Keysoe NRF report

eventing_2012

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So we headed to Keysoe Saturday to use one of our NRF qualifications. Had nice sociable times even those or once I could of done with very early times due to heading down to badminton that afternoon/evening.

I was the first in my section to do my test and have been a couple of times in the past and I don't think going first is a good thing for dressage anyway they have nothing to compare your test too, anyway this accompanied with my keysoe dressage demons (never really got a good dressage score at keysoe) wasn't a good combination. Anyone my test was Ok our normal faults showed through but I did feel a score of 40 was harsh we have been averaging at 34, unfortunately were not really dressage divas.

Anyway onwards and upwards, I had 3 hours to wait for the novice to finish for them to raise the course for the Sj, so I walked the Xc course and I hate to say it but incredibly unispiring, I've always thought keysoes Xc course looked well dressed an interesting, whether its just me as I was at Hambleden my last event and there course was amazing, but I just felt it looked tired and needed attention. Not particularly many questions for a novice track a curved palisade to a narrow left hand corner at 6 and 7 which caused a few problems. But there were a surprising amount of holds on course due to falls. Nothing too taxing after our int run.

The Showjumping course was well built an had a good range of fillers and colour. But the organisation seemed slightly odd. I had the earliest Showjump time but somehow 7+ people ended up jumping in front of me. None the less he jumped a lovely clear round mid hail storm, good pony :).

Now onto the Xc, got to the warm up to find out I had 23 to go until me, they still had some novice horses to run, this was a bit of a pain and has been the first time I have felt a Be event has been unorganised, I understand holds on course cannot be helped but didn't feel it was dealt with that well. Anyway sorry enough moaning lol, we set out and he was jumping in usual lovely bold way, answering each question as it came :) he loves this part. Number 14 was a box fence on a mound on a curving line to a skinny single barrell, now after I'd jumped the fence on the nous naturally I was looking at the next fence to get my line, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a red flag being waved at me when I was about 2 strides from the skinny, not wanting to pull him out of the fence we jumped it then had to pull up as there had been a faller at 16. The fence judges has taken my time after 14 so when I was restarted I had to jump the skinny barrells again. This wasn't an ideal stopping fence but it can't be helped. And it didn't make a difference to how he went, he got back in his stride quickly and we finished clear with 2 time. Maybe without the hold we wouldn't of had the two time but it wouldn't have made a difference to the placings. The competition was tough and we didn't qualify, but we have another shot at it and I can't complain with a double clear :).

No pictures I'm afraid, does anyone know who the photographer was??

Thanks for reading :D
 

Topaz Tiger

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Hmmm I did the be100 there on Saturday and decided not to go xc as thought the ground was firm and she's doing the novice at ALW on Friday.

Must admit it did seem a bit flat there, I know it's tough with the going as they're on clay, but I'm sure they've tried harder in the past.

Well done on the dble clear, sorry don't know who the photographer was, was going to look in the programme myself tomorrow.
 

Holidays_are_coming

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I think the photographer was hoof prints. Well done on your x-c round I was in start sat and I can honestly say I have never known a novice course to cause so many problems at one point we had 2 loose horses on course one who decided to try and hide in the woods. Saturday we were running x-c in near as dam it time order unfortunately not alot we could do with all the holds.

I think the keysoe cause will be revamped for September when they will also have a intermediate. I always prefer hilly courses myself.
 

