So we only went over for the one day at this show to save money and because there were a bunch of jobs that had to be done on Saturday like moving the colts. So my first class was the 1.10m championsip on Butch and he was so amazing. I had a lesson on Friday the primary theme being, sit on him quiet, keep him insanely slow and get him there relaxed. Normally he is terrible from a deep distance but if I get there slow he is better and he actually jumps in a round shape. This round was definitely the slowest I have ever jumped him. It feels like I could get off and out walk his canter it's probably the right canter. He is so much stronger and better able to hold his canter now he isn't falling behind the leg the same. It would be the first time ever that he finished his round basically as quietly as he started and he stayed so soft.
Cpnnie did not rear or buck in the warm up of the amateur (1.10m-1.20) Though only the first fence was really 1.10m it was big for an amateur. She was a little bit naughty backing off of the the wall and then I hit her at the next fence and put her through the rail but after she had backed off I had to ride a little aggressively to make sure it was a one off. The rail in the double she didn't need to take. So here is connie. She wont blow your mind because she is just a bare minimum sort of a girl but I was still happy with her. It was nice to actually get into the ring on her and they both jumped well enough.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Monday, September 16, 2013
Sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug
Pukahu show. Debacle. Normally I have an okay show here but not this weekend. I wanted it to go well to much probably and should have been more chilled. I don't know I put so much pressure on myself but ultimately who really cares. I'm only riding against myself at the end of the day. Anyways, On the Thursday night before the show good old Butch kicked through the fence and hurt himself. I took him to the show anyway because he only really had some bark off, but being in a yard the swelling increased even when I did hack him so he didn't start all weekend. I really thought the orange bandage would blend right in to his coat but it didn't!
In Connies first class she hit the warm up and bucked and reared so much I went back to lunge her. I don't mind the bucking so much but the continuous rearing scares me. The only times I have really falling off her have been from her rearing and falling. Anyway the class was closed before I could get there. Cue 30 minutes of lunging until she went from zoomies to cantering and then another 20 mins of riding and I had my horse back. I jumped her in Butchs place in the 1.10m class and had a cheap rail though I could have been straighter and a circle before the double but I don't feel I rode as well as I could thouh I was still really really mad at her. She looks awesome though her condition is fantastic. No wonder she is feeling so well.
On the Sunday she came out and had a slightly puffy fetlock and was lame. Boo and hiss my friends so she didn't start on the Sunday and I got to watch both my horses sit in their yards all day. Thankfully my bosses horses went well enough that there was plenty to be cheerful about. Also both Butch and Connie look a lot better today with no swelling. Thank goodness for small mercies.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Countdown
So the show season is only 10 days away from the first ESNZ show. Ii still have yet to register Connie and myself but at least it is in the works now. I have been searching the couch and behind my car seat and have finally put the money together for Equestrian sports NZ to say I'm allowed to compete. Wonderful. I'd love to see some more of my registration money filter back down to the grass roots of the sport. Head office will tell you it does but that's not really true. And i only ever gets more expensive.
I haven't had internet for over a week but plenty of things have been going on. We had the last of the Winter shows. I rode a clients horse for a clear in the 90cm and second in the 1m speed class on the first day and then 1 rail in the 95cm class and the 1.05m classes respectively. Very cute funny little horse who is very generous and tries really hard despite being a little bit spoilt and slightly unorthodox.
Butch was superb in the 1.10m for 1 rider rail but stayed soft and round which he struggles to do indoos where he is a little fried. Connie had a rail in the jump off. In the warm up of the 1.15m I cased down a stupid distance and nearly killed connie and myself. Thankfully, clever pony is clever and kept her feet on the ground which is more than I deserved. The stupidest ride to the biggest miss of m life. I'm still a little rattled. Still 1 rider rail in the 1.15m but Connie hated the surface outdoors. (All my rails were rider rails bar Butch the next day) On the Sunday in the 1.15m butch warmed up super and then got int the ring and had about 7 rails. Not from particularily bad distances or anything. I would/do struggle to understand what happened from one round t the next. It was very much a case of two different horses from one day to the next. I might have been slightly tenser in my body, but no major difference. It's odd. It's horse. It's especially Butch, that being said they are so incredibly different to ride which Butch requiring a lot of tact and support while Connie just chugs around.. Connie had 1 rail in the 1.20m class which was awesome because I was so nervous and it was a reasonable sized tracks with a few big oxers and it always looks bigger indoors. I always worry that the jumps are too big for little Connie but she has jumped so many 1.20m tracks now I need to suck it up.
