November 2014
South East Eventer's League Ball & Season Summary
I had a great time at the SEEL Ball and was thrilled to pick up my very generous prizes from Equ StreamZ for coming fifth in the Under 21s category. 2014 has been a fantastic season for me, with three top five placings at BE100 level (including a win) and four top ten placings at BE Novice, a qualification for the Badminton Grass Roots 100 Final, sixth place at the Riding Club Open Horse Trials Championships and being in champion and reserve champion teams at the NSEA Championships. |
October 2014
National Schools Championships at Addington Manor
This was my first and last ever National Schools Championships, and what a fantastic weekend it was! On the Friday evening Pop was one of only 6 clears out of 48 competitors in the 1.10-1.15m show jumping and helped the team clinch the national title! Then on Saturday he was one of only 5 clears out of 77 competitors in the Open Jumping with Style (arena eventing) and our team were reserve champions! He did incur 4 faults in the Intermediate JwS, but the team still managed 6th place. He did a respectable test in the team dressage, despite still being in jumping mode, helping the team to 6th place. And then finally did a lovely test to score 69% and gain 6th place in the individual dressage! Not surprisingly he was a little tired after that lot and went home to a well-deserved few days off and lots of carrots!
This was my first and last ever National Schools Championships, and what a fantastic weekend it was! On the Friday evening Pop was one of only 6 clears out of 48 competitors in the 1.10-1.15m show jumping and helped the team clinch the national title! Then on Saturday he was one of only 5 clears out of 77 competitors in the Open Jumping with Style (arena eventing) and our team were reserve champions! He did incur 4 faults in the Intermediate JwS, but the team still managed 6th place. He did a respectable test in the team dressage, despite still being in jumping mode, helping the team to 6th place. And then finally did a lovely test to score 69% and gain 6th place in the individual dressage! Not surprisingly he was a little tired after that lot and went home to a well-deserved few days off and lots of carrots!
Weston Park U18 Eventing Championships
Very pleased to report that the weather was much drier than last year, although rather chilly at times, so we were glad of our team jackets which were kindly sponsored by LMEQ! The ground was still rather wet though, especially on the first day when we were doing our dressage test, and Pop slipped a couple of times in the canter work, which prompted him to rush off with his head in the air for a few strides! But we still got a respectable 31.5. I was very pleased with the way he show jumped as he was really pinging over the fences and ended up with a clear round. Then a quick change into our snazzy red and white XC gear kindly provided by Hit Air and off down to the cross country start. Pop stormed off round the cross country really confidently and I was really pleased with the way he was jumping but unfortunately the turn to the blue wave fence in front of the water was rather tight and he didn't have time to read the question properly and incurred 20 penalties. He then sailed on confidently around the rest of the course, but obviously we were dropped right out of the running.
Very pleased to report that the weather was much drier than last year, although rather chilly at times, so we were glad of our team jackets which were kindly sponsored by LMEQ! The ground was still rather wet though, especially on the first day when we were doing our dressage test, and Pop slipped a couple of times in the canter work, which prompted him to rush off with his head in the air for a few strides! But we still got a respectable 31.5. I was very pleased with the way he show jumped as he was really pinging over the fences and ended up with a clear round. Then a quick change into our snazzy red and white XC gear kindly provided by Hit Air and off down to the cross country start. Pop stormed off round the cross country really confidently and I was really pleased with the way he was jumping but unfortunately the turn to the blue wave fence in front of the water was rather tight and he didn't have time to read the question properly and incurred 20 penalties. He then sailed on confidently around the rest of the course, but obviously we were dropped right out of the running.
September 2014
South of England International Horse Trials
For the first time ever I was competing both Pop and Alfie on the same day, as both were entered in Novice sections. This meant that as soon as I jumped off one horse, I had to get on the next one! Much respect for those professional riders who compete multiple horses all the time! Pop's dressage wasn't his best effort - something set him off in the warm up and the first half of his test was rather tense which obviously affected his score, ended up on 34.5. However he made up for this by doing a great double clear, and as he took all the direct routes cross country he was the third fastest time in the section which meant we ended up fourth! So pleased with such a good result in what was a very competitive section!
For the first time ever I was competing both Pop and Alfie on the same day, as both were entered in Novice sections. This meant that as soon as I jumped off one horse, I had to get on the next one! Much respect for those professional riders who compete multiple horses all the time! Pop's dressage wasn't his best effort - something set him off in the warm up and the first half of his test was rather tense which obviously affected his score, ended up on 34.5. However he made up for this by doing a great double clear, and as he took all the direct routes cross country he was the third fastest time in the section which meant we ended up fourth! So pleased with such a good result in what was a very competitive section!
Alfie wasn't quite as successful, he warmed up well for the dressage but was very distracted in the test. I was, however, really pleased with his show jumping, with just one pole down. In the cross country, however, I experienced a few steering problems, resulting in a run out at the 'shotgun' fence, so incurring 20 penalties. He jumped the rest of the course well though, and was excellent over all the technical fences - he is obviously better when he has to concentrate!
Blenheim Eventer's Challenge
We visited Blenheim Horse Trials to watch last year, so was excited to qualify for the Eventer's Challenge this year. The competition comprises a course of show jumps and cross country jumps in one arena, with the clear rounds closest to the optimum time going through to a jump off. Pop warmed up nicely and was jumping really well, but the collecting ring was quite cramped and with competitors clustering around one end to watch the competition, it made it hard to get a proper approach to the practice fences. Just before we went in to compete, Pop crashed through one of the practice jumps and nearly fell. This rattled both him and me, and we didn't go into the arena in the best frame of mind, so had one pole down and a stop at the skinny brush, so were obviously out of contention. However, the journey wasn't wasted as we did get to enjoy watching the Horse Trials and doing a bit of retail therapy round Blenheim's fantastic tradestands!
Blenheim Eventer's Challenge
We visited Blenheim Horse Trials to watch last year, so was excited to qualify for the Eventer's Challenge this year. The competition comprises a course of show jumps and cross country jumps in one arena, with the clear rounds closest to the optimum time going through to a jump off. Pop warmed up nicely and was jumping really well, but the collecting ring was quite cramped and with competitors clustering around one end to watch the competition, it made it hard to get a proper approach to the practice fences. Just before we went in to compete, Pop crashed through one of the practice jumps and nearly fell. This rattled both him and me, and we didn't go into the arena in the best frame of mind, so had one pole down and a stop at the skinny brush, so were obviously out of contention. However, the journey wasn't wasted as we did get to enjoy watching the Horse Trials and doing a bit of retail therapy round Blenheim's fantastic tradestands!
August 2014
Fantastic Firle!
What a weekend! On the Saturday, Pop was doing the BE100 Regional final and got 28.5 dressage and a double clear inside the time to finish 5th, which hopefully means we have qualified for the Badminton Grassroots Final but am awaiting official confirmation before I get too excited!
And then on the Sunday we took Alfie along for his first ever BE Novice. Was actually rather pleased with a 39.5 dressage score as I was expecting to be well into the 40s at this level, but then he tapped out three poles in the show jumping. He made up for this by storming around the cross country very confidently for a clear round and only 1.6 time penalties (was closest to the time in his section). As the cross country caused so many problems, this meant that he ended up EIGHTH! and got his first ever proper BE point!
What a weekend! On the Saturday, Pop was doing the BE100 Regional final and got 28.5 dressage and a double clear inside the time to finish 5th, which hopefully means we have qualified for the Badminton Grassroots Final but am awaiting official confirmation before I get too excited!
And then on the Sunday we took Alfie along for his first ever BE Novice. Was actually rather pleased with a 39.5 dressage score as I was expecting to be well into the 40s at this level, but then he tapped out three poles in the show jumping. He made up for this by storming around the cross country very confidently for a clear round and only 1.6 time penalties (was closest to the time in his section). As the cross country caused so many problems, this meant that he ended up EIGHTH! and got his first ever proper BE point!
National Tetrathlon Championships 2014
Having competed at the Intermediate Tetrathlon Championships for two years running, this year I made the rather rash decision to compete in Open Tetrathlon, despite the fact that I saw last year’s Open cross country course at the Championships and knew just how tough it was! On top of that, I decided to borrow my father’s horse Alfie for the Area and Championships as Pop had a lot of eventing commitments this summer and it was unfair to expect him to do tetrathlon as well. The only problem being that whilst Alfie is honest and bold, he has never competed above 100 level in eventing or tetrathlon, so the Open Tet Champs course would be a huge test for him.
We were lucky with our journey up to Bishop Burton College (near Hull) and it took us less than six hours in total. We settled Alfie into his temporary stable and then it was time to go to the practice shoot, where I was really pleased to score ten 10s! It was then off to the competition briefing where we were informed that the Open Tet cross country would incorporate some of the fences from the Junior European Eventing Championships which were held at Bishop Burton the previous week!
The following day was a busy one as I had both the shoot and the swim phases to complete. Compared to my performance at the practice shoot, I was disappointed to get only only 720 in the shoot phase. In the swim I managed eight lengths and six metres which is a pretty average score for me and translated into 924 points. Then it was time to walk the cross country course for the first time, and the course was just as demanding as I feared and was definitely the biggest and most testing course I have ever competed over! Particularly of concern were the downhill technical fences which I knew would be difficult on Alfie, who is 17.1hh and very gangly with his feet being a long way from his brain!
