Moreton BE XC report

Diane_Pepper

Diane_Pepper

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 June 2007
Messages
1,608
Location
Wales/Southampton
www.facebook.com
Very nice day at Moreton yesterday - so nice that i have very pink shoulders!

Arrived in good time to walk the PN course, nicely flowing and some were up to height. But i have never seen so many skinnies in an XC course!
they weren't that small either..
quite a sizebal corner..then saw the water and my eyes nearly popped out of my head!
this was only my 2nd PN & the water jump was an upturned bout - jumped STRAIGHT INTO the water!
is it just me, or are there no other PN courses with a direct obstacle into the water?!

pepper jumped it fine though..and i pushed him a little more so that he saw the water later & didn't really get a chance to hesitate, but i'm still shocked at the tecnicality of it!
there was also a treble that was causing problems - not because it was too big/technical, but because people were simply missing out the C element!
i didn't understand this, as the course was clearly marked & it was quite straightforward..
must have been a shame to get eliminated for something you didn't even know was supposed to be jumped!!

any other views/comments would be appreciated!
 
I did the intro and came 3rd, and i thought the intro course had a lot more questions than usual. Normally it is a good galloping course but in three places we had to be really organised and jump then turn sharply to the next element.
I know someone who was eliminated pre novice for missing out that element and she is gutted.
I must admit, i thought the course was very nice, if a lot more challenging than usual, and it rode well too. I always think its satisfying to go clear round a more technical course than just a straight forward track.
Had you ever been there before? What did you think of it as an event?
 
No, I hadn't been there before..
It was a very nice event!
Although I did enter for the intro after the closing date [because the BE website indicated that there was still room], but then I was waitlisted & my only option to compete was to do the OPN!!
Some of the looks i got whilst warming up for my dressage on my 14.2 piebald cob type were not friendly at all!

Since i had only done 1 PN before (last year at somerford park) i was quite iffy, not about the XC, but the SJ because pepper had 6 down then..although he did improve yesterday & only had 2 down!

the event was very nicely run..the dressage arenas were very flat, but the one i was in was very close to the main exit and lorries and trailers going home definitely did not add a nice touch to my dressage!
I liked the SJ in an arena, as this is what pepepr is used to at home & as i siad before, the XC was challenging, but i agree - it is very satisfying to go clear round a more technical course.

You said that someone you knew was eliminated for missing out the C element..do you know why this was?

I have been told by a friend that it was more challenging than the march event, but to what extent?
 
Now you have said what your horse is like, i remember watching you show jump and thinking what a cracking little chap he is! He really tried round those show jumps.
When my friend walked the course she said the markers were not the same for the third element cos they were a different colour so she assumed she didnt have to jump it. Apparently a fair few other people thought the same and did the same thing.
In march the course ran the other way round. I wouldnt say there was a vast difference in technicality for the pre novice but the intro was certainly more tricky this time. It is nice that they go to the trouble of changing the course between events though.
I did love your pony!! Where are you going next?
 
Yeah, the marker was a different colour - although the secretary made a point of telling us when we went to the tent before walking the course & I can see how people would have somply not looked at the fence as the marker was a different colour!
It is very nice that they alter the course - i found the same at stockland lovell, which was totally different!

Wow, thanks! It's so nice to hear someone say that who was on the ground watching as I never have any specators for feedback!
smile.gif


Next I'm going to Llanymynech which is our local at 2hours 30 away! then Marchington & shipton moyne [hence the other post!]

how about you?
what is your horse called?
 
My horse is called Last of the Moet. He's none as Stilton at home, hence my user name!
Our next one is Nutwell Court in Devon at the end of June. I probably wont do any then until september cos i have qualified him for the dressage regional finals at the beginning of Aug so he needs to get his head round the dressage again.
Let me know if you come this way again and i will come and say Hi.
 
