Course designer and builder of Lynton, Neil Kennedy, looks worried on the side lines as I jump into the water
This last month has been full of eventing! SIEC, some little horse show in Greenwich and a clinic at Lynton have kept me pretty busy, aswell as the usual stuff in my life that comes from having three little people needing my almost constant attention.
At SIEC this constant attention was enough to make me seriously question WHY do I do this to myself? I was staying in the cabins, which have tissue paper for walls I swear. Laura woke at 11pm and despite all my best efforts, I couldn’t get her back to sleep, so we went for a walk to see Astro (boy was he surprised to see me at 1am), and while I was up near the stables I collected my dressage sheet – well THAT was a silly idea! My test was not really all that good and my judge was pretty blunt about it, so lack of sleep and a shocking test made me wonder what I was doing there.
Laura finally went to sleep at 2am, and then Abby woke up at 2.30, so I think I got maybe about one hours’ sleep that night, not the ideal preparation for me as I felt that the EvA105 (or pre novice) course was probably one of the biggest I’d done. However, late night messaging to Bek Thompson in the UK had given me a few tips, and enough time to ride through the course in my mind over and over and over and I went out of the start box like a woman possessed! We had one run off at a narrow log, which in hindsight was my fault (I blame a wardrobe malfunction – MUST remember to wear my sports bra cross country as there is nothing worse than having a strap stuck over your shoulder while riding) and the rest of the course rode well. I however had to walk off the course due to us slipping over after the second water, not unlike what happened to Sam Griffiths at that little known event at Greenwich – so I kind of know how he feels. I wasn’t going to include any details about my fall at SIEC in this blog until I heard that it had happened to him – it made me feel slightly less of an idiot, so I’ve left the footage uncut from the sunnies cam.
All this lack of sleep had probably one benefit – I’m getting used to it, so when the cross country in London didn’t finish until well after 3am (WHY did Toddy have to be last) it was par for the course for me. I really loved following the NZ team as their enjoyment and comradery was plain to see in the media/facebook pages. It just wasn’t Australia’s best event, but at least one of the countries from down under did well.
No my shoulders aren't normally hunched but it was a tad chilly out at Lynton
Last weekend Lynton Horse Trials held a show jumping and cross country clinic with Sam Lyle and I had a great time. Astro was rather keen and we spent the better part of the show jumping lesson halting in front of the jumps. Eventually he got the message to not charge into the jumps and by the end of the one and half hour lesson he finally produced a lovely calm ride around some pretty challenging lines. We decided to cut back on his feed that night and morning and he was certainly much easier to ride. We did several of the pre novice fences with a few 1 and 2* jumps thrown in for good measure – it certainly was a confidence booster. It was fun jumping the brushes, especially as they were wrapped up in shade cloth to protect them, making the horses jump well clear of jumps they normally would push through.
Wow - what a feeling!
As Sam keeps his eye on me we leap over the corner
Camden is next up for me and then it's time to get busy with everthing connected to the CIC event at Canberra. I need to get the schedule ready for the FEI to approve, amongst all the other tasks involved in running an event! Sleep might be an elusive luxury for a whie longer it seems.
Until next time, enjoy those horses and the lighter mornings - spring is on its way!
Kate
