Kiwi Eventer: 06 Feb 2013

ODE Report:

So this has taken a while, as I didn't want to do without at least a photo. My friend fell through, so no video and only the professional ones....

So three nights of waking up at 2,3,4 am in the morning worrying senslesly over how it was going to go... it went fantasticly!!! If you call getting eliminate fantastic LOL

Dressage started at 10.42, ring was on time, and I got there in plenty of time, pencil did not like floats and trucks driving past him while tied to the float, bummer I parked up right next to the parking entrance so he had to deal with it all day.... he got over it about lunchtime.
Was mostly worried about how he would cope with atmosphere - shouldnt have at all. I had the most chilled out and relaxed horse I could have asked for, so getting on a hour before hand to walk him until my test wasn't necessary, so instead I hopped off and watched the rest of the class, until 15mins to go, hopped on and warmed up (he isn't a big warm up horse).
Went to start the test (and I will even admit in a moment of pannick the day before, thinking about tooting horns, I did park my car in his paddock and toot away until he stopped flinching at it) no problem with the horn then.... and the rings were so close together, I got a little ruffled when the next horse/ring came down the long side inbetween and I didn't want a face off in the middle with Pencil and had to come back to a walk... picked up and off we went, Judge wasn't kind and I had 1/2 the long side of trotting and then had to enter. I got a 6 for my entry/centerline..

and things progressively went downhill (not really) but started coming slighly unravelled - never having been in a rope arena meant I had a small battle on the line to ride.... so I purposly rode off the track, but did hope to get back to the track at some point during the test... our first circle was HUGE, and we got kindly marked with another 6 on it, where I felt that wasn't deserved. I GOT my canter trans I needed, made it around the next circle, and BANG hit the rope. That was it, the rest of the test was slightly bug eyed at the rope, and I as a rider started to let things slip.. got a 7 on my next lot of trotting movements, JUST got my canter - which I thought was going to take us out of the arena to the feilds and beyond... hauled around the corner, got a lovely cirlce, then we lost it and broke back to the trot early - came back up the center line absolutly laughing my head off, and then proceeded to halt and salute at every car but the one in front of us... while I giggled uncontrolably - I was just please to have done the test with nothing going wrong for a very first competition... the test was a none event really - just more practice and schooling needed (and a slightly more active rider, who doesn't get distracted laughing) on the plus side, I made the judge laugh too. Ended up 13th after dressage (about 25 in the class).. so def can't complain at that.
I went straight to SJ, because the ring was open, took the spurs off, swapped whips, put my name on the board... realised it to late I HADN"T walked the course... couldnt go back and change that after I pushed to get my name up the board a few extra name on the basis I was "ready to go"... whooops. Practice jumps were in a completely too small and unfair place with no room to canter on to them.. it sufficed for a trot over each one once.
Into the ring, whoops - realised I just rode through the start flags backwards!! Oh well.. jumping anyway, went clear easy, I just gave a small growl at the fillers, and did give one horrible ride to the double as I hadn't walked but because Pencil is so kind, jumped it for me anyway.
XC, ran 2 hours late grrr... there were two fences that had me worried from walking it, and I was worried how he would go leaving a large group of horses behind, and rightly so... sucked back at the first fence and pretty much jumped from a stand still (its about here I realised I should stop practicing jumping with a dressage whip) and the second fence was only a further 30m away and we had some backing off then going then stalling, so I came around at it a second time... next fence fine, drop, bank and elephant trap a,b,c fence fine (I just rode strongly through it), first corner. This I didn't like because of the way the placed tires on it, and the closeness of the fence stewards... he did a sneaky duck to the side which I was half expecting and wasn't all that strongly riding for it.. came and popped over it a second time, double logs (one stride) FUN, and the pallisade EASY, then we meet THE DIRT PATCH... and we waited for another rider to come past and show us that it is ok to ride on

Tire jump, hesitated (didn't mind they don't have good ground lines and it was a skinny fence), and the ski ramp had scary people standing to close.. but popped over it.. then the other jump I didn't like, and felt unfair for a Pre-training course (2 corners with no options)... so had one attempt at it, on a curving 4 stride line from a simple rail fence, he wasn't having a bar of it, it wasn't the time to pick a fight over it so I rode on. And the rest was easy

even jumping into water cold turkey(jump, one stride into the water). Happy we got home, and heaps of applause (6 riders past me because I was there to make it fun and get around comfortable, so we spent a fair bit of time trotting happily along)... this is the one photo I have below, which was on top of a bank complex, where it was a bounce up the steps, one stride, the roll top 6 strides down the hill and over a ramp for the last fence... clever pony - and we do it all again this weekend

(without the nerves keeping me away I hope).