Woodhill Sands HT

After our not so successful run at Greenhithe I put a late entry in for Woodhill Sands Horse Trial.

We were number one for dressage which is great as it always suits him to not have many horses warming up around him. He warmed in really nicely & did a nice test. He blew two movements by shooting forward for a few strides but on a whole I was stoked with it. It appears that the judge didn't like it much so we got what I consider quite a harsh mark. We were lying 14th out of 28 so not too bad I guess.

I got myself into a complete tizz for the SJ. I don't know what is going on but I really feel like I have lost heaps of confidence with it. Our warm up wasn't that great and included him slamming into the practice fence. I know its something I am doing so I really have to get on top of things before he starts to lose his confidence as well.

He went clear in the SJ. Wasn't the nicest round he has done but it was good. They penalised me with 13 time faults which I thought was insane but however. This later got changed to 10 which I still think is on the steep side as we cantered the whole way round the course etc. Never mind shit happens! Just made me more determined to have a good ride on the XC on the Sunday!

The XC course was nice - didn't think there were many hard fences but you just never know what they will take aversion too!

I didn't have to worry - Cobs just stormed round. Had such a wicked time on him. I was still hanging onto his face a little as the photos show - think it was more nerves than anything as I can't remember the last time we did a full on xc course. And jesus what the hang is going on with my legs! I need to tape them to his side or something. Poor pony.

We went clear with no time faults so ended up 13th overall. SUPER happy with this result. Shame about the SJ time faults but never mind - whats done is done. Kind of gutted that the season is all but over!

Sorry loads of photos!

Busy Weekend

Had a very busy weekend - had a jumping lesson with Jaime on Saturday then went to Greenhithe Show X day on Sunday. We are both pretty tired today!

Lesson with Jaime was good. We warmed up over trot poles making sure I kept him straight etc. Then just did a small x on a 20m circle and again correcting him when he started to drift.

I was pleased that Jaime saw a big difference from last week as we have been working really hard to get this habit knocked on the head so very happy with that.

We then did loads of grid work with me trying to keep my upper body super still. That was quite hard for me but the difference once I really concentrated was amazing. One thing I can say are my legs are HEAPS better. Yay.

Once we got the grid sussed we then worked on our canter down to an oxer. Pretty proud to say we got the right spot every time :) Super super happy with that.

No photos from the lesson as it was videoed for me to see the difference in my riding etc.

So off to Greenhithe we went on Sunday. I entered the 85cm and was thinking of doing the 95 if things went well.

When they were setting up the double they could not figure out the striding at all so I got myself into a complete tizz about it - it was either going to be a hugely long one or a short two so I thought I would go for the short two.

Did the first three jumps nicely and then came round to the double. I just didn't ride him & dropped him into it so he stopped. He came round the second time & did it nicely but the striding was way off so the second jump was not pretty. Then did the last & went out onto the XC course.

He absolutely stormed round that - I was a bit worried about the last fence as it was rather ugly but we got the right spot & he flew over it. Yay! Back into the SJ ring and we dropped the rail on the first fence.

Although we had a stop I was very happy with him as I know why it happened. I honestly believe that if the striding had been right I would have had no issues with it at all.

I decided to try the Training class. Our warm up was very unusual as he felt SO tired. I guess three lessons in 7 days has taken it out of him. First three jumps were fine - I came round to the double, he stopped and I just went past it then. I was not feeling confident enough and it was all just training to me & I don't care that we eliminated ourselves at all!

So the first xc jump was nice but Cobs was too busy paying attention to something far more interesting so did a hideous jump over that. I cantered past the second fence as it was HUGE & went to do the sunken road. Jumped in nicely, out great, lovely forward canter to do the jump out and then WHACK. He flew straight into the jump & I fell off and landed on my feet! I have no idea what happened - we have photos of us coming out of the sunken road & everything looked good? Who knows.

Anyway I jumped back on, went round and did the pre-training sunken road and then galloped over a little intro jump just to get our rhythm back. The last jump scared the beejesus out of me but I thought what the hell, already fallen off LOL! He absolutely FLEW it - I was so stoked with him!! I then stopped as I thought that was the best note to finish on. Definitely the biggest jump we have done XC and he did it absolutely super!

