regionals report from a not so sensible captain...

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Prince33Sp4rkle

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well, the short version is that even after 50mins warm up he was still too tense and breathing fire, so he made 2 baby mistakes-hopped on to the wrong leg and had a half hearted nap after the medium walk. we scored 60.6% which was by no means the worst( fair few on sub 60 and we saw 4/5 retire when their horses absolutely exploded, so at least he mainly kept a lid on it) but he was just too tight to really let go and swing.
he's 5 and it was p*** pouring with rain and its his first regionals, so i shouldnt be disappointed.....but i am :(

Ben st John James and Wolinder were well out inf ront on 70% when i left.

the long version is........

.......didnt get off to a great start when i managd to knock an earring out whilst getting dressed, and knocked the stem off. did a quick repair with the superglue but i think i put in back in before it was dry so im fairly certain that earring is superglued to my ear lobe for ever more!!!!

i then nearly forgot my boots and was only saved by my eagle eyed sister.

finally, my stock pin died a death en route, so OH (following in car) was despatched to every service station between leics and keysoe to get some more superglue, but alas arrived too late so i had to wear my spare.......which is clearly why i didnt get 70% and win!!!!

was lovely to meet little_flea, maggie and nora, maggie is huuuuuuuuuuuuuge but very elegant (and i really like your jacket btw!!!)

am sacking off keysoe for the foreseeable......CS finds the warm up far too cramped and it just upsets him, so will got to either somerford or frys if we qual next year.

and at hargate AF will allow myself a good hour and 20mins warm up, and if he settles quickly will get off and let him stand and watch-he clearly still needs more time at shows with a *big atmosphere*, and as a horse who likes to get his feet moving, that should help.

i just wish we could have given a repeat of what we managed at Moulton.ho hum.

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awww bless him - think mine would have flately refused to come out of the warm up into weather like that :( If its any concellation you both look stunning in the pictures and you should be proud to be there. :D :)
 
no way is he 5! god im slow...! he looks amazing as always, and you should definatley be pleased with such a big atmosphere and the rain too!

the judge behind you in pic 5, looks very happy :p well done :D
 
aw such a shame i'm gutted for you, still always another day, though i hate it when people say that! the rain looks horrid!

still looking lovely though :)
 
Oh, dear! Hope your ear is OK!!!! On the bright side, he is a super young chap with loads of time to get used to the atmosphere and I just know there will be a lot more 'big ocassions' for him! The rain looks appalling!

Somerford warm-up was super. Very, very large and although there were many horses there, it was easy to do your thing. Fry's warm up was a nightmare at times, up to 12 horses in a 20x60 at some times of the day!!!
 
Well, you're in it for the long game, aren't you? ;)

Look how many horses come out successfully at the upper levels having spotty/no comp records up to that level because the tension gets to them on the day and they simply need the mileage to be able to reproduce their best work in high pressure situations. You know better than me you're not going to get the "edge" - the "good tension" - that makes horses fire and produces brilliance without a few "overly brilliant" moments along the way. Looking at the photos, I think he had a point, not really wanting to play today! ;) What must horses think of us, thinking it's a good idea to ride around in biblical level floods! :D

He's a lovely fellow, has come on so well, and really is one for the future. There will be other days and he's had one more day of mileage you'll be grateful for later. :)
 
You did really well to qualify, and even better to finish your test with all the excitement of a big occasion & all that rain.

At least you've got some more miles on the clock, & he will be older & wiser next year.
 
thanks Booboos, somerford it will be then (if we qual!).

i know, and iv said this many a time, that i AM in it for the long haul AKA Grand Prix and when he does that, no one will remeber or care that he was too tense to do well at a novice regional, but today i just feel very down,meep.im being a big baby.

thank you all, another one under his belt, so hopefully will remember this, and be calmer at the AF....hopefully!
 
Do Addington next time! guaranteed a big warmup at the very least. Keysoe warmup is so crowded even at a normal show.

But, he looks lovely in your pictures, although I cringed at your lovely jacket and hat getting ruined in the downpour. Onwards and upwards - as you say, he's a potential GP horse not a novice horse. :)

x
 
He looks super in the pictures - don't dwell on today, think of the bigger picture and the experience he has gained today.....invaluable!

Well done for qualifying, that's an achievement in itself!

I'm at Keysoe tomorrow.....I've sent OH out into the garden in the thunder and lightening to do a little sun dance for me ;)
 
Addington warm up is great and very good atmosphere this year. We find get them out twice helps the nerves a lot bigger does. Get there in time to have out and look and stretch, then put back on lorry for a think and a tart up. Just an idea for the future.
 
God he looks stunning!!!!!!!!

