Harley at Scone where we finished third in the 2*
Photo courtesy of Jamie Wright
I had a weekend at Berrima that didn’t go quite to plan. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that I am expected at the office, I would have my head buried in a small pile of sand as we speak. But I always try to find a positive in every situation and in this case the positive is that I now have something to write about for my blog.
The event began well enough – I arrived to a Berrima where the sun was shining, I was allowed to park my truck where I wanted and I had a great coffee from the coffee van. I worked Poker Face (aka Harley) in the morning and he felt very quiet and relaxed (which perhaps should have concerned me), and my test on Lyndel Taylor’s sweet little mare, Tayasu Magic, went well.
And then it was Dempsey’s turn in the introductory. Dempsey, who is owned by Mum, had been a bit worked up all week and as I watched him being lunged there at Berrima, I knew my work would be cut out for me. With about 20 minutes to go until my test, Dempsey was far from having the edge taken off him, but I couldn’t put off getting into the saddle any longer. We charged over to the dressage warm up, leaving elderly ladies and small children scattering in our wake. All too quickly, it was time for our test and I trotted over to the judge’s car with a sinking feeling. Also at the back of my mind was the bet I had made with Dave Bryant as to whose introductory horse would beat the other. The loser was to pay for dinner at Sushi Train and it was beginning to look like it would be my shout (and, as Dave kindly reminded me, he easily eats 9 plates).
The test started reasonably well and as Dempsey did his swinging, expressive trot across the diagonal, I began to feel a bit more positive. But then the canter started and so did the bucks. It must have been a quite an impressive show, because the judge got out of her car, marched into the arena and said (in what I thought was a rather accusing tone) “If you do that again, I’ll eliminate you!” I replied (in a louder voice than I had intended) “I’m not doing it on purpose!” and at that moment, I suspected that even the nice work wasn’t going to be rewarded. We continued on and although there were a few humps on the other rein, causing me to sneak a glance over to the judge, she stayed in her car and we stayed in the competition.
Dempsey’s showjumping was straight after his dressage test, so the saddles were swapped and I rode him straight over to the jumping warm-up. He still felt like he wanted to explode and I was just about to suggest to my groom/rider Kate that we put him on the lunge once again, when the explosion hit. It was one of the few times in my life where I’ve felt like a ragdoll on a horse’s back and I was almost relieved to finally hit the deck. Help quickly arrived, and once it was clear that my spine was ok, I was rolled over onto my back, my arm over my eyes. Vince Roche, doctor and president of the BHT, also came to my aid, kneeling at my feet to test the movement in my knee and foot. Vince then asked whether I could lift my injured knee, so I did – kicking him in the knackers in the process. Sorry, Vince...
I ended up getting back on Dempsey, who Kate had been dutifully lunging in the meantime, but he was still worked up and threatening a repeat performance, so I decided to put him away.
At least Magic gave me a nice ride
Little Magic show jumped clear and was beautiful cross country, but I rode her like a grandma and incurred time penalties, which ended up costing her the win. After feeling uncharacteristically flat in the dressage, Harley still wasn’t himself going cross country and I decided to retire him on course, which was very disappointing.
Walking home with Harley
Needless to say it was a long trip home and when I wasn’t thinking of ways to explain to Mum that her beloved Dempsey hadn’t brought home a blue ribbon, I was lamenting how much sushi I was going to have to buy for Dave. But I guess it wouldn’t be eventing if there weren’t some downs along with the ups, and I’m already looking forward to Albury (albeit with a slightly different game plan)...
