Weekend plans?

[racebuddy]

We went to Somerford this morning on arena hire and farm ride to cool
Off , baby horse had the winter off so hadn’t touched a fence since October , definitely feeling very well and jumped everything we asked him and loved the farm ride and then dad pinched him for the farm ride , not packed for going away wirh horses and dogs ?‍

 

[blood_magik]

My horse begs to differ. We’ve been there loads (maybe it’s worse for us as local?). Recently we had been starting to get a more sensible and less spooky test from him. But not today. Apparently three judges boxes (all with doors open as the poor souls were cooking inside) was two too many. He felt the need to protect me. The trouble with three judges is that you get three sheets with 3s and 4s on them. Oh well, hopefully his cheery face and handsome looks brightened up the judges day.
I also learnt that you shouldn’t warm up in your jacket if the car is telling you it’s 31 degrees. Which is unheard of here, so i may never need to put this learning into practice.
Beatrice and Blood Magic - hope the spooking demons were kinder to you both today.
The hills were brutal in that heat.

Hope everyone’s competitions and plans went better than mine

Oh that’s a shame… I know the feeling well, though - we once got eliminated for spooking in a test. ?‍?

we went fully expecting to come last today so wasn’t surprised to end up 6th out of 6. I also got a couple of 4’s so you’re not alone there. ?

Not sure it was worth having to get up at 3am but hey ho…

 

[Chippers1]

Red-1 I absolutely love your horse he just looks so much fun (and I have a soft spot for greys!)

Had lots of fun at Eland as always, Buzzy flew out the start box and charged around the first half of the course then we had a little incident at the brush/ditch fence where the fence judges were sat really close to it and he spooked at them and we lost all momentum, coming in a slow trot from a terrible angle so we obviously had a stop, I just went round and did the black flag option. A shame really as we were on a really good line to it! Never mind he spooked again at the top of the hill so we trotted the first jump up there, he is funny but finished the rest of the course nicely. Somehow ended up with 60 faults but I'm still happy with how we did considering it was very hot.

I'm also very pleased because at one point we had to overtake two horses - at the same time! - and he can be quite nappy but he just sailed past them, good boy.

We ended up 11th out of the 25 entered and my friend won the other group so i'm very happy for her too.

Looking forward to the championships in September, think i'll go and practice the brush fence with people sat next to it!

 

[RachelFerd]

A very hot day at Buckminster yesterday. 31.8 dressage, unlucky last fence tapped in the SJ and then an easy clear round xc in the time to finish on 35.8 in the novice. Only good enough for 19th place as in a big competitive section and the XC was very straightforward so didn't shake up the leaderboard much.

Ground was OK thanks to it being on very old parkland turf with great grass cover.

Still wish I'd been able to run elsewhere with a more educational XC track - but there we go, the issues with cancellations have been well documented.

Still, puts us on track to get to Gatcombe next month.

 

[beatrice]

My horse begs to differ. We’ve been there loads (maybe it’s worse for us as local?). Recently we had been starting to get a more sensible and less spooky test from him. But not today. Apparently three judges boxes (all with doors open as the poor souls were cooking inside) was two too many. He felt the need to protect me. The trouble with three judges is that you get three sheets with 3s and 4s on them. Oh well, hopefully his cheery face and handsome looks brightened up the judges day.
I also learnt that you shouldn’t warm up in your jacket if the car is telling you it’s 31 degrees. Which is unheard of here, so i may never need to put this learning into practice.
Beatrice and Blood Magic - hope the spooking demons were kinder to you both today.
The hills were brutal in that heat.

Hope everyone’s competitions and plans went better than mine

We had a good day although, I would never describe Gracie as particularly spooky but she certainly went much tighter than normal once in the arena. Just made the one mistake in the canter but still managed 67.5%. Annoyingly we made the same mistake in our Novice Winter festivals which cost us the win there as well. I'm still super proud of her though as was only her fourth Elementary and she hasn't done a test since April so i said id be over to moon if we managed 65%. Shes also never travelled that far - not sure i'd do it again in that heat though.

100% agree about the not warming up in a jacket - don't think i've ever been that hot. Well, until the 2 1/2 hr drive home after the prize giving with no air con (first world problem i know!).

