Eventful Showjumping Final 11/12/2011

[fleabitten]

Well today I was at the final of the riding school showjumping league. It was quite a formal affair, we had to plait and dress up which was nice

Unfortunately no pics as nobody would come with me (im unloved lol)

Anyway, I arrived early and got him all nicely groomed, mane plaited and tail smoothed down (decided to stay away from likely disastrous tail plaiting! ;D) I was quite proud of my plaits, I cant remember the last time i plaited a mane, i think it might only be the second time this year tops - but they were all pretty evenly space, nice and small and neat and not sticking out in every direction. Tried to get a pic but it was too dark and then when i was outside he wouldnt stand still

I went to the judges box where my RI was commentating/judging to see how far along they were and she said to me, now hes just been freshly clipped (full clip) and didnt get much work yesterday so when you come in have a good canter about because otherwise if you dont and you go up to the outdoor he will buck his brains out - very reassuring!

So armed with this advice, i went and got him out - had a good canter about in the warm up in the indoor arena when they were putting the fences up and then went up to the outdoor to attempt to keep him warm as i was near the end of the class. He was fine at the start but i caught my foot on the fence and he started bucking, luckily i got him under control quickly and kept him cantering on.

I went back down to the indoor arena to see how they were getting on with the class but then came back up the the outdoor rather than standing about in the cold. I asked for canter and immediately he started bucking again - i got him under control and cantered a circuit of the school but this time it had shaken me and i didnt feel i could continue with warming up in case he did it again and i couldnt cope with it.

I felt like giving up and going home after that (it was kind of scary because i didnt have any 'groupies' [for want of a better term!] so i had to deal with it on my own, although there was plenty of people in the outdoor) but i decided to give the 65cm class a go.

I was a bit cautious in my 65cm rounds but he was fine and i got a double clear - i think it wasnt as cold in the indoor and he was focusing on the job more than the cold i think lol! Good boy!

I then got 3rd place overall in the final and i recieved a lovely prize of a diamante horseshoe stock pin! Very chuffed as this is pretty much my first proper jumping competition ever. Also got some sweeties! ;D

I kept a fleece over the top of him when we were standing about but i think he still felt a bit cold poor boy. I did the 85cm and managed to get eliminated - he got a bit keen and was going flat out between a 4/5 stride double and then stood off the second part and took a massive jump over it (according to RI) but i can hardly remember it - all i remember is probably losing my reins a bit and then him putting his head on the floor and me thinking, i hope he doesnt buck! (i dont think he did) but i ended up with no reins at all in order to let me sit back whilst he decided to sniff the sand - all this meant that i went straight past the next fence and so i got eliminated. i did manage to gather up my reins again but i had forgotten where i was supposed to be going - but i was allowed to finish my round which was good of them. RI said that she thought i was going to get launched into space and fence builder said i did very well to stay on ;D

So didnt get anything for the 85cm class except my own personal pride in myself - i had gone from the verge of giving up to completing the 85cm class and not letting the slight hiccup in the 85cm class shake me. You know, i never ever thought i would be that confident. I used to be so afraid of jumping that i didnt like to jump anything more than very small crosspoles in case the pony took a big leap etc and if something like that had happened then i would have just crumbled - whereas now i can gather myself up again and keep going and it doesnt affect me and at 85cm as well! Today also showed me that my confidence does have limits - the bucking - S didnt really do anything really bad - they were only small bucks and he didnt get the bit between his teeth and set out to get me off, he was just feeling the cold. And its just kinda occurred to me that its probably a flashback to Kieran's rodeo incidents which really frightened me at the time although i never fell off him.

RI thought i did very well and I think she probably thought that S would be a bit of a challenge for me, something good for me. And i handled him and achieved something. She could have said, sorry i think hes going to be too fresh for you and asked me to choose someone else to ride. But she didnt.

She also recommended that hunting should be the next thing that i do! Not on S though, i think that would blow his brains lol! ;D I think I would like to give it a go actually.

So anyway, a good day all round except it was so cold - by the time i was going home my windows on the car had frozen

Chocolate santas for all who get this far!

[solomon]

Well done Flea! Sounds eventful and very well handled. Horse do fizz up when they are freshlyclipped I have noticed. You did really well.

[racaille]

I can hardly believe the great strides you've made in your confidence Flea! Not that long ago you were pretty nervous about cantering and now you're really challenging yourself by competing. Brilliant

[fimacg]

well done Flea you confidence is inspiring

[dannyboy]

Well done Flea!!!!

Its great to see you really enjoying the whole horsey scene.

[haffyfan]

Congrats on your third Flea. You've every right to be proud of yourself for conquoring your demons, it's been an amazing year for you. x

[Jen]

that is absolutely fantastic!!! well done you! it wasnt that long ago that you wouldnt have considered doing the jumping so therefore a third is absolutely brilliant!!!

[fleabitten]

Thanks for all your lovely comments guys, here's hoping 2012 will be even better!! ;D Big big hugs to all of you!

[zara]

Sounds like you had an excellent day despite the bucking. Well done you, you're doing so well and should be very proud of yourself xx

[ceej]

Goodness me flea you really are coming on leaps and bounds!!

[fleabitten]

Literally ceej lol! Had a good lesson at old RS on Sat - there is a livery mare who i have completely fallen in love with - she isnt a pretty horse at all but she is just so sweet and a lovely ride. Its the one i was talking about that likes to canter very fast (made a post in schooling section). well she was very fresh on Saturday and did a bit of bucking and leaping about, but the funny thing was that it doesnt feel scary on her, its kind of smooth actually, just like the rest of her paces. And i just laughed at her and rode on - i kept doubting if i could do it but i kind of kept surprising myself!

[hazelin]

Well done thats brilliant - fantastic result in the 65cm and for keeping going and completing the 85cm, what a great end to the year!

[brigadier]

Gosh Flea how well are you doing? Well done!