Spring has sprung and so has Beaventing!

Well we finally got to start our show season.  After some shuffling around the weather, Seth took Jango to a starter trial at Full Moon Farm 2 weeks ago and I was able to run Hobbs at Plantation last weekend.  We both lucked out and finally had beautiful weather.  No snow, hail or rain!

Seth & Jango SJ

Seth & Jango XC

Jango and Seth had a mediocre dressage test - we planned poorly and cut our timing too close so his dressage warmup was rushed and they never really got their rhythm.  Plus he had to ride in an indoor which is never easy to get a fluid test.  Moving on to jumping.  He had the best show jump round I've seen from them yet.  It was very smooth and fluid and absolutely no hesitation.  He and Jango then had a beautiful XC round, again no hesitation and it wasn't quite as frantic as last year because Seth didn't feel the need to chase him.  They really looked great and Novice looked so easy for them so now they've got their eyes set on Training in Fair Hill in May. 

Last weekend was Hobbs and my debut at Plantation.  It was actually really nice to compete over 2 days for a lot of reasons.  First of all, my nerves were a little better on dressage and SJ day since I didn't have XC looming over my head.  Second, the facility is so close and I had early times so we were home around lunch both days so we had some time to do other things!  Plus is was GORGEOUS weather so we got to spend a lot of time outside!  I digress...so on Saturday I wasn't very happy with my dressage test.  We got there early to do our pre-warmup which went very well and then my actual warmup also went very well.  Then I got in the ring and he just got fussy.  It wasn't any type of blowup- different than usual, he just didn't want to accept the bridle.  There were some really good moments and I got an 8 on my mediums so I just need to build on that.  The SJ was in grass and was very loopy.  We didn't realize that Prelim jumped before Intermediate so as we were walking we thought the Intermediate looked pretty small until we realized it was Prelim..hehe. 

Anyway, I got to see a number of rides go and there were very few clear rounds.  It seemed like a challenging course.  Again, I was pretty nervous, more than I would've liked but I had a great warmup followed by one of my best rounds.  There were a few small mistakes but overall smooth and solid.  I had one rail and 3 seconds of time which I was thrilled with.  Our performance on Saturday was good enough to put us in 5th going into XC.

The XC course was a solid Prelim track but certainly doable.  There were a few bending questions which are always tough for us because of how big he jumps.  Plus I had the whole breathing issue somewhat in the back of my mind.  He was great again in warmup...not quite as fluid as our SJ warmup but good.  Then he was a champ getting into the startbox all by himself!  He felt great on course...everything seemed easy which is what I hoped for.  I didn't push the pace at all since I was planning on running him this weekend at Fair Hill.  We came hope with zero jump penalties and ~25 seconds over optimum time moving up to finish in 4th.  So the first 2 outings were very respectable for Beaventing and we're looking forward to the rest of this season!

 

Bumps in the Road

Well 2014 has proven to be difficult thus far.  First, we have had to deal with the winter from hell that is now becoming the spring from hell.  My plan was to open at Morven Park last weekend to get a Prelim run in and then move up to Intermediate at Fair Hill in 2 weeks.  The week leading up to Morven brought a few inches of snow and then a downpour/hail on Saturday causing the event to turn into a CT!  Luckily we had decided to scratch on Saturday and didn't make the 3.5 hour drive for a Prelim CT.  Then came the rejiggering of plans...I took over Seth's entry at Plantation for next weekend and will run him back to back weekends to try and get back in the groove.  Seth is going to Full Moon Farm starter trial this weekend to get an outing and plan his move up to Training.  At this point we can save a few bucks with him going to schooling trials until he's comfortable at Training...we know he can dominate the Novice world but he's got bigger plans for Jango! 

Through all of this I was still concerned with Hobbs' breathing so we decided to have Kathy check him out.  We thought he was just struggling because of the extreme cold, but now that we are actually getting 40+° weather it didn't make sense.  Unfortunately, she found that he does have some asymmetry that has developed in his airway which is causing the noise.  He's not fully paralyzed yet, but it certainly could progress.  Surgery will be an option, but with only 70% success rate it's a risk.  Our plan of attack is to run him and see how much it's affecting him by monitoring his heart rate.  He will need to be more fit now to compensate for his deficiency, but I'm hoping that his big heart and zeal for running XC will triumph.  Kathy showed us this really cool case, AliveCor for our iphone that can track all the data and take his heart rate, so we promptly ordered one on the way home.  I will be honest I haven't spent a lot of effort tracking his conditioning in the past since I felt he would become too fit and then was unmanageable in dressage.  But now I'm obsessed with it and feel like I want to ride him all the time and take his heart rate to make sure he is ok.  I'm freaking out a bit about it and of course every time he takes a deep breath or sighs I'm concerned.  It's also hard because I know him so well so I'm overanalyzing everything and trying to make sure he's still happy with his job.  He makes a lot of noise now when we're working and that's something I'm going to have to get used to, but it's hard to adjust to especially since I know something is wrong.  I don't feel like he and I are done yet - although this winter was rough, we are more in sync than we have ever been and I felt much more confident going into this season.  Then this comes up and my confidence is shattered for a completely different reason.  In this sport it feels like every time you set a high goal there are major obstacles to overcome and you are continuously tested.  It's tiring and frustrating, but I know from past experience that it is super rewarding if you can achieve your goals!

AliveCor - my new best friend

When Hell Freezes Over

2013 brought many successes for Beaventing.  Hobbs and I successfully ended the season as an Intermediate pair.  After our triumph at NJHP we went on to successfully complete Fair Hill (first clean XC jump) and then Morven to end the season.  We had an unfortunate run-out at Morven at a tough question, but he felt great on course.  We had a tough corner combo early on in the course which he took like a champ.  Our dressage was a disaster, but I will chalk that up to bad planning...we should've arrived earlier since Jango was along for the ride.  Seth and Jango had a fantastic run at Morven at the Novice Championships.  They were in a very competitive 10th place after their best dressage test to date and then went clean on XC, with a very sticky moment at the maxed out trakehner (see video below).  They then had to jump in the indoor and sadly had 2 rails to drop them back, but it was an incredible weekend with Seth competing against some of the top riders in the sport.  It was a solid way to end the 2013 season. 

We took it easy going into the winter and then the winter from hell hit.  Record snowfall and most of January and February we were lucky to see temps in the 20's.  It was an awful winter for training, plus my work was VERY demanding.  We pretty much hit every indoor within a 30 mile radius.  Oh, and most of Chester County lost power for over a week!  Needless to say, we weren't able to go South with Courtney as planned but we did what we could.  Seth and Jango made a lot of progress and were able to get to a CT at Thorncroft in January which went very well.  They are really developing a great relationship and 2014 looks to be a standout year for the pair.  Today was our first XC school of the year at Unicorn and they looked fantastic...they even did a corner and a chevron skinny....Training here they come!  Hobbs and I will debut at Morven next weekend at Prelim and hopefully bounce back to Intermediate at Fair Hill in April.  Then we'll see what the season brings.  I'm feeling much more comfortable with the bigger fences and Hobbs and I seem to really be in sync.   His dressage has really been solid...I toyed with a double bridle this winter a few times and we had been working on changes.  He's just so darn athletic it's a lot of fun!  I'm hoping it all translates this year and we continue to improve.