9/10 FEb 2013 - Second Event First Horse Trial

Today didn't go so well, it was over a hour drive away and he got rather frazzled, because my dressage time was so early I felt rushed even though I left at 5am. And then we had a big grandstand for the show jumping, took one rail Sj, and had 52.5 % or 48 penalties - which surprisingly was (other than the winner of dressage who was way ahead ) were within 5 points.
Walk XC tonight, and it was a big 80cm course... So really prepared to retire if we don't get flowing and a good canter going because it won't be fair to trot all of those fences.
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XC Was awesome!!!

We had a "proper" stop at fence 1 again, still distracted by leaving all the other horses.... and I gave it a really good go, with yelling, leg, the whip... and just at the last minute - not quite enough omph to get over, so we stopped, second time - no worries.... needs more practice that.
Second fence, wasn't really a fence, but a hole in the hedge with a rail on the ground down a small drop... which he walked up to, being all wiggly bum again, and when he was peering through the hole, stepped a hind foot back - so classed as a stop, the next few fences were hard riding, and a very wiggly horse - but we cantered them all (apart from a drop at fence four) and while he was backing off, still jumped from the canter. Fence number 6 was one of the bigger ones I was concerned about, and he almost stopped - I had the whip ready and gave him a ping and we LAUNCHED over it, and he must have caught the back side, knocking the rail clean off (didn't worry him, but the rider after me told me I had broken it).... down a hairy scary hill, down a bank, up a bank, then a STRONG ride to another large oxer which he jumped beautifully... a wiggly at some concrete pipes. The water was a bit unfair, in that you had a sharp 90 deg turn through a gate, and two strides from that turn to the water, so we trotted through the gate, he sucked back... but a growl and a smack he popped in, two strides out, two stride and over a chair fence... and then - HE GOT IT. So for the remainder of the fences I just had to keep him straight, not wiggly I'm trying to back out of this, just wiggly where am I going, is it this I'm jumping oh, ok over we go... so I was absoluly rapt with that. We finished we 40 jump faults, and 16. something time faults... a grand final score of..... 106.xx bit of a laugh - but we weren't dead last! And that was with full intent to retire in the xc somewhere.

So I'm going hacking tonight, day off - then its PRACTICE for the dressage.... no more cutting corners LOL, a few lessons, a progressive jumping day next weekend. And next ODE is on the 10th March

And Pictures from Yesterday.... I've yet to see professional ones, and I've ordered the professional one from weekend past, so will post those once I can.



This is just after the water:


This is the one after the bank/jump we knocked down....