I ticked something at the very top of my bucket list off this weekend just been. I took my homebred, self produced full Clydesdale eventing! OK, ok, it was only the 65cm/Intro class but it was a BIG deal for me! I haven't evented in 16 odd years and the last time I was doing it, I was riding a horse who was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay more experienced than I and who basically carted me over anything and everything and all I had to do was point and hold on.
Meg was, in a word, AWESOME! She's a very sensitive girl and found the whole experience insanely intense (she trembled ALL day, the nervous energy she must have expended blows my mind!) and she forgot her manners a few times at the gear checks but she was absolutely phenomenal when it counted.
The dressage was next to the road with trucks and cars whizzing past and she wasn't overly impressed. I also didn't want to exhaust her working her in to a point where she was too tired to be tense because I was so well aware we still have the SJ and XC to get through so our test was not our best work. She was fairly resistant in parts and it did feel somewhat like riding a turbo charged tractor but she did some really super forward work and tried her very best for me - what more could I ask for? I was floored to later discover she had won the dressage section with our nearest competitor nearly 5% behind us - GO CLOMPETY!
Here are the videos and some photos:
And then my first SJ round in 15 years ...
And last but absolutely not least and the reason why eventers event - The XC!!
And after all of that, despite a few time penalties, we came home with 3rd place! How I LOVE my horse!
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