Somerford BE90: Survived. Just!

[Ambers Echo]

Well that was interesting...... again!

I walked the course yesterday and quite early on was an A-B-C combination in and back out of a pond. The out was over a, sizeable and slightly spooky looking fence on the brow of a very steep bank. I don't even like cantering down hills, let alone flipping jumping into space and landing on them. Yikes. Then there were quite a lot of skinnies including 2 combinations: fence to skinny up a steep hill then table to skinny at the bottom of a steep hill. Way, way more challenging than Eland had been. Oh god......

But anyway, first dressage and what felt like a fairly decent test resulted in a(nother) personal worst. I really don't understand why my scores are so terrible when several instructors tell me we should be on solid 7s by now based on how we are at home. I was doing better on my poky-nosed fell pony! Sigh....

Then SJ and that felt brilliant. She was calm, she was rideable, she was fab and we jumped clear within the time. Woohoo.

Then the Cross Country..... and a serious case of brake failure. 1-4 were ok if a little fast but as she launched herself over 5C landing on the bank, I lost a stirrup and decided no way was I jumping 6 without it. Unfortunately 6 was near the bottom of the hill Amber was accelerating down at pace. Cue much circling and swearing and 'will you stop you bloody horse' type comments. Stirrup retrieved we were off again and she hurtled up the hill after 6 and I overran 7 which was in a dip and I did not see it till too late. Cue more swearing and circling. Very embarrassing. But I didn't present so no jumping faults luckily. After 7 I managed to contain her enthusiasm and the rest of the course flew by. Amber as ever just had no hesitation at anything. She is so bold and so willing. As I was nearing the end I heard the commentator say something along the lines of 'well she's still clear though she is having a few problems out there." Which may have been about me - I don't know - but it summed up the round very well. We did jump clear. Though had 20 time pens: circling related! So my first ever double clear and on by far the hardest course I have ridden round. So I am delighted. Especially with how the show jumping has come on since Aston le Walls.

But serious work to do on gears and brakes. And on dressage.

Amber in her element: She just adores XC!

 

[Asha]

Seriously well done . It was a tough course that caused a lot of problems. It Kept us fence judges busy !! I saw you jump 5 and loose your stirrup . She does look very strong, you do a cracking job with her . We where on fence 14a and b . Which you flew over with a few choice words , along the lines of ‘ Will you bloody slow down ‘

Big pats on the back for you !!

 

[scats]

Fantastic, well done. She looks super on those XC photos!

 

[Mule]

The photos of you two look great. I've had the tanking off on xc too. I concentrated on getting him extremely responsive to slow down signals in the warm up. I'd ask for tons of downward transitions and get them in two strides at most.
If he didnt listen I wasn't shy about using the reins. Once we did that in the warm up he would listen to my half halts on the course.

You might be a bit tense in the dressage. If you could have someone watch you warming up before your test to make sure you're riding ok. It could be something as simple as her becoming a bit long in her body.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Thanks Asha! I am quite amazed I stayed on down that bank. A year go I would have been a goner for sure. Yes I was talking to her a lot and not all of it was complimentary....

At 7 - 8 I was treating her like a wilful toddler 'Amber you have to listen to me or you won't know where to go!"

Do love her. Even if she scares the cr@p out of me at times.

 

[Ambers Echo]

The photos of you two look great. I've had the tanking off on xc too. I concentrated on getting him extremely responsive to slow down signals in the warm up. I'd ask for tons of downward transitions and get them in two strides at most.
If he didnt listen I wasn't shy about using the reins. Once we did that in the warm up he would listen to my half halts on the course.

You might be a bit tense in the dressage. If you could have someone watch you warming up before your test to make sure you're ok.

Good advice. Thanks! My daughter was meant to be videoing the whole test for my RI but she was looking at all the ponies and daydreaming about which ones she wanted to take home - and missed everything except the final halt!

 

[Mule]

Good advice. Thanks! My daughter was meant to be videoing the whole test for my RI but she was looking at all the ponies and daydreaming about which ones she wanted to take home - and missed everything except the final halt!

Typical Mind you, recording it is a great idea. It's the best way to improve. I always get a shock when I see footage of me riding

 

[splashgirl45]

seems to be a theme on here and with my friends who event, all happy with jumping but the dressage is causing lots of problems..maybe horses are a little more lit up as there is so much going on at an event, if you go to a dressage comp its very quiet and calm and even spectators are careful not to move suddenly, where at an event they can often see the sj ring or the xc while they are doing dressage, so maybe judges are seeing horses who are tense and not fully paying attention....

