jumping

Part of a Team

/ ponydreamer / 3 Comments

Galahad and I have made our debut as part of a team!  It was incredibly exciting as I haven’t been on a riding team since I left university and Galahad never has.  I was nervous I would completely mess up – not on my own account but I did not want to let my team down.

The day didn’t have the best of starts as the warm up fence was on grass and it had been raining.  Galahad was jumping well but slipped over just after landing and we both ended up on the floor and pretty muddy.  Luckily neither of us was hurt and after getting the worst of the mud off Galahad we were ready to go again.  I was a little concerned he would have lost his confidence but he popped back over the fence with no problem and we were all set.

DSCF6717.JPG

I needn’t have worried at all – Galahad was a star and flew round the course clear.  Each team member jumped a different height and had two rounds – the second against the clock.  Our practise over angled fences gave me the confidence to push Galahad a bit harder in the timed round and again Galahad was super and flew round. I could not be more pleased with him.

We ended up coming second in the class and were only beaten by a boy on another team from my yard which wasn’t so bad.  Apparently there wasn’t much between us time wise and I was absolutely thrilled (the fact that I had done well for the team definitely helped with that!).

I spent the rest of the day manning the arena gate (and getting sand constantly blown into my eyes).  It was good to feel part of the team and I got to catch up  with a few friends I hadn’t seen for a while so I had a great time.

The next member of my team won her class, then the other two came tenth and eighth.  It was a very close run thing but overall as a team we came fourth which I was very pleased with as a first attempt.  We were second out of the three teams from my instructor’s yard and as we were the least experienced I thought that wasn’t bad either!

Overall I had a fantastic day and was very pleased with the way Galahad went.  He has improved so much over the last few months and I have a lot more confidence in our ability now.  It feels great to take him round a course and I can’t wait for the next time!

Playing in the School

/ ponydreamer / Leave a comment

Whilst I was away at camp the ponies spent a few days at my instructor’s yard which meant that I got to use the school when I came home.  We were going to a showjumping competition the next day so I wanted to make sure that we were still working together after my week off  (Galahad didn’t get a week off as I had asked for him to be ridden a couple of times).

20160806_193541

He was nice and responsive and we had a lovely evening schooling session.  I didn’t want to jump too much but we did pop over a couple of fences which felt really good and gave me confidence for the next day.

I was delighted to find that somebody had cleaned Galahad’s tack so I just had to wipe it over and load my stuff into the lorry.  I very much appreciated that after a week’s camping!

Jumping Angles

/ ponydreamer / Leave a comment

The other day Galahad and I went for a hack with my sister and Cookster.  On our way back we decided to have a pop over a couple of fences.  Galahad is really starting to jump nicely and we had a lot of fun.

20160729_172534

I mentioned recently that he has started taking off further from the fences which is lovely but was feeling rather odd as I wasn’t used to it.  It is feeling almost normal now and we are much more together again over the jumps.

We even had a go practising jumping some angled fences which Galahad completely took in his stride.  The angle isn’t obvious in the video but the fences were not lined up at all.  Good news for future jump offs (if we get into them)!

Sunny Schooling

/ ponydreamer / Leave a comment

Recently we have been having some absolutely glorious weather and it has been lovely to spend time outside.  It has often been too hot to ride except in the evenings or early mornings which is perfect for me when I am working!  The light is beautiful in the evenings and we have had some very enjoyable schooling sessions.

20160720_204543.jpg

I have very much enjoyed having the jumps back out again after we got the fields topped.  Galahad seems to have been enjoying them too.  His jumping has definitely improved in the last couple of months and he is taking off much further away from the jumps.  It feels rather odd still at the moment as I have got so used to him getting in close to the fences but it is a great step forward.

/ ponydreamer / Leave a comment

On Sunday we returned to the scene of Galahad’s showing debut.  This time the weather was much kinder to us, although it could hardly have been worse!  We did have the odd spot of rain but it was mostly dry all day and even sunny a lot of the time.

13626577_10153791384970003_3619527413632688956_n

Galahad and I again did the into dressage test which went reasonably well.  Our right bend was a bit iffy to start with and Galahad tripped over something invisible but I was overall very pleased with him.  I didn’t have my tame photographer with me this year so I have no pictures but I did have an audience – I met a couple of people in the warm up who are hoping to start some dressage with their own Exmoor and they walked over to watch me.