Shame it didnt come together but like you say he's 5...and he's yours for the long time and you know how bloody good he's going to be. There is always another show - but i know how much disappointment stings. Chin up and onwards :) :) :)
 
oh OG you have made me laugh.......i imagine BE would require you to remove an earring prior to XC anyway lol!!!!!

maestro-thats a good idea and one i may well use at hargate.or even just take him in hand up to stand and absorb the atmosphere.
 
Prince33Sp4rkle said:
thanks Booboos, somerford it will be then (if we qual!).
Click to expand...

I know you will!

The only problem with Somerford is that the actual test arenas (3 of them) are very, very close to each other. They are next to each other length wise, with only about a metre or two between arena boards, no room at the A end and all the judges crammed at the C end. For horses that feel a little bit hemmed in, it's not ideal. Whereas Fry's has two separate arenas for the tests with loads of room and horses seem more settled.
 
At 5 that's a fantastic experience for him, and he looks lovely in the pictures. Shame about the rain too :o

I'm at Hargate for the AF too. I'm doing the medium - anything could happen!!
 
I think you both look fantastic and you're right at only 5 he's doing so welll, maybe after a few more big atmos venues he will have it licked. Supergluing your earring to your ear sounds like a great time saving idea! ;)
 
Arenas really deep there today and Claire had read the test wrong and made a complete hash of it.
Shame for you yesterday , wish you could have a couple of goes at regionals. Lyon and Emma Sutton won your class yesterday , lovely young rider who had an article in BD mag this month, think she got 72%[ she came 4th in elem. regional at Addington this week as well]
Roll on petplans
 
Well done, he looks stunning in the pics! A lot for a 5 year old to take in and its better he has too much sparkle at this point than lacking it! Once he has more experience and seen the world a bit he will be absolutely fantastic and you'll be able to push him to the edge but he won't blow over so much. How annoying about the mishaps and the weather, but I'd be really pleased with both him and yourself for getting those regionals under your belt and a good score considering everything :)
 
Booboos said:
I know you will!

The only problem with Somerford is that the actual test arenas (3 of them) are very, very close to each other. They are next to each other length wise, with only about a metre or two between arena boards, no room at the A end and all the judges crammed at the C end. For horses that feel a little bit hemmed in, it's not ideal. Whereas Fry's has two separate arenas for the tests with loads of room and horses seem more settled.
Click to expand...

The set up caused issues for me this year, I have a nappy horse (as you probably know PS) and Orvis decided to go into himself and not move and lose focus.
My friend's mare took a real dislike to the huts being right at the boards, she's previously won a novice regional, but she ended up coming last in the Elem due to her horse being so upset by it.

p.s. photos look great, had a look on facebook :)
 
Disappointing. But you know he can do it :) Hey..bright side is..my ex-racer still explodes at EVERY show..we lose a lot of marks for tension and disobedience :rolleyes: so don't seem to be able to get decent Novice scores at the moment..despite his work at home having improved tenfold lately.

And you're right...I'm fairly sure Carl Hester (think it was him) said one of his GP horses took forever to calm down and used to frequently rear and explode through tests. Once it got to GP I would imagine nobody cared about his earlier experiences :)
 
Hey, well done, i think you both look super smart! Loving the "topper" look! How cool!

He's just a baby when all said and done and you've got years yet, i know its hard when you are so competative, but its another rung of the ladder and think how far he's come in such a short space of time. That weather looked awlful too! You'll have to get schooling him in heavy downpours!! LOL.. ;-)
 
Wow, you both look so smart! :) Shame it didn't quite go to plan, but like everyone else has said, it's all good practice for when it really matters. :) I can't believe he's only 5, I also thought he was older, just goes to show how good he normally is.
 
Well done - its a big atmosphere for a youngster to take in and he sounds like he coped really well considering.

Pictures look great as usual :) Can i ask how many other people wore toppers at Novice level? Ive never really seen anyone ride in a topper at novice apart from at the Nationals (it looks super smart though). I have one and ive never actually worn it!
 
only one other person, but i dont mind, i think its a big enough show not to look silly???!!!

thank you all, i know deep down, that he's doing really well, i was just so confident after his last couple of shows, perhaps shouldnt have built it up so much.silly me.

anyhoo, iv entered 2 elems at swallowfield in a couple of weeks, and will be spending some time when we arrived letting him mooch round and absorb the atmosphere, and have also bought him some calming essential oils to sniff!!!!!!!
 
You both look stunning. He's a beautiful boy! Like others have said he is on the edge of brilliance and sometimes he will tip over the edge! He is so so young, as he matures he will not be so affected by the big atmospheres :). That rain looks awful too! What bad luck that was.
He's amazing, you have brought him on to look so special, you should be proud :)
 
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