HOY- an Epic novella because it's raining and I don't want t go outside.

Photos are too dark to shrink- but if you click on them they should come up full size and you can enjoy Connie and Kate in their full glory.



Ahh Horse of the Year. Finally, after 7 years, I once again came through your gates as a competitor and not a watcher. I bounced up the driveway to meet my friend when she stopped in to pick up me and the ladies. We arrived at HoY about 3.30pm on the Monday and being at a show for 7 days really does make for a long week. I really struggled in the heat but managed to ride either late in the day or early in the morning so I missed the worst of it. (The pictures are all from the Friday 1.15m class)



I had a fairly ambitious entry schedule, but I made it easier on my self to accommodate the fact that it was my first HoY in years and I might as well enjoy the end of my season. So anyway, monday it was a 1.10m class down in ring 3. Connie jumped well though a little half assed and I got her deep to an oxer in the jump-off and took a rail. also I stopped in the round because a rail was down but everyone yelled at me to keep going so I did. I think I would have had time faults and the judges were kind to let me continue. Kate started really well, jumped strongly, and I made the five strides down to the fifth fence and all of a sudden I was out of horse. I remember thinking that this was really going to hurt but I cleared the fence, albeit alone, and landed rolling so I got up no harm done. Must have looked good though because the judges looked horrified, but I assured them I had landed on my padded bits. I guess I had let my contact go a bit maybe, but mostly I have no idea what happened, she really stepped out on me in the last moment. I'm sure I used to be able to canter down a line to a fence even if it was a bit scary.



The Wednesday we started in the 1.20m class. Connie really prefers the bigger fences I think. She felt amazing. I just overrode into a 3 fence line and had the first rail. Still got an amazing photo of her jumping a 1.20m oxer, which is now on the wall nicely framed and blown up to A4 Size. I have been desperately wanting to get a really nice photo of her over the bigger fences and I'm delighted to have it. Kate was stopping at the oxer in the warm-up so I didn't start her after I ended up straddling the practice fence. She jumps if I have vice leg on and super amounts of contact but I'm starting to wonder if she is sore somewhere. I know as a TB she likes to be held together and that, but I need to be able to canter down a stupid normally strided line on her- i'm sure I used to be able to do this earlier in the season? I wish she would tell me i she is sore, or just sick of it, or whats going on. I might flexion her when Kim is back in the weekend and I even wonder if I might get hock x-rays because she does seem like she is lacking some power perhaps? She feels sound though and full or pep, but she isn't so keen to jump anymore.



Anyway, the cure for bad rounds is shopping! So I brought a new riding Coat. 50% off a Pikeur! I couldn't walk away! I didn't wear it for ages though because I felt like it was too flash for me. I also got a new saddle blanket, ordered new long boots and got two new show shirts. (I don't often buy things for myself and obviously I went a little mad) Though to be fair my current coat cost me $100 second hand and my boots are 8 years old and falling apart. And with HoY being so hot I was sweating through my show shirts really quickly. Oh and the fresh made juice stand under the grandstand did a roaring trade with me. MMMM juice! Thursday was a 1.15m class for Connie and again she four faulted but jumped well enough. Kate was in the 1.10m class and actually jumped clear when I really made sure I never let her contact go until she left the ground but she was sticky off of the ground and while I was rapt to complete with just 4 faults for a circle looking back it wasn't a great round.

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Yay for Friday. Though after 3 days I was starting to think home would actually be quite nice. Three day shows are the norm here so HoY is lots longer than I'm
used to. Anyway, my sister and a friend and my ex were all there to watch and stuff, so we went for a massive epic match of mini-putt while we waited for our classes. It was another 1.15m class and again Connie had another rail. It was my fault though, got a bad spot to the upright and sat up and waited for the 6 strides instead of really riding to get the 5 strides. That meant we didn't jump into the double big enough and she took the back rail of the oxer on the way out. Really it was very generous of her to even try make that huge leap. Kate warmed up super and started well. Though looking at the picture above with her over the first fence, she doesn't look that happy does she. Anyway she started ok, got a great ride to the double, definitely made the distance and she jumped the first and basically landed in a stop and had made no effort for the second element. I got chicken and retired, jumping the first fence on the way out. So I don't know. I have never known Kate to chicken out a normal no fill oxer, and she is normally really bold through her combinations. Luckily for me I got to spend the night in a friends motel and had a fabulous soak in the tub which help with my sore falling off muscles and meant I got some decent sleep. Apparently the showgrounds were really noisy.

