26 October 2008

Waikato Show Hunter 26th October

I luff my pony!!
Took him down to our first registered Show Hunter outing of the season. Left horribly early in the morning, we were picked up from the paddock at 5.15 as the weather was completely disgusting and we wanted to get there early to try & get a good park. Got there early & decided to change my entry. Had originally entered 2x open hunter 1m classes, open hunter 1.05m & 1.10m high points class. Changed from 1 of the 1m classes to 90cm so that I could have an easier first class. Quickly plaited up in the rain as had gone from the 5th class to the 2nd, not giving myself a lot of time to get ready. It stopped raining as I got on thankfully and we headed off.

The 90cm class was very interesting. Normally Flynn's first class at Show Hunter is spent reminding him that neutral coloured fences are not to be galloped at like XC fences... however not this time... He started off absolutely perfectly, had a beautiful steady uphill canter going, took off each time really nicely in the right spot etc, until we came into the 5 stride line, at which point he tried to take off with me into it. Asked him to slow down but there was nobody home. I sat up after the first jump and gave him the biggest half halt I could, which effectively sat him on his ass & then let him forward again. End result was 6 strides in a 5 stride line. He did however land after the second fence and continued on like an angel, no more rushing and listened very nicely. We got a score of 70% (14th place) so very happy with that effort except for the middle, such a shame!

Took him back to the float and untacked him. Just got his waterproof cover on when it started hailing. Mmmm, lovely weather! Hid in the float for a while before heading over to the ring to watch Lynette. After 4 seasons passed in the next hour, it was time to get ready for the 1m class. Of course it absolutely poured down as I got ready, but again stopped when I got on.

The 1m class was very rushy the whole way round and a bit disunited after he decided he couldn't possibly finish his flying change with all 4 legs going in the same direction, but he jumped very nicely, getting a score of 72.5 & 8th place.

The 1.05m class was much nicer, he was listening a lot better, less rushy & more settled. However unfortunately I bought him back to trot in our warm up circle which gave us the obligatory 65% score. Stupid mother!!

Then whilst warming up for the last class we had everything. Hail, thunder and pouring rain. Thankfully it stopped after 15 minutes, but it was certainly very uncomfortable for a little while there!! Also thankfully the SH group were wonderful and kept moving the jumps sideways every few classes so that when you went in you weren't having to deal with horribly pugged up take offs.

The 1.10m high points class made the whole day worthwhile though. He jumped nicely, was lovely & consistent in the middle & was just generally a very nice ride. What was even nicer, was that we got placed! We got 5th, on a score of 77.5%, which earnt us 1 point. What a luffly clever pony he was! And another plus is that he didn't drop a rail in any of the classes, despite the heavy conditions, so I think its safe to say his muscles are fixed!

Photos by Take The Moment - www.takethemoment.co.nz



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