Second BD :-) upwards, sideways, backwards and eventually forwards :-D

china

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Took the five year old to his second BD yesterday. It was....interesting ;-) his first BD (and second ever prelim test) he scored 60.4%. Yesterday was our second BD we arrived in plenty of time, tacked him up and then came the dreaded puddle that covered the whole entrance to the warm up, clearly it was acid and his feet were going to melt.. ;-) on the way to the venue I realised I had forgotten my neck strap but he is generally an old head on young shoulders bar a few spooks here and there. Warmed up and he felt lush, really listening and settled, stretching down well and generally gave me a good feeling. Our time came for the first test, P14. This is the first time we had been to this venue and the arenas were lovely, nothing to look at, not even white boards, just the judges shed. We walked down the path and across the grass to the arena and he proceeded to start prancing like a dufus and snort at the rubber in the arena... Bell goes, trot down the centre line and track left, we did trot down the centre line and at X go backwards as fast as you can! I think I even managed to get abit of whiplash with him jumping of the floor like a goon! The score sheet said cautious after X :-D we scored a deserved 53% for that test! Surprised we even got that!

Managed to borrow a neck strap from someone for the second test. Second test was his first long arena test, identical arena next to the previous test just longer. Someone very kindly called for me, he didn't spook anywhere near as much but was extremely tense which was a shame otherwise it would have been a lovely test but I was just pleased he went around without launching himself in the air like a gazelle! He scored 62.17% in the second test so very pleased with that! Just another over 62% and we can do the area festivals. I don't give him enough credit sometimes as he is only five and has only been in full time work since may. He just gets you into a false sense of security with how well behaved he usually is. He is doing county level showing next year and royal Windsor being our first large show, definitely taking a neck strap for that as he has proved how sharp he can be :-D chicken roast dinner up for grabs!
 

humblepie

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Thanks for the offer but have chicken dinner in oven already!

Sounds like it was fun and he redeemed himself.

What is he going to show as?
 

AbFab

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Well done! It sounds like he can do some very good work when he's thinking forwards (and not backwards or up!). I've always said dressage horses need to be a bit bonkers to have the power they need to pull the good tests out of the bag. Saying that though, I like mine to be fairly boring and sensible :D
 

china

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Thanks for the offer but have chicken dinner in oven already!

Sounds like it was fun and he redeemed himself.

What is he going to show as?

He will be affiliated to he bsps January once he has had his height certificate done and will do the intermediate hunter and show riding type as he is still borderline between the two at the moment but I'm sure by the time he is 7 he will be to chunky for riding type.

Our first outings at dressage were lacking in energy and presence, now he can't keep all four feet down haha!! Hoping to do summerhouse Friday if they will take me as a late entrant.
 

Tempi

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Sounds like he wil be lovely once he learns to relax in the arena. What's his history, did you buy/breed him just to BD or will he do other things?

Not sure if you are aware, but area festival sheets are only valid from 1st Jan - so you can't use any sheets from 2012 to do the 2013 AFs they all have to be from 2013.
 

china

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No I was not aware of that, I'm sure he will get the scores next year :) you wouldn't believe his story if you saw him, he came over from ireland 15 months ago untouchable and was broken in the same year, I purchased him (he was on the same yard as me) I turned him away for the winter and he was re schooled may this year.he Is the the sweetest creature and is like he's been handled all his life, which is why I say if you saw him, you couldn't believe it. He has taken to doing dressage as he moves very nicely and will also be competing county level showing next year. He did well on the local shows. He hasn't done much in the way of jumping but he appears quite versatile. I did take a flip camera with me but didn't press record... I will one day get some shots of us ;-)
 

china

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I'm on the waiting list for another BD on Friday so I will arm mother with the camera if someone withdraws and we get the spot :-D
 
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