Baydale
Well-Known Member
I was so looking forward to LD but it turned out to be just an average day's eventing, albeit with the sun shining and everyone being much cheerier than they have been of late.
Hector hasn't run xc for well over a month, so was fresh and bright warming up for dressage. He did what I thought was a really nice test and when I watched it on the video I was more than happy with it. OH went to find out what my score was on our way over to the showjumping and jokingly (I thought) said "the judge didn't like you today". I got 37.4 and was lying about 20th.
I know it's our first OI but I didn't expect to be that far adrift - and this is from a horse whose worst mark this season has been 33 at advanced, and all his intermediate tests have been 30 or below. Oh well, take it on the chin and move on.
The showjumping was a tad boggy in a couple of places, and it looked like a meaty enough track (I didn't walk it
). I had only seen one clear when I warmed up, and I came out with two down: one was a max height and width oxer in a boggy patch and I should have waited ("let the fence come to you", don't hurl yourself and your horse at it making it impossible for him to make a shape over it
) and the other was an upright in a treble which he rolled behind, so nothing major.
I was really looking forward to the cross country, the ground was perfect and there was enough to test him and get a some more intermediate miles on the clock (this would be his eleventh intermediate one day over three seasons - Rosiefan, you've got me obsessing about facts and figures now
) I wasn't going to gallop flat out round - what was the point when i was on 45.4 already?! Bless him, he was a real dude again. It wasn't such a fluent round as we'd had at Aston, but that was partly because I felt the need to set up at a couple when H thought he'd much rather hoon into them, resulting in a bit of a tussle a couple of times. He was so lovely, and the only iffy stride I had was into the sunken road: it's a tiny fence in and H then did a bit of an eek at the step down (again it's not that big or scary, but a bit nondescript and same-y looking, and it was probably the only fence I didn't overly set up for
). He was always going to go but for a moment it felt like he had borrowed HH's Superman jumping technique.
Between the last two fences he was leaping from ridge to ridge of the ridge and furrow as it was muddy in the furrows (what a girl), and he finished well with 13.6 time which was ok considering we were cantering round.
Anyway, I was chuffed to bits as he feels so secure and confident at that level now and nothing seems to merit more than a passing glance (I'll forgive him the sunken road "eek" - think "flat" and "long" and how a sunken road should be ridden = me riding like a muppet).
Tea and custard creams if you've made it this far.
Will post the photos when they're online.
Hector hasn't run xc for well over a month, so was fresh and bright warming up for dressage. He did what I thought was a really nice test and when I watched it on the video I was more than happy with it. OH went to find out what my score was on our way over to the showjumping and jokingly (I thought) said "the judge didn't like you today". I got 37.4 and was lying about 20th.
The showjumping was a tad boggy in a couple of places, and it looked like a meaty enough track (I didn't walk it
I was really looking forward to the cross country, the ground was perfect and there was enough to test him and get a some more intermediate miles on the clock (this would be his eleventh intermediate one day over three seasons - Rosiefan, you've got me obsessing about facts and figures now
Anyway, I was chuffed to bits as he feels so secure and confident at that level now and nothing seems to merit more than a passing glance (I'll forgive him the sunken road "eek" - think "flat" and "long" and how a sunken road should be ridden = me riding like a muppet).
Tea and custard creams if you've made it this far.
