3Beasties
Well-Known Member
We took Millie to her first show yesterday. It was only a local one but we thought it would be a good starting point for her. She was entered into Best Turned out, Gymkhana, 2'3" and 2'6" Jumping.
Millie was VERY fidgety in the Best Turned and wouldn't stand still in the line up but the Little jockey kept her cool and just kept circling her, Unfortunately she didn't get placed (there were about 16 in the class!) but it was good education for her. (My rather wonky plaits stayed in all day so I was very pleased with myself
! ).
Next was the 2'3" class which must have been running for about 2 1/2 hours
and had some very scary fillers. Millie really didn't like the commentating box (or the loud speaker and bell that came out of it
) and refused the first (very simple) jump, I don't think she was concentrating! She jumped round the rest but then stopped at fence 8 which looked a simple fence but seemed to cause a lot of problems as it had a plain white pole on the top. Refused to jump it so they were eliminated.
They entered the junior and the open Gymkhana just to pass some time and they did really well. There were 18 children in the junior class so they split it into two groups, Ran each race twice and then the top 3 from each group would go through to the final. Millie got through to the final in all the races
and overall they ended up with two 2nd's, two 4th's, a 5th and a few specials. She behaved so well, didn't get strong or silly but just got on with it! She did however find the rosettes very scary and if anyone came towards her with one she shot off in the opposite direction rather quickly
!
In the 2'6" class she seemed to enjoy her self much more, she flew round up until fence 8 where she stopped again but then jumped it on her second attempt. she then stopped at the last fence twice which had a very scary filler and another plain white pole on the top so yet again they were eliminated. We were still really please with her though as she is still so green despite being 11 and when she did jump she cleared them easily and confidently!
Jockey wanted to enter the 2'9" just so she could get her over all the jumps but the show was running so slowly that we would have been waiting for another couple of hours. Instead we headed for home with lots to work on before our next show, which we are already excited about. I am going to try and find a loud bell, a loud speaker/ Tannoy and we are going to make her ride with rosettes attached to her bridle for the next couple of weeks just to de-sensitize her
.
Overall we were really pleased with her, she tied up to the trailer happily for long periods at a time which I didn't think she would do and she also didn't try and kick anybody even when they got really close (some people seem to ignore the red ribbon
) which in itself is a minor miracle as she is known for being very marish! Towards the end of the day she also realized that standing still (we had a lot of waiting around to do!) to conserve her energy was a good idea and waited nice and patiently for her turn.
Anyway, If you are still with me here are a few Pictures
Impatiently waiting to load
Just before Best Turned out - Looking like a giraffe
!
In the class
Gymkhana Line up
Head shot - still looking Giraffe like!
Belgium Chocolates if you made it this far!
Millie was VERY fidgety in the Best Turned and wouldn't stand still in the line up but the Little jockey kept her cool and just kept circling her, Unfortunately she didn't get placed (there were about 16 in the class!) but it was good education for her. (My rather wonky plaits stayed in all day so I was very pleased with myself
Next was the 2'3" class which must have been running for about 2 1/2 hours
They entered the junior and the open Gymkhana just to pass some time and they did really well. There were 18 children in the junior class so they split it into two groups, Ran each race twice and then the top 3 from each group would go through to the final. Millie got through to the final in all the races
In the 2'6" class she seemed to enjoy her self much more, she flew round up until fence 8 where she stopped again but then jumped it on her second attempt. she then stopped at the last fence twice which had a very scary filler and another plain white pole on the top so yet again they were eliminated. We were still really please with her though as she is still so green despite being 11 and when she did jump she cleared them easily and confidently!
Jockey wanted to enter the 2'9" just so she could get her over all the jumps but the show was running so slowly that we would have been waiting for another couple of hours. Instead we headed for home with lots to work on before our next show, which we are already excited about. I am going to try and find a loud bell, a loud speaker/ Tannoy and we are going to make her ride with rosettes attached to her bridle for the next couple of weeks just to de-sensitize her
Overall we were really pleased with her, she tied up to the trailer happily for long periods at a time which I didn't think she would do and she also didn't try and kick anybody even when they got really close (some people seem to ignore the red ribbon
Anyway, If you are still with me here are a few Pictures
Impatiently waiting to load
Just before Best Turned out - Looking like a giraffe
In the class
Gymkhana Line up
Head shot - still looking Giraffe like!
Belgium Chocolates if you made it this far!
