Post by racaille on Oct 3, 2011 10:01:13 GMT
Well yesterday I took the teenager all the way to the Alpes for her second ODE, Racaille's first.
Despite the 4.30am start from home
it was a wonderful day, bit too hot but the scenery was breathtaking (I have some pix which I will upload later). The last bit of the drive was a bit hairy, up this narrow mountain lane to a rather flash club that had been carved out of the hillside. The dressage arena for the teenager's classes was very distinctly downhill!
It was a mixed day for the horses. Jana warmed up for the dressage really nicely but then did a very poor test, while poor Rackers, although very nice in the arena, slipped on the wet grass in a corner and nearly went down. He took out the marker string but luckily did not quite go outside so avoided being eliminated. The silly teenager forgot to put on her gloves so lost points but was not eliminated for it (lucky!).
Anyway, she finished last in both groups, out of five and seven.
Jana was perfect in the SJ and R rose to the occasion too. He warmed up in a clumsy fashion to start with, but then the teenager says something 'clicked'. In the arena she brought him back too much at the beginning and he brought down two bars but after that he was magnificent. She made everyone hoot with laughter when she exited, absolutely beaming, and announced he'd ONLY DONE TWO BARS
I was proud of her as the contrast with one contestant who burst into noisy tears of ugly rage when her mare refused one fence was marked.
Both horses were brilliant in the XC ;D Jana is very inexperienced (more so than R, who spent his youth hacking out) and she didn't think much of the log jump down into the pond but the teenager reacted like lightening and simply did not allow her to run out the side. It was a big course and there were lots of refusals, some falls and one poor soul broke her collarbone.
R, bless him, had a big grin on his face all the way round ;D He just flew. It was a shorter course in his easier class but still quite demanding. At one point the teenager was getting behind the optimum time and she saw a lovely long uphill field in front of her so she let him go for it. Oh boy he just turned on the turbo and they disappeared at warp speed! When they came round the corner to the pond, he didn't even look at it, just powered on through.
Overall, Jana came fourth and R fifth (ie last ;D). The teenager was exhausted but very happy. Jana's dressage is still her weak point, while R still needs to watch his feet in the SJ. R was so tired that when we got home he was asleep in the trailer with his chin resting on the tack box, silly boy. But I did notice that he has become very bargey and rude in hand, even if under saddle he is now a model student, a far cry from 18 months ago when he was a nightmare!
It was another long day (we got back home at 8.30pm) but lots of fun. I utterly fell in love with an eventing shettie - isn't it the most wonderful notion? - who was completely white apart from his black front end - there was a distinct line. It looked like someone had picked him up by the tail and dunked him in a pot of ink!
Despite the 4.30am start from home
it was a wonderful day, bit too hot but the scenery was breathtaking (I have some pix which I will upload later). The last bit of the drive was a bit hairy, up this narrow mountain lane to a rather flash club that had been carved out of the hillside. The dressage arena for the teenager's classes was very distinctly downhill!It was a mixed day for the horses. Jana warmed up for the dressage really nicely but then did a very poor test, while poor Rackers, although very nice in the arena, slipped on the wet grass in a corner and nearly went down. He took out the marker string but luckily did not quite go outside so avoided being eliminated. The silly teenager forgot to put on her gloves so lost points but was not eliminated for it (lucky!).
Anyway, she finished last in both groups, out of five and seven.
Jana was perfect in the SJ and R rose to the occasion too. He warmed up in a clumsy fashion to start with, but then the teenager says something 'clicked'. In the arena she brought him back too much at the beginning and he brought down two bars but after that he was magnificent. She made everyone hoot with laughter when she exited, absolutely beaming, and announced he'd ONLY DONE TWO BARS
I was proud of her as the contrast with one contestant who burst into noisy tears of ugly rage when her mare refused one fence was marked.Both horses were brilliant in the XC ;D Jana is very inexperienced (more so than R, who spent his youth hacking out) and she didn't think much of the log jump down into the pond but the teenager reacted like lightening and simply did not allow her to run out the side. It was a big course and there were lots of refusals, some falls and one poor soul broke her collarbone.
R, bless him, had a big grin on his face all the way round ;D He just flew. It was a shorter course in his easier class but still quite demanding. At one point the teenager was getting behind the optimum time and she saw a lovely long uphill field in front of her so she let him go for it. Oh boy he just turned on the turbo and they disappeared at warp speed! When they came round the corner to the pond, he didn't even look at it, just powered on through.
Overall, Jana came fourth and R fifth (ie last ;D). The teenager was exhausted but very happy. Jana's dressage is still her weak point, while R still needs to watch his feet in the SJ. R was so tired that when we got home he was asleep in the trailer with his chin resting on the tack box, silly boy. But I did notice that he has become very bargey and rude in hand, even if under saddle he is now a model student, a far cry from 18 months ago when he was a nightmare!
It was another long day (we got back home at 8.30pm) but lots of fun. I utterly fell in love with an eventing shettie - isn't it the most wonderful notion? - who was completely white apart from his black front end - there was a distinct line. It looked like someone had picked him up by the tail and dunked him in a pot of ink!
for so much hard work we thank ye!!