 

[J_sarahd]

We have successfully conquered trotting poles. Considering this mare freaked out the first time I took her over a single pole in walk, she’s learning very quickly. Going to keep doing different variations of trot poles once a week to really get her confident over them.

I have also found out we need to really start desensitising with the hose. Its fine as she’s bay so won’t need many baths but I need to have her confident with the hose in case of injuries.

I also had a bit of a “what have I done” moment. I know everyone goes through this, but I had a moment of missing being able to get on my old pony and do anything I want and know him inside out (what he’s scared of, how he will react etc). I know it’s normal to feel this and that I made this “change of horse” for a reason!!

 

[milliepops]

i've only just come out of the What Have I Done moment and it's not even my horse! I think you have to just remember that happens with pretty much every new one. we are 5 months into our loan period and in the last week or so i think we've definitely turned a big old corner. I know there will be more humps in the road but we're enjoying each others company now He will always be a sharp one but he's making me laugh now with it.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

i've only just come out of the What Have I Done moment and it's not even my horse! I think you have to just remember that happens with pretty much every new one. we are 5 months into our loan period and in the last week or so i think we've definitely turned a big old corner. I know there will be more humps in the road but we're enjoying each others company now He will always be a sharp one but he's making me laugh now with it.

A sense of humour is key. I had to start laughing awhile ago otherwise I would've gone mad...or am I laughing because I have gone mad ? some days I'm not sure ?

 

[LEC]

This horse was a little superstar to finish on 25.75 and take the win which was very unexpected and first time at 100. She has had a lot of sweat go in as hasn’t been easy! Absolutely chuffed with the result.

 

[milliepops]

A sense of humour is key. I had to start laughing awhile ago otherwise I would've gone mad...or am I laughing because I have gone mad ? some days I'm not sure ?

haha definitely. i find it takes a while to get to know them before you find out if you're laughing with them or not

 

[Bernster]

I had one of those about 4 weeks in to owning Bertie! And occasionally after that. 1 year later and we’re both more settled but still a (enjoyable!) work in progress.

 

[SEL]

I also had a bit of a “what have I done” moment. I know everyone goes through this, but I had a moment of missing being able to get on my old pony and do anything I want and know him inside out (what he’s scared of, how he will react etc). I know it’s normal to feel this and that I made this “change of horse” for a reason!!

I've had a lot of those with baby cob recently. Been trying to lead in hand up the road for traffic education and its all a game - not at all relaxing! But then we did a short hack yesterday and although he was spooky he did carry on listening to me and Going Forward. Small steps and all that.

 

[stangs]

I think yes we have to be able to forgive when an improvement/learning is shown. She's young, the pressure would have been immense and we can all make mistakes and it sounds like she's gone out and rectified hers.

But has she?

The issue was never her riding. It was that she lashed out at the horse in response to stress/pressure/whatever. Until we see her in an equally high pressure situation where the horse doesn't do what she wants, there'll be no evidence that she has rectified the mental issues that meant her brain thought it was okay to smack a horse repeatedly because it refused. A "mistake" in my mind would have been screaming at the FJs, not what she did.

Again, even just an acknowledgement of "I lost control of my temper because of X... I am doing X to make sure I will never do this again, and I am horrified that I would do that to my equine partner, who made going to Badminton possible" would have done. The way it's been swept under the rug leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and at a time when eventing's social license is getting to be as 'good' as racing's...

 

[milliepops]

i haven't watched every XC jump MS has ridden since, has anyone else, to be able to make that judgement?

 

[DiNozzo]

But has she?

The issue was never her riding. It was that she lashed out at the horse in response to stress/pressure/whatever. Until we see her in an equally high pressure situation where the horse doesn't do what she wants, there'll be no evidence that she has rectified the mental issues that meant her brain thought it was okay to smack a horse repeatedly because it refused. A "mistake" in my mind would have been screaming at the FJs, not what she did.

Again, even just an acknowledgement of "I lost control of my temper because of X... I am doing X to make sure I will never do this again, and I am horrified that I would do that to my equine partner, who made going to Badminton possible" would have done. The way it's been swept under the rug leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and at a time when eventing's social license is getting to be as 'good' as racing's...

The issue was her riding. And her training.

