Rambo
Well-Known Member
Wow ! What a weekend....
Back from a very wet and wintery Sussex Area Championship Show at Ardingly....and i'm still in a state of shock
Arrived at 10am on saturday...just me and my youngest son as OH and eldest had to go play football in the morning. Anyway, all rings had been moved off the grass and scattered around the extensive South of England Showground on the various all-weather arena's and indoor school. We arrived just in time to jump the 90cms Amateur Championship Second Round....with a place at Arena UK the prize. The course, as would be expected of a 90cms was not big, and the course builder had done what he could to whittle the numbers down...but of around 60 starters there were still some 28 clears...of which Bo was one
Onto the jump-off and we were drawn 6th to go. I desperately wanted to qualify for the finals this year...having missed out by one of two places in previous years, and being drawn so early decided i had nothing to lose ! So, in we went and Bo gave me everything i asked for, making some good turns and covering the ground well (he's nearly 17hh so can't turn on a sixpence like some of the ponies lol!). We came home clear a whisker over 36 seconds i think, and took over the lead ! Que a long and nervy wait to see if we would stay in the prizes....and we did...finishing up 8th with a mere 1.25 secs covering the top 10
Sooo...we qualified for Arena UK finally....and also had the pleasure of meeting Susan_W who was one of the judges and who also presented us with our prize
With mission number 1 accomplished i relaxed a little. OH arrived and we got ready for the next class. I had Bo and Trike in the 1.05m Open...Trike's first time at this height with me...so just hopeful of a safe round with him. Bo was on fire though and so i decided to have a go. We went in second and flew round the first phase and into the JO phase. Had an unlucky rub at the planks but came home in a quick time and 4 faults...and into the lead at that point. Quickly climbed aboard Trike to get him warmed up and forgot about what was going on in the ring. Trike's turn came and we were second last to jump. The little fella jumped his heart out for me, and although it didn't feel easy, he managed to upstage his 'older brother' and jumped a double clear....and to our amazement went into 2nd place
The last horse to jump faulted and so Trike came finished up 2nd at his first attempt at this level....and Bo came 3rd
The day had become surreal...things like this don't happen to me....what's happenned
With saturday finished we settled the horses down for the night and tucked into some wine while we listened to the rain fall most of the night.
Sunday dawned and the other 'big' class i was interested in with Bo was the Local Rider 1m Amateur Championship which we had qualified for. This class was in the outdoor warm-up arena and was drawn order....and we were drawn 2nd to go
No matter, Bo warmed up well again and we jumped a good clear...apart from me trying to 'miss' at the double...and so were through to the JO. There were 8 in it this time...and some real speed merchants. I was in two minds what to do as i knew whatever i did i wouldn't be quick enough to beat the speedy ones...so decided to move forward but not try any silly turns. Bo flew again, and we took a long gallop to the double at the final fence to finish up 3rd ! Not only that but as the highest placed Sussex rider we were awarded with a lovel trophy to keep
The weekend had now moved from the sublime to the ridiculous !
Bo was supposed to have one more class...the six bar...but i was having secoind thoughts about it as didn't want to spoil the brilliant weekend by finishing on a bad one. As it turned out, the decision was made for me as they cancelled the class, so Bo finished on a good one and had extra haylege while he waited for Trike's last class.
The plan was to jump the British Novice with Trike as he needs one more DC to complete his set...and hopefully not have to jump the anymore. The course looked tiny after the 1.05m the day before, and he warmed up well, and then jumped a very simple clear to put himself in the JO. Drawn 6th out of 18 and with three clears already before we went in, i decided to just play safe and get the clear. Trike obliged...and although we were 4 seconds off the pace...he still managed to scrape in 7th to complete a clean sweep of classes entered and prizes won
I am so shocked...i knew my boys had it in them, and i knew on our day we could do it, but for it ALL to come together on the same weekend and on both horses at the same time is incredible. Five classes, Ten rounds, One fence down, and 5 places !!!! A very wet weekend feels very bright from this corner of Sussex at the moment
Here's a few piccies and a bit of video if you're interested...and thanks for reading
Trike 1.05m Saturday
Trike British Novice Sunday
Bo Regional Amateur Championship Sunday
And Prize Giving
And a video of the round
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d53/ki...hampionship.flv
Back from a very wet and wintery Sussex Area Championship Show at Ardingly....and i'm still in a state of shock
Arrived at 10am on saturday...just me and my youngest son as OH and eldest had to go play football in the morning. Anyway, all rings had been moved off the grass and scattered around the extensive South of England Showground on the various all-weather arena's and indoor school. We arrived just in time to jump the 90cms Amateur Championship Second Round....with a place at Arena UK the prize. The course, as would be expected of a 90cms was not big, and the course builder had done what he could to whittle the numbers down...but of around 60 starters there were still some 28 clears...of which Bo was one
With mission number 1 accomplished i relaxed a little. OH arrived and we got ready for the next class. I had Bo and Trike in the 1.05m Open...Trike's first time at this height with me...so just hopeful of a safe round with him. Bo was on fire though and so i decided to have a go. We went in second and flew round the first phase and into the JO phase. Had an unlucky rub at the planks but came home in a quick time and 4 faults...and into the lead at that point. Quickly climbed aboard Trike to get him warmed up and forgot about what was going on in the ring. Trike's turn came and we were second last to jump. The little fella jumped his heart out for me, and although it didn't feel easy, he managed to upstage his 'older brother' and jumped a double clear....and to our amazement went into 2nd place
With saturday finished we settled the horses down for the night and tucked into some wine while we listened to the rain fall most of the night.
Sunday dawned and the other 'big' class i was interested in with Bo was the Local Rider 1m Amateur Championship which we had qualified for. This class was in the outdoor warm-up arena and was drawn order....and we were drawn 2nd to go
Bo was supposed to have one more class...the six bar...but i was having secoind thoughts about it as didn't want to spoil the brilliant weekend by finishing on a bad one. As it turned out, the decision was made for me as they cancelled the class, so Bo finished on a good one and had extra haylege while he waited for Trike's last class.
The plan was to jump the British Novice with Trike as he needs one more DC to complete his set...and hopefully not have to jump the anymore. The course looked tiny after the 1.05m the day before, and he warmed up well, and then jumped a very simple clear to put himself in the JO. Drawn 6th out of 18 and with three clears already before we went in, i decided to just play safe and get the clear. Trike obliged...and although we were 4 seconds off the pace...he still managed to scrape in 7th to complete a clean sweep of classes entered and prizes won
I am so shocked...i knew my boys had it in them, and i knew on our day we could do it, but for it ALL to come together on the same weekend and on both horses at the same time is incredible. Five classes, Ten rounds, One fence down, and 5 places !!!! A very wet weekend feels very bright from this corner of Sussex at the moment
Here's a few piccies and a bit of video if you're interested...and thanks for reading
Trike 1.05m Saturday
Trike British Novice Sunday
Bo Regional Amateur Championship Sunday
And Prize Giving
And a video of the round
http://s33.photobucket.com/albums/d53/ki...hampionship.flv
