PolarSkye
Well-Known Member
We had such a lovely day yesterday 
. We took Kali to Pachesham for his second ODE and given how green he can be between fences on the XC, we decided to do the 70 cm class.
Kal's dressage has always been tricky - he gets horrendously tense and looks like a puppet. Past scores have been in the 50s and his score at Tweseldown was 49.9. Since Tweseldown (about five weeks or so), we have been working with a new trainer and our dressage scores have been going steadily up. She told us she wanted us to crack 60 - both Z and I laughed
. Well, Kal warmed up yesterday as though he was at home - better, in fact. He then proceeded to produce the best test either of us have ever seen him do - I was holding my breath 
As Z finished, the judge got out of her car and had a quiet word - apparently Z was technically eliminated b/c Kal was wearing a grackel and her instructions were that the tests were being run under BD rules ???? However, she said we should go ahead and complete the other two phases and she would have a word with the secretary. We were so, so happy with his test - but on tenterhooks as to whether we would be able to complete. After a while, we went to see the secretary who said not to worry, judge had made a mistake and we could continue - phew!
Showjumping - not much to say about that except that he was phenomenal - smooth, rhythmical, focused. They went clear
.
XC is his trickiest phase - although he has improved hugely, he is still very green between the fences and nappy as hell leaving the start box. They set off fine but about six strides from the first fence Kal stopped and reared (his party trick). Z managed not to cross her tracks, straightened him up and pointed him at the fence and he cleared it. Another phew. Z said they had a couple of other sticky moments, but . . . wait for it . . . they went clear!!! We weren't sure, though, whether the fence judge was going to count the kerfuffle in front of fence one as a stop or not.
We took him back to the lorry, washed him off, had a glass of wine (competition tradition) and then had a sandwich and waited for the results. We thought we'd be lucky to get 6th or 7th . . . imagine our amazement when they announced that we had come 2nd!
Dressage: 65.7
SJ: Clear
XC: Clear, two time penalties
I'm ashamed to say that I burst into tears, but Z did a teensy little victory dance .
Here's the clever pony at home, scoffing his dinner before I put him out into the field for the night.
P
P.S. If lovely Laura who was there with her gorgeous boy Bodger and who took the time to come over and chat to us by our lorry is a fellow HHOer, waves . . . it was lovely to meet you and very well done x
. We took Kali to Pachesham for his second ODE and given how green he can be between fences on the XC, we decided to do the 70 cm class. Kal's dressage has always been tricky - he gets horrendously tense and looks like a puppet. Past scores have been in the 50s and his score at Tweseldown was 49.9. Since Tweseldown (about five weeks or so), we have been working with a new trainer and our dressage scores have been going steadily up. She told us she wanted us to crack 60 - both Z and I laughed
. Well, Kal warmed up yesterday as though he was at home - better, in fact. He then proceeded to produce the best test either of us have ever seen him do - I was holding my breath As Z finished, the judge got out of her car and had a quiet word - apparently Z was technically eliminated b/c Kal was wearing a grackel and her instructions were that the tests were being run under BD rules ???? However, she said we should go ahead and complete the other two phases and she would have a word with the secretary. We were so, so happy with his test - but on tenterhooks as to whether we would be able to complete. After a while, we went to see the secretary who said not to worry, judge had made a mistake and we could continue - phew!Showjumping - not much to say about that except that he was phenomenal - smooth, rhythmical, focused. They went clear
.XC is his trickiest phase - although he has improved hugely, he is still very green between the fences and nappy as hell leaving the start box. They set off fine but about six strides from the first fence Kal stopped and reared (his party trick). Z managed not to cross her tracks, straightened him up and pointed him at the fence and he cleared it. Another phew. Z said they had a couple of other sticky moments, but . . . wait for it . . . they went clear!!! We weren't sure, though, whether the fence judge was going to count the kerfuffle in front of fence one as a stop or not.
We took him back to the lorry, washed him off, had a glass of wine (competition tradition
) and then had a sandwich and waited for the results. We thought we'd be lucky to get 6th or 7th . . . imagine our amazement when they announced that we had come 2nd! Dressage: 65.7
SJ: Clear
XC: Clear, two time penalties
I'm ashamed to say that I burst into tears
, but Z did a teensy little victory dance .Here's the clever pony at home, scoffing his dinner before I put him out into the field for the night.
P
P.S. If lovely Laura who was there with her gorgeous boy Bodger and who took the time to come over and chat to us by our lorry is a fellow HHOer, waves . . . it was lovely to meet you and very well done x