Wednesday brought the dreaded run phase, but I was glad to see it was being run over a much flatter course than in 2013! They had a new format this
year, with us running in heats of 10 with micro chip tags attached to our running shoes so that the times could be automatically recorded. I preferred
this to the old format of running individually and was pleased with my run score of 884. Then it was time to relax in the evening at the traditional Tet Champs party!
I awoke on Thursday morning to rain pattering against the window of the horsebox, much to my consternation, as I knew the cross country would be much
more difficult if I had to battle with slippery reins and wet ground as well. Thankfully, the rain cleared before the cross country started, and soon I was
off down to the start.
Fences 1 and 2 went smoothly, but at 3 Alfie suddenly veered left and we almost had a run out, but we did clear it if not very stylishly. The combination
at 4 was the first of the worrying downhill fences, with a hanging log, one stride to a big drop, then sharp right to another big log. Alfie has the
manoeuvrability of a juggernaut, so it was a tough task to steer him from the drop to the final log, but we managed it to praise from the commentator for my super cross country riding, although really the credit should go to the very honest horse! 5 was the hand gate which we negotiated easily, 6 was
straightforward, 7 was the coffin just inside the woods so going from light to dark, with a massive log as the first part, a short stride to the ditch and
another stride to a skinny, but Alfie jumped through it well. Up through the woods to the hanging log at 8, a parallel at 9, and then downhill to the first
of the Junior European fences, a massive owlhole, which we flew through, and then over another parallel at 11.
We jumped clear through 12 which was a combination of two skinny white ‘flowerpots’, over a meaty log pile at 13, then up the hill to fence 14, the
Bishop’s Table which had caused a lot of competitors to retire, being very solid and of maximum dimensions. Thankfully Alfie just soared over it, and then it was onto the most testing combination of the course15. This consisted of a double of two shaped brush fences at the top of the hill, landing directly onto a very steep slope and then swinging left to a huge brush corner. Alfie went through the first two nicely and thankfully I managed to balance and steady him down the hill, and as I turned for the brush corner he locked onto it instantly and jumped it confidently!
Next it was down to the sliprail which we negotiated smoothly and luckily there was a bit of a bank that made climbing back on board 17.1hh Alfie
a little easier. Then we had to rev up again to approach the testing water complex – A and B was a double of oars directly into the water, swiftly followed
by a skinny wooden otter on a curve in the water at C, then finally out of the water at an angle over a massive brush duck. Alfie jumped A confidently,
scrambled a little inelegantly over B, but I managed to reorganise him in time for C which he jumped well, and out nicely over the duck. Finally we galloped on over the final two fences to finish clear within the time! I was absolutely over the moon to go clear, and couldn’t have asked more of Alfie who was just so honest and tried his heart out for me! Lots of pats and polos for him back at the stables!
When the scores finally went up, I found I was one of only 16 clears out of 43 Open Girls! Sadly, my disappointing shoot score meant I ended up out of the
final placings, but still pleased to discover I was placed 15th nationally!
Having competed at the Intermediate Tetrathlon Championships for two years running, this year I made the rather rash decision to compete in Open Tetrathlon, despite the fact that I saw last year’s Open cross country course at the Championships and knew just how tough it was! On top of that, I decided to borrow my father’s horse Alfie for the Area and Championships as Pop had a lot of eventing commitments this summer and it was unfair to expect him to do tetrathlon as well. The only problem being that whilst Alfie is honest and bold, he has never competed above 100 level in eventing or tetrathlon, so the Open Tet Champs course would be a huge test for him.
We were lucky with our journey up to Bishop Burton College (near Hull) and it took us less than six hours in total. We settled Alfie into his temporary stable and then it was time to go to the practice shoot, where I was really pleased to score ten 10s! It was then off to the competition briefing where we were informed that the Open Tet cross country would incorporate some of the fences from the Junior European Eventing Championships which were held at Bishop Burton the previous week!
The following day was a busy one as I had both the shoot and the swim phases to complete. Compared to my performance at the practice shoot, I was disappointed to get only only 720 in the shoot phase. In the swim I managed eight lengths and six metres which is a pretty average score for me and translated into 924 points. Then it was time to walk the cross country course for the first time, and the course was just as demanding as I feared and was definitely the biggest and most testing course I have ever competed over! Particularly of concern were the downhill technical fences which I knew would be difficult on Alfie, who is 17.1hh and very gangly with his feet being a long way from his brain!
Wednesday brought the dreaded run phase, but I was glad to see it was being run over a much flatter course than in 2013! They had a new format this
year, with us running in heats of 10 with micro chip tags attached to our running shoes so that the times could be automatically recorded. I preferred
this to the old format of running individually and was pleased with my run score of 884. Then it was time to relax in the evening at the traditional Tet Champs party!
I awoke on Thursday morning to rain pattering against the window of the horsebox, much to my consternation, as I knew the cross country would be much
more difficult if I had to battle with slippery reins and wet ground as well. Thankfully, the rain cleared before the cross country started, and soon I was
off down to the start.
Fences 1 and 2 went smoothly, but at 3 Alfie suddenly veered left and we almost had a run out, but we did clear it if not very stylishly. The combination
at 4 was the first of the worrying downhill fences, with a hanging log, one stride to a big drop, then sharp right to another big log. Alfie has the
manoeuvrability of a juggernaut, so it was a tough task to steer him from the drop to the final log, but we managed it to praise from the commentator for my super cross country riding, although really the credit should go to the very honest horse! 5 was the hand gate which we negotiated easily, 6 was
straightforward, 7 was the coffin just inside the woods so going from light to dark, with a massive log as the first part, a short stride to the ditch and
another stride to a skinny, but Alfie jumped through it well. Up through the woods to the hanging log at 8, a parallel at 9, and then downhill to the first
of the Junior European fences, a massive owlhole, which we flew through, and then over another parallel at 11.
We jumped clear through 12 which was a combination of two skinny white ‘flowerpots’, over a meaty log pile at 13, then up the hill to fence 14, the
Bishop’s Table which had caused a lot of competitors to retire, being very solid and of maximum dimensions. Thankfully Alfie just soared over it, and then it was onto the most testing combination of the course15. This consisted of a double of two shaped brush fences at the top of the hill, landing directly onto a very steep slope and then swinging left to a huge brush corner. Alfie went through the first two nicely and thankfully I managed to balance and steady him down the hill, and as I turned for the brush corner he locked onto it instantly and jumped it confidently!
Next it was down to the sliprail which we negotiated smoothly and luckily there was a bit of a bank that made climbing back on board 17.1hh Alfie
a little easier. Then we had to rev up again to approach the testing water complex – A and B was a double of oars directly into the water, swiftly followed
by a skinny wooden otter on a curve in the water at C, then finally out of the water at an angle over a massive brush duck. Alfie jumped A confidently,
scrambled a little inelegantly over B, but I managed to reorganise him in time for C which he jumped well, and out nicely over the duck. Finally we galloped on over the final two fences to finish clear within the time! I was absolutely over the moon to go clear, and couldn’t have asked more of Alfie who was just so honest and tried his heart out for me! Lots of pats and polos for him back at the stables!
When the scores finally went up, I found I was one of only 16 clears out of 43 Open Girls! Sadly, my disappointing shoot score meant I ended up out of the
final placings, but still pleased to discover I was placed 15th nationally!
Riding Club National Horse Trials Championship - Open
I must admit it was a relief to finally get to this Championships with the correct horse as last year I qualified on Pop only for him to go lame with an abscess on the very day we were due to leave. To save letting the team down I ended up borrowing Alfie from my father and ended up with the surprise result of individual 10th in the Junior 100 with a double clear!
This year I qualified in the new 100 Plus Open class - which is now open to Juniors and Seniors alike - which meant that it was run as a long format three
day event including roads and tracks and steeplechase. So first up on Friday morning was the trot up - Pop was very full of himself and bounced along
enthusiastically giving the vets no worries about his health or soundness! Then we had to wait until the afternoon for the dressage - I was pleased with my test apart from a break in the medium trot, so was rather surprised to get a score of 35.5 when we usually get around the 29/30 mark. The rest of the team had mixed fortunes with scores ranging from near top of arena to bottom! However, disappointing scores were soon forgotten after an enjoyable evening at the local pub!
It rained most of Friday night and much of Saturday morning, but seemed to be clearing up for the afternoon when the team were due to start their roads and tracks. We went over to watch the beginning of the XC phase for the 100 Plus and it was immediately apparent that the first water complex was causing a lot of problems. There was a log and small step in, then a jump in the water, then an angled skinny on the way out. If horses entered the water too hesistantly or riders lost balance down the step, then they often stopped at the jump in the water. On the other hand, if they were too fast through the water they often incurred a run out at the final element! However, I'm glad to say our first two team riders went through very neatly, even though many others were racking up the penalties there.
I was last to go in the class and as we headed over to the roads and tracks we noticed the sky getting darker and darker. Then there was a huge rumble of
thunder, a flash of lightning and the heavens opened and the rain came bucketing down. I thought they might stop the proceedings at this point, but no,
so I started off on the roads and tracks with lightning flashing everywhere and rain lashing down! Pop was rather excited as pranced around the roads and tracks section and flew round the steeplechase. Thankfully, but the time we got back to D box the storm had finally passed on, and the sun started to come out, although my clothes and tack were absolutely soaked. Pop passed the vet check, had a few minutes rest, and then it was off to the XC start and we were off. Not the best jump over the first, but after that we got into a nice rhythm and he jumped well over the next few fences on the way up to the dreaded water complex. I rode very determinedly and Pop negotiated all three elements easily, to a huge sigh of relief from the rest of the team! The rest of the course went smoothly and soon we were heading back up the hill to the second last (a tricky angled combination), which Pop jumped perfectly, and then over the final obstacle to finish clear within the time! Sadly we discovered one member of our team had to retire on the cross country, but we were still left with a team of three all with XC clears.
