Firewell
Well-Known Member
Oh my WORD!! I dont know how many three day events I can take in the future lol. It was the longest, most tiring, most nerve wracking weekend of my life! However it was also amazing, inspiring and went in a blink of an eye (does that make sense?!).
The day before the event was spent getting ready. I was lucky as I have my sister helping from England and she was great at helping me tack clean, pack and organise everything. I was happy that we were going very well prepared in terms of the Dressage and Showjumping. We have really upped our game winning with scores of 70% in recent dressage competitions and we have won or been highly placed in every showjumping competition we have done here from 80cm to 1m at local and rated shows. In fact Jae hasnt had a pole since we got here. XC I havent done any in two years and Jae hasnt done anything in a year and even then only a handful of events so I was cautious and entered the Beginner Novice. I also didnt know what the atmosphere and fences would be like.
The stabling opened on the Thursday and as the event is not too far from where I keep my horse I decided to take him over on the Friday instead before his dressage. I went over on Thursday to lay his bed and have a look around. It seemed like everyone had arrived. 200 horses stabled in temporary stables, there were horses EVERYWHERE! There was so much hustle and bustle. People shouting, horses neighing, horses being lunged, horses being unloaded off gigantic trailers, horses being ridden, people setting up, horses and riders practicing their dressage. OH MY! I was worried I had missed a trick not bringing my horse that night like everyone else had and getting him used to it. However I knew in my heart of hearts that it was in HIS best interest to spend the night in his field, so he might be a bit more uppity than the others on the Friday but then again he has had one less day at the show so come showjumping day might be fresher .
Friday dawned and I overslept!!! I wanted to get him there early in an attempt to get him used to the atmosphere before my test and I was late. Cr@p. My sister and I rushed to the yard, plaited him up, loaded the trailer with my trunk and ten tons of tack, threw him on and we were off!
Jae had his eyes on stalks when we arrived, he wanted off the trailer asap so Im flying around trying to get his bridle on before I unloaded him so he wouldnt ****** off ha ha. He came off like he owned the world prancing to his stable with me dangling by his side. We threw his saddle on and me on and we bounced up to the dressage warm up to get him going. The steward nearly didnt let me in! My dressage wasnt until the afternoon and the warm up was heaving with people getting ready for their tests. Pleeeeeeeease, I had to beg her! We only arrived just now, he needs to get used to it! She supposed it would be alright. In we went and he did a massive sigh and went into donkey mode typical lol, so much for fire breathing dragon, Im now sat on riding school pony! I hadnt had time to put on my spurs or take my whip so I had to do a couple pony club kicks to get him moving. We did 15/20 mins of walk, trot, canter and I took him back to the stable. It was hot and I knew that would be enough to get him in work mode and settle him. I popped him in his stable and polished him up and he was so calm! Its OK he said I know why I am here, I am an international traveller and I can be a proper event horse, dont worry about me.
Half an hour before my test I got on and went to warm up properly. He started off feeling a bit wooden and off the bridle but we got into our bubble and he was going great. It was so hot though, nearly 40 degrees and I was dying. I had blood throbbing in my ears and I literally thought I was going to faint. Luckily we were allowed to remove our jackets but only if we also removed our neck wear. Typical California, we had to be proper or casual. Not half and half . I removed my jacket and stock. It was too hot for British me although fair play most competitors kept their stuff on!
The test was good, we went in like we owned it. I rode that center line lol. They had watered the arena just before my test and there was puddles everywhere, fab Jae loved it. He doesnt mind stuff like that. A lady from my barn was there watching and she said she could tell he was an English horse splashing through, she said the Californian horses would have tip toed around it . Right canter was rubbish in the test, it was a wall of death, the right rein is his tough rein and I obviously had not unlocked him enough in the warm up oh well.
I finished totally puce in the face, I probably looked awful . The judge as I rode out complimented me on my through riding. Blimey!!! Thats a first! So that got me all excited that maybe I had done well and I spent the rest of the day feeling completely sick waiting for my score to go up. When I went back in the evening, I warily approached the score board. We had scored 31.5 in a tough marking section and were lying joint third with three other people. Second place was on 30.5, first place was on a whopping 24. Pretty good I thought! We had everything to play for and the pressure was on.
Later on I walked Jae round the showground in the cool evening air, letting him pick at some grass as the sun went down. I had already walked the XC course and it looked huge and totally impossible. There was an open ditch I was worried about and a brush fence off a tight turn going into the water that I knew would need riding. Please be brave for me tomorrow boy I whispered in Jaes ear. Please jump everything in front of you, dont let me down my beauty. Jae was loving every second of being at the show, he was calm and happy and he gently nipped me on my leg to let me know he understood.
