Tamsin123
Active Member
I have just returned from a fantastic weekend at the Animalife National Riding Club Horse Trials Championships where I was competing in the Open (100 plus) section as part of the Area 8 team with Julie, Natalie and Lisa. This was my first year as part of a riding club, competing in a team competition and qualifying for the National Championships. I was very excited to be competing at Swalcliffe and really looking forward to a long weekend away staying in the horsebox!
I arrived Thursday afternoon to ensure I had plenty of time to unpack and settle Brook in prior to trot up which was first thing on Friday. I hadnt realised how far the stable block was going to be from the horsebox park , thank god I took a wheelbarrow as there were many trips across the field to unpack all Brooks stuff! We had a little hack about that evening and schooling session, Brook was feeling very fresh but settled in well. I however was feeling shattered by the evening after so many trips back and fore to the stables and was really grateful for the lovely BBQ invite to join Becky, her mum and friends for the evening!
Friday was a busy morning with the first Trot up and my dressage test. I was up early to walk Brook around to ensure he wasnt too stiff from standing in the stable, followed by plaiting and another bath for Brook, being white he spends most of his time trying to get dirty! Trot up went well and thankfully we passed the first phase of the competition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOZ2zD7lFJQ
I decided to give Brook a little schooling session post our trot up, he felt really good and very settled so I put him away for a hour while I got my competition gear on for our test. I got on him again 25 minutes before our test he worked really well and I was feeling confident that we were going to do a good test. Five minutes before our test Brook got really tense and stressed and didnt want to work or trot at all! Unfortunately with horses these things happen and I had to just cope with the situation, I was really pleased when the test was actually over and we managed to stay in the arena! We managed to do some work although there was lots of cantering in our trot work and bouncing in our walk! I was surprised not do be last after that test but 58th after dressage out of around 65-70th entries wasnt what I had planned! As a team we were laying 3rd after dressage and 4th with all 4 team scores to count! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOxarokQddg
Feeling a little disheartened after our dressage and the first time Brook had gone so tense and excited on me, I put him away and went off to walk the XC course. The first few fences were more 100 height then Novice, first test came at 4 & 5 which were to tables on a curved line, then followed the biggest question on the course at 8 & 9, a drop in to water followed by a jump in the water and an acute angled brush out. This was definitely a novice question and I couldnt wait to jump this one. The only other strong question was two from home a table to a very skinny brush on a right angle which was going to cause a few problems with tired horses running past the last element. Overall I thought the course was quiet short with lots of let up fences but two novice questions which would sort the field out!
Later that evening our team had a few drinks in my lorry and had fun putting commentary to my dressage test, by then I could actually laugh about it and just look forward to the following day, Roads and Tracks, Steeplechase, Roads and Tracks followed by the XC.
Saturday I wasnt on until lunchtime so I had a nice relaxing morning, another course walk followed by getting my kit ready for the 10 minute box! I was very lucky as it hadnt stopped raining all morning and torrential thunder storms all afternoon though the sun came out just I was getting on for Phase A (Roads & Tracks) and stayed out for my whole XC experience! Brook being experienced thought the count-down for roads and tracks was his count down for xc and cantered through the flags and he just didnt understand when there weren't any fences in sight and he wasnt allowed to go at his speed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2KDOYq56v0
He pulled me and bounced in a short canter the whole way to phase B, the steeplechase, which I think he enjoyed every minute, we seemed to do 6 fences & 2 laps in the half the time given! Oops! He was much better on phase c (roads & tracks) until we headed for home where he got very excited as he could hear the commentary from the XC! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-98VE1EtKo
We had a post Phase C vet check where they checked Brooks heart which was fine but as adrenaline had taken over he was puffing lots and wasnt allowed to go cross country until he was walked around and stopped puffing! Walking around was difficult as he had also lost a shoe so had a new one put on by the farrier, thankfully in my 10 minute box were a spare set of shoes!! After walking off a bit more I was given the green light and hoped back on and straight to the XC start! Brook flow out the start box, he jumped the first few well although we didnt get the best line to the two tables at 4&5, heading to the water complex I knew I had to get him back listening to me, with him still pulling me I managed to get a good canter took a small leap over the jump into water before meeting the jump into water perfectly and lined up for the brush out on an acute line which we met really well and he popped over it. The rest of the course rode well however the hills especially downhills I found difficult to hold Brook and spend lots of extra time trying get him back for the combinations. Coming to the second from last the second tricky fence on the course I had a look at my watch at realised we only had 45 seconds to get home, we jumped this fence well but had to really set up for it which meant that I only had 20 seconds to get home. We galloped home still full of energy to just miss the time to get one annoying time fault. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf1SApYx214
I was really pleased as being the first member of the team we had been a great path finder! I spent ages cooling Brook off throwing lots of water over him and walking him around and around, we must have done about 10 washes and walks before we took him back to the stable were he could have a haynet and a little rest!
All 3 members, Julie, Lisa and Natalie went clear cross country and were laying in good placings in their sections! The water complex and second from last fence caused loads of problems which meant I moved up from 58th after dressage to 20th+ after XC just showed how many problems the two difficult fences caused! We couldnt believe it when we looked at the results that evening to see that our Team, Area 8 were laying 1st going into SJ the following day with only 0.4 points ahead of second place
All the ponies trotted up well the next day and passed the second trot up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqz9qO5dLKI
I got on Brook to warm up for our show jumping to find him full of energy and thinking he was going cross country again!! Even with half hour of schooling he didnt get much better and bounced on the spot and wouldnt go forward. Going into the ring I wasnt sure what was going to happen so I was pleased with only 4 faults which was a difficult round! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FQomYJV-QI
Our Second member Lisa went clear but we didnt know how the other teams were doing, Natalie had four faults and Julie went clear. We didnt know if we had won or not until after the last rider went and were thrilled and a little surprised to hear we were Open Champions!! Heres our lap of honour! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVE46dP6nII
Overall it was a really fun weekend and such a great experience which Im not going to forget in a while! I'm not sure how to attach photos to this thread? I have hundreds which can be found on my facebook page www.facebook.com/tamsindreweventing
I arrived Thursday afternoon to ensure I had plenty of time to unpack and settle Brook in prior to trot up which was first thing on Friday. I hadnt realised how far the stable block was going to be from the horsebox park , thank god I took a wheelbarrow as there were many trips across the field to unpack all Brooks stuff! We had a little hack about that evening and schooling session, Brook was feeling very fresh but settled in well. I however was feeling shattered by the evening after so many trips back and fore to the stables and was really grateful for the lovely BBQ invite to join Becky, her mum and friends for the evening!
Friday was a busy morning with the first Trot up and my dressage test. I was up early to walk Brook around to ensure he wasnt too stiff from standing in the stable, followed by plaiting and another bath for Brook, being white he spends most of his time trying to get dirty! Trot up went well and thankfully we passed the first phase of the competition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOZ2zD7lFJQ
I decided to give Brook a little schooling session post our trot up, he felt really good and very settled so I put him away for a hour while I got my competition gear on for our test. I got on him again 25 minutes before our test he worked really well and I was feeling confident that we were going to do a good test. Five minutes before our test Brook got really tense and stressed and didnt want to work or trot at all! Unfortunately with horses these things happen and I had to just cope with the situation, I was really pleased when the test was actually over and we managed to stay in the arena! We managed to do some work although there was lots of cantering in our trot work and bouncing in our walk! I was surprised not do be last after that test but 58th after dressage out of around 65-70th entries wasnt what I had planned! As a team we were laying 3rd after dressage and 4th with all 4 team scores to count! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOxarokQddg
Feeling a little disheartened after our dressage and the first time Brook had gone so tense and excited on me, I put him away and went off to walk the XC course. The first few fences were more 100 height then Novice, first test came at 4 & 5 which were to tables on a curved line, then followed the biggest question on the course at 8 & 9, a drop in to water followed by a jump in the water and an acute angled brush out. This was definitely a novice question and I couldnt wait to jump this one. The only other strong question was two from home a table to a very skinny brush on a right angle which was going to cause a few problems with tired horses running past the last element. Overall I thought the course was quiet short with lots of let up fences but two novice questions which would sort the field out!