Saturday was a rest day for them but I rode Connie bareback in a halter and led Kate over to the polo grounds so that they could graze for half an hour which they seemed to appreciate. Though I was regretting the bareback halter decision when they both came back jiggy and spooky and being stupid. Damn horses. That night the showgrounds were again super super noisy. It's because a lot of the classes are finished and people are celebrating the end of the show, but my big class was still to come and I was pretty annoyed that I was constantly being woken up by drunk talk outside the truck at 2.30m.

I woke up on sunday feeling like a Zombie but with plenty to do. I got my hot chocolate and walked the course in my PJs. Which was funny because the course builder was like I knew someone would walk my course in PJ's. It was a really good course. Lots of questions but not to big, so a great course for the amateur of the Year class. So Connie was groomed and had her studs put in and saddled up. I watched the first three go and then went to Bridle my horse. couldn't find my spurs or my helmet and was in a frantic flap especially when I could hear them announcing the horse four before me while I was still bridling up. Anxious canter to the warm-up , three warm up fences and I was in the ring. Over one and two I was definitely still a little cautious so I made myself ride up to the 9 strides to three. Good jump over the wall and down the next line. she wasn't as tired as she was on friday but was still a little flat. Then our boogy fence- The treble. She hit the first element hard but then jumped really well. I was delighted when I turned back to the next fence that the rail was still up. Over the planks and then the double and I refused to get chicken and still boldy took the last. I was so delighted I nearly cried having jumping my first clear round all season in an amateur class- especially as this one mattered most to me.

I was so nervous for the jump-off I really was. I was going to go inside the wall but sort of knew Connie wasn't capable of it. I had a super jump-off as well she was clean and and turning tightly and was bold to her fences. I changed my mind halfway round the turn to then go outside the wall. and the stride was there but
I didn't ride up enough and had a stop. She finished really well though. she jumped super it was only my fault. Still I was rapt to have jumped a clear and being right up in the competition.

And now? It's all over. After 7 months of working through the season and looking to HoY and working on being better and stronger, it's all over for the year. Connie and Kate will do a couple of hunts and then be turned out, though I need to investigate Kate a bit. Then I will focus on rascal and bill. Still I feel a little lost now it's all done. Still only 5 months and we start again.

Bills Third Jumping session

This occurred before Horse of the Year so for my blog to appear in good chronological order you will have to wait to hear about HOY! Though I will let you know that it was very very hot and dusty.



So I got brave and bill had her third "jumping" session. She started poorly though when she took off over a little fence about two metres early and took a real flier. I was scared by this and she frightened herself a little bit too I think. But with a slower approach she learned that it's a lot easier to get right to the base and pop over.



I worked really hard on staying out of her way as much as possible and never catching her mouth and I feel like this was the most relaxed session she has had because I didn't get in her way. Every so often she would pop over a fence and I would be like yup there is a some real power here.



She was at all phased by the fences in whatever form they appeared, though they were all tiny. Soon she was trotting in, doing a tiny half canter stride and popping over the fence and cantering away really kindly and relaxed. I was pretty happy she was placing herself more at the base because she loves the long take-off and I want to knock that on the head quickly.



Still I couldn't have been happier with her. Now I really need to start getting her out and about more, have one jumping session a week and have her ready to stat next season :)

Squirt

I found this picture of Squirt from the NZ Dominion Post. No one has been named yet, but most people know who it is I think. There are whispers that there is proof and this person will be caught. That would be great.

I had actually forgotten how much work young horses are lol. I have been spoilt by Connie and Kate but now that Bill is really starting to get worked I have been reminded just how tricky it is. Especially as she is a rather witchy and opinionated little Girl. She has been going so well though. Yesterday she had her first solo ride down the road and apart from moving in slow motion so she could take it all in she was really good. Very bold and confident.

