henryhorn
Well-Known Member
CCj and I took Layla to a small low key Hunter Trial today, basically to trot her round some low fences and see how she coped.
The organisers a local RC had done their best, arranged for a loo, photographer, first aid, and food caravan etc, and the sun shone.
The course however was unbelievable as was the standard of the riding.
It started at under a foot, then went to 2' 3" which sounds fine until I tell you that included related distance jumps of one and a half strides, two and a half strides, steep drops into coffins which would tax an experienced horse, and one horrible jump on the top of a hill whch was four single poles not a foot off the ground in a line.. layla was great, she looked a few times, fell over on her knees jumping up out of the dreaded coffin but generally was willing and bold. She had one run out in the next class the 2' 6" at a weird jump which was like a fish's spine, all angled and wrong distances and you had to jump either all at an angle or trot and turn a little.
We got a super pic which won't we here until mid week, but came away feeling she will event with a little more experience.
Back to the riding..I have never seen so many people fall off at a show in my life!
Mostly when horses were presented sideways on to fence due to bad schooling and just dropped their heads and the riders fell off. One woman did a spectacular dismount over the fish spine jump but carried on regardless. there were so called "experts" mouthing off all over the placetelling people how to do the course and I was dumbstruck when the chap next to us explained how h has regular training sessions with an Australian natural horsemanship chap to help his jumping..(he fell off in the 2' 3" and had loads of stops, plus retired before the 2' 6" and went home for more lessons he said
)
I was most struck by how unfit many ofthe horses were, puffing and panting by fence four, which was literally 500 yards into the course..
It was a low key thing and run entirely by volunteers, but we wouldn't go there again, it rode much harder than it looked as the fences were narrow (CCJ whacked her knees twice on one it was so narrow!) and not really conducive to getting a flow going over a few fences.
We will take her to Winkleigh next week if we can and do some nicely constructed flowing fences, I'll take the video if it works and hopefully she will be even better.
Oh and a last thing, our narrow Devon lanes are now clogged with ill mannered tourists, many of whom appear round blind corners on my side of the road, then glare at me as if to indicate I have no business driving a big lorry along such roads.. I reckon I met at least fifty of them coming home and now need a stiff drink.. Why don't they ever say thank you or know how to reverse? Don't drivers Up Country have smiles on their faces as thank yous? I lost count of the times I stopped to allow prats to get past me or pulled in to let traffic behind overtake..
I may just leave home before 6am this week and get back in the dark when they are all esconced in their Hotels. :
As the title says, BE deserve every penny of the entry fees..
The organisers a local RC had done their best, arranged for a loo, photographer, first aid, and food caravan etc, and the sun shone.
The course however was unbelievable as was the standard of the riding.
It started at under a foot, then went to 2' 3" which sounds fine until I tell you that included related distance jumps of one and a half strides, two and a half strides, steep drops into coffins which would tax an experienced horse, and one horrible jump on the top of a hill whch was four single poles not a foot off the ground in a line.. layla was great, she looked a few times, fell over on her knees jumping up out of the dreaded coffin but generally was willing and bold. She had one run out in the next class the 2' 6" at a weird jump which was like a fish's spine, all angled and wrong distances and you had to jump either all at an angle or trot and turn a little.
We got a super pic which won't we here until mid week, but came away feeling she will event with a little more experience.
Back to the riding..I have never seen so many people fall off at a show in my life!
Mostly when horses were presented sideways on to fence due to bad schooling and just dropped their heads and the riders fell off. One woman did a spectacular dismount over the fish spine jump but carried on regardless. there were so called "experts" mouthing off all over the placetelling people how to do the course and I was dumbstruck when the chap next to us explained how h has regular training sessions with an Australian natural horsemanship chap to help his jumping..(he fell off in the 2' 3" and had loads of stops, plus retired before the 2' 6" and went home for more lessons he said
I was most struck by how unfit many ofthe horses were, puffing and panting by fence four, which was literally 500 yards into the course..
It was a low key thing and run entirely by volunteers, but we wouldn't go there again, it rode much harder than it looked as the fences were narrow (CCJ whacked her knees twice on one it was so narrow!) and not really conducive to getting a flow going over a few fences.
We will take her to Winkleigh next week if we can and do some nicely constructed flowing fences, I'll take the video if it works and hopefully she will be even better.
Oh and a last thing, our narrow Devon lanes are now clogged with ill mannered tourists, many of whom appear round blind corners on my side of the road, then glare at me as if to indicate I have no business driving a big lorry along such roads.. I reckon I met at least fifty of them coming home and now need a stiff drink.. Why don't they ever say thank you or know how to reverse? Don't drivers Up Country have smiles on their faces as thank yous? I lost count of the times I stopped to allow prats to get past me or pulled in to let traffic behind overtake..
I may just leave home before 6am this week and get back in the dark when they are all esconced in their Hotels. :
As the title says, BE deserve every penny of the entry fees..
