Sorry for the delay in this post but I've been away playing groom for a friend at scope for a few days.
The week before our Novice debut we went to Laughton Manor for their unaffiliated dressage. Barbie did a lovely test in the walk trot, apart from being too lazy. We came away with our best score yet 66% and 3rd place. The judge agreed with her needing to be more in front of the leg but she was settled and wasn't fussed about the boards.
Next up was Sky in Prelim 13 it wasn't our best tense but neither was it our worst. So I was pleased to see we had won it on 63%. I had decided to enter Novice 28 before our event the following week. We actually did a better test apart from our medium trot which got us a 2nd place with 64%.
The day finally arrived where we would be tackling our 1st Novice. It was nice and local only being an hours drive. However we still had a early start as I wanted to walk the XC course before dressage. The dressage was always going to be our weakest phase. The test had some rather tense moments including a buck in our 2nd canter but also had some ok work, which left us with a score of 42.
I was also able to walk the showjumping before my dressage and I almost wish I hadn't. I was getting more nervous by the second as it was getting closer to my go. We had an unlucky pole at the 1st, determined to try not have any more I think I forgot to breathe for the rest of the round. We came away with four faults. I was over the moon it may not have been the prettiest round but we'll blame the lack of oxygen for that.
I was looking forward to a nice 1st timer course, but once I had walked it I wasn't sure I'd made the right decision in moving up yet. The first 5 fences rode lovely and we flew round them in no time. Unfortunately the first question came at fence 6a and b. We had a silly stop at 6a after I brought her back too me too much in preparation for the triple brush at the bottom of the mound. We came around and popped over no problems the second time. Sadly due to Prestwold being a new event they hadn't had time to finish the water jump. We continued onto the combination at 10 although not the tidiest or most stylish we were through clear and heading towards the next question at 12. 2 skinny dog kennels on a curving line but the undulating ground made it trickier and more complex, again with our inexperience at this level we weren't the prettiest but I was glad to be through the combination clear. 13 a and b were steps up to the roll top at 14, still clear and heading towards fence 17 the last fence on course which caused concern for me due to the angle, I decided to come out wide and go at it straight in my course walk. However when I got there I just went for it and hoped for the best and we jumped it on the angle. We shot of to the last fence on course. I knew I hadn't gone fast enough round the end of the course due to my stop so came away with 15 time penalties.
Nearly a week later and I still can't believe we completed our 1st Novice event. Nothing was foot perfect but neither was it disastrous. I wasn't expecting to win but to come away happy and proud of my pony which I certainly did. I can not wait for our next one how ever nervous I get before entering the ring.
I can't believe all the support from the twitter world especially the #TwitterEventing gang in the run up and during my event it makes it all so much better
The week before our Novice debut we went to Laughton Manor for their unaffiliated dressage. Barbie did a lovely test in the walk trot, apart from being too lazy. We came away with our best score yet 66% and 3rd place. The judge agreed with her needing to be more in front of the leg but she was settled and wasn't fussed about the boards.
Next up was Sky in Prelim 13 it wasn't our best tense but neither was it our worst. So I was pleased to see we had won it on 63%. I had decided to enter Novice 28 before our event the following week. We actually did a better test apart from our medium trot which got us a 2nd place with 64%.
The day finally arrived where we would be tackling our 1st Novice. It was nice and local only being an hours drive. However we still had a early start as I wanted to walk the XC course before dressage. The dressage was always going to be our weakest phase. The test had some rather tense moments including a buck in our 2nd canter but also had some ok work, which left us with a score of 42.
I was also able to walk the showjumping before my dressage and I almost wish I hadn't. I was getting more nervous by the second as it was getting closer to my go. We had an unlucky pole at the 1st, determined to try not have any more I think I forgot to breathe for the rest of the round. We came away with four faults. I was over the moon it may not have been the prettiest round but we'll blame the lack of oxygen for that.
I was looking forward to a nice 1st timer course, but once I had walked it I wasn't sure I'd made the right decision in moving up yet. The first 5 fences rode lovely and we flew round them in no time. Unfortunately the first question came at fence 6a and b. We had a silly stop at 6a after I brought her back too me too much in preparation for the triple brush at the bottom of the mound. We came around and popped over no problems the second time. Sadly due to Prestwold being a new event they hadn't had time to finish the water jump. We continued onto the combination at 10 although not the tidiest or most stylish we were through clear and heading towards the next question at 12. 2 skinny dog kennels on a curving line but the undulating ground made it trickier and more complex, again with our inexperience at this level we weren't the prettiest but I was glad to be through the combination clear. 13 a and b were steps up to the roll top at 14, still clear and heading towards fence 17 the last fence on course which caused concern for me due to the angle, I decided to come out wide and go at it straight in my course walk. However when I got there I just went for it and hoped for the best and we jumped it on the angle. We shot of to the last fence on course. I knew I hadn't gone fast enough round the end of the course due to my stop so came away with 15 time penalties.
Nearly a week later and I still can't believe we completed our 1st Novice event. Nothing was foot perfect but neither was it disastrous. I wasn't expecting to win but to come away happy and proud of my pony which I certainly did. I can not wait for our next one how ever nervous I get before entering the ring.
I can't believe all the support from the twitter world especially the #TwitterEventing gang in the run up and during my event it makes it all so much better