Dressage Ireland Nationals

We made it!!


I'm just back from Nationals and boy was it epic!!

But let's start from the beginning......... (i.e. where I left off in my last post)



So as you may remember, last Wednesday there was a tsunami of torrential rain which lead to my lesson being cancelled. Instead I went over the road to ride in the indoor because I hadn't ridden Fred all week and panic stations were starting to set in...... He had been getting fed lots of oats all week and boy did they kick in! He was in a show off mood Wednesday night! I only brought him over because I didn't want to stay too long as I needed to start packing. But when I got home, I was sooo tired I just went straight to bed and set my alarm for earlier in the morning and do my packing then. I had drawn up a list in work, so I was fairly set.


In work on Thursday I started to get nervous butterflies about the weekend. I used to always get butterflies in competitions, right before going in to my test till I was finished. That feeling of your organs all leaving your body and butterflies taking their place.......but I distinctly remember going into a test at my first AIRC Dressage Nationals and thinking, I'm not nervous, I know my test, we've practiced, we're good.........and that was the start of me not being nervous any more ( for dressage only I might add!!).
But Thursday I was getting jitters....I was both excited and nervous. EEEEkkkkkkk. I tried not to think about it and just focus on what I needed to do to get us on the road.
I got home and packed the rest of the stuff I needed into the jeep. I tried to eat dinner but I was too excited and eager to get going.  Eventually we got on the road.

Fred was having none of it...........negotiations were needed

We arrived at Cavan Equestrian Centre around 8. Got Fred's stable number and drove up. We were all the way at the top of the hill. Nice stables up there and it was nice and quiet. I completely forgot the stables didn't have water and hadn't brought a bucket for water. So I just dumped out the beet pulp I brought for him onto some hay in the horsebox. I gave him his hay and put a rug on him. He seemed happy enough. There were two lovely ladies in the stables next to me up there and they were very welcoming and we had lovely chats over the weekend.
I met the other girls from my region then down in the canteen. Some had come up Wednesday night and some arrived like me on Thursday.  We checked the horses again before we left and then we headed off to our B & B. That journey took awhile because GPS was not co-operating with myself & Sophie, but eventually we got there. Our room was great, really big, and it had a walk in wardrobe ( house goals) and an en-suite with a big bath and a wet room shower. Lots of choice for us smelly horsey folk!! We went downstairs and had some hot beverages ( some had tea some had whiskey 😂😂) and lots of chats. Was really nice getting to know the girls. As really I'd only met them at competitions. It felt like we were in this together. One big family. And sure us horsey folk can go on for hours about all horse related topics......so it was a miracle we got to bed at all!!

