So with our first BE80 looming in the not so distant future I decided I should really get going with this fitness programme I had written up and start practising over show jumps and XC fences more ( great idea right? I’m off to a good start I tell myself! ) I decided to enter a nice little unaffiliated ODE just 20 minutes up the road so that I can see how we would be on the day doing all three and fix any problems that pop up.
Dressage test learned – TICK!
Show jumping & Cross country walked – TICK!
Cross country colours ordered and received – TICK!
Ready to go….
We set off at a reasonable time, arrived in one piece and picked up our number and then tacked up. Warm up was – bleh! She wasn’t her usual self, far too laid back and heavy in my hand, not a lot I could do so down the centre line we went, completed the first movement to then hear BEEP! Bugger… id learned the wrong test! Imagine going wrong in the only discipline of the day you are actually good at! If I didn’t laugh I would have cried. 5 minutes to learn the new test and Ziva had switched off completely – excellent! Off we went again for take 2, thankfully (and miraculously) I remembered the NEW test and posted a seriously reasonable low 20’s score.
Ok so the ‘easy’ part was done, on to the show jumping now, a small course but plenty to look at, Ziva soared round for a lovely clear. We then changed into out XC outfits and headed up to the warm up. I love my new colours which suit us down to a T, I got them from www.superxcountry.co.uk. Well worth a look if you fancy treating yourself
The ground was extremely hard so I decided to take it easy aka slow… a speed I am very comfortable with! Today was all about learning so no rush for a rosette, plus we were now HC due to our dressage mishap. We set off slowly and trotted in a few places, Ziva had eyes on stocks and wanted to go faster (not a good combo) so it wasn’t a very smooth round but a clear none the less! We accumulated 20 time faults…impressive! But would have been 7th if we weren’t HC, yey!
I certainly knew now that I needed to brush up on my XC skills so I booked in a few sessions with my friend Sarah and her awesome horse Flash as our nanny to help us out if we got stuck. We headed to strathearn to learn Zivas fear off water had returned and gotten worse! …. Omg I felt sick… I had spent all this money on our first affiliated event and I couldn’t even get her through the water. Panic mode set in and I found every river/stream/lake (slightly dramatic with the lake but you get the idea!) to practice in. She definitely got better but I wasn’t feeling any better about the Dalkeith water as I had been told it was a horse frightener with its odd colouring.
The day had arrived…and I was first on at 8am. I set off at 5.30am bleary eyed and picked up my other half who was still asleep I think and full of regret. Despite the Saturday being sunny all day the Sunday was the complete opposite, grey and raining, at this point I am asking myself why on earth I had decided eventing was a good idea! I had jump judged on the Saturday with my friend Karen and walked the course with Leona too – more giggles than anything so we had to walk it twice!
Anyway moaning over and we headed off to the warm up …. WOW!!! Ziva felt amazing, soft, light and floating! Back to her normal self. She started the day off on a high with a lovely test! I was so happy as she actually felt like she was enjoying it. A quick change off tack, off the SJ warm up and it wasn’t even 9am yet…. Yaaaawn. The course was lovely, when I walked it I knew it would suit her well, lovely swooping turns and in a big space equaled another clear and inside the time. Now for the worst part…. My stomach churned like nothing I had ever experienced before… I actually feel like that right now writing this despite knowing the outcome…..wimp!
We changed into our XC gear and headed off to the warm up with my friend Karen and her horse Ollie. Karen went first and I was 2 to go after her, I headed into the start box and the very kind gentleman counted us down 3…2…1…GO! Good god you would think I was setting off round badminton with this build up! Fences 1 to 5 jumped great, Ziva was locked on and feeling super confident, we scrambled over 6 – a ditch brush that caused a lot of stops and eliminations – flew over 7-12 then cantered down to the water of doom! I knew if I could get her over the log before it then we would be fine. She popped over the log great, saw the water 2 strides out and grounded to a halt…. We both closed our eyes and walked through like it was covered in mouse traps – dramatic much?! I was so shocked that we were in that I almost missed part c! I kicked on now knowing we were looking good for a top 6 placing and we safely made it home – yeeha!
We added 4 time faults to our dressage score and double clear so ended up winning our section of 32 on 28.5! I couldn’t believe it, she was incredible all day and gave me the best feeling ever, I don’t think I have ever sat on such an honest and happy horse in my life, she truly is one in a million. It is fair to say we have the eventing bug!
Love from
Ferne & Ziva x
