TableDancer
Well-Known Member
Guess it's my turn then...
chatter1 and I met at Leyland Court (many thanks to the Irishes who very kindly let us squeeze ourselves, our steeds and our gear into chatter1's truck - no mean feat I can assure you - and leave mine there for the week) late on Monday evening, with a view to driving up through the night. We picked the Henmeister up en route - it's amazing the strange people you can pick up at the Wide Load Bay on the M50/M5 roundabout, it would appear
It was around that time that it started to dawn on Pingy and me that we are, in fact, dwarves
With chatter1 standing about 5'10", Henmeister a cool 6' and Max at 17 hands, our short persons' complexes were coming on nicely
Uneventful journey meant we arrived at Burgie via breakfast in Inverness Tescos about 10am
; Unloaded and settled the horses in, we had lovely indoor stables in the big barn with the great and the good, courtesy of Maxs dimensions (not that PP and I are jealous, you understand)
Once we were all sorted, we settled down for a lunchtime glass of wine in the sun. It was only after we got a few curious glances I looked at my watch and discovered that it was in fact only 11 oclock in the morning
It was like having jetlag our bodyclocks were shot to bits. We bravely downed the bottle anyway
and crawled off to bed for a few hours
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday were pretty routine for PP and me. I worked him not too hard but steadily (hack on Tues, one session Wed, two sessions Thurs) as the journey undoubtedly exhausted them, particularly Max. Trot up was fine, chatter1s dressage went off ok although Max could have done with another day to recover and the judges werent feeling over-generous I have a funny feeling chatter1 wont get around to doing her own report (when does she ever??
) so Ill fill you in with the headlines. No doubt if I get anything wrong shell put me straight pdq
Anyway, someone tall had obviously been feeding PP good pills as he gave me some of the best work hes ever done and felt fantastic
and about 17 hands
Friday was dressage day for us. We were second last to go in a class of about 75 so, given the rain we had had, the warm-up was predictably diabolical and the arena itself was well dodgy. I had to kill the paces so he didnt get too worried in the warm-up, trouble was PP being the character he is I didnt feel confident to then ratchet everything up again when we went in so the test was a little quiet and unexpressive. Thats my excuse anyway
Still, not disastrous for 54.5 mid-table.
Cross country? Overall, big (very
), bold with plenty of rider-frighteners but nothing technical and very fair. Felt fairly confident despite the fact that PP is still pretty inexperienced for that level. Cutting to the chase, he felt great and ate the course up but we had a major misunderstanding at the skinny duck after the water. He never locked onto it until much too late and just sailed past I dont think it occurred to him he had to jump it
Turned and popped it easily, and cruised round the rest. I took one long route after that (at the camp for those who know it) as there didnt seem much point in going straight, and didnt hurry so had some time he was miles up on his minute markers until our blip. Im delighted that he felt so solid, if irritated at the mistake, but if he had been clear inside the time we would have risen to 35th place so on the whole it was a bit immaterial. The course could probably have done with one or two more questions, but hindsight is a wonderful thing
We put PP away, looking slightly shell-shocked I have to say, as hes used to finding everything so very easy. He was definitely looking 15.2ish at that point
Rushed off to help chatter1 and the 17.2 Max on their 2*. They sailed round looking magnificent, round a track which was causing carnage. Chatter1s watch didnt start so she had 9 time, but they still rocketed up the leader board to 12th overnight
; Both boys trotted up very well that night so it was nice to avoid a long evenings icing
Sunday morning, and trot-up came and went uneventfully for both phew! Then had to hurry to get PP ready to jump as we were due to go unfashionably early
Track was square and twisty with plenty to jump: 12 fences, 15 jumping efforts, with a treble at number 3
PP mooched around the warm-up distinctly quietly. Feeling sorry for him, I didnt warm up for too long and had selected his Sprenger snaffle (yes, the Aldon one for anyone who remembers THAT debacle
) Entering the arena, suddenly I was no longer riding the slightly tired and flat PP of about 15 hands, but a 17.3 fire-breathing dragon
