rosiesowner
Well-Known Member
So, when I got Chilli in April I set us a goal to qualify for the Grassroots finale at Arena UK in August. Yesterday, perhaps as a day late 18th birthday present from Princess Pony herself, we qualified 
We entered the 80 and the 90, hoping for a qualification in both. We got the 80, which I was thrilled about but not the 90. Well, I'll explain that in a moment
The day started with general chores, for example poo picking with quality control from the steed herself.
Then I left to go walk the course, which seemed pretty twisty turny! Went back to the yard, brought the Princess Pony in, re-washed the stains she accumulated overnight
and then plaited up. Enjoy this glorious photo of her straw neck in full force 
Not pony's best angle...
I also had to sort this mess out... I plaited her tail overnight to keep it clean and hmm, I'm not sure I wanted that much frizzyness
And so pony was ready. We got there too early, so we were very kindly allowed the use of an empty stable for Chilli to have a relax and a wee wee in. Here she is, chilling out, being the most beautiful pony in the world
And now on to the more interesting part! The 80 felt a lot smoother than any previous round we've done. Last time we went out she did a strange upwards stag leap over every fence, despite having the perfect distance etc... But this time she jumped forwards! Which suited me fine
And so we came 3rd, behind two very speedy turn on a sixpence ponies who deservedly came before us. The jump off turns from the winner were insane and made me miss my old little pony But don't tell the Chilli Princess that, as she might be offended Still, I was pleased with her and we got our qualification! Videos are below.
As you can probably see, in the first round she wasn't keen on going into the corner before the double at fence 3.
And here's the jump off. A couple of things went wrong! Firstly the turn to fence 3, as we had a little argument round the corner as she was very excited but I wanted to give us a bit more room into the fence! Either way, we had it down but I was glad she stopped to listen for a second instead of just mowing round. Small steps
In between fence 6 and the last I did plan to nip between those wings but didn't want to run over the photographer. In hindsight, maybe I should have just gone for it and hoped for her to jump out of the way
We have a month or so to work on our rhythm etc before the finals, so hopefully we can get that on track.
She now has her own frame in my room and a spot for the rosettes she's won instead of just putting them where my others are She is special.
AND THEN, THE 90.
Ah, the 90. The class I really wanted the qualification for. The class that the 80 was a warm up for. Well, if any of you read my posts regularly, you will probably be able to guess what happened. I here hit the deck.
To cut a long story short, we jumped the first two and I was having a whale of a time. Loving it. And then that bloody corner again!! Instead of circling for 4 faults for track crossing I decided to go for it and I reckon she would have done it, except at the last minute spotted the big old sun filler and refused for the first time ever in the months I've had her *touches wood*. I slid off like limp spaghetti, there was really no excuse Either way, we can either head somewhere else to qualify or do it at Arena UK so no harm done. To be fair to her, she saw the filler at the very last minute and the filler is intimidating, solid with bright yellow and orange suns on alternating yellow and orange backgrounds. Play nice! The video is below...
Afterwards I had a bow to the crowd watching, which they seemed to like as they all clapped Or maybe they just thought I was an idiot, who knows...
After the show we headed back to the stable she'd been staying for a post show massage courtesy of my friend who has a freelance business and as part of that offers Equissage sessions. Chilli really liked it, and especially loved the hand held unit on her hamstrings! We will definitely be booking more sessions
Despite the disappointing result in the 90, I'm really pleased with how much more relaxed she was than last time. She never lets me down, I only let her down! She was so game to jump that course up till that point, and I wish she had had the chance. Ah well, you win some you lose some. Whatever happens if we make it to Arena UK in August, I am so proud and lucky to be the person who gets to take her! We might only be jumping the tiny classes for the moment, but I enjoy (almost
) every second I spend with her! She's my heart horse...
Anyway! Enough of the sop! Cheers for reading if you did, hope everyone is having a good Monday!
We entered the 80 and the 90, hoping for a qualification in both. We got the 80, which I was thrilled about but not the 90. Well, I'll explain that in a moment
The day started with general chores, for example poo picking with quality control from the steed herself.
Then I left to go walk the course, which seemed pretty twisty turny! Went back to the yard, brought the Princess Pony in, re-washed the stains she accumulated overnight
and then plaited up. Enjoy this glorious photo of her straw neck in full force Not pony's best angle...
I also had to sort this mess out... I plaited her tail overnight to keep it clean and hmm, I'm not sure I wanted that much frizzyness
And so pony was ready. We got there too early, so we were very kindly allowed the use of an empty stable for Chilli to have a relax and a wee wee in. Here she is, chilling out, being the most beautiful pony in the world
And now on to the more interesting part! The 80 felt a lot smoother than any previous round we've done. Last time we went out she did a strange upwards stag leap over every fence, despite having the perfect distance etc...
But this time she jumped forwards! Which suited me fine
And so we came 3rd, behind two very speedy turn on a sixpence ponies who deservedly came before us. The jump off turns from the winner were insane and made me miss my old little pony
But don't tell the Chilli Princess that, as she might be offended Still, I was pleased with her and we got our qualification! Videos are below.As you can probably see, in the first round she wasn't keen on going into the corner before the double at fence 3.
And here's the jump off. A couple of things went wrong! Firstly the turn to fence 3, as we had a little argument round the corner as she was very excited but I wanted to give us a bit more room into the fence! Either way, we had it down but I was glad she stopped to listen for a second instead of just mowing round. Small steps
In between fence 6 and the last I did plan to nip between those wings but didn't want to run over the photographer. In hindsight, maybe I should have just gone for it and hoped for her to jump out of the way We have a month or so to work on our rhythm etc before the finals, so hopefully we can get that on track.
She now has her own frame in my room and a spot for the rosettes she's won instead of just putting them where my others are
She is special.
AND THEN, THE 90.
Ah, the 90. The class I really wanted the qualification for. The class that the 80 was a warm up for. Well, if any of you read my posts regularly, you will probably be able to guess what happened. I here hit the deck.
To cut a long story short, we jumped the first two and I was having a whale of a time. Loving it. And then that bloody corner again!! Instead of circling for 4 faults for track crossing I decided to go for it and I reckon she would have done it, except at the last minute spotted the big old sun filler and refused for the first time ever in the months I've had her *touches wood*. I slid off like limp spaghetti, there was really no excuse
Either way, we can either head somewhere else to qualify or do it at Arena UK so no harm done. To be fair to her, she saw the filler at the very last minute and the filler is intimidating, solid with bright yellow and orange suns on alternating yellow and orange backgrounds. Play nice! The video is below...Afterwards I had a bow to the crowd watching, which they seemed to like as they all clapped
Or maybe they just thought I was an idiot, who knows... After the show we headed back to the stable she'd been staying for a post show massage courtesy of my friend who has a freelance business and as part of that offers Equissage sessions. Chilli really liked it, and especially loved the hand held unit on her hamstrings! We will definitely be booking more sessions
Despite the disappointing result in the 90, I'm really pleased with how much more relaxed she was than last time. She never lets me down, I only let her down! She was so game to jump that course up till that point, and I wish she had had the chance. Ah well, you win some you lose some. Whatever happens if we make it to Arena UK in August, I am so proud and lucky to be the person who gets to take her! We might only be jumping the tiny classes for the moment, but I enjoy (almost
) every second I spend with her! She's my heart horse...Anyway! Enough of the sop! Cheers for reading if you did, hope everyone is having a good Monday!
