Baydale
Well-Known Member
I think we've all decided patience isn't my strong point
, but I have had the biggest message from God this weekend in this regard. I have got a huge and very lovely horse, he has an attitude to die for and bags of everything needed for an event horse other than maturity. So why oh why do I not just listen to him and stop trying to be so bloomin ambitious?
Here's how it went:
Stressage was on Friday in the searing heat. I learnt the test the night before, remembered that I haven't done travers or rein back for ooooh, about a month or so, and they weren't that good before anyway. I'd had bloods taken but not got the results back at that point so I didn't know if I had a sickly horse or not.....warming up I decided he was either ill, bolshy or fresh and my methods of dealing with any or those certainly weren't working so we did some wrestling and went in, dripping with sweat and at loggerheads.
It felt like I had a double handful but managed to wagon him round with a face like thunder (me, not him
), more or less doing stuff in the right place - 60 x 20 feels v small, and I'm going to suggest to BE that bigger horses have bigger arenas.
Obviously his shininess and bounciness covered a multitude of sins as you could have knocked me over with a feather to hear I got 47.8 (and was in the lead (don't get too excited, I was 8th to go with nearly 60 in it
). The judges (Gill Watson and Andrew Downes) were within 5 marks of each other, so my average was 68.1%.
I washed him off and went to walk the course, mouth agape at the meatiness of it and bearing in mind I'd only done Aston on him and JP had done the meaty Burnham and Belton runs. I did wonder if it would be a step too far for him, but walked it again in the morning when it still looked big but not half as big as it had every time I woke up in the night thinking about it.
His bloods had come back fine, so he and I had no excuse for not having a go: he hooned out of the start box and we set sail, and I realised at fence three (big wide thing to skinny log on a turn) that my polite, easy-to-turn horse had gone and I'd got a loony heffalump with no brakes.
He had a look at the first step into the water at 5 so I stoked him to the log into the second one at 6 and he leapt, pinging me out to the right a bit as he landed and locked onto the skinny barrel off to the left - "hold on Kermit, I'm on the case" - I gathered up my knitting and off to the gate, skinny hedges on a turn in the arena - I ended up showjumping all the technical ones as his size and exuberance made them a bit more tricky than usual. He was a bit hesitant off the bank (bounce up, roll top off), one stride off the next bank and three strides to a big skinny triple brush. Any other horse would have stopped as he was way too deep to it, but not HH, he dragged himself over it taking the flag out and set sail again. We got into a better rhythm once we were out into the open and he ate up the yawing ditches, popped through the coffin, road crossing etc, but I went the long route at the Y-shaped tree as I wasn't convinced that a) another drop was what he needed and b) his tummy and my feet would get through that small a gap.
I did the two steps up one stride to an upright at the "castle" as I guessed he'd be tired by then and over the house to finish. I was so chuffed with him as he proved he is brave as a lion but something akin to a Great Dane puppy, slightly clumsy but always enthusiastic and up for it.
Which brings me to the showjumping.
He'd whacked his stifle on the triple brush and was sore, but loosened up ok and trotted up fine, the vet was happy with it too. I walked the course and thought I'd struggle with that before the xc, never mind after: long distances in the combinations (treble walked 9 of my strides, and I haven't got short legs, honest
) and all the oxers were square. He warmed up appallingly (ask meardsall_millie, she had the embarrassment of it) yet went in there and tried. He feels like the back end rolls/waddles and he gets v tense and overly-sensitive - you can see where this is going can't you?
- I took a check after three and he practically stopped in his tracks, crashed through 4 and got so tight so had the first part of the double at 5 and then the related distance after that. We got it back for the triple bar, wall and oxer, then to the treble: he jumped in short and had the oxer behind, tried to chip another one in ("chipping in" and "17.3hh" don't go together), but then jumped the oxer out well and the planks to finish. So a massive five fences down and time penalties too.
After much navel-gazing and a good night's sleep I've decided to not plan any more eventing until I've got the showjumping sorted, so expect to see me at a BSJA show near you soon (yep, I'm really looking forward to that....
.)
Coffee and Red Bull if you've got this far and feel anything like I do today (EarlyStartsRNotUs
), any suggestions for big horse strengthening exercises much appreciated.
Here's how it went:
Stressage was on Friday in the searing heat. I learnt the test the night before, remembered that I haven't done travers or rein back for ooooh, about a month or so, and they weren't that good before anyway. I'd had bloods taken but not got the results back at that point so I didn't know if I had a sickly horse or not.....warming up I decided he was either ill, bolshy or fresh and my methods of dealing with any or those certainly weren't working so we did some wrestling and went in, dripping with sweat and at loggerheads.
I washed him off and went to walk the course, mouth agape at the meatiness of it and bearing in mind I'd only done Aston on him and JP had done the meaty Burnham and Belton runs. I did wonder if it would be a step too far for him, but walked it again in the morning when it still looked big but not half as big as it had every time I woke up in the night thinking about it.
His bloods had come back fine, so he and I had no excuse for not having a go: he hooned out of the start box and we set sail, and I realised at fence three (big wide thing to skinny log on a turn) that my polite, easy-to-turn horse had gone and I'd got a loony heffalump with no brakes.
Which brings me to the showjumping.
After much navel-gazing and a good night's sleep I've decided to not plan any more eventing until I've got the showjumping sorted, so expect to see me at a BSJA show near you soon (yep, I'm really looking forward to that....
Coffee and Red Bull if you've got this far and feel anything like I do today (EarlyStartsRNotUs