Today everything got schooled. With breaks in between of course it was very hot! Kate feels off in her right fore again but worked through it. I wonder if she is getting tight in her back again. I hope not because she felt solid as three days ago. Once she worked through the shortness she actually worked really well. Connie was as per usual fabulous and tried quite hard to stay collected in her canter which she finds really difficult. I do love her to pieces when she is really good.

Bill is just starting to work on proper grown up horse schooling. Straightness and forwardness and roundness. On the right rein she is really really good and gave me some really nice trot work, forward and light on the contact but soft. She wants to fall in a lot though, so she is also learning that now she has to bend her body around the corners rather than motorcycle. She is quite hinky to the left and it's also my weaker direction riding. I had forgotten how one sided young horses can be! But she had some really nice moments and we even did some cantering where she used her butt as opposed to the bury your head and go really fast to compensate for different rider weight balance. Which is good because with her head buried and her big old butt power cantering I feel like I'm riding a slide!

Humming and hawing what classes I do at HoY. At the moment my first class out for both of them is the 1.20m and I might have a crack at it and then go down in height if it doesn't go well for the next days. The only way to get better at the 1.20ms and get over my fear of them, is to do them. Shouldn't be as big on the first day anyway, or as technical. We will see hey.

Some people really really suck

A horrifying incident took place in the weekend, of the like I have never heard of happening at any show I have been at. Someone actually harmed a horse overnight. Squirt, who is a palomino showhunter horse, had creosote smeared (dabbed, poured, rubbed?? I don't know) on the left side of his face near his left eye. This has caused the horse facial burns, and when I walked past him at the vets truck in the morning I noted the horse with a sore swollen weepy eye and face, but I didn't know what I was looking at until the rumour mill kicked in later that day.

What makes it even more sickening is that the horse had gotten a chemical burn the week earlier at Foxton, but the owner thought maybe he had come into contact with some sheep dip. Now, however, it looks like the horse may have been attacked earlier. Why you might ask. Apparently Squirt is currently third in the Showhunter High Points series and I guess someone else doesn't like that. The horse was treated and did compete that day though I think. It is going to get worse before it gets better I think.

The worse thing is that a crime like this is nearly impossible to find the guilty party, regardless of how much everyone thinks it's one individual. It's a tight knit community on the show circuit and definitely there are few people capable of this. Unfortunately, the chances are that there aren't any witnesses and without proof this person can never receive the life long ban that this person deserves. Even more maddening is that if there was a witness I doubt they would come forward because as someone said to me you then run the risk of your own horse being harmed. It's an ugly situation.

Series Finals in Hawera

Oh Hawera I don't think I have ever had a good show here. I was feeling pretty confident after last weekend at Foxton and maybe that was my downfall. We arrived on Thursday night and settled in and woke in the morning to a grey day that turned into pretty heavy rain by about 9 in the morning. Kate started out in the 1.10m class and had a rail and a stop. The stop was my fault because I underestimated how much she would stall at the gate and so didn't ride up soon enough and didn't make the distance. Then Connie came out in the 1.20m class and was a complete egg. I don't think I rode her that badly and I think for once I'm going to say she didn't do her half of the job. She was good over the first fence, didn't lock onto the second and had a rail. I circled off of the third the first time because there was no spot. The second attempt she jumped in ok from a decent spot but landed and was never going to jump the second part of the double. I don't know if she was finding the going deep (it was starting to cut up) or what her deal was, though in thinking she probably needed a more aggressive ride to force her focus.

Kate was in the same 1.20m class and started pretty well but felt like she was struggling in the ground somewhat. I learnt a lot from this round though. 1. She can clear an oxer from a really deep spot if I stay committed. 2. She is chicken to Wavy planks. 3. I am chicken to plank oxers lol! She actually tried pretty hard but I did a good job of getting in her way. Finally I got a terrible ride into the treble and addedin the one stride distance and circled out for the big E. Guts. It was really nice to see and meet Sally who is a reader, I just wish she could have seen the girls (and me!) on form.

