Competition Crazy!
I have gone a bit competition crazy in the last week, going from only having one lesson this term to being in four competitions! But everyone of them have been a great experience for me and I've learnt a lot of different things from each one.
So, on Monday I with Sutton Bonington Riding Club to their local riding school to do part one of combined training. I rode a horse called Elliott and did the BHS Novice 28 Dressage test.
I'd never ridden Elliott before, I'd never even seen him before, ever! He was a bit of a character, kind of lazy but he seemed very honest (he was doing counter canter for me in warm up!). I let him down a bit as I only knew the pattern of the test (Tip: LEARN YOUR DRESSAGE TEST THOROUGHLY!) because of the amount of work I'd been doing over the last week I hadn't had much time to put into learning the test properly. I had a caller for my test which was helpful (if only I could hear...😂) so everything fell apart and due to my mistakes I was unfortunately eliminated 😞
Hats off to Elliott he was lovely, if lazy.
On Wednesday I had a very exciting packed day!
With my normal riding club we went Cross-country training. I rode a horse called Noble who was a stallion rescue horse when he first arrived at Trent Valley, but now he's a really honest geilding, even if he does drag me along when leading and is a pain to catch! I think I've found a new favourite!
I had ridden Noble once before this day, before Christmas, but had never seen him jumped or jumped him myself, to be honest, I could hardly remember what he was like when I rode him for the first time!
In the morning we had a 2 hour lesson and schooled the horses over all the jumps. We had xc style jumps set up in an indoor area and the bigger fences were around 2"9. I was really proud of myself because I haven't jumped properly for around a year and to be doing big jumps on a horse I've never jumped gave me such an adrenaline rush!
After a well earned lunch we went and got back on the horses and did a clear round and then a pairs jump off. My clear round wasn't exactly clear, we had two run outs at number 3, I think this was because he felt there was a tiny bit of nerves within me, but we were fine on try #3 and flew over the course.
I then paired up with my friend Felicity and did the pairs round. I jumped fences 1-5 and she jumped 6-11. It was rather funny, I was flying around and galloped into the change-over box and she just kind of plodded out on Jilly! She did then fly around the rest of the course and we got a respectable 6th place.
Me and Noble; Felicity and Jilly
Sunny Sunday came along yesterday and I was off again to Sutton Bonington to do part 2 of the combined training: Show jumping! I signed up to do a 2"6 class and was placed on a horse called Tao (again, never seen or ridden before). After my first warm-up canter I did think I was going to die when it was my round, as he was incredibly forward, but once I sat up and back he was fine. I really loved riding Tao and found he was extremely responsive to the leg, I could just move my leg back a tiny bit and he'd respond, which was a lovely feeling. He had really good impulsion and flow over the jumps.
My round had 4 faults as he refused the first jump but I disregarded that as it was the first jump and we flew over the rest of the course utterly faultless, he didn't put a foot wrong and I couldn't have been prouder of myself or Tao. We got 5th place which I was really happy with.
Having not jumped properly for over a year (I used to be such a jumping machine haha) I was slightly nervous about jumping new horses, but I'm so glad I've just thrown myself in. I couldn't be happier with the results I've had and I'm so happy with the horses that I've ridden recently. I can't wait to get back in the saddle and do more serious things like the combined training days, even if they are just friendly competitions.
I'd like to say a well done to everyone who've I've ridden/competed with over the past week, congratulations to you all. The few of you that fell off, well done for brushing yourself off and getting straight back on you're all amazing riders, I hope your not too bruised!
Remember in any sports the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy yourself!
