So in preparation for our first BE90 we had three training session this week. The first was on Tuesday night, Arena Eventing with Les Smith.
It was held at Rockrose who have even more new XC jumps if that’s possible. We were in a group with two other riders who were competing at BE100 so it was nice to be challenged. We jumped lots of complicated lines and Corky took it all in his stride. Les said I need to work on getting a bit more canter, but no more speed coming into the jumps. As Corky got into it more we definitely got more canter, but also more speed. It was the most advanced lesson I’d had in a while – I was very impressed that we managed all of the exercises but it did give me a lot to think about.
On Wed we had our regular flatwork lesson at home with Aimee and our breakthrough from last week with the canter continued. Corky can finally canter round on the bit working from behind – it may sound like a baby step but it’s a massive step for us. I think another 3-4 weeks working on it and we may have working canter sorted! Aimee had us run through the DR test for EV and gave me a few things to practice in our last on Saturday.
Yesterday I took the day off work and we headed over to Lindores for a XC lesson with Diana Zajda which was so helpful. Diana immediately explained why Corky was chipping in to so many jumps – I was releasing my contact 2-3 strides out and basically not supporting him at all in front of the jump. The minute she got me to ride him from leg to hand and to keep a steady contact over the jump the amount of chipping in decreased dramatically! We jumped a real mix of jumps – skinny’s, drops, corners, steps up, ditches (one corky cantered through!) and some deep water! Diana gave us some homework of working on our canter balance going downhill and said once we are more balanced we will be ready to move up a level.
All in all a successful few days – now for some chill time for both me and Corky before Eden on Sunday. May even open a bottle of wine tonight!
It was held at Rockrose who have even more new XC jumps if that’s possible. We were in a group with two other riders who were competing at BE100 so it was nice to be challenged. We jumped lots of complicated lines and Corky took it all in his stride. Les said I need to work on getting a bit more canter, but no more speed coming into the jumps. As Corky got into it more we definitely got more canter, but also more speed. It was the most advanced lesson I’d had in a while – I was very impressed that we managed all of the exercises but it did give me a lot to think about.
On Wed we had our regular flatwork lesson at home with Aimee and our breakthrough from last week with the canter continued. Corky can finally canter round on the bit working from behind – it may sound like a baby step but it’s a massive step for us. I think another 3-4 weeks working on it and we may have working canter sorted! Aimee had us run through the DR test for EV and gave me a few things to practice in our last on Saturday.
Yesterday I took the day off work and we headed over to Lindores for a XC lesson with Diana Zajda which was so helpful. Diana immediately explained why Corky was chipping in to so many jumps – I was releasing my contact 2-3 strides out and basically not supporting him at all in front of the jump. The minute she got me to ride him from leg to hand and to keep a steady contact over the jump the amount of chipping in decreased dramatically! We jumped a real mix of jumps – skinny’s, drops, corners, steps up, ditches (one corky cantered through!) and some deep water! Diana gave us some homework of working on our canter balance going downhill and said once we are more balanced we will be ready to move up a level.
All in all a successful few days – now for some chill time for both me and Corky before Eden on Sunday. May even open a bottle of wine tonight!
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