Just wanted to give you all an update following our trip to Tweseldown last weekend to compete in the BE100 class. It was Diaz's second affiliated run at BE100 level so I was keen to see how she went and after such a positive run at Chilham I was hoping for a good run! We had relatively early start times and with my alarm going off at 3:30am, by the time I had got up and dressed I have to admit, it was slightly depressing that it was still dark outside, and raining!! Thankfully after getting the stables mucked out and Diaz loaded it started to look a little brighter and when we were on our way to Tweseldown there even looked like there were some breaks in the clouds, which later went on to give us a lovely sunny day at Tweseldown. On arrival Diaz came off the lorry for a leg stretch and I then went to walk the XC course, which I have to say is the best course I have ever seen at Tweseldown and the new water looks fantastic!! I couldn't wait to get out there with Diaz and although there were quite a few questions I felt she was more than ready for the challenge! Dressage first and she was warming up very well, she got a bit excited when she saw some of the horses jumping XC fences right by the fence line over the other side of the road but she knuckled down and produced what I thought was a lovely test other than the slight fright of the dressage boards to start with! It later turned out that the judge didn't agree with the way I thought she went and scored us 34.3 which in fairness isn't a bad score but the comments on the dressage sheet don't match up with our test! I have sat and watched the dressage test and looked at the comments and really can't see the connection between the too! The judge felt she was tight and tense throughout the test which she felt far from, but I guess you win some, you loose some and this is the first judge that hasn't liked her way of going! Putting this behind us we went got changed and headed down to the showjumping, she was warming up nicely and jumping well so we went in. She started jumping the course well but was backing off my leg a little, I have been riding her in small spurs recently which have been helping but she clearly didn't like them too much in the ring for some reason. As we came round the corner to fence 6 a helicopter flew over quite low and this coupled with the spurs made her have a slight temper tantrum putting the line I was on to fence 6 very wrong so with a quick cirlce round to re-approach she went on to jump the rest of the round clear. I do love my mares but they do have the odd temper tantrum which can be frustrating! With cutting the corners to the last fences we ended up with 2 time faults which wasn't bad as I heard quite a few competitors got time faults as the course designer had been rather clever! On to the XC and Diaz felt great warming up and was very excited walking around the start box waiting to go. The starter counted us down and as we left the start box, with a slight "leap of joy" from Diaz we were off! She absolutely flew round, making nothing of the combinations what so ever, taking all the direct routes and she jumped an awesome clear! We finished well inside the time and Diaz was still full of running too which was a good sign of her fitness! Our round at Tweseldown has to be up there with one of the best XC rounds I had the pleasure of riding, she felt like a true XC machine!! All in all a very positive day out, and although we didn't come home with any prizes I was very pleased with how well she went and more importantly how easy she found the XC! The other two disciplines we can put plenty of work in and train hard ready for our next event which will be at Stratford Hills mid June. Please find some pictures below from our day and there are some more to follow courtesy of Paul from Ultimate Images.....they are great pics too! Please Click Here to view pictures from our outing along with a video. With regards to the other two girls, Roxie is loving doing a bit more fast work now and we went for our first canter / gallop since she has been back in work the other day and although I wished I had muscles like poop-eye it did feel great to be back out doing fast work with her. Milli and I had a SJ lesson with David Pearson-Smith last Saturday afternoon and David got very excited when he saw me unload the "good one" off the lorry.....think he quite likes Milli! All I can say about our lesson is WOW! We had a great lesson and Milli was on fire, pinging over a short course of 1.40m / 1.45m fences like it was a 75cm course! I can't wait to get her back out competing in the near future! I went on my own to the lesson and then left my phone in the lorry so haven't got any pictures or videos to show.....next time I will I promise! We have a relatively quite weekend ahead of us which will make a bit of a change and with it being the bank holiday weekend too it will be nice to have a few days at home to catch up on all the little jobs that get 'forgotten' about when I'm busy out competing! I have a few lessons planned over the next few weeks with my girls so will let you know how these go with plenty of pictures too :)
