Well we are well into our season, Mally is having a short break to have a think about what she's learnt after having 4 runs fairly close together. I'll bring her back into proper work next week and hopefully she will be firing on all cylinders in time for our next run at Aston Le Walls on the 12th of May.
So we started off with a reletively easy run at Oasby in the BE90, Mally did a super double clear and made the whole thing feel very easy. We finished on our Dressage (which is still a work in progress!) to come 8th.
Then we made the step up to BE100 at Draycott. Considering I had planned this to be our ultimate goal in a couple of years, I was feeling a tad nervous! Again our Dressage wasn't it's best (not helped by Mally being able to see over the hedge to the XC!), we had one down in the Show Jumping but Mally stormed around the XC and I finished in floods of tears! A very proud moment as it was exactly one year to the day that she first saw XC fences! We finished a respectable 12th in a very Pro heavy section!
Next up was Stafford BE100. I absolutely love Stafford, however I never seem to ride very well there! Mally did what I thought was an ok Dressage (could have been worse anyway!) but I was disheartened by our score of 45. Then whilst warming up for the SJ, Mally stood on the back of her shoe and loosened it very slightly. I didn't realise until afterwards, but she can be rather fussy about her feet so it explained whilst she didn't feel as 'up for it' as usual and we came out with 8 to add to our Dressage. The xc was clear, but I wasn't totally over the moon with how I rode it, Mally was still being a bit backwards and I didn't do anything about it.
Then our most recent run was at Eland Lodge BE100. Again an Event I love (in fact it is probably my favourite!) Mally knows the course well from her baby unaff ODE days, so I hoped we would finish on a good positive note. It didn't start well with her trying to buck me off as I got on and then again in the Dressage warm up and I finished the test feeling relieved to have got through it rather than happy with how it felt, so was over the moon to find I had managed a 35.5! Went to the Show Jumping feeling hopeful as Mally usually jumps brilliantly on their surface, however I rode like a total moron and never got the right canter, so we managed to get another 8 faults!
I rode down the the XC hoping I would remember how to ride before we started, warmed up and went down to the start. As I was being counted down someone fell off on course and they couldn't catch her horse, so I was held for 3 minutes. Luckily Mally didn't over boil or switched off and when we finally got underway, I had remembered how to ride and she was firing on all cylinders! She flew the XC, making it feel ridiculously easy, and we both finished with huge smiles on our face.
Have a look in the gallery to see the pictures from these events, and also visit www.shoestringeventing.co.uk to see the course photos - if anyone is walking BE courses in future, please take photos of the fences and send the to Sarah-Jane
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