After an nice meal at the pub and a spot of karaoke in the showground bar, it was up early again to get horses plaited and polished for the final trot up.
Happily, Pop was none the worse for his endeavours the day before and passed with flying colours! Then a long, long wait for the show jumping in the
afternoon, which was being run in reverse order of placings. As there had been so many faults incurred on the cross country course the day before, I found I had jumped up the leader board to lie seventh in my arena and was therefore one of the last few to show jump. Of our remaining team members one was clear whilst the other had a couple of poles. Finally it was time for me to jump - Pop was still in XC mode and was rather fast and furious but he left them all up and was clear! This meant I ended up sixth individually in my arena and our team ended up seventh, which was a pleasing result for my first championship against senior riders! Also rather proud that I have managed two double clears at the National Championships on two different horses in two consecutive years!
July 2014
Pony Club Open Area Eventing
Pop and I had to compete in the Open class this year as the Pony Club rules say that if you have completed a BE Novice then you have to compete at Open level in Area Eventing. I was a bit shocked to walk the cross country the night before to find it was run over almost all the CIC* course, bar a couple of jumps!
We were first to go in our dressage arena and Pop did a pretty nice test although he was a little bit behind the leg and didn't do his best medium trot. However, still good enough to get a score of 30.8 which was best in the arena! Then he pinged round the show jumping very enthusiastically, just tipping one pole. However, as the show jumping was causing a lot of problems, he still stayed in the lead.
Finally, the cross country and he set off in fine form and was jumping really well. Was thrilled with him tackling the combination of skinny hanging logs before the first water, and relieved to make it through the S shaped combination at the top of the hill (first part being one stride and the second part a bounce). My big worry though was the water at the back of the course as it involved a huge drop into rather murky water which looked deeper than it really was, and Pop has always been a bit suspicious of that kind of thing and has never tackled a drop that big into water. Sadly my fears were confirmed as Pop thought it looked far too dangerous and had two refusals (I think it is the first time ever he has refused twice at the same obstacle) and I opted for the learner. He then carried on brilliantly over the rest of the course including the rather daunting steps up and a massive trakehner and came over the finish line full of running. Was lovely to hear the commentator remark that he had heard lots of compliments from the fence judges about me and Pop as we made our way round the course! Obviously disappointed that we didn't manage a clear round, but still very pleased that he jumped everything bar the second water so well, as it was a step up in difficulty for us. And rather relieved that we didn't qualify as it turns out the Open Eventing Championships (in Cheshire) is on the same day that I am meant to arrive at the Tet Champs and register (in Hull). So the logistics of doing both would have been an absolute nightmare!
Pop and I had to compete in the Open class this year as the Pony Club rules say that if you have completed a BE Novice then you have to compete at Open level in Area Eventing. I was a bit shocked to walk the cross country the night before to find it was run over almost all the CIC* course, bar a couple of jumps!
We were first to go in our dressage arena and Pop did a pretty nice test although he was a little bit behind the leg and didn't do his best medium trot. However, still good enough to get a score of 30.8 which was best in the arena! Then he pinged round the show jumping very enthusiastically, just tipping one pole. However, as the show jumping was causing a lot of problems, he still stayed in the lead.
Finally, the cross country and he set off in fine form and was jumping really well. Was thrilled with him tackling the combination of skinny hanging logs before the first water, and relieved to make it through the S shaped combination at the top of the hill (first part being one stride and the second part a bounce). My big worry though was the water at the back of the course as it involved a huge drop into rather murky water which looked deeper than it really was, and Pop has always been a bit suspicious of that kind of thing and has never tackled a drop that big into water. Sadly my fears were confirmed as Pop thought it looked far too dangerous and had two refusals (I think it is the first time ever he has refused twice at the same obstacle) and I opted for the learner. He then carried on brilliantly over the rest of the course including the rather daunting steps up and a massive trakehner and came over the finish line full of running. Was lovely to hear the commentator remark that he had heard lots of compliments from the fence judges about me and Pop as we made our way round the course! Obviously disappointed that we didn't manage a clear round, but still very pleased that he jumped everything bar the second water so well, as it was a step up in difficulty for us. And rather relieved that we didn't qualify as it turns out the Open Eventing Championships (in Cheshire) is on the same day that I am meant to arrive at the Tet Champs and register (in Hull). So the logistics of doing both would have been an absolute nightmare!
Pony Club Area 11 Open Tetrathlon Qualifier
Sadly we didn't have a branch team this year, so I was competing as an individual in the Open class. I didn't do a very good shoot, but managed a personal best in the swim and was pleased with my run time as well. I was a little concerned about the cross country course as I knew Alfie would find it quite hard as it was technical with lots of tight turns which is difficult for a long and gangly horse like him! Probably most testing was the Castle Mound which involved jumping a skinny, turning right onto the mound, jumping a 'castle' on top, going down the mound and turning right to another skinny! But thankfully he coped well and jumped clear within the time, so we ended up winning the Area 11 Open Girls and qualifying for the Tetrathlon Championships at Bishop Burton in August.
Sadly we didn't have a branch team this year, so I was competing as an individual in the Open class. I didn't do a very good shoot, but managed a personal best in the swim and was pleased with my run time as well. I was a little concerned about the cross country course as I knew Alfie would find it quite hard as it was technical with lots of tight turns which is difficult for a long and gangly horse like him! Probably most testing was the Castle Mound which involved jumping a skinny, turning right onto the mound, jumping a 'castle' on top, going down the mound and turning right to another skinny! But thankfully he coped well and jumped clear within the time, so we ended up winning the Area 11 Open Girls and qualifying for the Tetrathlon Championships at Bishop Burton in August.
Brightling Park International Horse Trials - BE Novice & BE100
A very busy and successful weekend at this lovely event! Took Alfie in the BE100 on the Saturday to give him a cross country run before the Area Tetrathlon. My personal aim was to achieve a sub 40 dressage on him which I managed - just! Wasn't helped by him being traumatized by a flapping gazebo in the field behind the arena - he nearly sat on the judge's car on the first go round when he spotted it and then every time he went up that end of the arena he did his giraffe impression! But then just one pole down in the show jumping and a lovely clear cross country within the time.
Then Sunday I took Pop for the BE Novice. I must confess that the dressage was not my best effort - I forgot to salute at the first halt, and Pop broke in the first medium trot and jogged in the extended walk, so I ended up with my worst ever BE dressage score on him of 35.5! Then onto the show jumping where my main aim was to have him jumping actively and happily and not worry too much about leaving the poles up. He actually jumped very nicely apart from getting the wrong stride into the first double and just tapping both poles out for 8 faults overall. Finally time for the cross country and my main worry was the skinny hanging log before the first water. I was fourth to go over the Novice course and my confidence was not boosted by the first horse being eliminated at the water, and the second one having a stop there and then retiring later on in the course! However, Pop set off well and was jumping really confidently which made me feel happier. He locked on well to the skinny and popped it nicely before cantering through the water and doing one of his extravagant launches over the timber wagon. He was great through the curving double of benches, jumped the fence in the middle of the second water nicely, coped well with the log, ditch, skinny brush combination and finally we were on our way home up the final hill to record our first clear cross country at BE Novice! I was absolutely over the moon with him! Didn't think I would be placed with a dodgy dressage and two poles, but the cross country caused quite a few problems, and there were also not many clears in the show jumping, so I was thrilled to pick up a rosette for 10th place! Even better to get a placing but no points, so we can still do BE100!
A very busy and successful weekend at this lovely event! Took Alfie in the BE100 on the Saturday to give him a cross country run before the Area Tetrathlon. My personal aim was to achieve a sub 40 dressage on him which I managed - just! Wasn't helped by him being traumatized by a flapping gazebo in the field behind the arena - he nearly sat on the judge's car on the first go round when he spotted it and then every time he went up that end of the arena he did his giraffe impression! But then just one pole down in the show jumping and a lovely clear cross country within the time.
Then Sunday I took Pop for the BE Novice. I must confess that the dressage was not my best effort - I forgot to salute at the first halt, and Pop broke in the first medium trot and jogged in the extended walk, so I ended up with my worst ever BE dressage score on him of 35.5! Then onto the show jumping where my main aim was to have him jumping actively and happily and not worry too much about leaving the poles up. He actually jumped very nicely apart from getting the wrong stride into the first double and just tapping both poles out for 8 faults overall. Finally time for the cross country and my main worry was the skinny hanging log before the first water. I was fourth to go over the Novice course and my confidence was not boosted by the first horse being eliminated at the water, and the second one having a stop there and then retiring later on in the course! However, Pop set off well and was jumping really confidently which made me feel happier. He locked on well to the skinny and popped it nicely before cantering through the water and doing one of his extravagant launches over the timber wagon. He was great through the curving double of benches, jumped the fence in the middle of the second water nicely, coped well with the log, ditch, skinny brush combination and finally we were on our way home up the final hill to record our first clear cross country at BE Novice! I was absolutely over the moon with him! Didn't think I would be placed with a dodgy dressage and two poles, but the cross country caused quite a few problems, and there were also not many clears in the show jumping, so I was thrilled to pick up a rosette for 10th place! Even better to get a placing but no points, so we can still do BE100!