Until Next time, SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On***
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Apologies for the delay in sending out last weekends report, I have been so busy with work and horses this week - it's been manic! Last weekend I was competing at the area 10 Riding Club Horse Trials Qualifier at Bonfleur with both Icarus and Diaz. Icarus was at the beginning of the day and Diaz was after lunch which made it a rather long day! For Icarus it was his first ever event so we decided to enter him in the Senior 80 section in the hope it wouldn't be asking too much of him, he would find it all rather easy and most importantly enjoy his trip out! We got of to a great start performing a nice consistent dressage test to score 32.2 - not bad for his first ever time seeing white boards and doing the test on grass! Next was the showjumping and I had to make sure we took it steady as he isn't that used to jumping on grass and we didn't have any studs in! Not that this was a problem though and he went on to jump a lovely clear adding nothing to his great dressage score which I believe left us in the top few after this phase which we were very pleased with. Next was the XC and I was intrigued to see what Icarus' thoughts were like as he has only been XC schooling a few times and for 80 level it was quite a tough course with plenty of questions! We left the start box and jumped the first two very confidently and then on to fence 3a and 3b. Fence 3a was a log which we had to approach up a slight slope and jump and then 3b was a rather big step down only a few strides away from the first part. Icarus popped over the log and then hesitated at the drop, so I just let him look at it and figure out what he had to do. I turned him round and re-approached the drop down, he had another look and then popped very nicely off the drop and went on around the rest of the course very positively, well until we were flagged down and pulled up at the second to last fence to be told that we had actually been eliminated at the drop! We all felt this was a bit harsh as it was just hesitations other than one turn away but I suppose being a qualifier they have to be quite strict! Never the less, we were all very pleased with how he behaved during the whole day and with how well he went! Please Click Here to view pictures and a video from the day. Icarus' owners very kindly sorted Icarus out after the XC as I had to get changed and get Diaz ready for her dressage straight away! she warmed up very well and seemed very focused on what was being asked of her. this continued and she performed a lovely calm and quiet test! The judge agreed and we scored a mark of 32.3 which I believe left us in the top few after this phase. On to the showjumping and she started of jumping well in the warm up but just felt a little unsure of the ground - last time out at Chilham it was a bit muddy and holding, this time round it was really quite hard! In the ring we got a bit too close to the first two fences as she chipped in a little stride but as the round went on she got more confident and finished jumping well, just picking up an unlucky 4 faults. We had a little break before XC so time for me to go over the course once more before getting ready. We were doing the 100 senior section and I thought it would be the perfect run after the BE100 at Chilham as from previous experiences I have found Riding Club XC courses to be more inviting than BE ones - I couldn't have been more wrong. All combinations were flagged A, B and C so there was no option to circle, you had to go direct. Quite a few people commented that some of the combinations would have looked out of place on a BE Novice track either! After her not feeling 100% confident in the showjumping I decided I was going to use this as a training round and not push her too fast, especially as the ground was so hard!! She started off very confidently, making nothing of the first few fences. 5a was the side of a castle on top of a mound with the landing being downhill and then there was a sharp right turn on 3 strides to a target skinny fence, Diaz popped straight through this very well. Fence 7a was a straight forward roll top with brush on top and the 7b was a skinny brush arrowhead fence on a curved line which was being made very difficult to get to because of some clearly placed little trees! We got our stride to 7a and the stride before take off I looked across to 7b so I could land and follow the line, unfortunately Diaz is so in tune with me that as I looked over to fence 7b she started to move her whole head and neck to where I was looking, taking her concentration completely of 7a and we sort of came to an abrupt halt! I gave her a pat and came around again and she jumped through brilliantly. Diaz continued well, jumped over 13a and then had a slight hesitation at fence 13b and c, which were two rather large steps down only a bounce distance apart. I think it took Diaz a few seconds to realise she had space to land and then drop of the second part. She continued on around the rest of the course showing real promise and how much potential she really has. Diaz finished full of running and was still pulling me after the last fence! Please Click Here to view more pictures and a video. After sorting Diaz out I had to begin the trek home as Roxie and Milli were turned out and it was gone 7pm before we left and princess Roxie has a strop if she's left out in the field too late - I think she convinces herself that we've forgotten her! Once I arrived home and had put the horses to bed I found out that Diaz and I had finished in 7th place in our section which I was very pleased with. All in all it was a very productive outing and although not the best results on paper I'm thrilled with how well both horses went :)
