blood_magik
Well-Known Member
So, following on from my 2015 resolution to 'just get on with it', I decided that I would don my brave pants and attempt to jump all four of the boys at the weekend. Due to various things going on during the week I didn't get as much practice in as I would have liked so I was naturally a little nervous on the day.
Seeing as I had jumped exactly *one* course with Raz, I decided to be a big chicken and put him in the 70cm.
My heart sank when I spotted the fillers lurking underneath some of the jumps - for some reason, I'd gotten it into my head that the 70cm didn't have any (wrong) - and I spent the next 20 minutes or so talking myself out of admitting defeat before I'd even tacked up. If he stopped, he stopped - all I could do was try to hold on and hope he went over it.
Super Groom had very kindly given Raz a brush while I re-walked (and re-re-walked) the horrible seven-and-a-half stride distance (!) just off the back wall in a last-ditch attempt at deciding which line to take and then it was a case of getting Raz tacked up and round to the warm-up. We pretty much had it to ourselves until we started jumping so I was able to do a little bit of forward-back without having to worry about getting in peoples' way.
I couldn't see a stride for toffee coming into the warm-up jumps so I was not feeling very optimistic going into the ring.
There were a few issues with the starting bell so we had a few minutes to wander around before getting started. Coming round to the first, Raz felt really confident and I never felt like he was going anywhere but over it. It was a nice change from the last time I jumped him, where I had to persuade him that there was nothing hiding under the fence waiting to grab his foot. He got a little cocky after that and it was all I could do to stop him accelerating into the fences. We got a little close in places but he didn't look at any of the fillers (whew!) and left everything up.
Well, he only went and won.
[video=youtube;9S9gStkZgGo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S9gStkZgGo[/video]
No pressure for the rest of the boys to follow suit, then.
Next up was Lenny, who I haven't jumped properly since September. The trust between the two of us isn't quite where it was last summer so we dropped back down to the 85cm class with the aim of just getting round in one piece. He warmed up nicely, despite being boxed in several times by people who completely ignored the big red ribbon in his tail. He felt really rideable into and out of the warm-up fences, so I was cautiously optimistic that I would have a bit more of a say in where we took off etc, as we came round to the first fence.
Overall, I was really pleased with the round. Lenny was keen but listened for the most part - he got a bit cocky coming into the last fence and we ended up taking a stride out but in general, I thought we didn't do too badly.
The jump-off, however, was interesting...
I rode quietly to get the turn back to the second fence and Lenny wasn't best pleased - he wanted to go! Cue throwing a buck and trying to shoot off. Cheeky monster.
Still, we made the turn and got through the line, only for Lenny to start throwing in cow kicks and flying changes around the corner.
I may have shouted at him to stop it as we came tearing around the corner to the last line.
Anyhoo... all that matters was that Mr. Leonard lived up to his show name and was double clear! And fifth!
Hopefully that means my little pocket rocket is back on track. The plan is to start at British Novice and work our way back up to 1.05m by the end of the year, but we'll see...
[video=youtube;Rr7QbJBc2MM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr7QbJBc2MM[/video]
Third to go was Timberland and well, the less said about it, the better.
I'm not convinced that I got it *that* wrong (yes, we were a little close) but either way, T hesitated and then ended up whacking me in the face when he decided that he was going to scramble over the fence after all. He managed to split my lip open and I ended up having to circle to try to get myself together again. So, we were on 8 faults pretty much from the get go.
I decided to keep going as we'd had a stop the last time we'd attempted that height and, typically, T jumped beautifully. We've changed his feed to give him a bit more oomph and what a difference. He couldn't wait to get started and the distances all felt easy - I didn't have to work as hard to get him forwards.
T's round. *cringe*
[video=youtube;6rswqrg5kFw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rswqrg5kFw[/video]
And finally... Beau.
Well, it's a good thing he's handsome because he completely lost the plot in the warm-up. Normally, he's a bit tense but he was squealing and humping his back, and trying to go up.
In the end, I got off because he was either going to end up kicking out at someone (again, red ribbon mostly ignored) or exploding and it honestly wasn't worth upsetting everyone just to try to win a rosette.
I had planned on attempting the 1.10m but it wasn't to be. The only thing that has changed was his noseband because his usual grackle was rubbing. *sigh* Needless to say, it will be going back on once he's healed and we'll take things from there. Hopefully it was just an off day.
