IncaCola
Well-Known Member
The hopeless in the title lies squarely with the jockey as i really feel i didnt do Tayberry justice last weekend on our road trip to Scotland. Nevertheless had a fantastic time at what was a lovely event and the Tay machine as always came through for me.
Hopetoun was a last minute decision when we were put quite far down the waitlist at Barbury and whilst the field in the CIC*** was only 27, I was excited to be competing against some big including the legendary Opposition Buzz, High Kingdom and Zara Philips and Izzy Taylor and Briarlands Matilda
Firstly the dressage was a huge disappointment as he had been going so well and felt 1 million dollars in a lesson on the Monday before leaving. However after a rather exciting gallop session on the Wednesday he just felt a completely different horse on the Thursday for the last ride before leaving; tight, crooked, strong and uncooperative. In the back of my mind i even wondered if he had slightly tied up or pulled something on the gallops to make such a change, but he was totally sound and didnt seem sore anywhere so we boxed up and trundled the 7 ½ hours to Edinburgh.
Tay travelled great as always and settled straight in but the next morning i got on to hack him it was like sitting on a time bomb. Whilst i did manage to calm him down a little by the time we had our dressage at 1pm, but he felt as bad as he had on the last session and in particular he was determined to canter everytime i tried sitting trot on the right rein. Warming up next to a very smart Opposition Buzz i just felt despair and totally at a loss as to how to retrieve the quality dressage i know this horse can do! As such i definitely was not in the right frame of mind as i went into the ring and messed up big time including forgetting to rein back and producing the worse lateral work ever with Tay so tight and crooked. Totally embarrassed by this test which earned as 70.4, but for those who want a laugh here is the link! http://youtu.be/8rzOB3ScIVQ
Didnt have much time to dwell as it was straight onto the show jumping, but in the back of my mind i had decided that if he didnt feel his normal self in this phase that i wouldnt go cross country the next day. However he pinged round and felt happy and up for it and was very unlucky to have the first part of the treble down as he only breathed on it. At CIC*** the time is so tight that you really have to keep moving to avoid time penalties and i was pleased we managed this whilst keeping control. Video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yQc9snRmyA&feature=share&list=UUBkwLaewAP4AvhoiFbhDyzQ&index=2
Next job was walking the cross country that evening and my first impressions was the ground was much firmer than i had hoped and a bit rough in places. As such by the time i got half way round i again was questioning whether to run! However at the riders meeting that evening we were all assured that the work being done overnight would improve it considerably and to be fair it and there were in the end very few withdrawals. The course itself designed by Captain Mark Philips was full of big square tables (i counted 9 in all!) and not that many combinations with the first one only coming at fence 7, before a double of wide open corners at 10 tightly flagged to give very little room for error and a run down to the first water at 11. This for me was the biggest question only due to the enormous footbridge(table) you had to jump in the water which is probably the biggest fence in water i have ever seen and definitely ever jumped, before exiting over the faithful skinny brush. You then circled round over 2 huge parallels before coming back to the water over another table and log out. The next question was a turning one over undulating falling ground to another wide corner before a long gallop down the hill to another table, big brush and ditch and then onto a table, drop to triple brush combination, another table under a marquee and the final question of very acutely angled hanging logs at the penultimate.
To be honest apart from the water, none of the fences concerned me, and given that my class largely consisted of experienced combinations i didnt think it would cause much trouble. However I was worried that with so few technical questions at the beginning, so many spread fences and the course being very open, Tay would get very strong and unfortunately i was right! Having to wait until 3pm until going didnt help and he was beside himself with excitement and was pulling like a train by fence 3. By the time i got to the corners at 10 i was exhausted at trying to hold him and struggled to line him up, but he ballooned through and stormed down to the water. It was here i am ashamed to say i did not ride him well as i took my leg off , and just let him pop in with my body slumping forward and then never got the power in the canter i needed for the footbridge. As such he jumped up but not out and hit it behind catapulting me on to his neck. Tay obliging pushed me back into the plate and with one kick was locked on to the skinny which had to jump with one stirrup. Video of this complete with oohs and aahs from the crowd and whilst i messed this up i am so proud of how he carried on regardless straight as a die and completely unphased.
The clout he gave the bridge worried me so i pulled him up, regained my stirrup and checked he felt sound and no injury before continuing over the 2 big parallels which he jumped fine so i decided to continue but keep him slow and in control. After this he jumped everything well and finished fine, his knock in no way denting any confidence . I obviously got a huge amount of time faults because of the pull up and finished 15th, but in the end the course actually caused several refusals and falls including experienced 4 star horses with the water, corners and curved line to corner claiming the victims.
