Nickymac
Well-Known Member
Not terribly exciting stuff folks, sorry about that, but quite a handy little outing to check if I was ready for the forthcoming eventing season.
I knew it would be a rush as they never have many in the 1.05m class, so April (groom extraordinaire) warmed up HumungaHorse while I got on with Lucca (OH's hunter, and Humunga but not as Humunga as the afore-mentioned big one). Didn't have time to walk the course but watched the first couple go round and it seemed to ride well: 3 and 4 stride related distance, 2 stride double and one dog-leg.
None of mine have done much jumping lately as my field has been sodden (and I've been away skiing
), and Lucca has definitely been a bit fresh. He's got a huge stride and masses of power but I managed to channel it and, despite getting pretty damn deep to a couple, he just had the last fence down behind. He felt so much better than last time out at Laughton Manor, so Oasby PN here we come!
HumungaHorse had a number of reasons to be doggy: he had bashed and cut his back leg the other day and it's still a bit sore, he did some canter work yesterday (terribly tiring when you're 16.3hh and punctuate every canter stride with a buck), and tbh 1.05m (in his eyes) is hardly worth getting out of bed for! So, after some very uninspiring warm-up fences I went in, waggoned him round, prodded him with my spurs a lot and miraculously went clear. There were three clears, me and two 14.2-15hh ponies, so I was obviously going to be third! I buzzed him up a bit, made it really difficult for him by taking some shortcuts and tricky lines and, bless him, he obliged with a clear to be - you guessed it - 3rd!
The moral of this story is: when you've got a nice, genuine, straightforward horse that will try for you (aka Lucca), ride nicely. When you've got a laid-back, really irritating one who can't be a**ed, ride like you've forgotten everything you've ever learnt and make him engage his brain....the more you do, the less he does, so turn the tables on him!
I knew it would be a rush as they never have many in the 1.05m class, so April (groom extraordinaire) warmed up HumungaHorse while I got on with Lucca (OH's hunter, and Humunga but not as Humunga as the afore-mentioned big one). Didn't have time to walk the course but watched the first couple go round and it seemed to ride well: 3 and 4 stride related distance, 2 stride double and one dog-leg.
None of mine have done much jumping lately as my field has been sodden (and I've been away skiing
HumungaHorse had a number of reasons to be doggy: he had bashed and cut his back leg the other day and it's still a bit sore, he did some canter work yesterday (terribly tiring when you're 16.3hh and punctuate every canter stride with a buck), and tbh 1.05m (in his eyes) is hardly worth getting out of bed for! So, after some very uninspiring warm-up fences I went in, waggoned him round, prodded him with my spurs a lot and miraculously went clear. There were three clears, me and two 14.2-15hh ponies, so I was obviously going to be third! I buzzed him up a bit, made it really difficult for him by taking some shortcuts and tricky lines and, bless him, he obliged with a clear to be - you guessed it - 3rd!
The moral of this story is: when you've got a nice, genuine, straightforward horse that will try for you (aka Lucca), ride nicely. When you've got a laid-back, really irritating one who can't be a**ed, ride like you've forgotten everything you've ever learnt and make him engage his brain....the more you do, the less he does, so turn the tables on him!
