Post by racaille on Nov 26, 2012 6:39:24 GMT
It was a day of surprises - and the most stunning one was that Paco redeemed himself utterly and completely. He was magnificent. 
Remember this was his 'punishment' for being an bottom for me last week and the teenager was going to ride him?
Despite my anxieties (as always
) he loaded perfectly in the pitch black very early morning and me and the teenager set off to the host club, a very swanky affair that is owned by the département and absolutely massive, just north of Avignon. The weather was pretty English, grey and drizzly although the forecast rain held off all day ;D
I surprised myself by being able to reverse the trailer into a dog-leg slot
and then we got to work on P. He was nice and white apart from his tail which we had meant to wash but had run out of time. He has too much mane for 'pions' for I did a Spanish plait which looked very smart.
And then the teenager did a really nice dressage test on him. There was disunited moment at the start of left canter but he sorted his legs out and apart from that it was very tidy indeed. After that he was lying fifth in the class of 20 with a score of 67%!
Nasty surprise on the XC though. It was supposed to be a small course, no more that 70cm but there were some much bigger jumps - my coach has lodged a complaint - with big spreads. There were also some nasty technical ones like the very skinny combination: a wine barrel followed by a really skinny solid wood fan. Frankly I didn't think P would even go into the starting box.....
But he came thundering out and saw the first jump, a triple log, and I saw his head come up and the wild panic in his eyes. ... and the teenager put her legs on, gave him a wake-up tap .... and he flew! The next time I saw him he came hurtling out of the woods towards the pond and the brakes came on and he slithered to a stop with his front feet in it, the silly. But he didn't move backwards so not a refusal and the teenager just bullied him through it.
They finally pounded through the chrono with a few seconds time faults but no course faults which was all due to the teenager. She said she carried him round! Apparently he wanted to run away from everything ... or stop ... which just goes to show the power of positive riding! Wish I had it!
And then, miraculously, they moved up into third position.
But then the SJ.
There was a really horrid 'water' filler and anyway, P often dislikes music, crowds, etc etc .... The teenager worked hard and I was so envious of her lightning reactions - it looked like she was thinking faster than old Paco because she just didn't give him the option of stopping or running out, as soon as you could see him looking she was already pushing him on. And so they went clear and in the time.
And finally, they were confirmed third. Brilliant performance by both of them and I feel rather inspired (more later). But I was very annoyed that although the class finished at 1.20pm, they wanted everyone to wait until 5.30 for the prizes. 
Most people cleared off. But I am certainly going back to get Paco's rosette and shield and the teenager's reward (although the club is not known to be generous 
)
But what made me really chuckle was the results board. All the other (competition) nags were called Something de Something and then there was plain old ... Paco, the most common, ordinary name for a Spanish horse you can imagine
And it rather stuck it to the people who had mocked him in the XC as he does rather thunder around like a heavy horse!
I have a few pix which I will put up as soon as I can get Photobucket to behave.
Hot chocolate if you got this far ....
Remember this was his 'punishment' for being an bottom for me last week and the teenager was going to ride him?Despite my anxieties (as always
) he loaded perfectly in the pitch black very early morning and me and the teenager set off to the host club, a very swanky affair that is owned by the département and absolutely massive, just north of Avignon. The weather was pretty English, grey and drizzly although the forecast rain held off all day ;DI surprised myself by being able to reverse the trailer into a dog-leg slot
and then we got to work on P. He was nice and white apart from his tail which we had meant to wash but had run out of time. He has too much mane for 'pions' for I did a Spanish plait which looked very smart.And then the teenager did a really nice dressage test on him. There was disunited moment at the start of left canter but he sorted his legs out and apart from that it was very tidy indeed. After that he was lying fifth in the class of 20 with a score of 67%!
Nasty surprise on the XC though. It was supposed to be a small course, no more that 70cm but there were some much bigger jumps - my coach has lodged a complaint - with big spreads. There were also some nasty technical ones like the very skinny combination: a wine barrel followed by a really skinny solid wood fan. Frankly I didn't think P would even go into the starting box.....
But he came thundering out and saw the first jump, a triple log, and I saw his head come up and the wild panic in his eyes. ... and the teenager put her legs on, gave him a wake-up tap .... and he flew! The next time I saw him he came hurtling out of the woods towards the pond and the brakes came on and he slithered to a stop with his front feet in it, the silly. But he didn't move backwards so not a refusal and the teenager just bullied him through it.
They finally pounded through the chrono with a few seconds time faults but no course faults which was all due to the teenager. She said she carried him round! Apparently he wanted to run away from everything ... or stop ... which just goes to show the power of positive riding! Wish I had it!
And then, miraculously, they moved up into third position.
But then the SJ.
There was a really horrid 'water' filler and anyway, P often dislikes music, crowds, etc etc .... The teenager worked hard and I was so envious of her lightning reactions - it looked like she was thinking faster than old Paco because she just didn't give him the option of stopping or running out, as soon as you could see him looking she was already pushing him on. And so they went clear and in the time.And finally, they were confirmed third.
Brilliant performance by both of them and I feel rather inspired (more later). But I was very annoyed that although the class finished at 1.20pm, they wanted everyone to wait until 5.30 for the prizes. 
Most people cleared off. But I am certainly going back to get Paco's rosette and shield and the teenager's reward (although the club is not known to be generous 
)But what made me really chuckle was the results board. All the other (competition) nags were called Something de Something and then there was plain old ... Paco, the most common, ordinary name for a Spanish horse you can imagine
And it rather stuck it to the people who had mocked him in the XC as he does rather thunder around like a heavy horse!I have a few pix which I will put up as soon as I can get Photobucket to behave.
Hot chocolate if you got this far ....
for so much hard work we thank ye!!