So yeah - mixed day. I have to remember that it was our first XC since December/January and not to loose too much confidence over things. I am gutted that I let myself get psyched out about the double but its too late now to do anything about it! I am pretty proud of myself for even giving Training a go. Although we only did a few jumps its still a start.

85 round

Training Round

Lesson with Liz 15th April

I booked a lesson in with Liz to see if we could possibly try to work on my straightness issues before I have another lesson with Jaime.

I have been doing a lot of work with him this week so I really hope there is a difference this weekend when we jump again.

Lesson with Liz was fantastic - started off on the lunge etc again to see what I was doing & the effect it had etc. Then once the lunge came off we did LOADS of squares in every pace. By the end of it we were doing pretty well. My left shoulder is the main issue - I keep bringing it forward which twists everything else out of place.

I am getting rather frustrated that I know what I am doing wrong & how to fix it however I need someone constantly reminding me to change it. GRRR. Fingers crossed it will become a GOOD habit soon and we can actually move onto other things LOL

Cobs was a freakin star tonight - first lesson with spurs and he was great with him. He was so tolerant of me changing things the whole lesson. Couldn't have asked for more from him.

Not many photos as my camera has died (sob).

Lesson with Jaime

Went up to Jaimes for our first lesson with her since January. Cobs was actually pretty damn good so stoked with him.

Unfortunately all our bad habits have come back to play. Cobs has this hideous habit of when he is mid-air he veers left. I feel I am taking off in the middle of the jump however every time we land we are landing left.

As my left side is painted on I guess I am just not strong enough to catch this and fix it. This is why we have so many issues in combinations as he isn't straight and then our striding is wrong for the second part of the element.

We worked on that HEAPS and eventually got it. Although once I got that sorted my canter had gone backwards again as I was concentrating too much on getting things straight. Sometimes having a lesson makes you feel like you don't know a bloody thing!

Jaime hopped on and worked Cobs for me to see if it was me causing the left side issue - unfortunately this was confirmed LOL! She also jumped him and was surprised at how quickly he went from being straight to diving left. She worked him through it though and has given me heaps of exercises to try and get this issue sorted out.

I love watching people ride him - he went so nicely for her. Now I know he can go like that WATCH OUT COBS LOL!!

Woodhill Sands Dressage 4th April

Finally I found a competion to do! Unfortunately I have only ridden twice this week as have been struck down with a hideous stomach bug so we were not prepared but I was determined to give it a go.

We did tests 2.1 & 2.3 so nothing too hard in them.

Cobs was SO unsettled in the warm up - took a while to work through & eventually kind of relaxed. Our tests were always going to be tense & the first one was no prize winning test!

He leapt around and shied at things etc - normal bring back into work, haven't been out for ages crap. I made a course error as well which didn't help our dismal % but never mind!

The second test was a little better - I was pretty exhausted by the end of it though so I didn't have the strength to push him on when he needed it.

Its his first dressage test since middle of December so with that in mind & the fact we couldn't do anywhere near the amount of preperation I normally like he did quite well. I knew he was going to be a bit of an egg to take out again - maybe not as bad as he was but it was expected. Overall I am happy and thats all that matters :)

Lesson with Liz 27th March

Off to see Liz which was awesome - I can't wait to get into a routine of fortnightly lessons with her as we improve so much with her help.

Cobs was pretty good though - we haven't really gone backwards after our break so that was a relief. My position has gone to the pack which is pretty normal - decided I am going to buy a new dressage saddle and that will fix all my problems (tui advert anyone??!!)

I have entered the next Woodhill Dressage day so we just did some movements out of the tests. Our canter is pretty hairy so not sure how we will fudge the tests but we have to start somewhere again.

Cobs tried hard but got a bit pissy with having to do some proper work so threw a few tricks in (see photo below) - normal stuff for him but doesn't make it any less frustrating.

Unfortunately I have been sick since this lesson and our dressage is in two days - not sure if I will manage both tests but we will go down there & give it a go. Bad timing!