It's always good when you show up to a three day with your horse's leg pressure wrapped above the knee.
After the week leading up to the CIC2, I was just happy to be get there and pass the jog.
I rode Elliot at Chatt Hills Thursday Evening and he felt much as you might expect after running through a three board fence, getting cellulitis, not being ridden for a week, and then being on the trailer for six hours. He was wound up and crooked.
I did not have high hopes for the dressage. I wasn't even sure I really knew my test. I held off really learning it because I thought it might be the kiss of death. My warped, superstitious logic: 'If I learned my test, Elliot was certain not to come sound. If I didn't learn the test, I would have a sound horse, but probably forget the test all over the place'. It was a chance I was willing to take.
My goal was to score under 75 in order that the weekend could be a qualifier for Fair Hill in the fall. My secondary goal was to finish in the top half.
Elliot warmed up reasonably well, and then put in a solid test considering the circumstances. He was not elastic like he had been at Poplar Place a few weekends before, and the canter was disjointed. However, we muddled through. He was not last by any means, AND we got our qualifying score: 67.80!
CHC International was trying to make quite a spectacle in order to draw more of the general public. They had the international levels jumping under spotlights late in the evening the same day as dressage.
The time between Dressage and SJ was good. We had a chance to have Dougie Hannum work on Elliot. Doug worked his magic and made him more comfortable. It was also reassuring to have someone as knowledgeable as Doug tell me that Smellie was okay to run. He basically said 'treat him like a horse'; continue icing and keeping an eye on him. So we did.
I was lucky to go around on Heidi, who was brilliant, first. By the time Elliot went, it was dark and the spotlights only put off so much light. Plus, we had never jumped under lights and I was feeling especially rattled since I had not jumped him since Poplar Place two weeks before. He was brilliant. I had two rails. Elliot was a star. When I learn to show jump, we'll be unbeatable!
It rained all night long, which was not the end of the world. The ground was firm the day before so a little rain would only make it better. I didn't go until later in the afternoon, so I got up early and walked around course a couple times. I decided not even to wheel it. I am still green at this level, and Elliot was only there to jump around some tough questions and come home safe and sound. There were some big old tables on the course. There were also some big old skinnies on the course including two impressive corners as the out of combinations.
Going late in the division is sometimes a blessing, but sometimes a curse. As out time got closer, I listened to all the people, many of them combinations with more experience than me, who were having trouble on cross country. This was compounded with the fact that I was already nervous, and the rain over night made the warm up deep. I was struggling to find a distance. Kyle Carter made a remark to Betsy about setting up a grid for me to help me find a distance. I'm sure he meant it as a jest, but as one of our 8 year old students says 'some jokes are not funny'. I didn't need help to know I was missing all over the place.
I had talked with Betsy before and we both decided if Elliot didn't feel like he was taking me to the jumps or he had a couple stops on course, I would call it a day. It is always better to listen to you horse. Save him for another day.
We got into the box and the rest was history.
Elliot cantered around a big, imposing 2* XC that was giving other, more experience pairs trouble like he had been doing it his whole life. He jumped through those corners I had been sweating no problem. He saved me when I missed. He even ran straight as an arrow after I saw a shoe fly by us at the second water (a bit like having your hub cap pass you on the highway).
We got our qualifier and we finished in the top half (even if just barely). Everyone thinks their horse is amazing, but mine really is. He's got a lot of talent, but more importantly he's got a lot of heart.
After the week leading up to the CIC2, I was just happy to be get there and pass the jog.
I rode Elliot at Chatt Hills Thursday Evening and he felt much as you might expect after running through a three board fence, getting cellulitis, not being ridden for a week, and then being on the trailer for six hours. He was wound up and crooked.
I did not have high hopes for the dressage. I wasn't even sure I really knew my test. I held off really learning it because I thought it might be the kiss of death. My warped, superstitious logic: 'If I learned my test, Elliot was certain not to come sound. If I didn't learn the test, I would have a sound horse, but probably forget the test all over the place'. It was a chance I was willing to take.
My goal was to score under 75 in order that the weekend could be a qualifier for Fair Hill in the fall. My secondary goal was to finish in the top half.
Elliot warmed up reasonably well, and then put in a solid test considering the circumstances. He was not elastic like he had been at Poplar Place a few weekends before, and the canter was disjointed. However, we muddled through. He was not last by any means, AND we got our qualifying score: 67.80!
CHC International was trying to make quite a spectacle in order to draw more of the general public. They had the international levels jumping under spotlights late in the evening the same day as dressage.
The time between Dressage and SJ was good. We had a chance to have Dougie Hannum work on Elliot. Doug worked his magic and made him more comfortable. It was also reassuring to have someone as knowledgeable as Doug tell me that Smellie was okay to run. He basically said 'treat him like a horse'; continue icing and keeping an eye on him. So we did.
I was lucky to go around on Heidi, who was brilliant, first. By the time Elliot went, it was dark and the spotlights only put off so much light. Plus, we had never jumped under lights and I was feeling especially rattled since I had not jumped him since Poplar Place two weeks before. He was brilliant. I had two rails. Elliot was a star. When I learn to show jump, we'll be unbeatable!
It rained all night long, which was not the end of the world. The ground was firm the day before so a little rain would only make it better. I didn't go until later in the afternoon, so I got up early and walked around course a couple times. I decided not even to wheel it. I am still green at this level, and Elliot was only there to jump around some tough questions and come home safe and sound. There were some big old tables on the course. There were also some big old skinnies on the course including two impressive corners as the out of combinations.
Going late in the division is sometimes a blessing, but sometimes a curse. As out time got closer, I listened to all the people, many of them combinations with more experience than me, who were having trouble on cross country. This was compounded with the fact that I was already nervous, and the rain over night made the warm up deep. I was struggling to find a distance. Kyle Carter made a remark to Betsy about setting up a grid for me to help me find a distance. I'm sure he meant it as a jest, but as one of our 8 year old students says 'some jokes are not funny'. I didn't need help to know I was missing all over the place.
I had talked with Betsy before and we both decided if Elliot didn't feel like he was taking me to the jumps or he had a couple stops on course, I would call it a day. It is always better to listen to you horse. Save him for another day.
We got into the box and the rest was history.
Elliot cantered around a big, imposing 2* XC that was giving other, more experience pairs trouble like he had been doing it his whole life. He jumped through those corners I had been sweating no problem. He saved me when I missed. He even ran straight as an arrow after I saw a shoe fly by us at the second water (a bit like having your hub cap pass you on the highway).
We got our qualifier and we finished in the top half (even if just barely). Everyone thinks their horse is amazing, but mine really is. He's got a lot of talent, but more importantly he's got a lot of heart.
0 comments:
Post a Comment