Petplan Equine
Sponsored Rider - Juliette

July to September Update

So my next attempt at a BE Novice came mid-July on a wet weekend in Lincolnshire, with a trip to Buckminster Horse trials. Jess and I set off early and reached Buckminster in good time, although a minor ‘sat-nav’ error saw us arrive initially at a local pony club show... Oops! Feeling a little out of place amidst the mounted games, we re-grouped and managed to navigate to the other end of the village where we entered the lovely Buckminster Park. There had been heavy rain the previous day, and the turf was somewhat soggy underfoot. The dressage was carried out in paddy-field like conditions, although the parkland turf overall had stood up to the weather pretty well given the extreme deluge! Our dressage went reasonably well in the conditions for a respectable 34.8. We had just one unfortunate pole down in the show jumping as we got too close to the first part of the double, with several admiring comments from spectators for Jess as we left the ring. I was overjoyed with her performance! She really surprises people with her ability- she may look like a hairy cob but she is very aptly named Guess Again! I set off for our cross country round feeling confident. Jess started well, but tired a little more quickly than usual in the soft going. After a flying leap at the table fence five, we headed up the hill to face a double of these monstrous hedges on a downhill 2-stride distance, on the angle!

Unfortunately Jess didn’t quite make up enough ground between the elements and stood a long way off the second, unseating me in the process and I rolled off on landing! Oops, and Ouch! Unbelievably this was my first ever fall at an event, so I was initially pretty flustered and unsure what to do! I eventually managed to wrestle myself out of my air-jacket which had broken my fall successfully, then reclaim my dislodged hat silk and re-mount. We completed a slow but solid round, both home in one piece most importantly. I found the doctor waiting for me at the finished and assured him all was well as we trudged back to the lorry. I was vaguely aware that I had bruised my ankle, but unfortunately the ankle swelling started as I removed my boots- and the pain increased as the adrenaline subsided. Thank goodness for vetwrap! It was strapped up well for the next few days and turned some interesting colours over the next week.

Understandably I was slightly anxious about our next trip out to Aston le Walls in August. The fall had worried me more than I had expected, and by the time the day arrived I had pretty much convinced myself that I wasn’t up to riding around a BE90 let alone another Novice. But I know Jess is amazing and should never be underestimated! We set off with survival as my main aim however we managed to produce a very nice 32.3 dressage and rolled just a single pole show jumping again (it turns out I did remember how to jump when it came to it!). We set off cross country with a competitive 36.3 score on the board, and then for the first time ever at this level we flew round with a clear (if a bit slow) cross country round. Time penalties dropped us off the leader board, but we had held our own in a section littered with professional riders!

Boodles has been continuing preparations to make the next step up to BE100. We had a few successful unaffiliated show jumping outings in August and then headed back to Keysoe for another BE90. We had a good day overall and finished in 10th place, however I was disappointed by a green show jumping round which hadn’t flowed as I hoped. We had two poles down, but it was the rhythm which I felt needed to improve; he obviously still lacked some confidence. I proceeded as planned to enter Munstead for the following month as our first BE100, whilst resolving to work on the show jumping.

A local eventer trial around a 1m course a couple of weeks later should have been ideal preparation for Boodles, but sadly he still lacked some confidence and stopped twice during the round. I made the decision to drop him back to the BE90 for his last run of the season rather than risk upsetting him. We can work on the jumping this winter!

Munstead came, and with a fabulous dressage score of 24.5 combined with our first double clear, it turns out I made the right decision to stick at BE90 level. We finished second, gaining some confidence, some prize money and a regional final qualification! Brilliant!

So our BE season came to an end slightly earlier than originally planned as I decided not to run Jess cross country again this year- the ground has been firm for many weeks and at her age (now 20yrs!), I don’t want to risk injury with her, and the fitness work she requires to prepare her fully for these events is quite intense.

My end of season plans have changed, but no eventing doesn’t mean we can’t get out and enjoy ourselves; I have new challenges planned for Jess! Find out where we are off to and how we get on next time!