Pony Club Area Dressage
I competed in the Open Area Dressage qualifier and our branch managed to get together an Open team which was great. It was quite a complex test with walk pirouettes, leg yielding, simple change across the diagonal etc. I felt Pop was a little bit behind the leg at times and the test didn't flow in quite the way it did in practice, plus he stumbled on a dip in the ground during one leg yield! But I thought the score of 66.94% was very fair for the test he did and it put me in sixth place individually in a class of 17. The other two members of my team did very respectable tests as well, which meant we finished in second place!
So just missed out on a qualification to the Championships, but still a very pleasing result, especially as we only had a team of three, so no discard score!
I competed in the Open Area Dressage qualifier and our branch managed to get together an Open team which was great. It was quite a complex test with walk pirouettes, leg yielding, simple change across the diagonal etc. I felt Pop was a little bit behind the leg at times and the test didn't flow in quite the way it did in practice, plus he stumbled on a dip in the ground during one leg yield! But I thought the score of 66.94% was very fair for the test he did and it put me in sixth place individually in a class of 17. The other two members of my team did very respectable tests as well, which meant we finished in second place!
So just missed out on a qualification to the Championships, but still a very pleasing result, especially as we only had a team of three, so no discard score!
June 2014
EQU StreamZ Trial
I have been fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to trial some EQU Streamz bands, which are said to reduce inflammation and promote healing. Pop has been wearing them for about a week now, and I am hoping they will help him cope with the rigours of eventing through the summer months. So far I am very pleased with the results - he got his best ever BE dressage score at Eridge after wearing them, with an 8 for his paces - and then went on to go double clear! His legs also recovered well after the event and I have definitely noticed that his windgalls and thoroughpins have reduced in size. The bands seem very robust and secure and so far he has worn them out in the field without them being damaged or going astray! Watch this space for further reports!
I have been fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to trial some EQU Streamz bands, which are said to reduce inflammation and promote healing. Pop has been wearing them for about a week now, and I am hoping they will help him cope with the rigours of eventing through the summer months. So far I am very pleased with the results - he got his best ever BE dressage score at Eridge after wearing them, with an 8 for his paces - and then went on to go double clear! His legs also recovered well after the event and I have definitely noticed that his windgalls and thoroughpins have reduced in size. The bands seem very robust and secure and so far he has worn them out in the field without them being damaged or going astray! Watch this space for further reports!
Eridge BE100u18
Well my aim was to try and qualify for the BE100u18 championships at Weston Park, but as this was the only qualifier I was doing this year, I felt I was unlikely to be successful as only the top two riders qualify and there were 35 starters in the class! Anyway, Pop did a lovely dressage test to score 26.5 which is his best BE score to date. We then had a very long wait until the show jumping phase and I was second to jump after the course walk. Decided to give Pop a short, sharp warm up and keep him buzzy and active, which worked well as he flew round the course clear! He also went clear cross country, but I steadied him a little too much as I was anxious not to get too fast time faults (which has happened twice in the past) and ended with getting too slow ones instead! It was a rather tense time waiting for the rest of the scores to go up to see whether I had qualified or not, but finally they were confirmed and although the time faults had cost me first place, I was still thrilled to find I had come second! So very excited to be off to the u18 Championships at Weston Park again in October!
Well my aim was to try and qualify for the BE100u18 championships at Weston Park, but as this was the only qualifier I was doing this year, I felt I was unlikely to be successful as only the top two riders qualify and there were 35 starters in the class! Anyway, Pop did a lovely dressage test to score 26.5 which is his best BE score to date. We then had a very long wait until the show jumping phase and I was second to jump after the course walk. Decided to give Pop a short, sharp warm up and keep him buzzy and active, which worked well as he flew round the course clear! He also went clear cross country, but I steadied him a little too much as I was anxious not to get too fast time faults (which has happened twice in the past) and ended with getting too slow ones instead! It was a rather tense time waiting for the rest of the scores to go up to see whether I had qualified or not, but finally they were confirmed and although the time faults had cost me first place, I was still thrilled to find I had come second! So very excited to be off to the u18 Championships at Weston Park again in October!
Stratford Hills Novice
I entered this event as I wanted a bit more cross country experience at Novice level after having to miss the cross country at Borde Hill. Turned out to be a very mixed day! Pop did a very presentable dressage to score 29, which is my best score at Novice to date. Lovely comment from the judge too, remarking on the harmony and empathy between us! However, it all went rather wrong in the show jumping where we recorded a cricket score of 20 penalties plus time! Still not sure quite what went wrong - perhaps he didn't like the ground, or perhaps I had steadied the canter a bit too much. Decided to go cross country anyway but if he didn't feel right to pull up. However, he was quite enthusiastic across country - our errors were down to lack of experience on both our part rather than him being sticky. At 10 he jumped a bit awkwardly over the A element and I should have then held for five rather than pushed on for four strides! And at the water, he lost some impulsion going down the three steps in, and I wasn't quick enough to kick on for the jump out. But otherwise I was pleased with how he went and hopefully we have learnt a lot from it. Despite the terrible show jumping, I still ended up 16th out of 28 starters, as so many were eliminated in the show jumping phase! |
A Win at Tweseldown BE100
My original intention was not to compete this weekend as my A levels start on Monday, but after the
disappointment of Borde Hill I was itching for another run, so managed to get an entry into the BE100 at Tweseldown. I was rather demoralised by the weather forecast which predicted heavy rain and thunder
storms all day and, sure enough, as we headed down the M25 the heavens opened and the rain was absolutely torrential. However, by the time we arrived at the event, the rain had stopped and the sun came out and stayed out for the rest of the day. I had envisaged the need for welly boots and a snorkel to walk the cross country course, but actually needed sunglasses and sun cream! Even though I have competed in several Novices recently, I was surprised how meaty the course was for a BE100, and the course builder had definitely taken full advantage of the extra 20cm brush allowance! The combination at 7 looked particularly tricky as it was a log pile followed by a brush topped arrowhead on a two and a half stride
distance which caused some head scratching on how best to tackle it.
Pop did a pretty decent dressage test, although for some reason I didn't do my give and retakes clearly which justifiably lost me quite a few marks -
however, still pleased to get a score of 29 which left me in third after the dressage. Onto the show jumping, which was held in a fantastic arena within the rails of the old racecourse and had perfect going, and Pop lived up to his name and popped round nicely for a clear. A quick change and down to the warm up for the cross country, where all I could hear from the commentary tannoy was remarks such as "and another stop at 7b", "eliminated at 7b", "third refusal at 7b", so I soon realised that 7b was the bogey fence of the course! Pop warmed up in his usual laid back fashion, but soon came alive on the way to the startbox and set off on the course full of enthusiasm. I was worried about getting time faults for being too fast, so I chose to take a wider line
wherever I could rather than try and steady his natural rhythm. We flew confidently over the first six fences and came down to number 7, where my plan was to take a wide line around the preceding tree to get the best line and then aim to tackle the combination in two strides, as Pop has a naturally long stride and likes to stand off his fences. Was a bit perturbed to find a horse and rider parked beside the jump having obviously been eliminated. However, Pop took no notice and flew through and out on two strides as planned, and I breathed a sigh of relief! The rest of the course was completed safely and we finished clear. I knew I was in a good position competitively but a lot would depend on whether I got time faults. I couldn't believe it when I was
walking Pop back to the horsebox and they announced the provisional scores over the loudspeakers and said I had won! Was really thrilled, as
there were 41 in the section and I was up against a lot of top riders, including Sam Griffiths the Badminton winner!
My original intention was not to compete this weekend as my A levels start on Monday, but after the
disappointment of Borde Hill I was itching for another run, so managed to get an entry into the BE100 at Tweseldown. I was rather demoralised by the weather forecast which predicted heavy rain and thunder
storms all day and, sure enough, as we headed down the M25 the heavens opened and the rain was absolutely torrential. However, by the time we arrived at the event, the rain had stopped and the sun came out and stayed out for the rest of the day. I had envisaged the need for welly boots and a snorkel to walk the cross country course, but actually needed sunglasses and sun cream! Even though I have competed in several Novices recently, I was surprised how meaty the course was for a BE100, and the course builder had definitely taken full advantage of the extra 20cm brush allowance! The combination at 7 looked particularly tricky as it was a log pile followed by a brush topped arrowhead on a two and a half stride
distance which caused some head scratching on how best to tackle it.
Pop did a pretty decent dressage test, although for some reason I didn't do my give and retakes clearly which justifiably lost me quite a few marks -
however, still pleased to get a score of 29 which left me in third after the dressage. Onto the show jumping, which was held in a fantastic arena within the rails of the old racecourse and had perfect going, and Pop lived up to his name and popped round nicely for a clear. A quick change and down to the warm up for the cross country, where all I could hear from the commentary tannoy was remarks such as "and another stop at 7b", "eliminated at 7b", "third refusal at 7b", so I soon realised that 7b was the bogey fence of the course! Pop warmed up in his usual laid back fashion, but soon came alive on the way to the startbox and set off on the course full of enthusiasm. I was worried about getting time faults for being too fast, so I chose to take a wider line
wherever I could rather than try and steady his natural rhythm. We flew confidently over the first six fences and came down to number 7, where my plan was to take a wide line around the preceding tree to get the best line and then aim to tackle the combination in two strides, as Pop has a naturally long stride and likes to stand off his fences. Was a bit perturbed to find a horse and rider parked beside the jump having obviously been eliminated. However, Pop took no notice and flew through and out on two strides as planned, and I breathed a sigh of relief! The rest of the course was completed safely and we finished clear. I knew I was in a good position competitively but a lot would depend on whether I got time faults. I couldn't believe it when I was
walking Pop back to the horsebox and they announced the provisional scores over the loudspeakers and said I had won! Was really thrilled, as
there were 41 in the section and I was up against a lot of top riders, including Sam Griffiths the Badminton winner!