The horse didn't respond in the way she should have trained him to respond. If the horse did, she wouldn't have lost her temper. There's 2 ways to fix that scenario; training the horse to respond more consistently in different environments or by fixing the mental issues as you described them. Either one ensures that the horse isn't going to be hit like that again.

If she's fixed that hole in the horse's training* so that it doesn't happen again, she has rectified her mistake.

*Caveat: She needs to be aware of the holes in all training, not just this horse. And every horse has some gaps/weaknesses.

 

[DiNozzo]

It's also worth mentioning that she will very rarely be put under as much pressure again with as little support as she had at Badminton. She and this horse won their first 5* at Luhmuhlen. This was their first Badminton and there was a lot of pressure to do well. I'd think only comparable situations going forwards would be Grand Slam completions (and she hasn't got the string for this yet), or team events where she'll have a lot more support in terms of team coaching and psychologists etc.

From H&H:
“He prefers attacking riding – he’s a nervous horse, and the slower I go, the higher he jumps. We have our best rounds when I am really positive, but I wanted to take enough time to make the turns smooth,” said Mollie, who also admitted she had found her retirement at Badminton hard to deal with after her win at the level last year.

“I felt a lot of pressure in the run-up to Badminton, and when it went wrong I took quite a long time to come back from that. I deleted all my social media apps for a while and that was really refreshing – to take a step back, focus on myself and take some time back in my own little bubble.”

She dropped Charly Van Ter Heiden down to intermediate level for three runs, resisting the temptation to tackle anything bigger until Barbury.

“Initially I wanted to go straight out and redeem myself, but giving ourselves the chance to regroup was the right decision. He wears his heart on his sleeve, and I felt that his confidence was knocked as much as mine was,” Mollie said. “The feeling that he is enjoying his job again is what I am most happy about.”

https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/new...2Dhjrr5z2rxU8fC2UorMocYfLZvWdEY4d12B50CNApiVs

From Mollie's Facebook page:
https://fb.watch/ec3nFwzBEm/

 

[nikkimariet]

No sunbathing for me, I was the weirdo still in their jacket!

First competition in 2 months for Rooni Bear. He was ace, I just wanted a sensible outing! Was very quiet and at probably his fave venue which helped break the ice.

Just a couple of mistakes in AM98 for 67%+ and a clear round in the AM music for 72%+.




Dead chuffed with him. If we can be this sensible forever now that would be grand!

 

[j1ffy]

No sunbathing for me, I was the weirdo still in their jacket!

First competition in 2 months for Rooni Bear. He was ace, I just wanted a sensible outing! Was very quiet and at probably his fave venue which helped break the ice.

Just a couple of mistakes in AM98 for 67%+ and a clear round in the AM music for 72%+.

View attachment 95744
View attachment 95745

Dead chuffed with him. If we can be this sensible forever now that would be grand!

He's looking so much stronger! Well done on some great scores.

 

[Roxylola]

Pics from Sunday

 

[mavandkaz]

Riding club dressage this evening, and another run through AM85. Pleased with a 5% increase, from the same judge. He's still not as good out as he is at home, so really pleased with the score. He's still finding the changes far too exciting, so the first one looked like this.

 

[Reacher]

Did a local riding club dressage (prelim) and SJ (80 and 90) . Got 66.9% in dressage which was quite good for us with some nice comments. Rolled a pole in the 80, got into jump off in the 90 and rolled another pole so was pleased to come 2nd.

He was trying to eat grass and didn’t want his photo took!

 

[DawnS]

I'm booked for dressage this weekend but expecting not to go. It's forecast 28 degrees here and my little lorry gets very hot in the back.
It's a shame as money is tight atm and I've paid £42 for 2 classes, which I won't get back.

 

[DressageCob]

I took the baby horse to a little unaffiliated dressage at my local venue for his first ever competition. He was excellent and got 69.13% for second. He had a few moments of inattention where he wanted to have a look at the gallery, the flowers and the working in, but he wasn't spooky or worried at all. He was just interested, which was fair enough. I'm taking him tomorrow to do the same test at the same place to keep the momentum going

 

[Caol Ila]

No exciting XC or mega dressage scores here. Hermosa found some brakes, steering, and gear changes on the long reins. In the meantime, Fin climbed some stairs and my cameraman legged it.

https://youtube.com/shorts/YNKjEs8heAk

*I have no idea why it is refusing to embed the first one.