I’m pleased to say I was well enough to take the old gal out for her first jumping event this year! She did not disappoint, although hesitant and nervous once in the arena she listened and trusted me, jumping nicely round the courses. On awaiting the start of the second class my partner had gone to check the results from the first one, and I was delighted when he pulled out a red frilly!! Not bad for her first jumping class of 2019! The next class she did equally well, and I mean that literally – somehow we managed to get exactly the same time in the jump off that we had in the first class’s jump off! I’ve never had that happen before and was a bit shocked especially as I thought we had been quicker in the second class, still she jumped clear and gained more confidence which was great, and this time came away with a blue frilly, just narrowly missing out on a red one! I could not have asked for more from her, she was such a good girl and I think she really enjoyed having some fun out and about too! I’m definitely looking at getting her out to a few clear rounds or training shows though as she was a bit hesitant so I want to build her confidence up again!
The rain has been awful the last couple of weeks making it very difficult to ride. My arena has been under water for a lot of the time, and was very boggy for a few days whilst drying out, this has meant limited work for the horses during the week. However, we still decided to take the giant out to the riding club show. Sadly it did not go as I would have liked. He was a bit wound up in the warm up as he hadn’t been to the venue for a while, so when it came to our turn he was ready to go. The first few fences were jumped well, but on the diagonal consisting of a fence followed by a double it went a bit wrong. Unbeknown to me some kids on the opposite side of the road behind the arena hedge were screaming and shouting (I was unaware as I ‘zone out’ when jumping) but Bob was completely distracted, and on landing the first part of the double, spooked sharply causing me to shoot off the side, he then accidently stood on my ankle! Luckily no breaks but a huge 5” lump and bruise on my thigh soon appeared, but me being me decided I wasn’t giving up – we were given the opportunity to do a HC round at the end which we did, a few poles down but we completed it!
So the golden girl did well, and the giant needs a bit of focus work but still we were out and about gaining more experience! We also bumped into Katie from Equesure with her horse Q (who both did fab!) at Bob’s show and posed for a pic
Once again I threw Arlo in at the deep end, affiliating him purely for the Arena UK second round show, and once again he pulled it out the bag. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful little horse? We haven’t really competed this year. I don’t really compete over the winter, and also my horsebox was away for repairs up until the beginning of June, so I had no transport even if I’d wanted to.
With the dry ground we don’t seem to be having much luck with shoes, as little madam managed to pull both her front shoes off within 12 hours the other day! We entered the arena with two shoes on for a schooling session and left it with one missing (took about an hour to find it). Then that afternoon, as I went to put some hoof ointment on, I looked down and had to double take, thinking I was looking at the wrong hoof. But, no, the other shoe was missing too.
After having a long wait and some lunch at the onsite café, it was time to get ready for the Joan Wolfe Overall Supreme Shetland Pony Championship. I got changed out of my usual showing outfit into black trousers and a maroon top with white spots, as you are expected to be a bit more “bling” in the evening.
We were all set to go for our next outing, and were super excited. That was until I heard the dreaded clunk of a loose shoe! I checked it over, praying it wasn’t too loose, but, nope, it was going to need a refit.
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