J L D EQUINE

Thats more like it ! We won 120 Euro’s

What a terrible day, Zaino had me off in the warm up, he was going really well and then the tannoy sounded for the start of the class and Zaino went mental spooked and bolted. I hit my head (still no sense in there so doesn’t matter) landed heavily on my left shoulder and left arm and hip all very badly bruised and in pain ! You know me I insisted on getting back on, not for long though as Zaino would not go past the photographer in the corner of the arena so we retired. Such a shame as lots of trainers came to help and said what a stunning horse but he just went crazy ! I am planning to ride him tonight in the arena if I can and not in too much pain and will try again tomorrow but not confident as it is a more difficult test but just don’t know what is best to do any suggestions ??? However I did not take Phil’s advice not to do Brennus as I was in too much pain, and did not want to wait now till next week having had a difficult time with him yesterday. But although still a little nervous and a few mistakes he was a good boy and scored 68% that made up for Zaino this morning and has shown us that the international judges do like him, I will have full result of 5 y/o later!

Zaino is on tomorrow in Arena 2 (the main arena) at 10.16 and Brennus is on in Arena 1 (with banners) at 1.24pm so an early start ! Lets hope for better success tomorrow ! I am going to be busy tonight learning two new tests !

Been feeling pretty rubbish but have the sheet now and looked at the results it would appear the other horses that went after us came behind us and one was even eliminated so BB was not the only one who objected to the banner. Apparently it was the glint from the sun off of the banner that think was causing such a problem lots are talking about it. Just to add to my not so good day I found out that the arena for Zaino had changed to the one that I have not been practising in !!! So I rode him in it today and you have guessed right he objected massively 1 hour later I persuaded him it really was alright and he settled and actually went well in the end. I am shattered, my back hurts, and hope tomorrow brings us better luck. Never thought I would wish for rain but am beginning to think it could be a better option for Brennus, he scored a rubbish 54.2 ! So we are sure we can do so much better than that. Thank you for all you support and shared experiences of things not going to plan !

Firstly they were running 20 mins late, and then disaster struck a new banner had been put up overnight at E for Tio Pepe (I will never drink this again)! when I tried to trot past the sign around the outside of the arena the sun reflected on it and BB jumped sideways into the arena through the barrier ! Embarrassed is an understatement I was then let out of the arena to try and get past the banner but Brennus who normally is not spooky would not go anywhere near it. They rang the bell I turned around and came down the 3/4 line as Brennus was still not going anywhere near E with the guy still mending the barriers that we had just fallen through! Well everything just went downhill from there! I don’t know even if I will get a score, the only consolation is that the next 3 horses all did exactly the same and the poor guy lifting the gate spent more time at E then at A it was just becoming a Farce. As we speak there are discussions going on to remove the banner! Such a shame because he warmed up lovely. I just hope we have not blown his confidence let alone mine.

Well he were go ! Brennus B time for tomorrow is 10.34 we have 18 in the class all stallions except for 3 mares oh and BB is down as a Gelding not a good start ! Poor BB ! Hey Josie we have a Jose riding Bentley in our class ! I really hope the judges like him and he goes well tomorrow, after all, this is BB only second outing ever ! Nothing like throwing him in at the deep end ! Will let you know how we get on win, lose, draw or come last, it will, I am sure be a positive experience for us both ! Both boys have had activo rug on, all tack clean and ready (my tack has never been polished this much) ! For information we decided to pay the extra for the tack room adjacent to the stables and it is very good value for money. Fingers crossed for tomorrow !

Well we have done all of our preparations so now we will find out tomorrow if the judges like Brennus, he went well today and so did Zaino. We rode a little later as it was still quite cold early this morning so we used the time to go to the supermarket and stock up with some food. It is another glorious day a little windy and not as hot. The owner of the complex has a carriage which we have been lucky enough to avoid out on the tracks thus far !

Zaino has found a new friend ! I fed him this morning and he has his nose over the back wall kissing !!! Brennus on the other hand doesn’t need any friends just foooood ! We went out last night and had a nice meal. First show tomorrow with Brennus and I do feel nervous didn’t sleep so well last night. Too many tests going around in my head ! I have to learn to different test for each horse and my problem is when I get nervous my mind just goes blank! I am going to give Zaino any easy day today as he is not on until Thursday/Friday/Saturday. Will let you know our times as soon as we do should be today for Brennus.

Zaino’s world fell apart today Boo! We had a bit of a battle to get to the arena something caught his eye and as usual he decided it was just too scary to go forward he can be such a chicken !!! However I kept calm and persuaded him it really was ok, consequently he was tense in his work today especially as he didn’t have any friends to work with him. I have decided that Zaino would be fab at Pas de Deux !!! Still I am trying to stay positive as never are two days the same with Zaino ! Brennus was fab today he is growing in confidence, and settling very well now, so lets hope one of the boys does well !!! Its so nice to be able to hack on sandy tracks in the sunshine especially with Phil’s trustee mount (thanks Dad for lending the bike) ! Point to remember in the future never take white bandages its taken me an hour to hand wash them and I have also done a weeks washing for us too ! We were going to the supermarket this afternoon but have been told its bank holiday here and they are shut ! So we are treating ourselves to a meal out tonight and supermarket tomorrow!!!

Wow! What a response from our Eurodressage article, thank you everybody for your messages we had over 800 people visit the blog in just a few hours with messages from Canada, Russia, South Africa as well as Europe. I will reply throughout the day but I also need time to ride the boys inbetween. I have attached a link and screen shot for those of you that have not yet seen it. Thank you everybody for your support and kind wishes.
http://www.eurodressage.com/