Post by racaille on Sept 14, 2014 6:11:31 GMT
The teenager (who is no longer 
) and I went to the first day of a really posh two-day SJ comp near Aix yesterday. It was quiet and the team were doing it so I thought what the hell.
Well Sam won his first cup - only a small class at Club 3 (75cm) but he went clear and managed all the shortcut options so they were clear and fast. He was jumping in his Boa boots as he needs a trim and although the sand is beautiful we didn't want him to break any hoof off. He got three poles down in Club 2 (85cm) and it seemed to me that the dials on his boots caught at least two of the poles. But as always he was honest and not fazed by anything.
Wish I could say the same for Paco. I wasn't especially stressed and went in feeling fine but Paco's head came up and he just wouldn't listen to me. He would not stay in canter, made a fuss about the puddle left by the watering system and brought a pole down (at only 65cm
) ) just because he wasn't paying me any attention.
I didn't care about the pole but was so disappointed that it seemed to me we did all 11 jumps in trot. I felt useless and as though I had done nothing at all, just sat on his back like a sack of spuds. I went off and had a little weep, feeling like the most useless rider on the planet.
Much later our coach found me and asked what I thought of my round, so I told her. She laughed. 'Don't you remember shouting at him all round the course?' she asked. 'We were laughing because you were yelling at him in English.'
She said that I regained the canter after each jump but that Paco was being a sh!t, he ground down the gears in front of each jump because he was too busy looking at all the fillers, the stands around the arena, the huge screen etc. She said that as a whole it was better than last time because I was more 'present'
Well that cheered me up. The teenager and I analysed it afterwards and there is a lot I need to improve. I need to be lighter in my hands - it's a toughie as I need to keep him channelled as he will often skip out if given half a chance but equally I need to make sure he is not getting any slow down messages from me.
Then I suppose I just need to keep going with getting him out there. I'll never get him blasé about new places/things but he and I can get better.
) and I went to the first day of a really posh two-day SJ comp near Aix yesterday. It was quiet and the team were doing it so I thought what the hell.Well Sam won his first cup - only a small class at Club 3 (75cm) but he went clear and managed all the shortcut options so they were clear and fast. He was jumping in his Boa boots as he needs a trim and although the sand is beautiful we didn't want him to break any hoof off. He got three poles down in Club 2 (85cm) and it seemed to me that the dials on his boots caught at least two of the poles. But as always he was honest and not fazed by anything.
Wish I could say the same for Paco. I wasn't especially stressed and went in feeling fine but Paco's head came up and he just wouldn't listen to me. He would not stay in canter, made a fuss about the puddle left by the watering system and brought a pole down (at only 65cm
) ) just because he wasn't paying me any attention.I didn't care about the pole but was so disappointed that it seemed to me we did all 11 jumps in trot. I felt useless and as though I had done nothing at all, just sat on his back like a sack of spuds. I went off and had a little weep, feeling like the most useless rider on the planet.
Much later our coach found me and asked what I thought of my round, so I told her. She laughed. 'Don't you remember shouting at him all round the course?' she asked. 'We were laughing because you were yelling at him in English.'
She said that I regained the canter after each jump but that Paco was being a sh!t, he ground down the gears in front of each jump because he was too busy looking at all the fillers, the stands around the arena, the huge screen etc. She said that as a whole it was better than last time because I was more 'present'
Well that cheered me up. The teenager and I analysed it afterwards and there is a lot I need to improve. I need to be lighter in my hands - it's a toughie as I need to keep him channelled as he will often skip out if given half a chance but equally I need to make sure he is not getting any slow down messages from me.
Then I suppose I just need to keep going with getting him out there. I'll never get him blasé about new places/things but he and I can get better.
I'm sure Paco will have learnt from the experience, particularly as you kept him going with only one fence down. Style has to go out of the window in those situations!
for so much hard work we thank ye!!
I don't think Sam is usually a skimmer but it was terribly hot and sticky and both he and the ex-teenager were a little heat-exhausted. She was pretty disappointed with her performance in that round so I think she'd claim the faults really. Our coach has suggested that they now forget Club 3 as too easy and concentrate on Club 2. However, with the teenager at uni in Lyon, there won't be any comps for a while after this w/e coming when Sam will do his first complet (and last for the foreseeable).