 

[Mule]

seems to be a theme on here and with my friends who event, all happy with jumping but the dressage is causing lots of problems..maybe horses are a little more lit up as there is so much going on at an event, if you go to a dressage comp its very quiet and calm and even spectators are careful not to move suddenly, where at an event they can often see the sj ring or the xc while they are doing dressage, so maybe judges are seeing horses who are tense and not fully paying attention....

Very true.

 

[Chippers1]

Well done!

 

[Bernster]

Awesome pics! Brilliantly done

 

[ScampiBigMan]

Well done. We're there tomorrow.

I find doing interval training up and down hill really helps them learn to balance in canter and faster and gives opportunity for practising going forward and back with gradually quieter aids. Downhill it is natural for them to get on their heads a bit until they learn how to balance. Jumps just add complexity so good to get the gears and balance without them in training. We do our intervals on the mountain bridlepaths which are a great training base & makes even v undulating XC tracks feel easy when we get there.

Also all our flatwork & SJ training is done on a slope (on grass), again enables them to practise balancing.

Phoenix is rushing less as she has improved strength, balance & adjustability (SJ for her rather than XC). We all just have to keep working & improving!

As for dressage...find videoing & then review the most useful tool as judging is so incredibly variable -although does improve as go up the BE levels (generally!)

 

[ycbm]

It's a tough course, well done!

 

[Ambers Echo]

Good luck ScampiBigMan. Xx

 

[Wheels]

Fantastic pics! Sounds like a tough course so you did a great job!

Have you got any vids of the dressage?

 

[SpringArising]

Those pictures are the sort that you treasure forever. Well done AE - I love reading your reports and following your journey. I love how humble and honest you are.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Fantastic pics! Sounds like a tough course so you did a great job!

Have you got any vids of the dressage?

Sadly my video-girl was too busy admiring other ponies and missed my test!

 

[Ambers Echo]

Those pictures are the sort that you treasure forever. Well done AE - I love reading your reports and following your journey. I love how humble and honest you are.

Thank you. The pictures were eye wateringly expensive but I.just couldn't resist. I will definitely treasure them - whatever else we do this will always be my first ever DC at a BE event. X

 

[Fiona]

Brilliant... Well done.


What bit do you use xc at the moment?

Fiona

 

[Lexi_]

Brilliant!!

We were FJing fence 5 today and it was still causing drama (even a lot of the clears were very messy). A clear round over that course is really impressive!

 

[ester]

I think it looks like you have a 3 ring gag? but without a curb given the over rotation in the first XC pic - you can see how you have reached the limit as there is nowhere else for it to go and you are mostly just getting a lot of poll pressure then. Worth trying with a curb (/or a spare flash strap) IMO.

 

[BenvardenRach2]

Amazing photos!!
Well done AE, I heard the XC caused a few problems!
Huge pat on the back for you for completing it and getting a double clear, you're braver than most of us!!

 

[ScampiBigMan]

Good luck ScampiBigMan. Xx

Thanks very much, our dressage mark deteriorated by 8.5 marks from Kelsall - felt better but watching the video back can see where need to improve and there was a v delayed right canter. I don't actually ride in dressage tests the way I do SJ and XC. The warm-up was good and the underlying work is really improving, just(!) need to ride better in tests.

SJ - jumped great, much better than Kelsall where we were clear but a little by braille but getting v cocky now (only in the ring and only at ODE SJ) and argued all the way to the last fence, saw it at the last minute and didn't q get all legs out of the way in time. So more work reqd there too....

XC - she was great, flew round. Could feel her figuring out some of the fences and questions, getting it and going 'right, got it, let's go'! Too fast again but was happy to let her bowl along jumping out of her stride. We found the turn into 7 rode tight - she was quite surprised to be turned that tightly and presented with a fence so quickly! (As the bank hid it until after you were lined up.) We also found the turn into the fence before the second water rode a little tight too after a nice big jump at the log pile spread. Good experience for her to be asked questions that require her to listen, wait and think! Fantastic, educational course and ground. She gained confidence all the way round and really wanted to do it. So overall v pleased with her even though our score looks pretty bad !

It was a really good BE90 course with plenty of questions and your photos looks great, so again well done on the double clear!!!

 

[Ambers Echo]

I find doing interval training up and down hill really helps them learn to balance in canter and faster and gives opportunity for practising going forward and back with gradually quieter aids. Downhill it is natural for them to get on their heads a bit until they learn how to balance. Jumps just add complexity so good to get the gears and balance without them in training.

