Baydale
Well-Known Member
I can call it a holiday as he had such fun from start to finish, in true HH style. Get comfy then, as it's bound to be a long one....I'll offer you carrot cake and a nice cup of PG now, as incentive to read on.
TUESDAY: I set off to Welsh Wales for a lesson with Kenneth on the way, thanks to TableDancer, who also put HH and I up - or put up with us - overnight, fuelled by Pimms, wine, you name it, we quaffed it
. KC was on good form and magically so were we, so confidence was restored.
We nearly had a tall lorry/short bridge incident which I'd never had heard the end of from OH, but it all turned out ok.
WEDNESDAY: By lunchtime HH was installed in a suitably huge stable in a lovely, quiet yard. We trotted up in the afternoon (sooo nerve-wracking, even when you know your horse is sound
) with me thinking roller skates might help me keep up
, then went out hacking with my neighbour, whose v spooky horse resisted HH's attempts to goad him into playing, but used him as a buffer when scary things sent him rapidly sideways.
THURSDAY: Short hack before course walking with my neighbour, not too many eek fences, as it was mainly big and bold with a few accuracy fences, and it was really only the quarry that bothered me, but I knew it would look better the second time I walked so I didn't stress too much. Dressage was first thing Friday morning so had a quick arena walk with ColouredFan and Frankie, then into the indoor for some much-needed practice (I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit I only learnt the test on Thursday) overseen by my GBF (Gay Best Friend
), who seemed to say "more" a lot: more forward, more leg, more together, more up, all quite exhausting but rewarded with Pimms afterwards (not HH
), sitting in the evening sun, polishing stuff in readiness for my 9.05am test.
FRIDAY: pony polishing, white boots and a few spins round the indoor - before I got so freaked out by Tracie Robinson, Ian Woodhead and Ferdi Eilberg training 2 and 3 star peeps - that I made my way down to the pre-main arena warm up. Great
, Ginny Elliot, warming someone up, so I went sideways a bit, backwards once or twice, then a quick joke with David Merrett (TD/TA, who's always around when I fall off),about how embarrassing that would be if it happened in my dressage
, before going in. Shall we count the mistakes?
No.1: tracked left, half-halted in readiness for medium trot whilst admiring the huge expanse of long diagonal, and he canters.
Noooooo.
No.2: transition to walk for 3-5 steps, HH couldn't get back into trot quick enough, so barely showed any walk.
No.3: trot to halt to rein-back. He halted beautifully square, shifted, halted again, beautifully square.
"Look at me, two square halts even though you only want one."
No.4: med walk to trot to canter at consecutive markers - HH says we ALWAYS do walk to canter (sj training is working then
), lovely transition, just not required.
No.5: HH was restrained in the first medium canter but couldn't help himself in the second, with a bit of head-tossing, and a judge comment of "Interesting!".
Got 51.9, all judges being within 3 or 4 marks of each other, so I was happy. Maloo took some great photos. HH and I look like we're having a gurning competition.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133018&id=510773133
More course walking with Caroline Moore, thanks to the Coaching Development Team - a great idea and handy for checking and double checking you haven't missed anything important.....vital for numerically challenged people like me who think 9 comes after 7, like it did at Knaptoft.
SATURDAY: My neighbour and I were on at 11.30 and 11.45, so we watched the first few go round which helped, especially at the hanging log to skinny triple brush (a variety of approaches, some more successful than others) and the quarry (more flexibility on distances and lines which cheered me up no end).
I had a cheery chat with Mary King when I was about to start (us green folk should stick together
) then off we went, HH doing his best King Boris impression with his helicopter tail swishing. We showjumped the first two as he wasn't even looking at them, then got better over 3 and 4, and as I lined up for my angled houses at 5 all I could see beyond them was cars and people which HH found far more interesting. A couple of hefty kicks and pulls got his attention and on we flew, through the gap to the cart, water and duck at 6, 7 and 8. Photos from Maloo again of Kermit in her element:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133357&id=510773133
I kicked on up the hill and over the next three big plain fences, then sat him back down the hill to pop the hanging log to the skinny on a lovely even 5 strides (great sequence of photos from photo-synergy), then kicked on to the table, then water - all good and a cracking shot to the skinny on the way out.
Why then, did we jump the next fence, a sheep feeder of pre-novice proportions, like we both had dyspraxia?
Hey ho, he popped into the quarry cutely, out equally cutely and flew the trakehner, oxer, palisade into the woods etc. My watch wasn't beeping at me at quite the right points so we accelerated through the woods, past the two star ground jury
( over the angled houses and down the maize alley, ready for a handbrake turn to the second last, a corner. HH decided he couldn't possibly bend to the right (the fence judge's car must have smelt of polos and it was on the left
), so not the most fluent turn, but straight as a die and a good strong finish over the last to be one second under the time....more luck than judgement maybe as I'd never think you could make up time in the last minute and a half, but I had only been a couple of seconds down in minutes 4, 5 and 6, so it was hardly reckless.
