We’ve been a little busier in the last few months than we have been in the last year and a half!
Firstly lets start with the rewind to the start of September…
September Showjumping
At the start of September I took the plunge and entered the meter class in the showjumping! This is only our second time jumping this height in a competition environment but we are pretty consistent at the 90cm and she was jumping so well in the few weeks leading up to the show that I thought I may as well go for it!
That day Eva was feeling fresh and excitable. We were clear in the 90cm but slow because I was doing my best to keep her calm as I felt like if I gave her an inch she would tank off with me. With that we were a respectable 4th.
It was time to focus on the meter class, she was still fresh but after being round once she was far more focused in this round. We had the first two down, however after the first two its like it clicked in both our heads “oh ok we need to get our act together”. With that we were clear the rest of the round.
Jumps 5 to 11 were particularly good for us as we got in to a bit more of a rhythm and let the jumps come to us. (You can see the video on the instagram post below)
As it turns out, no one out of the 6 entered went clear so we ended up in 2nd place! Not bad for our second ever attempt at a meter!
M.O.T
I was away for a week in September during which Eva was lunged to keep her ticking. When I got back Eva had appointments coming out her ears, from a massage to the farrier to the vet for her vaccinations! So safe to say she wasn’t particularly impressed with me. But with that she was very well behaved!
For Evas monthly massage, while there was tension in her shoulders she really gave in and was loving back getting worked on. With Eva it’s a bit of a mental exercise to allow someone to get in her personal bubble, but Cat is so patient with her and quietly works away until Eva lets her in.
Off to the beach
We have a beach which is very near us, its too far to hack but its a short drive. Its somewhere a few people at the yard head to get their horses fit as there are great long canters. We had a friend come with us which was a massive help as Eva was quite happy to follow their lead.
This was Evas first trip to the beach and I haven’t been in a loonnnggg time, so I was a little nervous!
Eva was foot perfect with everything from loading, to cantering along the beach and to loading on the way back!
I’m so happy with how she behaved and she seemed to enjoy herself so its definitely somewhere we will be heading back to!
New Saddle!
I finally got round to saddle buying a new saddle, something I’ve been meaning to get round to since June!
Unfortunately I was a little short on options when it came to hunting for a saddle. When I had enquired about 2nd hand jumping saddles with a lower budget back in the middle of summer there were far more saddles available for me to try. As soon I as I started seriously hunting for one they turned in to gold dust!
I booked an appointment to try two saddles, one within my range and the other just outside. By chance the saddler had another event saddle that came up that she thought she might as well bring with her. Of course that happened to be the one that suited us best!
It took me a minute to get used to it because I’m so used to riding in my old Wintec GP, but her canter feels much freer in the shoulder and I feel much more in the right position when riding.
Arena Hire
Unfortunately it was a bit of a windy day and therefore Eva was a bit non compliant when it came to the loading side of things. At one point she managed to get loose and gallop off to her field, once caught (which didn’t take very long as soon as she realised her pals weren’t out yet and that I was holding a carrot), she skipped by the other horses who were all very excited at a loose horse of course! After the drama we did load, and she didn’t even fuss when she realised we had her in.
We then headed over to a near by arena to do some jumping!
It’s something we haven’t done before but it was good experience for both of us plus the trailer practice. Her energy was a bit ‘meh’ because we took so long loading, none the less I’m glad we went an added to our experience.
Winter Months
Eva is now clipped and looking smart (if I do say so myself), I held off for a long time to let her winter coat grow in so I could minimise the amount of times I would need to clip.
I’m starting to plan our trailer outing for December, which might be some dressage! We’ve only done dressage as part of eventing not just pure dressage away from home before, so it will be good experience for us both. (Plus its been a while since I’ve properly plaited up!)
With the winter months setting in Eva will get her usual few weeks off over Christmas and New year. Then it will be straight into getting her fit for *hopefully* a season of eventing!
The Scottish Equestrian 