NewHeights_SJ
Well-Known Member
After Arctic hurt himself and we were out of the Derby meeting, Hickstead very kindly transferred my entries to the Royal International instead...However two days before, we went to Towerlands to jump the teams competition (we were third - YeY!!) my lorry decided to get a massive oil leak
Cue a panic and a few tears when we realised the lorry wouldnt be ready in one day to take on monday to Hickstead. I was absolutely gutted, but a friend of mine saved the day and very kindly lent me her lorry for the week - so i got to go to the ball after all!!
Im so glad i did. The competition was pretty tough, with around 80 in the 1.10m amateur championship classes each day. But on the first day we went clear and came 13th!! I couldnt believe i got a rosette on the first day, so was over the moon!! The top ten qualified for the final so i just missed out, but i didnt mind as i had a rosette to take home.
Day two i was in one of the bigger more scarey rings, but it had a real 'Hickstead' feel to it. I decided that i'd have a go in the JO if i went clear, as i felt confident. We went clear and onto the JO, kicking on and taking some tight lines and ended up coming 5th - qualifying for the final on the last day!!! I was absoultely shocked but so happy with my awesome pony! And anther rosette to add to the first!
The third day i felt a little more nervous than the first two (maybe because some of my friends had come to watch) and as a result we had the first fence down, but finished on four faults. Pretty pleased as one fence is nothing to grumble about.
The fourth day saw lots of rain, and the day before the final i considered not jumping. However, he felt energtic enough plus it was in the same ring as the final would be the next day, so thiught it a good idea to let Arctic look around. This was the biggest of the arenas outside of the international one and definitely had that 'Hickstead' feel again. I walked the course and definitely thought it looked big, the JO was massive. Hey ho, i thought we'd give it a go. We set off with big studs in and he felt great, jumping clear in the first round and taking all the turns in the JO in his stride. We finished on a fast time and went into 2nd place - where we stayed!!!
Turns out i was only 0.03 of a second off the leader....i love my pony!!!!!
So by now i had three rosettes and the last day was the final - to me just a bonus!! It was 1.20 ut walked ok (with my eyes closed, haha)... the ground was still slippy so i kept big studs in and once again he jumped clear!!! I had a long wait for the JO and tried my hardest not to watch the fences go up...the first oxer looked 1.30
Ive not jumped that big in the ring before, so i thought id just have a go. Which we did, but ended up on 8 faults. Still SO pleased, and great experience for me.
After all the problems i was just glad to be at Hickstead, but absolutely over the moon with my boy!!!!!
Some pictures from the last day:
Warming up:
Pictures from the final:
The JO (excuse my facial expression!!):
And just because im so proud:
Thanks for reading,
N xx
Im so glad i did. The competition was pretty tough, with around 80 in the 1.10m amateur championship classes each day. But on the first day we went clear and came 13th!! I couldnt believe i got a rosette on the first day, so was over the moon!! The top ten qualified for the final so i just missed out, but i didnt mind as i had a rosette to take home.
Day two i was in one of the bigger more scarey rings, but it had a real 'Hickstead' feel to it. I decided that i'd have a go in the JO if i went clear, as i felt confident. We went clear and onto the JO, kicking on and taking some tight lines and ended up coming 5th - qualifying for the final on the last day!!! I was absoultely shocked but so happy with my awesome pony! And anther rosette to add to the first!
The third day i felt a little more nervous than the first two (maybe because some of my friends had come to watch) and as a result we had the first fence down, but finished on four faults. Pretty pleased as one fence is nothing to grumble about.
The fourth day saw lots of rain, and the day before the final i considered not jumping. However, he felt energtic enough plus it was in the same ring as the final would be the next day, so thiught it a good idea to let Arctic look around. This was the biggest of the arenas outside of the international one and definitely had that 'Hickstead' feel again. I walked the course and definitely thought it looked big, the JO was massive. Hey ho, i thought we'd give it a go. We set off with big studs in and he felt great, jumping clear in the first round and taking all the turns in the JO in his stride. We finished on a fast time and went into 2nd place - where we stayed!!!
So by now i had three rosettes and the last day was the final - to me just a bonus!! It was 1.20 ut walked ok (with my eyes closed, haha)... the ground was still slippy so i kept big studs in and once again he jumped clear!!! I had a long wait for the JO and tried my hardest not to watch the fences go up...the first oxer looked 1.30
After all the problems i was just glad to be at Hickstead, but absolutely over the moon with my boy!!!!!
Some pictures from the last day:
Warming up:
Pictures from the final:
The JO (excuse my facial expression!!):
And just because im so proud:
Thanks for reading,
N xx
