iknowmyvalue
Well-Known Member
This weekend was Henry's first "proper show". We've done a little bit of lowkey dressage and one baby SJ, but he's never been to anywhere busy with a real atmosphere and lots of things going on before. Mostly went to get him out and get him seeing more things. He can be quite a sensitive/spooky little soul so we're trying to desensitise him as much as possible. Did an 80cm SJ, ridden hunter and an 80-85cm working hunter. Bit of a mixed result...
The Good:
Ridden hunter! We ended up being placed 3rd, judge really liked him and gave me some lovely comments. She suggested I could try some higher level showing on him when he's got a few more miles on the clock, because she thought he'd do well, which was nice
He was a bit looky in the ring (especially when 2 different DofE groups decided to walk right up to the ropes with their huge rucksacks with fluorescent flappy covers on!) but nothing too dramatic, so I was pleased with that too.
He behaved absolutely impeccably on the ground/between classes all day. It was a long day for him but he didn't get stressy or silly at all. Previously he's been a bit stressy and calling to start with, but today came off the trailer really calmly and stayed that way. Was happy to just stand by the rings waiting for our class, mooch round the showground, stand tied to the trailer or stand in the trailer. I was mostly by myself today and he was just lovely to deal with, no problem at all getting him ready or getting on alone.
The Not So Good:
Showjumping. We went in the ring and he just said no. He refused the first fence twice (second time completely destroyed it, poles everywhere, almost on his knees in the middle of the spread...) jumped it on the third try but cat leapt so I lost a stirrup and my reins were long, didn't have time to regroup before the second fence and refused again so that was elimination. Just jumped fence 3 (which was fine) and went out. I had a bit of a meltdown (I'm letting him down, I shouldn't have bought him, I'm going to ruin him, I don't want to do this show on him I want to be doing it on Rosie but I can't and I miss her so much...) but after a talking to from my instructor (who was there) I went back and asked if I could just try and jump him round at the end of the class. I did. He jumped everything first time, just rolled 2 poles. Clearly we were both just having a wobble.
Working hunter. I'm actually not that disappointed with how this went, even though we were last. Yes, we were on cricket scores, but the only jump he actually refused was causing carnage in every working hunter class, so that was fine. Had a run out at the skinniest skinny stile you've ever seen, jumped it beautifully second time. Had a few poles but generally he was jumping well, even over some things he wasn't too sure about. He's never jumped jumps like that before either, so I think we'll get there.
BUT following the not so good. Once I'd had a while to think about it I realised a few things that made me feel better. He's never been in an environment like that before at all, he's never jumped on grass, and he's never jumped a course bigger than 60cm (in fact he's only jumped one 50cm and one 60cm course in his life). We got round eventually, he didn't get strong, I didn't fall off. So although it was a bit of a mixed day, I think that overall we had a fairly good experience, and definitely learnt a lot!
And now for a load of photos, because even if not everything went our way today, Henry is definitely very good at being beautiful!
When I get nervous my position does this, I am aware it's awful, I am working on it, please ignore it
The Good:
Ridden hunter! We ended up being placed 3rd, judge really liked him and gave me some lovely comments. She suggested I could try some higher level showing on him when he's got a few more miles on the clock, because she thought he'd do well, which was nice
He was a bit looky in the ring (especially when 2 different DofE groups decided to walk right up to the ropes with their huge rucksacks with fluorescent flappy covers on!) but nothing too dramatic, so I was pleased with that too. He behaved absolutely impeccably on the ground/between classes all day. It was a long day for him but he didn't get stressy or silly at all. Previously he's been a bit stressy and calling to start with, but today came off the trailer really calmly and stayed that way. Was happy to just stand by the rings waiting for our class, mooch round the showground, stand tied to the trailer or stand in the trailer. I was mostly by myself today and he was just lovely to deal with, no problem at all getting him ready or getting on alone.
The Not So Good:
Showjumping. We went in the ring and he just said no. He refused the first fence twice (second time completely destroyed it, poles everywhere, almost on his knees in the middle of the spread...) jumped it on the third try but cat leapt so I lost a stirrup and my reins were long, didn't have time to regroup before the second fence and refused again so that was elimination. Just jumped fence 3 (which was fine) and went out. I had a bit of a meltdown (I'm letting him down, I shouldn't have bought him, I'm going to ruin him, I don't want to do this show on him I want to be doing it on Rosie but I can't and I miss her so much...) but after a talking to from my instructor (who was there) I went back and asked if I could just try and jump him round at the end of the class. I did. He jumped everything first time, just rolled 2 poles. Clearly we were both just having a wobble.
Working hunter. I'm actually not that disappointed with how this went, even though we were last. Yes, we were on cricket scores, but the only jump he actually refused was causing carnage in every working hunter class, so that was fine. Had a run out at the skinniest skinny stile you've ever seen, jumped it beautifully second time. Had a few poles but generally he was jumping well, even over some things he wasn't too sure about. He's never jumped jumps like that before either, so I think we'll get there.
BUT following the not so good. Once I'd had a while to think about it I realised a few things that made me feel better. He's never been in an environment like that before at all, he's never jumped on grass, and he's never jumped a course bigger than 60cm (in fact he's only jumped one 50cm and one 60cm course in his life). We got round eventually, he didn't get strong, I didn't fall off. So although it was a bit of a mixed day, I think that overall we had a fairly good experience, and definitely learnt a lot!
And now for a load of photos, because even if not everything went our way today, Henry is definitely very good at being beautiful!
When I get nervous my position does this, I am aware it's awful, I am working on it, please ignore it