May 2014
Borde Hill
After two wins in a row, I knew I had to expect a bit of bad luck to come along and it sure did in the form of the wet weather at Borde Hill. I was entered in the ONu18 which was on the bank holiday Monday - the preceding days had been wet but the Sunday was pretty dry and I was hoping the forecasted rain would stay away. However, as soon as we arrived at the event the heavens opened and it rained persistently throughout the afternoon. Mum wanted to go straight home but I decided to try things a phase at a time. Did the dressage and despite only having a short warm up Pop got a great score of 31.5 which put him in third place, despite a wild moment in the medium canter and a messy change of leg across the diagonal. The show jumping was much later in the afternoon and by then the ground was absolutely saturated, but I decided to give it a go anyway. Pop very valiantly cleared the first six fences, although this entailed some interesting acrobatics on his part as he struggled with the wet going. However, at number seven he rather sensibly put in one refusal, and at this point I decided to retire rather than representing and risk frightening such a genuine horse. I was rather disappointed because the cross country course looked fabulous and I would have loved to have tackled it in better conditions, but preserving Pop's confidence at this a relatively new level to him is more important. Out of 19 starters, only 7 completed, with only 5 actually going clear cross country, so I think I made the right decision!
After two wins in a row, I knew I had to expect a bit of bad luck to come along and it sure did in the form of the wet weather at Borde Hill. I was entered in the ONu18 which was on the bank holiday Monday - the preceding days had been wet but the Sunday was pretty dry and I was hoping the forecasted rain would stay away. However, as soon as we arrived at the event the heavens opened and it rained persistently throughout the afternoon. Mum wanted to go straight home but I decided to try things a phase at a time. Did the dressage and despite only having a short warm up Pop got a great score of 31.5 which put him in third place, despite a wild moment in the medium canter and a messy change of leg across the diagonal. The show jumping was much later in the afternoon and by then the ground was absolutely saturated, but I decided to give it a go anyway. Pop very valiantly cleared the first six fences, although this entailed some interesting acrobatics on his part as he struggled with the wet going. However, at number seven he rather sensibly put in one refusal, and at this point I decided to retire rather than representing and risk frightening such a genuine horse. I was rather disappointed because the cross country course looked fabulous and I would have loved to have tackled it in better conditions, but preserving Pop's confidence at this a relatively new level to him is more important. Out of 19 starters, only 7 completed, with only 5 actually going clear cross country, so I think I made the right decision!
Riding Club Area 10 Horse Trials Qualifier - Chilham Park
What a wonderful day at the Riding Club Area 10 Horse Trials Qualifier! We were competing in the 100 Plus class, which for the first time was open to both Juniors and Seniors. Pop did a nice dressage test, although he did struggle a little with doing medium trot and medium canter on a sloping arena, to gain a score of 30 which put us in the lead. Then in the show jumping I had four faults, again! But then we went clear cross country and I managed to keep a steady pace to ensure we remained in the optimum time, which we did so
no time faults! (Although if we had been 1 second faster we would have gained faults for going too fast, so it was pretty close!) The lack of time faults and the good dressage score were enough to make up for my rolled
pole, so I won! And even better all of my team mates from Sevenoaks Riding Club completed the cross country with clear rounds, so our team have qualified for the Riding Club National Horse Trials Championships at Swalcliffe in August. Really looking forward to it as it will be run as an old format three day event, with trot up, roads and tracks and steeplechase, as well as the normal dressage, show jumping and cross country.
What a wonderful day at the Riding Club Area 10 Horse Trials Qualifier! We were competing in the 100 Plus class, which for the first time was open to both Juniors and Seniors. Pop did a nice dressage test, although he did struggle a little with doing medium trot and medium canter on a sloping arena, to gain a score of 30 which put us in the lead. Then in the show jumping I had four faults, again! But then we went clear cross country and I managed to keep a steady pace to ensure we remained in the optimum time, which we did so
no time faults! (Although if we had been 1 second faster we would have gained faults for going too fast, so it was pretty close!) The lack of time faults and the good dressage score were enough to make up for my rolled
pole, so I won! And even better all of my team mates from Sevenoaks Riding Club completed the cross country with clear rounds, so our team have qualified for the Riding Club National Horse Trials Championships at Swalcliffe in August. Really looking forward to it as it will be run as an old format three day event, with trot up, roads and tracks and steeplechase, as well as the normal dressage, show jumping and cross country.
NSEA Dressage Qualifier, Norton Heath
Definitely worth getting out of bed at 5.15am to trek up to Essex. Our performance was a bit lack lustre in the Prelim, but still gained a respectable 67%. However, in the Novice he went much better, although there were a couple of small mistakes, and we were thrilled to win with 73.3%, which was over 4% higher than the next nearest score! So qualified for the NSEA Championships as an individual, and our team won as well! Really nice comments from the judge: "A lovely flowing test - a good partnership".
Definitely worth getting out of bed at 5.15am to trek up to Essex. Our performance was a bit lack lustre in the Prelim, but still gained a respectable 67%. However, in the Novice he went much better, although there were a couple of small mistakes, and we were thrilled to win with 73.3%, which was over 4% higher than the next nearest score! So qualified for the NSEA Championships as an individual, and our team won as well! Really nice comments from the judge: "A lovely flowing test - a good partnership".
Horse & Hound/Saracen Horse Feeds Eventing Bursary
What can I say - was absolutely over the moon to open the Horse & Hound today to find that I have been selected as one of the six finalists for the eventing bursary competition! Thank you to Saracen Horse Feeds and Horse & Hound for this amazing opportunity!
What can I say - was absolutely over the moon to open the Horse & Hound today to find that I have been selected as one of the six finalists for the eventing bursary competition! Thank you to Saracen Horse Feeds and Horse & Hound for this amazing opportunity!
April 2014
Chilham Horse Trials - ONu18
I was in two minds as to whether to enter the ONu18 class at Chilham. On the minus side, most people seemed to be of the opinion that the cross country there would be tough, and probably not the best choice for a horse and rider with only one Novice run under their belt. On the plus side, I love competing at Chilham - I did my first BE there last year and came third in the BE100u18, plus I have competed in the RC and PC Areas there, as well as doing
their unaffilated event. So I made a brave decision and popped my entry in!
The forecast for Chilham weekend didn't look too promising with rain being forecast, but by Sunday the rain had stopped, the sun came out and the ground was perfect! I have been trying hard to improve my hand and arm position in the dressage phase, and banish my straight elbows, but haven't always been able to maintain it in a test situation. However, this time I felt I rode much better, and Pop tried really hard and did a lovely test. I did let him drop a little on the forehand at times so lost a few marks for that, but overall was pleased to gain a mark of 31.5.
In the show jumping, I was trying really hard to keep my shoulders back and not rushing him into the fences, which started off quite well. However, this all went out of the window at fence 6 where for some reason, I tipped forward and fired him into the fence, resulting in him taking out the front pole! Managed to get him reorganised for the treble, and he popped through that and the last cleanly, to finish on 4 faults.
A quick change of kit and we were off to the cross country, which had looked quite challenging when I had walked the course earlier! We set off confidently over fences 1 and 2 which were gentle BE100 fences, but fence 3 was an imposing, wide hayfeeder, but Pop jumped that easily. Fence 4 was a big log, with the ground dropping away afterwards, followed quickly by another log at 5 but that jumped nicely too. Clear over the next few fences then on down to the first water complex. The direct route in was a skinny roll top close to the edge of the water or you could choose a longer route jumping a house a bit further round the edge - given our lack of experience at this level I opted for the long route. Jumped the house neatly, through the water and back out over the big treasure chest. Up the hill to the coffin, which I was quite confident about having jumped the BE100 version several times. However, the first element of the coffin is actually only one stride from the ditch element in the Novice version, and I had Pop too flat and on too long a stride into the fence, so he wisely chose to refuse the rails in. Popped through it nicely the second time though, and then we were on our way down to the second water. This was probably the fence I was most worried about as it was a log, stride then a drop into the water, but thankfully Pop jumped through it very confidently and without a moment's hesitation! Then onwards up a steep slope with a house jump at the top, then a nice roll top, and a double of houses. Then the scary bit - a hanging log at the top of the hill, followed by a massive corner at the bottom! Was over the moon when Pop jumped both superbly! Then as I was approaching the picnic table at 19, I spotted the fence judge waving the red flags at me to stop, and heard that the rider ahead of me had had a fall. Luckily the rider was unhurt, but it still seemed like a terribly long time before I could restart! Finally we were off again and over the picnic table, then a log at the top of a hill, down the slope and turn sharp left and over another log. Then eventually over the final fence to finish. Despite the 20 penalties at the coffin (which were my fault), I felt it was the best Pop had ever gone cross country and I was absolutely thrilled with him.
