Battle Hill ODE

Had a good day on Sunday at Battle Hill ODE, but very busy with 3 horses to ride.

Spice did a nice dressage (we were first to go), though the test was pretty uninteresting.

The XC course wasn't too bad, but the first jump was really solid - didn't pose any problems though. Spice did a fantastic round, just trucking along on a loose rein pretty much the whole way for a clear round nicely inside the time. We were both very tired for the showjumping, so hit a few wrong distances, but Spice got me out of trouble for another clear to finish on our dressage score and head home with the win (even prizemoney too, yay).

Silvi's dressage wasn't as lovely as usual, but she'd also managed to throw her front shoes 2 days before and wasn't 100% comfortable. Still - it was tidy enough. She was a real star on the XC, with our only problem being a look at the water (her first time seeing water out on the XC), but she popped through happily at our next approach and just cruised around the rest of the course.

Our cruising may have been a little too sedate, as we did come home with some time faults. Oops. Showjumping was another easy clear round, and Silvi was most happy to have a rest at the truck afterwards.

Dan had his first ever outing - doing intro! It was hilarious. Dressage was untidy, but I was stoked with him - he didn't spook at anything and tried very hard to keep his balance on the 20m circles (which he isn't really muscled for yet). He's such a kind boy.

Showjumping blew me out of the water. Okay, the jumps weren't big, but he'd never seen coloured poles before, and he just calmly went around hopping over whatever I put him at. We had a little rail at the last, but other than that clear (even with a double - what a brave horsey).

Nearing the end of the round he was starting to feel more confident and jumping with a bit more balance and bravery. The XC was good, though we trotted most of the way around. He spooked a bit at fence judges, and a lot at one grey horse while we were warming up - but other than that he was just a happy man tootling along with his ears pricked. He'll go off and have a month off now to let him process everything he's seen and done in such a short time.