Video here of cross country http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC6I1moaiS8&feature=share&list=UUBkwLaewAP4AvhoiFbhDyzQ&index=3
So all in all a great experience and Tayberry still has a clean sheet cross country at 3 star and i am more and more sure of his 4 star potential. I however need to buck up my ideas and will be putting in quite a bit more work before our next event. I found Hopetoun a very friendly and easy going event with a nice bar and great Ceilidh and worth the long drive. To finish some photos of Tay competing that day click here https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...06634685.32423.111461918928324&type=1&theater
Hopetoun was a last minute decision when we were put quite far down the waitlist at Barbury and whilst the field in the CIC*** was only 27, I was excited to be competing against some big including the legendary Opposition Buzz, High Kingdom and Zara Philips and Izzy Taylor and Briarlands Matilda
Firstly the dressage was a huge disappointment as he had been going so well and felt 1 million dollars in a lesson on the Monday before leaving. However after a rather exciting gallop session on the Wednesday he just felt a completely different horse on the Thursday for the last ride before leaving; tight, crooked, strong and uncooperative. In the back of my mind i even wondered if he had slightly tied up or pulled something on the gallops to make such a change, but he was totally sound and didnt seem sore anywhere so we boxed up and trundled the 7 ½ hours to Edinburgh.
Tay travelled great as always and settled straight in but the next morning i got on to hack him it was like sitting on a time bomb. Whilst i did manage to calm him down a little by the time we had our dressage at 1pm, but he felt as bad as he had on the last session and in particular he was determined to canter everytime i tried sitting trot on the right rein. Warming up next to a very smart Opposition Buzz i just felt despair and totally at a loss as to how to retrieve the quality dressage i know this horse can do! As such i definitely was not in the right frame of mind as i went into the ring and messed up big time including forgetting to rein back and producing the worse lateral work ever with Tay so tight and crooked. Totally embarrassed by this test which earned as 70.4, but for those who want a laugh here is the link! http://youtu.be/8rzOB3ScIVQ
Didnt have much time to dwell as it was straight onto the show jumping, but in the back of my mind i had decided that if he didnt feel his normal self in this phase that i wouldnt go cross country the next day. However he pinged round and felt happy and up for it and was very unlucky to have the first part of the treble down as he only breathed on it. At CIC*** the time is so tight that you really have to keep moving to avoid time penalties and i was pleased we managed this whilst keeping control. Video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yQc9snRmyA&feature=share&list=UUBkwLaewAP4AvhoiFbhDyzQ&index=2
Next job was walking the cross country that evening and my first impressions was the ground was much firmer than i had hoped and a bit rough in places. As such by the time i got half way round i again was questioning whether to run! However at the riders meeting that evening we were all assured that the work being done overnight would improve it considerably and to be fair it and there were in the end very few withdrawals. The course itself designed by Captain Mark Philips was full of big square tables (i counted 9 in all!) and not that many combinations with the first one only coming at fence 7, before a double of wide open corners at 10 tightly flagged to give very little room for error and a run down to the first water at 11. This for me was the biggest question only due to the enormous footbridge(table) you had to jump in the water which is probably the biggest fence in water i have ever seen and definitely ever jumped, before exiting over the faithful skinny brush. You then circled round over 2 huge parallels before coming back to the water over another table and log out. The next question was a turning one over undulating falling ground to another wide corner before a long gallop down the hill to another table, big brush and ditch and then onto a table, drop to triple brush combination, another table under a marquee and the final question of very acutely angled hanging logs at the penultimate.
To be honest apart from the water, none of the fences concerned me, and given that my class largely consisted of experienced combinations i didnt think it would cause much trouble. However I was worried that with so few technical questions at the beginning, so many spread fences and the course being very open, Tay would get very strong and unfortunately i was right! Having to wait until 3pm until going didnt help and he was beside himself with excitement and was pulling like a train by fence 3. By the time i got to the corners at 10 i was exhausted at trying to hold him and struggled to line him up, but he ballooned through and stormed down to the water. It was here i am ashamed to say i did not ride him well as i took my leg off , and just let him pop in with my body slumping forward and then never got the power in the canter i needed for the footbridge. As such he jumped up but not out and hit it behind catapulting me on to his neck. Tay obliging pushed me back into the plate and with one kick was locked on to the skinny which had to jump with one stirrup. Video of this complete with oohs and aahs from the crowd and whilst i messed this up i am so proud of how he carried on regardless straight as a die and completely unphased.
The clout he gave the bridge worried me so i pulled him up, regained my stirrup and checked he felt sound and no injury before continuing over the 2 big parallels which he jumped fine so i decided to continue but keep him slow and in control. After this he jumped everything well and finished fine, his knock in no way denting any confidence . I obviously got a huge amount of time faults because of the pull up and finished 15th, but in the end the course actually caused several refusals and falls including experienced 4 star horses with the water, corners and curved line to corner claiming the victims.
Video here of cross country http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC6I1moaiS8&feature=share&list=UUBkwLaewAP4AvhoiFbhDyzQ&index=3
So all in all a great experience and Tayberry still has a clean sheet cross country at 3 star and i am more and more sure of his 4 star potential. I however need to buck up my ideas and will be putting in quite a bit more work before our next event. I found Hopetoun a very friendly and easy going event with a nice bar and great Ceilidh and worth the long drive. To finish some photos of Tay competing that day click here https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...06634685.32423.111461918928324&type=1&theater
