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Welcome to Amateur Equestrian Antics

I set up this blog up back in 2014 to share stories of my equestrian trials and tribulations. I had just started to event for the first time ever after a 10 year break from horses and wanted to document my journey for friends and family. 

​In that time I have achieved so much but still have so much further to go. 

I have been supported and sponsored by some fantastic friends, trainers and businesses in this time and I have a new dedicated section of the site to tell you more about them all. 

Find out more

Area Festival Virgin

7/9/2016

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This is a blog I never thought I would be writing – weekend away at a dressage comp!?!

Dressage (previously referred to only as stressage) used to be a means to an end – the only way to get to SJ and XC while eventing! The aim was to try not to embarrass ourselves too much and not to get eliminated so we could move onto the ‘fun bit’ – jumping!

I realised in the end to truly become competitive eventing I would need to embrace the dressage rather than shy away from it. What I didn’t realise was how addictive it could become!

Unlike the eventing, dressage is split into different sections depending on horse and rider experience. It means that as a bronze prelim rider, I will not be up against a rider with points at elementary, or a horse with over 50 points (I think!). It makes everything fairer, and gives less experienced riders a chance to be competitive. As we all know, at BE90 with people finishing on scores in the teens, it is not possible to be competitive for everyone. Riders who have been successful at a certain section in BD are forced to move to a higher section, but not to a more difficult riding level. I think there is a lot that BE could learn from this system.

I also have enjoyed the qualification process, collecting qualifying sheets over a certain score to progress to an Area Festival or Regional Qualifier. It gives you something to work towards which is achievable.

We went to our first Area Festival last weekend which was held at the Cabin Equestrian. We drove up on Friday afternoon,excluding a slight sat-nav error which resulted in a detour to the beach in Aberdeen, the trip was ok. On arrival Corky was super chilled and settled well into his stable. We were parked next to my instructor Karen which was great – lots of help on hand.

There was a lovely big indoor arena available to school on the Friday evening which was great. It was nice and quiet so we spent most of the session stretching and getting Corky relaxed.
There was an arena walk on Saturday morning which I admit; I didn’t know what it was! Turns out, you all mount and walk round the main area early in the morning before the competition started. It was quite a strange thing to watch – I think Corky thought he was going on a hack with lots of horses! It would have been great if I had Lucas who can be slightly spooky, but Corky was more interested in eating the flower than spooking at anything – brave boy that he is!

Next was our warm-up test. We were back in the indoor area to warm up, and again he was very relaxed and happy. I was extremely pleased with our test but we only scored a 65.5% which was slightly disappointing. For the Area Festival test it would not be the same judge so I put it to the back of my mind.

It turns out, for the main test there were actually three judges which I thought was great as sometimes it’s hard for Corky to shine against flashier horses, but with three judges they can view the test from different points in the school and I can show how correct and accurate we are. I think our test was actually the best test we have ever ridden; we were both relaxed and enjoyed it for a change too. We scored a 68.24% (scores from the different judges were: 65.8/68.3/70.6). It was interesting to see over 4% difference between judges scores but all of the comments were fairly consistent. We finished 5th out of 18 competitors narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Championships by 1.8% but I felt we rode our best test to date so couldn’t ask for more. We have another Area Festivals at the beginning of October so will be working hard to increase our scores. Corky is happy we also have two BE dates coming up at Dalston Green and Eden Valley so he can get his jumping fix!
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How to fit it all in.....

16/8/2016

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So I was asked today how do I fit it all in - a busy full time job, two horses at a DIY yard, riding, lessons, competitions, friends, sleep........

It got me thinking about how much you really can fit into a day if you want to!

I have come to the conclusion that horsey people are a rare breed, they can get up at the crack of dawn to muck out before work with a head torch on, work all day and still look forward to finishing up and head back to the yard to ride at 8pm at night. Don't get me wrong, we don't feel like that everyday but we still get on and do it anyway!

Going back to the question of how I fit it all in, I am a super planner. I could tell you what I have on almost every weekend for the rest of the year all going well. I also have an alternate plan as we all know things don't always go to plan with horses, lorries, weather, work commitments......

Everything goes in my google diary which I can access from my phone and at work. Once I make a plan, I do everything I can not to change it or back out. If I have a lesson booked after work I will leave work at 5 to rush to the lesson but then work again later on at home to finish things up. I use my google diary to set reminders for competition entries, qualifying dates etc so I never miss anything. My lunch breaks are full of doing entries, organising farrier appointments, dentist, physio for the horses. Online entries, feed ordering etc also makes things easier.

