29 January 2009

Pointways ODE - Pre Training!

Did all the practising & downgrading pay off? Yes it did!

Took Flynn to Pointways for the ODE & decided to be brave & enter Pre Training.
The dressage was a disaster as he hadn't been ridden all week & was feeling more than a little "energetic"... We jogged in the walk, trotted too early & cantered in the 20m circle when we were supposed to only be trotting. We still managed reasonably ok marks though as the arena craft was pretty accurate & definitely helped by our 8 for the entry & centreline! Beautiful photos from Kate @ Geegee Photography. I have even just bought my first dressage photo!


Show Jumping was very difficult, you had to come down one line, pull on the handbrake, do a wheelie & then go back up next to that line in the other direction. We went clear, which I was very happy with as it was slippery & he has no back shoes. I just kept thinking "Show Hunter lines, Show Hunter lines!!" while I was going around the course, which definitely helped.

The Cross Country was great, he warmed up nicely, stood quietly in the start box & then slowly cantered up the hill. The only jump he really, really looked at was a white fence stuffed with fresh leafy tree branches, but after a bit of encouragement from 10 strides out, he actually jumped it really nicely. He jumped into the water jump from a canter with only the slightest hesitation, then straight over the trakhener & up the hill. The corner was decorated with more shrubbery on each side, making it quite a narrow space to jump through, but he just lined it up & went for it.

I have to admit I was quite surprised that he crossed the finish line & wasn't even as hot/sweaty as I thought he'd be. I had expected a bit of heavy breathing & white lather due to the steep hill & horrible stinking hot day, but nope, just a patch of sweat on his neck & that was it. Interestingly enough, I think he's fitter than I give him credit for. Whilst I was walking back from the finish line, I saw 2 different people fall off at the water and a few others have stops, so am even more proud that he jumped straight in, as the water is quite small & relatively well known for getting a few stops...

The dressage score had put us about 11th, and the clear Show Jumping and Cross Country put us into 3rd, so very proud of my pony!!

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