Silly big ginger...
So, a slightly mixed start to the year. But that's horses for you.
Thanks for reading.
Seeing as I had jumped exactly *one* course with Raz, I decided to be a big chicken and put him in the 70cm.
My heart sank when I spotted the fillers lurking underneath some of the jumps - for some reason, I'd gotten it into my head that the 70cm didn't have any (wrong) - and I spent the next 20 minutes or so talking myself out of admitting defeat before I'd even tacked up. If he stopped, he stopped - all I could do was try to hold on and hope he went over it.Super Groom had very kindly given Raz a brush while I re-walked (and re-re-walked) the horrible seven-and-a-half stride distance (!) just off the back wall in a last-ditch attempt at deciding which line to take and then it was a case of getting Raz tacked up and round to the warm-up. We pretty much had it to ourselves until we started jumping so I was able to do a little bit of forward-back without having to worry about getting in peoples' way.
I couldn't see a stride for toffee coming into the warm-up jumps so I was not feeling very optimistic going into the ring.
There were a few issues with the starting bell so we had a few minutes to wander around before getting started. Coming round to the first, Raz felt really confident and I never felt like he was going anywhere but over it. It was a nice change from the last time I jumped him, where I had to persuade him that there was nothing hiding under the fence waiting to grab his foot. He got a little cocky after that and it was all I could do to stop him accelerating into the fences. We got a little close in places but he didn't look at any of the fillers (whew!) and left everything up. Well, he only went and won.
[video=youtube;9S9gStkZgGo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9S9gStkZgGo[/video]
No pressure for the rest of the boys to follow suit, then.
Next up was Lenny, who I haven't jumped properly since September. The trust between the two of us isn't quite where it was last summer so we dropped back down to the 85cm class with the aim of just getting round in one piece. He warmed up nicely, despite being boxed in several times by people who completely ignored the big red ribbon in his tail. He felt really rideable into and out of the warm-up fences, so I was cautiously optimistic that I would have a bit more of a say in where we took off etc, as we came round to the first fence.
Overall, I was really pleased with the round. Lenny was keen but listened for the most part - he got a bit cocky coming into the last fence and we ended up taking a stride out but in general, I thought we didn't do too badly.
The jump-off, however, was interesting...
I rode quietly to get the turn back to the second fence and Lenny wasn't best pleased - he wanted to go! Cue throwing a buck and trying to shoot off. Cheeky monster.
Still, we made the turn and got through the line, only for Lenny to start throwing in cow kicks and flying changes around the corner.
I may have shouted at him to stop it as we came tearing around the corner to the last line.
Anyhoo... all that matters was that Mr. Leonard lived up to his show name and was double clear! And fifth!
Hopefully that means my little pocket rocket is back on track. The plan is to start at British Novice and work our way back up to 1.05m by the end of the year, but we'll see...
[video=youtube;Rr7QbJBc2MM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr7QbJBc2MM[/video]
Third to go was Timberland and well, the less said about it, the better.
I'm not convinced that I got it *that* wrong (yes, we were a little close) but either way, T hesitated and then ended up whacking me in the face when he decided that he was going to scramble over the fence after all. He managed to split my lip open and I ended up having to circle to try to get myself together again. So, we were on 8 faults pretty much from the get go.
I decided to keep going as we'd had a stop the last time we'd attempted that height and, typically, T jumped beautifully. We've changed his feed to give him a bit more oomph and what a difference. He couldn't wait to get started and the distances all felt easy - I didn't have to work as hard to get him forwards.
T's round. *cringe*
[video=youtube;6rswqrg5kFw]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rswqrg5kFw[/video]
And finally... Beau.
Well, it's a good thing he's handsome because he completely lost the plot in the warm-up. Normally, he's a bit tense but he was squealing and humping his back, and trying to go up.
In the end, I got off because he was either going to end up kicking out at someone (again, red ribbon mostly ignored) or exploding and it honestly wasn't worth upsetting everyone just to try to win a rosette.
I had planned on attempting the 1.10m but it wasn't to be. The only thing that has changed was his noseband because his usual grackle was rubbing. *sigh* Needless to say, it will be going back on once he's healed and we'll take things from there. Hopefully it was just an off day.
Silly big ginger...
So, a slightly mixed start to the year. But that's horses for you.
Thanks for reading.
