LeannePip
Well-Known Member
I did an update a couple of weeks ago on our Newbie who was going well, so thought i'd keep the ball rolling as we've been busy!
The week after we went to the XC schooling clinic we decided to have a go at a baby hunter trial being run near home, just 1ft6-1ft9 & 2ft-2ft3, i haven't been here for years but knew they didn't have any water/ banks or steps which were the things i wanted to work on following the XC schooling clinic the week before so no pressure and just popping over some little fences seemed the ideal XC ice breaker.
The courses weren't as baby friendly as i'd hoped and had some technical questions i thought, just the fences were alot smaller!
Warming up was hugely exciting and chaotic with people grazing their horses in the warm up when the class was running late!? so after attempting to warm up and fear of the baby horse exploding at any minute, we just went and stood quietly in a corner until our number came up!
The 1ft6-1ft9 wasn't too bad only real question was a double just as you went past the warm up apart from that it was ok. We did manage to eliminate ourselves at the second fence for jumping the bigger option because she was too googly eye'd looking at the crowds by the rope to get straight for her actual jump so i just rode for the next one, better that than pulling her out for no reason, after all she didn't know it was the wrong one!
We wobbled and bounced our way round the rest of the course, missed one jump on first attempt because she was looking at a banner jumped second time, then missed another fence further round because you could just see the jump judge the otherside and that was a bit scary but ballooned on second attempt! And again missed the second part of the double on the first attempt because i just couldn't hold her straight, there was just too much to look at! Super pleased with her for finishing so confidently.
ummed and ahh'd about doing the next class but figured, she learns and picks stuff up so quickly, it would probably help cement what we'd learnt earlier. So quick sponge off, re-tack up and re-mount again we wandered round, had a bit of a trot before that got too exciting so we just stood and waited again. The warm up really was chaos!
This time she shot out of the start straight down the first line of fences (correct ones too this time!) past all the scary banners, by which point you were cantering the boundary of the field and the next fence was a sharp 90 degree turn off the track and about 4/5 strides to a big (all 2ft3 of it!) boxy skinny - horrible ask for a baby, so i eliminated her there and carried on. next question was up and over a big dirt mound, 2 strides to a house which she rode brilliantly, then another let up before a straight forward tipple which was alot to look at but she bounded through rather un elegantly! a few more straight forward fences then one which i thought was a bit horrible for babies; was a set of 2 chairs on a left handed curving 3 strides just before the turn for home, not much i could do to prepare for this it was either going to be jump A circle right, X tracks and over B or jump A hang left and (hopefully) over B, but as we approached, jump judge or friend got out of the car and started marching towards the fence, que baby crabbing sideways completly out of line for either fence! re presented, jumped A, circled right and over B then bounded all the way home! So pleased with her, she had a ball and really built on what she'd learnt in the first round being so much more confident. Couple of pictures from the day - purchased for FB rights and the last poor quality photo is the last fence.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...71876298465.2149999.1338493424&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...71876298465.2149999.1338493424&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...71792560.1073741834.1338493424&type=3&theater
Next stop was a residential camp where she was a star all weekend, settled in the temporary stables, worked well in all her lessons, only one un scheduled dismount on the XC, lovely comments from our instructor and loads to think about on the flat! No pictures as was to busy riding, drinking and enjoying the company of my friends!
Our latest adventure was this weekend at Fair Oak Rogate; Hunter trial/ teamchase - we just entered the minimus 2ft-2ft3 hunter trial. Not much to say apart from we went clear and just out of the placings, conquered the water with a jump in the exit, a sunken road, and a step, jump, step, jump complex. It wasn't a beautiful round but she didn't question anything i asked of her and tackled a couple of scary fences and difficult lines with great gusto! I now just need to work on our approach to the fences - shes very gung ho about life at the moment and once i've put her on a line its hard to control or have any input at what pace/ stride we approach things. Once shes over i can get her back fairly quickly to a nice rolling canter just the approach can be a bit hair raising, and i'm keen to get some tools to tackle this.
Just the one token picture from Yesterday - not my finest captured moment but i'm finding riding her is a bit like trying to tame a farrari, when i'm very much used to Pip my little Ford Fiesta! It is an increasingly long road ahead but i'm seeking help and looking frward to where the journey takes us!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10205082701730709&set=pcb.10205082702450727&type=3&theater
and also the rest of the sequence from the photographer - http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/mhphotos/albums/fairoak/512128/browse/
She was supposed to go on her winter holidays today but i've decided to keep her in another week and go to a clinic with Mark Corbett at Tweseldown on Sunday to hopefully set some XC foundations that she may or may not remember when she comes in again!
