Sarah_Jane
Well-Known Member
Well not been the quickest off the mark as we only got to bed at 1am this morning
Well we had a pretty good Gatcombe. Got up there early on Saturday to avoid the traffic and had a leisurely walk of the course, watched a few and had a gentle dressage practice. Have to say the going on Saturday was perfect. Woke up on Sunday and it was overcast and dull then for a couple of hours the heavens opened and it peed down. Luckily we didn't have to leave the stables until 12 by which time it had stopped. Got to Gatcombe to find a lot of the grass had turned from green and lush to mud!
Dressage we are now using a double bridle which helps with the engagement and concentration and although the test had many areas to improve I thought it was the best we had done for a bit. The judge agreed and gave us a 32.9
but we were in a hot section and were still in the bottom third after dressage
.
Sarnita dressage test
Went and walked the course again with my groom and assistant for the day Kick-On (many thanks for all your help
). Generally I thought the course was nice but there were a few accuracy questions and there was no doubt it was cutting up and getting slippery in places. Generally I would say Sarnie is more suited to more 'top of the ground' conditions and wouldn't have run in anything as sticky as that - I wasn't sure how she would cope.
Show jumping was well up to height and they had only moved one line of 3 and the rest was in the same position as the CIC* which had run nearly a 100. The ground made the course look really testing and the warm up was a mud bath. Sarnie seemed to jump out of it ok, but even WFP who was in before me on an advanced horse made it look tough despite a clear round. Well Sarnie coped with the conditions brilliantly I not so well for some reason I couldn't see a stride and hit about 3 right but bless her she pulled herself out the mud and jumped a super clear. I reckon with the mud the course was an equivalent of a good 1.30
Lots of pats for very special girl. It was only later I realised that out of two sections (intermediate and OI) there were only 7 clear rounds!
Onto XC I was happier after our SJing that she would cope with conditions and hoped a reasonable round would put us in the shake up. I set out at a good pace and missed at 1 & 2
at which point I decided as I wasn't seeing any strides I had better slow up a bit.
She jumped the upright gate and turn to hedge nicely and then approached the first real question of combination of offset rails 3 element with 2 strides between and middle element a corner. I got a good line and she flew though brilliantly. The ground was tacky but she didn't seem to mind. She jumped the huge drop into the woods (above my head from the landing side) boldly and then came out the woods and did the walls angled to the trakanner well then onto a bullfinch. I reckon we lost 2 seconds there as she proceeded to try and jump over the top rather than though
Then there were two angled rails in the second wood with a bit of a drop for some reason I decided to lose my stirrup going in and jump with just one! Came out the woods and headed for the water she can just jump in a bit steep which is what she did and I lost my position but there was never any question she wasn't going to do the skinny coming out
. The last few combination she flew and really made the course feel easy despite the conditions.
XC clip
We had 17.2 time which was slightly faster than average but sensible for the conditions. I was delighted to find out we finished 4th in a very competitive section. There were only 3 double clears in the 2 sections and good horses faulted xc.
The 6 points we won now means I have advanced event mare as she has now won 61 points
Very proud of her a horse I bought from a yard who hadn't bothered with her because she wouldn't make it (SJ). For me she has helped me achieve my ambition which was to ride an intermediate yet she is now competitive and I can't wait to do an advanced next season and hopefully a 3*.
Many thanks to Kick0-On who was a brilliant groom, great company and obviously brought me luck.
For anybody that hasn't seen it Lau8a kindly took some photos which are in the PG http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3470388/an/0/page/0#3470388
Well we had a pretty good Gatcombe. Got up there early on Saturday to avoid the traffic and had a leisurely walk of the course, watched a few and had a gentle dressage practice. Have to say the going on Saturday was perfect. Woke up on Sunday and it was overcast and dull then for a couple of hours the heavens opened and it peed down. Luckily we didn't have to leave the stables until 12 by which time it had stopped. Got to Gatcombe to find a lot of the grass had turned from green and lush to mud!
Dressage we are now using a double bridle which helps with the engagement and concentration and although the test had many areas to improve I thought it was the best we had done for a bit. The judge agreed and gave us a 32.9
Sarnita dressage test
Went and walked the course again with my groom and assistant for the day Kick-On (many thanks for all your help
Show jumping was well up to height and they had only moved one line of 3 and the rest was in the same position as the CIC* which had run nearly a 100. The ground made the course look really testing and the warm up was a mud bath. Sarnie seemed to jump out of it ok, but even WFP who was in before me on an advanced horse made it look tough despite a clear round. Well Sarnie coped with the conditions brilliantly I not so well for some reason I couldn't see a stride and hit about 3 right but bless her she pulled herself out the mud and jumped a super clear. I reckon with the mud the course was an equivalent of a good 1.30
Onto XC I was happier after our SJing that she would cope with conditions and hoped a reasonable round would put us in the shake up. I set out at a good pace and missed at 1 & 2
XC clip
We had 17.2 time which was slightly faster than average but sensible for the conditions. I was delighted to find out we finished 4th in a very competitive section. There were only 3 double clears in the 2 sections and good horses faulted xc.
The 6 points we won now means I have advanced event mare as she has now won 61 points
Many thanks to Kick0-On who was a brilliant groom, great company and obviously brought me luck.
For anybody that hasn't seen it Lau8a kindly took some photos which are in the PG http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/3470388/an/0/page/0#3470388