I find mentally in my head i get bogged down in thoughts that I'm not good enough to be jumping the heights I jump, which is ludicrous because I am jumping them. I just worry I look like a pig in a hen house, that I'm not as good as the other riders. Also ludicrous because I'm a competent enough rider and I should focus on my own stuff and forget everyone else anyway. I know in my head it doesn't matter if you don't have all the gear and the uber fancy horse, but I still find it intimidating. Never mind.
Last weekend I did a ctr endurance fun ride over 10km with a clients kid because she is only 10 and needed an adult to accompany her. It was a bit of a hard case. Beautiful sunny day for a quiet ride across other peoples farmland on my favourite pony. There is quite a lot involved but basically the winner is the person closest to the time with the lowest heart rate on arrival + heart rate at vet check within 30 minutes. We did awesome for time being only 2 minutes over but a miscalculation on my part had us hustling home and while her pony coped ok with it, Connies heart rate was quite high once we got in. She is a typical airy farty leg flaily andalusian mover, not at all economical so I don't hold it against her . Still fourth out of six, I just wish I had worked out the time properly in the first place! The kid I rode out with was second so that's really cool and we had a great gallop across a paddock. So that's off the bucket list now and I never have to do an endurance ride again. Actually I probably would do it again but I think it would benefit from more jumps!
Currently Connie has a nick on her leg that looks like it may be infected because it's swollen and Butch has a bit of thrush in one foot her is being a baby about so preparation for the first show is going perfectly! Horses. Still they should both be fine fingers crossed. Hoping to get away for a few days next week to the beach and have some fun with the ponies.
I haven't had internet for over a week but plenty of things have been going on. We had the last of the Winter shows. I rode a clients horse for a clear in the 90cm and second in the 1m speed class on the first day and then 1 rail in the 95cm class and the 1.05m classes respectively. Very cute funny little horse who is very generous and tries really hard despite being a little bit spoilt and slightly unorthodox.
Butch was superb in the 1.10m for 1 rider rail but stayed soft and round which he struggles to do indoos where he is a little fried. Connie had a rail in the jump off. In the warm up of the 1.15m I cased down a stupid distance and nearly killed connie and myself. Thankfully, clever pony is clever and kept her feet on the ground which is more than I deserved. The stupidest ride to the biggest miss of m life. I'm still a little rattled. Still 1 rider rail in the 1.15m but Connie hated the surface outdoors. (All my rails were rider rails bar Butch the next day) On the Sunday in the 1.15m butch warmed up super and then got int the ring and had about 7 rails. Not from particularily bad distances or anything. I would/do struggle to understand what happened from one round t the next. It was very much a case of two different horses from one day to the next. I might have been slightly tenser in my body, but no major difference. It's odd. It's horse. It's especially Butch, that being said they are so incredibly different to ride which Butch requiring a lot of tact and support while Connie just chugs around.. Connie had 1 rail in the 1.20m class which was awesome because I was so nervous and it was a reasonable sized tracks with a few big oxers and it always looks bigger indoors. I always worry that the jumps are too big for little Connie but she has jumped so many 1.20m tracks now I need to suck it up.
I find mentally in my head i get bogged down in thoughts that I'm not good enough to be jumping the heights I jump, which is ludicrous because I am jumping them. I just worry I look like a pig in a hen house, that I'm not as good as the other riders. Also ludicrous because I'm a competent enough rider and I should focus on my own stuff and forget everyone else anyway. I know in my head it doesn't matter if you don't have all the gear and the uber fancy horse, but I still find it intimidating. Never mind.
Last weekend I did a ctr endurance fun ride over 10km with a clients kid because she is only 10 and needed an adult to accompany her. It was a bit of a hard case. Beautiful sunny day for a quiet ride across other peoples farmland on my favourite pony. There is quite a lot involved but basically the winner is the person closest to the time with the lowest heart rate on arrival + heart rate at vet check within 30 minutes. We did awesome for time being only 2 minutes over but a miscalculation on my part had us hustling home and while her pony coped ok with it, Connies heart rate was quite high once we got in. She is a typical airy farty leg flaily andalusian mover, not at all economical so I don't hold it against her . Still fourth out of six, I just wish I had worked out the time properly in the first place! The kid I rode out with was second so that's really cool and we had a great gallop across a paddock. So that's off the bucket list now and I never have to do an endurance ride again. Actually I probably would do it again but I think it would benefit from more jumps!
Currently Connie has a nick on her leg that looks like it may be infected because it's swollen and Butch has a bit of thrush in one foot her is being a baby about so preparation for the first show is going perfectly! Horses. Still they should both be fine fingers crossed. Hoping to get away for a few days next week to the beach and have some fun with the ponies.
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