The start of June saw a trip to Southcott for Podge’s first ODE of the season. He had a great dressage result despite only warming up for 5 minutes due to a sat nav malfunction followed by an unlucky pole in the SJ. We’ve been trying different bits as he can sometimes tank around the XC. He did a lovely, steady XC round for a clear but earned time faults for going too slow which is a novelty for Podge! He came 5th overall which was a great result and started the season off well.
A couple of days later, Ruby went off to Coleraine for the Riding Club SJ qualifiers as part of the Cornwall Trec Group team. She produced a lovely double clear in the 90 cm to win the class and qualify for the Championships.
All was going well….then Mr P went to St Leonards where despite plenty of warm up, he was too excited in the dressage & tanked around the SJ leaving him with two fences down which left him too much to do despite having a brilliant clear across country. Back to the drawing board regards the bitting and bridle options. The issue we have is that at home, he is more chilled, so we only know whether a new arrangement is effective whilst out at a competition. Also, like most quirky horses, he is sensitive so just whacking a strong bit isn’t the answer. As my coaching head always says, it’s just another temporary obstacle to overcome before moving forward towards the end goal!
Undeterred, the last event of June saw Amber out at St Leonards for the Area 19 Horse Trials riding for Cornwall Trec Group with Podge & Ruby. She won the 90cm with Podge and the 80cm with Ruby with double clear rounds to finish on her dressage scores with both horses, as well as qualifying for the Championships with both horses!
A lovely result after a few events not going to plan, but that’s the joy and excitement of competing horses!!