We are out again this weekend, this time at Tweseldown BE Horse Trials and from what i've seen on Facebook the XC course looks fantastic! Although I'm not looking forward to the 3:30am alarm though! I will have a full report for you next week. SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** Just to give you a quick update, following many hours sitting in front of the TV on Saturday watching Badminton XC, I was out last Sunday with Roxie at a local dressage competition. We did the Elementary 44 test and although pleased to be out Roxie did a lovely test to score 77.8% which left us in 2nd place once the class had completed. In one of the medium trots I asked for a bit too much and Roxie broke to canter so I think this may have been an expensive mistake but I was very pleased with the rest of the test Roxie did! Please Click Here to view more images and a video of our test. After a quiet-ish weekend I've had a very busy week that's for sure! Started on Monday with all the girls being exercised before I headed off to work. Then Monday evening we had the farrier round to put a new set of shoes on Diaz in preparation for upcoming events. Tuesday morning Diaz had a gallop which she very much enjoyed - it's lovely and quiet on the roads at 6am! After work on Tuesday Milli and Diaz had physio sessions with the brilliant Sofia Graham. Milli almost fell asleep during her treatment as she loved it so much! Milli and Diaz had a day off yesterday so before work I did some gymnastic-al exercises with Roxie and jumped her over some bounces, which she jumped very well and we didn't knock a single one down which is very impressive for Roxie! Yesterday evening I had a great SJ lesson on Icarus with David Pearson-Smith, we jumped some rather big fences but Icarus was really on top form, making a lovely shape over the fences and using himself a lot more. Following their physio treatments on Tuesday Milli and Diaz had long and low stretch schooling sessions and both of them felt fantastic, maybe Diaz felt a little too well.....!! Weekend coming up we have the Area 10 Riding Club Horse Trials Qualifier at Bonfleur. It will be Icarus' first event so he is doing the 80 section and then Diaz is competing in the 100 class.....fingers crossed for good runs on them both and I will let you know how we get on early next week. #wishusluck
SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** I hope you had as nice a bank holiday weekend as we did, wasn't the weather lovely?! Is summer finally here?? It was our most local event last weekend, Chilham Castle Horse Trials and this year there was a slightly different layout and a brand new XC course which was greatly received by us riders! I was there early Saturday morning as I was fence judging for the BE90 sections and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I've fence judged at PC events before but it was the first time I've fence judged at a BE event and the crew at Chilham looked after all us volunteers very well! I was back there on the Sunday with Diaz for our first run at BE100 level and I couldn't have asked for a better run! We had our dressage first and Diaz started getting a bit lively and excited whilst I was tacking her up as I was parked right by the XC start but as I got on and rode down to the dressage warm up she soon focused on the job in hand and warmed up very nicely. This nice work continued and she performed a lovely, consistent test for me. So consistent in fact the when I saw our sheet after finishing our marks only ranged from 6.5 to 8 so I was very pleased with the scores of 32.3 which we were given. Next was the showjumping, so with a change of tack we headed over to the SJ warm up, after a bit of a wait it was time to warm up and our turn in the ring. Due to the wet weather recently the ground was a little deep and holding, especially on take off in front of the fences. Diaz hasn't jumped in this sort of going before (first time for everything I suppose) so to help her out a little bit I pushed her up a few gears as it were so she found it easier to jump out of the mud. She wasn't a 100% sure about jumping from a slightly more forward pace so our round wasn't the smoothest round we have jumped but most importantly it was a clear round, in fact there wan't a chance she was hitting any of the fences, as I'm sure you can see from the photos! With this being her third run so far this year she has already