Friday morning myself and Sophie went a bit later to the yard than the others ( they left at 5am!!). We stuck around for the fry and met Danielle (the secretary from our region) at breakfast. She was competing at the other end of the scale from us, and I couldn't wait to see it. She told me I was on a team from the region!! Whoaaaaaaaaaaaa eeek.........pressure. I generally don't like being on teams. I hated being on the SJ team for our club as jumping is not my strongest category and being on a team added to the pressure I put on myself. But I put it out of my head.
We got to the yard just before 9. My first test was Prelim at 11.13 in Arena 2. I was starting to get nervous again about it all. I didn't sleep that well Thursday night. I started the grooming process and realised I'd forgotten a brush for his tail and his mane 😕 I went down to Sophie to borrow her mane comb. I was still feeling the butterflies when I was plaiting him. But then I felt that I was running out of time and the butterflies about the test went away as I was trying to clean him up and get myself ready........all other thoughts went out the window. Eventually we were both ready to rock and still had a decent amount of time. We went to the big outdoor arena to warm up and although the weather was dry, it was still mucky and wet from the last few days. I needn't have bothered cleaning us both. He was covered in mucky sand, as were my boots and I even had flecks on my jacket! When I thought we were ready and it was getting closer to our time I went to the small warm up beside the arenas. There I noticed that everyone else was pristine and I'd obviously missed the memo that no one warms up outside!! To add to our newbie status, when it was my turn to go into the test, I went around the outside of the arena ( as I usually would) butttttttt you go into the arena at the Nationals, because there is no room to go the whole way around them....oops......spot the amateur!!
I totally overshot my centre line, great start, but we recovered well and he did a lovely test. As we were going up the centre line at the end I noticed the judge was standing, it being a 20x60 arena you have a lot of time to think...so I was thinking to myself do they need to go to the toilet? Are they just waiting for me to finish so they can run off?! So then when I halted and saluted she saluted back and then sat down. Ohhhhh this is a thing here.........ok........
Big pats for Fred and I put him back in his stable for awhile, to have some food and a nap. I was going to get a bit of snackage for myself. I put in extra effort to get some healthy snacks for this wknd; nuts, seeds, granola bars, bananas ( of course!) and lots of water! I managed to drink 3 bottles of water on Friday!!
I was scribing for the Elementary class at 1. I was looking forward to it as it's the next level up after Novice and something I've thought about for next year. I know we're not perfect in Prelim or Novice, but I like to challenge myself and I'd get bored striving for perfection at the same tests, never mind the horse!
The first test I scribed for I didn't get to look up at all practically, I had to write so much! The judge I was with was at M. I did get to see some of the tests, but there were so many movements in it that I was writing a lot, even if it was only the score. There weren't too many in the class, so I wasn't scribing for too long. It was definitely interesting and a good learning tool.
I found out when I finished that I came 4th in the Prelim class that morning - wow!! I was ecstatic!! Not alone did we come 4th but we scored 70% between two judges!! The Prelim class was so big that it had to be divided into two, so I was in class 1b. There were 28 in my class.
Myself and Sophie went for food. Usually I can't eat at competitions, that's how my competition nerves materialise I guess. But today I could and boy was I hungry. Scribes got meal vouchers, so that was handy. I wolfed down a stew, maybe a little too fast. Thankfully I'd lots of time till my next test to digest it all. I tried to have a quick power nap in the jeep, but didn't really get one. I showed Fred his rosette ( he wasn't interested when it wasn't edible).
Eventually it was time to tack up again. The outdoor arena had dried up a bit more, so I warmed up a little out there and then went in to the small warm up. This time we were in Arena 1.
Arena 1 is the main arena in Cavan Eq. Centre. It's right beside the canteen and has a lower roof so feels more enclosed........Fred noticed this and perked up significantly when we went in. He had a good look at a few things as we went around the outside-even trying to go back out like a 4year old! But he was fine once we went up the centre line. Having scribed earlier in the day, I was critiquing my own test as I went along, damn we weren't straight there, not accurate here, crap. But overall I was happy with him. Big pats and more carrots for Fred and hugs and kisses and telling him what a good boy he was.  Then it was off to watch Danielle (from our region) ride in the Prix St. Georges ( which is basically the top dogs level and #dressagegoals). She did a great test with her horse and it was wonderful to watch in person rather than on tv. It was really good to watch them warm up too.
Everyone was in a great mood, some had scored personal bests ( and what a time to do it) others hadn't competed yet but were taking in the atmosphere. Overall it was just a feel good kinda day. We stuck around in the bar for awhile that evening and then headed home after a last check on the horses. There were some more U-turns made on the way home. God damn you Cavan and your lack of signage!! ( I may have also got lost that morning.......honest to God I've never been so bad at directions).
We got back to the house and set up camp again downstairs. Nessa's parents had arrived that evening and were also staying at the B & B. They came with supplies; such as wine and scones. Very much appreciated.

Pretty happy with my plaits......as you can see, he was literally taken out of the field on Thursday

This is what I looked like after my test.....my favourite jods!!

Carrots for the star of the show

There we are in 4th!!

Danielle during her test

Fred minus impressed

Danielle again later

Myself & Fred rocking some fantastic hair after a long day!!

