Hunting, hunting, hunting

Hunting

Been a while since I posted but all I have been doing horse wise is hunting really. The link above takes you to a picture of me riding the big horse Blue in the King Country Hunt Hunter Trials. I travelled down to Taumaranui a couple of weeks ago to visit my childhood friend whom also rides and hunts with King Country. It was a lovely hunt and they were very friendly. It was on a 5000 acre station farm and unfortunately the hare kept running back to one new grass paddock and we only saw about 100 acres of the country.

The next day they had their hunter trials. I was in the ladies wire jump, the ladies hunter and the champion hunter. For those that have the time you can find those classez in the above links, I rode second, second and first. The wire jump was the first class and you jumped a lowered wire and then turned and jumped a full wire. Now King Country full wires are bloody tall. The tops of the fence battens was about 1.20m. Thats a tall wire. Of course I have never jumped a full wire on the big horse and was pretty scared but he jumped so nicely over the first fence I had to try. Of course I got chicken and hooked him on the approach and got him deep to it, so he hit the fence but we stll made it over no worries so that was cool.

The ladies hunter involved jumping some cross country type gate fences and then going up and down a steep hill, jumping over a tape and finishing over the two lowered wire fences. I made a few mistakes here when I overestimated his stride and caused him to chip n, and I'm not brave enough to canter down a steep hill but I a went down at a fair clip- cantering halfway down. It's the first time really I have jumped him out of his own. He was really dull to warm-up but as soon as he was on course and he knew he was being watched he was full of beans and ego. Loves the limelight.

The Champion hunter was my best run, good distances to all the fences and only just touched the full wire and it was a really nice smooth round. It's all done at a hunting pace as well which is a pretty fast clip- faster than most leels of cross country. Still it was an awesome experience that I thoroughly enjoyed even if I didn't get any placings.

This weekend was bay of plentys ladies hunt and I was allowed out the front to learn how to whip. It was awesome fun, though pretty intense. It was so awesome to be part of the actual hunting process as opposed to just following the hunt. Blue was the bomb, though a little hot and I wore him out pretty good. I got lots of lovely compliments about how we looked up front and I definitely want to do more whipping. Need to learn how to crack the whip now.

For Sale

Do you guys remember how I was riding that roan horse and we got on like a house on fire and he fit my saddle, and I sort of put in an offer that was sort of rejected because one person was ok with the price but the other partner wasn't. Well he is on the market officially now and honestly it's pretty gutting because now I'm in no position to buy the big bastard and I really loved him. Life you taunt me with the things I can't have! He would have been a great addition to the two I will have competing next year. Behind Connie but ahead of Bill. Still I can hardly afford the horses I have now, let alone have time for them. This sucks. I'm so frustrated that I'm in this situation when the only thing that really matters to me, which is riding is getting further and further out of reach. I don't know what to do to change my situation so that I can get more time in the saddle. I'm not going to go back now, only forward. I need to be good at this jumping lark, need. It's a visceral thing, it's a real burning I have to be one of the best, and I just can't see a way out of the bind I'm in now.

Hunting- Braemar Rd

So here are some pictures of the weekends hunting. The quality isn't great becuase there is a fair bit of zoom on most of them but here you are. I'm on the big grey with the navy saddle blanket and black and grey helmet.

Cooking sausages!

Me highly motivated to go and get a sausage!

AWOL

I'm sorry I haven't been around all that much, there hasn't been much really to say. Billo was jumping out of her little tape yard and stuffing her face with grass and then bucked me off when I rode her and she was so full of beans she went on the gallop and buck and play for another good 10 minutes. I must say I was very patient and waited quite calmly and only threw my whip at her once. Then I lunged her and then I rode the living snot out of her and she is now living on what is basically a dirt lot with a sliver of grass everyday and a lot of hay and a very high fibre feed. She has been pretty good ever since, but it has been a knock to my confidence. Now I'm struggling with daylight as winter closes in it's harder and harder to get quality rides in. I think I have found the bit for the big horse I'm hunting. It's just a running gag and he was light as a feather in it. There is an awesome hunt this weekend because it's on my aunties property and it's the most beautiful piece of land. I feel a bit like a hamster at the moment, running my little legs off but not making any progress. I want to organise a lesson with Bill and I'm looking to get another job which suits me better and makes the most of my Science knowledge. I'm a little wasted on the shop floor if I do say so myself. I wish I was more confident, I have such huge doubts. Right now the big one is am I even good enough to produce Bill into the horse she has the potential to be. Sorry it's so short hopefully more interesting things will happen soon.