I swear the noise that woke me at 03.45 sounded exactly like a cat being blown off the roof…
The weather is a factor in my life in more ways than just keeping me awake.
Tom and I are due to take part in a hunter trial competition on Sunday, at Broughton, near Banbury.
I use the word ‘due’ because, obviously, if this storm continues in its current vein then the competition will be called off.
The word ‘hunter’ can raise the hackles of some sensitive souls, so perhaps I should say that a hunter trial is almost, but not quite, like the cross-country phase of a One Day or Three Day Event, but run as a distinct competition. No actual hunting.
The class we have entered will have 18-20 cross-country fences set at 2’9″ in height; the fences will be in a range of designs: drops, ditches, walls, hedges and various other obstacles.
But unlike the cross-country phase of a One Day or Three Day Event, hunter trials are not run with an optimum time from start to finish. Instead, most hunter trials have a timed section of 3-4 fences.
The aim is to get through the timed section as fast as possible (and also to not incur any jumping penalties anywhere around the track).
The organisers usually make speed through the timed section a problem by including a normal, bridleway-type gate.
Competitors have to ride up to the gate, open it, ride through, turn and close it behind them – all while mounted.
Sneaky.
Tom and I have been doing a little practice, trying to open and close gates around the yard and up on the cross-country course.
Cantering straight up to the gates and jumping them doesn’t count and leads, inevitably, to elimination.
This is a shame, because Tom has clearly shown that popping over the gate is his natural inclination.
However, in other news…
1. Tom’s new saddle arrived yesterday. It’s brilliant; another made-to-measure piece of excellence from Miles at Bromsgrove Saddlery. I’m very grateful to Miles that he drove all the way down to Oxfordshire to deliver it and assess how well it fitted under ridden conditions.
2. Tom saw the dentist on Wednesday. We had the Vet out to dope him for this. When the dentist checked Tom over last week, he found so many sharp edges in his mouth that he said it would be kinder to dope him, than do so much work with Tom fully awake. As well as making Tom’s mouth much more comfortable (and efficient – in the eating of food!), the dentist removed a very small rogue tooth that had been growing between two molars – and must have felt very uncomfortable for the chap.
All in all I feel that Tom is about ready to rock and roll on the competitive stage of equestrianism, though I will get his back checked in January, just as Vin will get his done then too.
I do feel that in the longer term I might have to look at getting some extra brakes over cross-country fences; Tom is as good as gold on both the flat and over a course of show-jumps. He’s just a little too ‘gung-ho’ out in the field!
But for now I think we’re good.
And on that note, the wind has died down outside and the rain has stopped hammering against the windows, so I’m going to have another go at some sleep.