Juliette - Petplan Equine Ambassador
Petplan Equine Ambassador, Juliette Edmonds, after lots of practice enters her first BE100 with her horse Boodles.
On my mission to complete a BE100 with Boodles this season, we have taken positive steps forwards this summer to address our weaknesses in the show jumping phase, and to continue to consolidate his confidence with his jumping, as he is so fragile in this respect. Following his summer break, Boodles may not have been overjoyed to find that I had registered him with British Showjumping! But my new mantra is ‘if you find it difficult, do it more’!! So we headed to our first official show jumping outing at Bury Farm Equestrian Village for the amateur 85cm and 95cm classes. With just a pole down in the second phase of both classes, I was overjoyed with our progress! We followed this outing with a trip to the lovely Houghton Hall EC for the British Novice where we managed a double clear, 2nd place and our first BS points and prize money! He still felt a little green in the second phase so I resisted the temptation to enter the next class. I know the warning signs that he is not feeling fully confident, and putting the fences up at that point is sure to cause another confidence crisis- I have learnt that from experience! So a pat and some Polos and he goes home happy - perfect preparation for our next BE90 at Little Downham the following week. On a side note it is such a shame that Houghton Hall EC has now closed- another amazing competition venue lost...
Juliette and Boodles completing their dressage test
Little Downham is one of our favourite (and most local) BE events, so we headed for our next BE90 there feeling cheerful and optimistic, if a little tired after a heavy week at work, and 4 hours sleep after a late finish the night before. I am blaming this rider fatigue for the days results, as Boodles was perfect, posting yet another DOUBLE CLEAR!! However Sat-Nav failure on the cross country course led to a meandering detour and several time penalties! We completed with a very respectable 10th place, but I was quite frustrated with my own performance. The cross country round was going so well, we cleared a lovely sloping table at fence 8 beautifully, and as I revelled in how well we were going I was halfway across the large open field before I saw fence 10 in the distance..... Bugger, I thought, where is fence 9?! At least I realised we were lost well before fence 10 and took a large turn around the field while I re-orientated myself and managed to get back on course.
We headed out for more show jumping the following week (I did say I was on a mission- we WILL be good at show jumping!) where we had one pole down in the British Novice at Keysoe EC. It was a large, well built course and again I didn’t feel that Boodles was confident enough to try the next class, so we headed home. Our first BE100 was looming and I had wanted to complete a BS Discovery before we tried the BE100, but time had run out for more shows! After much contemplation I decided to take our place in the BE100 anyway, the second phase of the British Novice fences were 1m, and we had completed several of those well, the BE100 should be well within our present capabilities and his cross country rounds this season had been fluent and full of confidence. Our entry was accepted at Horseheath (a lovely new local venue), and the day was looming fast. A sense of impending doom lingered, but I truly felt that we were ready to give it a go. Only time would tell if I was right!
Boodles flying over one of the show jumps
Walking the courses the evening before our first BE100 did not exactly settle my nerves, but the courses were beautifully built, and the hard work from the organisers and recent rain had left the ground conditions absolutely perfect. I was a healthy mix of scared and excited- we were as ready as we could be. The day began with a fairly early start- I was glad to be on early so we could just get up and get on with it- not too much hanging around and getting nervous! We managed an okay if slightly tense dressage test for a fair score of 34. Then it was time for show jumping. Keep breathing, maintain the rhythm and shoulders back. It seemed to work well, we had a good round, getting a little too fast to roll a pole but we got round, and just 4 faults!! Fabulous- we were going cross country!
Boodles waiting by the start box for their cross country round at Horseheath
We headed to the start box with a sense of excitement- there were several challenges on the course which I thought might cause problems, but to get through the show jumping phase and be able to start the cross country was a huge achievement, I set out for a confidence building round that we could enjoy! Boodles set off with purpose and cleared the first three fences smoothly and easily. I let him go in a faster rhythm than our usual BE90 pace as he settles and jumps better at that speed- he covers the ground easily with a naturally long canter stride. We tackled the log combination in the woods then emerged to the first challenging fence- an enormous saw-bench. Boodles’ head came up and he had a really good look before jumping very high and a bit awkwardly and touching it with all four feet independently- not very fluent but we were over safely and headed to the water. The fence had caused issues all day- just past the start and collecting ring, a colourful boat with water behind and a crowd surrounding the lake beyond... we lost rhythm, then impulsion and came to a halt at the base. It was a challenging fence and Boodles had needed a bit of an inspection before we continued! We trotted away and re-presented, slowly but purposefully. Clear at the second attempt and we were away again. Several other challenging fences we flew though- a coffin, then a double of corners on a curving line. Boodles took them on and felt more positive and confident the further we went. WE COMPLETED!! Our first BE100 done, 20 penalties cross country but still inside the time, for a respectable score of 58. He finished confident and fresh and felt ready to go again, very excited now for our future, hopefully we will just keep improving, and it looks like the cross country time will not be an issue for him at the next level anyway!
Boodles clearing the boat on the cross country course
So what’s next?? We head back to Somerford Park at the start of September for some more intensive show jumping and cross country training, then next month brings our two BE90 Regional Finals at Munstead and Little Downham. Will we make it to the Mitsubishi Motors Cup at Badminton next spring? Watch this space!
A successful day at Horseheath for Boodles and Juliette at their first BE100 together