quickly worked out what comes after the showjumping - CROSS COUNTRY!! After a quick change for both myself and Diaz we were in the XC warm up and she was ready for it! I was keen to see how she was going to respond to the XC course as I felt it was quite a challenging course at BE100 level and not ideal for a first timer at this level but we headed down to the start and set of strongly. The first 10 fences were on a continuous up hill stretch which was really taking it out of some horses but each time I put my leg on Diaz responded and pulled harder up the hill. The first combination was a fences 5 and 6, two skinny logs in a wooden area but once she'd summed it up Diaz popped over fence 5, turned on the sharp dog leg to the right, to fence 6 without hesitation.Big pats and on to the next fence! We had to do a small circle between the steps down at fence 11 and the skinny log at fence 12 after a slight hesitation at the first step caused our line to go a bit wonky! Diaz continued around the rest of the course confidently and finished full of running after jumping a lovely clear for me! I was thrilled with her and so was her owner! After un-tacking Diaz she was very lucky as one of our fantastic sponsors, Sofia Graham who is our veterinary physio had come to watch us compete, gave Diaz a little treatment after our XC to help her relax and chill! We then went to go and have a look at the scores to see we had picked up 11.6 time faults, (29 seconds over the optimum time) on the XC. This unfortunately did put us out of the placings, but this didn't bother me too much as it was our first run at this level and I was very pleased with how well she went! When the final results went up we finished 15th in an arena of 40+ competitors. After having a look I noticed that, had we gone inside the time XC (which I know she is more than capable of doing with a bit more experience under her belt) we would have actually won the section! As mentioned earlier I couldn't have been more please with how well she ran and can't wait for our next outing. Talking of our next outing, we are heading to Bonfleur for the Area 10 Riding Club horse Trials qualifier on Sunday 15th May.....wish us luck! :)
For pictures from our day at Chilham Castle and to watch our video please Click Here! SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** Just wanted to give you a quick update before this weekend approaches as we are back out competing again this weekend and I know my updates can sometimes be a bit on the long side Last Saturday I was up the yard quite early to get Roxie and Diaz ridden before the farrier came to shoe Milli. Roxie had a jump and we did some bigger and wider fences and she is continuing to jump really well and loving it! Diaz went out to do some canter / gallop fitness work and she is really fit now and wanted to do more once we'd finished I think! After putting Roxie and Diaz out in the field Harry turned up to shoe Milli. It was Harry's first time shoeing at our yard and I have to say I was very impressed with what he did and has done a lovely job on Milli's feet! With a quick rug change, Milli was put out in the field and it was clear, after a few months bare foot, that she was very happy to have a set of shoes back on Saturday afternoon I was at Bonfleur with Icarus doing some XC schooling. He hasn't done much XC and not seen XC fences since I took him round Chilham Park last autumn but he was fantastic and loved it! He responded very well when I asked a bit more off him and coped very well with some of the more technical fences and combinations! Please Click Here to view more pictures and watch a video. *************************************************** Sunday we were planing to go to a local SJ show but I hadn't decided who I was going to take. Unfortunately in the morning we were advised that the show had been cancelled due to the rain we had the previous night resulting in us being unable to park in the field. Luckily we were able to hire the school and jump around the course set up for the show which was good. I took Roxie and Milli. Roxie had a jump around and continued her streak of not knocking any poles down (this used to unheard of for Roxie over showjumps!) and we finished jumping a lovely round over 1m / 1.05m fences! Please Click Here to view more pictures and watch a video. Milli was next to be ridden and she was incredibly excited to be out somewhere different as she hasn't been out since September last year! Despite this excitement she tried her best to behave as much as she could and we just had the odd buckin' bronco moments! She was feeling good, so I thought i would take the opportunity to give her her first jump since she has come back into work! She was incredibly pleased to be asked to jump, and jumped the few fences we did jump very well......is great to have Milli back jumping! Please Click Here to view more pictures and to watch a video. With all four horses going so well at the moment, I can't wait for the next competitions for them. I will need to start looking at some more competitions to get Roxie and Milli out to as well in the near future!
SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** After a few busy weekends out competing, we have had two weekends at home, and although my alarm clock hasn't been going off at 'silly' o'clock there has still been plenty going on! Weekend before last, we had David from D A Saddles come to the yard to check the fit of my dressage and jump saddle. My dressage saddle still sits beautifully and we just needed to add a bit of flocking to the front of my single flap jump saddle for it to fit perfectly. Diaz definitely liked the improved fit of the jump saddle and jumped brilliantly. After giving Diaz a jump and Milli a schooling session over poles it was Roxie's turn to be ridden. She has been going so well and her knee is coping well with the workload she has been doing so I thought I would see what her thoughts were on jumping a little jump!? Roxie's feet haven't left the floor, well over a jump anyway since our fall back in June 2014! Roxie felt very excited when I got in the school - I think she knew what she was doing! It's safe to say Roxie absolutely loved it :) The next day the girls had physio sessions with Sofia which they enjoyed very much! All in all a bit of a pamper weekend for my girls! Weekend just gone and we were hoping to go XC schooling on Saturday but after the rain we had last Friday we decided against it as the ground was very water logged and deep. Still in XC mode though I headed over to Blue Barn Equestrian Centre where I met Bronte, Icarus' owner as we entered Icarus for a bit of indoor XC. This was something he hasn't done before and having only seen XC fences once last autumn I thought it would be an educational trip for him. We did the 80cm and 90cm classes. After being a little unsure as we first entered the arena when he saw the rustic fences, think he wondered where the coloured poles were as he normally SJ's with his owner! He did go on and jump two lovely double clears finishing 3rd in the 80cm and then winning the 90cm! Please Click Here to view more pictures as well as a video of our rounds. Sunday before last a friend from work came to the yard with her two children who were brilliant at helping out with the jobs on the yard. As there was someone on foot I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to jump the girls and took Roxie down the road to s friends school and jumped a few of her fences. Roxie thoroughly enjoyed the outing and was very confident jumping. Please Click Here to view some pictures and a short video! Diaz also had a jump at home and we did a bit of gymnastical grid work with her which she found great fun! Milli did some pole work too which she is enjoying.....think she's looking forward to starting to jump again! During the week I had a SJ lesson with the brilliant David Pearson-Smith and Diaz was on great form, just a little bit keen! We had to do some exercises that kept her thinking! For more pictures of our training sessions along with some videos, please Click Here. Next weekend we have quite a bit going on with a new farrier coming to put some shoes back on Milli after a few months bare foot following her injury, Saturday morning and then Saturday afternoon we were off XC schooling with Icarus. Sunday we are planning on going to a local SJ show. I'm thinking of taking Roxie for a play and possibly Diaz.....look back next week to see who went and how we got on over the weekend.
