Wow, where to begin! I have made the mistake of not regularly sending in updates and so now face the mamouth task of overviewing five events! After my first event of the season at Withington and first ever event with Jack we headed off to Hambleden to do the CIC*, we did a fair test and got 58.1 which is about 38 in British Eventing terms. Unfortunately Jack spooked at a filler in the show jumping so we had an unlucky pole and then he went clear around the XC but was very strong so we got a few time penalties.
Next we went to Aston Le Walls for my first ever intermediate, Emma Humphrey who competed Jack last season helped me warm up and we did our best test by far. We scored 38 which was possibly slightly mean, but we did make a few mistakes. The SJ was causing a fair few problems because it was big and twisty but Jack jumped really well and we just had 4 faults at the second fence when I panicked a bit and caused him to hollow over the fence. (Dressage and SJ video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhF9Z8ho1EA ). Onto the XC, well he was absolutely flying round giving me by far the best ride I have had with him, up till fence 15d. A corner four strides after two steps down, unfortunately we wavered off our line slightly and ended up at the corner on 3.5 strides and although he tried his heart out, didn’t manage to clear it and we had a nasty horse fall. I had a very battered hip and was very concussed but luckily Jack was unharmed. (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnVXTVYfhSA ).
We then headed to Pontispool OI to try and get our intermediate qualification run for Glanusk Junior National Championships U18 CCI*. We had a disappointing mark in the dressage and a very unlucky pole in the Show Jumping but flew round the XC clear and inside the time to finish 9th overall, was thrilled! If slightly annoyed that we didn’t get a double clear! (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncnde5IRFEE ).
Onto the main event of the last few months – Glanusk JNC CCI* & JRN. I had both horses at Glanusk from Wednesday last week until very late on Sunday evening. Jack was doing the Junior National Championships CCI* class and Belvedere was doing his first event since Weston CCIJ* in October, a JRN class. I had a brilliant, but quite emotional and trying time! Jack did a fair dressage test but got a disappointing mark of 59.2, which equates to 39.5 in British Eventing terms. He then proceeded to do a fantastic XC round clear inside the time, doing all the direct routes over an incredibly big and technical track. However, later that day he became lame and although he was much better the following day, he was sent to the hold box during the trot up and I withdrew him from there. He had a slight sore point on his tendon, and although there was no heat or swelling there was no way I was going to run him and risk breaking him. So that was very gutting, but it doesn't take away how good he was on the cross country. (Video of Jack - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RooE2cf-2_c ). Then on Sunday it was Belv's turn to party. The dressage was very disappointing, he got slightly freaked out by the competition atmosphere and the test was below par. We ended up with 40.0 - not quite what the last 6months of hard work has been aiming for. Anyway he redeemed himself by jumping well in the SJ and just rolling at unlucky pole. As expected he romped around the XC and just had 5.2 time penalties because he is not very fit. We ended up 8th so it was nice to get a rosette! (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yfU4H8fOWNg ).
And finally, Barbury Novice on Belv - Well it was Belv's second event of the season on the weekend but we did exactly the same as we did the week before at the first event of the season - 40 dressage, 4 faults SJ and clear XC with a few time!! It was a strange event, because Tor took Belv down for us, so me and mum drove down separately in the car (well actually I drove, can you believe it!!) He warmed up really well for the dressage, but unfortunately in the ring we had two ''moments'' that dropped our score from 33.7 to a 40.0. So that was very disappointing, however it just goes to show that the good work is in there and we will get those low 30's very soon! Next up was my nemesis, the Show Jumping! I was nervous because quite a few people I know were watching, however he had warmed up really well. Popped fences 1-7 really well, just tipped fence 8 and then got very deep to fence 9 but he tried really hard and cleared it. Then clear over the final double. So just an annoying four faults again!! Finally, the best bit! Needless to say, he absolutely flew around the XC for a fabulous clear with just 3.6 time penalties because he isn't all that fit. I do love him XC, he just takes everything in his stride, which is clear to see from how he jumped through the water! Totally foot perfect! All in all a slightly disappointing day due to the mistakes in the dressage and the pole SJ. It would have been nice to do a double clear and get a point, but hey ho! (Video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFEWlV4kz-M ).
To see more photos from the above events please visit my website and check out the Blog and Gallery pages – http://www.katherinebegley.com
