clairel
Well-Known Member
So a small miracle happened today! Don't know whether it was the torrential rain or just an act of god
but Nicky was really relaxed today!
Warmed up for the dressage really nicely and the arenas were holding up very well, not cutting up too badly (but then I was number 35, so they didnt have that much use yet!) I felt he did a very nice test with just a couple of wee mistakes, but in my opinion its the best test hes done so far
. The judge didn't agree giving him a 41.0 leaving us 24th out of 29!
We quickly went and got changed for SJ and he warmed up ok but a little bit switched off! The track had a few very big fences in the 2nd half especially with all the rain and when we went in he was so laid back he was practically horizontal
As you may know this is the exact opposite to how he normally goes so I found it very hard to ride him and we had 4 down
But I suppose I'm not that disappointed as at least he is starting to chill out and thats what I've been wishing for all along!
So we threw Nicky on the box and kitted out in waterproofs, tootled off round the XC course. It was quite nice with a few questions and a few big fences but very encouraging and the ground was good given all the rain, with just a few very wet patches. There were a lot of withdrawls so rushed back, got tacked up a warmed up. Kept him in the american gag and grakle which worked well last week and he seemed happy and I had brakes! Woo Hoo!
So jumped 1 well and nicely over 2 a step up with 2 strides to a skinny. Flew 3, 4, 5 and 6 a big upright under an arch of jcb diggers. 7 was a wee wall down a very steep bank to a skinny on about 4 strides which I was a little worried about before I started because wasn't sure what kind of control I would have, but needn't have worried as he jumped it very nicely
8 was a house and 9 a devil's dyke which he jumped well and boldly. We had a wee sticky moment as he left a leg coming out of the dyke but we both managed to stay upright! 10 was the 1st water with a large brush 1 stride down a step into the water and 2 strides out over a log. Nicky jumped through this very well and flew the next few fences. By this stage I realised I had plenty of brakes so I moved him up a gear and he galloped on well. 16 was a skinny corner in the middle of the field and he really locked on and jumped well. Then 17 was a bounce of white tyres, I had never jumped a bounce XC and wasn't sure what he would make of it but he came back to me easily and popped through it like a star. The second water at 19 was a nice log down a steep slope into a water splash and out up the other side over a pallisade. We jumped this and flew the last 2 fences to finish well and with just 3.6 time faults.
Number 1
House at 8
and the last fence...
I'm quite pleased with him as he is really starting to relax and I think I now have control XC (fingers crossed so far so good!)
Going to go and dry off and try to remove mud from everything! Cookies if you got this far
Also deepest sympathies to Stephens family and friends, we are all thinking of you at this terrible time, what a sad loss. R.I.P
Warmed up for the dressage really nicely and the arenas were holding up very well, not cutting up too badly (but then I was number 35, so they didnt have that much use yet!) I felt he did a very nice test with just a couple of wee mistakes, but in my opinion its the best test hes done so far
We quickly went and got changed for SJ and he warmed up ok but a little bit switched off! The track had a few very big fences in the 2nd half especially with all the rain and when we went in he was so laid back he was practically horizontal
So we threw Nicky on the box and kitted out in waterproofs, tootled off round the XC course. It was quite nice with a few questions and a few big fences but very encouraging and the ground was good given all the rain, with just a few very wet patches. There were a lot of withdrawls so rushed back, got tacked up a warmed up. Kept him in the american gag and grakle which worked well last week and he seemed happy and I had brakes! Woo Hoo!
So jumped 1 well and nicely over 2 a step up with 2 strides to a skinny. Flew 3, 4, 5 and 6 a big upright under an arch of jcb diggers. 7 was a wee wall down a very steep bank to a skinny on about 4 strides which I was a little worried about before I started because wasn't sure what kind of control I would have, but needn't have worried as he jumped it very nicely
Number 1
House at 8
and the last fence...
I'm quite pleased with him as he is really starting to relax and I think I now have control XC (fingers crossed so far so good!)
Going to go and dry off and try to remove mud from everything! Cookies if you got this far
Also deepest sympathies to Stephens family and friends, we are all thinking of you at this terrible time, what a sad loss. R.I.P