We didn’t do any actual showing this year but two jumping classes instead.  The first was the 2’3″ novice pony which we flew round (we had a few wobbles in the lines between fences but jumped all the jumps well) and got into the jump off.  Unfortunately our steering went a bit for that so we came at rather too acute an angle into a fence and knocked it down.  There were seven of us in the jump off and two with four faults but sadly I was just a bit slower and missed out on a place.

image1

The next class was the 2’3″ open.  Although it was listed as the same height the first class had been quite a bit below height and so the fences went up and fillers were added.  I knew I had to ride positively and I was very focused on getting Galahad over the wall at fence two.  He sailed over and I was so pleased with him that I relaxed a bit too much and we had a runout at the next fence.  It was such a shame as he popped over with no trouble at our second attempt.  The rest of the course went very well apart from one rail down so I was thrilled with him.

20160710_140636.jpg

That was the end of the day for Galahad and he spent the rest of the afternoon snoozing and munching on his haynet.  I on the other hand was kept very busy – my instructor had brought several children for their first show and I was needed first as support in the mini jumping and second as a leader for the gymkhana races.  It was exhausting!  I did get some very good cake out of it though so I was well rewarded.

13659220_10153791387355003_6024214734566104115_n

As I lovely finish to the day I went to collect my dressage score sheet and found I had come fourth with a score of 59.34%.  We had some nice comments, expecially about our walk.  Now we just need to work on the trot!

Birthday Jumping

/ ponydreamer / 2 Comments

It has only taken me three months but this week I was finally able to use my birthday presents!

It was a very exciting moment as apart from the odd hop over a small log  we haven’t been able to jump at home since last autumn. My sister and I had a lovely time playing in the field and both ponies behaved very well.  Galahad loves jumping anyway but even Cookster was putting in some very nice jumps and looking beautiful.  Galahad is starting to take off further from the fences and is making a much better shape in general – I am very pleased with his progress.

We are starting to build up a proper little course now.  Hopefully we will be able to move the logs in from the other field soon and then we can have some cross country jumps too.  It is all very exciting!

20160601_193500

A Wonderful Weekend

/ ponydreamer / Leave a comment

The ponies were due to come home after their back checks on Tuesday but I extended their stay to make it easier for me to compete at the weekend.  I had a short lesson with just a few jumps on the Friday night which went well on the flat but we had rather too many runouts when it came to jumping which did not fill me with confidence!

We went show jumping on Saturday and when I got on Galahad was the most relaxed I have ever felt him when out at an event.  I think he is getting used to it!  Our first class was 60cm and Galahad flew round without even hesitating anywhere.  He felt amazing.

DSCF6506

The jump off also went really well and we cut two corners we wouldn’t have been able to cut a few months ago.  We could have gone a bit faster but I was still very happy with the progress we had made.  I wasn’t expecting to get placed – Galahad only has little legs after all – but we ended up fifth.  Our first solo jumping rosette!  Our only other jumping rosette was in a pairs class and was mainly due to my very speedy partner.

We next rode in the 65cm class.  This time we had a little wobble in front of a (perfectly plain) fence when Galahad wanted to run out.  I managed to get him over the fence but it meant we knocked it down.  That was our only problem though and I was not really worried by the knockdown.  The fact that he jumped the fence when he hadn’t wanted to was far more important.

DSCF6509.JPG

It was the first time we had a photographer in the ring with us!  Galahad didn’t react to him at all.

Altogether it was a very successful day.  I went home and rode Cookster out still wearing my show gear and just in shirt sleeves as it had been absolutely gorgeous all day.  About half way round there was the most enormous clap of thunder and the heavens opened. We got completely drenched.  Cookster was a little worried by the thunder but behaved very well indeed so I was pleased with him too.

Both ponies went out on Sunday as they were getting dropped off home on the way back.  It was the first time Cookster has been anywhere other than home and my instructor’s yard but although he was noisy when they were separated he was very good.  It was Galahad who tried to barge out of the lorry after Cookster!

This time we were doing an eventer’s challenge – a show jumping round followed immediately by cross country.  Galahad had never been cross country before so I wasn’t at all sure how he would get on with all the scary jumps and we entered the 50cm class so we had a less testing start.  We jumped clear round the showjumping with six time faults.  The time was pretty tight though and I had less faults than the person before me so I was actually pleased with that.

