Well I have now finished my season, its been really mixed...
After Belton I decided Maddox needed some confidence building so we had an xc lesson with Lucy which I found really helpful. He then did a pony club ode at Buckminster where he scored the best dressage of the day 18.8!! The show jumping caused no end of trouble, he had 3 down and time faults (this was relatively good!!) then jumped beautifully round the xc our only mistake being he slipped coming out of the water so didnt make the distance to the fence.
I also took Bambi to do the combined training, he did a lovley dressage of 27.5 and had 1 down sj with a couple of time faults to finish 2nd!! Very pleased with him. The week before he had done a little ode (75cm max) and won it so improvement all round with him.
I then had 3 horses entered for Cranwell ode, a mare called Spooky for a client, she went very well to finish 2th with a double clear. Bambi did a 34 dressage, 1 down and stormed round the xc but unfortunately we were too fast so picked up about 14 time faults!! Maddox was next to go but as I started studding him up I noticed he had half pulled a front shoe off and with no farrier on site I put him away again.
Maddox was then entered for Shelford BE100, he jumped a beautiful double clear with a 30 dressage but picked up 6 time faults which cost us first place, we finished 6th. I then took Bambi and Spooky to the Pony Club at Shelford, Bambi did the Intro course, 33ish clear sj but then spooked near the water, he just didn't understand what was being asked and there was too much for him to look at, we picked up 60 penalties but jumped perfectly round the rest of the course. Spooky did a 33 dressage in the Pre-novice, had a silly stop sj but flew xc to finish 4th.
Both my horses were then entered for BE at Little Downham, Bambi was first in the BE90, 33 dressage, 1 fence down and clear xc to finish 4th, very pleased with him. Maddox did 29.5 dressage in the Novice but unfortunately it all went to pot, 1 stop sj and 3 down with time faults, xc he went well and jumped lovely but stopped at the coffin, same fence as last year grr!
Bambi went to Milton Keynes for his final BE90, a poor dressage score of 39.5 ( lots of very high scored), 4 faults sj and clear xc to finish just out side the top 10.
We had training with Lucy that week which was really good, working on turns and related distances.
I took Maddox to Catton park the following weekend, he did an awful test but managed to come out with 32, warming up for show jumping he was not at all happy, stopping a lot and jumping to the left so I withdrew him from the rest of the competition. I wasn't too sure what was goin on so gave him a light couple of weeks then took him back to Lucy to have a look and to get some advice. It was decided he wasn't right so he was booked into Oakham. I have had concerns about him this year and wasn't sure he was 100% but couldn't find anything. On examination the vet found very slight lameness in front which was so hard to see, and on being scanned we found a minor tendon injury, it looks like a strike injury which was likely to be done in the field. So Maddox's season was cut short, never mind, hopefully he will recover well and be out next year.
Bambi went to Eland lodge for his 1st BE100, he scored a 28 in the dressage and then double clear to win his section! I was most surprised but it was exactly the boast I needed after Maddox's bad news.
Poor Bambi then had to sub Maddox in the BE100 open at Buckminster, 37 dressage, 4 faults but clear xc, he had some time as I took the long route at the corner, I didn't feel he was quite ready for it, but he finished really well. Time for a short break for him.
He was then entered for Carlton but had a slight accident in the stable a few days before which resulted in a swollen knee and a quick trip to Oakham. He is fine and it was nothing more than some bruising and sweling.
2 more events left for Bambi, Shelford 31.5 and double clear left him in 2nd then Winkburn, 33 and again double clear left him in 4th. I am completely thrilled with how he has come on and matured this year. I am pleased to of ended his season on a good note with some fab results.
I have also been doing a bit with Jimy this summer (horse I broke 2 winters a go) he has done some dressage shows scoring 65%, he's done some unaffilated show jumping and is getting better everything. I took him to Wragby show to have a go at some showing, he finshed 3rd in Ridden Horse (he's not actually a ridden horse type) and we then entered him in the Working Hunter, the jumps were put quite big, ranging from 2ft6 to 3ft but he flew round and did a loevly individual show to win it!!
Maddox has been back to the vets, lots of improvement so was allowed to be turned out for 6-8 weeks, Bambi has joined him for a little holiday. I am hoping both horses will be out competing in December, Bambi BSJA and Maddox BD.
Thursday, 16 September 2010
Friday, 16 April 2010
A quick update on the boys progress so far this season.
