Wairarapa SJ&SH Champs

Last weekend we went up to Masterton (again!), but only for Sunday - so just the one day out of the 3 day show for me. The weather was on fine form, but I remembered my sunscreen so all is good. Mum even brought Dan and Shante along just to have a ride. Shante was looking a bit stiff at the canter, but has since had some massage work done and Mum tells me that it's all looking good to go for the A&P show this coming weekend.

It was a really mixed show for me, but the highlight was Neo's 1.10m class in Ring2. He warmed up quite nicely, a little goey but nothing silly. And I did get quite left behind over fence 1 (pic below!):

But after that he really settled in and was jumping so nicely. He was still a bouncy boy, but he was actually using himself over the fences and just gave me a really great ride. I was absolutely thrilled with him.

We had a plank down - possibly just came in a bit too hot/flat. But I totally didn't care, I was super stoked with him, and so he got lots of cuddles for that.

Then later in the afternoon we did the 1m class and it was just terrible. He was jumping through the fences (first photo below) and I actually felt he was going to hurt himself so I retired. Such a bummer to have to end on that note, as we'd had such an awesome morning. Xev was really off-form in the morning and I am still going through the options to sort out why - feet & teeth first on the list, then back... but she was so different to last weekend (look at the second pic below of her overjumping in the 1.10m and just not being her usual tidy self).

I took her in the showhunters and she was incredibly spooky and not focused on the fences at all, but I just put it down to spring grass (as there were a few horses behaving that way, and I certainly didn't think it was out of the question). But then the 1.10m was even worse and we didn't even make it over fence2. I had no idea what was wrong, and didn't want to even try our afternoon class, but a friend suggested I do it anyway as it was only 1m.

So I put her in a very soft bit and cantered around the 1m - which she went around, but was still very distracted and head high between fences. She got her tongue over the bit too. So while I'm really glad I did the class, as it meant we could finish on a better note, I am gutted that she must be sore somewhere... and the only way to find out where is through a process of elimination.

So the farrier came out today, and Xev is still feeling a bit hollow through the back and fussy in her mouth - so I really need to get the dentist out. I will still do flat classes this weekend, but not sure on the jumping as I don't want to hurt her at all. Gem is being a superstar at home, and Neo spent today falling over trotting poles (not a good start!). Oh well, horses keep me on my toes! Thanks to Swifty for the pics on this blog entry, and also to Louise for taking some extras too.