Post by pboy on May 1, 2013 8:34:12 GMT
Wow, I can't believe it. Classy and I are prelim champions of Hong Kong!!! To think that a few months ago we had to withdraw from our first competitive dressage test as he was so upset and I stopped competing until a few weeks ago. This was only his fourth dressage competition away from home and it's been an amazing transformation. What a star he is!!
It was a crazy day at Beas River - as it was Horse of the Year Show there were masses of spectators, I have no idea where they'd come from (they weren't a 'horsey' crowd) but they were very enthusiastic. The grandstand was packed and, being Asia, everyone had a camera. Every time you rode past the stand there were hundreds of camera-clicks, it was very Paparazzi-esque! I guess that's where having an ex-racehorse is handy as presumably they're used to it from the racetrack.
All the horses were more spooky and tense as a result of the atmosphere. Classy, being a complete diva, wanted to show off to the crowd every time we went in. He wasn't on the aids at all and left bend was non-existent! The final centre line in the first test (prelim 15) consisted of leap sideways, leap upwards, canter, then haul to a stop at X... Apparently the rest of the test looked a lot better than it felt and I was amazed to hear that we won, albeit with a measly 57.39%!
He felt a lot more rideable in the warm-up for prelim 19 but as soon as we went in he decided to show off to the crowd with another leap, squeal and canter in front of the stands
The test felt mostly hideous and our left canter went completely wrong but there were no bucks or spooks. We came third with 55.68% and I got some lovely comments from knowledgeable people about some of the work he did in the arena.
There was a full-on prizegiving and I was stunned to discover that I'd won the overall Prelim championships (and about 40 pounds prize money
). We now have some rosettes and medals, and naturally had to head back to the yard for some bubbly to celebrate!
I don't have any pics of the event (unlike the rest of Hong Kong, no doubt my picture will be all over Facebook later...!) but my friend was video-ing so I'll stick those up when I get them, in the meantime here are some pics back at the yard (my friend Jesse came third in the first test on her very spooky horse, so a good day all round!).
Classy with a perm and his rosettes:
My OH and Jesse:
It was a crazy day at Beas River - as it was Horse of the Year Show there were masses of spectators, I have no idea where they'd come from (they weren't a 'horsey' crowd) but they were very enthusiastic. The grandstand was packed and, being Asia, everyone had a camera. Every time you rode past the stand there were hundreds of camera-clicks, it was very Paparazzi-esque! I guess that's where having an ex-racehorse is handy as presumably they're used to it from the racetrack.
All the horses were more spooky and tense as a result of the atmosphere. Classy, being a complete diva, wanted to show off to the crowd every time we went in. He wasn't on the aids at all and left bend was non-existent! The final centre line in the first test (prelim 15) consisted of leap sideways, leap upwards, canter, then haul to a stop at X... Apparently the rest of the test looked a lot better than it felt and I was amazed to hear that we won, albeit with a measly 57.39%!
He felt a lot more rideable in the warm-up for prelim 19 but as soon as we went in he decided to show off to the crowd with another leap, squeal and canter in front of the stands
The test felt mostly hideous and our left canter went completely wrong but there were no bucks or spooks. We came third with 55.68% and I got some lovely comments from knowledgeable people about some of the work he did in the arena.There was a full-on prizegiving and I was stunned to discover that I'd won the overall Prelim championships (and about 40 pounds prize money
). We now have some rosettes and medals, and naturally had to head back to the yard for some bubbly to celebrate!I don't have any pics of the event (unlike the rest of Hong Kong, no doubt my picture will be all over Facebook later...!) but my friend was video-ing so I'll stick those up when I get them, in the meantime here are some pics back at the yard (my friend Jesse came third in the first test on her very spooky horse, so a good day all round!).
Classy with a perm and his rosettes:
My OH and Jesse:
One of them works for a champagne company so she gets it cheap. It's a bit distracting when you're riding in the arena and hear a big 'pop' at around 10am!
I have of course been reminding him every 5 minutes. I've never won a championship in my life!!