In the end, it turned out that only five riders had gone clear cross country in my class, and as it wasn't a full section to start with, I was in the running for a top ten place, so had to stay for the prize giving. Really pleased to end up with an 8th place rosette!
Got some great photos from Spidge Event Photography again:
I was in two minds as to whether to enter the ONu18 class at Chilham. On the minus side, most people seemed to be of the opinion that the cross country there would be tough, and probably not the best choice for a horse and rider with only one Novice run under their belt. On the plus side, I love competing at Chilham - I did my first BE there last year and came third in the BE100u18, plus I have competed in the RC and PC Areas there, as well as doing
their unaffilated event. So I made a brave decision and popped my entry in!
The forecast for Chilham weekend didn't look too promising with rain being forecast, but by Sunday the rain had stopped, the sun came out and the ground was perfect! I have been trying hard to improve my hand and arm position in the dressage phase, and banish my straight elbows, but haven't always been able to maintain it in a test situation. However, this time I felt I rode much better, and Pop tried really hard and did a lovely test. I did let him drop a little on the forehand at times so lost a few marks for that, but overall was pleased to gain a mark of 31.5.
In the show jumping, I was trying really hard to keep my shoulders back and not rushing him into the fences, which started off quite well. However, this all went out of the window at fence 6 where for some reason, I tipped forward and fired him into the fence, resulting in him taking out the front pole! Managed to get him reorganised for the treble, and he popped through that and the last cleanly, to finish on 4 faults.
A quick change of kit and we were off to the cross country, which had looked quite challenging when I had walked the course earlier! We set off confidently over fences 1 and 2 which were gentle BE100 fences, but fence 3 was an imposing, wide hayfeeder, but Pop jumped that easily. Fence 4 was a big log, with the ground dropping away afterwards, followed quickly by another log at 5 but that jumped nicely too. Clear over the next few fences then on down to the first water complex. The direct route in was a skinny roll top close to the edge of the water or you could choose a longer route jumping a house a bit further round the edge - given our lack of experience at this level I opted for the long route. Jumped the house neatly, through the water and back out over the big treasure chest. Up the hill to the coffin, which I was quite confident about having jumped the BE100 version several times. However, the first element of the coffin is actually only one stride from the ditch element in the Novice version, and I had Pop too flat and on too long a stride into the fence, so he wisely chose to refuse the rails in. Popped through it nicely the second time though, and then we were on our way down to the second water. This was probably the fence I was most worried about as it was a log, stride then a drop into the water, but thankfully Pop jumped through it very confidently and without a moment's hesitation! Then onwards up a steep slope with a house jump at the top, then a nice roll top, and a double of houses. Then the scary bit - a hanging log at the top of the hill, followed by a massive corner at the bottom! Was over the moon when Pop jumped both superbly! Then as I was approaching the picnic table at 19, I spotted the fence judge waving the red flags at me to stop, and heard that the rider ahead of me had had a fall. Luckily the rider was unhurt, but it still seemed like a terribly long time before I could restart! Finally we were off again and over the picnic table, then a log at the top of a hill, down the slope and turn sharp left and over another log. Then eventually over the final fence to finish. Despite the 20 penalties at the coffin (which were my fault), I felt it was the best Pop had ever gone cross country and I was absolutely thrilled with him.
In the end, it turned out that only five riders had gone clear cross country in my class, and as it wasn't a full section to start with, I was in the running for a top ten place, so had to stay for the prize giving. Really pleased to end up with an 8th place rosette!
Got some great photos from Spidge Event Photography again:
Our First BE Novice - South of England ONu18
Well I decided to take the plunge and enter South of England ONu18 which would be a first BE Novice for both me and Pop! I went over to Ardingly the day before my class for the organised course walk, which is one of the advantages of doing the Under 18 classes. I visit the South of England Show most years, and on the way from the carpark to the entrance I have always passed a couple of ditch palisades and thought they looked enormous - so was rather daunted to find they were in the course I was doing! Mark Corbett
was leading the course walk, which was particularly useful as he had competed over the Novice course that day, so had a really detailed knowledge of the course and was able to give us lots of great tips and advice.
It was an early start the next day to get Pop clean, shiny and plaited and then travel to Ardingly in time for his 10.06 dressage. He was nice and calm in the warm up if a little behind the leg. We were called into the arena and he trotted nicely down the centre line and promptly tripped over a tuft of grass! He picked himself up though and proceeded to do a pretty decent test although I felt the medium trots and medium canters could have been a bit better. Was pleased to get 32.5 for my test which put me 8th in that section after the dressage.
Next we were off to the show jumping which was causing a lot of problems - in the end there were only 4 clear rounds in my section. The two doubles
(both slightly downhill), a big rustic oxer and a flimsy white upright were causing the most problems, so I knew I had to ride these particularly carefully.
Pop was a bit lazy in the warm up but once in the ring he perked up and did his job and jumped really nicely apart, clearing all the bogey fences, but just
clipping the yellow and white spread resulting in four penalties for us.
So off to the most exciting phase - the cross country. Pop jumped the first well, got a little close to the second, and then jumped fluently over an
imposing hedge at number three. He navigated the meaty wooden barrels at four and five neatly and then we headed out into the back field. Six and seven
were fine and then we approached eight which was a house, shortly followed by number nine, a brush arrowhead on an angle. I knew I wanted to put five
strides in between the two, but Pop thought he could do it in four, until the last minute when he realised he couldn't and instigated a tactical run out,
incurring twenty penalties. He jumped perfectly when represented though, and then carried on to number 10 the massive hay feeder, which he sailed over
easily. He continued jumping well through the course until we got to the house, drop, house which I thought might worry him a bit due to the size of the
drop, but he didn't hesitate and popped down the drop nicely, immediately locked onto the skinny house and jumped that too. Through the quarry safely, and finally we were heading home, where he demonstrated he wasn't a bit tired by putting a big leap in over the final fence!
I was really thrilled with the way he had jumped, although a bit annoyed about the twenty penalties. But I felt they were really my fault for not setting him up properly, rather than him lacking the scope or bravery to do the job, so hopefully we won't make the same mistake again next time. Got some lovely photos too, from Spidge Event Photography:
Well I decided to take the plunge and enter South of England ONu18 which would be a first BE Novice for both me and Pop! I went over to Ardingly the day before my class for the organised course walk, which is one of the advantages of doing the Under 18 classes. I visit the South of England Show most years, and on the way from the carpark to the entrance I have always passed a couple of ditch palisades and thought they looked enormous - so was rather daunted to find they were in the course I was doing! Mark Corbett
was leading the course walk, which was particularly useful as he had competed over the Novice course that day, so had a really detailed knowledge of the course and was able to give us lots of great tips and advice.
It was an early start the next day to get Pop clean, shiny and plaited and then travel to Ardingly in time for his 10.06 dressage. He was nice and calm in the warm up if a little behind the leg. We were called into the arena and he trotted nicely down the centre line and promptly tripped over a tuft of grass! He picked himself up though and proceeded to do a pretty decent test although I felt the medium trots and medium canters could have been a bit better. Was pleased to get 32.5 for my test which put me 8th in that section after the dressage.
Next we were off to the show jumping which was causing a lot of problems - in the end there were only 4 clear rounds in my section. The two doubles
(both slightly downhill), a big rustic oxer and a flimsy white upright were causing the most problems, so I knew I had to ride these particularly carefully.
Pop was a bit lazy in the warm up but once in the ring he perked up and did his job and jumped really nicely apart, clearing all the bogey fences, but just
clipping the yellow and white spread resulting in four penalties for us.
So off to the most exciting phase - the cross country. Pop jumped the first well, got a little close to the second, and then jumped fluently over an
imposing hedge at number three. He navigated the meaty wooden barrels at four and five neatly and then we headed out into the back field. Six and seven
were fine and then we approached eight which was a house, shortly followed by number nine, a brush arrowhead on an angle. I knew I wanted to put five
strides in between the two, but Pop thought he could do it in four, until the last minute when he realised he couldn't and instigated a tactical run out,
incurring twenty penalties. He jumped perfectly when represented though, and then carried on to number 10 the massive hay feeder, which he sailed over
easily. He continued jumping well through the course until we got to the house, drop, house which I thought might worry him a bit due to the size of the
drop, but he didn't hesitate and popped down the drop nicely, immediately locked onto the skinny house and jumped that too. Through the quarry safely, and finally we were heading home, where he demonstrated he wasn't a bit tired by putting a big leap in over the final fence!
I was really thrilled with the way he had jumped, although a bit annoyed about the twenty penalties. But I felt they were really my fault for not setting him up properly, rather than him lacking the scope or bravery to do the job, so hopefully we won't make the same mistake again next time. Got some lovely photos too, from Spidge Event Photography:
NSEA Jumping With Style Qualifier
This is the first time Pop and I have ever done an arena eventing competition so it was a new experience for both of us. The course consisted of five show jumps, followed by 10 arena XC type jumps including water trays, skinnies, arrowhead, corner etc and the class was judged on a combination of jumping, time and style penalties. In the Intermediate class he jumped clear but I hadn't realised how fast the time is over the XC section so we incurred two time faults and weren't individually placed, but the team still clinched second and a qualification to the NSEA Championships at Addington. Then in the Open class I stepped the pace up a gear and he flew round clear again and this time inside the time, so we were fifth individually and the team won, and qualified for the Championships!
