Phew, big day today for Meg and for me! Meg was such a good girl - a little bit out of her comfort zone with around sixty five horses at the competition (just a few more than the eight who were present at the rally last weekend, haha!) but she never did anything silly and soaked it all in.
There was a little bit of a mix up over times and the times that I was given over the telephone were in fact wrong so I found myself heading into the arena ten minutes earlier than I thought I would be meaning that I was a little tense and Meg not quite warmed in or settled - consequently our first test could have been a LOT better. She rushed around with her head in the air for the most part and I didn't do her any favours either. Oh dear! Consequently we placed right down the field on a score of 60%. Never mind, I had at least achieved the first of my two goals (to score over 55%), even if it was pretty ugly!
We then had three and a half hours to fill before the afternoon test but that gave Meg some more time to soak up the atmosphere and settle down. At 1.30pm I climbed back on and we went out and warmed up. This time at least we didn't feel nearly as rushed but I kept the warm up to a minimum as she is not very fit plus unclipped which means she gets hot and sweaty very quickly!
I am pleased to report that Training test 0.3 was a MUCH better experience for both of us! My second goal for the day was to get both canters and we did! The first canter was OK and the second canter was marginal (and she broke a little early) but we got them both, correct lead and everything!
I think I am proudest of her two 7's in the second test. The first for 'Regularity and freedom' and the second for 'General impression' and it was my riding (a 5 - whoops! I got a 6 in the first test which I think I rode worse, go figure!) which really let her down. I will just have to pull my socks up and do better next time! We were only 6% off the winning score and in 6th place with 4 people ahead of us on the same score and one winner on 66%. So, we were 6th= (out of 16) but shared the third highest score (does that make sense?). My fav comments: "Kind willing horse. A happy combination. A pleasure to watch".
Nick came down for the afternoon test as Amy had a birthday party in town and he took some photos which was great. I have video of the first test but I don't think that is ever going to see the light of day (although I am very grateful to my friend Nicky who took it!).
There was a little bit of a mix up over times and the times that I was given over the telephone were in fact wrong so I found myself heading into the arena ten minutes earlier than I thought I would be meaning that I was a little tense and Meg not quite warmed in or settled - consequently our first test could have been a LOT better. She rushed around with her head in the air for the most part and I didn't do her any favours either. Oh dear! Consequently we placed right down the field on a score of 60%. Never mind, I had at least achieved the first of my two goals (to score over 55%), even if it was pretty ugly!
We then had three and a half hours to fill before the afternoon test but that gave Meg some more time to soak up the atmosphere and settle down. At 1.30pm I climbed back on and we went out and warmed up. This time at least we didn't feel nearly as rushed but I kept the warm up to a minimum as she is not very fit plus unclipped which means she gets hot and sweaty very quickly!
I am pleased to report that Training test 0.3 was a MUCH better experience for both of us! My second goal for the day was to get both canters and we did! The first canter was OK and the second canter was marginal (and she broke a little early) but we got them both, correct lead and everything!
I think I am proudest of her two 7's in the second test. The first for 'Regularity and freedom' and the second for 'General impression' and it was my riding (a 5 - whoops! I got a 6 in the first test which I think I rode worse, go figure!) which really let her down. I will just have to pull my socks up and do better next time! We were only 6% off the winning score and in 6th place with 4 people ahead of us on the same score and one winner on 66%. So, we were 6th= (out of 16) but shared the third highest score (does that make sense?). My fav comments: "Kind willing horse. A happy combination. A pleasure to watch".
Nick came down for the afternoon test as Amy had a birthday party in town and he took some photos which was great. I have video of the first test but I don't think that is ever going to see the light of day (although I am very grateful to my friend Nicky who took it!).
Cantering!
Forward & active
Cantering again!
Deep in concentration before we go in
Whoops, lost me pedal!
Trotting a circle
Enter at A
Track left
Halt, salute
Good baby girl Meg!
Well done Lou and Meg :D
ReplyDeleteYou go girl....Great to see a heavy doing dressage. Well done!
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