Post by pboy on Apr 7, 2013 10:54:33 GMT
Yesterday I took Classy to his first 'away' SJ competition. Our competition history is somewhat chequered, consisting of two dressage competitions at the main competition centre here, Beas River, which were disastrous (I retired in the first one and got an abysmal 47.5%, which was generous, in the second!) and one successful competition at home.
In the previous comps at Beas River, Classy has been fine in the temporary stable but extremely stressed as soon as he sees the warm-up, to the point that he's trembling and I've had to mount somewhere between a piaffe and a capriole. He's been so tense that I could barely do anything on him, leg would result in huge bucks, small circles resulted in shooting sideways, you get the picture... He's nothing like this at home anymore so it was very hard to work through (or replicate).
I ordered a calmer from the UK on the recommendation of an old instructor of mine and he had it in his dinner the night before and again in the morning. I then made sure I mounted at the stable yard and followed another horse down to the warm-up. Well, what a difference!! Classy didn't get at all tense when he saw the warm-up and only did a few half-hearted head-toss squealing naps! A friend helped me to warm-up and we did lots of small circles in walk and trot until he relaxed, then lots of transitions. Classy was a bit puzzled when we popped over a x-pole but then he got his jumping head on and he was fab!
We had only entered the 50cm clear round but you can see that it's a big spooky arena with plenty to look at! Classy was fantastic. He did forget how to canter on the correct leg but he stayed in a good rhythm and we only had a couple of dodgy strides and subsequent jumps. I was worried that he might nap to the collecting ring between the penultimate and final fence hence I didn't bring him to trot to correct him, however it seems that I didn't need to worry at all - the bigger issue was that when we returned to the collecting ring, he kept napping back to the arena! The diva has returned ;D
Here's a video of the clear round:
s587.photobucket.com/user/netscottc/media/C168CCE9-E315-4435-805F-5E493A279804-1322-0000028DBFDA1914_zps208f7e4f.mp4.html
(I'd normally upload to YouTube but it wouldn't work, grrrr!).
The yard manager and others from my stables suggested I get a late entry for the 60cm class so I went for it. The course changed slightly with a double added at 4 and an extra oxer as the final fence, but Classy popped round beautifully (no vid unfortunately
). However we had a time fault and I was relieved to be able to finish 
and started to cool him off. Just as I started to ride back to the stable the commentator announced that they'd adjusted the time allowed and I was now in the jump-off!!
I walked him until it was jump-off time, popped a couple of practice fences and went back in. Classy enjoyed jumping at a stronger pace (good to note - I really need a more forward canter) but I messed up the line to the double and we had the second part down. I just saw the results and we came 5th, which I'm pleased with considering our previous competition attempts we barely made it into the arena!!
I think we'll try 60 and 80 next time as we're jumping that height at home with no problems. Height doesn't seem to be an issue with him, we just need to work on forwardness (as ever!).
I'm still ;D but my muscles are a bit
after 2+ hours in a jumping saddle!
In the previous comps at Beas River, Classy has been fine in the temporary stable but extremely stressed as soon as he sees the warm-up, to the point that he's trembling and I've had to mount somewhere between a piaffe and a capriole. He's been so tense that I could barely do anything on him, leg would result in huge bucks, small circles resulted in shooting sideways, you get the picture... He's nothing like this at home anymore so it was very hard to work through (or replicate).
I ordered a calmer from the UK on the recommendation of an old instructor of mine and he had it in his dinner the night before and again in the morning. I then made sure I mounted at the stable yard and followed another horse down to the warm-up. Well, what a difference!! Classy didn't get at all tense when he saw the warm-up and only did a few half-hearted head-toss squealing naps! A friend helped me to warm-up and we did lots of small circles in walk and trot until he relaxed, then lots of transitions. Classy was a bit puzzled when we popped over a x-pole but then he got his jumping head on and he was fab!
We had only entered the 50cm clear round but you can see that it's a big spooky arena with plenty to look at! Classy was fantastic. He did forget how to canter on the correct leg but he stayed in a good rhythm and we only had a couple of dodgy strides and subsequent jumps. I was worried that he might nap to the collecting ring between the penultimate and final fence hence I didn't bring him to trot to correct him, however it seems that I didn't need to worry at all - the bigger issue was that when we returned to the collecting ring, he kept napping back to the arena! The diva has returned ;D
Here's a video of the clear round:
s587.photobucket.com/user/netscottc/media/C168CCE9-E315-4435-805F-5E493A279804-1322-0000028DBFDA1914_zps208f7e4f.mp4.html
(I'd normally upload to YouTube but it wouldn't work, grrrr!).
The yard manager and others from my stables suggested I get a late entry for the 60cm class so I went for it. The course changed slightly with a double added at 4 and an extra oxer as the final fence, but Classy popped round beautifully (no vid unfortunately
). However we had a time fault and I was relieved to be able to finish 
and started to cool him off. Just as I started to ride back to the stable the commentator announced that they'd adjusted the time allowed and I was now in the jump-off!!I walked him until it was jump-off time, popped a couple of practice fences and went back in. Classy enjoyed jumping at a stronger pace (good to note - I really need a more forward canter) but I messed up the line to the double and we had the second part down. I just saw the results and we came 5th, which I'm pleased with considering our previous competition attempts we barely made it into the arena!!
I think we'll try 60 and 80 next time as we're jumping that height at home with no problems. Height doesn't seem to be an issue with him, we just need to work on forwardness (as ever!).
I'm still ;D but my muscles are a bit
after 2+ hours in a jumping saddle!
. If I revert to thinking 'OMG there is no stride there' while staring at the fence, he'll invariably pop in a short one!! He's very good for me I think... 
Not sure I would've been so brave.
for so much hard work we thank ye!!
