Quarrybank
Well-Known Member
Yay
I finally got to go XC again, something I honestly thought Spider wouldn't be able to do again after all his problems & operations.
I awoke to torrential rain & did think about not risking it, but thought the ground would still be ok, just maybe a bit slippy. Thankfully I was right & it had just the right amount of give in it & although we got soaked walking the course, it stopped by the time I got on
I took him to do the pairs with a friend of mine who's got a new horse & was taking him to his first XC (I know Spider will jump whatevers in front of him, so even though he's only 6 himself, he's a good lead horse) She was happy that if he was struggling, we would trot or pull up. I needn't have worried though
My initial concern was that the course was over 2 miles long
with an optimum time of 7 minutes. Very long for a local HT. The first 3 fences were in quick succession, & then the next 5 were spread over 1 1/2 miles, with the final 7 fences again being in fairly quick succession. We decided we'd trot some of the middle section, especially round the corners as it was slippy.
Spider went straight out of the start box, quite happy in his role as leader & very happy to be jumping
He flew everything & apart from a couple of hicups for our partner, getting used to her steering, we both had a great round.
After a breather of about 1/2 hour, we had the novice class over the same course. I decided to canter the whole way & see how he coped. Again he flew round. We were a little over the optimum time as I didn't push him, but we were clear again.
So a very good day. His breathing sounded fine & he didn't tire any more than I would have expected him to. I'm over the moon as 4 months ago, I did honestly think I would never XC him again. It goes to show that you should never give up hope & miracles do happen
The same however, can't be said for me. Having hardly jumped or XC for a year, my back & thighs ache loads today
So horse is ok, but rider need to get fitter
In my defence I've mainly ridden in a dressage saddle for the last few years
So I'm now looking forward to planning a few more for this autumn
I awoke to torrential rain & did think about not risking it, but thought the ground would still be ok, just maybe a bit slippy. Thankfully I was right & it had just the right amount of give in it & although we got soaked walking the course, it stopped by the time I got on
I took him to do the pairs with a friend of mine who's got a new horse & was taking him to his first XC (I know Spider will jump whatevers in front of him, so even though he's only 6 himself, he's a good lead horse) She was happy that if he was struggling, we would trot or pull up. I needn't have worried though
My initial concern was that the course was over 2 miles long
Spider went straight out of the start box, quite happy in his role as leader & very happy to be jumping
After a breather of about 1/2 hour, we had the novice class over the same course. I decided to canter the whole way & see how he coped. Again he flew round. We were a little over the optimum time as I didn't push him, but we were clear again.
So a very good day. His breathing sounded fine & he didn't tire any more than I would have expected him to. I'm over the moon as 4 months ago, I did honestly think I would never XC him again. It goes to show that you should never give up hope & miracles do happen
The same however, can't be said for me. Having hardly jumped or XC for a year, my back & thighs ache loads today
So I'm now looking forward to planning a few more for this autumn
