Wooroloo SJ
We had a couple of hours between XC and SJ. We let Coolie chill and headed out to watch some of the higher grades. The weather was amazing so it was lovely to be outside watching XC with my favourite people.
I decided to stud for SJ just in case since it's been so wet and I wasn't sure how the arena would be holding up. I got on too early again and took Sir for a big walk to stretch him out and warm him up slowly after his big XC run.
Once we started moving properly Coolie felt fine but he was tired. I kept the warm up very short, he jumped well but we didn't need to do anything more than the bare minimum. We went in early and I picked up a steady canter. We had a rail at fence 2, and I rode a bit more forward to fence 3.
4 and 5 rode fine and we just clipped the rail to 6A. The last 3 fences were great and overall he put in a good effort. I iced Coolie's legs again and gave him a lot of love. He put in a huge effort all weekend and while on paper it wasn't our best with a stop and 2 rails, they are little mistakes that only tell part of the story.
Em, Andrew and I watched the 2* and 3* cross country at the water, cheering our friends on. The weather was perfect and quite warm for winter and it was the perfect way to finish the weekend.
I was exhausted at the end of the weekend! I need to get back running. When I looked back at my test the judges comments were kind and we have definitely improved our scores across the board. We are heading in the right direction.
While I am a little disappointed we had a stop at the water I know it's not a training issue, Coolie has never stopped previously and he was genuinely distracted by the people who aren't normally watching us. Next time I will ride a little harder and try to fix the problem before it happens.
I was really nervous this weekend and that definitely took some of the fun away. It can be hard to remember that we have done this before and that we can do it. Hopefully I can get on top of my anxiety before our next event and I can have a more positive experience. I am handling it better overall though and I was pleased when I came off XC I was positive with our effort overall. The stop didn't completely detract from the weekend.
I also wasn't nervous at all before show jumping and rode much better as a result. Coolies adjust-ability in both of the jumping phases was there and he was really listening to me the whole time.
The terrain made XC hard to enjoy because I was constantly thinking about what we had to do and how I had to ride. It was a tough weekend but I'm pleased we went and did our best. There is always next time to improve the score board.
I decided to stud for SJ just in case since it's been so wet and I wasn't sure how the arena would be holding up. I got on too early again and took Sir for a big walk to stretch him out and warm him up slowly after his big XC run.
Once we started moving properly Coolie felt fine but he was tired. I kept the warm up very short, he jumped well but we didn't need to do anything more than the bare minimum. We went in early and I picked up a steady canter. We had a rail at fence 2, and I rode a bit more forward to fence 3.
4 and 5 rode fine and we just clipped the rail to 6A. The last 3 fences were great and overall he put in a good effort. I iced Coolie's legs again and gave him a lot of love. He put in a huge effort all weekend and while on paper it wasn't our best with a stop and 2 rails, they are little mistakes that only tell part of the story.
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| Tired but still putting in 100% for me |
I was exhausted at the end of the weekend! I need to get back running. When I looked back at my test the judges comments were kind and we have definitely improved our scores across the board. We are heading in the right direction.
While I am a little disappointed we had a stop at the water I know it's not a training issue, Coolie has never stopped previously and he was genuinely distracted by the people who aren't normally watching us. Next time I will ride a little harder and try to fix the problem before it happens.
I was really nervous this weekend and that definitely took some of the fun away. It can be hard to remember that we have done this before and that we can do it. Hopefully I can get on top of my anxiety before our next event and I can have a more positive experience. I am handling it better overall though and I was pleased when I came off XC I was positive with our effort overall. The stop didn't completely detract from the weekend.
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| So lucky to have these two in my life. |
The terrain made XC hard to enjoy because I was constantly thinking about what we had to do and how I had to ride. It was a tough weekend but I'm pleased we went and did our best. There is always next time to improve the score board.
congrats on having put in three solid efforts for each phase, and for coming away feeling so positive and pleased with Coolie!! some of my favorite outings ever are not ones that would look great on paper (vs some better scoring days that were.... wayyy less fun), i think that's just how it goes sometimes. you guys look great tho and seems like you really enjoyed it and also got some useful takeaways for next time!
ReplyDeleteCoolie is the best, I am always grateful to have him as my partner! I learnt things and I think that is important. and i achieved stuff I was hoping to. There is always next time.
DeleteYou guys looked great! I remember before I would show I would literally get so nervous that I'd have to have a beer. Like freaking chugged the beer LOL. (I was of course over 21 at this point ;) lol) Nerves absolutely can ruin a good day. I'm glad that you still came away with some good positives! Coolie was such a good boy!
ReplyDeleteI've been tempted to try a medicinal gin, but I think while it would help me calm down it would NOT help my riding!
DeleteI'm trying to be more positive and think more about improvements than scores... it's kinda working.