Claremorris.....a year later
Last weekend myself & the boys headed west to Claremorris Equestrian Centre for the AIRC regional dressage qualifiers.
Myself and Cu Chulainn were there last August for his first ever ridden competition, a week before the dressage Nationals. I only started cantering him the week before. This time we would be dressaging and jumping.
Thursday evening I didn't ride. The weather wasn't great and I was properly pooped. So I decided to chill on the couch and watch Netflix instead ( like a guilty kid avoiding studying!). I needed to recharge though.
I hadn't ridden Fred since his epic 3 tests outing in Dublin and I needed to give him a spin. I didn't want to just throw him in the deep end on Sunday. So I got up early on Friday ( I haven't done that in awhile & it was tough!). We had a quick spin, did a spot of lateral work and then gave him some food. I have him on oats at the minute because he needs that extra bit of ooomph to keep him up his energy levels. I also had to ride in the morning as I knew I wouldn't have time that evening.
Saturday, I went back to the yard I was in last year to collect some straw I'd left there. Also found my gel seat cover for my GP saddle - delighted!! I've been riding in the dressage saddles so much, that I hadn't noticed. I went over the road to do a spot of practice for tomorrow. I rode CC first and tried the draw reins again. He is going amazingly in them. Really rounding his back, he'll be Mr. Muscle in no time! We did the extended trot again and he was great. Then when we were practicing the stretchy trot at the end he flew off in extended trot!!
Up next was Sir Fred. He was strutting his stuff from the get go. He got a little narky with the schooling whip - he hates it, I only use it at the start to get him out of lazy mode. I had to drop it and give him a little gallop around to get him to chill the beans. But then he was great. We're all set for tomorrow.
I mucked out and left them in again. I plaited up CC and put on his ninja suit. I plaited half of Fred's mane - as where the rug rubbed him is still very light hair-wise. They enjoy coming in occasionally. I put a cooler on CC and a lightweight rug on Fred, in case they lie down.
I packed the jeep with everything and washed my jods & shirt ( why white? why???). Everything was good to go first thing in the morning. CC was on at 10.30, so I wanted to be there by 9.30.
Sunday, a small fry in the morning. Gear on. Suncream at the ready and sunglasses on. Loaded the boys and Rusty came too. Had the GPS all set, it said we'd get there just after 9. I don't know if I missed the turn to the place or if GPS wanted me to go on and then cross over the road on a flyover. But anyway, we got there. All in one piece and in good time. I met my cousin there too, which was lovely. I feel like I haven't done a Riding Club competition in ages. Stradbally is so big you don't necessarily meet the usual crew. It was nice to see the people from the AI dressage that I usually compete with, as well as all the others, including from my own club.
There was a big difference in CC this time ( thankfully we've had progress in the last year!!). He was nicely chilled going around the warm up. We did get a bit of tension as we went on, but still a big improvement. His test was nice, some moments could have been better, but overall I was happy. He got a stupid horse fly on him in our free walk - that doesn't help the relaxation!! All I could think about was yer man who got disqualified recently for taking his hand off the reins.....
I put CC back in the box and got Fred out. Another difference being that CC is fine in the box by himself! And I can manage two horses by myself without needing a babysitter for him. Poor Fred slipped a little coming out of the box and got a cut on his foot as it was sharp stones on the ground. But he's a trooper and we put vaseline on it and went on. He warmed up lovely and we didn't do too much. For some reason all of my centre lines were crooked - you win some you lose some. But he did a lovely test and just felt like, yeah, I got this mammy. His extended trot could have been better and his stretchy trot, well technically he stretched, just towards the sky rather than the ground!!
After he was done, he went back to the horse box with CC. They drank a serious amount of water! Luckily I'd brought two buckets. It was fairly warm on Sunday.
Rusty, being the club mascot, had been off with the other members watching the on goings. I took him back while I watched some of the jumping. There was a bit of hilarity as he got passed on to other people as I videoed a friend's round of jumping. She came 6th with her horse after not having jumped him outside of lessons in a few months, so a fantastic result there.
It was soon time to tack up CC again and go for clear round jumping. He warmed up nicely. I tried to look for my take off point before the jump, sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't, but he still left them up. He still isn't keen on waiting in the pocket, so we walked around the warm up until we could go in. There were no jumps that I was wary of, just one turn that was a bit harder than the others. He had a lovely canter to start with and we popped them all. It was a bit sticky at times, but he left them all standing and earned his first clear round rosette!! Wahoo, delighted!! We went in then for the actual competition. We were unlucky to have one down, but not too shabby out of 10 jumps. The round itself was far smoother and he made them look and feel like cross poles! Again, I was delighted with him and he was pretty happy with himself. 2 rounds of jumping and 2 tests completed. It almost felt like a half day! We were ready for more. But they happily stayed in the box and drank another mammoth amount of water.