Later that evening our team had a few drinks in my lorry and had fun putting commentary to my dressage test, by then I could actually laugh about it and just look forward to the following day, Roads and Tracks, Steeplechase, Roads and Tracks followed by the XC.
Saturday I wasnt on until lunchtime so I had a nice relaxing morning, another course walk followed by getting my kit ready for the 10 minute box! I was very lucky as it hadnt stopped raining all morning and torrential thunder storms all afternoon though the sun came out just I was getting on for Phase A (Roads & Tracks) and stayed out for my whole XC experience! Brook being experienced thought the count-down for roads and tracks was his count down for xc and cantered through the flags and he just didnt understand when there weren't any fences in sight and he wasnt allowed to go at his speed! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2KDOYq56v0
He pulled me and bounced in a short canter the whole way to phase B, the steeplechase, which I think he enjoyed every minute, we seemed to do 6 fences & 2 laps in the half the time given! Oops! He was much better on phase c (roads & tracks) until we headed for home where he got very excited as he could hear the commentary from the XC! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-98VE1EtKo
We had a post Phase C vet check where they checked Brooks heart which was fine but as adrenaline had taken over he was puffing lots and wasnt allowed to go cross country until he was walked around and stopped puffing! Walking around was difficult as he had also lost a shoe so had a new one put on by the farrier, thankfully in my 10 minute box were a spare set of shoes!! After walking off a bit more I was given the green light and hoped back on and straight to the XC start! Brook flow out the start box, he jumped the first few well although we didnt get the best line to the two tables at 4&5, heading to the water complex I knew I had to get him back listening to me, with him still pulling me I managed to get a good canter took a small leap over the jump into water before meeting the jump into water perfectly and lined up for the brush out on an acute line which we met really well and he popped over it. The rest of the course rode well however the hills especially downhills I found difficult to hold Brook and spend lots of extra time trying get him back for the combinations. Coming to the second from last the second tricky fence on the course I had a look at my watch at realised we only had 45 seconds to get home, we jumped this fence well but had to really set up for it which meant that I only had 20 seconds to get home. We galloped home still full of energy to just miss the time to get one annoying time fault. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf1SApYx214
I was really pleased as being the first member of the team we had been a great path finder! I spent ages cooling Brook off throwing lots of water over him and walking him around and around, we must have done about 10 washes and walks before we took him back to the stable were he could have a haynet and a little rest!
All 3 members, Julie, Lisa and Natalie went clear cross country and were laying in good placings in their sections! The water complex and second from last fence caused loads of problems which meant I moved up from 58th after dressage to 20th+ after XC just showed how many problems the two difficult fences caused! We couldnt believe it when we looked at the results that evening to see that our Team, Area 8 were laying 1st going into SJ the following day with only 0.4 points ahead of second place
All the ponies trotted up well the next day and passed the second trot up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqz9qO5dLKI
I got on Brook to warm up for our show jumping to find him full of energy and thinking he was going cross country again!! Even with half hour of schooling he didnt get much better and bounced on the spot and wouldnt go forward. Going into the ring I wasnt sure what was going to happen so I was pleased with only 4 faults which was a difficult round! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FQomYJV-QI
Our Second member Lisa went clear but we didnt know how the other teams were doing, Natalie had four faults and Julie went clear. We didnt know if we had won or not until after the last rider went and were thrilled and a little surprised to hear we were Open Champions!! Heres our lap of honour! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVE46dP6nII
Overall it was a really fun weekend and such a great experience which Im not going to forget in a while! I'm not sure how to attach photos to this thread? I have hundreds which can be found on my facebook page www.facebook.com/tamsindreweventing