Saturday morning I was up at ridiculous o'clock as I was scribing at 7.30 and you have to be there at least 10 mins before that and I wanted to check on Fred and feed him. He was all out of water and hay when I got to him. His bucket was one of those 28l ones! He's a divil for the water, bad memories of bucketing in water last winter before I got the automatic waters.
This morning I was scribing for Preliminary Category 3 ( category 3 riders have ridden at a higher level than category 1 -me- or category 2). These were mostly young inexperienced horses with experienced riders, some future dressage star horses in the making. It was also the test I would be doing later, so a handy way of learning it and seeing what the judge is looking for - not that my brain is able to take that in just yet whilst I'm in a test. I was there until half 10. I'd gotten mixed up when I read my times and thought that a break at 9 was when I finished, rather than just a break. So I had to run up and feed Sophie's pony, give her water and the same with Fred because I hadn't time to fill his bucket earlier, just put in a bit.
I had planned the night before to go back to the B & B to get some sleep after scribing because I knew I'd be tired from the day before and getting up so early. But I slept sweet fuck all the night before anyway because I was afraid that I'd sleep through my alarm and miss scribing.
So I raced home after scribing and jumped into bed for a bit less than an hour. I closed my eyes, but didn't actually sleep. My first test on Saturday was at 1.20.  I raced back to Cavan Eq after my half nap and went straight to the stable to start plaiting. I found my mane comb in the back of the jeep (or should I say jungle) and got to work on Fred. He was minus impressed. Got him tacked up and myself booted up and we went off down to the warm up. Again it was dry today ( we have been so lucky with the weather) so the arena had dried up a lot more. I was doing Prelim so I just needed him to walk, trot and canter well, I didn't need to practice rein back, extended trot or counter canter. Or so I thought. I saw my friend Mairéad coming into the warm up and was about to give a wave, when I thought to myself. Wait, she is only doing novice, not prelim. Do I have my prelim or Novice test now?! Suddenly I got a flashback of them swopping over on the second day of competition. I rushed back up to the stable to check my phone and sure enough, I was doing Novice now, not Prelim. The test that I knew. I'd expected to have a few hours till my Novice test to go over my test, but now I only had a few minutes!! Trying hard not to hit panic stations here............I threw Fred in his stable and raced to the jeep to get my copy of the test. Couldn't find it immediately and I was beginning to sweat......everywhere. Found it eventually. Read over it once and then hopped back on Fred to try practice some of the movements and work on my supple-ing work. I went down to the other warm up. Not filled with confidence, but feeling ok. The Grand Prix was on in the arena next to mine so they were all warming up at the same time. That was a bit of a nightmare as they were all doing lateral work, going every bloody way and not really looking where they were going, as some of them felt they were more important than others..... I asked the guy how many in front of me. Oh you're the first in the class. Fuck. I warmed him up some more and then went over my test again.  It was time to go in. Deep breaths. I went up to give my name and number to the judges. And then we got the bell. I overshot the centre line. Again. Grrrr...... I felt that I rushed the test, I pushed him too much. It wasn't as nice as it could have been and I confused myself in the canter and made an error. All in all, it wasn't a complete disaster....... I had to brush myself off and get ready for my next test which had now gone out of my head. At least I had a few hours.
I found Sophie after and helped go over the test with her. Then we watched some of the class so she could learn it. Prelim was on in the arena next to it so I watched that trying to re-learn that test. Soon it was time to tack up again. Fred looked at me in that way that says 'you cannot be serious'. He was pretty tired at this stage. Between all the tests and being in a stable for the last few days with only a few minutes of grass, he was not best pleased. I told him it was the last time today he'd be tacked up and gave him a few pats. I didn't give him as long a warm up this time as I needed to retain as much energy as I could. We were in Arena 1 again and I was counting on this to give him that extra kick of energy.
We went in and did a nice test, I was very happy with him. He powered up that last centre line as if he actually knew that was him finished for the day.
Sophie was finished her novice test at the same time so we took them out for some grass. Nessa was riding just before 6 and I wanted to see that, so I put him back in his stable and gave him some grub and pats.
Nessa did a great test on her young mare, she was so well balanced and did everything really correctly. Watching tests can help me pinpoint things that I'm not doing as well as I can. This weekend in general has been a great learning experience.
Fred scored 63% in his second Prelim test (slightly disappointed with that as I had felt it was better) and a great 64% in his novice test where I went wrong (only 3% behind the person in first).  He came 5th overall in our section of Prelim 1b an 12th overall in Prelim out of 56!! He came 12th in Novice out of 28 riders, not bad for our first ever Nationals in Dressage Ireland!! Not only that, but our Regional team came third!! That was the cherry on the cake of a great weekend and we still had one day left!!
Nessa had two more tests that evening, so we watched them as well as Danielle in her freestyle. She did an extended canter to a halt up the centre line!! I can't do a normal canter to walk never mind that!!
That evening there was prize givings in the bar. I had to throw my gear back on. I'm not gonna lie, I absolutely stank in the bar and was pumping sweat!! But I wasn't alone. Everyone was in flying form and the bar was packed. I got a rosette for my placing in novice which was fantastic. Unfortunately they didn't do the team prize givings. Once everyone I knew had got theirs I snuck off home and left them to it. I was barely able to stand and I couldn't drink because I was driving ( not that I would have been physically able). I had a lovey hot shower when I got home and crawled into bed and had a fantastic sleep.