SG Equestrian X *** Keep Calm & Canter On*** Busy, yet we picked up great results and the weather was lovely - what more could we ask for?! We started the weekend with an early start to allow the 3 hour drive to Goring Heath Horse Trials, which although a bit of a trek is such a lovely event to be at and this year didn't disappoint! The going was super, and considering the rain we'd had the week prior to the event I did think it may be a bit muddy but the team had wonder hard to make the going as near to perfect as possible which was very much appreciated by us riders - big thank you to all the helpers! On arrival I gave Diaz and drink and made sure she was settled so I could head of to walk the course. I was keen to see the new XC course as this was the first time there has been BE90 sections running at Goring! The course was nice, it asked plenty of questions which is nice to see at this level, with skinny fences, angled combinations, a corner, steps and various options at the water. Before we got to do this though we had the dressage and showjumping first so we went back to the box to get Diaz ready. As we made our way towards the dressage arenas Diaz got her hopes up as we had to go past the showjumping arena but when we started warming up she soon knuckled down and got on with the job in hand. at one end of the warm up and behind the car's a C or the arena was a wooded area behind the fence and Diaz wasn't the only one who was convinced there was a horse eating monster just the other side of the fence in the trees! We went in for our test and Diaz put her brave foot forward and forgot about the monster and performed a nice consistent test and when we later received our sheet this was reflected in the marking as we got marks from 6.5 to 7.5 fr the whole test resulting in a score of 34.5 putting us in the top half after dressage. With a bit more work on our flatwork and we can look to up those marks by 1 or maybe even 2 per movement hopefully! After having a quick look at the SJ course which looked to be riding nicely I got Diaz ready and set off towards the warm up. Diaz got a bit excited in the warm up and after jumping the cross pole and the upright nicely we had a 'Diaz moment' on the approach to the spread! The atmosphere got a bit too much for here I think as there were plenty of spectators watching around the arena and behind the spectators there were lots of trade stands, most of which had flags flying high above in the wind! After a few more jumps it was time for us to go in and Diaz popped herself in pro mode and jumped round beautifully, continuing her clear round spell! She didn't look at anything which I was very pleased with :) With a change of tack and boots on Diaz and me into my XC gear we headed over to the XC start. Diaz felt fighting fit and ready to go in the warm up. The starter counted us down and Diaz left the tart box promptly....she knew what to do! I made sure she had plenty of time to see the first fence as there had been a few stops at it we had heard over the tannoy. I was a simple roll top type fences but covered in fake grass and the green was reflecting the sunshine which may have spooked some but not Diaz in fact she took off a stride early! She flew and got off to a great start! We had a slight hesitation before fence 4 which was a skinny fence in the hedge line - I don't think Diaz quite read the question right and questioned why were we jumping the hedge! I kept m leg on a pushed her forward and we jumped the skinny from a trot but we jumped it clear and left the flags in place which is what counts. The next fence was two angled houses on a related distance, Diaz got a bit too big for her boots and pulled me through it getting very close to the 'B' element! She learnt from this which was great and listened to me the rest of the way around the course and jumped a superb clear which I was thrilled with! I was also pleased with how well she finished and by the time we had walked back to the box she was back to normal breathing which showed her fitness levels are right at the moment as it is a very hilly course at Goring!
Chilham is our most local event and they've had a complete re-vamp this year and the course is running in reverse with the start and finish in different places.....fingers crossed our run of good form continues and we have a good first run at this level! Please Click Here to view more pictures as well as a video of our day at Goring Heath. After a long drive home, due to the M25 'car park' being on top form and the starter motor on Fiona (my little ford lorry) playing up when we stopped at the Cobham services, what was an early start soon turned into a late finish as well. I tucked Diaz up into her stable and headed home to sort tack out for the next day as I was back out early to the Riding Club Winter Dressage Qualifier with Roxie! ********************************************************************************************** We were competing in the Elementary part of the competition so I wasn't riding in the afternoon but after being advised not to drive Fiona until the starter motor has been replaced, my mum very kindly offered to take Roxie and I could follow over in my car later. Roxie had her legs washed and tidied up a bit and was sent of in the trailer with my mum and sister who was riding mum's mare. I got the yard jobs done and then headed over, to find that fellow members of the Royal Oak Riding Club were doing very well picking up individual wins and team placings! I got Roxie plaited and headed over to the warm up where they said they were ahead of time and I was next! Despite not getting the warm up we needed Roxie pulled of a nice test with a few errors where Roxie thought she knew the test and didn't want to do what she was being asked. We scored 62.4% which resulted with us finishing towards the middle of the field. It was only Roxie's second competition outing this year so she tried her best to remain calm! For more pictures and a video of our test, please Click Here. We have a quiet few weeks on the competition front now so time to concentrate on some training to ensure we are fit and ready for our next competition! We have David from D A Saddles coming down to see us on Saturday to check the fit of my saddles and make any alterations that are needed as well as take measurements for make a new saddle for my sister. Then on Sunday we have Sofia coming to give the horses their monthly phsyio session which i'm sure they will all enjoy as they do every time!
