Booboos
Well-Known Member
Things have been very quiet with us due to the arrival of MiniBoo2 but this spring I finally managed to drag Freddy out to competitions again. The first was a disaster, the second a farce and you can judge the third for yourselves.
The first competition after a long break found Freddy to be entirely unimpressed by the whole idea. He entered at A, made a minimal effort with the trot work and simply gave up with the canter electing to walk instead. I had to give up, ask the judge for permission to arm myself with a whip, after which Freddy made a miraculous recovery and managed to finish the test in the correct pace - by then we were of course eliminated.
The second competition involved masterful planning as OH was abroad and I had to arrange babysitting for two, one of whom was breastfeeding quite often at that stage. All was going according to plan until I arrived at the venue only to discover that my time was in fact two hours later than expected (in a master stroke of organisation the organiser did not post individual times, but only class start times and numbers of competitions in each class...then mixed up the classes!). Freddy didn't even come out of the lorry for this one, we just turned around and went back home to relieve the babysitter.
The third competition was the largest in the area, this year comprising of the regionals plus the national championships for the over 40s (yep I did qualify by virtue of age but the test for the Nationals was a freestyle and I just didn't have the courage to mess up to music - our usual, silent mess, is sufficient thank you very much). The atmosphere was very busy and Freddy was a horror in the warm up. Every time I put my leg on he humped his back, bucked and continued in walk - mares in season have a lot to learn from him. Luckily I had 40 minutes to settle him which seemed to do the trick as we produced a half decent test.
http://youtu.be/Wpf4rm-Whi4
I thought overall it was all quite nice but then again I am used to him reversing out of the arena after the first halt! I was a bit disappointed with 62% and 12th out of 23, but there were three judges and they all agreed so such is life.
We have one more competition before the season ends (just as I've managed to sweep the cobwebs out of the lorry it all ends) but luckily there is always dressage anywhere to keep us occupied. Freddy can now do flying changes but only with my instructor, with me he, you guessed it, gives up and passes onto walk, so the plan for this winter is to get to grips with the flying changes!
The first competition after a long break found Freddy to be entirely unimpressed by the whole idea. He entered at A, made a minimal effort with the trot work and simply gave up with the canter electing to walk instead. I had to give up, ask the judge for permission to arm myself with a whip, after which Freddy made a miraculous recovery and managed to finish the test in the correct pace - by then we were of course eliminated.
The second competition involved masterful planning as OH was abroad and I had to arrange babysitting for two, one of whom was breastfeeding quite often at that stage. All was going according to plan until I arrived at the venue only to discover that my time was in fact two hours later than expected (in a master stroke of organisation the organiser did not post individual times, but only class start times and numbers of competitions in each class...then mixed up the classes!). Freddy didn't even come out of the lorry for this one, we just turned around and went back home to relieve the babysitter.
The third competition was the largest in the area, this year comprising of the regionals plus the national championships for the over 40s (yep I did qualify by virtue of age but the test for the Nationals was a freestyle and I just didn't have the courage to mess up to music - our usual, silent mess, is sufficient thank you very much). The atmosphere was very busy and Freddy was a horror in the warm up. Every time I put my leg on he humped his back, bucked and continued in walk - mares in season have a lot to learn from him. Luckily I had 40 minutes to settle him which seemed to do the trick as we produced a half decent test.
http://youtu.be/Wpf4rm-Whi4
I thought overall it was all quite nice but then again I am used to him reversing out of the arena after the first halt! I was a bit disappointed with 62% and 12th out of 23, but there were three judges and they all agreed so such is life.
We have one more competition before the season ends (just as I've managed to sweep the cobwebs out of the lorry it all ends) but luckily there is always dressage anywhere to keep us occupied. Freddy can now do flying changes but only with my instructor, with me he, you guessed it, gives up and passes onto walk, so the plan for this winter is to get to grips with the flying changes!
Whats the equivalent level over here, can't quite work it out? Elem/Med?
Kudos to you for getting rather nice tests out of him despite this reluctance, however; I'm afraid the SP has won in that regard, with me... 