hairycob

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It would be interesting to know what you would have changed (apart from super gluing the riders to their saddles). Running was in time given order with multiples slotted in, so what do you consider would have been fairer? Class finished 30 mins late despite the competitors making the paramedics/fence repairers earn their keep. My neighbour was fence judging & was at 1 time holding 2 horses whose riders had been taken off by the paramedics (at least 1 of these had a broken bone).
Early in the class we tannoyed several times for competitors to come early as the collecting ring was empty, but only a few did. Some people were going 15 mins ahead of their time at this point but most came at their allotted time. We had a couple of stretches with a good few minutes with no competitors at all either waiting to go or on course. It wasn't until gone 11 (first xc was 9.30) that we started to get a stream of competitors coming forward, at which point it seemed like every 2nd or 3rd rider was coming off & losing the horse, needing the paramedics or breaking a pin. I don't think we had any fallers while the place was empty. The rain didn't help either. When we had that heavy downpour over half the people who had already presented disappeared back to their lorries & the rest, understandably headed for the shelter of the hedge. The ones by the hedge I could find to line up ready to go but I did have to point out to a couple of people that if they have disappeared back to the lorry when I call them to say when to go - & I was keeping about 5 lined up to try & rattle them through, others will go in front of them & that's just tough. That was the same routine I was using as soon as the holds meant the numbers started backing up so they knew what was going on. I could understand people diving for cover but if they weren't there then not much I can do except call the next in line. 2 riders were reported to BE for abusive behaviour to stewards/starter - something I have never seen in the past.
I was also thinking of starting a thread asking of any collecting ring stewards have heard any original requests to be pushed up the list, because quite frankly the "I need to be at a wedding/Christening/grannies 90th birthday party" ones are getting boring & are repeated so often that I could buy a decent event horse if I had £1 for every time I heard them. Quite frankly I just want to get the riders through as quickly as possible (after all, I have my own horses to do after I finish for the day), in a fair order & for them to come home safely - your social life is irrelevant to me.
 

Sportyspots

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Well done on a dc, good luck at ALW.
Photographer was Hoof Prints and they do have a decent website. Don't know about the sat but on sun they were only at one xc fence. Same firm was at Poplar last week at 2 xc fences and the sj so disappointed at the choice available.
 

Sportyspots

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Hairy cob sounds like you were doing a great job in difficult circumstances, your comments are an eye opener to newbies to the sport like me. From the few outings I've been to I find it frustrating that some one horse riders just expect to turn up a few mins before their time and then expect to be slotted in later when they've warmed up and are ready in their own time, can understand those with several rides having to fit in.
 

eventing_2012

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I'm not suggesting the stewards were not doing a good job and I heard several riders giving them a hard time which is not acceptable. The situation was not ideal. I am just voicing my opinion. But want to reiterate that not in any way did I feel the stewards were not doing a good job...
 

hairycob

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But you did say it felt badly organised & I am always open to suggestions. Although the start team suggestion of superglue on saddles was vetoed :). We did used to just put numbers on the board as people came along which works great when you have a steady stream but is dire when you get hold ups & the competitors start stacking up. Then you get to see really grumpy riders. One of the riders that was reported it was actually her connection who was well out of order. Even the very experienced starter was pretty shocked at the language used.
You have to develop a thick skin being XC steward. It's the last phase & riders are either excited at the prospect of a placing or tired & disappointed by an earlier phase. Either way they just want to get it over with. Holds on course just make the waiters more nervous. So all in all it's the part of the comp with the most tetchiness & riders forget that they might be the 200th tetchy competitor that day.
I was chatting with my neighbour about the carnage in the Novice & we couldn't work out why. Both the horses she was holding were injured & needed to be checked by the Vet as they were bad falls (thankfully I don't think either was serious, just scrapes & cut mouth). As you said it wasn't a tough course & there were falls all over the place including the water which didn't look tricky at all. Maybe it was just one of those days, maybe there where too many combinations who should stick to BE100 for a bit longer, maybe the changeable weather upset some - & didn't we get everything at some point! Probably a bit of all 3. Tbh the number of casualties was high even compared to an unaff 70cm!
The BE100 on the other hand rattled through with only 1 longish hold which I think was the only time they needed the paramedics. In the Novice we had fallers in the collecting ring needing to see the doc!
And I am just stunned at how many weddings eventers get invited to, you must all be a lovely lot. And so committed to your competing career that you compete 2/3 hours from home on the day of a wedding that you are desperate to get to! You would be amazed at how many eventers do that - there have been several at every event I have stewarded at so far.
 

hairycob

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Just wanted to add that most competitors are in fact lovely & polite. And if the person who was helping find the competitors sheltering by the hedge in the driving rain reads this - thank you, very much appreciated.
 

