Supanova
Well-Known Member
This weekend has been rather manic - i have come back to work for a rest!
It started with having friends over for a meal from Lincolnshire on Friday night which was rather bad planning on my part given that i needed to be up and off early on Saturday for the British Novice qualifier at Tushingham on Saturday. Anyway mad dash home from Friday night to prepare food and wash my girl's tail...not at the same time might i add and i did wash my hands in between!
Saturday dawned rather breezy and i had visions of fences being blown over, but i was pleased that when i arrived at Tushingham there were plenty of sand bags around! Walked the course for the BN qualifier and it walked nicely with no major issues other than a water tray (which i did think they weren't allowed to put in a BN class but perhaps the rules change when its a qualifier!), but my young mare is not very spooky so i felt relatively confident she wouldn't look at it. There were about 45 entered in the class and i put my name down about half way through.
She warmed up well although was getting a little stressy about the number of people flying about in the collecting ring so i took her outside and walked about the car park for a while. When i started jumping, i was really trying to focus on keeping the canter short and collected because it has been getting a bit long and flat and i've been having poles down as a result. Anyway it seemed to be working as she was really pinging her fences and i went in to the ring feeling confident. She jumped a lovely round with only one dodgy moment when i nearly lost control to the second double, but otherwise i was really pleased.
Course jumped well and there were 30 people that went through to the jump off. One heart stopping moment when the judge didn't announce my name in the list of people. I started panicing that i hadn't gone clear but when i went into the box they had me as a clear so it was just a mistake - phew!! I was then put down as 14th to go in the JO. I knew i would have to go for it if i wanted to be one of the top 8 to qualify. There was one turn i couldn't decide about as after the 2nd fence you could either go inside or outside a jump to get to the next fence but to go inside it was quite sharp. I decided not to risk it but after she jumped the first fence really well i changed my mind and went for it. She jumped a really lovely clear and did everything i asked of her and we went into the lead!!!
I then kept my fingers crossed for the next 16 to go and we ended up in 3rd place, so qualified for the Blue Chips in April!! Really pleased with my girl as its the first time i have really pushed her in the JO and she was a total star.
I then headed off to a Jessie J concert in Manchester on Sat night (i have realised i am far too old for such things, partcularly when i was getting frustrated by people standing up in front of me). Up early again to go to Field House BS on Sunday and then in bed at 8pm - exhausted!! I have decided horses and a social life just don't mix!
Cup of tea and jaffa cake for anyone who has got this far.
It started with having friends over for a meal from Lincolnshire on Friday night which was rather bad planning on my part given that i needed to be up and off early on Saturday for the British Novice qualifier at Tushingham on Saturday. Anyway mad dash home from Friday night to prepare food and wash my girl's tail...not at the same time might i add and i did wash my hands in between!
Saturday dawned rather breezy and i had visions of fences being blown over, but i was pleased that when i arrived at Tushingham there were plenty of sand bags around! Walked the course for the BN qualifier and it walked nicely with no major issues other than a water tray (which i did think they weren't allowed to put in a BN class but perhaps the rules change when its a qualifier!), but my young mare is not very spooky so i felt relatively confident she wouldn't look at it. There were about 45 entered in the class and i put my name down about half way through.
She warmed up well although was getting a little stressy about the number of people flying about in the collecting ring so i took her outside and walked about the car park for a while. When i started jumping, i was really trying to focus on keeping the canter short and collected because it has been getting a bit long and flat and i've been having poles down as a result. Anyway it seemed to be working as she was really pinging her fences and i went in to the ring feeling confident. She jumped a lovely round with only one dodgy moment when i nearly lost control to the second double, but otherwise i was really pleased.
Course jumped well and there were 30 people that went through to the jump off. One heart stopping moment when the judge didn't announce my name in the list of people. I started panicing that i hadn't gone clear but when i went into the box they had me as a clear so it was just a mistake - phew!! I was then put down as 14th to go in the JO. I knew i would have to go for it if i wanted to be one of the top 8 to qualify. There was one turn i couldn't decide about as after the 2nd fence you could either go inside or outside a jump to get to the next fence but to go inside it was quite sharp. I decided not to risk it but after she jumped the first fence really well i changed my mind and went for it. She jumped a really lovely clear and did everything i asked of her and we went into the lead!!!
I then kept my fingers crossed for the next 16 to go and we ended up in 3rd place, so qualified for the Blue Chips in April!! Really pleased with my girl as its the first time i have really pushed her in the JO and she was a total star.
I then headed off to a Jessie J concert in Manchester on Sat night (i have realised i am far too old for such things, partcularly when i was getting frustrated by people standing up in front of me). Up early again to go to Field House BS on Sunday and then in bed at 8pm - exhausted!! I have decided horses and a social life just don't mix!
Cup of tea and jaffa cake for anyone who has got this far.
off to Aintree at the weekend to have a go a the Star