I also record what work/lessons each horse does online too. I have a set plan for both each week - mix of schooling, jumping and hacking as everyone does but I adapt it to how my day is going - if I am super stressed from work I will have a fun session rather than schooling as although I love competing, I have my horses for enjoyment and fun at the end of the day.

I guess being realistic is also important. Through the summer when I am eventing Corky, Lucas takes a bit of a back seat as keeping them both at a good level of fitness/training to compete isn't always possible time or money wise and I would rather have one going great than two going ok. Also knowing that if I am busy with work, long hours or traveling that the horses will not be ridden as much so therefore probably won't go as well competing. Recently I have been away a lot with work and Corky's dressage has taken a step back. I need to keep reminding myself that you can't do everything and as much as my horses are my passion - my job must come first over competing as it pays the bills!

Other tips/tricks which help me would be things like using a winter turn out rug which is breathable and they can also wear in their stables overnight to save time in the morning (and it's also the best way to dry them off on those wet winter days). I fill my hay nets for the week at the weekends if I can and also use one giant net each as they are quicker and easier to fill. I bought lovely thick stable mats which have paid for themselves by the reduced amount of shavings I need to now use. They also make the beds much quicker to muck-out. Through the winter I try not to stress about how fit the boys are. I ride at the weekends and then only 2 nights in the week if I am struggling for time. I also lock everything I need for lessons etc in a tack locker in my lorry so I'm ready to go as soon as I arrive at the yard. No packing required!

I also have two secret weapons....

1. I now no longer do my own turn out in the mornings and lovely Mary does it for me. It means I can get into the office a littler earlier in the hope I can leave a little earlier! Mary also looks after the boys when I'm traveling or busy with work. She had helped me for the last 3 years so the boys love and trust her which is great. She even keeps manes and tails tidy and helps me with show prep too.

2. I have a sharer who pays me to come up and ride Lucas 2/3 days a week. She is fantastic with Lucas, he loves the extra attention, it takes the pressure off me and helps pay the bills and cover the stable duties. win-win!

All in all I definitely an a very busy person, but with good planning, prep and help it's manageable and most importantly - fun!

I've added some clips and photos from Hendersyde BE to show how much fun it can be!
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Is this how it's meant to feel?

24/7/2016

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During a month off from eventing due to selling my flat and Eglinton being unfortunate abandoned, I have been working hard on our dressage.
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This weekend we finally we're off eventing again much to Corky's delight who has been desperate to get out galloping! We were traveling up to Perth for a new fixture at Forgendenny.

It was a nice easy drive up (only an hour north) and we were the last class of the day with times of DR 3pm, SJ 4pm and XC at 4.50pm.

On arrival it seemed to be a nicely laid-out event. Dressage off to the left hand side next to the lorry park, SJ, trade stands and secretaries/scorers tents over to the right and the XC up a hill out of the way.

Our dressage warm-up went well and I was looking forward to seeing how our scores on grass would compare to our BD scores on a surface. The test went well but still lots of room for improvement. We almost had a unplanned arena exit while trying to come back to trot from canter as Corks was really to hit the XC! We ended up joint 15th out of 40 after dressage scoring 33.3%. I know we can do better but it was a fair score for our test so I can't ask for more.
Moving onto the SJing which has not exactly gone to plan all season. We demolished an oxer in the warm up but worked through the issues and managed to jump it nicely before going in. The ground was a little churned up as we were jumping so late in the day but it fortunately didn't cause Corky any issues and we managed our first event clear round at BE90! Here is a video of our round. Big smiles all round. Bella almost stopped filming as she was so excited for us!
Is this how it's meant to feel?





Now the pressure was on as the XC is our most consistent phase as we have never picked up a XC fault. All I could think was 'please go clear and don't get lost so we can get our first foundation point!!'

I was using an optimum time watch for the first time so that added an extra level of complexity. I used the cross country app to walk the course and work out my minute markers. It was easy to use and extremely accurate.

Walking up to the XC warm-up Corky suddenly had a new swing in his step. We popped a couple of jumps and he felt extremely keen so we went straight out onto the course. I remembered to start my watch at the 10 second count down and we were off - Corky was on fire, flying round the first few fences and didn't drop his pace the whole way round. He made everything feel easy and you could tell he was loving it. He ate up the course only chipping in once and sliding over a fence. We hit every minute marked almost exactly but I got a little mixed up with the 5 minute beep and thought it was for the finish so pushed a bit too much at the end finishing 10 seconds under the time which cost us a placing. It didn't matter though as finally we had competed all three phases well!!!