Sorry for the long update, I hope you've enjoyed reading it.....I promise the next one will be shorter!! SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** We started the Easter weekend of in great style as I had my first event of the 2016 season with Diaz and after great outing show-jumping the weekend prior and a confident XC schooling session at the beginning of last week I felt we were as ready as we could possibly be! On arrival at Munstead I headed off to walk the XC course with Diaz's owner who had come along for the day out. The course looked nice there was plenty of questions but it was a nice inviting course with alternatives at the more difficult fences and combinations. After walking the XC course and collecting my number it was time to start to get Diaz ready and with the lorry park being next to the XC and the start box she very quickly realised what she was doing! Despite the slight excitement whilst tacking up she soon calmed down and focused on the job in hand as we were warming up for our dressage. Sarah from Global Herbs had come to the event to meet us and Diaz soon put on her twinkle toes when she heard the camera clicking as we went past! We went in and Diaz did a nice test, there was room for some improvement as she felt slightly excitable so I had to ride quite 'tactfully' for some movements but I was very pleased when we finished our test and was hoping for a mid 30's mark. I was very pleased when I heard our dressage score was 32.3, which put us into 11th place after this phase! With a change of tack we headed over to the show-jumping and they were waiting for people to jump so with a quick warm up and watching the person before jump so I knew the course, we headed in. Diaz jumped round like a pro, she continued her current streak of not touching any poles and jumped a super clear for me! Now it was time for the fun bit and Diaz marched her way back to the lorry, I think she knew what she was to do next! With a change of boots on Diaz and me into my XC gear we headed over to the warm up. We jumped a few fences in the warm up and then some on an angle to make sure we were as ready as we needed to be. In to the start box, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.....GO! Off we went out the start box and over the first few fences steadily. I let Diaz go at her own speed throughout the round and as she got into it she picked up pace and was jumping out of a lovely forward rhythm, very confidently! We took all the direct routes and she jumped a brilliant clear round for me. After untacking Diaz, I gave her a wash off and took her for a walk around to chill out, whist walking around the car park she felt the need to have a roll in the dust / mud which obviously made her feel much better! We headed over to take a look at the score boards and I was pleased that we had finished 4 seconds inside the optimum time so there was noting to add to our dressage score of 32.3! I was pleased with our time as I didn't really push her at all for speed so shows she was travelling at a nice pace naturally!
I was very pleased when the results went up and we finished in 6th place.....not a bad way to start the season! In fact I couldn't have really asked for a better results to be honest. The dressage mark of 32.3 is a new PB mark for us at this level and to follow that with a double clear inside the time I was thrilled with her and can't wait for our next outing. Please Click Here to view more pictures from the day along with a video of each discipline. Talking of our next outing I have a very busy weekend of competitions coming up, with Diaz competing in the BE90 at Goring Heath Horse Trials on Saturday, over the new BE90 course so I can't wait to see what the course looks like. Then on Sunday Roxie is out at the Riding Club Winter Dressage Qualifier competing in the Elementary part of the team competition........ Wish Us Luck :) Fingers crossed for another successful report early next week for you! SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** I hope you are well and looking forward to the long break over Easter coming up! Time to consume lots and lots of chocolate :) I just wanted to give you a quick update after we had a busy weekend and start to this week training, all as we lead up to our first event of the season which is now only a few days away! Last Sunday we were out showjumping with Diaz and a new competition ride I have got, a talented gelding called Icarus. They both jumped a few rounds and we finished with some great placings! Both jumped lovely double clears in the 95cm finishing with Icarus in 2nd place and Diaz in 3rd place! Then on to the 1.05m, which was a decent up to height track, the biggest track Diaz has jumped but she didn't let it bother her at all, jumping a super double clear, in fact the only double clear out of 9 competitive combinations to win the class!! Icarus had a very unlucky 4 faults at fence 3, but went on to jump a lovely round, plus for our first competitive outing together I was very pleased with the way he went! Please click on the following images to view pictures from the day as well as videos of our rounds. After this successful trip out jumping for Diaz and our great dressage outing the weekend previous, I was hoping that we would have a good XC schooling session in final preparation for our first event on Friday. So, on Monday morning I set off to the lovely Bonfleur Cross Country course with my sisters friend who keeps her horse at our yard. The weather was nice, when we got there the sun even came out and the going was nice, what more could we ask for?! Diaz started off very confident which was promising and stayed this way jumping straight over what ever I put in front of her! She felt fantastic, popping up and down steps, bouncing down steps in to the water, over running water ditches, angled fences, skinnies and finished jumping some really decent sized fences! I was chuffed with her and couldn't be happier with how she is going now, all ready for our first event on Friday. Please click here to view more pictures of Diaz having fun at Bonfleur along with a video. Not sure if I've mentioned it yet, but we have our first event on Good Friday which as I'm sure you can guess i'm quite excited about! Diaz feels on top form at the moment so I'm hoping for a good confidence building run to start the season off with.