FrecklesMum

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I was also at Keysoe on Saturday and had a completely different experience!

I had a absoloute breakdown after walking the Novice and asked to be moved down a class - the secretaries/ladies in the office were lovely and said 'we don't have any withdrawals at the mo, but we are sure we will but it will be a case of wait and see'. So on that basis given that I had to be Racing that PM (one of these social eventers!!) i decided to do Dressage and SJ. It was the 1st run of the season and only our 2nd ever Novice.

Dressage was on a surface (wonderful) and running ahead of time - straight on the SJ where i was called on before my time (had been asked if I was happy to go early which I was) and the course jumped fantastically - plenty of questions but fair. Horse jumped so well I decided to go and do the XC and retire if out of gas/not going well.

I went to the XC start early and was called on early - think I was about the 8th to go and in that time only 2 horses had made it home!! Lisetning to the tanoy the XC was causing absolute carnage which did not help my fragile nerves! I did think it was a bloody big track with some serious questions very early on but equally it did have some lovely let up fences and galloping straights. 5, 6 and 7 were very influential and deserved serious respect and 10 very upright and airy but I was surprised at how many issues there were there. Also, 2nd last caused a lot pf problems - we nearly came a cropper there which was odd as it walked well.

Horse sailed round and although I got 18 time points, I did go very slowly on purpose. Finished by 10.15 - well ahead of my time and there were still very few people in the XC ring.

In summary - big track with tight time but on the whole, i found the event very well run. My only criticism would be that I would have liked to have seen more work/surface put down round the jumps, especially in the landing area where the going was hard. Fence 1 was very hard on landing as were the last 2.
 

christine48

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Eventing_2012. We were at Keysoe on Saturday and didn't feel it was disorganised at all. Our rider was a multiple rider and had little time after her last dressage test before her first SJ. However the SJ ring steward ( who was lovely) kindly slotted her in later.
The courses may not have been dressed as much as others, but both SJ & XC caused a fair amount of trouble. Two of the horses we had there were inexperienced, one was a first timer and the other one had only done one novice before, both went double clear.
As for going early in the dressage, it worked OK for us, we went in second and got 24.5 which was second best in the section.
I think the organisers and volunteers( without whom we wouldn't be able to hold these events) did a great job.
 

HotToTrot

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I was there on Sat. HC, were you xc steward? I was the one with the small baby!

Thought stewards did a good job to cope with all the holds, seemed to still have a sense of humour when we were there.
 

Baydale

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I was there on Saturday too and all the carnage and brouhaha failed to register on my radar. :eek: I went to showjump as soon as I'd warmed up and went straight in; they'd have liked me to go xc the minute I went over there but I explained I needed at least 8 fences to get my eye in so I was safe to gallop around the track :eek: and they were fine wih that. Communication is key, patience (not one of my attributes ordinarily :p) also useful, good manners ae essential but never forget that being grumpy with the (unpaid volunteer) staff ain't gonna make them want to put themselves out to accommodate you. :rolleyes:
 

Carefreegirl

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I thought they were all brilliant on Sunday. Dressage steward told me I could go in a bit early if I wanted. SJ was running like clockwork, I was at 9.59 and went in bang on time. XC steward (H_A_C ;)) was giving everybody 6 horses notice, then 3 horses etc etc. Even when I realised at 4 horses notice I didn't have my armband on and had to charge back to the lorry she said not to worry.

A big thankyou to all the unpaid volunteers for making the sport work.
 

TableDancer

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And I am just stunned at how many weddings eventers get invited to, you must all be a lovely lot. And so committed to your competing career that you compete 2/3 hours from home on the day of a wedding that you are desperate to get to! You would be amazed at how many eventers do that - there have been several at every event I have stewarded at so far.