Here ia a clip of Corky flying through the water.
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Back to basics

12/7/2016

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After seeing a vast improvement in our dressage through the winter, I couldn’t wait to get back out eventing and post some decent scores for a change. We have battled with our flatwork for the last few years so I felt great about starting to no longer feel mortified every time I walked up to check our scores.

It turns out this excitement was short lived! We posted terrible scores at our first two events of the year – all our old contact issues, poking nose comments came back and so too did the mortification! My dressage coach Karen got me to talk her through my warm-up and watched videos of our tests as she was baffled to what was going on. Our scores at pure dressage were decent enough, and our work at home was also nice. What was going on?

I think in hindsight it was a mix of me trying too hard, putting too much pressure on myself and then not actually riding well on the day because of the pressure, and associated disappointment! We were back to a dark place where neither of us wanted to do any dressage. I actually debated if it was worthwhile eventing this season, as in all honestly; I was only making up the numbers. Big thanks for my friend Bella for her help and encouragement at these first two events as I’m not sure I would have completed at Floors without her as my head was not in the game after the terrible dressage.

It felt like we had hit a brick wall so we decided to go right back to basics with our training - revisiting some basic schooling principles was the key to progression.

At home we had been working at novice level and starting to introduce some elementary movements. For BE90 it’s only a prelim level test so should surely have been easy?! We started to concentrate on the basics. We worked on use of the outside rein (which it turns out I had just stopped using?) and inside leg, lots of transitions and ensuring I was reacting quickly to soften my hands the minute things went well but also to fix things as soon as they didn’t!

After only a week of this drilling in the school things started to get easier and at our next event our scores really improved, I stopped over thinking and tried to ride soft and forward. It’s funny how a few good weeks can lift your spirits, build confidence and then actually allow to you to ride better.
My new mantra is “When you expect the worst in dressage and ride defensively, then the worst will happen!” I have also started to listen to music when practicing at home which keeps my spirits up. No one can ride defensively while singing along to Uptown Funk!

We are now a month on and things have steadily continued to get better. I have heard people talk about a positive mental attitude a lot and now finally understand what they mean. By riding positively and enjoying myself our scores have continued to improve – we have picked up qualifications for the PetPlan Area Festivals, Scottish Championships and the Celtic Dressage Championships. My qualifications are at bronze prelim which is the entry level at BD – previously I would have called it the bottom/lowest level, or said “it’s only prelim bronze” but with my new positive outlook I am now proud to tell people, it’s a great achievement for a combination who couldn’t even ride round an arena in any type of outline a few months ago.​

Moral of the blog is – stay positive, ask for help when you need it, and it’s never bad to take a step back help you move forward in the long run. It should be fun and when it stops being fun, you need to do something to make it fun again!
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Highs and lows at Floors

15/5/2016

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In preparation for our second event I booked in a dressage lesson and a show jumping lesson in the hopes of being better prepared than last week. I think I must have still been feeling a little disheartened after our poor DR at Kirrie and let it affect me in my lesson. Corky was playing up and I didn't seem to manage to sort things out as I normally can. I'd also been feeling quite overwhelmed by my schedule at work so generally wasn't in my normal positive frame of mind. Fortunately my trainer Karen sorted us out and we ended up doing some lovely work by the end of the lesson. The next night I tried to replicate the things we did in our lesson but was not quite as successful! The following night I had a jumping lesson booked with David. After an away day at work I was feeling much happier and relaxed which seemed to flow into my lesson. We worked on adding in an extra stride to set distances which helped to keep corky up and not speeding flat into the fences. He jumped really well which left me feeling super confident for the weekend.

So with some good lessons and lots of practice in the week, I felt nice and confident for the DR and SJ on Sat at Floors. I walked the XC on Fri evening after work and was left a little worried about some of the larger table style jumps, but in general the course looked great and was definitely more challenging than last year.

We arrived nice and early on Sat am - first one into the carpark! Feeling relaxed and happy we headed up to the DR. Corky started to warm up well, lots of nice relaxed stretching and he was soft when I picked him up. Unfortunately this was short lived and he then seemed to be super sharp after hearing another horse being hit with a schooling whip. He then would not settle back down, it was not the other riders fault at all, just the wee man being super sensitive as her horse didn't even seem to notice he had been hit! Sometime owning a sharp TB is not easy and definitely not one with a such a strong will like Corky. He would not settle down after that and we both got stressed out. Needless to say we rode a horrific head nodding test for 42.5 I felt like crying with frustration.