He recovered well and I was chuffed to bits with his first attempt at a three-day, especially as he's only 7 and hugeness isn't always conducive to loveliness in our competitive progression. Whatever happened next was a bonus, I decided, letting myself down gently.
SUNDAY: well rested and massage/magnetic therapy-ed to within an inch of his life, he trotted up ok, then I walked the showjumping with a heavy heart (melodramatic? moi?), it not being his (or my) strong point, or rather strength not being his strong point. I'd rather have chewed my own arm off than go in there and jump, but dosed up with AAA (see k9h for details
) I seemed to get more focussed after the first couple, and he was particularly good through the upright of doubles (great timing as we'd done that in the KC lesson on Tuesday), but then I came wafting and indecisive round the corner to the viaduct wall oxer, backward as a backward thing and he had that down in front
.. He kept it together for the related distance oxer to upright after that. Round the next corner to the spooky dice/skittles one and he slightly turned in the air, so just touched it behind and had that too, but then was great to the upright and double of oxers to finish, so I was
really chuffed with him. Tbh the way things have gone lately I'd have been happy to have two down at a one-day, never mind a three-day where he'd be more tired and the atmosphere/pressure is greater.
So, all in all a good first effort for him, well within his comfort zone and hopefully he'll have come away from it all feeling as positive as I have. I'd even go so far as to say I'm inspired again after being mediocre and average for far too long this season, both in attitude and performance.
Someone else will have the stats and results, but we went from something like 38th to 23rd to 32nd, got one shiny point for our efforts and a qualifying result for the heady heights of two star. More tea and cake anyone?
TUESDAY: I set off to Welsh Wales for a lesson with Kenneth on the way, thanks to TableDancer, who also put HH and I up - or put up with us - overnight, fuelled by Pimms, wine, you name it, we quaffed it
WEDNESDAY: By lunchtime HH was installed in a suitably huge stable in a lovely, quiet yard. We trotted up in the afternoon (sooo nerve-wracking, even when you know your horse is sound
THURSDAY: Short hack before course walking with my neighbour, not too many eek fences, as it was mainly big and bold with a few accuracy fences, and it was really only the quarry that bothered me, but I knew it would look better the second time I walked so I didn't stress too much. Dressage was first thing Friday morning so had a quick arena walk with ColouredFan and Frankie, then into the indoor for some much-needed practice (I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit I only learnt the test on Thursday) overseen by my GBF (Gay Best Friend
FRIDAY: pony polishing, white boots and a few spins round the indoor - before I got so freaked out by Tracie Robinson, Ian Woodhead and Ferdi Eilberg training 2 and 3 star peeps - that I made my way down to the pre-main arena warm up. Great
No.1: tracked left, half-halted in readiness for medium trot whilst admiring the huge expanse of long diagonal, and he canters.
No.2: transition to walk for 3-5 steps, HH couldn't get back into trot quick enough, so barely showed any walk.
No.3: trot to halt to rein-back. He halted beautifully square, shifted, halted again, beautifully square.
No.4: med walk to trot to canter at consecutive markers - HH says we ALWAYS do walk to canter (sj training is working then
No.5: HH was restrained in the first medium canter but couldn't help himself in the second, with a bit of head-tossing, and a judge comment of "Interesting!".
Got 51.9, all judges being within 3 or 4 marks of each other, so I was happy. Maloo took some great photos. HH and I look like we're having a gurning competition.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133018&id=510773133
More course walking with Caroline Moore, thanks to the Coaching Development Team - a great idea and handy for checking and double checking you haven't missed anything important.....vital for numerically challenged people like me who think 9 comes after 7, like it did at Knaptoft.
SATURDAY: My neighbour and I were on at 11.30 and 11.45, so we watched the first few go round which helped, especially at the hanging log to skinny triple brush (a variety of approaches, some more successful than others) and the quarry (more flexibility on distances and lines which cheered me up no end).
I had a cheery chat with Mary King when I was about to start (us green folk should stick together
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=133357&id=510773133
I kicked on up the hill and over the next three big plain fences, then sat him back down the hill to pop the hanging log to the skinny on a lovely even 5 strides (great sequence of photos from photo-synergy), then kicked on to the table, then water - all good and a cracking shot to the skinny on the way out.
SUNDAY: well rested and massage/magnetic therapy-ed to within an inch of his life, he trotted up ok, then I walked the showjumping with a heavy heart (melodramatic? moi?), it not being his (or my) strong point, or rather strength not being his strong point. I'd rather have chewed my own arm off than go in there and jump, but dosed up with AAA (see k9h for details
So, all in all a good first effort for him, well within his comfort zone and hopefully he'll have come away from it all feeling as positive as I have. I'd even go so far as to say I'm inspired again after being mediocre and average for far too long this season, both in attitude and performance.
Someone else will have the stats and results, but we went from something like 38th to 23rd to 32nd, got one shiny point for our efforts and a qualifying result for the heady heights of two star. More tea and cake anyone?
