did jig to the right to avoid said super scary sack. Silly mare! The rest of the round was lovely, she went through the treble really sweetly, which was fab as it's combinations that freak me out the most!
So on the whole I was really pleased I'd have loved to stay to do the next class as I think a) she'd have jumped better over a bigger track and b) both of us would have got rid of our collywobbles and spookiness, but there were 26 to go in the jump off of the 2'6 and over 30 in the 2'9 - and they had also decided to cap the entry, so we were too late anyway. So we had to leave it at that, but there is a show on Wednesday that we may head for, as well as one next Sunday in our village which we will DEFINITELY be attending
I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE being out and about again. Never thought I'd jump again, never ever thought I'd do cross country, and I certainly never thought I would enter a show jumping competition again. And it says a lot for my change of attitude that I can be chuffed to bits with a 4 fault round
Roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding for anyone who reads this!
We arrived nice and early, and the 2'3 jumping was well underway. They had already capped the entries for that, so I went ahead with my original plan and entered the 2'6, with a view to doing the 2'9/3ft afterwards. The only problem was, there were 56 in the class....and I was down 51st to go!
So we had a lot of hanging around, during which time Ellie reverted to her old show personality and went to sleep
She's such a star; when I'm on board she's as sparky and spooky as anything, yet on the ground, she switches off completely, and has never been any different. The only thing that livened her up was the arrival of a little miniature colt - we knew the owner, and as she stopped to chat to us, Ellie totally freaked at the sight of the little chap - eyes bulging, nostrils flaring, the whole lot. She then started to dance around, whinnying to him, whereby the colt got a bit...ahem, 'colty' and started winding her up so much I had to take her right away from him! I honestly think she'd have lay down for him if given the chance - what a flooze I was then approached by someone and asked if I was Irish (because of my green jacket), whereby I had to confess that although I do have some Irish ancestry, my jacket colour is a mere throwback to my teenage obsession with a certain Irish showjumper, and a subsequent passion for all things green and burgundy Anyway, eventually I got on board and started to warm up. This was marred by a few complete idiots galloping around the tiny warm up area with no control whatsoever. One nearly ran over my mum, another ploughed out of the arena and straight through a group of people with their dogs, whilst another one went straight through the rope barrier and completely panicked Ellie. At this point I took her out - there was no way I was staying in there - and investigated the possibility of entering the Clear Round as a warm up, but they had put the fences up to 3ft and it was a pretty crappy ring, so I ended up going back to the warm up, popping a couple and coming straight out.
So we went into the arena a little unprepared I guess, although Ellie has never been the kind of horse to need too much jumping in. She absolutely flew the first, had a bit of a look at the second (a gate) and then cantered on a beautiful stride to the third, a nice inviting triple bar. But right at the point of take off, she spotted a sack in the hedge just the other side of the fence, and completely put the brakes on! It was so funny; she's never been a stopper, and I debated for a second or two whether to give her a smack or not. Somehow it didnt seem fair to whack her - I've hardly ever had to hit her in the past and I had to give her the benefit of the doubt considering we're only just getting back to it, so I just gave her a pat and brought her round again. She popped it second time, although she did jig to the right to avoid said super scary sack. Silly mare! The rest of the round was lovely, she went through the treble really sweetly, which was fab as it's combinations that freak me out the most!
So on the whole I was really pleased
I'd have loved to stay to do the next class as I think a) she'd have jumped better over a bigger track and b) both of us would have got rid of our collywobbles and spookiness, but there were 26 to go in the jump off of the 2'6 and over 30 in the 2'9 - and they had also decided to cap the entry, so we were too late anyway. So we had to leave it at that, but there is a show on Wednesday that we may head for, as well as one next Sunday in our village which we will DEFINITELY be attending I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE being out and about again. Never thought I'd jump again, never ever thought I'd do cross country, and I certainly never thought I would enter a show jumping competition again. And it says a lot for my change of attitude that I can be chuffed to bits with a 4 fault round
Roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding for anyone who reads this!
