Gidgegannup Dressage and Show Jumping
The big day finally arrived and it was an early start! My dressage time was 9.22 and with a pre ride as part of my plan I needed to arrive just after 7. Rosie made sure to get me out of bed on time though.
Arriving early meant ewe got an excellent parking spot over looking the arenas, and we got set up for the day with plenty of time to spare. Henry was pretty chill as usual and when I hopped on he was all for it. I made sure he was truely forward and he worked down well, relaxing after a short while and we were able to head back to the float with the knowledge that Henry knew what was up.
After fixing my plaits up, adding the last finishing touches to the both of us and generally faffing about, I got on with about 20 minutes to warm up. I timed it perfectly because I had enough time to trot a couple of laps of the first warm up area before Iw as moved to the second warm up area next to the arenas.
Henry wasn't fussed by the change, especially as he has been in the main area before and we went right back to work. I made sure his transitions were prompt, that he was forward and that his shoulder were manoeuvrable and we were ready to go in at my time, which is exactly when we went in.
I trotted both directions around the arena, and he stayed with me, and he remained with me for the entire test. Our first centre line was straight and I felt our test was accurate over all. HE picked up both canter lines, something we have really struggled with in the past. If he tried to put his head up, I quickly flexed him and told him to keep it together and he did. He was so brilliant, I was smiling the whole time.
I came out absolutely thrilled. For the first time I really understand why people like dressage. It was fun! Henry got all the carrots and pats. I can't describe how proud of him I am. I didn't look at the scores until we had done all 3 phases, but we scored 26.6 and were in third!
We had a few hours to wait for show jumping so I hung around reading a bit before they opened the XC to walk. I was pretty excited to see what they had in store for us and I wasn't disappointed with a few new jumps and interesting combinations. It's going t o be a good test and a lot of fun, I just need to remember to ride.
Show jumping was in a small arena and it was a tight, twisty course with 3 related lines. The time was tight and I had a firm plan for my warm up and course. Warming up I made sure Henry was forward and practiced getting him off my leg. Every warm up jump we did I made a decision about and it made a big difference. Henry was jumping super.
When I went in to do my course I walked in past the double to the judge, then trotted past another related line before picking up t he canter to come into fence 1. This meant that Henry has seen the whole arena and most of the fences before we began.
Our course was really good, I made decisions into every fence and felt like I rode forward. We need to work on landing on the correct lead at him more because that part is a bit sticky and will help with getting a faster time. Fence 4 was a 4 stride related line to the double, and I just came in a little quiet and deep to 4, meaning that when Henry got to 5B his stride as a little long and strung out and he tapped the rail with a back leg. He jumped the rest clear thought and we finished with one rail and a few time penalties because time was so tight.
I was disappointed but the round was smooth and felt good. The things that need fixing should come quickly, we have had lead changes in the past so getting them pack shouldn't be a problem. I was proud I made decisions and that I really kept Henry motoring along. Our rail and time dropped us back to 4th, there were not many penalties separating the top 5!
All in all I was super proud of our performance on day one. He felt like a seasoned horse and tried his heart out. With just XC left to go I was enjoying being back out eventing and really looking forward to galloping around the course!
Arriving early meant ewe got an excellent parking spot over looking the arenas, and we got set up for the day with plenty of time to spare. Henry was pretty chill as usual and when I hopped on he was all for it. I made sure he was truely forward and he worked down well, relaxing after a short while and we were able to head back to the float with the knowledge that Henry knew what was up.
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After fixing my plaits up, adding the last finishing touches to the both of us and generally faffing about, I got on with about 20 minutes to warm up. I timed it perfectly because I had enough time to trot a couple of laps of the first warm up area before Iw as moved to the second warm up area next to the arenas.
Henry wasn't fussed by the change, especially as he has been in the main area before and we went right back to work. I made sure his transitions were prompt, that he was forward and that his shoulder were manoeuvrable and we were ready to go in at my time, which is exactly when we went in.
I trotted both directions around the arena, and he stayed with me, and he remained with me for the entire test. Our first centre line was straight and I felt our test was accurate over all. HE picked up both canter lines, something we have really struggled with in the past. If he tried to put his head up, I quickly flexed him and told him to keep it together and he did. He was so brilliant, I was smiling the whole time.
I came out absolutely thrilled. For the first time I really understand why people like dressage. It was fun! Henry got all the carrots and pats. I can't describe how proud of him I am. I didn't look at the scores until we had done all 3 phases, but we scored 26.6 and were in third!
We had a few hours to wait for show jumping so I hung around reading a bit before they opened the XC to walk. I was pretty excited to see what they had in store for us and I wasn't disappointed with a few new jumps and interesting combinations. It's going t o be a good test and a lot of fun, I just need to remember to ride.
Show jumping was in a small arena and it was a tight, twisty course with 3 related lines. The time was tight and I had a firm plan for my warm up and course. Warming up I made sure Henry was forward and practiced getting him off my leg. Every warm up jump we did I made a decision about and it made a big difference. Henry was jumping super.
When I went in to do my course I walked in past the double to the judge, then trotted past another related line before picking up t he canter to come into fence 1. This meant that Henry has seen the whole arena and most of the fences before we began.
Our course was really good, I made decisions into every fence and felt like I rode forward. We need to work on landing on the correct lead at him more because that part is a bit sticky and will help with getting a faster time. Fence 4 was a 4 stride related line to the double, and I just came in a little quiet and deep to 4, meaning that when Henry got to 5B his stride as a little long and strung out and he tapped the rail with a back leg. He jumped the rest clear thought and we finished with one rail and a few time penalties because time was so tight.
I was disappointed but the round was smooth and felt good. The things that need fixing should come quickly, we have had lead changes in the past so getting them pack shouldn't be a problem. I was proud I made decisions and that I really kept Henry motoring along. Our rail and time dropped us back to 4th, there were not many penalties separating the top 5!
All in all I was super proud of our performance on day one. He felt like a seasoned horse and tried his heart out. With just XC left to go I was enjoying being back out eventing and really looking forward to galloping around the course!
Congrats on two good phases. You guys look good out there together
ReplyDeleteThanks, it felt good too!
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