Timberland's first affiliated ...

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blood_magik

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... Since hurting his pastern last year. :)

Well, I had planned on jumping a few 80s before trying a British Novice but he was coping with slightly bigger fences so I figured we could have a go and pull up if he started to struggle.

I took Lenny in first and got eliminated at fence four (those plastic number markers hurt when you fall on them :rolleyes:) so I was determined that Timberland was going to get further round the course than that.
Timbi lit up when we went into the ring. I normally have to really ride to get him forwards enough but this time he was up for it and all I had to do was let him go.

I got a bit of a crap stride to the first but he popped it and left it up. We normally have to add up along distances but this time we got the right number between all the jumps. The last part of the second phase was at the limit height-wise (a good meter) and I was a little worried it would be too much but Timberland popped them easily to finish on a double clear. I was so proud of him.

Video here. I flapped a little bit coming into the bigger fences but I'm pretty pleased with our round considering it's the biggest course I've done with him.
[video=youtube;7cSP8Qf1LC4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cSP8Qf1LC4[/video]

I also jumped Beau, who got his knickers in a twist going into the 1.05m. I ended up retiring but I took him back in today and, aside from decking me in the warm-up :o, he was much better.
This one was a lot more twisty than the last one I jumped and I was a little worried about turning him between the jumps. I didn't want to cut in too tight but I didn't want to go too wide, either.

We got a good stride into the first three and I managed to cut in between two of the jump wings to get to four. Five to six was five strides and then we came back on ourselves to seven. I took a bit of a risk by coming inside to eight because Beau rattled it even though I got a good stride. Luckily it stayed up and we made it through the triple at 9 to finish clear and go into the lead (!).
Unfortunately we didn't stay there for very long. ;) We were knocked down to 2nd by the person after me and then into third and finally into fourth. I can't complain though - Beau gave me a fab ride. :)

I walked the Newcomers course afterwards but I wasn't feeling quite brave enough to have a go. My aim is to try one with Beau before the end of the year.
Leonard, on the other hand, will probably be going back to the beginning once we figure out what's going on with him. He saw the vet (who passed him) before we went to Blair and he had a break from jumping but he's still not quite right. I think we'll be going down the x-ray route with him to rule out pain because he's had his teeth done and seen the physio and the saddler.

Then I'm definitely having a break (after Grandslam). ;)

Thanks for reading. :)
 
Great update! Your reports are always so honest, but remember not to be too hard on yourself, you're doing so well :) fingers crossed nothing to sinister with L - keep us posted!
 
Sheep said:
Great update! Your reports are always so honest, but remember not to be too hard on yourself, you're doing so well :) fingers crossed nothing to sinister with L - keep us posted!
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Thanks. It's really hard not to be critical - I'm always thinking 'what could I have done better?' when I've finished my round because I usually make a really silly mistake somewhere. It's taken a long time to get that 'perfect' round under my belt. :D
I really hope we get to the bottom of what's happening with Lenny. It's so not like him to not want to jump. :(

Bernster said:
Lovely round. Well done. Agree with Sheep!
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Thank you. :)

Bonkers2 said:
Really lovely to see you jumping so calmly amd [mostly ] fluently, more reports please.
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Thanks. :)
Haha yes... I was too busy trying to keep T forwards through the corners that style kind of went out the window. :o It worked though... ;)

el_Snowflakes said:
Great round :) love how you rode him forward & let him do his thing without all any faffing about. Really nice to watch :)
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Thank you. :)
 
blood_magik said:
I really hope we get to the bottom of what's happening with Lenny. It's so not like him to not want to jump. :(
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I don't like to be critical but he's not had that long a break from jumping, from what I've read he was jumping the week before Blair. If there's nothing physical found I would be tempted to give him a full month or two without any pressure or jumping at all then gradually slowly reintroduce it. We had one who didn't cope with the pressure of competing and we discovered if you only took her out once a month or less she was great and usually won, any more than that and she didn't want to know, 2 and 3 day shows just weren't her thing. In between she'd happily go cross country and may do an sj lesson but no more than that.
 
He's had three weeks of no jumping so we thought we'd try him again and see how he got on. I dropped the height back down to 90cm and there was no pressure

I think it might be pain related because he jumps the first few and then stops, just like Beau did when his hocks were sore.
 
posted too soon.

I don't feel criticised, don't worry.. :)

If Lenny's cleared by the vet, I'm planning on going back to basics with him for a couple of months anyways. Maybe I've somehow dented his confidence? Who knows...

If only they could talk.
 
Thanks. :)

To be honest it was my fault, as it usually is when Beau and I part company. :o
I got a crap stride into the upright and I didn't have enough canter for him to jump it. he did think about it though, bless him.
It made me buck up my ideas, anyways... ;)

Ah, thanks... I hope so, too.
 
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