That night the rain came back so heavily the sound of it on the roof of the truck was deafening and we didn't sleep very well. The ground in the oval was getting really deep. A guy who trains racehorses said that ring 2 was grade 8 heavy which is really really heavy. Still Connie had been changed to the 1.05m class. When I tried to saddle her up she went ballistic and after 15mins hanging onto one front foot trying to put her studs in (She had keepers- it was only a matter of screwing the keepers out and the studs in). I wasn't going to let that foot go though. Still after that much hassle I gave up on her and didn't do her other feet. I certainly wasn't getting under her to do tha back ones. The joys of working with a fair weather horse eh. Anyway by the time I got her to the ring I was really wild with her, but she actually jumped really well. (More aggressive ride though) she was even committed as through the combinations and we did an awesome jump-off with super tight turns and a full on gallop to the last to jump it on an angle to win the class. For that I pocketed a cool $90, which is crazy prizemoney for a open 1.05m class. Connie. When she is good she is very very good but when she is bad she is horrid. The ground out in ring 3 was actually really good and Connie didn't slip despite having no studs in three feet.

Kate then had the amateur class in ring 2. Had a stop at the first (Why why why am I scared of triple bars, they are so easy to jump) because of a bunny ride but then she jumped quite well. She never felt happy or confident though and I was having to ride her really hard to the base and still wasn't sure she was going to leave the ground. In the first combination it felt like she really sunk into the ground and she took a stride and hurled herself at the next fence. I retired after that, because to me it just felt like she was finding the going too hard. No point killing her before HoY and it's not like I wasn't miles down in the series. Something seems to happen when I know the fences are 1.20m and I make silly mistakes. It's just like a mental block and I need to just get over it. So Hawera was really not my show. We didn't start on Saturday because it was raining again and actually hideously cold. With a 4 hour trip home it was actually nice to be on the road fairly early and get home before dark.

Wellington and Horowhenua SJ and SH Championships

So this weekend I was at yet another show. I was there by myself though so not only was warming up interesting (A few times I went from a crossrail to a 1.15m fence depending on what was set up) but I don't have any photos. Sorry about that, I really wish I had some video because it was a good show.

Anyway the first class up was the 1.10m with Kate. We had a pretty good round and she was really not looky which was nice, because it proves that it was the oat chaff that was the issue. Had a tidy jump-off and was third in division 1. The class was 127 horses so they divide the class into two divisions. In either division I would have had the same placing based on my time. Well done Kate big pats for you.

The next class was Connie in her very first 1.20m class. I was very very very nervous and it was a reasonably sized track. I didn't have to worry though. I rode the best round of my life I think and gave her a fabulous ride and she just jumped super fabulous. Bold and confident, not over jumping but never even touching a rail. I had a clear round and went pretty quick in the jump-off to finish 6th in the second division. (98 horses in this class). I couldn't have been happier, I was so rapt.

Then Kate came out in the same class. There was deep pit on the landing side of the warm up fences and being alone I couldn't move them so I didn't get a very good warm-up. I jumped it once and we nearly fell on landing so that was it really. Now Kate and Connie are very different and I actually find it a little hard going from horse to horse. Connie is very laid back and quiet so I have to make the canter to get down the related lines. Then I get on Kate who can be a bit strong and who is quite forward and I always overestimate our canter. So in the five stride line to the double even though I had a good jump in I didn't make the distance because I sat up and held instead of just letting her canter down to the double. She stopped and I fell. So the day worked out as two ribbons and a fall.

The next day Kate was late entered into the 1.10m Championship class (Probably should have done the 1.20m but thats ok) She jumped really well and I didn't ride a good round in the jump-off and had a rail there. The Amateur was a fairly big track which is good. Connie jumped awesome, but after fence 2 I let my canter fall apart and circled off of fence three because I just didn't have the canter. On re-approach she jumped really well and apart from the four faults for the circle and a time fault she jumped clear. On Kate I made sure to ride more forward and consistently and to make all my related lines and despite having to ride up one of them, it was my best round on Kate, I just had just a rail. I am the master of four fault rounds in the amateur classes. Still as a show it was a good one. Next weekend it's Hawera for series finals and then 10days later it's Horse of the Year and then I get a break from Showjumping which I think I'm actually looking forward to a bit.