With regards to the other girlies, Roxie and Milli are feeling fab! Milli has had two little schooling sessions now, mainly working long and low but we are upping the trot work each time I ride now and she is feeling very well! Roxie is just her normal self, twinkle-toeing it around the school doing her best to do as she's told! I hope you have a wonderful break over Easter and eat plenty of chocolate and hopefully i'll have a nice report for you early next week from Munstead on Friday - wish us luck :) SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** We had a very busy 'training' weekend last weekend with a dressage lesson on Saturday and then we joined in on a XC clinic with Italian Olympic rider Vittoria Panizzon on Sunday. On Saturday we had a dressage lesson with a trainer very local to us, a lady called Mary Coleman. She has got a fantastic school with plenty of mirrors which I find very useful indeed although to start with Diaz kept making herself jump as there was suddenly a horse next to her when we went past the mirrors!! Diaz did some lovely work for me and her flatwork is finally all starting to fall into place! We did some work on her medium trot strides as well as quite a bit of transition work to get her to engage her hind quarters properly and use herself. For more pictures from our lesson and to watch some video clips please Click Here! After a good nights sleep for Diaz and I we were soon on our way to Littleton Manor Equestrian Centre on Sunday to join in on a clinic held by Italian rider Vittoria Pannizon. The nearer we got the Littleton the more excited I became, after all it has been almost 5 months since I was out on a XC track!! On arrival it became clear that Diaz was as excited as I was about it all! We started warming up and Diaz felt great, it took her a while to get used to the ground as it was, as expected, a little deep in places due to the weather that we have had recently! Luckily the ground at Littleton is quite sandy so although deep in places it wasn't too holding on the horses which was good! We started of with some simple fences which worked well as Diaz was slightly hesitant to begin with but she soon transformed into a XC machine, taking on what ever I put in front of her and the bigger / more complex the fences got the better she jumped! We finished off jumping some BE100 / Novice sized fences, decent sized drop fences to skinnies, and steps in and out of the water! To view more pictures from the XC clinic as well as a video please Click Here! After two positive training sessions, BE membership sorted and with entries for our first event now done I have to say I'm getting very excited for the season ahead with Diaz and can't wait for the events to start!
With my other two girls, Roxie has been enjoying lots of hacking recently to help build up muscle and fitness as our sand school gets a bit deep and boggy this time of year - with Roxie and her new princess ways she's not overly keen on getting wet and muddy! I'm hoping to get Roxie out to some dressage competitions in the very near future. Milli is now to start work again, although I haven't yet sat on her due to her clearly forgetting everything she has done under saddle for the last 4 years; after 3 months box rest she has turned into an un-backed 3 year old! The walk work she has been doing isn't quite as exciting as it was last weekend so hopefully we will keep at least one hoof on the ground this time, or is that just wishful thinking....?!? Until next time, SG Equestrian X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** |
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January 2020
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