SIEC weekend

Went down to SIEC today as a jump judge. Had a great day in the sun. No major dramas on course; 2 refusals on an element of the Double I was supervising at 2* level, one 'miss' and a re-present at 3* and 2 eliminations at Prelim level as the riders completely ignored my fence.

Nice to see a new batch of young riders coming through the ranks. Some nice horses. Quite a lot of the 2* horses seemed to be jumping by Morse code...tapping heavily as they thumped through the solid jumps; will need some good "icing" to minimise bruising...these the heavier types which looked rather over-conditioned (to put it politely).

I took the opportunity to test my camera and see if I could catch a horse over a fence...some OK as you can see by the photos.

I was on Fence 4: it rode as a combination with Upright part B for 2Star, but Skinny Brush as Part B for 3 Star. The majority of horse-rider combinations "locked on" to the problem without any questions....evidence of very sound preparation!

Not a Saddlebred in sight..unfortunately!!...though there were a couple of Paeon look-alikes at Prelim level which had me excited!

siec

Woolly's back, with friend!

Scared??
These guys??
Never!!

Goat watching!

Warm enough today to take rugs off for a couple of hours in the middle of the day.

Cloud is looking more and more like Katy Stardust; developing a very substantial maternal physique. She hasn't got the same dappled palomino coat as Katy, though, she's a completely even colour.

There's been a bit of a passing parade to take the mob's interest lately. Neighbours have adopted a lamb which has escaped for a constitutional with his two canine 'minders', a golden retriever and a Jack Russell terrier. A very cute trio.
Then yesterday we had a small flock of 6 sheep, tasting the verges alongside the paddock.
Today it was another neighbour's goat, "Woolly" (!!!) which came to visit. He got a good checking over!
Gracie trotted half a dozen even steps today; her hind sole seems to be repairing nicely.
And the bird life is coming in close to clean up after the horses!

Breakfast line-up

Had a bit of a lie-in yesterday morning, so the mob lined up outside my window, waiting for breakfast!!

Brother and Sister

Harry is making moves to become more friendly with CLoud, but she's not sure whether to trust him yet.
Both by C. Cloudchaser, they both have the 'management' gene! Cloud has been protective of Laddie, and Harry has looked out for Victor.
They both respect each other; Harry is looking to move up to eat alongside Cloud...his head lower than hers.
Very readable body language!

Scone results

Jeremy is expecting Maybellene to maintain a more up-in-the-bridle frame as she progresses with her Novice preparation. She is stepping under and learning to carry herself with great energy. She was second on in the morning in the 2D, showed some tension (champing on the bit)and was hammered for a score in the mid fifties, which was disappointing.
She was on again at midday in the 2C and scored well; one judge had her on 65% (Level with the horse which came 2nd overall) but the second judge had her on 59.5% (the 2nd horse's 2nd score was 70%!) which gave her 62.5% overall for 13th place out of 32!

Had to be happy with that!

The Novice classes were the largest over the 2 days, with fields of 32 starters.

Scone Dressage Championships

Up at 3am this morning to collect Maybellene to float to Scone Dressage championships. Jeremy had a truck full of four North Kaludah horses and Christine had another couple in a float; so a huge day for four riders..and a tiring day for YT at the end of a work week meeting deadlines before school holidays. No worry; I should sleep tonight!!
Maybellene is working her little sock off (she only has 1) but looks a real Novice in this company. Huge Novice classes ran all day; the 2D won by Heath Ryan on a newly imported Figo (by Florestan?)with Christine doing well with Jeronimo (JivexSalute) and K. Rockefeller (Regardez MOi)
Maybellene is being ridden in a more 'up' frame and is showing a bit of 'tension' as she adjusts to new expectations.

The day stayed chill and misty-overcast till about 11am, which was real Highlands weather, but my wet feet had a chance to dry out when the sun came through just in time for M's second test. I had 40-WInks to ensure I could stay awake on the drive home, and brought Herself back to her home paddock ahead of the still-competing mob.

It will be good to catch up with all the horses over the next couple of weeks of holidays!