Thanks for reading if you got this far!
The week after we went to the XC schooling clinic we decided to have a go at a baby hunter trial being run near home, just 1ft6-1ft9 & 2ft-2ft3, i haven't been here for years but knew they didn't have any water/ banks or steps which were the things i wanted to work on following the XC schooling clinic the week before so no pressure and just popping over some little fences seemed the ideal XC ice breaker.
The courses weren't as baby friendly as i'd hoped and had some technical questions i thought, just the fences were alot smaller!
Warming up was hugely exciting and chaotic with people grazing their horses in the warm up when the class was running late!? so after attempting to warm up and fear of the baby horse exploding at any minute, we just went and stood quietly in a corner until our number came up!
The 1ft6-1ft9 wasn't too bad only real question was a double just as you went past the warm up apart from that it was ok. We did manage to eliminate ourselves at the second fence for jumping the bigger option because she was too googly eye'd looking at the crowds by the rope to get straight for her actual jump so i just rode for the next one, better that than pulling her out for no reason, after all she didn't know it was the wrong one!
We wobbled and bounced our way round the rest of the course, missed one jump on first attempt because she was looking at a banner jumped second time, then missed another fence further round because you could just see the jump judge the otherside and that was a bit scary but ballooned on second attempt! And again missed the second part of the double on the first attempt because i just couldn't hold her straight, there was just too much to look at! Super pleased with her for finishing so confidently.
ummed and ahh'd about doing the next class but figured, she learns and picks stuff up so quickly, it would probably help cement what we'd learnt earlier. So quick sponge off, re-tack up and re-mount again we wandered round, had a bit of a trot before that got too exciting so we just stood and waited again. The warm up really was chaos!
This time she shot out of the start straight down the first line of fences (correct ones too this time!) past all the scary banners, by which point you were cantering the boundary of the field and the next fence was a sharp 90 degree turn off the track and about 4/5 strides to a big (all 2ft3 of it!) boxy skinny - horrible ask for a baby, so i eliminated her there and carried on. next question was up and over a big dirt mound, 2 strides to a house which she rode brilliantly, then another let up before a straight forward tipple which was alot to look at but she bounded through rather un elegantly! a few more straight forward fences then one which i thought was a bit horrible for babies; was a set of 2 chairs on a left handed curving 3 strides just before the turn for home, not much i could do to prepare for this it was either going to be jump A circle right, X tracks and over B or jump A hang left and (hopefully) over B, but as we approached, jump judge or friend got out of the car and started marching towards the fence, que baby crabbing sideways completly out of line for either fence! re presented, jumped A, circled right and over B then bounded all the way home! So pleased with her, she had a ball and really built on what she'd learnt in the first round being so much more confident. Couple of pictures from the day - purchased for FB rights and the last poor quality photo is the last fence.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...71876298465.2149999.1338493424&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...71876298465.2149999.1338493424&type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?...71792560.1073741834.1338493424&type=3&theater
Next stop was a residential camp where she was a star all weekend, settled in the temporary stables, worked well in all her lessons, only one un scheduled dismount on the XC, lovely comments from our instructor and loads to think about on the flat! No pictures as was to busy riding, drinking and enjoying the company of my friends!
Our latest adventure was this weekend at Fair Oak Rogate; Hunter trial/ teamchase - we just entered the minimus 2ft-2ft3 hunter trial. Not much to say apart from we went clear and just out of the placings, conquered the water with a jump in the exit, a sunken road, and a step, jump, step, jump complex. It wasn't a beautiful round but she didn't question anything i asked of her and tackled a couple of scary fences and difficult lines with great gusto! I now just need to work on our approach to the fences - shes very gung ho about life at the moment and once i've put her on a line its hard to control or have any input at what pace/ stride we approach things. Once shes over i can get her back fairly quickly to a nice rolling canter just the approach can be a bit hair raising, and i'm keen to get some tools to tackle this.
Just the one token picture from Yesterday - not my finest captured moment but i'm finding riding her is a bit like trying to tame a farrari, when i'm very much used to Pip my little Ford Fiesta! It is an increasingly long road ahead but i'm seeking help and looking frward to where the journey takes us!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10205082701730709&set=pcb.10205082702450727&type=3&theater
and also the rest of the sequence from the photographer - http://www.onlinepictureproof.com/mhphotos/albums/fairoak/512128/browse/
She was supposed to go on her winter holidays today but i've decided to keep her in another week and go to a clinic with Mark Corbett at Tweseldown on Sunday to hopefully set some XC foundations that she may or may not remember when she comes in again!
Thanks for reading if you got this far!
