lex2501
Well-Known Member
Murphy and I set our alarm clocks for the rather unearthly hour of 4.30am on Sunday morning to set off for Burnham Beeches Open Novice! We arrived nice and early due to probably seeing more magpies on the roads than cars - which lead to an awful lot of saluting and "morning mr mapgpie" along the way 
I walked the show jumps and concluded that the course was on the small side - but not one to be sniffed at as the small arena and tight turns would make it tricky.
We headed off to the dressage warm up where we were joined by the very lovely Squizz with her very flash new camera (full permission to post all photos - thank youuuuu
) Murphy was warming up beautifully - soft, willing, forward, and generally an absolute pleasure to ride 
We headed over to the arena and sadly he thought that the white boards were terrifying, so became riddled with tension - so frustrating!! He did a reasonably smart test but was gawping at the boards out of the corner of his eye throughout the whole test 
and the walk was pretty yuk as ever! The end result was 33 which left us about mid-field. Lots of homework required!!
Squizz, myself and a couple of Murphy fans headed off to walk the xc course. My last trip to Burnham Beeches was a few years ago where I ran on pretty solid ground, made my horse a bit "footy" and vowed never to bother making the trip there again. However, I had heard such good things from last year that I changed my mind. Sadly it didn't live up to the rave reviews from last year and I was really disappointed with the ground which was definitely on the firm side. You could really hear the horses hammering along (even from inside the photographers tent about 100 yards from the course) so I was rather half hearted about the whole thing, and slightly underwhelmed by the course too. I decided to see how he show jumped, but had pretty much decided I wouldn't take the risk XC.
The SJ warm up is split between grass and then a very small collecting ring area on a surface. I started off on the grass but only jumped a few as it was very hard out there. Headed over to the surface, jumped a couple and went straight in.
I have found that Murphy on a good spot is rather casual - put him slightly wrong however and he becomes super careful. The first fence was a rather airy upright so I put him deep and he jumped it well. He then jumped a super round, other than the double which was off a tight corner, and left you committed to a distance as there wasn't much room/time to alter. He had come round the corner disunited which made me stop riding. With hindsight I should have just ridden forwards a bit more, but we ended up a mile off the first part of the double and had it down. He finished the rest of the course clear though - and just 4 faults for murphy is pretty bloody good. So big pats for the grey boy
Pro Photos here
Please excuse the appalling lower leg - it seems to be getting worse. Any hints and tips for improving?! Shorter stirrups?! I don't do it on other horses weirdly...
At that point, I realised that my heart was not really in it for the XC. He has nothing to prove in that phase, and certainly doesn't need the mileage just for the sake of chasing a rosette so I decided to take my chap home sound and happy, and save him for another day. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had damaged him just to pot hunt. It turns out that the best we could have got would be 11th so it was definitely the correct decision!
We had planned to do Gatcombe 1star but have realised that South of England CIC* is much easier logistically so the entry is going in today I can't wait! But in the meantime... LOTS of dr and SJ homework
I walked the show jumps and concluded that the course was on the small side - but not one to be sniffed at as the small arena and tight turns would make it tricky.
We headed off to the dressage warm up where we were joined by the very lovely Squizz with her very flash new camera (full permission to post all photos - thank youuuuu
) Murphy was warming up beautifully - soft, willing, forward, and generally an absolute pleasure to ride We headed over to the arena and sadly he thought that the white boards were terrifying, so became riddled with tension - so frustrating!! He did a reasonably smart test but was gawping at the boards out of the corner of his eye throughout the whole test and the walk was pretty yuk as ever! The end result was 33 which left us about mid-field. Lots of homework required!!Squizz, myself and a couple of Murphy fans headed off to walk the xc course. My last trip to Burnham Beeches was a few years ago where I ran on pretty solid ground, made my horse a bit "footy" and vowed never to bother making the trip there again. However, I had heard such good things from last year that I changed my mind. Sadly it didn't live up to the rave reviews from last year and I was really disappointed with the ground which was definitely on the firm side. You could really hear the horses hammering along (even from inside the photographers tent about 100 yards from the course) so I was rather half hearted about the whole thing, and slightly underwhelmed by the course too. I decided to see how he show jumped, but had pretty much decided I wouldn't take the risk XC.
The SJ warm up is split between grass and then a very small collecting ring area on a surface. I started off on the grass but only jumped a few as it was very hard out there. Headed over to the surface, jumped a couple and went straight in.
I have found that Murphy on a good spot is rather casual - put him slightly wrong however and he becomes super careful. The first fence was a rather airy upright so I put him deep and he jumped it well. He then jumped a super round, other than the double which was off a tight corner, and left you committed to a distance as there wasn't much room/time to alter. He had come round the corner disunited which made me stop riding. With hindsight I should have just ridden forwards a bit more, but we ended up a mile off the first part of the double and had it down. He finished the rest of the course clear though - and just 4 faults for murphy is pretty bloody good. So big pats for the grey boy
Pro Photos here
Please excuse the appalling lower leg - it seems to be getting worse. Any hints and tips for improving?! Shorter stirrups?! I don't do it on other horses weirdly...
At that point, I realised that my heart was not really in it for the XC. He has nothing to prove in that phase, and certainly doesn't need the mileage just for the sake of chasing a rosette so I decided to take my chap home sound and happy, and save him for another day. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had damaged him just to pot hunt. It turns out that the best we could have got would be 11th so it was definitely the correct decision!
We had planned to do Gatcombe 1star but have realised that South of England CIC* is much easier logistically so the entry is going in today
I can't wait! But in the meantime... LOTS of dr and SJ homework 
Such a hot day! 