Time for a Casper tickle waiting for the the first trot up!
There’s something about packing up the truck and loading up a couple of horses to head off to an event for a week. Of course it’s never quite as simple as that but the road to such events never fail to keep us fully entertained and of course leave us with some tales to tell once there.
This year our trip to Melbourne 3 Day began like no other. One week out and I still wasn’t sure which horses we were taking or if we were even going! We had to enter late because CP Qualified was not yet qualified at the close of entries and we had to wait and see if he was ready for the step up to 3 Star. His one and only 3 Star start at Camden went well. He was a little fresh in the dressage with a rear in his walk and a buck in his changes but he was clear around the cross country and jumped a lovely clear round in the show jumping to end up in 2nd place behind Taurus. So it was off to Melbourne with Darci (CP Qualified) and Casper (Contenda), Shane and myself.
Normally it would be a nice straight forward drive down the Hume Highway but not this time. After waiting around all day for a part to be delivered for the truck, we finally managed to get on the road at about 3pm. Our first detour occurred 10 minutes down the road where we had to pick up some cross country course numbers but we were back on the road again shortly.
The next stop came an hour down the road where we had to drop off a couple of hitch hikers. Arvey (Taurus) and Virgil went to stay with national dressage coach Brett Parbery for the week we were away. Just because the boss was away doesn’t mean that everyone else gets a holiday! And so back on the road again with a small detour to Canberra.
What goes up must come down ............... Ruby being put back together in the dark
For those of you who don’t know, we have had a few issues with “Ruby”, our truck and her being a little heavy in front. Last year at Canberra we had to remove the luten peak before being able to get back home. Fortunately Shane knew of an ex-eventer turned truck builder living just out of Canberra and he helped us remove the peak and store it for us until we were able to pick it back up again. As we drove into Jeir Park at 6pm in the dark, I asked Shane how long he thought this was going to take. He replied “Oh hopefully only a couple of hours!”
Nearly done!
So we unloaded the horses and settled them in the stables with some dinner and headed off to the work shop. George was well prepared with flood lights set up so we had some light. After a bit of preparation getting the peak set up on the forklift it was time to lift her up. Shane of course was on top of the truck guiding George who was driving the fork lift. I was given the job of making sure they didn’t hit the truck with the forklift and of course chief photographer! We managed to get Ruby back together without a hitch and we loaded up and headed off again. As we drove out the drive, a quick time check told us it was 8pm. Exactly 2 hours and we were back on the road again and now we had the first State of Origin match to listen to. We stopped for the night at the Tarcutta Horse Hotel before getting back on the road at 4am the next morning, finally arriving at the Werribee Equestrian Centre for the beginning of competition.
A three day event with only two horses is a bit of a holiday for Shane and me. Both horses were scheduled to do dressage on the Saturday so on Friday we had a leisurely walk around the cross country course before some exercise for the boys and some cleaning for me! Shane then headed off to the footy with one of the owners while I caught up with some of the other grooms whom I hadn’t seen since the last 3DE.
Normally Melbourne can throw some interesting weather at us - four seasons in one day have been seen a few times - but this year we were fortunate enough to have clear skies and sunshine although it still wasn’t warm enough to go without 4 layers of clothing. Casper did a lovely test in the sun to be running 3rd in the 1 Star and Darci did some lovely work with just a couple of little mistakes to be running 2nd in the 3 Star. The cross country course for both classes had some large and interesting combinations to test both horse and rider. Both horses that Shane was riding were not overly experienced but Casper completed a lovely clear round and under time to maintain his 3rd position. Darci wasn’t quite so fortunate and picked up 20 penalties in the Rose Garden when he stumbled on landing and missed the C element ,just jumping left of the white flag. I was just happy to have both horses home safe and sound.
Some wry smiles after the second trot-up! Photo: Jenelle Christopher
Trot up the following morning was to be a little more intense. Both horses had pulled up well and were happy wandering around waiting for their turns. Being the last in both classes meant we were the last to go. Darci and Shane headed off to trot up and after taking two steps down the strip, Darci stumbled, nearly falling on his face and so was sent to the hold box. After a very thorough exam by the vet and a few tests to make sure he wasn’t a wobbler he was represented and passed. Not wanting the same thing to happen with Casper, Shane decided he should wake him up a little with a touch with the dressage stick. Casper had other ideas and decided that jacking up was a much better idea than trotting! He then completed his trot up without fault and was accepted. Shane said to me as we left “That was a fine display of horsemanship!” The joys of working with something that has a mind of its own.
Casper didn't want to touch this one ...
Both boys had passed though and moved onto the showjumping. Casper proved once again that he is an excellent jumper, adding no penalties to his score and moved up to 2nd. Darci was feeling a little tired after his cross country from the day before and was very backed off in the warm-up. Unfortunately this continued into the ring where he had 4 rails down but we were still happy with his performance given that this was only his 2nd start at this level and that he would only improve from the experience.
So with two tired boys we loaded up to head home. The truck had to stay in Melbourne for a few more modifications so Shane jumped on a plane while Darci, Casper and I tried our luck at hitch hiking. But that’s a whole other story!
