Hollyhorse
Well-Known Member
I did my (and my horse's) first Novice at west wilts a few weeks ago and came 8th 
I've got the opportunity to do the novice at shipton moyne in a few weeks so I'm trying to work out if I should do it or not as I'm not familiar with the venue. There are a few things to consider!
1) First, he's just turned 7 and has done pre-novices with success last season and this season.
2) He's not the most careful showjumping because he gets very excited and can be a bit erratic. He only knocked one down at west wilts but it wasn't a huge course.
3) He's very bold XC and good with skinnies, water, ditches etc - a real machine. However at west wilts I did have to ride him - not because he was wanting to stop or anything, but he clearly noticed they were bigger and therefore didn't charge at them like he would at pre-novice. At no point was he going to stop but I was aware that he was green at that level.
4) He nearly died at the end of the west wilts novice XC course!! The last two jumps I had to near carry him over as he was clearly whacked. I had made him gallop the course so we only had 2 time faults, he is a galloping horse so that's the norm with him. However he clearly is not super fit as west wilts is flat and he was shattered at the end.
So do I do shipton moyne novice or not? If I don't then his next novice will be west wilts again in august after a BE100 open at stockland lovell at the end of july. The things I'm concerned about is that the SJ is supposed to be on the big side and therefore we may knock them all down. I'm also worried that he'll find the XC course with all the hills exhausting and that it would be quite unkind for me to take him. I also don't know if the Novice XC course at shipton moyne is nice or not?!
Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated!
I've got the opportunity to do the novice at shipton moyne in a few weeks so I'm trying to work out if I should do it or not as I'm not familiar with the venue. There are a few things to consider! 1) First, he's just turned 7 and has done pre-novices with success last season and this season.
2) He's not the most careful showjumping because he gets very excited and can be a bit erratic. He only knocked one down at west wilts but it wasn't a huge course.
3) He's very bold XC and good with skinnies, water, ditches etc - a real machine. However at west wilts I did have to ride him - not because he was wanting to stop or anything, but he clearly noticed they were bigger and therefore didn't charge at them like he would at pre-novice. At no point was he going to stop but I was aware that he was green at that level.
4) He nearly died at the end of the west wilts novice XC course!! The last two jumps I had to near carry him over as he was clearly whacked. I had made him gallop the course so we only had 2 time faults, he is a galloping horse so that's the norm with him. However he clearly is not super fit as west wilts is flat and he was shattered at the end.
So do I do shipton moyne novice or not? If I don't then his next novice will be west wilts again in august after a BE100 open at stockland lovell at the end of july. The things I'm concerned about is that the SJ is supposed to be on the big side and therefore we may knock them all down. I'm also worried that he'll find the XC course with all the hills exhausting and that it would be quite unkind for me to take him. I also don't know if the Novice XC course at shipton moyne is nice or not?!
Any thoughts or experiences would be greatly appreciated!