2017 that is a wrap!!!
We're nearing the end of our competitive year and boy am I glad!! It's been some year though. Lots of highs and lows. Competing two horses is a lot of work and tiring, but I've learned a lot, as have they.
I cannot wait to hibernate now for winter!! I'm already working on fattening up 😋CC will be going out on holidays till January or February, we'll see how it goes. He needs time off, he's done a super job and he deserves to relax and give his mind and body some recovery time. He may have another bit of growing to go as he's only turning 7 next year.
Sir Fred will be hacked and hopefully will get back into jumping over the winter. I hope my jumping with CC will have brought on my confidence which should help Fred. He's well able, he just had a nervous me to deal with and it made him nervous. Also, we'll need to work on our flat as we've put in an upgrade for dressage. EEEEkkkkkk. So lots to think about over the winter, but no pressure on time. We'll just take it nice and easy. I'll need to do some exercise, otherwise I will have to be rolled everywhere!
On Wednesday I brought CC over the road to practice for the league final in Sligo. We had done SFA dressage or flatwork since our last outing, so I'm not expecting a miracle. I picked up Pena along the way. Unfortunately for me, Pena was in the field and I was wearing runners and it was dark. I of course stood in a puddle, soaking myself. 😔 When I got over the road I could only find one boot, so I had to ride in my runners, one of which was wet. I didn't bother riding Pena and only rode CC for a short while.
I got up early Thursday morning and rode Pena before work. He was very good and didn't baulk at the cattle running over to us ( I have bad memories of falling of a pony on the road because cattle came galloping over and he had a shit attack).
Friday night it was time for the jumping again. I was half dead after the week of work and the stupid cold. I held him up too much at jump 5 and we knocked it, but just the one down. Not to worry.
On Saturday I brought Fred for a hack. So great to have him going again. He's not fully sound yet, but he will be in another week or so. He doesn't like being on holidays for too long, doesn't get as much attention and you can't be the King without the attention! Rusty tried out his new hi-vis jacket and it worked a treat. So our family of hi-vis trotted up the road.
I mucked out the stables and had everything ready for when I'd get back from Sligo so that all I'd have to do is throw them in. I got all CC's stuff ready and then all mine. Myself, G.I.T. and CC were going as far as Castlecoote for the night so that we wouldn't have too early a start. G.I.T. is on official business at the final, taking pics of the presentation and the competitions throughout the day.
6.20am my alarm went off Sunday morning. I was pretty awake anyway. It had rained heavily during the night, but I managed a few good hours of sleep. We were all on the road for 7.30 as planned. My GPS (i.e. Caroline) took a bit longer to wake up, and there was one or two U-turns done.
My dressage test was at 9.45, so had aimed to be there for 9. We arrived in good time, around 8.50. That gave us time to pay entries, suss out the situation and get dressed and tack up. CC took the new surroundings in his stride. There are 3 outdoor arenas at the venue. One is at a height looking down on the jumping arena and there are advertising signs surrounding most of it. He was nice and chilled, not on the bit, but I was happy. We went in and he did a nice test. He was relaxed enough, considering it was in an indoor, there were horses making noise just outside, and there were stables to one side of the arena. He could have been more relaxed and supple, but we'll take it one day at a time. I put him back in the box and got ready to watch my friends from the club jump ( as well as learn the course). I had to help G.I.T. set up the first presentation too and decide how pics were gonna be taken. I did a Facebook live of some people jumping so that others at home could watch ( or some who were going through the airport on their way to New York 😃). Our club did brilliantly on the day getting rosettes left, right and centre! Also taking a few titles in the league.
It was eventually time to tack up CC again and start the jumping. He did a lovely clear in the clear round, giving them plenty of height. Unfortunately, I held him up a bit too much in the actual comp and we'd 2 down from getting too close. He still did fantastically, as it was a spooky arena and the jumps were spooky too. I've never had a good experience there jumping (with Fred) so I have a bit of a mind block about the place. It was great to overcome that, even though I felt I let him down.
For that reason, I put my name down for the derby. Feck it, we're here anyway and he's on holidays next week. I had put him back in the box as the derby wouldn't be for ages. When the time came, we tacked up again. I didn't bother putting on my show jacket as the temperature had dropped and I kept my neck warmer on. The derby was for Intermediate and above riders, so I was against the big guys. Gulp. I was second last. I watched a few of them. There were 13 jumps, between 2 arenas. Lots of faults and refusals. Stomach started knotting. I shouldn't have watched them. EEk. Maybe I should just pull out? We've done enough. But I wanted him to have another go at getting a clear because it was my fault earlier. There was one bogey fence for me. Number 10. It was narrower than the others, from where I was it looked bigger and you were coming at it after jumping out of the other arena, downhill.....
In we went. We got over number one. I kept him steady instead of going for speed. I just wanted a clear. Hopefully. Once I got going, it was easier. I hate sitting there watching, overthinking it all. He gave them a lot of clearance! Once we got over number 10 I relaxed, I kept him steady for 11 as that was a tough one and then we went for it. CLEAR ALL THE WAY!! What a way to end the day and to end my mind block. He came a fabulous 4th place and most of the riders ahead of us were Open ( 2 levels above us). Boom.
It took about two hours to get home, which wasn't too bad, considering with had to drop of Caroline, Leon and Sonny. Once I got into the house I was shattered. Thank god I'd taken the Monday off of work.