Ahh okay, I just saw your results!
Well done
laugh.gif

I got the same dressage score as you! [i know you can't really compare though haha]
Good luck at Nutwell!
That was on my list of possible events, but we had to choose between that & shipton moyne (which is much closer)

Kind regards
smile.gif
 
I think I saw you too, were you leading him round in the paddock nearest the track into the XC? if so I liked him too.
CCj was a bit stunned by that water jump as Chocx has never jumped over anything into water, but he flew it too.
I'll look out for Stilton now I know his name as well, we should be at Nutwell Court then Stockland unless we get ballotted.
Will try to find an un aff event or two over the gap in between now and then, as Chocx needs to be kept going to go up to Novice.
We're most likely to be more towards Cornwall though than in your direction.
 
I think i saw Chocx warming up for XC. He looked lovely. Didnt like to say hi in case it wasnt you! Next time i will be brave! Was she wearing blue colours?
 
Yes that's him! She was riding round with Jade Lazenby talking about the Matinee gelding we just got back from Warren Farm, she's about to get new colours for her 19th Birthday, we can't repeat those exactly so the new ones will be light blue and purple.
He did look fit didn't he, and only had a little sweat round the girth when he finished he is so fit from fence walking..I reckon it's the equivalent to 5 hours on a horse walker..
grin.gif

You should have come over and said hello, I was cooking bacon rolls for anyone who wated later on!
Isn't that funny I should admire a forum horse too.. perhaps we should be like the Masons and have a secret handshake...
 
It was a bit more technical than before but to be fair, we wanted to ask a couple of questions this time as it has always been just straight forward. Other than being 'the other way round', the differences at PN were the dog kennel above the drop which looked more forbidding, the punt straight into the water and the mushroom logs - and I hope that together they gave riders a bit more than just a slightly bigger intro.

I haven't studied the results in detail but I don't think the punt into water caused problems and I hope those for whom this was a 'first' will have struck it off their list of 'things I don't think I can do'. I wasn't at the water very often, but everyone I saw there went through without any hesitation.

The 'C' element at the corner...in short, for whatever reason, we couldn't find another purple C marker (we will find boxes of them hidden in an obvious place soon) so we used a purple on white and marked it PN as directed. Not ideal, and we will make sure we have the right number of markers next time, but as the Steward said, 9 missed the element of which 3 were for other reasons and 158 got it right. None the less, that's 6 who would have taken the 'C' had it been marked with the same mark as the rest of the course. One day we will get everything right in one go, but I doubt there's a course in existence that manages that feat!

I hope it wasn't our staff who looked snooty at the 14'2 coloured...we don't think we are a snooty event..and number 1 daughter is herself working up to a 14'2 coloured! Whatever your aims may be, our aim is that everyone goes home happy with a mind to come back next time and I hope that's the case.

It was really nice to see so many at the prizegivings...it's such a gut-busting effort to put these events on and it's all worthwhile when so many come forward at the end to say thanks. My thanks will go to the 140+ volunteers who made it all possible and if anybody local is bored on 17th June we will welcome some help at the unaffiliated which runs over the same course (and a 1'6, 2'3 and 2'6).
 
It was a brilliantly run event, thank you to all the organisers & volunteers!
Yes, I do agree that the 'punt' didn't cause problems & it was good having the alternative there, or I think it would have been a problem & yes, that is now definitely struck off my list of 'things i don't think my pony & i can do!' bless him!

No, it wasn't your staff who gave me/my pony a snooty look, just some others in my class - but i'm quite used to that by now, it just annoys me when it does happen because we have the right to be there, just as everbody else does!

Thanks to everyone there
smile.gif
 
Well, i thought your pony was a cracker! I have a similar one at home but bigger!. I expect a lot of the people looking down their noses at you didnt get clear rounds so i wouldnt worry what other people think. So long as you love him and he does what you want and is fun, thats all that matters!
 
Thanks, the sj was bigger at moreton 1 than 2. My boy is experienced but he also has a very dirty stop which i dont normally stay on!. Thats why we are doing a season at intro before we think about moving up. He only stops normally when sj, he is also amazing XC which is good cos thats the bit i enjoy.
 
The photos of moreton(1) of me are not good ones!!! If you look at horsepower photos for moretons unaffil ODE on 1st april my other boy is no 210 - the chestnut skewbald.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top