Competitive debut

I took Buddy for a spot of show jumping over at Forest Edge. As I drove there, I realised this was actually the first time I’d taken him there to compete! Bonkers huh?!

I have lost count of the times we have been there for camps or clinics. But not competitions. After today, I think we will be competing there again. It was a very good competitive debut.

I’d entered the 70cm and 80cm. After our rather disappointing Hickstead, I went with the aim of letting it flow and see what happened.

Arrived in good time to find they were running a bit behind. By the time I got ready, the course walk was on. With my new show shirt and new lucky socks (need to ride in my new competition boots before I actually compete in them), I checked out the course. It was quite twisty, but flowed too.

Thought I’d watch a couple before tacking up. That was a bit of a mistake as the first few were either eliminated or had poles down. So decided to just go with it.

When it was our turn, my little boy absolutely flew round. Till we got to the new Bearts jump. He backed off, I growled and shouted ‘it’s the food lorry’. That worked as cleared it – along with everything else for a double clear!!

There were some speedy ponies in the class, so imagine how thrilled I was to get 5th place. It was a big class too with 32 forward.

That had exceeded my expectations. So moving on to the 80cm, again, I just kept thinking let it flow. It’s our first 80cm competitive round since his injury last year, so wasn’t sure how he’d be. He was awesome. I fiddled and he took two poles out. But I’m over the moon.

My little boy is back and I’m getting my competition mojo back again.

Bit of a state

Buddy makes me laugh so much. He got in a bit of a state with his recovery mash. Again. Clearly he’s bothered by it.

He doesn’t always get recovery mash. But it was a beautifully warm September day. The type of day where you don’t know whether to wear long or short sleeves. I went with long in case you’re interested.

It was also the type of day where I wanted to keep hacking. So we did. I felt the need to clear my head. It’s by far the best way I’ve found to do that. Just me, my boy and the great outdoors….

Sweat stings

Buddy and I headed over to the Showground for a spot of showjumping today. I left the yard and it didn’t feel too hot. I was wrong. It was baking by the time we arrived.

Tacked Buddy up and headed to walk the 70cm course. Thankfully someone was able to hold him for me. It walked well so headed to the warm up. It was a bit of a different set up. There was a very small warm up next to the ring. They were only letting 4 horses at a time in there, so we used the bigger warm up away from the ring.

Buddy managed to trip a few times on the uneven ground so I kept the jumping to a minimum. Soon it was our turn the go to the proper warm up and Buddy was feeling good.

Slight blip when a woman decided to walk her inhand pony and two children through the warm up. Madness! Buddy was not happy about that either. It was such a small area and people jumping – it was downright dangerous.

The warm up ring can be like going into battle at the best of times.

I brushed it off and entered the ring. It was single phase and we went double clear in a really fast time. Took a few ‘eventer’ lines and Buddy was on it! He ate up the ground.

He was so sweaty by the time we’d finished, I thought I’d take him back to the lorry and wash him off while I waited for the next class. I’m so lucky that Buddy is so easy when we go out.

Wandering back to the ring, I arrived as the last rider was finishing. Imagine my surprise when they announced we’d come second! So happy.

Walked the 80cm and went back to tack Buddy up again. I nearly blinded myself as I had so much sweat running in my eyes. My god, sweat stings! I was a dribbly mess by the time I was done. I couldn’t get my gloves on as my hands were so wet. Classy huh?!

By the time we got back to the warm up, Buddy was feeling as hot and bothered as I was. Neither of us was at our best in the 80cm round. I messed up some of the line and it was a very twisty course. Final result was 16 faults.

I was disappointed as I know we could do so much better. But we started together, finished together and sweated even more together!

Air Ambulance

Today Buddy and I headed off to Geldeston for the BRC SJ Qualifiers.

After making the Champs last year by turning up (when the rest of the team were amazing), I was determined to do better this year. We’ve been working so hard on our jumping and are definitely seeing improvements.

On arrival, I heard the ground was hard, slippery and causing some issues. Walked the course and it felt firm but there was still a bit of spring in it. It seemed a really nice course. This team competition is run over two rounds. The first round was 80cm. The second one at 85cm and had 4 more jumps. I was feeling confident as we warmed up.

My confidence was well founded. Buddy stormed round the course for a super clear. I brought him back to trot for the bit that seemed the most slippy. Came out with a huge smile.

Then the day took a sad turn when one of my team mates had a nasty fall. The competitions were suspended while we waited for first an ambulance, then the air ambulance.

With Buddy safely back at the Buddymobile and munching away, I went back to check on her. I sat with her for over an hours stroking her hair and doing my best to keep her calm. She was in a lot of pain.

Thankfully when the air ambulance arrived, they gave her serious sedation so she could be transported. We did feel that it was a bit ironic when as a riding club we are raising money for the East Anglian Air Ambulance. This is why!

After she was safely on her way to the N&N, the competition recommenced. I wanted to do the second round. I felt I had to. So warmed Buddy up again. There had been a number of withdrawals so didn’t have too much time to think about it before it was our turn.

It wasn’t the best round we’ve ever done. Halfway round, the previous 1.5 hours hit me. Buddy had switched off a bit in the break too and I know I didn’t ride very well. I burst into tears as I left the Arena.

Christ knows how but, we ended up with 6th place individually.

We all know the risk we take when we ride a horse. The love, enjoyment and partnership built outweighs that risk. But days like today remind me how it can go. So I’m focusing on the wonderful clear round we had, the camaraderie shown and the amazing support from our emergency services.