Sizzle - the back-up plan horse!
Oh my goodness! It is Melbourne Three Day month!! How insanely exciting! I have no idea where all the time has gone! However this year the arrival of the Queens Birthday long weekend lacks a little of the excitement that it normally evokes due to the fact that at this moment in time Will is lounging in his paddock with his shoes off, when he should be super fit and tucked up in a stall at Werribee… damn… damn damn damn!!!
Unfortunately not all things in life go to plan (why not?! It would be so much easier if it did!!) And this was one of them! After a shocker lead up with things going wrong left, right and centre, the final straw was a freak crash in the dressage arena at Ballarat HT which prompted a few X-Rays and some upsetting results. Long story short, Will is out of action for a few months due to some lingering injury’s sustained back in October which of course throws my whole plan out the window!!! Ugh! So I will be grooming for the Wilky Park team and cheering everyone from the sidelines (Go Meryl!!).
Thankfully I do have my ‘Back up plan’ in the form of Sizzle and he has been performing well, however still living up to his well earned reputation of being a ratbag. I didn’t enter Ballarat early enough but we did attend a fantastic freshman’s show jump day held by Adam Wootten Showjumping at his amazing Indoor arena. Sizzle jumped like a little superstar and jumped clear in the 1.05m and then we attempted our first 1.15m for a great first attempt with two baby rails. Very impressed with the naughty pony!!
Sizzle show jumping at Woady Yallock Photos courtesy India Ambler
Then we attended the inaugural ‘Pre-Melbourne’ Woady Yallock HT. I am renowned for leaving the learning of my dressage test till the last minute and Woady was no exception… I was in a rush and I figured that I would watch a few tests before mine to refresh my memory. I get up to my arena and the judge isn’t even in the car yet… uh oh… after a quick panic I warm up and start looking for people who have similar numbers to me when Yona Loyd asks me to go through the test with him, perfect!! So unbeknownst to him he tells me the test and I am all set to go. Or so I thought. As Yona was the first rider and I was about four riders after I watched him start the test and just when I was nodding away thinking how clever I was getting away with not going through my test properly when the horn beeps and poor Yona is pulled up for not knowing the right test… which meant I had also learnt the wrong test. After a minor freak out I finally find someone who I definitely knew would know the test, my fabulous boss and coach Will Enzinger and then about five minutes later I trot into the arena and we do a lovely, mistake free test for a flash 72%! *Wipes brow with relief* moral of the story kids, learn the test at least the night before, if not earlier… and note to all other competitors, never ask me to tell you the test as thee is a good chance I won’t know it either… sorry Yona!!!
Sizzle through the PN water at Woady Photos courtesy Trent Stanley Photography
With that out of the way and a bright and early start the next morning, we do a super 8.00am clear SJ round and things are looking good! We start XC and as soon as we jump the first fence I know I am in for a fight. A very distracted Sizzle is gawking at everything and looking a little too longingly at the floats and trucks as we gallop past. However we make it around with some very nice moments and as we approach the last fence I breath a little sigh of relief and allow myself a little triumphant feeling as I know that we should be in the placings after that solid effort… NOT! Sizzle decides that white pebbles are UTTERLY terrifying and that galloping back to the floats is a much safer option than jumping the jump with teeth… you have GOT to be kidding me… so we picked up a twenty at the LAST jump. I did nearly have a little cry… but I sucked up my shame and frustration and now I am writing it in my blog instead of burying it deep within my least favourite moments. My white flag is up and waving in surrender!! So now with a big wait till the next event I shall be finding the spookiest, scariest and ‘teethiest’ jumps I can get at and make the brat jump them! Then with the new eventing calendar hopefully my luck will turn and I will be back on track with both ponies firing!
Meanwhile back in Tassie, my two littlest sisters have attended possibly the coldest show in Australia… Campbell Town Show! Thankfully this year it didn’t snow but I hear that my father made lots of new friends after he lit the fire pot in front of the truck!! Both my sisters did well with Bethany achieving reserve champion in the open 95 championship riding the legendary Bandman and Ruby rode her first clear in the open 75cm riding Gunplay Jack! Not bad for an 11year old and a 6 year old!!
Alice
Unfortunately we didn't get to publish this before Melbourne International Horse Trials, but as we all know, Wilky Park had a very good weekend!
