lex2501
Well-Known Member
It's a been a little quiet on the Jam-front recently with her little holiday following her run in with a gate post but it's great to have her up and running again so I thought I would share her progress...
As a bit of background I bought her last August straight from the racetrack. She was due to be a short term project but she blossomed in a way I never expected and she is now very much a permanent fixture. She had an annoying injury in october which put her out of action for a couple of months, and then again needed a couple of months off in March with her nasty wound so it's been a bit stop-start with her re-schooling, but with hindsight those breaks have done her the world of good.
I'm keen to try and get her out eventing this season, but I'm also very conscious of taking my time with her and being sure that she is ready as we are producing her very much with the longer term in mind.
We had a busy but brilliant weekend so I thought now was a good time to let you all know how she is getting on!
On friday evening we hired the BS course at Farnham Town to give her her first jump on grass, and also to introduce to proper fillers and water trays as they are notoriously spooky there. She completely and utterly exceeded expectations, being very bold, but also remaining rideable. She didn't think twice about any of the fillers or water trays *proud*
I was absolutely chuffed with her, and Dan was equally impressed. He doesn't usually like mares but I think I am slowly converting him
A couple of really shoddy stills from the video but you get the idea:
I thought I also had better make a start at fine tuning the dressage too so we went to Crofton Manor to have a go at two unaffiliated prelims to give her a chance to soak up a competition environment and learn about white boards and busy warm ups. I was fully expecting to have her ears up my nose all day and pretty abysmal scores but once again Jammie totally and utterly went beyond the call of duty! She stood beautifully for me to get her ready, then was a complete poppet in the warm up being very rideable and soft and concentrating. She actually felt better than she does at home, and I was so proud to hear lots of lovely comments from onlookers, and a knowlegeable dutch lady was admiring her with my Mum and even came to watch her test as she was so impressed! I could pop with pride for my little mare!!
She was super cute in both her tests and really tried her little heart out! She showed some greenness by being a bit wobbly and she was bulging a little away from the white boards so I fully expect to have lost lots of marks for straightness. I couldn't believe that she had scored 66.25% in the first class which was enormous to be in 3rd place when we left! I didn't hang around for the second score, but actually i'm not too concerned what the judge thought as I think she was a darling!
Prelim 7
[video=youtube;lzu78nj6Iyc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzu78nj6Iyc&list=UU85SJhsT-VgXLQ7hcgQ8LKg[/video]
Prelim 17:
[video=youtube;Trlna8ZqJj4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trlna8ZqJj4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
So hopefully you can now understand why I am super-duper excited about my little Jam Jar - she has such a lovely willing brain, and also seems to have the talent to match so I'm really excited about what the future may hold for us
And finally a quick Q on BD RoR.... I have taken the plunge and decided to give the prelim RoR class a crack at Sparsholt during the festival and was just wondering whether people who had experience of these classes could give me a heads up on what to expect in terms of class size and standard?
Thanks for reading
As a bit of background I bought her last August straight from the racetrack. She was due to be a short term project but she blossomed in a way I never expected and she is now very much a permanent fixture. She had an annoying injury in october which put her out of action for a couple of months, and then again needed a couple of months off in March with her nasty wound so it's been a bit stop-start with her re-schooling, but with hindsight those breaks have done her the world of good.
I'm keen to try and get her out eventing this season, but I'm also very conscious of taking my time with her and being sure that she is ready as we are producing her very much with the longer term in mind.
We had a busy but brilliant weekend so I thought now was a good time to let you all know how she is getting on!
On friday evening we hired the BS course at Farnham Town to give her her first jump on grass, and also to introduce to proper fillers and water trays as they are notoriously spooky there. She completely and utterly exceeded expectations, being very bold, but also remaining rideable. She didn't think twice about any of the fillers or water trays *proud*
I was absolutely chuffed with her, and Dan was equally impressed. He doesn't usually like mares but I think I am slowly converting him A couple of really shoddy stills from the video but you get the idea
:
I thought I also had better make a start at fine tuning the dressage too so we went to Crofton Manor to have a go at two unaffiliated prelims to give her a chance to soak up a competition environment and learn about white boards and busy warm ups. I was fully expecting to have her ears up my nose all day and pretty abysmal scores but once again Jammie totally and utterly went beyond the call of duty! She stood beautifully for me to get her ready, then was a complete poppet in the warm up being very rideable and soft and concentrating. She actually felt better than she does at home, and I was so proud to hear lots of lovely comments from onlookers, and a knowlegeable dutch lady was admiring her with my Mum and even came to watch her test as she was so impressed! I could pop with pride for my little mare!!
She was super cute in both her tests and really tried her little heart out! She showed some greenness by being a bit wobbly and she was bulging a little away from the white boards so I fully expect to have lost lots of marks for straightness. I couldn't believe that she had scored 66.25% in the first class which was enormous to be in 3rd place when we left! I didn't hang around for the second score, but actually i'm not too concerned what the judge thought as I think she was a darling!
Prelim 7
[video=youtube;lzu78nj6Iyc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzu78nj6Iyc&list=UU85SJhsT-VgXLQ7hcgQ8LKg[/video]
Prelim 17:
[video=youtube;Trlna8ZqJj4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trlna8ZqJj4&feature=youtu.be[/video]
So hopefully you can now understand why I am super-duper excited about my little Jam Jar - she has such a lovely willing brain, and also seems to have the talent to match so I'm really excited about what the future may hold for us
And finally a quick Q on BD RoR.... I have taken the plunge and decided to give the prelim RoR class a crack at Sparsholt during the festival and was just wondering whether people who had experience of these classes could give me a heads up on what to expect in terms of class size and standard?
Thanks for reading
