Perfect Pickle Pony competition update *Video*

charlimouse

charlimouse

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I will have had Pickle 3 weeks on Saturday, and he has yet to put a hoof wrong :D. You name it, he does it, regardless of what the numpty on top is doing :o. We had a fab XC schooling session where he sailed straight over every jump :D.

My riding club is currently running a series of weekly combined training competitions, where dressage stays the same but the SJ goes up 5cm every weeks and the course gets more difficult. Last week was our first one. Pickle was perfectly behaved, but I felt I let him down by riding like a numpty. He is a seriously genuine horse as I rode like a sack of spuds, yet he still managed to do a 69% dressage and clear SJ to come 2nd, despite being somewhat handicapped by the idiot on top :o. On Tuesday I had a jumping lesson on him, which was very helpful, albeit a little disheartening when I realise how much confidence I have lost over the past 18 months :( (mainly due to horse injury and riding some not-so-genuine horses). Tonight I was determined not to let Pickle down, and ride him to make his job easy, as oppose to hindering him. Dressage started well, and he did a sweet test, he got a little on his forehand at times, and the flies were bad, so he wasn't always 100% consistent in the contact. But we got 8's for our canter work and finished on 70.5% :). On to the SJ which was 75cm. This week they had put all the fillers in, including the wall, hanging filler and water tray. I was a little worried when nobody managed to get round wthout being eliminated whilst I was watching :eek:. What I had forgotten was I have Pickle :D! Made sure I got a forwards canter, and off we went. He got into a rhythm, and he didn't bat an eyelid at any of the jumps, meeting every one off a comfortable stride to jump a clear round :D.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTKE5SbK5XU&feature=youtu.be

It felt so much better than last week, and it really feels like we are now a team :). To top it off we also managed to win, so all in all a very happy team Charlimouse headed home.

So now the plan is the last RC combined training competition (at 80cm) next week, then a 75cm RC ODE next weekend. A short break whilst I watch how the pros do it at Burghey, before the BE80 at Frickley at the beginning of September. Can't wait :D!
 
What a lovely chap Pickle is :D

Sooo pleased for you, he looks just the job, what a lovely flowing round, and brilliant dressage scores :)
 
Lovely boy :) and nice jumping round! Bet you are going to have a whale of a time with him, you have been in a fairly similar situation to me and makes all the difference having a nice young horse who wants to go and do the job for you!
 
Yay for Pickle Pony, he is a seriously cool dude :cool:
It's amazing how much confidence a genuine horse can give you...I spent years riding a serial stopper and have just got back from Ireland where I rode a strange horse round a 1m course despite not having jumped properly for ages - the horse was such a genuine little chap though so I felt completely comfortable! :eek: :D
Keep the Pickles reports coming, can't wait to hear how he does at the next events! :) And enjoy Burghley, I've got tickets too so no doubt I'll probably walk past you at some point! :p
 
LOVE Pickle :D You look like you're getting on so well together already!

Very jealous that there aren't any RCs near me that do that sort of competition regularly - going out weekly to a low-key CT with people who you know must be so useful for confidence! Good luck for the ODE.
 
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