Hattikins
Well-Known Member
Well what can I say....Firstly an apology for lurking rather than posting over the past few months, will try and post a little more often again! Secondly a huge thank you to all of you who have wished me and Jack luck and supported us at Badders this week, it was has been greatly appreciated 
We had just the most amazing 4 days, arrived tuesday afternoon and hacked round the Badminton estate with a friend of mine who'd also qualified which was just gorgeous with the evening sun going down.
Dressage was definitely a case of marmite!!! Judge at C gave her 140 equating to a penalty score of 30 I think, and the judge at B gave us 121 which equated to 39.5! So a 19 mark discrepancy and ended with a score of 34.8 which had us in 32nd place after dressage - not great and I was a little disappointed but we were only 5 marks off 2nd place.
Onto SJing with the sun ever shining down on us, by this point and I the most lovely band of supporters who'd arrived from home in the shape of my family, family friends and pony club friends. Jack jumped a lovely neat and most importantly clear round! I was a wimp at the uprights and got him in really deep as i knew he'd be more careful but he gave a great feel over the oxers and we managed just the one stride in the double!
Onto the fun bit....After bouncing like a loon in the start box he then had a crisis of confidence between fences 1 and 4 where he felt all over the place and very over awed by the whole occasion, I felt worried at this point but sooo shouldnt have been because as soon as he was heading to the wall at 5 he just took a deep breath and knuckled down and focussed and what a ride round we had - he was just amazing and finished with petrol still in the tank and 20ish secs under the optimum time. Mum shed a few tears as we came through the finish and after a fab wash down with sprayers immediately after finishing (fantastic idea Badminton Grassroots organisers!) we headed back to the stables tired but incredibly happy! Not bad for a little chunky pony Love him to pieces and couldn't have asked for more, he's been an absolute delight all week.
Finished in 16th place so 2 lovely rosettes and a little prize money to boot was a lovely way to finish the day. Took him for a gentle leg stretch hack this morning with another friend of mine who was competing and her mare and finally packed up and left for home after watching a couple of dressage tests and pootling round the shops.
It was the most special atmosphere, an event beautifully orchestrated by Ollie Bush who deserves much of the credit. The Cross country was just fantastic, a real championship track and had just the right questions and asks in it. The course walks with the BE trainers were invaluable. The stabling and general grassroots site was absolutely fantastic and was calm, quiet and ran like clockwise. Can't praise the organisers enough and The Hog Roast last night was a wonderful way to end 3 long days. A big thank you to my lovely Mum as well who had the task of driving the 3 1/2hrs to and from badminton and was and is always an invaluable helper and supporter all day long, I simply wouldn't have been there without her help
On a final note before I waffle even more and bore the pants off you all!: Do everything you can to qualify...you'll have the time of your life!
We had just the most amazing 4 days, arrived tuesday afternoon and hacked round the Badminton estate with a friend of mine who'd also qualified which was just gorgeous with the evening sun going down.
Dressage was definitely a case of marmite!!! Judge at C gave her 140 equating to a penalty score of 30 I think, and the judge at B gave us 121 which equated to 39.5! So a 19 mark discrepancy and ended with a score of 34.8 which had us in 32nd place after dressage - not great and I was a little disappointed but we were only 5 marks off 2nd place.
Onto SJing with the sun ever shining down on us, by this point and I the most lovely band of supporters who'd arrived from home in the shape of my family, family friends and pony club friends. Jack jumped a lovely neat and most importantly clear round! I was a wimp at the uprights and got him in really deep as i knew he'd be more careful but he gave a great feel over the oxers and we managed just the one stride in the double!
Onto the fun bit....After bouncing like a loon in the start box he then had a crisis of confidence between fences 1 and 4 where he felt all over the place and very over awed by the whole occasion, I felt worried at this point but sooo shouldnt have been because as soon as he was heading to the wall at 5 he just took a deep breath and knuckled down and focussed
and what a ride round we had - he was just amazing and finished with petrol still in the tank and 20ish secs under the optimum time. Mum shed a few tears as we came through the finish and after a fab wash down with sprayers immediately after finishing (fantastic idea Badminton Grassroots organisers!) we headed back to the stables tired but incredibly happy! Not bad for a little chunky pony Love him to pieces and couldn't have asked for more, he's been an absolute delight all week.Finished in 16th place so 2 lovely rosettes and a little prize money to boot was a lovely way to finish the day. Took him for a gentle leg stretch hack this morning with another friend of mine who was competing and her mare and finally packed up and left for home after watching a couple of dressage tests and pootling round the shops.
It was the most special atmosphere, an event beautifully orchestrated by Ollie Bush who deserves much of the credit. The Cross country was just fantastic, a real championship track and had just the right questions and asks in it. The course walks with the BE trainers were invaluable. The stabling and general grassroots site was absolutely fantastic and was calm, quiet and ran like clockwise. Can't praise the organisers enough and The Hog Roast last night was a wonderful way to end 3 long days. A big thank you to my lovely Mum as well who had the task of driving the 3 1/2hrs to and from badminton and was and is always an invaluable helper and supporter all day long, I simply wouldn't have been there without her help
On a final note before I waffle even more and bore the pants off you all!: Do everything you can to qualify...you'll have the time of your life!