Can't comment as wasn't there and haven't read all replies but this made me spit my wine out (takes some doing :p)
 

HotToTrot

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That was me Hot to Trot. Was that the teeny weeny baby just a few weeks old? I remember Baydale too - lovely & smiley!

Yes, my husband had her in the carrier and I was on the horse. We came as you were looking for withdrawn numbers to cross off the board. I saw Baydale's sj round too!
 

hairycob

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TableDancer, the tally was 3 weddings on Saturday. I haven't been to a wedding in ages & am beginning to feel a bit left out.
Hot to Trot _ I have to ask. Did you compete the day you gave birth because I think "Could you move me up the list I'm in labour" would probably get a reaction, even from me! Very sweet baby.
 
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keysoe

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Thank you for the comments. Not sure what we can do with the "organisational" ones, as I am very happy with the way collecting rings were stewarded, and as said, if the red light goes on, there is very little we can do.

With regard to the XC, we were totally caught out by the weather. We had a spring of aggresive deep groundworks to improve drainage - work we had scheduled on "first day ground is fit" from October - the first fit day was beginning of April! We took the risk to do the work, believing the grass would bounce back, but with late frosts and cold winds only the much better protected dressage areas grew grass as we expected.

A week prior we put the ground level (couple of full days with agrivator), and expected to just have to cut the grass 3 days before & focus on fence dressing. This plan failed, and the last couple of days changed from fence titivation to firefighting the ground. The Agrivator went round again, and this time with the ground "hard" it worked to full effect, and I think we ended up with acceptable ground, but poorly dressed fences; not ideal, but better than crap ground and pretty fences.

Was happy with the courses we had put out, and a little surprised that a couple of fences became so influential (Novice cone to corner and 90 steps down), neither seem to be excessive to the level, but I think we may put a permanent "top" on the corners to define the jumping area, and maybe look to see if we can put an alternative to the first 90 step (if we can get suitable alternative ramp in the side). We were very happy with the balance of "tests" and let up fences, and the rhythm and flow of the course - comments on this are welcome
 

ReggiePerrin

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I was at Keysoe on Sunday as a friend was doing the 90 and I thought it was fab! They were spot on time for all 3 phases and all the stewards we met were polite, helpful and maintaining a sense of humour! The facilities were great and I've lost count of how many people I've told about the fact that the loos had a dyson airblade! Well done to all involved, it must be a mamouth task
 

cundlegreen

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Thank you for the comments. Not sure what we can do with the "organisational" ones, as I am very happy with the way collecting rings were stewarded, and as said, if the red light goes on, there is very little we can do.

With regard to the XC, we were totally caught out by the weather. We had a spring of aggresive deep groundworks to improve drainage - work we had scheduled on "first day ground is fit" from October - the first fit day was beginning of April! We took the risk to do the work, believing the grass would bounce back, but with late frosts and cold winds only the much better protected dressage areas grew grass as we expected.

A week prior we put the ground level (couple of full days with agrivator), and expected to just have to cut the grass 3 days before & focus on fence dressing. This plan failed, and the last couple of days changed from fence titivation to firefighting the ground. The Agrivator went round again, and this time with the ground "hard" it worked to full effect, and I think we ended up with acceptable ground, but poorly dressed fences; not ideal, but better than crap ground and pretty fences.

Was happy with the courses we had put out, and a little surprised that a couple of fences became so influential (Novice cone to corner and 90 steps down), neither seem to be excessive to the level, but I think we may put a permanent "top" on the corners to define the jumping area, and maybe look to see if we can put an alternative to the first 90 step (if we can get suitable alternative ramp in the side). We were very happy with the balance of "tests" and let up fences, and the rhythm and flow of the course - comments on this are welcome
I had a mare running in only her third 100 ever, second this season. Her rider who had XC'd early on her ON horse, said that all the people on the course were spooking him, although usually he wings the XC. My mare who usually is looking everywhere just flew round and only just got time penalties, so we had no complaints. HOWEVER....... one of your ladies loos (the furthest one) locked me in due to the handle coming off. Tricky five minutes there, and I don't think I was the only one!! Fortunately I was the pit crew, but that would have been a great excuse for not showing up for the XC!!
 

