BBP
Well-Known Member
Well it's a little late as I went straight on holiday afterwards, but 2 weekends ago saw the penultimate horse-boarding take place at the Wiltshire Game Fair. I had to work on the saturday so can only report on the Sunday, and my report is that it was wet. Very very wet. So wet I had to wring my underwear out when I got home (although part of that could have been caused by Rohans sliding stops into the crowd!).
We fielded only 4 teams this round due to losing other teams to honeymoons, holidays, and injuries, including a broken back to the winning rider of round 3...thankfully she is well on the mend. Apparently my Rohan had given his stand in rider a rather tricky time the day before...poor girl hadn't ridden him before and he didn't make life easy for her in the start box, but despite a few lost races they still sat in the lead over night. The scottish contingent travelled down with two teams and were madly racing for second place against Wild Thing, with miss Emma being on top form and hitting speeds up to the low 30s mph.
Luckily for me, Rohan was feeling slightly more amenable and gave me an easy time in the start box. The finish line was another matter entirely! Despite having an extra 10m to pull up the old boy decided he knew exactly where the end line was and he wasn't going to start pulling up until 2m away from the fence seperating us from the spectators...I think he finished every race a sliding stop a quarter horse would be proud of and with his head in some unsuspecting persons lap! After one tough race against Wild Thing Rohans speed and Dans experience showed though and we travelled through to the final knockout unbeaten.
the final was slightly delayed by a huge thunderstorm that hit at lunchtime. I can't speak for the others, but I was riding in a trick saddle, which essentially has a giant lightening rod for a pommel, and I most definitely didn't fancy getting electrocuted through my crotch! then we spotted a break in the rain and went for it!
Facing us in the final were the quiet up and comers Team Spare. Team Spares pony may not have had Rohans top speed but her consistency took her through the heats (despite several false starts where she tanked off to the finish before the boarder had even got on!). Team Ihorse should have had an easy win...but!...in the first heat of a three race knockout, just as we entered the start box, the ropes were hooked up and the boarders called ready...the heavens opened and it lashed it down! Rohan decided that the best plan of action was to turn butt to the wind and wait it out, which he did just as the starter shouted go! So Team Spare sailed across the finish line to an easy win whilst I tried to persuade Rohan that actually horses don't melt and that he could cope. The plan was to turn him and hack him down to the finish in an easy canter to gain our 1 point for a finish. Oh no! if Rohan was going to be made to face the rain he was going to damn well do it in record time! Off he bolted with me wrestling with very wet reins! How embarrasing!
After that the rain eased and we managed to win the last two races easily, phew! Top speed in the last race was 35mph from Rohan...not bad given that he didn't really feel the need to push himself.
A little vid for those interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_kkbwsn69c4#!
Final round of the Champoinships is at the Malvern Autumn show...if you liked the video, come along and cheer us on, or have a go yourself!
We fielded only 4 teams this round due to losing other teams to honeymoons, holidays, and injuries, including a broken back to the winning rider of round 3...thankfully she is well on the mend. Apparently my Rohan had given his stand in rider a rather tricky time the day before...poor girl hadn't ridden him before and he didn't make life easy for her in the start box, but despite a few lost races they still sat in the lead over night. The scottish contingent travelled down with two teams and were madly racing for second place against Wild Thing, with miss Emma being on top form and hitting speeds up to the low 30s mph.
Luckily for me, Rohan was feeling slightly more amenable and gave me an easy time in the start box. The finish line was another matter entirely! Despite having an extra 10m to pull up the old boy decided he knew exactly where the end line was and he wasn't going to start pulling up until 2m away from the fence seperating us from the spectators...I think he finished every race a sliding stop a quarter horse would be proud of and with his head in some unsuspecting persons lap! After one tough race against Wild Thing Rohans speed and Dans experience showed though and we travelled through to the final knockout unbeaten.
the final was slightly delayed by a huge thunderstorm that hit at lunchtime. I can't speak for the others, but I was riding in a trick saddle, which essentially has a giant lightening rod for a pommel, and I most definitely didn't fancy getting electrocuted through my crotch! then we spotted a break in the rain and went for it!
Facing us in the final were the quiet up and comers Team Spare. Team Spares pony may not have had Rohans top speed but her consistency took her through the heats (despite several false starts where she tanked off to the finish before the boarder had even got on!). Team Ihorse should have had an easy win...but!...in the first heat of a three race knockout, just as we entered the start box, the ropes were hooked up and the boarders called ready...the heavens opened and it lashed it down! Rohan decided that the best plan of action was to turn butt to the wind and wait it out, which he did just as the starter shouted go! So Team Spare sailed across the finish line to an easy win whilst I tried to persuade Rohan that actually horses don't melt and that he could cope. The plan was to turn him and hack him down to the finish in an easy canter to gain our 1 point for a finish. Oh no! if Rohan was going to be made to face the rain he was going to damn well do it in record time! Off he bolted with me wrestling with very wet reins! How embarrasing!
After that the rain eased and we managed to win the last two races easily, phew! Top speed in the last race was 35mph from Rohan...not bad given that he didn't really feel the need to push himself.
A little vid for those interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_kkbwsn69c4#!
Final round of the Champoinships is at the Malvern Autumn show...if you liked the video, come along and cheer us on, or have a go yourself!
Not sure my horse is up to it as he just gets his legs in a knot when asked to go forward 
. If i could find a horse i would def be up to have a go! I wonder what kind of stir it would cause over the local heath?! 
Really enjoyed watching it, Buster is so cute!