millitiger
Well-Known Member
So, Vinnie went to Howick yesterday for his first ever event- he saw dressage boards about a year ago, went clear round jumping 2 weeks ago and went xc schooling on Saturday... so was very well prepared 
I'll try and be brief!
He was very professional in the dressage warm up and looked stonking!
Considering he has never seen anything like that before, he was super relaxed and just got on with it.
Went up to do his test (first test on grass and second test ever!) and he fell out of the arena on his first turn (20x40 is very small when you are his size!) but the rest of his test looked pretty polished and he scored a 31 which I was superpleased with
Only have photos of his warm up as although I videoed his test, it looks like he is about 6 miles away
Show jumping was quite bright which worried me!
He is struggling at the moment with co-ordination and working out which legs go where but my main hope was that he had a go and at least tried- he thought about having a little nap when he went in but Vittoria stayed really cool and managed to get him going without any drama.
Short story, he had 3 poles down but I am still really happy
Vittoria had to ride him fairly positively to make sure he had the confidence to actually take off and with his lack of co-ordination as well, poles did roll.
BUT, he fulfilled my brief and gave it a good try and I'm sure the rest will come with strength and ring practice.
So onto xc- I just wanted him to leave the startbox if I'm totally honest!
I drank quite a bit of my hipflask and then played 'nanny horse' for Vinnie and took him down to the warm up and then he followed me across to the startbox.
Obviously no outside assistance but I ran up to the first fence as he started, just to give him some reassurance by being able to follow 'mummy'.
It worked and he trotted suspiciously out after me and looked a little surprised by the first fence but did take off! I stopped running as he set off to the 2nd fence and he did pause for a bit and end up walking into it- at this point I thought I was going to have to run all of the way around with him but thankfully he landed in canter and set off (very slowly!) to fence 3
Shorter version- he jumped all of the way around and stayed in canter for most of his round.
He did have a wobble and a hesitation at the ditch and my heart sank as I thought he would jack it in but Vittoria managed to get the start button reignited and he popped the ditch and then the 'b' element fine and continued clear around the rest of the course
So... very, very pleased with my boy for strapping on some brave pants and having a good bash at everything he was faced with.
And even more pleased with my decision to send him to Vittoria- she has given him so much confidence and is always so poised and calm and has treated him so well and been very open about everything to do with his management and training- I only wish I had enough money to keep Vinnie there indefinitely!
Not sure when Vinnie's next trip out will be- he is having a few days off now to let his mind catch up with what he has done and I am sure he will spend it all sleeping as he was pretty pooped after being ridden 3x in a day!
I'll try and be brief!
He was very professional in the dressage warm up and looked stonking!
Considering he has never seen anything like that before, he was super relaxed and just got on with it.
Went up to do his test (first test on grass and second test ever!
) and he fell out of the arena on his first turn (20x40 is very small when you are his size!) but the rest of his test looked pretty polished and he scored a 31 which I was superpleased with Only have photos of his warm up as although I videoed his test, it looks like he is about 6 miles away
Show jumping was quite bright which worried me!
He is struggling at the moment with co-ordination and working out which legs go where but my main hope was that he had a go and at least tried- he thought about having a little nap when he went in but Vittoria stayed really cool and managed to get him going without any drama.
Short story, he had 3 poles down but I am still really happy
Vittoria had to ride him fairly positively to make sure he had the confidence to actually take off and with his lack of co-ordination as well, poles did roll.
BUT, he fulfilled my brief and gave it a good try and I'm sure the rest will come with strength and ring practice.
So onto xc- I just wanted him to leave the startbox if I'm totally honest!
I drank quite a bit of my hipflask and then played 'nanny horse' for Vinnie and took him down to the warm up and then he followed me across to the startbox.
Obviously no outside assistance
but I ran up to the first fence as he started, just to give him some reassurance by being able to follow 'mummy'.It worked and he trotted suspiciously out after me and looked a little surprised by the first fence but did take off! I stopped running as he set off to the 2nd fence and he did pause for a bit and end up walking into it- at this point I thought I was going to have to run all of the way around with him but thankfully he landed in canter and set off (very slowly!) to fence 3
Shorter version- he jumped all of the way around and stayed in canter for most of his round.
He did have a wobble and a hesitation at the ditch and my heart sank as I thought he would jack it in but Vittoria managed to get the start button reignited and he popped the ditch and then the 'b' element fine and continued clear around the rest of the course
So... very, very pleased with my boy for strapping on some brave pants and having a good bash at everything he was faced with.
And even more pleased with my decision to send him to Vittoria- she has given him so much confidence and is always so poised and calm and has treated him so well and been very open about everything to do with his management and training- I only wish I had enough money to keep Vinnie there indefinitely!
Not sure when Vinnie's next trip out will be- he is having a few days off now to let his mind catch up with what he has done and I am sure he will spend it all sleeping as he was pretty pooped after being ridden 3x in a day!
