Having expressed my excitement for a weekend of Show jumping in my last post, it transpired that our show day didn’t start off the best way!
I woke up to strong winds across the garden, and prayed it was gentler near the yard…Nope! This made me a bit anxious as Bob is not good in the wind – in fact, he hates it! So there was me thinking up 101 reasons why we should not go to the show or that maybe I should take Autumn instead, when as I approached the field I found a very calm and content Bob (which I’m sure had nothing to do with his max strength calmer that he’s currently on).
Once everyone was fed and the field poo-picked, I got the horsebox out and went home to change. Still a bit doubtful as I got ready, I was about to change to taking Autumn when I thought, you know what, it’s got to be done at some time and we’ve worked hard towards it… so I dragged on my ‘big girl pants’ and took Bob!
The gang having a lovely afternoon in the field, with a magpie friend in tow.
Bob loaded and travelled well, he was a tad excitable tacking up but I remained calm (unlike my partner) and got him ready, walking him steadily in hand round the arena until he calmed. He was somewhat unsettled in the arena due to the wind and excitement of the other horses so all we did was walk and trot - I also walked him to a small cross pole and popped it a couple of times. Before I had a chance to talk myself out of it, we were off to the indoor arena for our turn.
Despite being a bit quick Bob listened and even trotted at times and I was absolutely delighted to come out with a clear round – woohoo! Unbeknown to me later my partner went to check the results – and came back with a bright red rosette, I was over the moon! We had the only clear and won it! Well at that point I felt I could sign myself up for Olympia but since that was a while away, I put my name down for the next class instead.
This time Bob was a bit more fired up but again, he still listened and managed another clear round – a record for him! There were a few cheeky moments in the arena which cost us some time, but we still came away with a 5th! I had lovely comments from spectators and competitors alike whom recognised us, not to mention a lovely comment from the judge at the end of the first class saying how much progress we had made and how he looked like a different horse – she kept her eyes peeled this time as the last time Bob was a little bit quick and she didn’t dare look ha!
I am so incredibly pleased with his progress, and he’s off to the charity show where I sponsor two SJ classes this bank holiday Monday too, so let’s see if we get another red rosey or even better one of my shields back!
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Once again I threw Arlo in at the deep end, affiliating him purely for the Arena UK second round show, and once again he pulled it out the bag. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful little horse? We haven’t really competed this year. I don’t really compete over the winter, and also my horsebox was away for repairs up until the beginning of June, so I had no transport even if I’d wanted to.
With the dry ground we don’t seem to be having much luck with shoes, as little madam managed to pull both her front shoes off within 12 hours the other day! We entered the arena with two shoes on for a schooling session and left it with one missing (took about an hour to find it). Then that afternoon, as I went to put some hoof ointment on, I looked down and had to double take, thinking I was looking at the wrong hoof. But, no, the other shoe was missing too.
After having a long wait and some lunch at the onsite café, it was time to get ready for the Joan Wolfe Overall Supreme Shetland Pony Championship. I got changed out of my usual showing outfit into black trousers and a maroon top with white spots, as you are expected to be a bit more “bling” in the evening.
We were all set to go for our next outing, and were super excited. That was until I heard the dreaded clunk of a loose shoe! I checked it over, praying it wasn’t too loose, but, nope, it was going to need a refit.