Novice Test Video from Cavan

 

Miriam warming up

Miriam going up the centre line in Arena 1

Sunday we hit the yard for 8. Sophie still had to sort out her music for the freestyle as had Mairéad. I realised I'd never checked my CDs in the radio so half panicked ran to the jeep to check them. They worked, thankfully. I had a great sleep last night, but I needed a few more hours. I was completely zonked and Fred wasn't in the humour either. We only had freestyle that day, thank god. We warmed up in as much as either of us was able. Our time came and in we went. Unfortunately I messed up the start with the music and we were clawing back at our time the whole way through. We got through it and he was a good boy, he'd already done everything I asked of him, so I was happy. I was disappointed in myself that I'd messed it up but then I chalked it up to tiredness. Day 3 is a lot for anyone, especially when it's your first Nationals.
I put him back in his stable, quickly got him water, hay and oats and then rushed up to scribe for the trailblazers. That was a nice one to scribe for. All the kids did great, especially the ones with the spooky ponies and it was nice to watch the younger generation embracing dressage. I watched some of the freestyle from the various classes and had dinner. Sinéad from our region did really well in her test as her horse was very spooky before it. I chatted with Mairéad and Sophie for awhile and then felt I'd enough energy to hit the road. I didn't have much to pack as I'd been working from the jeep, so that was handy. I put on his gear and parked up by the stable. I only had to bring him to the open ramp and he practically jumped in, delighted to be leaving.
We arrived home just before half 5. As I opened the back gate there was a small bit of commotion in the box. Fred had turned around to make sure he was home. There he was looking out at me when I parked up.
I let him straight out to the field and he put his head down to grass. When I went out to him 20 mins later he'd already had a roll...........so happy to be back at home.

Freestyle.....

Fred after turning around to make sure he was home

The look of relief on his face!

Don't even think about coming near me!!

I have to say Cavan equestrian centre has fantastic facilities and we are so lucky to have it. I have competed a few times there over the years and every time I look at it in awe. Between the fabulous indoors, great stables and wonderful food in the canteen, it makes life at a show far easier. It is easier to get a good atmosphere too because everyone is under the same roof.


Also, congratulations to Dressage Ireland on running a fantastic show. Not once did any of my classes run late. Every test I did was at the time it said on the schedule. They had a great selection of judges. They chose a great venue. The schedule was as it said it was. And the results going online as they came in was brilliant. I was able to check my classes whilst I was scribing.

I didn't just have a good weekend, I had an epic weekend with friends who are now family. There were highs and lows as with all competitions but we shared them together. Ok, enough with the cheese............
I was pleasantly surprised that there was no dressage divas(well very little at least) at Nationals, everyone was in a good mood, happy, smiling, happy to help and encouraging. I'm already planning next year's trip and hope to be able to go to the Winter championships...........


Fred is off on holidays for a month now. He needs to get his injections for his arthritis and I think he deserves a holiday. All eyes back to Cu Chulainn again...........


 ** unfortunately G.I.T. had to photograph another event, so I have feck all pics.........

The sun sets on a fantastic weekend.....