After a quick pep talk from Bella we headed to the SJ. Our warm-up went great, popping quietly over a few fences so I was very surprised and upset to then go in and take 3 poles. I won't lie - there were a few tears shed on the way back to the lorry to get ready for XC. Bella's job as groom then extended into counselor as well! She talked me off the ledge and sent me off to enjoy the XC and pull the day back for me and Corky!

​Boy she was right, he absolutely flew round the course, flying over the big galloping tables, coming back for the ditch, log, ditch combo which was causing lots of problems. The only issue we had was me and my poor sat nav!! Would you believe I got mixed up after fence 2 and thought there should be an extra one before 3 (I thought 3 was 4!!). Thankfully I realised and kicked on to 3 (double checking the number before actually jumping it!!). I have never got lost XC before but in hindsight I think it was a good think as we picked up time faults for 4 secs too slow. If we hadn't stopped looking for the mystery jump, we would definitely have been far too fast!
So it was a sack the horse and rider day. Highs, lows and lots of learns. Before going to Belsay in 3 weeks were are going to really knuckle down on out DR and SJ practicing on grass. Fingers crossed it helps!
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Finally - our first eventing of 2016

15/5/2016

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After a mix of cancellations and withdrawals we finally made it to our first British Eventing of the 2016 season this weekend! We spent a lovely sunny day at Kirriemuir which is about 2 hours north of Edinburgh.


Safe to say I wasn't as prepared as I was a month ago, Cork's has been off with a horrible infection in his fetlock caused by a self inflicted cut of all things. It meant 2 vet visits and lots of time off. He got the go ahead to compete on Tue so I managed a few hacks to start with and then a schooling session which all seemed to go well. I took Friday off work to head to a local arena to have a jump too. I'm still trying to find a bit I'm happy show jumping in - not sure the running gag is the right option but not sure what to try next? We worked through a grid to start and finished up with a little course. He seemed to have a great time and felt nice and fit.
We had lovely times on the Sat so not too early a start. Walking the SJ and XC everything looked great. The XC was very hilly and there was a section about half way round with two corners and then onto trekenner on a curved line I was a little worried about but we had the dressage to worry about first!

I was feeling excited and confident about the dressage after the good scores we had been getting lately. I think that was our downfall! The warm up was varied, a few mins of good work, then back to our old contact issues. I worked him for 40 mins as this is usually when he does his best work at home. Our test was disappointing but fairly scored for 37.5. I decided to put it down to excitement of our first event and move on.

Off we went to the SJ where we took 2 poles :-( Chipping into the third which was a one stride double so Corky tried to put in 2 strides. We then took the next fence too as were too fast out of the disastrous double! At least we know where the mistake came from and can work on it.
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By the time we got to the XC I was so nervous and Corky was so wild we just popped a couple of warm up jumps, which he flew over, and headed over to start. The first couple of jumps were quite small and up a hill so I thought they would get us into the swing of things and use up a little of Corky's excess energy. It worked thankfully and by fence 3 we were in a lovely flowing rhythm and that set the pace for the rest of the course. I can safely say it was the first XC rounds I had really enjoyed since my fall which was great. He flew round taking everything in his stride. The corner combination jumped great and apart from a sticky jump out of the water his round was flawless.
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All about Lucas

22/4/2016

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While we all await the start of the Scottish event season I have spent the last few weekends at British Show Jumping with Lucas. We made our first trip through to Muirmill equestrian last weekend and were back at Rockrose this weekend. We have been trying to collect our 85cm double clears to qualify for the second rounds later in the year. We have one already but have sadly taken one pole in each of our last few attempts. It was a beautiful day through the West at Muirmill so they ran the show in their lovely outdoor arena. We entered the 80 and the 85, which in hindsight might have not been a great idea. Just as at Morris the week previous, Lucas jumped a super double clear and was placed in a very busy 80 class. We then went back in for the 85 and had a pole again – he seems to get quite a bit stronger in the second round as he is feeling more confident. This weekend at Rockrose we took a different tack and just jumped the 85 and he was double clear! I’m not sure if that’s what made the difference but I’ll try going straight in at 85 at our next show.​
Corky has been ticking along nicely at home in preparation for the eventing at Dalkeith this coming weekend – but – as with horses nothing is ever straightforward. He came in on Monday evening with a puffy and cut hind leg. I actually think he managed to kick himself as the cut is on the inside. Fortunately he didn’t seem to be lame so with rest, bandaging and lots of lots of cold hosing by me and Mary he seems to be fine. As Dalkeith I only 15 minutes from my yard we are going to head over for our dressage and see how things go. I think he will be absolutely fine to run all three phases, but it he seems sore at all it’s just a quick trip home and back to the field. Fingers crossed!!
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All dressed up with no where to go!

