emmanash
Well-Known Member
Hi all, I don't often get the chance to write a competition report but here goes...
Today I entered a micro jumping class at a local indoor school. I have only recently started jumping with my mare again, but have noticed just how much my girl loves it. I have had a couple of lessons recently and also set some jumps up in the field to practice with the aim of entering todays competition.
I got up at 7.30 this morning and forced some breakfast down although my stomach was doing somersaults and I felt like jumping back into bed and hiding under the duvet. I reminded myself that this was meant to be fun and a learning curve as we had not competed in a sj comp before. I loaded up the car with my tack headed up to the yard where I was greeted by some lovely whinnies from the horses.
The competition was being held in the nearby village, about 2 miles away so my plan was to hack over. After driving over to the venue to drop off some gear, I set to work grooming and tidying Tawny, my horse, making her all posh for her debut!
After procrastinating for about 20 mins, I once again pulled myself together and tacked Tawny up and set off.
It only took about 20 minutes to hack over, leaving plenty of time to settle Tawny into a stable whilst I paid the entry and walked the course about 5 times until I felt semi-confident that I wouldn't get lost.
By this time, it was starting to get busy and Tawny was neighing and getting a bit wound up. My friend arrived at this point so we decided to go back into the school with Tawny in tow so she could see what she was there for and have a look at the seemingly scary fillers and flower pots. Tawny wasn't bothered by these at all so I happily led her back out, tacked her up and climbed back on board. Her eyes were on stalks as we made our way past the stables, each one containing a new friend for Tawny to try and say hello to. Into the warm up area we went and Tawny decided that a bouncy trot was the way forward, despite me trying to tell her that a steady walk was best to start with! It got busy in there so we popped a small cross pole and then found ourselves a quiet corner to do some circles as these usually calm Tawny down and get her concentrating. I was feeling pretty nervous still and must have looked it too as my friend offered me some words of encouragement and the kick up the bum I needed.
The competition had started so we moved closer to the school entrance so we could hear our number being called. The voice on the tannoy said that not many people were going clear.
Before we knew it our number was called and we were in. I walked Tawny around so she could have another nosey, and then the bell rang so I asked her for trot and we were off! My plan was to take it steady so we would hopefully go clear and gain some confidence. Most of the jumps were simple straight bars, one double combination and a couple of tiny little spreads. Tawny felt so good and didn't take a second look at anything, even the people sat in the viewing area didn't attract her attention which was a surprise. We made our way steadily over the first 2 jumps, then around to the double which proved no problem at all, then on to numbers 4,5,6,7 and 8 which came and went without any problems. Finally we sailed over fence 9 and were delighted to have gone clear.
We left the school and then realised that we had to brave the jump off next.
Not many had gone clear by the end of the first round so I was beginning to think that we may be in with a chance of a ribbon if we pushed ourselves and went a bit faster. We were called in and the bell rang. There were only 5 jumps in the jump off including the double. Off we went straight into canter and over the first and around to the second. She flew over this and spotted fence 3 in front of us towards the other end of the school. We pushed on and over this one and then past the giant flower pot down to the double. Over we went to the finish. Our time was 22.6 seconds which the lady on the tannoy commented on being very fast so I was happy with that!
I left the school and took Tawny back to the stable. After settling her back in I went back to the arena to wait for the results. As I was making my way down I heard our names being announced saying we had come 3rd! I was over the moon!
I was so proud of Tawny for holding it together and taking me around safely. Everyone at the competition was so friendly and welcoming and I had a great time. I never expected to get placed, especially as the class was quite big. I have been sat looking at our rosette grinning all afternoon, much to my husband and children's amusement!
Thanks for taking the time to read my post x
Today I entered a micro jumping class at a local indoor school. I have only recently started jumping with my mare again, but have noticed just how much my girl loves it. I have had a couple of lessons recently and also set some jumps up in the field to practice with the aim of entering todays competition.
I got up at 7.30 this morning and forced some breakfast down although my stomach was doing somersaults and I felt like jumping back into bed and hiding under the duvet. I reminded myself that this was meant to be fun and a learning curve as we had not competed in a sj comp before. I loaded up the car with my tack headed up to the yard where I was greeted by some lovely whinnies from the horses.
The competition was being held in the nearby village, about 2 miles away so my plan was to hack over. After driving over to the venue to drop off some gear, I set to work grooming and tidying Tawny, my horse, making her all posh for her debut!
After procrastinating for about 20 mins, I once again pulled myself together and tacked Tawny up and set off.
It only took about 20 minutes to hack over, leaving plenty of time to settle Tawny into a stable whilst I paid the entry and walked the course about 5 times until I felt semi-confident that I wouldn't get lost.
By this time, it was starting to get busy and Tawny was neighing and getting a bit wound up. My friend arrived at this point so we decided to go back into the school with Tawny in tow so she could see what she was there for and have a look at the seemingly scary fillers and flower pots. Tawny wasn't bothered by these at all so I happily led her back out, tacked her up and climbed back on board. Her eyes were on stalks as we made our way past the stables, each one containing a new friend for Tawny to try and say hello to. Into the warm up area we went and Tawny decided that a bouncy trot was the way forward, despite me trying to tell her that a steady walk was best to start with! It got busy in there so we popped a small cross pole and then found ourselves a quiet corner to do some circles as these usually calm Tawny down and get her concentrating. I was feeling pretty nervous still and must have looked it too as my friend offered me some words of encouragement and the kick up the bum I needed.
The competition had started so we moved closer to the school entrance so we could hear our number being called. The voice on the tannoy said that not many people were going clear.
Before we knew it our number was called and we were in. I walked Tawny around so she could have another nosey, and then the bell rang so I asked her for trot and we were off! My plan was to take it steady so we would hopefully go clear and gain some confidence. Most of the jumps were simple straight bars, one double combination and a couple of tiny little spreads. Tawny felt so good and didn't take a second look at anything, even the people sat in the viewing area didn't attract her attention which was a surprise. We made our way steadily over the first 2 jumps, then around to the double which proved no problem at all, then on to numbers 4,5,6,7 and 8 which came and went without any problems. Finally we sailed over fence 9 and were delighted to have gone clear.
We left the school and then realised that we had to brave the jump off next.
Not many had gone clear by the end of the first round so I was beginning to think that we may be in with a chance of a ribbon if we pushed ourselves and went a bit faster. We were called in and the bell rang. There were only 5 jumps in the jump off including the double. Off we went straight into canter and over the first and around to the second. She flew over this and spotted fence 3 in front of us towards the other end of the school. We pushed on and over this one and then past the giant flower pot down to the double. Over we went to the finish. Our time was 22.6 seconds which the lady on the tannoy commented on being very fast so I was happy with that!
I left the school and took Tawny back to the stable. After settling her back in I went back to the arena to wait for the results. As I was making my way down I heard our names being announced saying we had come 3rd! I was over the moon!
I was so proud of Tawny for holding it together and taking me around safely. Everyone at the competition was so friendly and welcoming and I had a great time. I never expected to get placed, especially as the class was quite big. I have been sat looking at our rosette grinning all afternoon, much to my husband and children's amusement!
Thanks for taking the time to read my post x
