Team Quest Finals Report - Genie channels Valegro!

miss_c

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Wow, what an exhausting weekend!!!

We left my yard at 9.20am on Friday morning, picked up a team mate's horse en-route, and then headed up to Bury Farm. A fairly smooth journey apart from bit of traffic around Oxford, and we arrived at about 1.30pm. Very pleased to find we had permanent stables in probably the nicest barn on site, and both horses settled in immediately with lovely straw beds. The only downside was I had to clean Genie's water drinker out as the previous occupant had left it full to the brim with poo, and as she then wouldn't touch the thing (and I don't blame her!) I was hauling buckets around all weekend.

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Poor attempt at a selfie....

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Worked her briefly Friday evening, more for a leg stretch than anything, and bless her she really did try hard. The more people that are about the better she is, something I was hoping would work in our favour! Friday night I'm afraid we missed the briefing and instead went for a lovely meal at a local pub before flopping in the lorry, which was parked in the PERFECT place!

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Saturday we had one rider on fairly early, then the rest of us were all within half an hour of each other. Paranoid about running out of time, Genie was plaited up fairly early then left to chill (ie sleep!) and then watched some tests. The standard of horses there was incredibly high, the majority would not have looked out of place at the BD National Championships, so I was just hoping to do as best as we possibly could.

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I didn't quite have Genie where I needed her for our test, however she did go into show-off mode the second we turned onto the centre line. A few things I would have liked to improve, and came out thinking 65% would be fair, so very chuffed to get 67.92%. Good pony who was very chuffed with herself...

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Overnight the team was in 13th, but it was extremely close from 3rd to 15th so everything to play for on the Sunday. We had a lovely evening watching the PSG Freestyle which was won by Charlie Hutton, and eating the delicious carvery! Then it was night checks and back to sleep.

Sunday I woke up at about 5am to the rain on the roof of the lorry and all I could think was 'Thank goodness I'm inside today!'. Was on the yard at about 6.15am and as I had an early time it was time to get plaiting once Genie had eaten her breakfast. With so much to play (or ride) for I knew the team wanted us to post a good score so the pressure was on a bit.

Genie warmed up like a pro, and before I knew it the time came for us to go into the fabulous indoor arena and do our test. There had been a fair few spooking through the morning so all I could do was trust her.

Well... boy did she give me the ride of my LIFE! She felt absolutely unbelievably good, everything I asked of her she gave me 200%, and halfway through the test I couldn't help myself from just smiling as it felt so fabulous. Perhaps riding on the Olympic surface the day before rubbed off on her. One tiny blip where she went to break in the canter but I caught it immediately and was hopeful that I would not lose too many marks.

Back at the stable yard she had SO many hugs and once she was washed off I called my Mum, promptly bursting into tears (of joy!). One team member kindly skipped her out for me as I was as useless as a useless thing, while another went off to the scoreboards. Usually when I feel that a test has gone well the judges disagree, so I was really rather nervous.

The SUPER mare only went and posted 72.78%! In usual Genie style she split the judges - one had her on over 81% with another on 66.something, the other one in the middle of the two! Our sheet from the judge that loved her had not one, not two, but THREE 9s on it. :D We got away with the near break, one judge didn't comment at all, one said there was a slight 'hiccup', and the other said there was a slight loss of rhythm. More happy tears from me, and I'm not ashamed to admit it!

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Of course, Genie found it very hard work being such a 'gorgeous little superstar'... ;)

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Long story short, the rest of our team did not have such a fantastic day, but we only dropped one place to 14th overall, still only 0.4% behind 10th place! Was slightly gutted to find that although ALL teams in the U16 and U25 sections got rosettes, in the Open they only gave rosettes to 10th.

A long journey home, and we finally got back to the yard about 9.30pm. I'm afraid Genie was unloaded, rug changed, and shoved out in the field for the night, not that she was complaining!

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So... would I do Team Quest again? Probably not... it cost me too much money and I'm not sure how they can make it truly the grass roots competition it is supposed to be. However, did I have a fantastic time? Most certainly! The team at BD did an amazing job, and the staff at Bury Farm were, without exception, brilliant.

