Annagain
Well-Known Member
Sorry, long and shamelessly happy post coming up. Escape now while you can!!
At the weekend Monty and I competed as a member of a riding club team at an area novice show jumping qualifier. This might not seem much to most people but it's a big deal for me.
When I bought Archie 8 years ago it was an ambition of mine to compete for my riding club, but after 3 years of being dumped thanks to countless filthy stops and having my confidence battered he went lame and he's never jumped since. I should have known something was wrong as he was so lovely to do everything else with, but hindsight's a wonderful thing. There was no way he was going anywhere so I thought that was the end of my jumping days too.
4 years ago I got the chance to share Monty, I've known him for 12 years as he belongs to my best friend so always knew how special he is so jumped at it. He took me from being so terrified of jumping that I spent my first 6 lessons on him in tears to being confident at 2'9" and ok with pushing 3' and last year we were due to make our team debut, but just before Christmas he went lame. To cut a long story short, he spent 5 months on box rest and we weren't sure he'd ever come sound let alone jump.
He started ridden work again in July and jumping in October. We built it up slowly and last weekend we finally made our team debut. In the first round I was shaking so badly I could barely hold the reins but he carried me round virtually by himself for a clear round. By the second round I was better and actually managed to ride rather than just steer, but coming round a sharp corner to a fence that came at you pretty quickly, Monty tripped and almost went down onto his knees. Somehow I stayed on, but by the time he got his balance we were only a stride away from the fence. He slowed down, did a little shuffle and popped it like it was a trotting pole. 99% of horse would have stopped, but he's so honest it never crossed his mind and we managed another clear round.
My team came 5th out of 16, but to me it was like winning the whole competition. I've not stopped grinning since. I've tried to resist posting this, but only managed 3 days before caving in!
At the weekend Monty and I competed as a member of a riding club team at an area novice show jumping qualifier. This might not seem much to most people but it's a big deal for me.
When I bought Archie 8 years ago it was an ambition of mine to compete for my riding club, but after 3 years of being dumped thanks to countless filthy stops and having my confidence battered he went lame and he's never jumped since. I should have known something was wrong as he was so lovely to do everything else with, but hindsight's a wonderful thing. There was no way he was going anywhere so I thought that was the end of my jumping days too.
4 years ago I got the chance to share Monty, I've known him for 12 years as he belongs to my best friend so always knew how special he is so jumped at it. He took me from being so terrified of jumping that I spent my first 6 lessons on him in tears to being confident at 2'9" and ok with pushing 3' and last year we were due to make our team debut, but just before Christmas he went lame. To cut a long story short, he spent 5 months on box rest and we weren't sure he'd ever come sound let alone jump.
He started ridden work again in July and jumping in October. We built it up slowly and last weekend we finally made our team debut. In the first round I was shaking so badly I could barely hold the reins but he carried me round virtually by himself for a clear round. By the second round I was better and actually managed to ride rather than just steer, but coming round a sharp corner to a fence that came at you pretty quickly, Monty tripped and almost went down onto his knees. Somehow I stayed on, but by the time he got his balance we were only a stride away from the fence. He slowed down, did a little shuffle and popped it like it was a trotting pole. 99% of horse would have stopped, but he's so honest it never crossed his mind and we managed another clear round.
My team came 5th out of 16, but to me it was like winning the whole competition. I've not stopped grinning since. I've tried to resist posting this, but only managed 3 days before caving in!