This is the first time Pop and I have ever done an arena eventing competition so it was a new experience for both of us. The course consisted of five show jumps, followed by 10 arena XC type jumps including water trays, skinnies, arrowhead, corner etc and the class was judged on a combination of jumping, time and style penalties. In the Intermediate class he jumped clear but I hadn't realised how fast the time is over the XC section so we incurred two time faults and weren't individually placed, but the team still clinched second and a qualification to the NSEA Championships at Addington. Then in the Open class I stepped the pace up a gear and he flew round clear again and this time inside the time, so we were fifth individually and the team won, and qualified for the Championships!
March 2014
British Riding Clubs Winter Championships 2014
We travelled up the day before and had a reasonable journey and just got to Hartpury in time to go for a short hack to let the horses stretch their legs before it got dark. I had the unenviable position of being first on in the dressage at 9am, and as the clocks went forward that morning it was really 8am! Pop warmed up well and I felt the test went nicely apart from one bit of hollowing in the medium canter. We were aware that being first to go might mean the judge might be cautious with the marks, which seemed to be the case when I got 66.58% which gave us seventh place individually. The rest of the team did good tests also and the team came seventh.
We travelled up the day before and had a reasonable journey and just got to Hartpury in time to go for a short hack to let the horses stretch their legs before it got dark. I had the unenviable position of being first on in the dressage at 9am, and as the clocks went forward that morning it was really 8am! Pop warmed up well and I felt the test went nicely apart from one bit of hollowing in the medium canter. We were aware that being first to go might mean the judge might be cautious with the marks, which seemed to be the case when I got 66.58% which gave us seventh place individually. The rest of the team did good tests also and the team came seventh.
We had also been asked to take Alfie up for the jumping as a team member had dropped out and Pop was over-qualified due to his BE placings. However, it all started to go wrong when another team member pulled out the evening
before with a lame horse, and then another had to retire after the first
fence as their pony wasn't right. So I went into warm up knowing that our team had already been eliminated and there were no individual placings.
Alfie wasn't quite himself and was sticky in the warm up which is unlike him, so when I got into the ring I rode very defensively and although he jumped the first seven fences clear, it all went downhill after that with Alfie tanking on and whacking out three poles and gaining 12 faults! With hindsight, it is the first time I have show jumped him indoors and I don't think I gave him long enough to warm up - should have perhaps taken him for a short hack beforehand.
Alfie wasn't quite himself and was sticky in the warm up which is unlike him, so when I got into the ring I rode very defensively and although he jumped the first seven fences clear, it all went downhill after that with Alfie tanking on and whacking out three poles and gaining 12 faults! With hindsight, it is the first time I have show jumped him indoors and I don't think I gave him long enough to warm up - should have perhaps taken him for a short hack beforehand.
Munstead BE100 Plus
This was my first attempt at a BE100 Plus where you do BE Novice dressage and show jumping, but the cross
country is still BE100 level.
Pop warmed up for the dressage well and I was pleased with how the test went, although there were a few things that could have been better. It was quite a complicated test with medium trot, medium canter, leg yielding and canter down the centre line, but he was listening to me and performed these pretty correctly. Went and looked at the scoreboard and, whilst my score wasn't yet up, I was shocked to see how strictly the judge was marking with lots of scores in the 40s, so I mentally prepared myself for a similar mark. Couldn't believe my eyes when my score went up as 27.5 and had to keep checking back to see they hadn't changed it to 37.5! Turned out it was the highest score in my arena (bar a couple of HCs).
Went off to walk the cross country course, which seemed pretty straightforward - there were some black line alternatives but I decided to take the direct routes, including at the water where there was a drop in. Whilst walking the course, the heavens opened and we were hit by a lengthy and heavy freak hailstorm, which turned the course white! Thankfully by the time we got back to the box the sun had come back out!
Watched some of the show jumping and noted that the bogey fence was the rainbow skinny which lots were having down. Took Pop to warm up and he was really obedient, waiting when told and making a nice shape over the fences. Went into the ring and he suddenly went up a gear and got a bit strong! However, we negotiated the rainbow skinny safely, so I couldn't believe it when he rolled the first part of the double. Made it round the rest of the course OK to end up on four faults, which still left me in a good position competitively.
A quick change of gear for me, and then it was off to the cross country start. After a very quick warm up we were off and Pop was just awesome, flying over the first fence without a hesitation and taking the subsequent fences in his stride, although I tried to keep him steady so as not too be too fast. Really pleased that he tackled the drop into the water confidently. He did do a bit of a double take when he spotted the gaping hole under the trakehner
at the last minute, but still popped over obediently. Brought him back to trot before the corner to ensure I got the line right and that jumped smoothly. The horse in front had had a couple of refusals so wasn't that far ahead, so Pop suddenly became rather keen to catch up, particularly as it was a rather attractive young mare! Jumped the last nicely and I let him canter sedately through to the finish.
Waited around for the final scores to go up and was really shocked to find out we had 9 time faults for being too fast. Sadly this dropped me down from 2nd place to equal 10th, but the other horse in 10th was closer to the optimum time, so I ended up 11th and out of the rosettes! I must admit I was a bit
disappointed, but really pleased how well he had performed - he can't help having such a ground covering stride! However, I felt a lot more cheerful when I picked up my dressage sheet and saw that the judge had given me a NINE for my riding! So overall a very productive and confidence giving start to the season, despite the lack of a rosette!
This was my first attempt at a BE100 Plus where you do BE Novice dressage and show jumping, but the cross
country is still BE100 level.
Pop warmed up for the dressage well and I was pleased with how the test went, although there were a few things that could have been better. It was quite a complicated test with medium trot, medium canter, leg yielding and canter down the centre line, but he was listening to me and performed these pretty correctly. Went and looked at the scoreboard and, whilst my score wasn't yet up, I was shocked to see how strictly the judge was marking with lots of scores in the 40s, so I mentally prepared myself for a similar mark. Couldn't believe my eyes when my score went up as 27.5 and had to keep checking back to see they hadn't changed it to 37.5! Turned out it was the highest score in my arena (bar a couple of HCs).
Went off to walk the cross country course, which seemed pretty straightforward - there were some black line alternatives but I decided to take the direct routes, including at the water where there was a drop in. Whilst walking the course, the heavens opened and we were hit by a lengthy and heavy freak hailstorm, which turned the course white! Thankfully by the time we got back to the box the sun had come back out!
Watched some of the show jumping and noted that the bogey fence was the rainbow skinny which lots were having down. Took Pop to warm up and he was really obedient, waiting when told and making a nice shape over the fences. Went into the ring and he suddenly went up a gear and got a bit strong! However, we negotiated the rainbow skinny safely, so I couldn't believe it when he rolled the first part of the double. Made it round the rest of the course OK to end up on four faults, which still left me in a good position competitively.
A quick change of gear for me, and then it was off to the cross country start. After a very quick warm up we were off and Pop was just awesome, flying over the first fence without a hesitation and taking the subsequent fences in his stride, although I tried to keep him steady so as not too be too fast. Really pleased that he tackled the drop into the water confidently. He did do a bit of a double take when he spotted the gaping hole under the trakehner
at the last minute, but still popped over obediently. Brought him back to trot before the corner to ensure I got the line right and that jumped smoothly. The horse in front had had a couple of refusals so wasn't that far ahead, so Pop suddenly became rather keen to catch up, particularly as it was a rather attractive young mare! Jumped the last nicely and I let him canter sedately through to the finish.
Waited around for the final scores to go up and was really shocked to find out we had 9 time faults for being too fast. Sadly this dropped me down from 2nd place to equal 10th, but the other horse in 10th was closer to the optimum time, so I ended up 11th and out of the rosettes! I must admit I was a bit
disappointed, but really pleased how well he had performed - he can't help having such a ground covering stride! However, I felt a lot more cheerful when I picked up my dressage sheet and saw that the judge had given me a NINE for my riding! So overall a very productive and confidence giving start to the season, despite the lack of a rosette!
Gridwork
I have been doing quite a bit of gridwork recently to try and improve the horses' technique. I thought I would also try and improve my own position and balance by doing it without hands as you can see in the vid below:
I have been doing quite a bit of gridwork recently to try and improve the horses' technique. I thought I would also try and improve my own position and balance by doing it without hands as you can see in the vid below:
Pony Club XC Schooling at Coombelands, Pulborough
Had a fantastic day cross country schooling at Coombelands this weekend, made all the better by the fact that the sun decided to come out. I took both the boys, which meant I spend a solid three hours riding, which was a little tiring, but really pleased with both of them as they jumped so well. I had the chance to try some BE Novice fences and they both tackled them very confidently.
Had a fantastic day cross country schooling at Coombelands this weekend, made all the better by the fact that the sun decided to come out. I took both the boys, which meant I spend a solid three hours riding, which was a little tiring, but really pleased with both of them as they jumped so well. I had the chance to try some BE Novice fences and they both tackled them very confidently.
February 2014
BE Cross Country Training at Munstead with Warren Lamperd
I spent the week before this clinic waiting for the cancellation email to arrive, due to the very wet conditions we had been experiencing. However, it never materialised and we travelled to Heath Farm to find perfect going, no mud and were even able to park lorries in the field!