I went up with Rusty to find out our dressage results. Fred had come 2nd with a super 70% test!! And CC scored a brilliant 60%! All in all, our return to Claremorris was a huge success. We're back there next weekend for a serious day of Dressage Ireland, 5 tests to do!! I'll be flat out all day.
Monday was an absolute scorcher of a day, but luckily they always have the Monday after a competition off. Rusty, groom-in-training(GIT) and myself instead headed out to enjoy some sunshine.
On Tuesday I rode at home. I took Fred on a hack and did some lateral work and rein back. His rein back is great now. I worked with CC in the field, nice big arena for us. Unfortunately the flies were atrocious so the hampered our schooling a bit. I also groomed Pablo to start him getting more used to being handled. I will start lunging him soon. He is starting from scratch again.
Wednesday the rain came. It thundered down at lunch time so I postponed my dressage lesson. But when it came to the evening the sun was actually out and it was dry again! I went over the road with the two boys to do a bit of schooling. I rode CC first and he went well, but I think I didn't ride for long enough with the draw reins on. We did a bit of jump and he got a bit strong jumping. I'm still avoiding using anything more than a snaffle bit on him because I feel it's only occasionally he gets strong. On Sunday he was fine, except between jumps when I needed him to trot to change leg. Then I rode Fred and he went brilliantly. His extended trot was lovely and his rein back. He has all his movements down for Sunday except the stretchy trot...........defo need to work on that. I think this is probably the best he's ever felt since I got him. This is the most consistent work we've done together and I can't wait for Nationals now. Hopefully this Sunday will go well too, and we'll get the qualifying scores we need. I've convinced GIT to come on Sunday, thankfully, cos I'll need help and he has a new fancy camera, so we may get some nice pictures!!
Myself and Cu Chulainn were there last August for his first ever ridden competition, a week before the dressage Nationals. I only started cantering him the week before. This time we would be dressaging and jumping.
 |
| At our very first ridden competition |
 |
| It was a really windy day and those big trees were waving! |
Thursday evening I didn't ride. The weather wasn't great and I was properly pooped. So I decided to chill on the couch and watch Netflix instead ( like a guilty kid avoiding studying!). I needed to recharge though.
 |
| Had some help writing last weeks post |
 |
| Early morning ride out |
I hadn't ridden Fred since his epic 3 tests outing in Dublin and I needed to give him a spin. I didn't want to just throw him in the deep end on Sunday. So I got up early on Friday ( I haven't done that in awhile & it was tough!). We had a quick spin, did a spot of lateral work and then gave him some food. I have him on oats at the minute because he needs that extra bit of ooomph to keep him up his energy levels. I also had to ride in the morning as I knew I wouldn't have time that evening.
 |
| Morning kisses from CC!! |
 |
| Also happy that he wasn't being ridden! |
Saturday, I went back to the yard I was in last year to collect some straw I'd left there. Also found my gel seat cover for my GP saddle - delighted!! I've been riding in the dressage saddles so much, that I hadn't noticed. I went over the road to do a spot of practice for tomorrow. I rode CC first and tried the draw reins again. He is going amazingly in them. Really rounding his back, he'll be Mr. Muscle in no time! We did the extended trot again and he was great. Then when we were practicing the stretchy trot at the end he flew off in extended trot!!
 |
| Fred just watching us, while enjoying his munchies |
 |
| Rusty planning an escape - which he did on Sunday!! |
 |
| Practicing leg yield |
 |
 |
| Mohawk look |
Up next was Sir Fred. He was strutting his stuff from the get go. He got a little narky with the schooling whip - he hates it, I only use it at the start to get him out of lazy mode. I had to drop it and give him a little gallop around to get him to chill the beans. But then he was great. We're all set for tomorrow.
I mucked out and left them in again. I plaited up CC and put on his ninja suit. I plaited half of Fred's mane - as where the rug rubbed him is still very light hair-wise. They enjoy coming in occasionally. I put a cooler on CC and a lightweight rug on Fred, in case they lie down.
