henryhorn
Well-Known Member
Well if we didn't grin we would cry..
Day started fine leaving the yard by 7am, plaited, smart and raring to go.
This was first day of trying the new spurs (short but sharp!) and SL is somewhere we love and ususally do well.
Arrived in good time, CCJ went off to walk the XC course and came back reporting fence 4 looked pretty difficult, but had plans how to do it.
The new technique for dressage has me in pieces, she gets on ten mins prior to the class, wanders down the field to the arena, then goes straight in after a canter round. She was already down the bottom near the arenas when I realised we hadn't put the stallion tags on. Now those of you who know me know Henryhorn isn't built for speed, so it was a red faced and hot HH that ran down to the arena, slid the tags on literlly seconds before the test and in she went.
He looked fine and felt super, a little overbent in places, but really good rhythm, lost a few marks for doing two more steps in the trot/walk trot transition but his canter was super. Halts straight etc and she finished beaming and patted him.
Rode back to the box me walking red faced passing a lovely H and H person who I am so ashamed to say I didn't recognise (
At this point Chocx owner was watching, she lives in the Bahamas but is a reg Instructor, has been round Badminton and Burghley several times so knows her stuff. She reckoned a below 30 dressage.
She and C went over to the Sj and were a bit stunned to hear 44 dressage . In fact the owner was so surprised she said they must have mixed the numbers up!
Chocx did a fab clear round if one jump was higher than the stands when C misjudged the approach, but good boy he is he responded as ever.
We decided to forget the dressage (the owner said she would go and enquire later as she was convinced it couldn't be correct).
She and I were on the top of the hill near the commentators box when Chocx came into view., effortlessly over first three fences then round the corner to number four, a wide open ditch backed on the far side by rails at max height.
I was videoing (it will go up on here later this week) when I saw them approach the fence, him not lift in the air properly as he seemed to leave one leg on the ground and somersault over the fence onto the floor. I dropped the camera, my companion was already running like a hare to cacth her stallion but I waited to see them both stand up. Poor Chocx, he couldn't stand on one front leg at all, and I thought "Oh no, he's broken his leg..)
I followed as fast as I could and CCJ was up and ok if shaken, the owner was holding CHoc and he pulled forwards wanting to walk as you do when you get a hard bang on your bone., instantly the fence judge yelled she was not to move him and was joined vociforously by several others.
The problem was as his owner said, if he wanted to move she needed to assess how damaged he was, and the prats at the jump didn't realise she is incredibly experienced and was seeing what he would do.
The vet arrived and he first thought ligament, but the damage was deepish small cuts to his leg in three places, it seems he hit the fence with his leg and possibly himself with his stud as he came down. 15 mins later he was standing on the leg ok and the vet and I went back to the box to get my ice pack (usually forget the flexible one, for once I had it with me and cold). Chocx had a wee, and the vet gave him some anti inflammatories and he mooched very gingerly back to the box. By the time he reached there he was sound if shaken.
We are pleased tonight there is no heat in the leg but will wait and see over the next three days. His confidence will be shaken too no doubt, as he is still very novice in his experience.
Looking at the dressage scores and the sheet, the judge said he was over bent the whole test, well for some of it I agree, but even so, to give him such lousy marks wasn't fair. the horse after him exploded in canter three times that I saw, and the steward of the arena actually commented to me that she thought Choc had done the best test of the day so far (he was about fifth to last to go, so she had watched plenty.) Yet that horse got exactly the same mark...
The walk was good, he was balanced and obedient and compared to something explosive and bloody naughty deserved better.
The XC in my opinion was far too testing today. The vet said he had never seen so many fallers, (12 at last count), over 20 horses in our section got refusals Xc or fell or got eliminated.
I can't see that having 50% of your entries in a section fail to get round the XC can be right.
Looking at number 4 it was of a difficulty you would expect in a Novice of a good standard, and for one fence to cause so much trouble there has to be some blame in the course building.
As for the dressage judge, well after all you go to get her opinion and in this case, she obviously preferred naughty horses to ours. I would say however as he has done six BE's that all his other marks have been between 28 and 36 (34 if you delete 1 course error) so perhaps the other judges are looking for something she isn't..
Talking to other competitors she is a judge who has been doing it for many years, but to get such terrible marks is demoralising. Even with that mark had he done his usual clear XC he would have been 8th, so perhaps she was constistant across the board marking everyone low..
So you can see why I sympathise with Bossanova re her disappointment and Sarah Jane with her broken leg.. It could so easliy have been CCJ today or Choxc a write off.
The awful thing is we are back there tomorrow with a green horse who has no chance whatsoever. If we see it's that judge you can bet your life CCJ will ride in a different way, perhaps a few leaps and bucks, horse pulling hard etc may get a better score.. (joking but not funny really is it?)
He is careless Sj, very iffy XC and the smaller version of the dreaded number 4 is also in the course. Apparently they normally jump it the opposite way.
I'll hopefully do part 2 tomorrow evening, we have no hopes at all of a rosette, so in a way it's pretty liberating, C is only taking the horse as her Dad wanted to see if he could event at all..
Fingers' crossed guys for a better day...