Continued...
The day before the event was spent getting ready. I was lucky as I have my sister helping from England and she was great at helping me tack clean, pack and organise everything. I was happy that we were going very well prepared in terms of the Dressage and Showjumping. We have really upped our game winning with scores of 70% in recent dressage competitions and we have won or been highly placed in every showjumping competition we have done here from 80cm to 1m at local and rated shows. In fact Jae hasnt had a pole since we got here. XC I havent done any in two years and Jae hasnt done anything in a year and even then only a handful of events so I was cautious and entered the Beginner Novice. I also didnt know what the atmosphere and fences would be like.
The stabling opened on the Thursday and as the event is not too far from where I keep my horse I decided to take him over on the Friday instead before his dressage. I went over on Thursday to lay his bed and have a look around. It seemed like everyone had arrived. 200 horses stabled in temporary stables, there were horses EVERYWHERE! There was so much hustle and bustle. People shouting, horses neighing, horses being lunged, horses being unloaded off gigantic trailers, horses being ridden, people setting up, horses and riders practicing their dressage. OH MY! I was worried I had missed a trick not bringing my horse that night like everyone else had and getting him used to it. However I knew in my heart of hearts that it was in HIS best interest to spend the night in his field, so he might be a bit more uppity than the others on the Friday but then again he has had one less day at the show so come showjumping day might be fresher .
Friday dawned and I overslept!!! I wanted to get him there early in an attempt to get him used to the atmosphere before my test and I was late. Cr@p. My sister and I rushed to the yard, plaited him up, loaded the trailer with my trunk and ten tons of tack, threw him on and we were off!
Jae had his eyes on stalks when we arrived, he wanted off the trailer asap so Im flying around trying to get his bridle on before I unloaded him so he wouldnt ****** off ha ha. He came off like he owned the world prancing to his stable with me dangling by his side. We threw his saddle on and me on and we bounced up to the dressage warm up to get him going. The steward nearly didnt let me in! My dressage wasnt until the afternoon and the warm up was heaving with people getting ready for their tests. Pleeeeeeeease, I had to beg her! We only arrived just now, he needs to get used to it! She supposed it would be alright. In we went and he did a massive sigh and went into donkey mode typical lol, so much for fire breathing dragon, Im now sat on riding school pony! I hadnt had time to put on my spurs or take my whip so I had to do a couple pony club kicks to get him moving. We did 15/20 mins of walk, trot, canter and I took him back to the stable. It was hot and I knew that would be enough to get him in work mode and settle him. I popped him in his stable and polished him up and he was so calm! Its OK he said I know why I am here, I am an international traveller and I can be a proper event horse, dont worry about me.
Half an hour before my test I got on and went to warm up properly. He started off feeling a bit wooden and off the bridle but we got into our bubble and he was going great. It was so hot though, nearly 40 degrees and I was dying. I had blood throbbing in my ears and I literally thought I was going to faint. Luckily we were allowed to remove our jackets but only if we also removed our neck wear. Typical California, we had to be proper or casual. Not half and half . I removed my jacket and stock. It was too hot for British me although fair play most competitors kept their stuff on!
The test was good, we went in like we owned it. I rode that center line lol. They had watered the arena just before my test and there was puddles everywhere, fab Jae loved it. He doesnt mind stuff like that. A lady from my barn was there watching and she said she could tell he was an English horse splashing through, she said the Californian horses would have tip toed around it . Right canter was rubbish in the test, it was a wall of death, the right rein is his tough rein and I obviously had not unlocked him enough in the warm up oh well.
I finished totally puce in the face, I probably looked awful . The judge as I rode out complimented me on my through riding. Blimey!!! Thats a first! So that got me all excited that maybe I had done well and I spent the rest of the day feeling completely sick waiting for my score to go up. When I went back in the evening, I warily approached the score board. We had scored 31.5 in a tough marking section and were lying joint third with three other people. Second place was on 30.5, first place was on a whopping 24. Pretty good I thought! We had everything to play for and the pressure was on.
Later on I walked Jae round the showground in the cool evening air, letting him pick at some grass as the sun went down. I had already walked the XC course and it looked huge and totally impossible. There was an open ditch I was worried about and a brush fence off a tight turn going into the water that I knew would need riding. Please be brave for me tomorrow boy I whispered in Jaes ear. Please jump everything in front of you, dont let me down my beauty. Jae was loving every second of being at the show, he was calm and happy and he gently nipped me on my leg to let me know he understood.
Continued...