12/4/2016

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So last weekend was possibly the best preparation for our first event of the season ever! Pity the Scottish weather wouldn't behave as well :-(

Corky and I made DB debut last Saturday - our poor dressage marks have pushed us out of the placings out eventing on many occasions so we have been working very hard. I am very competitive (with myself) so with a bit of encouragement from my instructor Karen, I signed up for BD and decided to really test and push myself when it comes to dressage. It’s hard when Corky is quite a naturally downhill TB and I’m a very forward rider lacking some of the dressage skills required but we have tried and tried to improve. We hit a point a few months ago when I was finally not mortified every time I waked up to check our scores – progress! This weekend saw another big step. After using my annual bonus to buy a proper dressage saddle I felt extremely motivated to go out to our first BD show. Corky has been trying so hard at home so I wanted to show off how far he had come. We headed to Rockrose to ride two prelims – after a lady shouted at my in the warm up to ‘always walk on the inside track only’ I was a bit put off but determined not to be intimidated. Our first test was probably just above average for us (scoring 63.5%) – it was outside next to where everyone was warming up. We still came in 2nd place but I wasn’t satisfied with our test as I knew we could do better. Our second test was indoors in the long arena. I’m not sure why but it went much better, Corky was lovely and relaxed working forward into the contact and we scored a whopping 68.4% - I was over the moon and Corky finally showed off what he can do. Also another second place! We went home happy with two qualifying sheets.
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The next day was the complete opposite really showing off Corky’s versatility. We headed up to Gleneagles for a run round their 90cm hunter trial course. The weather had been quite wet so the going was soft and slippy. As we have ridden round the course so many times I decided till to run but just to cruise round. That was easier said than done as Corky was extremely keen! He absolutely flew round the full course including a very confidence drop, skinny and step up then round to another drop to a ditch. Our only error was chipping into the last and clipping his front leg again. I think it was a mix of excitement and keenness to finish from both of us so a good lesson to learn – don’t lose concentration until you are through the finish line! I was so pleased with our run I thought we would definitely be placed. I ended up waiting almost 2 hours for the scores only to find out we were 30 seconds too fast – first time for everything!
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Either way I was pleased with our run and felt amazingly prepared for Forgendenny the following week – our first BE of the year. Unfortunately the Scottish weather had a differently idea and with the persistent rain we are all facing, meant the organisers having to abandon the event. Very sad for a new event but fortunately they are due to run again in July so we will definitely be there then.
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Back on track

4/4/2016

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I have spent the last two weeks building my confidence back up after my fall at Hendersyde. It’s funny how one fall can make such a dent in your confidence. I think it’s because it was on the XC course and could have been much worse than it was…..strange how your mind plays out ‘what could have happened’ and the picture gets worse each time!

Anyway – back to building confidence last weekend - I took Lucas to Rockrose and he popped round the 70 and 80 double clear. He made the 70 feel so easy I have decided to move him up again. It’s hard after spending so long bringing him back after his ligament injury and worrying his leg will not hold but after 2 and a half years I have to try. He is such a fabulous horse and he is loving being back out jumping, I need to give it a proper go.

On Sunday I took Corky to the arena eventing at the Royal Highland show ground. After some advice from Henny at the XC schooling I decided to try him in a running gag in an attempt to add in a bit of extra control while lifting him up, rather than letting him tuck his head in which is what happens If I put him in a universal, pelham or three ring gag. I found it quite hard to get the right balance in the warm up, he felt like he was backing off too much but the area was very small and there was a father/daughter warming up over huge jumps which didn’t help. I never understand why people want to jump so much bigger in the warm up than the actual class? We ended up having a lovely round – I could push him on and hardly needed to touch the reins the whole way round. Typically the only time I did mess with the contact (in front of a skinny double) we took the front pole. It didn’t matter though as I actually enjoyed jumping, the canter felt good so not awkward strides. The sun also came out which made riding in such a fabulous arena even better. The photos below are taken by Jim Crichton.
In the week I took Lucas to David Harland for our show jumping lesson – I told him I wanted to move things up a bit and David looked understandably dubious as I have been quite set on not jumping anything bigger than 80 so far. We worked on a grid which I have been practicing at home with raised poles so Lucas was quite settled. We ended up jumping down a grid with 105 as the last jump and it felt fabulous. To finish the lesson successfully we jumped round a course of 85/90. Lucas was on top form so I was excited to take him over to Morris on Sunday for the BS.

