Hattikins
Well-Known Member
Well cant say i had any where near as a fantastic day as Carthorse!
WELL DONE!!!!!!!! But i did have a pretty big learning curve on more than one level!!
It was BOILING by 12pm when i did my dressage, Hattie (i thought) was going beautifully, she was uphill, working from behind, light in the hand and really enjoying the atmosphere. She was a bit funny with the flowers on the first trot around the arena but by the time the bell went she had acquainted herself very well with them!!
She did what i thought was a very nice test, in places she felt awesome but in between she felt babyish - nonetheless she tried very hard and i was pleased
I guessed after watching the competition which was mainly made up of some SERIOUSLY nice dressage horses! that i would score approx. 35 for it though i would have thought at a normal BE event it should have got a 20 something
anyway i was almost spot on as she scored 35.3 for it
i had a 2 hour wait before my SJ and stupid me sat in the sun with no hat on for almost the whole 2 hours, by the time i got on for the SJ i felt really sick and all my muscles had turned to jelly - heat stroke
anyway bless Hattie she carried me round the SJ, she brushed an oxer with her back feet and it came down - which was a shame as she jumped beautifully
By the time i got back from the SJ i felt really shakey aswell and Mum and supporters made me sit in the shade and drink loads of water while they got Hattie ready for the XC (id insisted i would go XC - but take it steady!) I felt like a ragdoll when i went to warm Hattie up and she seemed to notice so she was very lazy! i thought "come on you've got to pull yourself together for Hattie's sake" so i took a deep breath and collected her up properly and opened her up down the long side of the warm up so..... she was ready to go
. Took her through the gap in the hedge to start and she started jogging and getting very excited! she gave me a lovely start out of the box and away we went, the ground was rock hard so i was glad i didnt push her!
After little mattingley she was quite weary of some of the XC fences and at a couple i had to persuade her that she was fine, which she accepted and popped them very nicely
she got loads of pats and encouragement from jockey!! i was an idiot at fence 10 which was in the hedge and was parallel to where you were galloping and i shot straight past it
and had to turn carefully so i didnt cross my tracks! but she was brilliant and seemed to understand her pilot was only running on one brain cell and was riding like a wobbily jelly! We had to negotiate 3 waters! Not Hattie's favourite pastime as you are all well aware! but to my total surprise she didnt kick up a fuss at any of them and trotted straight through all 3!
So we finished with what i thought was a clear round and 3.6 time (which i didnt mind about as i wasnt trying for the time - i just didnt have the energy!)
Anyway went to look at the scores after seriously covering Hattie in buckets of water and washing her off
and they had given us 20pen. XC
so for the first time ever we lodged an objection as i knew absolutely for certain at fence 10 i hadnt presented at the fence and i hadnt crossed my tracks getting back to it - the organiser and TA were lovely and very very efficient and within 10minutes they had changed my XC pen. to 0
Had a long chat with the TA and he asked me how i felt the SJ and the XC course had ridden, did i like the fact the course was long and there were tricky combinations etc. to which i said yes!! and i said thankyou to him far too many times than i care to remember!
Also collected my dressage sheet and it was very clear the judge had absolutely no time for me or Hattie, she didnt like her paces, she didnt like her free walk(which was purposeful and had a lovely stretch - she got double 8 for it on tuesday!), she didnt like her canter which felt better than it had been all year
so there you go - you win some you lose some and this wasnt our day
but it was a fantastic experience, lovely atmosphere to the event
really really really well done to all those who were placed - you definitely deserved it
It was BOILING by 12pm when i did my dressage, Hattie (i thought) was going beautifully, she was uphill, working from behind, light in the hand and really enjoying the atmosphere. She was a bit funny with the flowers on the first trot around the arena but by the time the bell went she had acquainted herself very well with them!!
i had a 2 hour wait before my SJ and stupid me sat in the sun with no hat on for almost the whole 2 hours, by the time i got on for the SJ i felt really sick and all my muscles had turned to jelly - heat stroke
she got loads of pats and encouragement from jockey!! i was an idiot at fence 10 which was in the hedge and was parallel to where you were galloping and i shot straight past it
Anyway went to look at the scores after seriously covering Hattie in buckets of water and washing her off
