3Beasties
Well-Known Member
Having not competed at all for at least 12 years this is my first ever competition report and I have to say I didn't think I would be writing one so soon :biggrin3: When I bought Missi I set myself the goal of competing her within a year which at the time seemed fairly realistic and achievable! However due to all the problems we had last year (a nappy explosive nightmare for 6 months!) I thought it would be a long time before I braved our competition debut :redface3: A few weeks ago, after our first CR outing I set a new target of having competed by Xmas so am pleased that we've not only smashed that but achieved my initial target :biggrin3:
Anyway, time to stop waffling and to get on with the actual report!
After a very bad night sleep the 5:30am alarm call was not very welcome, I did contemplate turning over and going back to sleep but gave myself a mental kick up the backside and told myself to get on with it!
We arrived at the yard and dragged Missi in. Had to wash her legs and tail (for the 3rd time!) as she'd managed to cover them in poo and grass stains :redface3: and then finish off plaiting her mane before we were eventually ready to go!
During the process of being plaited and having her travel boots on Moo became rather excited by the whole thing and became rude, pushy and bargy. Loading her resulted in me being dragged down the ramp (nearly squishing RG in the process) and her just generally throwing her weight around being a brat. At this stage I was definitely starting to change my mind about the whole thing, deciding that I was doing to much to soon and it was all going to go horribly wrong! A few very deep breaths from me, some calming words for Moo and some 'man up' vibes from my friend (RubysGold) and I got my act together and got the beast loaded!
I then spent the whole journey wondering what I would be unloading when we arrived at the venue, I was convinced she was going to come out of the lorry like a Duracell bunny on speed! It did nothing for my nerves during that 45 minute journey I can tell you :redface3: Thankfully I needn't have worried :biggrin3: She tootled out the box with a look of disgust (possibly due to the lack of hounds??!) and tied up to the lorry without any bother!
RG kindly tacked up for me while I got changed and tried to concentrate on not being ill :redface3: On I hopped and off we went to the warm up which I think was what I was worried about the most, having not ridden her in a school with others before. There were 4 others using the warm up at the time so with a big gulp, in I went not really knowing what to expect! She was brilliant :biggrin3: Had a few little 'arsey cow' moments with me (due to me using the stick on her to sharpen her reaction to my leg up a bit) but she didn't seem to mind about the other horses, even when some left and others arrived. She was a bit vocal (which continued through the morning) but wasn't even hanging toward the others. I could have stuck her back on the box there and then and gone home with a smile on my face as that in itself meant so much to me after the difficult time I had with her over Winter :redface3:
We headed over to the indoor (leaving the others without any fuss :biggrin3: ) and stood and waited for our turn. Gulp, gulp, gulp :redface3:
Went in, had a little trot around with a discussion about not stopping/hanging towards the exit and then we started the test (Intro A)! She was soooooooooo good :biggrin3: Did everything I asked and was fairly willing and focused. I let her down with my lack of accuracy (we nearly left the arena at one point :redface3: ) and I guess I could have sharpened her up a bit more and rode her more into an outline but for our first test I was over the moon with her! I was so relieved as we neared the end of it as I just wanted to get it over and done with, couldn't believe I'd just ridden my first ever test! :redface3: :biggrin3: Lot of pats and cuddles all round. We un-tacked her and left her munching hay while we went to see if the scores where up. I was amazed to see that we had got 64.78 % which meant we finished in 3rd place out of 13 :biggrin3: :biggrin3:
Comments on the sheet (which we picked up after the second test) confirmed everything that I know we need to work on, accuracy, forwardness and acceptance of the bit through transitions. Main comment said that she was a 'nice horse with some good moments but try to work on your center lines to gain higher marks.' She got mainly 6's and 7's with just one five for when we nearly left the arena so I am really really happy with that. Lots to work on but tonnes to be proud of :biggrin3:
Onto the Prelim 7. I was slightly more relaxed but was worrying about the canter and the fact that I didn't know the test even though I had been reading it through for days! She warmed up nicely again despite the warm up being a bit whizzier. She felt like she 'thought' about doing something naughty when another pony cantered really close past her but thankfully she kept a lid on it, just flicked her tail and nearly swung her bum towards him! I tried a new tactic when I asked for canter (thanks to RG for the suggestion) which worked perfectly and we got two brilliant trot to canter transitions. I kept the warm-up short as I was finding it difficult to find space (need to get used to that!) so headed over to the indoor to wait our turn. Luckily someone else was running late so I offered to go in early which worked out perfectly.