Maddox competed at Lincolnshire in the Novice, he went lovely in his Dressage test and I think that was the best he'd ever gone at that level but only got a mark of 33.5, having looked at the scoreboards I think the whole section was harshly marked. He then produced a lovely show jump round just lowering one fence which he barely touched. Across country we had one silly run out at 4b, a narrow fence under the trees which was a bit spooky. I took a couple of long routes on him at difficult fences as he can be a bit sticky at his first couple of events, unfortunately I crossed my tracks at one of the long routes therefore collecting another 20 penalties.
Burnham Market was next, it always seems to take forever to get there and I think Maddox felt the journey, he came out for Dressage a bit flat and didn't go very well but still managed to get 33.5. I had a couple of hours before my show jumping so I fed Maddox and a new horse came out of the lorry raring to go, he jumped a beautiful clear round which I was delighted with as the ground was getting pretty deep. Cross country didn't go to plan, some how Maddox managed to forget how to jump at first fence and laid on it getting his foot stuck. It was then evident by fence 8 he wasn't comfortable so we pulled up. The next day he had a swelling between his front legs and was quite stiff, so he had some treatment and rest.
I had already done my entry to Belton so decided to take him for the Dressage and Show jumping, he produced an accurate test for 35.5, again I feel the judge was possibly marking a bit harshly. He then jumped a lovely round with just one down. His show jumping has improved so much recently, I have been changing how I ride him and it seems to be paying off. I withdrew from cross country as he had missed a whole week of work and lost some fitness.
Maddox is now going to have some quite time as I don't want him to burn out too soon from Eventing.
Bambi has been super, I have taken him for a couple of schooling sessions at Arena UK over show jumps, he jumped everything put in front on him. I also cross country schooled him, I am pleasantly surprised with how good he's been. I have also done 2 Hunter Trials with him, both went better than expected. I will now keep building on this and go to some different places schooling so he can see as much as possible. He has been entered for 2 unaffiliated ode's then depending on how they go I will look to get him registered and out to do some BE90 classes.
Maddox competed at Lincolnshire in the Novice, he went lovely in his Dressage test and I think that was the best he'd ever gone at that level but only got a mark of 33.5, having looked at the scoreboards I think the whole section was harshly marked. He then produced a lovely show jump round just lowering one fence which he barely touched. Across country we had one silly run out at 4b, a narrow fence under the trees which was a bit spooky. I took a couple of long routes on him at difficult fences as he can be a bit sticky at his first couple of events, unfortunately I crossed my tracks at one of the long routes therefore collecting another 20 penalties.
Burnham Market was next, it always seems to take forever to get there and I think Maddox felt the journey, he came out for Dressage a bit flat and didn't go very well but still managed to get 33.5. I had a couple of hours before my show jumping so I fed Maddox and a new horse came out of the lorry raring to go, he jumped a beautiful clear round which I was delighted with as the ground was getting pretty deep. Cross country didn't go to plan, some how Maddox managed to forget how to jump at first fence and laid on it getting his foot stuck. It was then evident by fence 8 he wasn't comfortable so we pulled up. The next day he had a swelling between his front legs and was quite stiff, so he had some treatment and rest.
I had already done my entry to Belton so decided to take him for the Dressage and Show jumping, he produced an accurate test for 35.5, again I feel the judge was possibly marking a bit harshly. He then jumped a lovely round with just one down. His show jumping has improved so much recently, I have been changing how I ride him and it seems to be paying off. I withdrew from cross country as he had missed a whole week of work and lost some fitness.
Maddox is now going to have some quite time as I don't want him to burn out too soon from Eventing.
Bambi has been super, I have taken him for a couple of schooling sessions at Arena UK over show jumps, he jumped everything put in front on him. I also cross country schooled him, I am pleasantly surprised with how good he's been. I have also done 2 Hunter Trials with him, both went better than expected. I will now keep building on this and go to some different places schooling so he can see as much as possible. He has been entered for 2 unaffiliated ode's then depending on how they go I will look to get him registered and out to do some BE90 classes.
Friday, 26 February 2010
Feb 2010
Some very good news to report, Maddox has been out doing some more affiliated Dressage and had won 5 out of 5 Novices and 2 out of 3 Elementary. He now has 32 points in just 5 outings. He will definitely be out doing more throughout the year, I think it will be very beneficial towards his Eventing. It will also give us the opportunity to get qualified for the Regional Finals and compete against some strong competition.
Bambi has also done some Dressage, only unaffiliated though but he was super, he is so much more focused and confident now, he scored 68% in his Prelim and 69% in Novice to win both classes. I also took him for a days hunting and he behaved beautifully and did everything asked of him including jumping some big dyke's!!
