HufflyPuffly
Well-Known Member
So as it was our first comps of 2018 I thought I'd write a report of all the hi-jinks of the naughty Hackney hippo's 
.
First up was Skylla on Saturday, P12 and our first attempt at a Novice with N24.
We've been working on upping the ante a bit with her and not babying her so much, she's still a fizzy, buzzy, mass of untapped excitement :rolleyes3:, but she picks things up very easily and if you distract her with learning new things she has to think about it all a bit more so tones down the whizzing... Her current faves are walk to canter, (she also is quite talented at canter walk, but who wants to stop cantering), and all things sideways :lol:, though we did get a bit stuck in reverse once she'd done rein-back a few times
.
Anyway enough waffle, onto the day in question. Skylla brought her best 'teenage' attitude with her :rolleyes3:...
*Positives*
- she loads and travels beautifully ✅
- not a bother to tack up ✅
- erm shes pretty
Warmup was interesting, she actually started well, then got a little mentally tired so then we had nap and plant or launch through the air like you just dont care. Her fitness is fine, I think she now just needs to go and do more so that it's not all quite so stimulating for her, so she can concentrate a little more for longer.
So with that excellent, well rounded preparation into P12 we went. Shes a clever sausage really as all bits were done in the right order, little bit of Lorel teenage hair swishing went on, though she did actually walk which was impressive really :lol:.
67% and second :eek3:, we started on a wait for it... 9 :eek3: sadly it was downhill from there :lol:.
Similar warmup style for N24... however she definitely packed her big girl pants and pulled off a reasonable attempt in the test, walk did get even tenser which was a shame, she just doesn't seem to think tired = nice walk, more tired = a great Paso Fino impression . Our mediums are very green still, though I got bravely ridden in the canter lol, overall Im very pleased with her attempt.
60% and unplaced, but our benchmark for the season!
Every day is a learning day for young horses, and Skylla learnt an awful lot about obeying hoomans even when she doesnt want to, maybe the lesson might stick this time :lol:.
Baby medium:
I'm actually sat up!!!
Onto Topaz on Sunday for M75 (regional practice) and AM92 (changes practice :lol
.
Now Topaz dislikes indoor venues, but with Winter regionals, all venues are indoor so some manning up is required. Myerscough is a really lovely venue, and it has taken 4 years but she is slowly coming round to the idea she might not die here. That being said, she finds the warm-up very stressful still...
Started off very spooky and tense, which was to be expected after the winter break and an indoor venue, got our best hackney stomp and snort on lol. Into the test and she does find the main indoor a little better, she did everything in the right place and asides from a couple of spooks (running away from banners, really Topaz :rolleyes3, remained rideable. Really feel Im getting better at being able to ride her through the tension. Simple changes suffered from the tension, but really everything else was sweet enough .
63% and 6th place, good benchmark to improve on for regionals.
AM92 and Topaz is still too confused about doing changes in tests. Think we just need to do more of them so she gets the idea as theyre coming on lovely at home, so just need to get the canter we have at home and then I think she will start doing normal ones in tests .
61% and first in the bronze section :lol:.
So a fairly bouncy start to 2018, but I think this will be a good year :biggrin3:.
.First up was Skylla on Saturday, P12 and our first attempt at a Novice with N24.
We've been working on upping the ante a bit with her and not babying her so much, she's still a fizzy, buzzy, mass of untapped excitement :rolleyes3:, but she picks things up very easily and if you distract her with learning new things she has to think about it all a bit more so tones down the whizzing... Her current faves are walk to canter, (she also is quite talented at canter walk, but who wants to stop cantering), and all things sideways :lol:, though we did get a bit stuck in reverse once she'd done rein-back a few times
.Anyway enough waffle, onto the day in question. Skylla brought her best 'teenage' attitude with her :rolleyes3:...
*Positives*
- she loads and travels beautifully ✅
- not a bother to tack up ✅
- erm shes pretty
Warmup was interesting, she actually started well, then got a little mentally tired so then we had nap and plant or launch through the air like you just dont care. Her fitness is fine, I think she now just needs to go and do more so that it's not all quite so stimulating for her, so she can concentrate a little more for longer.
So with that excellent, well rounded preparation into P12 we went. Shes a clever sausage really as all bits were done in the right order, little bit of Lorel teenage hair swishing went on, though she did actually walk which was impressive really :lol:.
67% and second :eek3:, we started on a wait for it... 9 :eek3: sadly it was downhill from there :lol:.
Similar warmup style for N24
... however she definitely packed her big girl pants and pulled off a reasonable attempt in the test, walk did get even tenser which was a shame, she just doesn't seem to think tired = nice walk, more tired = a great Paso Fino impression . Our mediums are very green still, though I got bravely ridden in the canter lol, overall Im very pleased with her attempt.60% and unplaced, but our benchmark for the season!
Every day is a learning day for young horses, and Skylla learnt an awful lot about obeying hoomans even when she doesnt want to, maybe the lesson might stick this time :lol:.
Baby medium:
I'm actually sat up!!!
Onto Topaz on Sunday for M75 (regional practice) and AM92 (changes practice :lol
.Now Topaz dislikes indoor venues, but with Winter regionals, all venues are indoor so some manning up is required. Myerscough is a really lovely venue, and it has taken 4 years but she is slowly coming round to the idea she might not die here
. That being said, she finds the warm-up very stressful still...Started off very spooky and tense, which was to be expected after the winter break and an indoor venue, got our best hackney stomp and snort on lol. Into the test and she does find the main indoor a little better, she did everything in the right place and asides from a couple of spooks (running away from banners, really Topaz :rolleyes3
, remained rideable. Really feel Im getting better at being able to ride her through the tension. Simple changes suffered from the tension, but really everything else was sweet enough .63% and 6th place, good benchmark to improve on for regionals.
AM92 and Topaz is still too confused about doing changes in tests
. Think we just need to do more of them so she gets the idea as theyre coming on lovely at home, so just need to get the canter we have at home and then I think she will start doing normal ones in tests .61% and first in the bronze section :lol:.
So a fairly bouncy start to 2018, but I think this will be a good year :biggrin3:.