He proceeded to make a complete fool of me, bouncing around completely uncontrollably, snatching the reins out of my hands merrily, diving at the fences and generally playing the fool. Finished with 3 down and 10 time Id tried to go wide round the turns to settle him down, with spectacularly little effect
Really fed-up and embarrassed tbh, the worst moment being after I came out of the ring, and saw Kenneth Clawson AND Peter Murphy, both of whom have had the misfortune to try to help me over the last year or so, bearing down on me looking distinctly grim
; Guess I wasnt the best advert for their coaching talents at that particular moment
Went back to the stables and untacked the fire-breathing monster who had reverted to tired 15 hand pony. I felt about 4 nothing and a hundred years old final straw was when I couldnt reach to get my bridle on the bridle rack in the back of chatter1s lorry
Pulled myself together and after a break, helped c1 warm-up for her SJ. Track caused far less problems than the 1* (where at least 3 or 4 were eliminated or fell off) Max was jumping his socks off and went beautifully for an unlucky one down. Still rose two places to 10th hurray! Cheered them in the prize-giving, then time to pack up and drive back through the night again. The rest, as they say, is history So PP learnt a lot about being a proper 3 day eventer and I learnt a lot about how to manage him best DONT believe him when he says hes tired on day 3, DO ride him for at least an hour and DO put something in his mouth he might respect
Some confusion as to whether its a qualifying score but frankly he still needs a lot of mileage before a CCI** so it doesnt really matter that much. Raise your glasses to the giants of the party: chatter1 and Max for their superb performance, and Henmeister for being completely invaluable in every way
Ive seldom laughed so much over a 3 day event, we had an absolute ball. Lovely to share it with Gamebird, Kerilli and KatB too and thank you all for your help as well, especially KatB who not only pitched in big time whenever most needed, but also made me feel a tiny bit taller
I would certainly offer you aglass of Pimms at this point but sadly GB, KatB and Kenneth drank it all, or some Kettle Chips but we ate them all
And finally, a quick toast to absent friends who would have made the trip complete they know who they are
chatter1 and I met at Leyland Court (many thanks to the Irishes who very kindly let us squeeze ourselves, our steeds and our gear into chatter1's truck - no mean feat I can assure you - and leave mine there for the week) late on Monday evening, with a view to driving up through the night. We picked the Henmeister up en route - it's amazing the strange people you can pick up at the Wide Load Bay on the M50/M5 roundabout, it would appear
Uneventful journey meant we arrived at Burgie via breakfast in Inverness Tescos about 10am
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday were pretty routine for PP and me. I worked him not too hard but steadily (hack on Tues, one session Wed, two sessions Thurs) as the journey undoubtedly exhausted them, particularly Max. Trot up was fine, chatter1s dressage went off ok although Max could have done with another day to recover and the judges werent feeling over-generous I have a funny feeling chatter1 wont get around to doing her own report (when does she ever??
Friday was dressage day for us. We were second last to go in a class of about 75 so, given the rain we had had, the warm-up was predictably diabolical and the arena itself was well dodgy. I had to kill the paces so he didnt get too worried in the warm-up, trouble was PP being the character he is I didnt feel confident to then ratchet everything up again when we went in so the test was a little quiet and unexpressive. Thats my excuse anyway
Cross country? Overall, big (very
We put PP away, looking slightly shell-shocked I have to say, as hes used to finding everything so very easy. He was definitely looking 15.2ish at that point
Sunday morning, and trot-up came and went uneventfully for both phew! Then had to hurry to get PP ready to jump as we were due to go unfashionably early
Pulled myself together and after a break, helped c1 warm-up for her SJ. Track caused far less problems than the 1* (where at least 3 or 4 were eliminated or fell off) Max was jumping his socks off and went beautifully for an unlucky one down. Still rose two places to 10th hurray! Cheered them in the prize-giving, then time to pack up and drive back through the night again. The rest, as they say, is history So PP learnt a lot about being a proper 3 day eventer and I learnt a lot about how to manage him best DONT believe him when he says hes tired on day 3, DO ride him for at least an hour and DO put something in his mouth he might respect
