_MizElz_
Well-Known Member
...and we survived! 
Earlier this week I bit the bullet and entered a ODE that I never thought I'd have the guts to do. We've only competed on a 2'3/2'6 XC course before (and a simple, friendly one at that) - this one, although advertised at 2'6, is very full up in places and has a lot of 'iffy' challenges. I ummed and ahhed for ages, but Ellie went so well XC schooling earlier this week that I felt I owed it to her to have a go...
Dressage was atrocious. We left the arena three times, and the first time we did so I then had an error of course as by the time I'd persuaded her that the white boards were not going to eat her, we'd ended up turning across the diagonal when we should have been heading down the side! The less said about the dressage the better....we ended up on a (generous) score of 44.8
Showjumping was MUCH better. My demons re. doubles and related distances have vanished, and she popped round like it was nothing. She is getting quite headstrong in her old age, and by the end of the round my arms were killing me! But, as I always know she will if I dont muck up her striding and rhythm, she went clear
That led us onto the XC. The first few were nice and straightforward - tiger trap, logpile, rails etc. Fence 8 was a big wide trakehner with a telegraph pole slanted above it. She was going nice and forward into it, but realised at the last minute there was a ditch....alas, it was too late - I'd ridden so positively into it she had no choice but to jump
Then over a pretty big hedge with a drop, and onto the water - Bogey Number Two Ellie has a thing about water, and this one was an up to height skinny with two strides to the water (running stream) itself. I thought she'd jump over, then jink out to the side, but I was wrong! She popped it really neatly, and the next few were easy - all uphill and inviting. Then once we got to the top of the hill, she was a bit puffed so I brought her back to a trot for a bit to catch her breath. It obviously worked - we then came to a combination, where you jump a skinny (again, up to height) rail, one stride to a slide down a bank, then one stride to another skinny rail. There were loads of technical eliminations here as people decided to leave it out - however, Ellie was going so beautifully we had to try! She took the first one a bit too fast and scrambled down the bank, but the rail was small enough she could pop it from a trot, and seeing as I have recently perfected the art of buckle-end riding, I just sat back and let her get on with it Next was a big cats cradle type fence filled with flowers, (2'9, got several complaints!) which she flew - the photographer was taking pics here so I cant wait for them to come out! Then we were off for home - a ski jump, tiger trap and table. She backed off a bit at the table, but nothing major - I think she was eyeing up the flower decorations underneath it!
So we got a double clear, and I was chuffed to bits to find we had come 10th out of 35 in the class. It may not sound a great result, but our dressage is so appalling that a DC is all I aim to achieve, and bless her, she couldnt have done better today. I'm so proud of her!
Earlier this week I bit the bullet and entered a ODE that I never thought I'd have the guts to do. We've only competed on a 2'3/2'6 XC course before (and a simple, friendly one at that) - this one, although advertised at 2'6, is very full up in places and has a lot of 'iffy' challenges. I ummed and ahhed for ages, but Ellie went so well XC schooling earlier this week that I felt I owed it to her to have a go...
Dressage was atrocious. We left the arena three times, and the first time we did so I then had an error of course as by the time I'd persuaded her that the white boards were not going to eat her, we'd ended up turning across the diagonal when we should have been heading down the side! The less said about the dressage the better....we ended up on a (generous) score of 44.8
Showjumping was MUCH better. My demons re. doubles and related distances have vanished, and she popped round like it was nothing. She is getting quite headstrong in her old age, and by the end of the round my arms were killing me! But, as I always know she will if I dont muck up her striding and rhythm, she went clear
That led us onto the XC. The first few were nice and straightforward - tiger trap, logpile, rails etc. Fence 8 was a big wide trakehner with a telegraph pole slanted above it. She was going nice and forward into it, but realised at the last minute there was a ditch....alas, it was too late - I'd ridden so positively into it she had no choice but to jump
Then over a pretty big hedge with a drop, and onto the water - Bogey Number Two Ellie has a thing about water, and this one was an up to height skinny with two strides to the water (running stream) itself. I thought she'd jump over, then jink out to the side, but I was wrong! She popped it really neatly, and the next few were easy - all uphill and inviting. Then once we got to the top of the hill, she was a bit puffed so I brought her back to a trot for a bit to catch her breath. It obviously worked - we then came to a combination, where you jump a skinny (again, up to height) rail, one stride to a slide down a bank, then one stride to another skinny rail. There were loads of technical eliminations here as people decided to leave it out - however, Ellie was going so beautifully we had to try! She took the first one a bit too fast and scrambled down the bank, but the rail was small enough she could pop it from a trot, and seeing as I have recently perfected the art of buckle-end riding, I just sat back and let her get on with it Next was a big cats cradle type fence filled with flowers, (2'9, got several complaints!) which she flew - the photographer was taking pics here so I cant wait for them to come out! Then we were off for home - a ski jump, tiger trap and table. She backed off a bit at the table, but nothing major - I think she was eyeing up the flower decorations underneath it! So we got a double clear, and I was chuffed to bits to find we had come 10th out of 35 in the class. It may not sound a great result, but our dressage is so appalling that a DC is all I aim to achieve, and bless her, she couldnt have done better today. I'm so proud of her!
LOL!