Before then saw me facing my XC fears again – we set off for Foresterseat early on Saturday morning through rain and high winds. I did have a moment when I thought ‘what the hell am I doing – I could still be at home in my cosy bed!’ but I’m glad I went. The course walked well, nice mix of jumps including a skinny double, drop into water, new chunky corner. I used the new bit again, channelled David G in my head (sit quietly 5 strides out and gently press – don’t push him out of his natural rhythm) and we flew round. I tried to keep the same rhythm, not chasing too much and not worrying about time. It turns out that this actually worked out well as we were close to the optimum (just over) and came in 4th! The hardest bit of the day was getting my lorry out of the field! I lovely chap in a tractor was having to tow everyone out – he got me to the top of the hill above the gate – said ‘whatever you do, don’t stop at the gate or you’ll get stuck again’…..so down to the gate I went and had to stop to let a car past. Stuck again – oops!
Typically the weather was much better for my indoor show jumping on Sunday! I headed through to Morris Equestrian with Lucas – first visit for us. We competed in the 80 and the 85. I am trying to pick up my 4 85 DCs to qualify for the second round for amateur champs. The 80 went fabulous – Lucas few round, we even managed to throw in a few jump off turns in come in first place – clever horse. The pressure obviously got the better of me in the 85 as we managed to take the second fence (second time that has happened!). I think I needed a bit more canter as once we get going we are fine, but I need to push on a bit more to start. Back to Rockrose in a few weeks to try again!
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It’s been 2 and a half years but I have finally fallen off Corky!

20/3/2016

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Although Cork’s can have a bit of an attitude schooling at times he had always been super safe jumping, always looking after me and trying no matter what. On Saturday we headed down to Hendersyde for a XC clinic with Charlotte Agnew – we ran clear round the BE90 course last year so I was keen to try some of the trickier combinations at BE100 level – well that didn’t happen!!

We kicked things off with some show jumping exercises working on the rhythm of the canter – collecting it back, and then opening it up. The ground was extremely soft which Corky didn’t seem to like but he was listening well, coming back and opening up when I asked so I wasn’t concerned. We then moved down onto the XC course and were asked to jump 5 jumps (all BE90 and didn’t look too tricky). The first two riders in my group didn’t seem to have any problems so off we went. The ground was deep so he was chipping in, probably as he was a bit unsure. He was jumping happily though so I was not worried. The first 4 fences were all uphill and away from the other horses, after the last fence we headed downhill in a big bowl, then turning back uphill towards the other horses. Corky flew up the hill too fast, took off for jump 5 which was a square box and managed to hit the front/top of the jump with him knee throwing him one way and me the other – POP went my air jacket and I hit the ground. It was the first time all day I was glad of the soft deep ground as it made for a comfortable landing! Corky managed to stay on his feet and galloped all the way back to the other horses leaving me to made the mud covered walk of shame back to the group.

Fortunately apart from a graze on his knee Corky seemed absolutely fine so we finished off the lesson jumping great. Dave Cameron kindly took the lovely photos below which really cheered me up. It was my first XC fall ever, and also my first fall from Corky too so I got quite a fright. I’m pleased we managed to carry on though and neither of us was hurt.
The following day we were due to compete at Duns Castle hunter trails – fortunately the fences were 2’6 max so I wasn’t too frightened to go. I’m glad we did as there were lots of friendly faces there competing which made me feel better. We had a great run round, Corky felt happy and bold – I was terrified for half of it but I’m sure that will pass with time. We have competed in over 20 XC events in the last 2 years and this was the only time he has hit a fence so I need to put it to be back of my mind and move on. We ended up being placed 5th so I was really pleased.

This weekend coming sees Lucas back out show jumping, and Corky arena eventing. Hopefully both events will help build up my confidence before we are out XC again the following week.
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