That's it for 2017!! We are finished competing now- wahoo!!
I cannot wait to hibernate now for winter!! I'm already working on fattening up 😋CC will be going out on holidays till January or February, we'll see how it goes. He needs time off, he's done a super job and he deserves to relax and give his mind and body some recovery time. He may have another bit of growing to go as he's only turning 7 next year.
Sir Fred will be hacked and hopefully will get back into jumping over the winter. I hope my jumping with CC will have brought on my confidence which should help Fred. He's well able, he just had a nervous me to deal with and it made him nervous. Also, we'll need to work on our flat as we've put in an upgrade for dressage. EEEEkkkkkk. So lots to think about over the winter, but no pressure on time. We'll just take it nice and easy. I'll need to do some exercise, otherwise I will have to be rolled everywhere!
On Wednesday I brought CC over the road to practice for the league final in Sligo. We had done SFA dressage or flatwork since our last outing, so I'm not expecting a miracle. I picked up Pena along the way. Unfortunately for me, Pena was in the field and I was wearing runners and it was dark. I of course stood in a puddle, soaking myself. 😔 When I got over the road I could only find one boot, so I had to ride in my runners, one of which was wet. I didn't bother riding Pena and only rode CC for a short while.
I got up early Thursday morning and rode Pena before work. He was very good and didn't baulk at the cattle running over to us ( I have bad memories of falling of a pony on the road because cattle came galloping over and he had a shit attack).
Friday night it was time for the jumping again. I was half dead after the week of work and the stupid cold. I held him up too much at jump 5 and we knocked it, but just the one down. Not to worry.
On Saturday I brought Fred for a hack. So great to have him going again. He's not fully sound yet, but he will be in another week or so. He doesn't like being on holidays for too long, doesn't get as much attention and you can't be the King without the attention! Rusty tried out his new hi-vis jacket and it worked a treat. So our family of hi-vis trotted up the road.
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| New jacket! |
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| He's back! |
I mucked out the stables and had everything ready for when I'd get back from Sligo so that all I'd have to do is throw them in. I got all CC's stuff ready and then all mine. Myself, G.I.T. and CC were going as far as Castlecoote for the night so that we wouldn't have too early a start. G.I.T. is on official business at the final, taking pics of the presentation and the competitions throughout the day.
6.20am my alarm went off Sunday morning. I was pretty awake anyway. It had rained heavily during the night, but I managed a few good hours of sleep. We were all on the road for 7.30 as planned. My GPS (i.e. Caroline) took a bit longer to wake up, and there was one or two U-turns done.
My dressage test was at 9.45, so had aimed to be there for 9. We arrived in good time, around 8.50. That gave us time to pay entries, suss out the situation and get dressed and tack up. CC took the new surroundings in his stride. There are 3 outdoor arenas at the venue. One is at a height looking down on the jumping arena and there are advertising signs surrounding most of it. He was nice and chilled, not on the bit, but I was happy. We went in and he did a nice test. He was relaxed enough, considering it was in an indoor, there were horses making noise just outside, and there were stables to one side of the arena. He could have been more relaxed and supple, but we'll take it one day at a time. I put him back in the box and got ready to watch my friends from the club jump ( as well as learn the course). I had to help G.I.T. set up the first presentation too and decide how pics were gonna be taken. I did a Facebook live of some people jumping so that others at home could watch ( or some who were going through the airport on their way to New York 😃). Our club did brilliantly on the day getting rosettes left, right and centre! Also taking a few titles in the league.
It was eventually time to tack up CC again and start the jumping. He did a lovely clear in the clear round, giving them plenty of height. Unfortunately, I held him up a bit too much in the actual comp and we'd 2 down from getting too close. He still did fantastically, as it was a spooky arena and the jumps were spooky too. I've never had a good experience there jumping (with Fred) so I have a bit of a mind block about the place. It was great to overcome that, even though I felt I let him down.
For that reason, I put my name down for the derby. Feck it, we're here anyway and he's on holidays next week. I had put him back in the box as the derby wouldn't be for ages. When the time came, we tacked up again. I didn't bother putting on my show jacket as the temperature had dropped and I kept my neck warmer on. The derby was for Intermediate and above riders, so I was against the big guys. Gulp. I was second last. I watched a few of them. There were 13 jumps, between 2 arenas. Lots of faults and refusals. Stomach started knotting. I shouldn't have watched them. EEk. Maybe I should just pull out? We've done enough. But I wanted him to have another go at getting a clear because it was my fault earlier. There was one bogey fence for me. Number 10. It was narrower than the others, from where I was it looked bigger and you were coming at it after jumping out of the other arena, downhill.....
In we went. We got over number one. I kept him steady instead of going for speed. I just wanted a clear. Hopefully. Once I got going, it was easier. I hate sitting there watching, overthinking it all. He gave them a lot of clearance! Once we got over number 10 I relaxed, I kept him steady for 11 as that was a tough one and then we went for it. CLEAR ALL THE WAY!! What a way to end the day and to end my mind block. He came a fabulous 4th place and most of the riders ahead of us were Open ( 2 levels above us). Boom.
It took about two hours to get home, which wasn't too bad, considering with had to drop of Caroline, Leon and Sonny. Once I got into the house I was shattered. Thank god I'd taken the Monday off of work.
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| Getting ready for dressage |
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| Jump 1 |
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| Over it ! |
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| Warm up arena is above us |
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