NR99
Well-Known Member
Yesterday we thought it was time we got the youngster out to a competition to see how he would behave, so tootled off to WEC with him – big thanks to Jo there who managed to fit us in where she could 
. Decided to take Pig for the ride too as there was a space in class 3, to see how she would fare after some great dressage lessons with the lovely Lindsay at Fairoak.
TBH as I was packing the lorry, having spent the entire day Saturday pulling manes, trimming feathers etc I was thinking this was a whole lot of effort and a very early start for ‘just’ dressage and I just didn’t have the same buzz as when we go eventing. Was also a little anxious having Pig and a youngster on the lorry, leaving one whilst the other was doing something as I was also on caller duties but I need not have worried.
Bruno whilst he will go on the lorry quite happily tends to take ages to get off it, he is getting better and it gives everyone a laugh at the venue and yesterday was no exception. For once we had been properly organised and travelled there with plenty of time to spare, giving the youngster a chance to soak up the atmosphere and me a chance to plait and preen some more.
It was time to take the baby away for his first class and thankfully Pig stood happily keeping her haynet company. Once Bruno had relaxed about the generators and others in the warm up he settled down quite nicely to work.
No photos of his first test, as official ones not yet posted and I couldn’t manage tog and caller. It was an Intro B class on grass, B thought the boards, the flower pots and definitely the judges car were all there to eat him, however the kind judge allowed him a couple of trots around the ring and he soon settled. Judges final comments were 'well done a super young horse – settled as he went on to produce a lovely test' and this summed it up really. We hadn’t seen others go and didn’t know where he would come, but really didn’t care as we were so pleased with his first time out and could not have asked any more of him. We were stopped by the organiser and others who had watched his test who said how lovely he was. The option of a second class for him came up so we thought we would give a Prelim a go so took him back to give him a break.
R went off to the toilet and on the way back several congratulated her so she thought she had better go and look at scores. She was
as they had won the class with 71.30 and a 4% margin. Cue many big pats and polos for the boy.
After a little break he went back for a short warm up for the Prelim 7 and again settled really well and was attentive. By this time Mr NR99 had surprised us with his arrival and was promptly given photo duties. This test was in an arena and it was quite spooky with children etc playing around the edge and again a big scary judge’s car to pass when you went in before you reached the 20 x 40 section. He was a little to start with and the judge allowed him a couple of laps and he settled quickly. This test was again really good, although in his second canter excitement got the better of him and he bucked, much to the delight of the camera men ringside, R is looking forward to that photo. Judges comments were ‘Well Sat and lots to like'. We were really pleased with him, forgave the little buck as he settled straight away for his free walk etc. Took him back and untacked gave him many pats and his long awaited haynet and he settled down happily tied to the lorry. Here are some photos of his test
And here is one to show what he really thought of this dressage malarkey
We were to find he had scored 68, come second and won best turned out!
Onto Pig, who some of you may recall had completely thrown the toys out of the pram at Goring in Spring 11 with a 50 something dressage due to the Alpacas behind the hedge and had never really recovered all season
. R has been working hard with her on the dressage and at home it was paying dividends so we wanted to test her at an event. They have been focusing on getting Pig to work out of her box, she places a box around herself and decides that’s the safety zone and she isn’t asking herself for anymore.
Unfortunately she had been there for 4 hours by this time and she had switched off somewhat. We would normally switch her back on with a decent warm up, but the ground was hard and she is not as fleet of foot as the youngster and we decided caution would be better so decided to work her enough to get her to behave. Photos below of the warm up, none of the comp as dad was watching the test back at the lorry so he could monitor the youngster:-
They had to pass piles of jumps etc to get into the arena, in the past she would have refused to go in and caused all sorts of issues but just walked calmly passed them and the judge and the flowers. R felt she rode slightly with the hand brake on as she was expecting an issue that didn’t occur, hence the test was a little tense and cautious which was summed up by the judge’s comments ‘lovely work shown, just a little tense at times, well ridden’. Again we were all as Pig had completed without issue which will give R lots of confidence next week at Tweseldown. She scored an 8 for her give and retake rather than her normal 4 and to boot she was 5th with 67.50 so we had a good day all round .
