Post by racaille on Apr 11, 2016 7:59:54 GMT
It turned out that the T was offered several horses to stand in for Sam while he has a couple of days off: two TBs (both super tricky) and a very feisty pony. But she went with the lovely Urma, a merens gelding who is very atypical of his breed as he is both bigger and sportier than normal.
I love Urma. He's just a great black ball of cuddles with a super temperament but he is extremely green. I thought he was competing regularly but in fact he has only done two Club 2 complets before.
It was fabulous weather, sunny and 23C, and a massive comp as it was regional championships in various classes. It made us giggle to present this heavy black pony - despite being clipped and smart there is no getting away from the fact that Urma is small and very stocky and powerful - alongside some serious horseflesh. One of the competitors in the T's class was a nice lad N on his huge rangy horse which is always a big hit with the dressage judges as he has very elastic paces.
So N does his test and all I can see are the mistakes (quite a few) and N's jiggling hand. But the judge tells him it's the most beautiful test she has seen all day. N - as I said, he is really nice - tells us that all the judge saw was the horse not his mistakes, which was gracious of him. Then chunky Urma goes in and I can see the T really working hard and breathing even harder. There is a hairy moment when a man with mush for brains climbs through the hedge alongside but the T minimises the spook and keeps Urma working. All in all they do a pretty decent test and the T is very happy with him.
But N's rangy horse is a hard act to follow and while he comes in first, Urma is 13th out of 16. The pressure is on N as it's the championship class but all the T wants to do is get through without elimination so we are all - Urma's owner plus a friend came along too - pretty happy and relaxed.
So N goes into the SJ and his horse is so big he barely needs to jump, he practically steps over everything. But N had said this is also a problem: he can get lazy. Sure enough he gets a bar but is so far in front that he is still class leader.
The T winds Urma up into a good canter and the first half goes really well, he is pinging over everything. Then the blue and white double comes and this was always going to be the sticking point, many horses have refused here already and Urma has form at exactly this type of jump. Sure enough, he does a dirty stop. The T brings him round again with all guns blazing and he wants to run out but has nowhere to go .... so it is fine. So now he is doing what he is told but at the last, as is so often the case, the T relaxes and he thinks, oh OK, I can too - and just nudges a bar.
So we flopped around in the sun eating chips until the XC. I went off to the water jump. It was here that there were going to be serious problems: a 'house' in front of the water was culling riders at a rate of knots. I saw a good handful of eliminations, partly because the sun was glittering on the water beyond.
So Urma comes thundering out of the woods and the T wisely takes the option to go through the water. He doesn't want to but she doesn't give him much choice. Equally, at the log over a ditch he really doesn't fancy going anywhere near it but she keeps hold of his left shoulder (he always dives left) and gets him over.
They turn towards the house and the water again. They come down off a contra bas and she rather drops him - she is clearly very tired by now. He doesn't fancy it any more than the other horses but she gets him together again, but just a fraction too late. He ends up with his knees on the house. But a second attempt works fine and her earlier passage through the water pays off as he just gave in without much of a fight. He jumps out of the water and on but they are both exhausted
She'd had a refusal in the woods too but was very happy. Urma, for a green horse, had done so very well and the T had got round without elimination and so got vital points for her qualification.
The shocker was that N had also had a refusal and tumbled from first place to sixth, which was a real turnaround. I was sorry for him. The T finished 10th, the last of those still standing as the rest were eliminated. She was overjoyed.
It was a particularly happy and fun outing. We bumped into a few people we know which is always nice. And I realised why there are no small horses for sale at the moment - they were all out there competing. But I didn't see single one that took my fancy
There will be pix ...
I love Urma. He's just a great black ball of cuddles with a super temperament but he is extremely green. I thought he was competing regularly but in fact he has only done two Club 2 complets before.
It was fabulous weather, sunny and 23C, and a massive comp as it was regional championships in various classes. It made us giggle to present this heavy black pony - despite being clipped and smart there is no getting away from the fact that Urma is small and very stocky and powerful - alongside some serious horseflesh. One of the competitors in the T's class was a nice lad N on his huge rangy horse which is always a big hit with the dressage judges as he has very elastic paces.
So N does his test and all I can see are the mistakes (quite a few) and N's jiggling hand. But the judge tells him it's the most beautiful test she has seen all day. N - as I said, he is really nice - tells us that all the judge saw was the horse not his mistakes, which was gracious of him. Then chunky Urma goes in and I can see the T really working hard and breathing even harder. There is a hairy moment when a man with mush for brains climbs through the hedge alongside but the T minimises the spook and keeps Urma working. All in all they do a pretty decent test and the T is very happy with him.
But N's rangy horse is a hard act to follow and while he comes in first, Urma is 13th out of 16. The pressure is on N as it's the championship class but all the T wants to do is get through without elimination so we are all - Urma's owner plus a friend came along too - pretty happy and relaxed.
So N goes into the SJ and his horse is so big he barely needs to jump, he practically steps over everything. But N had said this is also a problem: he can get lazy. Sure enough he gets a bar but is so far in front that he is still class leader.
The T winds Urma up into a good canter and the first half goes really well, he is pinging over everything. Then the blue and white double comes and this was always going to be the sticking point, many horses have refused here already and Urma has form at exactly this type of jump. Sure enough, he does a dirty stop. The T brings him round again with all guns blazing and he wants to run out but has nowhere to go .... so it is fine. So now he is doing what he is told but at the last, as is so often the case, the T relaxes and he thinks, oh OK, I can too - and just nudges a bar.
So we flopped around in the sun eating chips until the XC. I went off to the water jump. It was here that there were going to be serious problems: a 'house' in front of the water was culling riders at a rate of knots. I saw a good handful of eliminations, partly because the sun was glittering on the water beyond.
So Urma comes thundering out of the woods and the T wisely takes the option to go through the water. He doesn't want to but she doesn't give him much choice. Equally, at the log over a ditch he really doesn't fancy going anywhere near it but she keeps hold of his left shoulder (he always dives left) and gets him over.
They turn towards the house and the water again. They come down off a contra bas and she rather drops him - she is clearly very tired by now. He doesn't fancy it any more than the other horses but she gets him together again, but just a fraction too late. He ends up with his knees on the house. But a second attempt works fine and her earlier passage through the water pays off as he just gave in without much of a fight. He jumps out of the water and on but they are both exhausted
She'd had a refusal in the woods too but was very happy. Urma, for a green horse, had done so very well and the T had got round without elimination and so got vital points for her qualification.
The shocker was that N had also had a refusal and tumbled from first place to sixth, which was a real turnaround. I was sorry for him. The T finished 10th, the last of those still standing as the rest were eliminated. She was overjoyed.
It was a particularly happy and fun outing. We bumped into a few people we know which is always nice. And I realised why there are no small horses for sale at the moment - they were all out there competing. But I didn't see single one that took my fancy
There will be pix ...
for so much hard work we thank ye!!
