wodger_woo
Well-Known Member
Yet another sickenly dissapointing day with Chance at Eland Lodge.
The prep had been going OK and despite our 'moments' (such as me hitting the deck 3 times in a week) I wasn't really worried. In fact my only concern was if I tried to steady on the x-c and Chance did his 'freezing' thing
.
The XC course was Fab a really nice and well thought out - they had changed it quite a lot from the spring event and was much nicer I thought. Given that Chance has skipped around the Pre-novice I was really excited about having a blast on it.
Dressage - His test was horrid - There was a patch of sand at A which he leapt 8 foot over everytime we had to cross it. He was also quite innattentive, against my hand and just felt argumentative. We had a score of 42.5 which I thought was rather generous as it was a rubbish test.
Showjumping - He warmed up ok, he seemed quite keen to be putting in a short one when we warmed up on the grass, but when we moved into the warm up on the surface he seemed much happier although he seemed to be jumping very up and down. I took him in and straight away I could feel he had one on him, he started grinding his teeth and spooking. He was backing right off the first so I gave him a smack and lots of verbal encouragement and he cleared it fine. The second was a non-descript upright of poles which he stopped at
He cleared it fine the second time. The third was a rustic parallel he had his handbrake on majorly as soon as he saw it and thats where my day ended.
I'm so gutted in 2003 this horse was flying around novice tracks and now......well. So I've had it really, I can't take the upset any more. I've tried for nearly a whole season and still haven't managed to get a score on the board for various reasons. Its not for want of trying as well. I've spent a fortune on lessons, clinics, saddles, physio's and TFT. Its too expensive and not forgetting soul destroying to keep going out and have these things happening.
So I'm going to get Chance's back checked AGAIN just to ease my mind, and then I'm going to let his fitness down a bit. The rest of this year I'm just going to do some tiny showjumping and small hunter trials and then maybe think about hunting him this winter. I'm not going to sell him as that would be like selling my husband and as infuriating as he is I do adore the bl**dy thing
. Next year I will find something we both enjoy doing and if I do decide to return to eventing I will buy another.
The prep had been going OK and despite our 'moments' (such as me hitting the deck 3 times in a week) I wasn't really worried. In fact my only concern was if I tried to steady on the x-c and Chance did his 'freezing' thing
The XC course was Fab a really nice and well thought out - they had changed it quite a lot from the spring event and was much nicer I thought. Given that Chance has skipped around the Pre-novice I was really excited about having a blast on it.
Dressage - His test was horrid - There was a patch of sand at A which he leapt 8 foot over everytime we had to cross it. He was also quite innattentive, against my hand and just felt argumentative. We had a score of 42.5 which I thought was rather generous as it was a rubbish test.
Showjumping - He warmed up ok, he seemed quite keen to be putting in a short one when we warmed up on the grass, but when we moved into the warm up on the surface he seemed much happier although he seemed to be jumping very up and down. I took him in and straight away I could feel he had one on him, he started grinding his teeth and spooking. He was backing right off the first so I gave him a smack and lots of verbal encouragement and he cleared it fine. The second was a non-descript upright of poles which he stopped at
I'm so gutted in 2003 this horse was flying around novice tracks and now......well. So I've had it really, I can't take the upset any more. I've tried for nearly a whole season and still haven't managed to get a score on the board for various reasons. Its not for want of trying as well. I've spent a fortune on lessons, clinics, saddles, physio's and TFT. Its too expensive and not forgetting soul destroying to keep going out and have these things happening.
So I'm going to get Chance's back checked AGAIN just to ease my mind, and then I'm going to let his fitness down a bit. The rest of this year I'm just going to do some tiny showjumping and small hunter trials and then maybe think about hunting him this winter. I'm not going to sell him as that would be like selling my husband and as infuriating as he is I do adore the bl**dy thing