I left you all last with awaiting to compete at Wagga CNC, this was about 5 weeks ago now. Wagga did not fail to disappoint with the ongoing ‘adventures of Makayla’s and Jess’s breakdowns/car mishaps/tyre blowing saga’ etc. It was actually the weekend before that we realised (thanks to Matt Bates) that the F250 was having a slight issue with the tyre. Somehow (we are suspecting that someone has tried to pinch the tyre whilst I’ve been parked at night in town) the back left hand tyre was missing all of the wheel nuts. Literally, every single one was gone, also consequentlytow of the stems had snapped off. Needless to say I was very lucky to not have a serious accident, as I did drive on it for some time. I had to organise for a tow truck to come and pick up the F250 from Willow Park and drop it off at the mechanics to fix.
Love That Blonde at Wagga EvA105 for 7th place Photo: Main Event Photography
Unfortunately for me I did not get lucky with choosing the mechanics from Google. Said mechanics had the ute from Saturday and I didn’t end up getting it back until the following Monday. This meant that Friday morning I had to rearrange my plans for Wagga! I was supposed to have Early Days in the CNC 2** combined training, then Love That Blonde in the EvA105. Luckily, Jess Manson had a spare spot on her gooseneck so I chose to take Blonde along and leave Daisy at home for the weekend. All of my gear managed to somehow fit into the new gooseneck and by about 2pm Friday we were on our way down to Wagga – a six or so hour drive. Arriving in the dark (which was beginning to be a comfortable trend) we organised the horses before crashing into bed.
It was ever entertaining at Wagga as life seems to be at the moment. It rained all day Saturday which was quite unpleasant once we had run out of a change of clothes. Love That Blonde did a reasonably good test, however 11% between my two scores left me in the bottom half of the field. She show jumped that night in the indoor arena for one rail. Jess and I had a bit of a ‘miscommunication’ regarding the generator and unfortunately we ran out of fuel for it early Saturday night. I managed to cook us some dinner on the gas stove top, and we stayed up for as long as the laptop battery would allow, watching the cross country at WEG! Sunday we packed up and moved over to the cross country grounds which is a short drive from the main centre. Blonde had a super cross country round and came home clear and on time. She just managed to scrape into the placings again for 7th. I think in the last 6 starts Blonde has had, I’ve had three 7th places! Both of Jess’s 1* horses went well aswell (aside from Jess having a bit of a blonde day and missing a jump on the cross country on one of them!) so all in all we were happy jockeys driving home. We of course took along the two puppies and they were so well behaved on such a long drive! All in preparation for the long drive home, I kept telling Willow!
So the next week was spent wrapping life up in NSW as the following weekend was Camden Equestriad CIC and then I was due to leave on Monday. Mum and Aaron flew in late Friday for the event and the travels and we had another brief scare with the F250 and it was looking like we could potentially be extending our departure for another few days! However this wasn’t to be, luckily. Equestriad was a frustrating last event for me, as I would’ve loved to finish the NSW campaign with a ‘bang’ however it just wasn’t to be. Early Days competed in the CIC 3*** however after a very uncharacteristic show jumping round on the Saturday night, we decided to save her for another day and not run her on the cross country. She couldn’t quite handle the atmosphere of show jumping under lights, however I was happy with some of the things she did in her dressage – so that’s one positive at least! Love That Blonde was in the EvA105 and in hindsight I think my baby pony was just a bit tired by then. She is a 5 year old, this was her first Nullarbor trip, and she competed in eight events in under 3 months! So reflecting back, she has come such a long way, and was just a bit tired and sour by the time we got to Equestriad which was reflected in all phases.
Love That Blonde at Camden EvA105 Photo by Main Event Photography
The trip home was reasonably uneventful which was just AWESOME! I’ve posted a stop by stop debrief on my facebook page if anyone would like to check it out – Makayla Wood Equestrian.
We said goodbye to Willow Park at about 4am Monday morning – it was very mixed emotions. I had had such an experience over there, had an absolute ball, learnt a lot, met some fantastic new people and experienced some things that I may not get the chance to do again. At the same time I was looking forward to going home, back to my family, boyfriend and the other animals! As well as the friends that I was missing, and also living in a normal house … hanging out to be able to actually get in a normal bed rather than climbing up to one, and having a toilet close by!!!
After arriving home at 11am Thursday morning, Aaron and I spent the afternoon preparing the arenas and the property for a Stuart Tinney clinic which was starting the next day and going over the weekend. My two competition horses were put out for a well deserved break, so I didn’t have anyone to really ride in the clinic. However out came the 3yo from Blackall Park, she had sat in the paddock for the past 3 months and after one sit on her in the round yard Friday night, she participated in a group dressage lesson! She was so well behaved. I can’t wait now to start getting her going and doing a few clinics and training days this year.
Early Days into the water at Brigadoon CNC 2** for 1st place Photo by Perth Performance Horses Photography
I had that week to then prepare Early Days for a last minute decision to run her at Brigadoon CNC. We never planned on doing so however after not running her at Equestriad I thought it wouldn’t hurt her to go and have a run in a 2**. I’m pretty glad I did as Daisy ended up bringing home the rug! She put a great score on the board in all phases – a 53.0 penalty dressage, clear and on time cross country (even though she lost a front shoe early on) and she show jumped clear and on time. The time proved to be very influential this weekend, Daisy was the only one home on time in the cross country. It was quite wet at Brigadoon and muddy, however she is just such a machine cross country now. It helps that she is not strong at all so I can just keep letting her gallop on with just a small rebalance before the fences. The show jumping was quite a windy track and also caused quite a bit of the field to rack up some time. It was a pleasant surprise to win, but what was more satisfying was the score. This is not only a PB for Daisy at this level – but it’s actually a PB finishing score for me too. A very pleased jockey!
Daisy is now having a week off and will come back into work early next week to prep for Dryandra CIC. Love That Blonde has enjoyed an extended break and will also come back into work next week for the same event. I have had some young ones ticking along at home to keep myself busy, as well as lessons picking up again where they left off, which is brilliant!
Early Days - Water Brigadoon CNC 2** Photo by Waylib Photos
I am currently on the plane en route to Melbourne where I am very excited to go and watch the 3DE! Trot Up Day is today and I wish all the riders goodluck, particularly the WA riders and those who did a fantastic job to get into the YR Trans Tasman – go Emily, Michaela and Gabby!!!
Til next time
Makayla X