Carefreegirl

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I had a mare running in only her third 100 ever, second this season. Her rider who had XC'd early on her ON horse, said that all the people on the course were spooking him, although usually he wings the XC. My mare who usually is looking everywhere just flew round and only just got time penalties, so we had no complaints. HOWEVER....... one of your ladies loos (the furthest one) locked me in due to the handle coming off. Tricky five minutes there, and I don't think I was the only one!! Fortunately I was the pit crew, but that would have been a great excuse for not showing up for the XC!!

LOL so it was YOU who broke the handle :D I had to do my business trying to balance on one leg whilst holding the door shut with my other one :eek: loo was to far back to lean, pee and keep it shut with one hand and try not to pee on the back of my jods all at the same time :eek:

P.S Was the heating on in there full blast - nearly fainted both times...........
 

HotToTrot

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TableDancer, the tally was 3 weddings on Saturday. I haven't been to a wedding in ages & am beginning to feel a bit left out.
Hot to Trot _ I have to ask. Did you compete the day you gave birth because I think "Could you move me up the list I'm in labour" would probably get a reaction, even from me! Very sweet baby.

Ha! If times had slipped much more, I would have had to ask "could you move me up the list as it's feeding time, or move me well down it, so I can feed first"!

Keysoe had very obligingly given me the times I asked for, in order that I could feed and sort out babycare. Thanks Keysoe, super-helpful of you. I thought the 100 course flowed nicely, there weren't terribly many questions, but I did note there was no alternative to the trakhener this year! I liked the barrels to skinny brush downhill and on a curve toward the end, I thought it was a good accuracy question. The wishing well was a nice test but kind, with the trees acting as wings. I thought the ground was fine and had clearly been v well airated!
 

cundlegreen

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LOL so it was YOU who broke the handle :D I had to do my business trying to balance on one leg whilst holding the door shut with my other one :eek: loo was to far back to lean, pee and keep it shut with one hand and try not to pee on the back of my jods all at the same time :eek:

P.S Was the heating on in there full blast - nearly fainted both times...........

NO!!!!!! It wasn't me, it was already broken. I was madly trying to fit it back on to get out!!
 

Cazza263

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We were there on Sunday for the 90 (2 horses with 2 riders) and 100. Both courses rode well, although with the ground a bit on the hard side the times were tight - don't think I've ever seen quite so many time penalties at these levels!!

My only complaint was that, having specifically asked for late start times as daughter had school commitments (and for similar times for the two entries in the 90 as we were travelling together), we were given 8.30 and 9.30 dressages, closely followed by the SJ and XC so had to course walk before we started - and unlike other events, as section lists did not go up before withdrawals, there was no chance to draw this to the secretary's attention and get later times, since the times were presumably done once the runners were known . So ... a 4am start from the yard (having stayed there overnight in the horsebox as it is 35 minutes from home) was then followed by a 9.30pm return home - a very long day ...

Still, it was a successful day with one of the 90s going double clear for a good placing and the 100 horse doing a lovely dressage and clear xc (jockey error at the last sj fence meant 4 faults there), but with too many time penalties for a placing.

Thank you to everyone involved for a good, if long and tiring, day!
 

eventing_2012

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Thanks for the comments Keysoe, totally understand the weather has been in predictable as usual and like u say would rather good going than pretty fences, just not the norm for keysoe. :). Looking forward to the new int track
 

hairycob

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Oh HotToTrot I can't think of anything more uncomfortable than full boobs & a body protector. I am wincing at the thought. So WFP did Badminton with a dislocated finger - that's nothing compared. You have my respect! If you are in the same state ever again I'll let you go whenever you want (makes note that for the rest of the season all eventers will be breast feeding - even the blokes)
 
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