RG called for me so that was one less thing to worry about! I felt that bits of the test where better then the first, we were both a bit more relaxed which I think helped. The start felt really good but I panicked about the first canter and ended up rushing her, flapping, and throwing my reins about which I had predicted would happen! She did by some miracle manage to get the correct lead but it was after the marker so we lost marks there. She then managed to maintain the canter most of the way around the arena before breaking to have a poo :redface3: :rolleyes3: I wasn't quick enough to correct it and by the time I thought about it we'd reached our next movement anyway so again lost marks there. The next canter was much better although still not scoring particularly high. I was just amazed she'd got the correct lead both times even if it wasn't all that tidy :biggrin3: Once again I was super please with her, on the whole she was being very obedient and although she could have had a bit more purpose she was fairly forward and off the leg!
Was pleased with a score of 62%, mainly 6's with less 7's this time and a few more 5's which where obviously deserved. Comments are mainly about accuracy and being hollow in downwards transitions. The main comment was 'started well, shame about the canter, try to keep the work more active to gain higher mark' so again it fits with what we've been working on at home, I just need to do more of it!
All in all a fab morning, she really couldn't have been better behaved, she was such a star :biggrin3: I can't believe that for the first time EVER I've actually been able to compete my own horse, it's what dreams are made of I'm sure :biggrin3: :biggrin3:
A few piccys from the day, not very clear as my camera seems to be having a bit of a meltdown but hopefully you'll get the general gist!
Warmup -
Intro A -
and a bit of posing -
Video of Intro is uploading now but haven't got anything from the Prelim!
Well done if you made it to the end, chocolate brownies for all :biggrin3:
Anyway, time to stop waffling and to get on with the actual report!
After a very bad night sleep the 5:30am alarm call was not very welcome, I did contemplate turning over and going back to sleep but gave myself a mental kick up the backside and told myself to get on with it!
We arrived at the yard and dragged Missi in. Had to wash her legs and tail (for the 3rd time!) as she'd managed to cover them in poo and grass stains :redface3: and then finish off plaiting her mane before we were eventually ready to go!
During the process of being plaited and having her travel boots on Moo became rather excited by the whole thing and became rude, pushy and bargy. Loading her resulted in me being dragged down the ramp (nearly squishing RG in the process) and her just generally throwing her weight around being a brat. At this stage I was definitely starting to change my mind about the whole thing, deciding that I was doing to much to soon and it was all going to go horribly wrong! A few very deep breaths from me, some calming words for Moo and some 'man up' vibes from my friend (RubysGold) and I got my act together and got the beast loaded!
I then spent the whole journey wondering what I would be unloading when we arrived at the venue, I was convinced she was going to come out of the lorry like a Duracell bunny on speed! It did nothing for my nerves during that 45 minute journey I can tell you :redface3: Thankfully I needn't have worried :biggrin3: She tootled out the box with a look of disgust (possibly due to the lack of hounds??!) and tied up to the lorry without any bother!