Thanks for listening sorry it was a little long and picture heavy, plenty of Easter egg on offer as a reward for getting this far
. Decided to take Pig for the ride too as there was a space in class 3, to see how she would fare after some great dressage lessons with the lovely Lindsay at Fairoak.TBH as I was packing the lorry, having spent the entire day Saturday pulling manes, trimming feathers etc I was thinking this was a whole lot of effort and a very early start for ‘just’ dressage and I just didn’t have the same buzz as when we go eventing. Was also a little anxious having Pig and a youngster on the lorry, leaving one whilst the other was doing something as I was also on caller duties but I need not have worried.
Bruno whilst he will go on the lorry quite happily tends to take ages to get off it, he is getting better and it gives everyone a laugh at the venue and yesterday was no exception. For once we had been properly organised and travelled there with plenty of time to spare, giving the youngster a chance to soak up the atmosphere and me a chance to plait and preen some more.
It was time to take the baby away for his first class and thankfully Pig stood happily keeping her haynet company. Once Bruno had relaxed about the generators and others in the warm up he settled down quite nicely to work.
No photos of his first test, as official ones not yet posted and I couldn’t manage tog and caller. It was an Intro B class on grass, B thought the boards, the flower pots and definitely the judges car were all there to eat him, however the kind judge allowed him a couple of trots around the ring and he soon settled. Judges final comments were 'well done a super young horse – settled as he went on to produce a lovely test' and this summed it up really. We hadn’t seen others go and didn’t know where he would come, but really didn’t care as we were so pleased with his first time out and could not have asked any more of him. We were stopped by the organiser and others who had watched his test who said how lovely he was. The option of a second class for him came up so we thought we would give a Prelim a go so took him back to give him a break.
R went off to the toilet and on the way back several congratulated her so she thought she had better go and look at scores. She was
as they had won the class with 71.30 and a 4% margin. Cue many big pats and polos for the boy.
After a little break he went back for a short warm up for the Prelim 7 and again settled really well and was attentive. By this time Mr NR99 had surprised us with his arrival and was promptly given photo duties. This test was in an arena and it was quite spooky with children etc playing around the edge and again a big scary judge’s car to pass when you went in before you reached the 20 x 40 section. He was a little
to start with and the judge allowed him a couple of laps and he settled quickly. This test was again really good, although in his second canter excitement got the better of him and he bucked, much to the delight of the camera men ringside, R is looking forward to that photo. Judges comments were ‘Well Sat and lots to like'. We were really pleased with him, forgave the little buck as he settled straight away for his free walk etc. Took him back and untacked gave him many pats and his long awaited haynet and he settled down happily tied to the lorry. Here are some photos of his test
And here is one to show what he really thought of this dressage malarkey
We were
to find he had scored 68, come second and won best turned out!Onto Pig, who some of you may recall had completely thrown the toys out of the pram at Goring in Spring 11 with a 50 something dressage due to the Alpacas behind the hedge and had never really recovered all season
. R has been working hard with her on the dressage and at home it was paying dividends so we wanted to test her at an event. They have been focusing on getting Pig to work out of her box, she places a box around herself and decides that’s the safety zone and she isn’t asking herself for anymore. Unfortunately she had been there for 4 hours by this time and she had switched off somewhat. We would normally switch her back on with a decent warm up, but the ground was hard and she is not as fleet of foot as the youngster and we decided caution would be better so decided to work her enough to get her to behave. Photos below of the warm up, none of the comp as dad was watching the test back at the lorry so he could monitor the youngster:-
They had to pass piles of jumps etc to get into the arena, in the past she would have refused to go in and caused all sorts of issues but just walked calmly passed them and the judge and the flowers
. R felt she rode slightly with the hand brake on as she was expecting an issue that didn’t occur, hence the test was a little tense and cautious which was summed up by the judge’s comments ‘lovely work shown, just a little tense at times, well ridden’. Again we were all as Pig had completed without issue which will give R lots of confidence next week at Tweseldown. She scored an 8 for her give and retake rather than her normal 4 and to boot she was 5th with 67.50 so we had a good day all round .Thanks for listening sorry it was a little long and picture heavy, plenty of Easter egg on offer as a reward for getting this far
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