Since I last blogged to you all, our biggest news was making the front cover of ‘Chaff Chat’ from the Monash Dressage Day! I had no idea we’d ever achieve something like that! I also really enjoyed watching my coach Megan Jones ride at Burghley in the UK. It was lovely to see her go so well … I am very proud of her.
I had a fab show jumping lesson on my RDO prior to Top Team Trophy (TTT) show jumping in Shepparton this weekend with Anne Putkar. I loved the lesson and Billy was (yet again) wonderful. He is so ‘together’ at the moment it’s a pleasure to work with him. I can really feel and see just how far we’ve come. In our lesson we focussed on rhythm and pace and at the end of the lesson, Anne said she wanted to take Billy home. She reassured me that all I had to do at the competition is exactly what we did in our lesson - just let him do his thing.
The TTT show jumping for 2012 was held at the Northern Victorian Show Jumping Club (NVSJC) grounds in Shepparton. My draw was on Sunday with my first class at 8:16am so I decided to head up Saturday and camp over due to the early start, plus I wanted to support my fellow team mates who were competing and also get my bearings and head around things too. This was the first time I had ever done a pure show jumping competition so I wasn’t really sure how it all worked.
Saturday was really relaxing. There was no rush to leave and I collected Billy at 11am and off we went. The drive to Shepparton was a pleasant one of about 2.5 hours and pleasant and we arrived to nice warm weather. I settled Billy in and then went to the Secretary’s tent to check in. From there I located my team mates and watched them compete. Once they’d departed, I waited for my next two team mates to arrive and gave Billy his dinner and a good groom.
Dinner that evening was catered and it was fantastic! I had a lovely vegetarian meal and they even had desert too with my team mate Cam enjoying two serves of Pav! They was a bonfire going and a local band playing which really created a great atmosphere. Most of the competitors sat around the fire as we ate and we all had a great chat. It really was lovely.
I slept pretty well in my float. I have to say it was really quiet, which was nice too and I was right next to the horses! I woke at 5am to feed Billy, then at 6am I went and walked the two phase course. Just after 7am I tacked up and headed over to the warm up ring where I worked Billy and jumped a few fences. He was feeling really tense at first so I kept the jumping to a minimum until he settled. Once he was going softly and I popped him over the fences a few times and got myself together. I left the warm up ring on a good note and then walked around on the grass until it was our turn to go. I was fifth in the ring so I watched a few of the other riders go first so that I really got the gist of the two phase.
We presented to the judge and the bell rang. I popped Billy into a lovely forward canter and off we went. I totally forgot that it was based on speed from fence nine and just kept our rhythm, line and pace consistent. I was super happy to go clear and not get lost and once out of the ring I dismounted and loosened Billy’s girth before I walked him back to the yards, untacked and gave him a brush and a drink.
A2 course set as Grade 3
My next class was the A2 and this was based purely on speed. I had no expectations in this class as there were quite a few fast and agile ponies and I don’t consider Billy to be ‘fast’ and I’ve always concentrated our training to be about technique rather than too much speed at this stage. I walked the course and found the line between fence one and two to be the most confusing line I’ve seen on a course so far. It basically was a tight horseshoe. I knew that I couldn’t turn Billy fast enough between the fences to get the line right so it was either go around the back of fence six or around fence six and nine to get an even better line. I watched a number of riders in the section prior to mine and was still unsure, as various lines didn’t appear to work.
Our section was on time and I headed back to tack Billy up. The warm up area this time was on grass but the ground was quite hard so I jumped Billy twice and then worked on walk and trot transitions. The four horses before me looked quite quick so my strategy was just to go clear, enjoy it and see if I could push Billy just a little. So off we went! I had decided to ride between fence one and six and got the line spot on and the rest of the course flew by with me encouraging Billy. We went clear! I gave him a big pat and as I did he turned right when I expected him to go left! Luckily I didn’t come unstuck but I did get the giggles!
We headed back to the yards again and once I’d made Billy comfortable and plied him with carrots, I headed over to the mini grandstand where I caught up with some friends and sat watching another class. My AM7 was due to start at 1:41pm so I just relaxed until 12:30 when I headed over to ring 1 to see the course and watch some riders. It was soon time to head back to get Billy ready and then warmed him up. The warm up rings were extremely well managed with the stewards allowing three riders in the ring at any one time, which was a big relief. It allowed us to really get the horses moving and jumping well without having to worry about someone cutting you off or space becoming an issue.
We presented to the judge, had a bit of a chat and then off we went. We went clear and then the bell rang and off we went into the jump off. I got over-excited at fence seven (the dazzle board) as we were two fences from home and began to over-ride and Billy went slightly flat and just clipped the dazzle and it fell. Bugger, but I kept going and gave him a huge pat after the final fence. He responded to every request I made of him throughout the entire day and he tried his heart out.
Dismounting, I loosened his girth and proudly gave him a huge cuddle. He rubbed his head on me and we proudly walked back to the yards where I untacked and sponged him down. I packed up all my gear and waited for the results.
We placed eighth in two phase but after a protest by a rider, which was upheld, we dropped down to ningh but I was still over the moon! Then I saw the A2 results and I swear, I nearly fell over … second! We came second in the speed class! Wahooooo! Go Billy! Finally in AM7, we placed eighth. We won a new halter and a small bucket of mineral supplements too. So you must never give up because even if you make a mistake, you never know what could happen.
Over all we placed fifth outright in Section 4E and for my first ever pure show jumping competition, I can’t tell you how thrilled I am or how proud I am of Billy. What a horse! He did everything I asked of him without and resistance. He gave me 110% and the results speak for themselves!
Winner Grinner
I’d like to thank my Hurstbridge ARC team mates for their support and encouragement, the NVSJC for a brilliantly run event and of course, Billy Sparklepants. The entire weekend ran smoothly and everyone was friendly and extremely helpful. The food was amazing and the Saturday night was so much fun!
My next exciting adventure is a two day clinic with my coach, Megan Jones in October. I can’t wait to see her and hear all about her Olympic trip and her ride at Burghley. I’ve had my third place ribbon framed and a plaque placed on it to present to her at our clinic. (Click here for my last blog if this last sentence doesn’t make sense!)
Our next competition is a midweek dressage day on October 25th at Kangaroo Ground where I will be riding Billy and another horse, Metro.
Until then,
Happy Riding!
Jenna xx