RG kindly tacked up for me while I got changed and tried to concentrate on not being ill :redface3: On I hopped and off we went to the warm up which I think was what I was worried about the most, having not ridden her in a school with others before. There were 4 others using the warm up at the time so with a big gulp, in I went not really knowing what to expect! She was brilliant :biggrin3: Had a few little 'arsey cow' moments with me (due to me using the stick on her to sharpen her reaction to my leg up a bit) but she didn't seem to mind about the other horses, even when some left and others arrived. She was a bit vocal (which continued through the morning) but wasn't even hanging toward the others. I could have stuck her back on the box there and then and gone home with a smile on my face as that in itself meant so much to me after the difficult time I had with her over Winter :redface3:
We headed over to the indoor (leaving the others without any fuss :biggrin3: ) and stood and waited for our turn. Gulp, gulp, gulp :redface3:
Went in, had a little trot around with a discussion about not stopping/hanging towards the exit and then we started the test (Intro A)! She was soooooooooo good :biggrin3: Did everything I asked and was fairly willing and focused. I let her down with my lack of accuracy (we nearly left the arena at one point :redface3: ) and I guess I could have sharpened her up a bit more and rode her more into an outline but for our first test I was over the moon with her! I was so relieved as we neared the end of it as I just wanted to get it over and done with, couldn't believe I'd just ridden my first ever test! :redface3: :biggrin3: Lot of pats and cuddles all round. We un-tacked her and left her munching hay while we went to see if the scores where up. I was amazed to see that we had got 64.78 % which meant we finished in 3rd place out of 13 :biggrin3: :biggrin3:
Comments on the sheet (which we picked up after the second test) confirmed everything that I know we need to work on, accuracy, forwardness and acceptance of the bit through transitions. Main comment said that she was a 'nice horse with some good moments but try to work on your center lines to gain higher marks.' She got mainly 6's and 7's with just one five for when we nearly left the arena so I am really really happy with that. Lots to work on but tonnes to be proud of :biggrin3:
Onto the Prelim 7. I was slightly more relaxed but was worrying about the canter and the fact that I didn't know the test even though I had been reading it through for days! She warmed up nicely again despite the warm up being a bit whizzier. She felt like she 'thought' about doing something naughty when another pony cantered really close past her but thankfully she kept a lid on it, just flicked her tail and nearly swung her bum towards him! I tried a new tactic when I asked for canter (thanks to RG for the suggestion) which worked perfectly and we got two brilliant trot to canter transitions. I kept the warm-up short as I was finding it difficult to find space (need to get used to that!) so headed over to the indoor to wait our turn. Luckily someone else was running late so I offered to go in early which worked out perfectly.
RG called for me so that was one less thing to worry about! I felt that bits of the test where better then the first, we were both a bit more relaxed which I think helped. The start felt really good but I panicked about the first canter and ended up rushing her, flapping, and throwing my reins about which I had predicted would happen! She did by some miracle manage to get the correct lead but it was after the marker so we lost marks there. She then managed to maintain the canter most of the way around the arena before breaking to have a poo :redface3: :rolleyes3: I wasn't quick enough to correct it and by the time I thought about it we'd reached our next movement anyway so again lost marks there. The next canter was much better although still not scoring particularly high. I was just amazed she'd got the correct lead both times even if it wasn't all that tidy :biggrin3: Once again I was super please with her, on the whole she was being very obedient and although she could have had a bit more purpose she was fairly forward and off the leg!
Was pleased with a score of 62%, mainly 6's with less 7's this time and a few more 5's which where obviously deserved. Comments are mainly about accuracy and being hollow in downwards transitions. The main comment was 'started well, shame about the canter, try to keep the work more active to gain higher mark' so again it fits with what we've been working on at home, I just need to do more of it!
All in all a fab morning, she really couldn't have been better behaved, she was such a star :biggrin3: I can't believe that for the first time EVER I've actually been able to compete my own horse, it's what dreams are made of I'm sure :biggrin3: :biggrin3:
A few piccys from the day, not very clear as my camera seems to be having a bit of a meltdown but hopefully you'll get the general gist!
Warmup -
Intro A -
and a bit of posing -
Video of Intro is uploading now but haven't got anything from the Prelim!
Well done if you made it to the end, chocolate brownies for all :biggrin3:
You look very smart together and Missie has a lovely face
