deltawave
Jul. 5, 2009, 11:36 AM
So off we went to South Farm for this year's "for real" attempt at Training level. We did one unrecognized and one recognized last year--both on the easy side, decidedly. This was the real thing, and I haven't had butterflies like this since the night before my first attempt at Prelim with Gwen. And even then I knew SHE could handle it even if I couldn't! :lol:
The XC seemed big, and I wasn't the only one saying that. :D Fences 1, 5, 10, 13/14 and 19/20 were easy, the rest required either a careful ride or a big jumping effort, or were light/dark questions. All very fair, but I knew Bonnie had never seen or done anything like that course so I was freaking out.
In particular, fence 2 was a tricky light/dark fence, 3 and 4 were very vertical stone walls, #6 was a log drop into water, 3 strides to a bank out on an angle. She's schooled both, but never had to string both together. Fences 8 and 9 were a double of BIG (probably very close to maximum) tables on a bending line, 3 strides apart. You COULD do 8, pull around and do 9 separately, but there were 2 Prelim jumps nearby making the line of vision a little confusing. If anything rattles Bonnie, it's a cluttered pile of jumps all together and near one another. Number 11 was a half coffin in a DARK section of woods, not a wide ditch but DEEP and then there was another up-bank/log-drop (one stride this time) followed by a very tall rolltop, then the last couple.
I figured it would take us to fence 7 to know if Bonnie was up to it. Sure enough, by then she was rolling. :D She was all gawky at #2 (the light/dark) and I should've kept THAT in mind later, but she did well at 3, adding a stride at a very upright wall but still jumping it well (a new and badly needed indication of good XC thinking on her part, not to mention the long-awaited development of a little scope and cleverness for my short-legged, downhill mare!) :lol: She jumped 4, which had a little downhill landing, nice and big and bold, then wanted to start rolling. Problem was, we had the water coming up. It worried her, she slithered, but she jumped down CAREFULLY (yay Bonnie! no leaping!) then carefully wiggled her way up and out, made a bid for the Prelim skinny :D and then once that was over she relaxed and started just cantering along, happy. :)
Seven was an easy one, then the FREAKING TERRIFYING double of big tables, which had kept me up half the night before. :eek: I gotta tell you, the way she jumped those was worth the whole entry fee, the whole trip, everything. She was PERFECT. :D :D :D Saw the jumps, shrugged her shoulders, and NAILED them. I think I had tears in my eyes, she was so brave and honest. She does not care about "big", even though I do. :)
Alas, we didn't get to finish the course--the half coffin in the deep woods got us. We cantered into the woods, she was nice and round and "up" and everything, and she just did NOT see the ditch at all, I don't think. It was another cluttery area with Prelim jumps off to the side, lots of trees, and people, plus the darkness. She saw the "B" log after the ditch and had her eyes on that--but at the very last moment I think she saw the ditch and it spooked her BIG TIME. She's never stopped at ditches but will sometimes launch a big one over them. This is I think the first time she's stopped at one--and she came pretty close to slipping into it, as close as she was. :eek: She really was rattled, wheeled hard left and I popped off her and landed on my feet. DANG! I know if I could've stayed on she would have jumped it because by then she'd seen it, and we could have finished. But I'm OK with the rule change, even though it "got us". :)
My only regret is not getting to try the banks and the big rolltop. She hasn't seen any light/dark stuff before, so I now have to figure out a way to school that sort of thing in a non-competition setting. In our typical glacial progress, we're still not "legit" at this level but given how she handled those big tables and how smart she is getting about handling herself, I think we're still contenders. :lol: I sure do envy those who skip up the levels without batting an eye. God help me, I am not one of them. :D
Off to find some shadows. :lol:
The XC seemed big, and I wasn't the only one saying that. :D Fences 1, 5, 10, 13/14 and 19/20 were easy, the rest required either a careful ride or a big jumping effort, or were light/dark questions. All very fair, but I knew Bonnie had never seen or done anything like that course so I was freaking out.
In particular, fence 2 was a tricky light/dark fence, 3 and 4 were very vertical stone walls, #6 was a log drop into water, 3 strides to a bank out on an angle. She's schooled both, but never had to string both together. Fences 8 and 9 were a double of BIG (probably very close to maximum) tables on a bending line, 3 strides apart. You COULD do 8, pull around and do 9 separately, but there were 2 Prelim jumps nearby making the line of vision a little confusing. If anything rattles Bonnie, it's a cluttered pile of jumps all together and near one another. Number 11 was a half coffin in a DARK section of woods, not a wide ditch but DEEP and then there was another up-bank/log-drop (one stride this time) followed by a very tall rolltop, then the last couple.
I figured it would take us to fence 7 to know if Bonnie was up to it. Sure enough, by then she was rolling. :D She was all gawky at #2 (the light/dark) and I should've kept THAT in mind later, but she did well at 3, adding a stride at a very upright wall but still jumping it well (a new and badly needed indication of good XC thinking on her part, not to mention the long-awaited development of a little scope and cleverness for my short-legged, downhill mare!) :lol: She jumped 4, which had a little downhill landing, nice and big and bold, then wanted to start rolling. Problem was, we had the water coming up. It worried her, she slithered, but she jumped down CAREFULLY (yay Bonnie! no leaping!) then carefully wiggled her way up and out, made a bid for the Prelim skinny :D and then once that was over she relaxed and started just cantering along, happy. :)
Seven was an easy one, then the FREAKING TERRIFYING double of big tables, which had kept me up half the night before. :eek: I gotta tell you, the way she jumped those was worth the whole entry fee, the whole trip, everything. She was PERFECT. :D :D :D Saw the jumps, shrugged her shoulders, and NAILED them. I think I had tears in my eyes, she was so brave and honest. She does not care about "big", even though I do. :)
Alas, we didn't get to finish the course--the half coffin in the deep woods got us. We cantered into the woods, she was nice and round and "up" and everything, and she just did NOT see the ditch at all, I don't think. It was another cluttery area with Prelim jumps off to the side, lots of trees, and people, plus the darkness. She saw the "B" log after the ditch and had her eyes on that--but at the very last moment I think she saw the ditch and it spooked her BIG TIME. She's never stopped at ditches but will sometimes launch a big one over them. This is I think the first time she's stopped at one--and she came pretty close to slipping into it, as close as she was. :eek: She really was rattled, wheeled hard left and I popped off her and landed on my feet. DANG! I know if I could've stayed on she would have jumped it because by then she'd seen it, and we could have finished. But I'm OK with the rule change, even though it "got us". :)
My only regret is not getting to try the banks and the big rolltop. She hasn't seen any light/dark stuff before, so I now have to figure out a way to school that sort of thing in a non-competition setting. In our typical glacial progress, we're still not "legit" at this level but given how she handled those big tables and how smart she is getting about handling herself, I think we're still contenders. :lol: I sure do envy those who skip up the levels without batting an eye. God help me, I am not one of them. :D
Off to find some shadows. :lol: