Month: August 2019

Nationals Bound

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In July I went to our regional showjumping and style jumping qualifier for the British Riding Clubs National Championships.  The showjumping did not go quite to plan as we had one refusal and  twenty three time faults in the first round which clearly put us well out of the running.

We had to go into our second round almost immediately so I gave myself a stern talking to and tried to push my horse forward more.  We had a pole down but were at least inside the time and it felt like a much better round.  Obviously I came nowhere individually but we did come fourth as a team which was some comfort.

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Picture credit: Indy Equine Photography

We moved on to style jumping which I had never done before so I was quite nervous about it.  Especially as the horse I was riding is inclined to pick up the wrong canter lead on the left rein.  However, this time we got all the right leads, the course felt nice and flowing and we jumped clear.  All I could do then was cheer on the rest of my team and wait.

I ended up coming second which was very exciting and totally unexpected.  The person who beat me was on the winning team so I knew there was a chance I could be invited to the Nationals as an individual but I tried very hard not to get my hopes up.  However, two weeks ago I received an invitation and so we are going to Nationals after all.  When I heard I was so thrilled I actually squealed and dropped my phone.

I have been up once before – fifteen years ago when I was a junior and got eliminated in the second round of the show jumping.  Hopefully I will at least manage to finish the competition this time!

The Championships are next weekend (I am both very excited and very nervous at the moment!) so I will have no blog post next Sunday.  I will update you on the whole experience the following week.  Fingers crossed it’s a good one!

Relaxing Rambling

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My sister and I recently took advantage of the weather to go for a little mini picnic ride.  She was in charge so all I had to do was get my pony ready.  She even carried the food!

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We rode up the hill to a little patch of woodland.  It is rather overgrown but that makes it all the more perfect for picnics – it is secret and seems suited to a fairy tale.

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The ponies were very interested in the food and Cookster actually managed to find – and attempt to eat – an apple which should have been safe inside the bag.  He made proper teethmarks in it!  They were pretty cross not to be allowed the chocolate biscuits but were pleased with the apple cores!

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Having eaten I could have quite happily settled down for a nap but of course Galahad couldn’t allow that!  The view from the log was simply stunning though and I could have stayed there gazing at it for hours.

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Dressage Downpour

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Yesterday the ponies and I went to another home riding club dressage event.  This time – for the first time – they were doing three tests as each had an individual test and we were also having a go at both the walk/trot and the canter pairs tests.  I don’t often get to compete both ponies so it was an exciting day before we even got started.

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Luckily, my ever supportive ground crew was ready to lend a hand!

First up was Cookster in the Intro B class.  He is starting to feel very nice in his walk and trot work and although his canter still needs work that obviously isn’t an issue in an intro level test.  I came out of the arena feeling very positive about our test but even so I was surprised to find that not only had we come second, we had managed to score 69.56%.

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I was then straight on to Galahad to warm him up whilst my partner for our pairs tests was riding the test with someone else.  A quick turnaround and we were into the arena for the walk/trot test.  We started this with a pretty major spook at the people watching by the gate but after that they settled quite nicely and even had moments when their legs were working beautifully in unison.

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We didn’t have long before the next class but did find out just before we went in that we had managed to win the walk/trot class with 72.87% – a good score for both of us which left us feeling very positive as we began the canter test.

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Unfortunately, there was an absolute downpour part way through.  I for one had a terrible time trying to stop Cookster from swinging his quarters round into the rain and our first canter circle was somewhat messy.  However, it still felt pretty good overall and I would have been pleased with it as our first attempt at a canter test even if it hadn’t been raining.  The judge was very nice about the way the ponies kept going and we managed to score 77.5% to win that class as well.  We were thrilled and just a bit surprised.  Also absolutely soaked!

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Before long I was up again and ready to do the Prelim 13 test with Galahad.  By then he was starting to feel a bit tired and although he did a pretty obedient test I was struggling to get him bending the correct way.  I finished it thinking that it had been okay but not spectacular – and not as good as Cookster’s test which is a first.  Still,  I was so proud of both ponies and how well they had behaved.  It had been a great day.

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As it turned out, Galahad and I came fourth with a score of 65.96%.  This was a bigger class than Cookster’s and we had scored almost as high as our last outing when he did only two tests.  It was a pretty successful day altogether and I can’t wait to take them out again.

Pony Photo Shoot

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Our local village show has a photography competition every year which we love to enter.  One of the themes for this year was ‘Lost’ and we had no photographs we could think of that would fit the bill.  We were trying to think of what to enter when I came up with the idea of using the ponies and a large map.  A photo shoot was obviously called for.

Galahad was incredibly well behaved given his general nervousness around things which flap.  He was not very keen on my being handed the map and started to walk off when I had it.  I kept hold of it for quite some time but eventually had to drop it as I was just not managing to turn him back to where we wanted to take the picture.

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I retrieved the map and returned to our designated spot.  This time I already had it in my hand when I mounted which was much more successful – he doesn’t mind me holding things so much, it is being passed them which is the main problem.  I assume that’s because whoever is doing the passing has to lift up their hand and whatever it is they want to give me.

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My holding the map to start with really did make a difference – Galahad stood like a rock, except for shaking his head to dislodge the flies.  He was perhaps a bit tense but nothing major and stood still quite happily until we got the shot we wanted.

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We didn’t win the class but I certainly had a lot of fun getting the picture!