Right then... time to inject myself with caffeine and attempt to stay awake for work this evening! Thank you for reading. Pro photos from my tests are on my blog (link in the signature) along with other photos I haven't uploaded in this post.
 

Kikke

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Well done you two!!! and beautiful pics.
Must have been a amazing feeling scoring that way and off course genie giving you the ride of your life.
 

Carefreegirl

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Well done and the judge who marked the sheet you showed is a one of my favourite judges, if I get bad marks from her I feel deflated, she's not one to give good marks unless well deserved.
 

PStarfish

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Been following all the action on fb and must say it looked to be an amazing experience. 14th is a brilliant result. Remember, that's not just out the 20 at the finals, but out of over 500 teams who've entered throughout the year.
I hope some of the rule changes next year open it up more for the grass roots riders the competition was intended for. But it needs the entrants to enter into the true spirit of it. Well done on your amazing score. Love Genie (but I am a bit biased towards the Welshies).
 

ecrozier

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I was in the same barn as you! My horse was the first on the left in the row immediately behind the door.
Very well done - what an excellent score and lovely comments! We finished in 11th - heartbreakingly less the 0.1% behind 10th!
Agree entirely that is is a shame it really wasn't the grass roots competition BD intended but I do think the proposed rule if having to move up a level once you've scored over 70% a couple of times at one level will even things out a bit, as several people doing intros this year would have had to do novice tests if that rule were already in place! Will be interesting - we are torn between being a bit deflated and desperate to have another go!
 

ponymum

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Agree with what was said about the grassroots competition. We ended up in 17th but enjoyed the experience. Not sure we would do it again as it was a big commitment. Was surprised at the difference in the judges scores too, surely there shouldn't be 20 marks difference between judges for the same test? Well done on your scores and comments :)
 

miss_c

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What a lovely report, well done
I think I would of cried at that sheet as well.

Thank you! So so pleased with the mare!

Absolutely beautiful!

:D I rather like her... ;)

Well done you two!!! and beautiful pics.
Must have been a amazing feeling scoring that way and off course genie giving you the ride of your life.

I don't tend to smile when I'm doing dressage, but halfway through the test I just starting grinning and couldn't stop. She felt so fab and I was terrified the mark would be bad!

What a super score sheet and a brilliant report as always. Well done.

Thank you!

Great report, Genie is such a cutie!

Thanks! Not sure what G would say to being called a cutie... she prefers 'queenly and dignified' I think!

Wow, amazing! What a superstar, well done!

She's a total superstar and never going anywhere.

Well done and the judge who marked the sheet you showed is a one of my favourite judges, if I get bad marks from her I feel deflated, she's not one to give good marks unless well deserved.

:D That makes me feel even better!

Well done!! I was enjoying seeing your pictures on my fb news feed. X

Thank you, I'm glad somebody was!

What a lovely looking mare and well done to both of you

Thank you!

Been following all the action on fb and must say it looked to be an amazing experience. 14th is a brilliant result. Remember, that's not just out the 20 at the finals, but out of over 500 teams who've entered throughout the year.
I hope some of the rule changes next year open it up more for the grass roots riders the competition was intended for. But it needs the entrants to enter into the true spirit of it. Well done on your amazing score. Love Genie (but I am a bit biased towards the Welshies).

It was an absolutely fabulous weekend. One of our girls checked her sheets and they had been added up wrong, so really the team came 12th which is even better!

Brilliant, well done!

If I get half-way near what you and Genie have achieved with my Sec D I'll be over the moon - you should be so proud :).

Thank you very much, I really am incredibly proud of her. It's been a very long road but 2014 has been her year!

exactly this! hahaa, huge congratulations, what brilliant scores! :D

Thank you!

I was in the same barn as you! My horse was the first on the left in the row immediately behind the door.
Very well done - what an excellent score and lovely comments! We finished in 11th - heartbreakingly less the 0.1% behind 10th!
Agree entirely that is is a shame it really wasn't the grass roots competition BD intended but I do think the proposed rule if having to move up a level once you've scored over 70% a couple of times at one level will even things out a bit, as several people doing intros this year would have had to do novice tests if that rule were already in place! Will be interesting - we are torn between being a bit deflated and desperate to have another go!