I packed the jeep with everything and washed my jods & shirt ( why white? why???). Everything was good to go first thing in the morning. CC was on at 10.30, so I wanted to be there by 9.30.
 |
| Very proud of these plaits! |
 |
| Ninja! |
Sunday, a small fry in the morning. Gear on. Suncream at the ready and sunglasses on. Loaded the boys and Rusty came too. Had the GPS all set, it said we'd get there just after 9. I don't know if I missed the turn to the place or if GPS wanted me to go on and then cross over the road on a flyover. But anyway, we got there. All in one piece and in good time. I met my cousin there too, which was lovely. I feel like I haven't done a Riding Club competition in ages. Stradbally is so big you don't necessarily meet the usual crew. It was nice to see the people from the AI dressage that I usually compete with, as well as all the others, including from my own club.
There was a big difference in CC this time ( thankfully we've had progress in the last year!!). He was nicely chilled going around the warm up. We did get a bit of tension as we went on, but still a big improvement. His test was nice, some moments could have been better, but overall I was happy. He got a stupid horse fly on him in our free walk - that doesn't help the relaxation!! All I could think about was yer man who got disqualified recently for taking his hand off the reins.....
I put CC back in the box and got Fred out. Another difference being that CC is fine in the box by himself! And I can manage two horses by myself without needing a babysitter for him. Poor Fred slipped a little coming out of the box and got a cut on his foot as it was sharp stones on the ground. But he's a trooper and we put vaseline on it and went on. He warmed up lovely and we didn't do too much. For some reason all of my centre lines were crooked - you win some you lose some. But he did a lovely test and just felt like, yeah, I got this mammy. His extended trot could have been better and his stretchy trot, well technically he stretched, just towards the sky rather than the ground!!
After he was done, he went back to the horse box with CC. They drank a serious amount of water! Luckily I'd brought two buckets. It was fairly warm on Sunday.
Rusty, being the club mascot, had been off with the other members watching the on goings. I took him back while I watched some of the jumping. There was a bit of hilarity as he got passed on to other people as I videoed a friend's round of jumping. She came 6th with her horse after not having jumped him outside of lessons in a few months, so a fantastic result there.
 |
| Club mascot watching all |
It was soon time to tack up CC again and go for clear round jumping. He warmed up nicely. I tried to look for my take off point before the jump, sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't, but he still left them up. He still isn't keen on waiting in the pocket, so we walked around the warm up until we could go in. There were no jumps that I was wary of, just one turn that was a bit harder than the others. He had a lovely canter to start with and we popped them all. It was a bit sticky at times, but he left them all standing and earned his first clear round rosette!! Wahoo, delighted!! We went in then for the actual competition. We were unlucky to have one down, but not too shabby out of 10 jumps. The round itself was far smoother and he made them look and feel like cross poles! Again, I was delighted with him and he was pretty happy with himself. 2 rounds of jumping and 2 tests completed. It almost felt like a half day! We were ready for more. But they happily stayed in the box and drank another mammoth amount of water.
I went up with Rusty to find out our dressage results. Fred had come 2nd with a super 70% test!! And CC scored a brilliant 60%! All in all, our return to Claremorris was a huge success. We're back there next weekend for a serious day of Dressage Ireland, 5 tests to do!! I'll be flat out all day.
 |
| Watching Caroline do her dressage test with our clear round rosette! |
 |
| Delighted 😀 |
 |
| And we are done |
 |
| Dressage & clear round. A good day 😀 |
Monday was an absolute scorcher of a day, but luckily they always have the Monday after a competition off. Rusty, groom-in-training(GIT) and myself instead headed out to enjoy some sunshine.
On Tuesday I rode at home. I took Fred on a hack and did some lateral work and rein back. His rein back is great now. I worked with CC in the field, nice big arena for us. Unfortunately the flies were atrocious so the hampered our schooling a bit. I also groomed Pablo to start him getting more used to being handled. I will start lunging him soon. He is starting from scratch again.
Wednesday the rain came. It thundered down at lunch time so I postponed my dressage lesson. But when it came to the evening the sun was actually out and it was dry again! I went over the road with the two boys to do a bit of schooling. I rode CC first and he went well, but I think I didn't ride for long enough with the draw reins on. We did a bit of jump and he got a bit strong jumping. I'm still avoiding using anything more than a snaffle bit on him because I feel it's only occasionally he gets strong. On Sunday he was fine, except between jumps when I needed him to trot to change leg. Then I rode Fred and he went brilliantly. His extended trot was lovely and his rein back. He has all his movements down for Sunday except the stretchy trot...........defo need to work on that. I think this is probably the best he's ever felt since I got him. This is the most consistent work we've done together and I can't wait for Nationals now. Hopefully this Sunday will go well too, and we'll get the qualifying scores we need. I've convinced GIT to come on Sunday, thankfully, cos I'll need help and he has a new fancy camera, so we may get some nice pictures!!
Comments
Post a Comment