I’ve been neglecting Tom-related posts because there’s been other things happening. You know how it is. Life gets in the way…
So, this weekend William is coming in and we’re cross-country schooling at Ascot-under-Wychwood (yes, you can see the cross-country fences quite clearly, and if you scroll outwards you can see the rest of them in the next field!).
And next month is our first One Day Event.
Our JAS at Solihull was better than the mess at Hartpury (it could hardly have been worse!) and I learned quite a lot more about Tom and how he reacts to indoor competitions.
You would have thought that he’d be a bit used to the indoor experience, what with us schooling all winter indoors at home, but no.
It seems that the glitz, glamour, flags, bunting, scary fences/fillers and all that jazz unsettles him to the point where his adrenal glands kick in and, well, he gets nervous and therefore strong.
I can see from the photos at Solihull that I had far too much contact with his mouth over the fences, so I’m not releasing – which restricts him from making the bascule jumping shape and doesn’t help him do his job properly.
Why am I not releasing? Because it feels too bloody fast!
Show-jumping indoors is different to outdoors; the turns are tighter, the corners come at you far too quickly (especially on a large, big-striding horse like Tom!) and the spacing between the fences is far less generous.
The day before Solihull, we went to William’s place in Cirencester and we jumped brilliantly.
But 24 hours later we were tense, nervous, on edge and fired up/anxious and far too keen.
So I need to ease back on the fired up/anxious/keen – but not throttle back to the point where we switch off!
Fortunately I’ve got the Solihull photos, and they are a great training aid. But the bottom line is I need to give Tom his head over fences, and deal with the excess of speed between the obstacles, not in the air!
Fair enough.
I’m going to try to squeeze in a couple of sessions with Owen before our first competition too.
Looking forward to this weekend!
I’m not going to even try to pretend I understand any of that technical equine stuff – but it does sound fascinating. Best of luck this weekend, matey.
Mya x
Would love to see some of the photos. A leaping horse is quite majestic. I think the bit about not attempting to slow down while airborne is probably a good idea. 🙂
I read your book, I read your blog, but when you talk about equestrian, I am completely at sea – or in our colloquialism, no freakin’ idea.
Good luck.
Good luck this weekend! I’m sure you’ll be fine and Tom will get less nervous about this the more he does it.