They certainly would! There was a lot of people as well who dropped down a level for the championships. I'm at about 95% on not doing it again, but we shall see come next March... ;)

Agree with what was said about the grassroots competition. We ended up in 17th but enjoyed the experience. Not sure we would do it again as it was a big commitment. Was surprised at the difference in the judges scores too, surely there shouldn't be 20 marks difference between judges for the same test? Well done on your scores and comments :)

About 35 marks/15% different between two of my judges, but G always splits them - it has happened numerous times before with her. We felt very much like the 'poor relations' at the champs, but still enjoyed ourselves.

Brilliant, congratulations on your scores and what a superstar Genie is :)

Thank you!!! :D
 

Justturnedfifty

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Thank you! So so pleased with the mare!



:D I rather like her... ;)



I don't tend to smile when I'm doing dressage, but halfway through the test I just starting grinning and couldn't stop. She felt so fab and I was terrified the mark would be bad!



Thank you!



Thanks! Not sure what G would say to being called a cutie... she prefers 'queenly and dignified' I think!



She's a total superstar and never going anywhere.



:D That makes me feel even better!



Thank you, I'm glad somebody was!



Thank you!



It was an absolutely fabulous weekend. One of our girls checked her sheets and they had been added up wrong, so really the team came 12th which is even better!



Thank you very much, I really am incredibly proud of her. It's been a very long road but 2014 has been her year!



Thank you!



They certainly would! There was a lot of people as well who dropped down a level for the championships. I'm at about 95% on not doing it again, but we shall see come next March... ;)



About 35 marks/15% different between two of my judges, but G always splits them - it has happened numerous times before with her. We felt very much like the 'poor relations' at the champs, but still enjoyed ourselves.



Thank you!!! :D


Congratulations to you, and in support of our wonderful Natives I just want to hijack your thread and shout about our THREE UNDER 16 TEAMS WHO MADE IT TO THE FINAL & ALL WERE PLACED IN THE CHAMPIONSHIP!!
WMDG BlueBirds-1 team finished in 5th place and that included our lovely 7 year old Dartmoor Pony who performed brilliantly, 1 Connemara who took best veteran prize, 1 section B Welshi and finally a Welsh X pony. WMDG BlueBirds-2 finished in 7th place and our final team WMDG BlueBirds-3 finished in 10th place. Our junior jockeys had an amazing time, the experience was perfect to set them up for future National Championships. Finally thank you BD for a great competition but please don't change the format for 2015, the Under 16's section is essential for our juniors to compete fairly and squarely against other juniors, not having to cope against adults which will happen once they enter BD world. Well done one and all, it was a lovely atmosphere, a great competition and we met some lovely people. Congratulations to the winners in all 3 sections. Thumbs up to Bury Farm and their staff. Regards, proud mum to Maddie aged 11 and Basil pony aged 7!
 

ecrozier

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I think they've said will be a byrds section next year? So open or U25, no seperate section for U16s? Having said that I know that the team that came second in the U25s were all apart from one member well under 16, just one of them turned 17 this year so they had to go u25, and they well and truly held their own in the older age group.
 

Justturnedfifty

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I think they've said will be a byrds section next year? So open or U25, no seperate section for U16s? Having said that I know that the team that came second in the U25s were all apart from one member well under 16, just one of them turned 17 this year so they had to go u25, and they well and truly held their own in the older age group.

Yes you have a valid point there, but how best do you encourage a 7/8/9 year old to compete confidently? Do you honestly think a 7 year old Chick rider would feel slightly out of their depth? The warm up arena was enough of a challenge for some of our children! I felt very sorry for an adult rider on a Chestnut horse on Sunday afternoon when she had a naughty pony running off with his jockey directly into their path. Some accomplished children will cope I agree, but isn't the whole idea of Team Quest to encourage people/children of ALL AGES to compete? Why alter something that appears to have really worked for the under 16's from the start?
 

duckling

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Great report, Genie looks fabulous! Well done! :)

About 35 marks/15% different between two of my judges, but G always splits them - it has happened numerous times before with her. We felt very much like the 'poor relations' at the champs, but still enjoyed ourselves.

We did TQ this year, and reading that I'm actually glad we couldn't have made it to the final (not enough comps in our area) - your dressage pics always look fab and if you felt like the poor relations I think I would have felt like a total outcast!
 
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