This makes perfect sense. I didn't even realise cantering downhill was ever done until I started hunter trialling at Eland a few years ago and even till last year I trotted down anything steep. So when I walked the course and saw jumps onto steep slopes or at the bottom of steep slopes I was a bit freaked out - I keep discovering these ridiculous gaps in my knowledge and experience! Any thoughts as to where I could take her for that kind of training? I would prefer a controlled environment. I hate hacking at the best of times and I cannot imagine being brave enough to canter up and down hills 'out there' in the big wide world.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Brilliant... Well done.


What bit do you use xc at the moment?

Fiona

As Ester says - it is a 3 ring gag on the first ring. I need a rethink though....

 

[Ambers Echo]

Brilliant!!

We were FJing fence 5 today and it was still causing drama (even a lot of the clears were very messy).

That's good to know! I thought it was quite a big question! But I have only done 3 BE90 xc rounds now so I am not sure what the course designers tend to put in. I would have been hesitant to try it in training but once you are out there you just have to get on with it.

 

[Ambers Echo]

I think it looks like you have a 3 ring gag? but without a curb given the over rotation in the first XC pic - you can see how you have reached the limit as there is nowhere else for it to go and you are mostly just getting a lot of poll pressure then. Worth trying with a curb (/or a spare flash strap) IMO.

I need a plan for bitting. I am a tack dork. (Yet another huge gap in my knowledge) so I don't really know how different bits work beyond the basic: more leverage = more bit pressure. (And even that might be wrong!)

I started her ridden life in a snaffle and all my schooling and training was originally in a snaffle. Then when we started jumping she was too forward and she went into a Wilkie and then the gag which my YO at the time did tell me to use with a flash and a backstrap. Over the winter she went back into the snaffle ring on the gag (I just could not be bothered to change bits) and was fine all winter in training. But at Aston Le Walls I lost brakes and put it back on the gag ring but had forgotten all about the backstrap/flash...... Doh. Can you explain what they do and how they work? Or advise on other bits?

On a long ago thread when the backstrap and flashg first went on someone advised me not to get into a 'bitting arms race' which is a quote I have never forgotten though I forget who said it now. So I keep going back to the snaffle, and working hard in schooling. But I do feel I need an set of brakes for when she decides to tank off.

Incidentally in schooling at home she can go from canter to halt in a few strides with minimal rein pressure - she is very responsive. But she stops listening when she gets onto a XC course.

 

[Ambers Echo]

Well done ScampiBigMan! Sounds like you had a great day! We overshot 7 completely

 

[ScampiBigMan]

This makes perfect sense. I didn't even realise cantering downhill was ever done until I started hunter trialling at Eland a few years ago and even till last year I trotted down anything steep. So when I walked the course and saw jumps onto steep slopes or at the bottom of steep slopes I was a bit freaked out - I keep discovering these ridiculous gaps in my knowledge and experience! Any thoughts as to where I could take her for that kind of training? I would prefer a controlled environment. I hate hacking at the best of times and I cannot imagine being brave enough to canter up and down hills 'out there' in the big wide world.

Somerford Farm Ride (Winter and Summer) has lots of decent hills up and down - you could do interval training around it. and ignore the fences or incorporate as you wished. Broxton Hall gallops (Cheshire) is on a good size hill and is purpose built for interval training, it has uphill and downhill sections of the track, it is also on a curve most of the way (and is not just one oval) so a bit more to think about than the straight gradient of a gallops like Kelsall Hill or a single oval. Would say they are the best gallops facility I'm aware of in the NW, got wash-off etc. too. Really nice place to visit.

When you want to practise jumping at the top or bottom of hills, Somerford 80 acres has several but if remember correctly, quite a few of these are Novice type qns but there are quite alot of drop questions with follow up fences which ask a similar question of balance and control and can start small and work up. Smallwood XC (near Sandbach) has some nice smaller fences on the brow of a couple of hills - they often use these in the unafff XC and ODE they run. You can hire Smallwood XC most of the time.

Getting up on the mountains here is my go to destresser, helps alot with perspective!

 

[ScampiBigMan]

Well done ScampiBigMan! Sounds like you had a great day! We overshot 7 completely

I would expect that was very easy to do, I had Reilee back and she still found it tight - it felt like an acute angled turn when riding it which it didn't walk - so felt was almost having to turn back quite tightly on ourselves and the fence was v soon after the turn. R is one for 'daydreaming' and thinking she knows where we are going so was quite a good course to make her realise she does need to take guidance from the rider on direction!