blood_magik
Well-Known Member
The last time I posted, my big guy wasn't quite himself. Luckily we managed to get an appointment at the vet school within the week and they agreed that it was time to re-medicate his hocks, as I had suspected. He had a few quiet weeks just to make sure he was comfortable before we started pushing the jumping again.
My old trainer was over from Dubai last month so we had a few lessons and he really pushed my out of my comfort zone. With Beau, it was all about getting him to sit back on his hocks, and with Lenny we worked on getting him forwards and in front of my leg before we did some grid work.
[video=youtube;_LAG5_FjblM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LAG5_FjblM[/video]
With Martin, we've been working on accuracy. He's made the fences 'scary', which has been interesting to say the least - it took a few attempts to get Lenny over the Top Spec filler and Beau decided he only liked jumping it one way when the water tray was underneath it - but I understand why we need to do it. I hate the water tray so I've decided it's going out every time we jump between now and Blair.
My lesson on Tuesday was part one of my breakthrough. Martin started me off with a grid - x-pole, one stride, upright, three strides, upright - and we built it up until the last part was 1.05m. Then we came down the diagonal over a 1.05m oxer and up the short diagonal over a 1.10m upright with a filler as a ground line (another gremlin of mine from a show we went to in April), and then Martin put the last part of the grid up to a 1.10m oxer to finish. Beau made it feel so easy and I came out of the lesson with my confidence at an all-time high, ready for our first 1.05m.
I jumped Lenny first at the show yesterday. He's only got a few points before he's out of discovery so I thought I'd have another go at it before I'm no longer able to. He warmed up nicely but felt like he had a rocket up his bum once we started jumping. The course was pretty technical considering it was built by the (I think) nicer of the two course builders - there was a triple at number seven and a pretty tricky 270 turn between ten and eleven.
We started off well - I got a good shot to the first and Lenny skipped round. We got a little close to six but it stayed up and I got a great shot into the triple at seven (whew!). It was going well until we got over number ten. Lenny locked onto the wrong fence as we came round and I think he got a bit of a surprise when eleven suddenly appeared in front of him - he ducked out so I had to circle and represent.
I'm a bit annoyed about the refusal but we finally made it to the second stage so I'm pleased about that.
[video=youtube;ZLB5yR-qsog]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLB5yR-qsog[/video]
I then took him into the 1.05m. I got a great stride into the first and second but then Lenny grabbed hold of the bit and promptly took off. I couldn't get him back and I couldn't turn him to the next fence because he was locking onto the wrong jump so I ended up retiring. We've gone from not forwards enough to running the Grand National so it's back to the drawing board - I'm either going to have to put something stronger in his mouth or only jump one class.
Finally, it was Beau's turn. He gave me the ride of my life - we hit everything where we needed to be and he jumped his socks off. Then I panicked and pulled him out of the double at seven. Just my luck, I couldn't find anywhere big enough to cut back in so I ended up retiring (again). I was annoyed with myself for pulling Beau up so I decided to go back in HC.
Beau was fab - he just touched the back rail on four but we got a good shot to the triple again and I saw a better stride into the double at 7, and got him through it.
Sorry about the quality - it's not brilliant but you can see most of it.
[video=youtube;OV5FyH69LQc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV5FyH69LQc[/video]
So, not a great day on paper but there are a few positives that I can take away from it. Onwards and upwards...
Thanks for reading.
My old trainer was over from Dubai last month so we had a few lessons and he really pushed my out of my comfort zone. With Beau, it was all about getting him to sit back on his hocks, and with Lenny we worked on getting him forwards and in front of my leg before we did some grid work.
[video=youtube;_LAG5_FjblM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LAG5_FjblM[/video]
With Martin, we've been working on accuracy. He's made the fences 'scary', which has been interesting to say the least - it took a few attempts to get Lenny over the Top Spec filler and Beau decided he only liked jumping it one way when the water tray was underneath it - but I understand why we need to do it. I hate the water tray so I've decided it's going out every time we jump between now and Blair.
My lesson on Tuesday was part one of my breakthrough. Martin started me off with a grid - x-pole, one stride, upright, three strides, upright - and we built it up until the last part was 1.05m. Then we came down the diagonal over a 1.05m oxer and up the short diagonal over a 1.10m upright with a filler as a ground line (another gremlin of mine from a show we went to in April), and then Martin put the last part of the grid up to a 1.10m oxer to finish. Beau made it feel so easy and I came out of the lesson with my confidence at an all-time high, ready for our first 1.05m.
I jumped Lenny first at the show yesterday. He's only got a few points before he's out of discovery so I thought I'd have another go at it before I'm no longer able to. He warmed up nicely but felt like he had a rocket up his bum once we started jumping. The course was pretty technical considering it was built by the (I think) nicer of the two course builders - there was a triple at number seven and a pretty tricky 270 turn between ten and eleven.
We started off well - I got a good shot to the first and Lenny skipped round. We got a little close to six but it stayed up and I got a great shot into the triple at seven (whew!). It was going well until we got over number ten. Lenny locked onto the wrong fence as we came round and I think he got a bit of a surprise when eleven suddenly appeared in front of him - he ducked out so I had to circle and represent.
I'm a bit annoyed about the refusal but we finally made it to the second stage so I'm pleased about that.
[video=youtube;ZLB5yR-qsog]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLB5yR-qsog[/video]
I then took him into the 1.05m. I got a great stride into the first and second but then Lenny grabbed hold of the bit and promptly took off. I couldn't get him back and I couldn't turn him to the next fence because he was locking onto the wrong jump so I ended up retiring. We've gone from not forwards enough to running the Grand National so it's back to the drawing board - I'm either going to have to put something stronger in his mouth or only jump one class.
Finally, it was Beau's turn. He gave me the ride of my life - we hit everything where we needed to be and he jumped his socks off. Then I panicked and pulled him out of the double at seven. Just my luck, I couldn't find anywhere big enough to cut back in so I ended up retiring (again). I was annoyed with myself for pulling Beau up so I decided to go back in HC.
Beau was fab - he just touched the back rail on four but we got a good shot to the triple again and I saw a better stride into the double at 7, and got him through it.
Sorry about the quality - it's not brilliant but you can see most of it.
[video=youtube;OV5FyH69LQc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV5FyH69LQc[/video]
So, not a great day on paper but there are a few positives that I can take away from it. Onwards and upwards...
Thanks for reading.
