Baydale
Well-Known Member
Hmmm, where shall I begin, other than to check you're all comfy and prepared for the epic tale of the three "eventers'" (in the loosest possible sense of the word
) feet touching grass at Osberton on Saturday.
It was like kindergarten getting them ready at sparrow's fart, me running around with a poo skip in one hand, hot cloth, tail bandages and travelling kit in the other while each systematically trashed whatever was in reach the minute my back was turned.
First on was Cuddles (HH's mini-me, remember?) who's been staying chez Baydale for a while, having done nothing since Oasby novice in 2008. We warmed up for dressage with his ears in my mouth but I managed to keep inside the boards and do things more or less in the right place; he was in the novice class, so a BE100 test. The judge very sweetly stuck her head out of the window to say what a lovely horse he was, which is always nice, although he's so rubbery it felt like we were just about to do some weird yoga contortions:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593870250&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click right arrow)
I did a quick change to go and showjump and was joined by m_m, jump putter-upper and general good egg. We've discovered Cuddles does have a conscience but he was SO excited, hence the photographic evidence of me "manufacturing" a clear round
- he really needs a bigger track but I knew his first outing would be full of distractions.
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593931050&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click right arrow for more)
They'd wheeled the showjumping really tight - they do that rather than the cross country, and we all know galloping and showjumping is for showjumpers, not eventers - so I got time, but hey ho, I wasn't too bothered about that.
He then pootled round the cross country, ears still in my mouth, poo-pooing the ickle fences and just loving it, so not hugely educational for him but useful nevertheless. Here we are going through the shark-infested water:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593745250&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click for more)
Next up was the Huge One who proceeded to entertain m_m and KatB in the dressage warm-up with his Tigger impression.
Yep, all very funny other than he did it ten times worse when I went in, proving that he's clever enough to know that dressage on grass is not BD, so surly looks and mardy attitudes are replaced with cheeky squeaks and evil moments. No photos, but I'm trying my hardest to upload the vid. He was very generously marked for 41.5, "lovely horse" she put....I don't think so!
I was relieved to then get on Marty and do the same test, thinking he couldn't possibly be as bad as HH, and he wasn't. Yes, he got tense and tricky but we kept our cool and fluffed a couple of movements, to get a hefty 49.5.
Yeah, whatever...
HH to showjump next: he and Marty desperately need to go to Weightwatchers (the dressage steward thought that HH would make a lovely show hunter, and Marty a worker
) so the ground getting deep in front of the fences did neither any favours. HH had two down and a couple of time (again, I've got vid if it ever deigns to upload) and it wasn't an appalling round: first fence he didn't jump high enough - simple - and the skinny was the deepest in front so Fat Boy sank on take off.
Hey ho, it's a work in progress, Rome wasn't built in a day and all that.
Usual dodgy lower leg in evidence:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593986250&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click right arrow)
The open cross country was a bit meaty in places and all that whistling through trees was a bit scary, as was the slithering over the rolltop into the water, but we survived which is always a bonus - especially when you consider the bad case of First Event-itis I had last year
.
Here's HH over the bank, slightly random order of photos:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593793250&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (keep clicking)
And then his finest moment over the rolltop:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593824850&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc
(click again)
So, number two horse (insert your own gag there) all done and dusted
it was onto number three, Chubby Chops. I was feeling a tad pensive as Marty has had time off with a kick to his windpipe, damaging cartilage therein, and not been top of my list of priorities all winter. Add to that that bitting is an issue and you'd understand my frequent trips to the Portaloo.
I showjumped him in the HM American gag but the further we went the more backward he got so I really must find something better, but bless him, he tried his hardest to get his mammoth bulk off the floor and over the fences (says she, who looks like a teletubby with all my layers on, including my winter warmth layer of blubber
), jumping clear but again with time. The photos are very unflattering and you would say his style is unique, without doubt, but it's not so horrid-looking on the video:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593999850&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click for one more)
I warmed up over the biggest of the warm-up fences, just to calm my nerves, then off we set. All was going well and I wasn't wearing any foliage nor did I leave my knees on any tree trunks, when we came out into the open to jump the blue pipes, 90 degrees right to a meaty sloping palisade with a drop behind (even Hector had a good old peep at that when he did BE intermediate there)
. I had a good spot, but Marty put his front legs over as if he was going to just pop his back end over, economically and in a typically Irish way, when he bottled out, span back and sat me on my butt on the fence. Oops. A salutory lesson there: even the bravest horses still need a cross country school before attempting fences of novice or above dimensions.
