TW, Fonz and Paris were off to the spectacular Tonimbuk International Horse Trials in the CIC 1*, PN and Intro respectively. The pressure was on as Trojan and I need one more qualifier for us to be off to the prestigious Sydney 3 Day Event at the end of April.... so I must admit it was a bit... "all about Troj" this weekend (not that that paid off in the end anyway!) ..
It was set to be an absolute SCORCHER of a weekend with temperatures reaching nearly 40 degrees and with TW's err.. tendency to be lazy in the show jumping we took extra measures to make sure he had as much energy as possible.. This VERY expensive trip to the feed store included nasal breathing strips, 2 tubes of electrolytes, electrolyte molasses for the water, lots of feed AND unlimited lucerne hay lol and luckily Troj was third in the tough draw of 51 riders from all over Oz so he missed most of the heat with early times for dressage and cross country.
The weekend before TW was lucky enough to win an $100 Equissage voucher at Seville HT which we tested out before his dressage .. he was very relaxed and persuaded the equissage team to go for a little longer than intended with those big brown doey eyes and was clearly showing them the areas he would like them to work on! However a scratching required us to ride a little early and he didn't quite feel through enough to score exceptionally.. 10 more minutes warm up and I think our place on Day 1 would have been miles above where it was. He was also surprisingly a little tense in there and kept staring into the audience with pricked ears and spooky eyes (so I'm told lol) and our score of 61.2 penlties reflected this. We were sitting around midfield.
Fonz however pushed the majority of his "rangaisms" aside and performed a beautiful test BUT.. did not do one step of walk (THE ULTIMATE RANGA-ISM) and the whole score was brought on due to a consecutive three 3's for the walk movements.. In his defence - the walk was in the direction of the cross country... and we all know how he feels about that phase!
Little baby Paris completed a quiet and calm test at his very first intro and scored midfield.. not bad for a big lanky TB straight off the track.
With no stand out performances on the dressage day we were determined to come home quickly on xc with no jump penalties and that we did!! Despite a few big questions for TW's first international with skinny's, Irish banks, lots of combinations and a big brush into the water (which Queenie has lately informed him contains many sorts of swamp monsters) but a bold ride across the country saw us clear with just a few time penalties. Fonz and Ben cruised around their first PN together without even a hiccup and were one of the fastest of the PN although no one even got close to the difficult time! Paris also cantered around without any problems but did get stuck behind someone and as it can be difficult to overtake in intro due to no big gallop spaces did incur a few time penalties.
Paris and Fonz both show jumped beautiful clear rounds for Ben to finish in 10th and 12th (would have been 6th and 4th without time penalties) Speed up Nanna!
But Trojan's show jumping was a whole different story.... In the warm up he felt tired but focused and I had hoped the indoor atmosphere would pick him up and help us through our weakest phase however he again was distracted and nervous staring at the spectators and not focusing on those top rails. Having a couple down on the way to fence 8 but starting to get more into our rhythm, his over jumping was throwing me around a little and BANG over fence 8 (focusing desperately on trying to keep my lower leg secure and keeping weight in my heels) my stirrup gave way and I DROPPED like a fly! lol apparently everyone thought I fainted after complaining about the heat during the coursewalk lol! Although neither of us were physically hurt, we are now REALLY under the pump to do well at Wandin International in 2 weeks time to ensure we are ready and qualified for Sydney! Maybe my first step should be to buy some new stirrups... and organize lots and lots of jumping lessons!
Until then, Happy riding, Amber and Ben!
XXX
It was set to be an absolute SCORCHER of a weekend with temperatures reaching nearly 40 degrees and with TW's err.. tendency to be lazy in the show jumping we took extra measures to make sure he had as much energy as possible.. This VERY expensive trip to the feed store included nasal breathing strips, 2 tubes of electrolytes, electrolyte molasses for the water, lots of feed AND unlimited lucerne hay lol and luckily Troj was third in the tough draw of 51 riders from all over Oz so he missed most of the heat with early times for dressage and cross country.
The weekend before TW was lucky enough to win an $100 Equissage voucher at Seville HT which we tested out before his dressage .. he was very relaxed and persuaded the equissage team to go for a little longer than intended with those big brown doey eyes and was clearly showing them the areas he would like them to work on! However a scratching required us to ride a little early and he didn't quite feel through enough to score exceptionally.. 10 more minutes warm up and I think our place on Day 1 would have been miles above where it was. He was also surprisingly a little tense in there and kept staring into the audience with pricked ears and spooky eyes (so I'm told lol) and our score of 61.2 penlties reflected this. We were sitting around midfield.
Fonz however pushed the majority of his "rangaisms" aside and performed a beautiful test BUT.. did not do one step of walk (THE ULTIMATE RANGA-ISM) and the whole score was brought on due to a consecutive three 3's for the walk movements.. In his defence - the walk was in the direction of the cross country... and we all know how he feels about that phase!
Little baby Paris completed a quiet and calm test at his very first intro and scored midfield.. not bad for a big lanky TB straight off the track.
With no stand out performances on the dressage day we were determined to come home quickly on xc with no jump penalties and that we did!! Despite a few big questions for TW's first international with skinny's, Irish banks, lots of combinations and a big brush into the water (which Queenie has lately informed him contains many sorts of swamp monsters) but a bold ride across the country saw us clear with just a few time penalties. Fonz and Ben cruised around their first PN together without even a hiccup and were one of the fastest of the PN although no one even got close to the difficult time! Paris also cantered around without any problems but did get stuck behind someone and as it can be difficult to overtake in intro due to no big gallop spaces did incur a few time penalties.
Paris and Fonz both show jumped beautiful clear rounds for Ben to finish in 10th and 12th (would have been 6th and 4th without time penalties) Speed up Nanna!
But Trojan's show jumping was a whole different story.... In the warm up he felt tired but focused and I had hoped the indoor atmosphere would pick him up and help us through our weakest phase however he again was distracted and nervous staring at the spectators and not focusing on those top rails. Having a couple down on the way to fence 8 but starting to get more into our rhythm, his over jumping was throwing me around a little and BANG over fence 8 (focusing desperately on trying to keep my lower leg secure and keeping weight in my heels) my stirrup gave way and I DROPPED like a fly! lol apparently everyone thought I fainted after complaining about the heat during the coursewalk lol! Although neither of us were physically hurt, we are now REALLY under the pump to do well at Wandin International in 2 weeks time to ensure we are ready and qualified for Sydney! Maybe my first step should be to buy some new stirrups... and organize lots and lots of jumping lessons!
Until then, Happy riding, Amber and Ben!
XXX
TROJAN (above) popping beautifully into the water after my big growl to "GET IN" and
FONZ (below) cruising over the Picnic Table on the home stretch in the PN!
Too bad he doesn't show jump like this!!!! Look how tight those front legs are!!!!
Showing off my new Fat Pony Breeches from the Wendy Schaeffer "Sunburst" range.. very flattering! Thanks FP!
Just before our err... Graceful dismount...? lol
RSS Feed