Keysoe BE80.... So nearly a top ten finish!!!

Arniebear

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We are nearly getting this eventing malarkey right!! :D

Headed off to keysoe yesterday for the BE80, lovely civilized times meant another lie in!! :D I did manage to get there just in time to jump on the start of the xc course walk with the BE80 trainer and the sj one, both were very helpful and armed with their comments i headed back to tack up for stressage! After spending what felt like ages waiting to go into my arena i then found out i was in fact waiting for the wrong arena.... great first impression on the judge there Alex!! anywho off we scuttled down the centre line.... i didnt go wrong and he felt relaxed for most of it so to get a pb of 33.5 was awesome!!! :D his dressage is really coming along nicely now and its good to see his scores reflect that :) good ponio!!

Onto the dreaded sj, i managed to convince the BE80 trainer to help me warm up and he was jumping really well, the course was nice all be it a little twisty not too much that should cause us an issue or so i thought.... Beanz on the other hand decided he really didnt fancy helping me out in the slightest so the lovely big canter i had on approach to 1 was lost by takeoff, and then the little ****** decided for the first time evvvver to nap going in to 2, we did jump it first time just had quite a squiggle to get to it, there was no way i was going to let him refuse with me but it was one hell of a nap so they gave us 4 faults, i then rode the remainder of the fences like someone possessed and he stormed round just to have the last down.... i held a little too much! but considering how he felt we probably should have had more than just the one down.... naughty beanz!! pesky bloody sj... on the plus side Boris DIDNT make an appearance in my head once we entered the ring! :D

Now the fun part! the course was nice not quite as big and bold as horseheath but the 80 did share a good number of fences with the 90 so still a good test! Beanz is really coming into his own on the xc hes a completely different horse to ride in the warm up and he just ate that course up! :) Straight over the ditch and down the drop no problems to cruise home clear inside the time!! He is just lovely to take xc now! :D

With 8 to add from the sj we finished on a final score of 41.50 which just dropped us out of the placings into 13th.... so fricking proud of my not so baby pony!! :D 1.5 of a penalty out of the placings!!!

However it would have been a lovely day out if the bloody lorry had behaved but alas it was not to be! I made it 3 miles out of keysoe before turning around and heading back.... i figured it was safer to await breakdown recovery in the safety of the venue car park than the side of a road, major props to the pony who just chilled out on the lorry whilst they tried to fix us! We eventually got home at 9pm!! My mechanic is going to love me when i drop the lorry off tonight!!

No pictures as of yet... the pros arent out and im borrowing a rubbish phone as somehow managed to smash mine the other night when out sj!!

Next up for us is Shelford manor at the end of may for eventing but we do have our novice dressage debut booked in for sunday.... if my lorry is home and repaired by then that is!!
 
I would say that was a win in all three phases.
Dresage = Tick
XC = tick
SJ reading what you wrote there is a clue to how you might need to change things for the better "i then rode the remainder of the fences like someone possessed and he stormed round"
So how might you approach the SJ from the out set next time?

Sometimes the biggest improvements come from the issues experienced if we take note of them as a positive.

I used to SJ a horse for someone that always had poles despite me using years of experience to get the perfect canter, stride, setup etc. Then one day the unthinkable happened, we got in to the jumpoff. Me being me I went for it in a big way. The horse loved it, cleared everything by a mile and won. Little light bulb moment. Throw out the rule book and do what seems to work for that horse. From then on I just treated every round like a jump off. Having a pole down was very rare from then on.
 
well done, lovely report and sounds like a really good ending to the day!:-)

thank you!!

I would say that was a win in all three phases.
Dresage = Tick
XC = tick
SJ reading what you wrote there is a clue to how you might need to change things for the better "i then rode the remainder of the fences like someone possessed and he stormed round"
So how might you approach the SJ from the out set next time?

Sometimes the biggest improvements come from the issues experienced if we take note of them as a positive.

I used to SJ a horse for someone that always had poles despite me using years of experience to get the perfect canter, stride, setup etc. Then one day the unthinkable happened, we got in to the jumpoff. Me being me I went for it in a big way. The horse loved it, cleared everything by a mile and won. Little light bulb moment. Throw out the rule book and do what seems to work for that horse. From then on I just treated every round like a jump off. Having a pole down was very rare from then on.

i am very pleased with him!! :) the sj is a work in progress, hes young so tends to go a bit green on me in the arena and for some stupid reason i normally forget how to ride when faced with a sj, when things like napping happens and he's being 'naughty' then my brain kicks in and i actually ride him like i should do in the first place, which if i had of done then the 'naughty behaviour' probably wouldnt happen! I just need to get my brain on side the moment we enter the arena not half way round once its already gone a bit wrong if that makes sense!! plan is lots and lots of sj outings be it lessons, clear rounds or competitions! we will get there!! i need to ride the sj like i ride the xc!!! :D
 
Pros photos are finally out!!! :D love my little superstar!!!!

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Great report, totally agree with PaddyMonty about learning a lesson! I like this quote from Olivia Towers:

"I am always in a win-win situation when competing. I am either going to be successful, or I am going to learn an invaluable lesson."

If you must ride like a beast SJ, then let the beast out!

Best of luck for the next one (when lorry is fixed!!).
 
Great report, totally agree with PaddyMonty about learning a lesson! I like this quote from Olivia Towers:

"I am always in a win-win situation when competing. I am either going to be successful, or I am going to learn an invaluable lesson."

If you must ride like a beast SJ, then let the beast out!

Best of luck for the next one (when lorry is fixed!!).

thanks i completely agree and have seen this before with out rounds the problem for me is its psychological!! I just enter the arena and forget my legs even work, my head is saying leg on leg on but the legs just do nothing!!! I hoping exposure to lots of sj will help me get over this fear and actually ride him properly from the start not half way round!! my instructor has said to me that i am very good at getting him out of trouble..... problem is im the one who puts him in the trouble in the first place!!! So the aim is to stop putting him in trouble to begin with! We will get there and when we do it will be awesome!! :D
 
Well done! What a gorgeous horse :) I'm glad Boris didn't make an appearance this time!

I've just entered my first ODE (only a 70cm unaffiliated) and I suddenly feel quite nervous ;)
 
Well done! What a gorgeous horse :) I'm glad Boris didn't make an appearance this time!

I've just entered my first ODE (only a 70cm unaffiliated) and I suddenly feel quite nervous ;)

thanks hes turning out to be pretty awesome!!! :)

You'll be fine just take each phase one at a time and remember to enjoy it!!
 
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