I got legged back on and came again, feeling a bit eek about it, but he popped over, down the slope and round to the water. My whoa-ing and half halt got me an "ears in mouth" moment, so he stopped at that, then went the second time. He makes it look easier than HH did:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593849650&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (keep clicking)
Here's the bank and skinny earlier in the course:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593848250&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click again)
The next fence was a tiny "bullnose" skinny in the field and he stopped at that too (I had my perturbed face on by that point
), although I did wonder he'd developed a sloping palisade complex with them all being the work of the devil, as it did look a bit like one.
After that he was fab and my "good boy's" could be heard after every fence, trying to get him back on side. He flew the ditch and hedge at the end like a pro, but I was a bit
about what long-term damage I may have done to the horse who thinks he's Mr Invincible. Methinks I'll be xc schooling and doing whatever it takes to get him back in the zone before Oasby novice.
And that was it, all done, tack cleaned and home by 6pm with lots of thoughts of homework in mind and things that need doing before I'll do mine and the horses' BE membership justice.
Smoked salmon sarnies if you've made it this far, although they're curling up at the edges: m_m and KatB seemed to prefer Ma Baydale's coffee cake and OH's creme eggs so they're all gone.
I'll keep trying with the vids but by the time I get them uploaded the moment will probably have passed.
) feet touching grass at Osberton on Saturday.It was like kindergarten getting them ready at sparrow's fart, me running around with a poo skip in one hand, hot cloth, tail bandages and travelling kit in the other while each systematically trashed whatever was in reach the minute my back was turned.
First on was Cuddles (HH's mini-me, remember?) who's been staying chez Baydale for a while, having done nothing since Oasby novice in 2008. We warmed up for dressage with his ears in my mouth but I managed to keep inside the boards and do things more or less in the right place; he was in the novice class, so a BE100 test. The judge very sweetly stuck her head out of the window to say what a lovely horse he was, which is always nice, although he's so rubbery it felt like we were just about to do some weird yoga contortions:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593870250&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click right arrow)
I did a quick change to go and showjump and was joined by m_m, jump putter-upper and general good egg. We've discovered Cuddles does have a conscience but he was SO excited, hence the photographic evidence of me "manufacturing" a clear round
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593931050&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click right arrow for more)
They'd wheeled the showjumping really tight - they do that rather than the cross country, and we all know galloping and showjumping is for showjumpers, not eventers - so I got time, but hey ho, I wasn't too bothered about that.
He then pootled round the cross country, ears still in my mouth, poo-pooing the ickle fences and just loving it, so not hugely educational for him but useful nevertheless. Here we are going through the shark-infested water:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593745250&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click for more)
Next up was the Huge One who proceeded to entertain m_m and KatB in the dressage warm-up with his Tigger impression.
I was relieved to then get on Marty and do the same test, thinking he couldn't possibly be as bad as HH, and he wasn't. Yes, he got tense and tricky but we kept our cool and fluffed a couple of movements, to get a hefty 49.5.
HH to showjump next: he and Marty desperately need to go to Weightwatchers (the dressage steward thought that HH would make a lovely show hunter, and Marty a worker
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593986250&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click right arrow)
The open cross country was a bit meaty in places and all that whistling through trees was a bit scary, as was the slithering over the rolltop into the water, but we survived which is always a bonus - especially when you consider the bad case of First Event-itis I had last year
Here's HH over the bank, slightly random order of photos:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593793250&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (keep clicking)
And then his finest moment over the rolltop:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593824850&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc
So, number two horse (insert your own gag there) all done and dusted
I showjumped him in the HM American gag but the further we went the more backward he got so I really must find something better, but bless him, he tried his hardest to get his mammoth bulk off the floor and over the fences (says she, who looks like a teletubby with all my layers on, including my winter warmth layer of blubber
), jumping clear but again with time. The photos are very unflattering and you would say his style is unique, without doubt, but it's not so horrid-looking on the video:http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593999850&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click for one more)
I warmed up over the biggest of the warm-up fences, just to calm my nerves, then off we set. All was going well and I wasn't wearing any foliage nor did I leave my knees on any tree trunks, when we came out into the open to jump the blue pipes, 90 degrees right to a meaty sloping palisade with a drop behind (even Hector had a good old peep at that when he did BE intermediate there)
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593849650&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (keep clicking)
Here's the bank and skinny earlier in the course:
http://www.lincsphoto.co.uk/?Action=VF&id=3593848250&ppp=0&ppwd=rr7231pc (click again)
The next fence was a tiny "bullnose" skinny in the field and he stopped at that too (I had my perturbed face on by that point
And that was it, all done, tack cleaned and home by 6pm with lots of thoughts of homework in mind and things that need doing before I'll do mine and the horses' BE membership justice.
I'll keep trying with the vids but by the time I get them uploaded the moment will probably have passed.