There were only three in my group and at the beginning Warren spoke to us each individually to determine our experience and expectations. Pop was
rather excited to out on grass and was not keen on standing still and even at this stage of the proceedings Warren was able to spot the problem with my
shoulders! As Pop tried to walk backwards to avoid standing still, my shoulders tipped forwards - Warren told me that if I rectified this problem then I would actually be able to ride the hindleg forward and stop Pop backing up, which turned out to be very true!
We started by warming up over some show jumps, with Warren encouraging us all to approach the jumps calmly in walk, trot and canter and telling us to 'let it happen' and to keep the shoulders up, rather than tipping forward on the approach. It was obvious that all the horses made a better shape over the
fences when we got it right!
Then we headed off to find some cross country jumps and Warren reiterated the same advice, to keep Pop quiet and relaxed on the approach and not to tip my shoulders before Pop took off and encourage him to jump off his hocks. It took a while to get the hang of it but I could feel Pop jumping better when I managed to keep my shoulders back! We did a few straight forward fences then tackled a gully with obstacles before and after, the water, a drop fence and a combination. Was really pleased with Pop who jumped everything willingly and confidently and was just what we needed before the event season
starts.
I spent the week before this clinic waiting for the cancellation email to arrive, due to the very wet conditions we had been experiencing. However, it never materialised and we travelled to Heath Farm to find perfect going, no mud and were even able to park lorries in the field!
There were only three in my group and at the beginning Warren spoke to us each individually to determine our experience and expectations. Pop was
rather excited to out on grass and was not keen on standing still and even at this stage of the proceedings Warren was able to spot the problem with my
shoulders! As Pop tried to walk backwards to avoid standing still, my shoulders tipped forwards - Warren told me that if I rectified this problem then I would actually be able to ride the hindleg forward and stop Pop backing up, which turned out to be very true!
We started by warming up over some show jumps, with Warren encouraging us all to approach the jumps calmly in walk, trot and canter and telling us to 'let it happen' and to keep the shoulders up, rather than tipping forward on the approach. It was obvious that all the horses made a better shape over the
fences when we got it right!
Then we headed off to find some cross country jumps and Warren reiterated the same advice, to keep Pop quiet and relaxed on the approach and not to tip my shoulders before Pop took off and encourage him to jump off his hocks. It took a while to get the hang of it but I could feel Pop jumping better when I managed to keep my shoulders back! We did a few straight forward fences then tackled a gully with obstacles before and after, the water, a drop fence and a combination. Was really pleased with Pop who jumped everything willingly and confidently and was just what we needed before the event season
starts.
BE Under 18 Training
This was a really useful day run in a combined training format, so we got to run through a dressage test (Novice 110) and then
had instruction afterwards to help us improve the areas where we had lost marks. We then jumped a round of show jumps, and again had instruction
afterwards.
I was pleased with Pop's dressage test on the whole, but his first halt was not square at all and this is something I need to practice at home as he is used
to halting at the end of the test, but doing it at the beginning takes him by surprise! He was also a bit rushed throughout the test, particularly in
the medium paces and this is something we worked on with Emily Baldwin afterwards.
After lunch we did our showjumping and I am glad to say that Pop jumped a clear round within the time. I was pleased with most of my round, but did
let him get a bit long and fast into the black and white stripy fence! Mark said that it is obvious that Pop and I both prefer to 'take a flyer', but
that we need to practice jumping from a closer take-off point at home so we are equally comfortable with both approaches in a competition environment.
All in all, a very productive and helpful day and even better, it only rained a little bit!
This was a really useful day run in a combined training format, so we got to run through a dressage test (Novice 110) and then
had instruction afterwards to help us improve the areas where we had lost marks. We then jumped a round of show jumps, and again had instruction
afterwards.
I was pleased with Pop's dressage test on the whole, but his first halt was not square at all and this is something I need to practice at home as he is used
to halting at the end of the test, but doing it at the beginning takes him by surprise! He was also a bit rushed throughout the test, particularly in
the medium paces and this is something we worked on with Emily Baldwin afterwards.
After lunch we did our showjumping and I am glad to say that Pop jumped a clear round within the time. I was pleased with most of my round, but did
let him get a bit long and fast into the black and white stripy fence! Mark said that it is obvious that Pop and I both prefer to 'take a flyer', but
that we need to practice jumping from a closer take-off point at home so we are equally comfortable with both approaches in a competition environment.
All in all, a very productive and helpful day and even better, it only rained a little bit!
Eventing Jumping Clinic with Francis Whittingon
Took Pop to this, and it was only his second jumping session this year, so he was very happy to be out at a jumping party. Francis got me to keep my shoulders back and ensure that Pop was listening, and kept off the forehand, so he could jump at his best. I must admit I usually have a tendency to let him get too fast and too long, resulting in the odd pole so this is something I know I need to work on. Really pleased with the way he jumped today, no jumping faults at all! Video of part of the session below:
Took Pop to this, and it was only his second jumping session this year, so he was very happy to be out at a jumping party. Francis got me to keep my shoulders back and ensure that Pop was listening, and kept off the forehand, so he could jump at his best. I must admit I usually have a tendency to let him get too fast and too long, resulting in the odd pole so this is something I know I need to work on. Really pleased with the way he jumped today, no jumping faults at all! Video of part of the session below:
Sports Psychology Lecture with Charlie Unwin
I was lucky enough to attend a sports psychology lecture with Charlie Unwin the other night. I learnt a lot from it, but particular points that stuck
were:
1. Creating and maintaining a 'bubble' to ensure peak performance in an competitive environment. There are external factors that may threaten to
'burst' your bubble, such as other competitors, warm up facilities, equipment, weather etc., and these are usually partly or totally out of your control.
However, you can control the internal pressures, which are usually negative feelings "I'm not good enough", "Am I ready" etc.
2. If you are told NOT to think of something, for example, a "yellow car", then the first thing you will think of is a "yellow car"! So to stop
someone thinking of a "yellow car" it is better to tell them to think of a "red car". Likewise, if you are trying to stop yourself thinking negatively,
don't tell yourself to forget the negative feelings, instead tell yourself to focus on something else such as breathing techniques, performing dressage
movements accurately, creating a powerful canter etc.
3. Charlie demonstrated that your heart rate is a measure of your emotional state by connecting a volunteer to a heart rate monitor and subjecting her to
various levels of stress. He then showed how using a breathing technique could make her heart rate become more 'coherent'. Coherence is a term used
by scientists to describe a highly efficient physiological state in which the nervous system, cardiovascular, hormonal and immune systems are working
efficiently and harmoniously, and therefore we should aim for coherence to enable peak performance. It is even more important in equestrian sport as
the horse quickly picks up on whether the rider is 'coherent' or not.
I found this last point particularly useful when schooling Alfie, to whom flatwork does not come naturally! I can get quite frustrated when working
him, which then makes him more tense, but I found by using the breathing techniques I became more coherent, he became calmer and I got a better
standard of work from him.
I was lucky enough to attend a sports psychology lecture with Charlie Unwin the other night. I learnt a lot from it, but particular points that stuck
were:
1. Creating and maintaining a 'bubble' to ensure peak performance in an competitive environment. There are external factors that may threaten to
'burst' your bubble, such as other competitors, warm up facilities, equipment, weather etc., and these are usually partly or totally out of your control.
However, you can control the internal pressures, which are usually negative feelings "I'm not good enough", "Am I ready" etc.
2. If you are told NOT to think of something, for example, a "yellow car", then the first thing you will think of is a "yellow car"! So to stop
someone thinking of a "yellow car" it is better to tell them to think of a "red car". Likewise, if you are trying to stop yourself thinking negatively,
don't tell yourself to forget the negative feelings, instead tell yourself to focus on something else such as breathing techniques, performing dressage
movements accurately, creating a powerful canter etc.
3. Charlie demonstrated that your heart rate is a measure of your emotional state by connecting a volunteer to a heart rate monitor and subjecting her to
various levels of stress. He then showed how using a breathing technique could make her heart rate become more 'coherent'. Coherence is a term used
by scientists to describe a highly efficient physiological state in which the nervous system, cardiovascular, hormonal and immune systems are working
efficiently and harmoniously, and therefore we should aim for coherence to enable peak performance. It is even more important in equestrian sport as
the horse quickly picks up on whether the rider is 'coherent' or not.
I found this last point particularly useful when schooling Alfie, to whom flatwork does not come naturally! I can get quite frustrated when working
him, which then makes him more tense, but I found by using the breathing techniques I became more coherent, he became calmer and I got a better
standard of work from him.
Winter 2013/2014
Well with the weather being so wet and disgusting during December and January, I am glad that I decided to have a short break from competing over this period! I did get out hunting on the South Downs with the Coakham Bloodhounds the other weekend but the rain was torrential and I got soaked down to my underwear, despite wearing a waterproof over my hunt coat (with permission, of course, from the Master). I felt very sorry for our running quarry (including my poor dad) who risked hypothermia on the Downs in order for the field to enjoy some fun!
Our new arena which was completed in September 2013 has been an absolutely godsend in this weather and I have been able to keep the horses fit and schooled despite the deluges, and can turn out in there when the fields are wet. We have also been fortunate to be able to acquire some secondhand plastic jumps which means I can practise more jumping techniques at home, as you can see from the video below.
Our new arena which was completed in September 2013 has been an absolutely godsend in this weather and I have been able to keep the horses fit and schooled despite the deluges, and can turn out in there when the fields are wet. We have also been fortunate to be able to acquire some secondhand plastic jumps which means I can practise more jumping techniques at home, as you can see from the video below.
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