Gidgegannup CNC - Show jumping

We had a couple of hours before show jumping so I walked the course early and watched half the first class jump and formed a plan. Jump 1 was into the crowd of people watching and lots of horses were backing off and taking the rail. So I planned to ride into the ring and past that line before presenting to the judge. I was the only rider to do it, except for a friend who did it after I told her to. I think that says a lot!

I got very nervous before I got on, and even while I was riding, which was unusual but made it pretty clear this phase is where I think we are the weakest. I really feel the pressure in show jumping, I always feel it's very  easy to get wrong!

It's awesome when we get  it right  though

Henry  warmed up calmly for the first time all weekend, I think he was feeling a bit tired. He was jumping ok, but not being very neat, and I really  needed to ride him more forward to the  fences.  

We went in and Henry spooked at the people as we cantered past so I was pleased I had done it and then we presented to jump 1 without any dramas. The show jumping was where his greenness really came out and he was spooky and I was less confident too. We got deep to jump 2, I needed to ride out of the corner more but by jump 3 we had a better flow. We got long to 5 but I saw the stride and kicked and then I kicked through the combination when I felt him back off. He was clear coming to the last 2 fences, a treble then a bending 5 stride line to a Swedish oxer.

Clear over 1

He jumped the treble well but I was very unclear in my riding and I just needed to be quieter and more confident as he got a bit confused about where we were going and then really backed off into the Swedish, a bit because I wasn't clear and a bit because we were jumping towards the people. I didn’t support him at all into the jump and because he is the best pony ever he jumped anyway but had the rail down.

Overall it was an ok round, but ti really highlighted where we need work. I need to kick on more but just smooth things out too. I get way too jumpy in my riding where I need the cool confidence I have in cross country. I also need a more solid plan. In xc I know exactly how I am going to ride each fence and talk myself through it while I ride the course, but in show jumping my plan is a lot more general. I need to be more precise in my plan to help me out. However, I rode forward and supported him better than I have done in the past. It wasn’t the neatest of rounds but we got it done and I know where I need to improve for next time.

So our first 80 is in the bag and overall it was easy! We didn’t learn anything new, just confirmed where I know we need to work harder. I think our next event will be much easier all round, Gidge has such tight warm up spaces Henry finds it hard to focus but we managed it anyway.

Second to last

We will spend some time show jumping to build our confidence more in this phase before our next event and I have chosen to show jump over enter the next event on the calendar because I know that SJ arena is particularly spooky and challenging, which he doesn’t need yet.

It was such a fun weekend, and it felt so good to be back doing what we do next. I am once again so impressed with Henry, he feels amazing right now and has come on in leaps and bounds. He is the evidence that slow and steady wins the race!