Albury One Day Event 2011

Paris and I headed off to the Albury event on Friday 25th March 2011.

All the Introductory events were due to be held on the Saturday due to the high number of entries in the competition.

We had a great competition considering a lack of preparation due to Paris getting a deep foot abbcess two weeks earlier!

Paris pulled out a ripper of a test with some very calm and consistent elements to the ride. However, the judge believed that we were lacking forward, which placed us mid feild.

Our showjumping was HUGE! I have been jumping some big stuff at home, but not a whole course of jumps so wide! The oxers stayed the same width for Preliminary and Introductory. The were very WIDE!

Anywho, she cruized around with not a problem at all and managed to go clear with no time penalties!

The cross country was next and WOW! I love my horse! Whilst everyone elses horses were jumping around silly, Paris fell asleep in the start box whilst the countdown man cuddled her! Very cute!

We had a great XC round, except for a very silly stop! It was a jump up, hook right and jump down. In order to avoid jumping straight off the other side of the hill into a dam, I decided to bring her back to a trot just before we jumped up the hill. This was a very silly mistake, as we lost our foward movement and she stopped. There was no dirt from Paris, just a silly rider error! It was very surreal, as I havent had a stop on XC before, and I almost didnt realise we had a stop. I just kept on pushing for her to get over but then my brain switched back on and realised we were wasting time!!

Luckily, there was a long, open flat space to follow these two efforts, so we opened up for a real gallop and made up time!

We ended up finishing in 19th place, which is a bit dissapointing, but Im still VERY proud of her!

We have a busy few weeks planned! Unfortunately, I missed the entries for the Berrima event in April, but I will bea heading to the Yass Show instead to do some open hunter classes! We have a show this weekend, next weekend and dressage the weekend after!

Very busy indeed!

A good season starts early..

Paris and I have a had a bit of success in the last few weeks :)

Last Monday (7.3.11), we attended a Twilight competition at a local riding centre.
This particular competition involved Dressage only- with showjumping to follow the next week.

We entered two tests- the 1A and the 2A.

We won our Prelim test with a great score of 70%. The most pleasing about this test was the consistency shown throughout which is something we have previously struggled with. We finished our Novice test with a score of 66% to land us in second place! Very proud of her!

Yesterday (14.3.11), we attended the twilight jumping competition. We only entered the 90cms as I felt that it would be unfair to enter in the 60cm class.
We went clear which was great! The competiton was fastest time, but due to the size of the arena we couldnt exactly "stretch" our legs. However, we got through the course in great time! We were nice and forward and barely hit ANY long spots! Yay!

We are heading to the Moss Vale show this weekend to get out and about in the Hunter classes!
Then off to Albury ODE the following weekend!

BUSY BUSY :)

Pony Club

So yesterday I had my first day back at PC for 2011.

I have just joined a new club and it was great! One of the biggest clubs in ACT I think. We had about 50 ridden attendees yesterday, with many more people attending on foot!

Initially, I was meant to be unmounted instructing XC. However I decided during the week that I would like to take Paris along and instruct mounted.
luckily I took her, as due to weather and the large amount of young/new members that attended yesterday, we didnt venture out on course.

Luckily for me, the morning now invloved SJ. I was very excited to put everything from the clinic together and see how Paris went, And what more can I say, she was amazing!!

We completed our first B grade course since before she broke her knee!! And with no rails down :) Which is unusual for her! Normally she forgets early in the course that she actually has to pick her feet up and will generally run straight through one jump.. But we managed to clear them all in style!

I really got to feel the thrust come through her wither as she jumped higher over some of the 'spooky' jumps!

Very impressed indeed!!

Barry Roycroft clinic 2011

Paris and I attended the Barry Roycorft Clinic last weekend and WOW! I am so proud of this mare.
She remained cool, calm and level headed about the job at hand at all times! A big ask for a horse that has had little to no work in the last 18 months.

We didnt learn a lot in the dressage as I was grouped with some very green youngsters due to her level of fitness. This didnt bother me as she was able to 'show off'. We managed to get some good extended trot happening and some fluent leg yeilding and shoulder in!

Our showjumping was going to be a real test as this is generally her weakest point. I was placed in a higher level group as our experience suited this better. We were eventually faced with a 6 bar grid, which consisted of 4 verticals and two 90cm oxers with no ground poles! This was a little daunting for both of us as we are both 'out of practice'.
Anywho, she took to the grid better than ever before and Barry was very impressed. We managed to concour our superman style and maintain a quiet seat and a steady pace over and over again!

Sunday saw us out on XC. You can tell that this is her favourite bit! As soon as we headed out on the paddock, she was very keen to halt-gallop! We were both rearing to go! (Pardon the pun!!)
We were faced with the usual fences at varying heights. I managed to jump two 'rider' fences which I was very proud of! One being a PC B grade (Grade 2) log oxer with no ground poles- just two random rocks placed strategically underneath.
We also provided some confidence support for some of the younger, less-experienced horses which made us both feel good!
We also jumped the B grade drop, which was very exhilarating and we had to fight the urge not to push it and try the A grade drop! All very exciting!

Our first Event for the year will be Intro at Albury ODE, so I will update my blog again once we get home from there!

2011 :)

So 2011 is looking like its going to be a very busy year!

We are starting the year off with a Barry Roycroft clinic. Its a bit rushed for Paris, but I wasnt going to miss a fantastic oppurtunity!
W ehave been doing some fantastic work at home now which is exciting! It has been a bit of a culture shock not having a dead flat sand arena to ride in each day! But were coping :)

I nearly died when I saw how full the Eventing calendar is this year! Something on nearly EVERY weekend.. And this doesnt include any SJ, Dressage or Pony Club days.. Busy Busy :)

Moving!

I have recently just moved to a property in Gundaroo which Paris is loving!
She is like a pig in mud at the moment and is loving life of not needing feed, rugs or excersise! Glad to see the end of this non-eventful season.. I am definently looking forward to getting back into the swing of things for next year!

I am hoping to get down to some Victorian events next year if time permits, so hopefully I will get a chance to spend some time with all the other team riders!

I attached some photo's just because they're cute! Paris has been trying her hand at western! She just loves chasing cows! And nothing feels better than a big lazy lope around the paddocks!!

My First and current ESB Horse

My first and current ESB horse is ESB Irish Moment or Paris as she is known around the stables. She is a chestnut mare by ESB Irish Decent, out of ESB Golden Girl. She is quite stricking to look at as she has a white blonde mane, flaxen tail, a big white face and two back socks!

My parents purchased Paris for me in 2007 straight from the ESB stud. She was very inexperienced when we bought her and was not long broken in. From the minute I got on her I loved her! I spent two weeks at the stud with her before bringing her home to Canberra in July of 2007.

Since then, it has been a long road of learning and heartbreak. She was very hard work enitally to get her going as she was very lazy and resistant. After lots of lessons and instruction, out came this AMAZING animal that really has a passion for competition. She has this attitude, that she only turns on when we are out competing and she really is a head turner!

She is a real character and has many little quirks about her that I have come to love. Things like climbing/ crawling in and out of stables are the "norm" for her, but she is beginning to grow out of her baby behaviour.

Recently she has just returned from a 9 month spell as she chipped her knee whilst out playing in the paddock. Whilst the injury wasnt too extensive, it was enough to make her uncomfortable and the vets orders were to spell her for 9 months. This was in November last year!  It has been great to finally be able to ride her again! It is amazing how much she has matured in this time! her whole attitude toward work and life in general is VERY different! Its great!

Watch this space for more Paris updates!!