My plan with Maddox now is to get him cross country schooled and over a show jump course as his first Event is Lincoln on 20th March. I am still really excited about him and can't wait to get cracking this season, my main aim is to be competing successfully at Novice and to get qualified for the Regional Finals, then to upgrade to Intermediate and possibly aim for a 1* towards the end of the season.
Bambi is also going to be cross country schooled this spring and I am hoping to aim him at some Hunter Trials and unaffiliated one day events before affiliating him.
Monday, 11 January 2010
January 2010.
Well not quite the start to the year I had wanted. I had to have another operation on my shoulder at the beginning of December. So the horses had a short break, well Maddox only got 3 days off as I was determined to ride sling and all! Before the operation I took Maddox for a couple of days hunting which he loved, much to my surprise, he was very calm and sensible (very unlike him). I also took him to his first British Dressage competition where he won the novice with over 70% which I thought was incredible as he had done a full days hunting the day before and we went wrong in the test and lost 2 marks.
Other than that the snow has stopped play, so will hopefully cram as much work as possible into the few weeks left before the season starts.
Well not quite the start to the year I had wanted. I had to have another operation on my shoulder at the beginning of December. So the horses had a short break, well Maddox only got 3 days off as I was determined to ride sling and all! Before the operation I took Maddox for a couple of days hunting which he loved, much to my surprise, he was very calm and sensible (very unlike him). I also took him to his first British Dressage competition where he won the novice with over 70% which I thought was incredible as he had done a full days hunting the day before and we went wrong in the test and lost 2 marks.
Other than that the snow has stopped play, so will hopefully cram as much work as possible into the few weeks left before the season starts.
Since my last post I have been very busy with work, I had quite a lot on and was riding up to 8 per day!!
Right back to Maddox's competition, since our little blip at Buckminster he has been xc schooling again and I've been making him jump corners every day in the school. I then took him to Solihull where he performed well with a dressage of 32 then jumped double clear but unfortunately I hadn't realised the time was so tight and we came home with 6.8 time faults which left us in 8th place.
Then it was time for his first Novice at Winkburn, after a bit of a worrying start to the day when Maddox decided to run whilst I was tacking him up it luckily all improved. Joint 1st after the dressage on 32.5, 4 faults sj and clear xc with some time faults which I expected as I hadn't pushed him for the speed and took one long route. So made up with 15th place.
I took him for the BE100 Regional Finals at Cleobury, he again put in another good performance although I could feel him boredom in the simpler dressage test and hoped he wasn't going to do anything silly which thankfully he didn't and finished on our dressage score of 32 for 5th place!
We then went back to Novice for the last couple of events which weren't quite so successful, good dressage tests a 33 at Keysoe and finally a sub 30 at Little Downham, a rail down in both events in the sj. Xc had 2 stops on both tracks so we will be practicing hard over the winter.
Bambi has been out unaffiliated show jumping and is now jumping much better, not quite so big and cat like but with more control and class. He has also been doing a little bit of dressage and went to the summer championships that he qualified for at sheepgate where he finished 6th in the prelim.
Plans for the winter Maddox is going to have some quiet time but no holiday then will do some affiliated dressage and as much jumping as possible. Bambi lots and lots of hacking to increase his confidence and fitness.
Right back to Maddox's competition, since our little blip at Buckminster he has been xc schooling again and I've been making him jump corners every day in the school. I then took him to Solihull where he performed well with a dressage of 32 then jumped double clear but unfortunately I hadn't realised the time was so tight and we came home with 6.8 time faults which left us in 8th place.
Then it was time for his first Novice at Winkburn, after a bit of a worrying start to the day when Maddox decided to run whilst I was tacking him up it luckily all improved. Joint 1st after the dressage on 32.5, 4 faults sj and clear xc with some time faults which I expected as I hadn't pushed him for the speed and took one long route. So made up with 15th place.
I took him for the BE100 Regional Finals at Cleobury, he again put in another good performance although I could feel him boredom in the simpler dressage test and hoped he wasn't going to do anything silly which thankfully he didn't and finished on our dressage score of 32 for 5th place!
We then went back to Novice for the last couple of events which weren't quite so successful, good dressage tests a 33 at Keysoe and finally a sub 30 at Little Downham, a rail down in both events in the sj. Xc had 2 stops on both tracks so we will be practicing hard over the winter.
Bambi has been out unaffiliated show jumping and is now jumping much better, not quite so big and cat like but with more control and class. He has also been doing a little bit of dressage and went to the summer championships that he qualified for at sheepgate where he finished 6th in the prelim.
Plans for the winter Maddox is going to have some quiet time but no holiday then will do some affiliated dressage and as much jumping as possible. Bambi lots and lots of hacking to increase his confidence and fitness.
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