My Pearly!!!

Intro at Rackham today on Pearl!

It was lovely to have Jill back from Canada, she very kindly took us again, as the lorry still is not ready!

Well as usual it started off interesting: Our dressage, normally Pearl's best phase turned out as a 40! I have a whole bunch of 4's on my sheet, because she bronked and bucked her way through the test, and all I could do was laugh, unfortunately we were right next to the cross country which explains some the exuberance, but it was the best I felt her move (when she stopped messing around).

The show jumping - well this past week I have tried to work out why she gets so stressed and why she rushes, so all week I have thought over and over it, it took one morning before school whilst eating my breakfast reading "Horse and Hound" and I spied an article about when Lucinda Green rode Nicola Wilson's Opposition Buzz. She explained that he has his own technique and that's just how he is. Not until later on that evening I was thinking about that article and Pearl, that's when it hit me like a big red bus! Pearl has her own technique, ride her how she wants to be ridden. Getting hit my a big red bus was the best thing that has happened, it was the best round she has ever done today. I have never felt her use her back like she did today, it felt like we did it in slow motion. She did have the planks down but that was just because we were slightly far off it but she didn't freak, she just straight away waited for my instruction, she was perfect and to top it off she did the most confident and bold cross country I have ever felt from her, doing a beautiful clear round inside the time!!!

I am chuffed with the little mare for once I actually felt what she will be like, its all so exciting! Know doubt she will be going back a few steps in the near future but you have to take the good with the bad!! 

Longleat International Horse Trials

Longleat International Horse Trials, a set on Flickr.

All that way just for a dressage test!

Longleat

Well what an adventure!

The Govers very kindly let us borrow their lorry because ours is not quite done yet. So Saturday morning we started making tracks at about 9.30 to Longleat in torrential rain. We arrived to see knee deep mud and tractors pulling tractors pulling lorries in and out! Due to some skillful driving on Dad's part we managed to get in without getting pulled in.

I walked the xc course it looked like such a good course and the people who rode it said it flowed really nicely, even though the ground was wet and boggy.

I did my dressage in mud and torrential rain, with very noisy sea lions behind me, which was interesting! It was the first test I have done wholly in sitting trot and after really getting my dressage in rising trot, I have to start all over again in sitting and develop that feel for when she is to long and really getting her back end underneath me. I did however have a blonde moment and I thought I was meant to do a medium trot but I was in fact meant to do leg yielding. As soon as I went across the diagonal I new I had gone wrong! Hey ho first time for everything, so it would have been a 33 but it turned out as a 35 because of the the 2 marks penalty as I went wrong but apart from that I was overall quite pleased.

After having a good look at the show jumping we decided that if it was not right to run when I was in there then I would retire but I had planned my routes to try and avoid the slippery bits, BUT as things go there was no need, the whole thing got cancelled because it was way to dangerous to carry on which was disappointing but in the end it was for the best and the safest option, so we packed up and got towed out.

But of course that wasnt just the end there is never a dull moment with the Unlucky Uptons a bolt from the gear box had come off leaving us with only 5th gear and stuck on a hill of a slip road but somehow my lorry driver who I have officailly employed (my father) did a very swift maneuver and managed to get us up the rest of the the hill gosh nows how and into a petrol station where we sat for 2 hours for the breakdown people to come. So over all it was a very adventurous day, we got home at 10pm!

Catch up........

Sorry I haven't written much lately, end of year exams, GSCE and modules all going on in the last month! One more to go next week.

Longleat International tomorrow. 3 and half hours drive and weather going to be awful, but still looking forward to it. (I am officially mad). I practiced the test tonight on Jake while the rain came down in sheets, so hopefully I will remember it. Our lorry is nearly mended but not quite so we have borrowed the Gover's lorry, which should be a bit more comfortable in the rain than a car and trailer!

Will update you with the soggy highs and lows after Longleat.

Film editing will not go down as one of mine and Mum's strong points!

Spent the whole day trying to work out how to edit video clips so I could do the Dodson and Horrell / Horse and Hound Bursary. Finally finished, I gave it my best shot.

Borde Hill

Best dressage!!!!! I think all that dressage without stirrups has really helped me, Stella and I scoring  a 31.5, I was even more chuffed with this because I had learnt the wrong test and had to learn the right one on the way, never dull moment!
Show jumping has been a mission, in practice Estella has decided to turn very green on me and spook at absoultely everything which has meant some very sticky jumps and my hunting seat has been required much more then I would like, so with this in mind I booked a lesson with good old uncle Ken the day before Borde Hill and we worked on both Stella and me. We came to the conclusion that she is green but to help her I need to be less stiff and loosen my reins and just relax and I need to stop seeing the stride.
So with this all fresh in mind I did my show jumping at Borde Hill and the first 5 went very well and we then got to the start of the triple which was an oxer but we got way to deep which ment Estella couldn't get the stretch for the back rail so we took that down and cleared the next two a little sticky but clear. Normally after Stella has knocked one she will not touch a thing and be extra careful but we think what happened was she over reached and this meant she didnt pick up that front leg quickly or snappy enough and then procceeded  to knock 2 more. When we looked back on the video that my dad took, we were on the correct stride ect, but we can see she took a knock on that front leg before.
We procceeded to the Cross Country which was causing a few problems at the tricky combinations they threw in near the end but I was determind I wasnt going to take any alternatives and I was going to take all straight routes even The Brush to The Corner on a downhill slope and I tell you what, I have never walked a fence so many times and talked to so many people about the combination. I collected as much information about it as possible to then added what I thought I should do. I visualised the feeling and the exact striding and not only did we go clear we nailed the line in that combination it was the best feeling I have ever had!
But we did get quite a few time penalties XC, I expected that as it is not a galloping course and Stella is slow through the air over the jumps and 12 faults show jumping but oh well we got best dressage and I had a fantastic Cross Country ride!