We've been schooling all the time and then when it comes to the crunch, my brain goes into meltdown and I forget everything. Maybe I'm not meant to jump, probably best if that is left to the young who bounce well and the
Maybe it's just me that is stupid! I don't even have to watch the below videos to say what I did wrong.
The course at the Sunday clear round show was 8 jumps and they set it at 1'3"- which was fine, some may have even been 1'6" (ok, worrying a bit now but we did 1'9" the other week and we lived to tell the story) but then there was this FREAKIN' BIG GATE jump set at 2'!!! When I saw that, it crashed my fragile confidence and the day went down hill. Riding the course, my legs felt like jelly and Hattie sensed it and refused the gate. Then I decided to "grow some" and tried to ride her as forward and aggressively as I could just to get her over that blasted gated and Hattie did so, even if it was rather begrudgingly.
After that, my mind was in a panic and all the jumps became a blur and my equitation went out the window. the only thing that kept me on Hattie was the pommels and remembering to keep my RIGHT SHOULDER BACK as a few times I started to feel myself twist to the left. Whacking my shoulder back, yanked me back securely into position.
Dressage is so much more relaxing as I can take each movement as it comes, I have to remember to take each jump as it comes and not think of the whole thing as a course. I also have to learn to trust Hattie too as if you look at the videos, she did her auto lead changes and then I would annoyingly bring her back into trot to change her canter leads when she was already put herself on the correct lead.
After the first round, some people wanted the jumps lower and they got rid of the gate so I decided to try and end on a good note for my own sanity. My riding was still rubbish but the round a little less hairy. I forgot the course too.
The good thing about clear round shows is that they are low key and it's only yourself that you are competing against as if you go clear, you get a rosette, if not, then you had £5 worth of jumping a course and using it as schooling.
I think with some jumps like more imposing ones like that blasted gate, I need to ride more aggressively and break down the course into a series of one jumps each so I can plan how I'm going to ride each one. With jump no.s 3 and 6 (the one at the end of the ring on a tight turn), I should have collected a bit more, really looked, rib up, rode inside leg to outside hand and that would have helped us make the tight turn. All the other jumps were straight forward but it was 3 and 6 along with the gate that tested us!
I'm glad I did it though as I didn't come off and I was not the only one that day to have problems with that gate, quite a few horses refused or hesitated at it and at least I did it side saddle! Hear's to Hattie as well as she is such a good horse, she takes care of me and gets me out of tricky spots even when I don't know what the heck I'm doing.
Us after our rounds with my looking exhausted yet relieved!
Do you like my braids? I didn't do my signature 21 braids but instead did 12. I just can't do just 9 braids like the showing judge told me to, Hattie just has too much mane and they would look big and lumpy so I just "compromised".
