Cobs warmed up nicely for his dressage. The arena was over the other side so luckily we didn't have too many horses warming up round us. We went to go into the arena & he got very tense but then settled down again. The test was okay - could have been more forward however I wanted to keep in sane so didn't push it. He went above the bit a few times which is unusual so I must put some extra work into our flatwork as I haven't really done much of late.
The night before the Dressage/SJ it had rained A LOT and the SJ was on the grass so I was a little nervous at doing our first 95cm round on the grass. Although it has sand underneath it was still a little slippery in some places.
Fair to say that I well & truly stuffed up the SJ......the course was actually really nice & I wasn't worried about anything...First jump was awesome then I started to crush the canter a bit so he trotted into the second. He then went on the wrong leg coming out of that jump so I brought him back to a trot to change leads, he did a funny leap thing and I lost total concentration for the third jump and just sat there. Cobs bless his heart jumped it from a stand still but it was an oxer so he took the jump with him. Poor boy. Then the double was next & I got rattled so he jumped huge over the first and then ducked out at part B. Came round & did it again and we did not but not nicely....rest of the course was okay but my riding had gone to defensive mode so it wasn't pretty. Then the last jump was an oxer and I saw a long stride so pushed him for that and he took the back rail.
So very disappointed in myself for being a dick and losing it. The height of the jumps didn't scare me though so that is good I guess.
Went and walked the xc course & for our first training I thought it was a good course with different things we hadn't seen before.
The first question (for me) was number 5 which was a ramp back into the main arenas. That is where most people stand so the horses tend to get a bit distracted so knew that would be a challenge. Also the landing was quite a drop too and as Cobs bucks on landing sometimes I was wary of that! Coming into it I rode him into it from a fair distance away & he jumped it really nicely. He did however buck about 20 metres after it & scooted away LOL!
The first combination was a ramp, corner onto an oxer jump made of broken trot poles. I trotted into the ramp so he could have a look at the corner - I know he can do this sort of thing from a trot so it didn't bother me. He did it really nicely & cantered away to the oxer. Did another nice log jump & then had to jump a ditch. Like normal he leapt over it but did it nicely. The next fence was a wide quite flat jump - we have done it before but for whatever reason he decided he didn't really like it this time so stopped at it. I think I had probably stopped riding him as we had just done the combination!!
Then up over a few more jumps and onto the hill. Jump 18 was a narrow horseshoe type jump with a ground rail which was a fair way out. I hated it on sight & had already decided to go round it. As I jumped 17 all I could hear was my friends/parents yelling JUST GO FOR IT so tried to do it. Amazingly we got over it from a trot!!! It was by far the ugliest jump we have ever jumped so pretty proud of him. I was also worried about the last jump but we completely nailed it and no-one got a photo LOL!!
So all in all I am absolutely over the moon about our first attempt at this level. SJ is always going to be my weakest point & I am going to go out & try & do some SJ shows to get lots of practice in. Cobs was freakin awesome over the XC and tried his heart out.
I have been told by a few people that I should have pushed for time, done this & that but to be honest I am STOKED with how we went. I am not competitive - this is just fun. Five months ago I didn't think I would be riding this horse again let alone attempting our first Training run! At the end of the day as long as I am happy that should be enough for anyone who has an opinion. Although I shouldn't have to explain myself the weekend was a huge one of "firsts" for us - first round of 95cm, first time we have done round that height without doing a smaller round first & definitely the first time we have done XC jumps like this!!!!
I adore my pony & it makes me a little upset that some people just can't accept that I had an awesome time even though the scoreboard doesn't reflect it! Hey we didn't get eliminated!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtlMbk_g5H8