DSCF6514.JPG

The cross country went less well as we had four runouts.  Two were at a wall which was quite intimidating and after the second I took the easier alternative.  If we had been at home I would have persevered with the wall but a competition didn’t seem the place to do that!  The other two runouts – one at a log and one at a double of roll tops – were a bit unnecessary really.  I definitely needed to channel Galahad better to hold him to the line.  However, he did seem to enjoy himself and he finished without running out of steam which had been another concern of mine.  I was thrilled with him.

DSCF6516 2.jpg

He even went straight through the water!

As I was doing such a small class everyone else was riding later in the day which meant that I had my own little team of grooms.  My pony was tacked up (almost the wrong pony!) whilst I dressed and when I dismounted he was taken off me, untacked and washed down.  It was like riding at Badminton!

There was also a small clear round jumping course in a corner of the lorry field which I decided to take Cookster round.  I was a bit worried about my steering as he very much wanted to go back to Galahad in the lorry and he is so good at loading his right shoulder that I was having a hard time turning him left as we warmed up.  However, once we got into the ring he went very nicely and the steering wasn’t an issue at all.  We had two fences down but he didn’t even think about stopping.  He isn’t nearly as coordinated as Galahad but he has had a lot less practise and I was very pleased with him.  I have never had two ponies competing before – it made me feel quite professional!

DSCF6524.JPG

I had an absolutely fantastic weekend filled with riding.  I was pretty tired (and a bit sunburnt) by the end but it was definitely worth it!

Taking a Tumble

/ ponydreamer / Leave a comment

Galahad and I had another great lesson on Friday.  Our flatwork is steadily improving and my instructor thinks Galahad is looking less stiff and much better in general.

20160517_200705

Our jumping also went really well.  We again jumped the barrel with no trouble and this time we jumped the big, scary, white filler which was a first for him.  It is a real sign of growing up!

 

I followed that up with a lesson on my sister’s pony which didn’t go quite so well.  His legs are not so coordinated when it comes to jumping and we completely messed up the striding in the double.  He got his front legs tangled in the pole and we both fell down.  Luckily we were both relatively unscathed, if rather sandy.

The ponies are having a visit from the back lady this week so she’ll be able to check he hasn’t damaged himself.  If we had to fall we couldn’t have timed it better!

A Horsey Weekend

/ ponydreamer / Leave a comment

The ponies are away for a couple of weeks again as we join in with my riding instructor’s horses for visits from the dentist and the back lady.  They saw the dentist on Thursday and were apparently very well behaved – I was at work so couldn’t be there.

It is very strange not having them at home.  Yesterday I had lessons on both of them in the morning and when I came home I didn’t know what to do with myself.  Normally if I have been out in the morning I come home and ride the ponies.  Yesterday I didn’t even have any mucking out to do!  It was most odd but I managed to occupy myself by watching the livestreams of Royal Windsor Horse Show and the Event Rider Masters at Chatsworth.  I just about had enough wifi signal to watch under the apple tree in the garden.  It was lovely!

20160514_172613

Galahad’s lesson went very well.  He felt a little stiff to start with but did loosen up and felt much better by the end.  I had a bit of trouble getting the correct canter lead on the right rein though.  A lot of that was due to him having a good look at things going on outside the school and bending the wrong way.

We had a great jumping session as well.  We began at about two foot which is probably the highest he has jumped to start – normally we work up from much smaller jumps.  We jumped all the scary jumps without a single run out and even went straight over the barrel, although Galahad had a good look at it first!  The first time we had a guide pole up at the side to help us but in our second round it was gone and we still sailed over.  We finished with a fairly substantial spread which Galahad flew over.  He is getting stretched a little more every time we go out but is taking it all in his stride.  Clever pony!

A Harrowing Time

/ ponydreamer / Leave a comment

Over the winter our fields can get quite cut up which means that once the ground starts to dry out we are left with all sorts of lumps and bumps the ponies (and I!) can trip over.  It can make schooling rather difficult as we aren’t confident enough to go forward properly.  We haven’t jumped at all this year yet because the idea of tripping as we do is not pleasant.

20160508_202035 2

However, we finally managed to get the fields harrowed.  The fields are looking a lot better already and once the grass gets growing properly they should start looking lovely again.

20160508_203620 2

I schooled this morning and it definitely felt a nicer surface to ride on.  We didn’t trip once and I wasn’t at all worried about working Galahad properly.  Now I should finally be able to use the lovely jumps I got for my birthday.  I can’t wait!

20160511_075449