millitiger
Well-Known Member
So, after Solihull last week we went off the ALW on Sunday for our second event of the season.
Warmed up a bit hot for the dressage but thankfully I had planned 45 minute warm up, so lots of transitions later, I had a soft horse who was just on the edge of buzzy.
Asked the steward if there was room to trot around the arenas as I couldnt see, she confirmed yes, so I trotted around and found a very tight squeeze by the judges car for an 18hh horse!
Test was actually quite nice, he was relaxed and let me ride him, first canter was slightly tight but apart from that it was good and I was smiling throughout.
Found out later he scored a 26 so huge
; it felt very deserved as he really stayed with me and tried his big heart out
Off to sj and there was a HUGE queue on the board so we walked around the spare outdoor school for a while before going into the very tight warm up.
He was much better in the warm up than last week, much more forward and picking a bigger stride to jump off. We are in the process of changing our SJ style at the moment and trying to get away from the up/down helicopter style and instead try to get him picking the more forward stride.
Into the ring and we were more forward, really worked on not letting him drop behind my leg around the corners which perhaps resulted in a bit of chasing on my part but on the whole it was much smoother with a few blips, rather than a catastrophe with a few nice bits!
Came out with 12 faults which others may be heartbroken about but as I say, work in progress and I am confident we are going in the right direction, even if we have a few poor rounds on paper it feels much better
Onto XC, when I walked it there was nothing in it that concerned me at all, apart from a curving related distance to a ditch that had Vinnies rogue left shoulder on the outside and I was aware that I did not want a repeat of last week where we stood up and waved at everyone on a sharp turn!
Warmed up a bit pathetically as the warm up fence was absolutely tiny and Vinnie saw no point in bothering to lift his feet over it.
Set off and he felt the most positive and relaxed I have felt him
and so it continued and he breezed around the whole course without much input from me at all.
Ditch, what ditch? My plan was to trot in but Vinnie blithely ignored me and cantered over like it was a pole on the ground. I didnt hurry him anywhere, as less concerned about time faults at the moment than concentrating on keeping him confident and happy with everything.
Finished very easily and full of running, looked online yesterday and he was 15 seconds under the time so, despite it feeling pretty slow, I think the improved rhythm meant we didnt waste any time.
So finished on a score of 38, again enhanced by his good dressage score
All felt a bit too easy and he was rather blasé so I am pleased our next event is a step up in height at Broadway BE in 2 weeks; I hope that will also give him something to try harder with in the SJ as he just bends his knees over small fences, rather than throwing a proper shape.
I only have one photo us warming up before the SJ warm up- mum refuses to jinx us by using the camera when we are actually doing anything! Will have to post it later when I'm not on my mobile- very pleased with how much stronger and more uphill he looks this season though.
Thanks all for reading
Warmed up a bit hot for the dressage but thankfully I had planned 45 minute warm up, so lots of transitions later, I had a soft horse who was just on the edge of buzzy.
Asked the steward if there was room to trot around the arenas as I couldnt see, she confirmed yes, so I trotted around and found a very tight squeeze by the judges car for an 18hh horse!
Test was actually quite nice, he was relaxed and let me ride him, first canter was slightly tight but apart from that it was good and I was smiling throughout.
Found out later he scored a 26 so huge
; it felt very deserved as he really stayed with me and tried his big heart out Off to sj and there was a HUGE queue on the board so we walked around the spare outdoor school for a while before going into the very tight warm up.
He was much better in the warm up than last week, much more forward and picking a bigger stride to jump off. We are in the process of changing our SJ style at the moment and trying to get away from the up/down helicopter style
and instead try to get him picking the more forward stride.Into the ring and we were more forward, really worked on not letting him drop behind my leg around the corners which perhaps resulted in a bit of chasing on my part
but on the whole it was much smoother with a few blips, rather than a catastrophe with a few nice bits!Came out with 12 faults which others may be heartbroken about but as I say, work in progress and I am confident we are going in the right direction, even if we have a few poor rounds on paper it feels much better
Onto XC, when I walked it there was nothing in it that concerned me at all, apart from a curving related distance to a ditch that had Vinnies rogue left shoulder on the outside and I was aware that I did not want a repeat of last week where we stood up and waved at everyone on a sharp turn!
Warmed up a bit pathetically as the warm up fence was absolutely tiny and Vinnie saw no point in bothering to lift his feet over it.
Set off and he felt the most positive and relaxed I have felt him
and so it continued and he breezed around the whole course without much input from me at all. Ditch, what ditch?
My plan was to trot in but Vinnie blithely ignored me and cantered over like it was a pole on the ground. I didnt hurry him anywhere, as less concerned about time faults at the moment than concentrating on keeping him confident and happy with everything.Finished very easily and full of running, looked online yesterday and he was 15 seconds under the time so, despite it feeling pretty slow, I think the improved rhythm meant we didnt waste any time.
So finished on a score of 38, again enhanced by his good dressage score
All felt a bit too easy and he was rather blasé so I am pleased our next event is a step up in height at Broadway BE in 2 weeks; I hope that will also give him something to try harder with in the SJ as he just bends his knees over small fences, rather than throwing a proper shape.
I only have one photo us warming up before the SJ warm up- mum refuses to jinx us by using the camera when we are actually doing anything! Will have to post it later when I'm not on my mobile- very pleased with how much stronger and more uphill he looks this season though.
Thanks all for reading
