Willow showing & SJ

[Ahrena]

Sooo after a month of pretty much no jumping, just a couple of pops at home, following her behaviour at Weston Lawns, I decided to take Willow to a show, give her some baby jumps to do then some showing.

So I decided to do the mini working hunter and mini sj (it didn't have any restrictions so she was perfectly eligible to do it, I wasn't doing it to win I just wanted jumps small enough to make her jump from standstill if she started napping)

So first did the WH clear round twice to get her going, first round was a bit dodgey, 2 nappy mare fits by the 2 jumps by the entrance..

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00061_0002.jpg

mare fit 1
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00061_0003.jpg

then agreed to jump
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00062_0001.jpg

mare fit 2
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00062_0002.jpg

http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00062_0003.jpg


then did it again and she just had 1 down but no napping or stopping so I was smiling like a chesire cat
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00063_0001.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00063_0002.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00063_0003.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00063_0004.jpg


Then went and did our SJ...which started well
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00064_0001.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00064_0002.jpg

then a nappy mare fit, she was putting the brakes on with her head between her knees which I thought was quite mean lol - no wonder I always fell off at first, she did this ALL the time when I first got her.
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00064_0003.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00064_0004.jpg

attempt 2
no-no-no-no MAKE ME
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00064_0005.jpg

so I made her jump from standstill since its tiny
"oh ok"
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00064_0006.jpg

then jumped round very nicely
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00064_0007.jpg

spooooky horse shoe - so pleased she jumped this cos she really isn't very brave and she had a good look
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00064_0008.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00064_0009.jpg



So had some faults but again, chuffed we didn't get eliminated. The thing with her is she gets these kind of naughty phases where she tests the boundaries, she's been physically checked, had some time off so now its time to get after her a little. She'll be fine, she improved on its own on sunday, so we'll do some more baby SJ to get her going again.


A little break then our WH class. 1 small mare fit at that plank by the entrance but the rest including the other jump by the entrance was fine
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00065_0002.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00065_0003.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00065_0004.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00065_0005.jpg


individual show...I changed my bridle cos I asked the showing secretary specifically if we were allowed (as I wasn't sure of the rules) and she said yes so I did.
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00067_0001.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00067_0002.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00067_0003.jpg

gallopppp
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00067_0004.jpg


We came 3rd :) Judge said she had to mark us down cos of the napping (fair enough) and for the bridle change (again fair enough but annoyed the secretary said it was ok!), but she did the best show. So bearing in mind she's a riding horse not a working hunter I was pleased.


Then we had a loooooong sleep for a few hours whilst I revised and pony gorged itself on the knee high grass she was tied up in before my riding horse class.
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00069_0001.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00070_0003.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00071_0002.jpg
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00072_0002.jpg


extenddd
http://i729.photobucket.com/albums/ww295/Ahrena_angel/M2U00072_0007.jpg


We came 2nd :) Which I was pleased with.

But her head shaking is really getting to me :( It was ok in the morning but got quite noticeable in the riding horse class and the championship class. It gets to me cos I'm not a very competitive person in the sense of winning - I like to get out and have a good ride, and do our best. If that earns us a red rosette great, if not, nevermind we still did our best. But because of her head shaking being so bad this year (I think the pollen count must be heavier this year), I'm never really coming away satisfied because I know we havn't done our best - even last week, we won and I was still not thrilled cos we hadn't done our best.

I can't get cross with her, or myself, cos its no ones fault and theres nothing we can do which is so frustrating! The vet is coming though to see if theres anything more specialised he can give us since we've already tried all the sprays, vaseline ect. A nose net works fine so its normally not a problem but they're so heavily frowned upon in showing I don't want to use one.

[Zeitgeist Mom]

She sure does like to keep you on your toes. When she goes well she looks amazing - you'd never think she'd put a foot wrong. You ride her really well and well done on coming 2nd!

[sparkey]

Have you ever thought about doing BD with her? She goes so nicely on the flat I'd say she could do really well.

[My Crazy Clan]

lovely pics.

[CityLights]

Well after Lacey and Willow anything is going to be easy to ride!
She does some interesting things with those back legs!

[Ahrena]

Thanks guys :)

I've never really thought about BD tbh, dressage...isn't my fave thing and I don't really do enough of it to think about affiliating. I don't mind doing it occasionally but I just..can't really be bothered lol. I know that sounds terrible when she really is lovely on the flat but lol! I've only got 1 year left with her properly now so think we're just gonna mess around for it :(

[lilholley]

She's looking fantastic - she goes so nicely.. I think napping can be a very marish thing to do - I read somewhere that mares have stronger instincts making them want to stay with the herd, so you're more likely to get napping, compared to stallions/ geldings who tend to have aggressive/dominance type problems. Don't know how true it is but its interesting!

[Evening Star]

She looks stunning!
Well done for getting round and congrats on the second

[Autumn]

She is such a lovely horse, she goes so well on the flat. I'm not surprised she used to have you off, that's pretty nasty what she does, there's no way i'd stay on!! Well done on your placings and how annoying to be told that a bridle change is permissable then get marked down for it, hey ho, that's showing for you!! x

[amandaxx1]

She looks great, cheeky pone! Well done x

[africa]

Well done on your results. She looks so lovely when she isn't napping.

If the vet can't give you anything else to help with the headshaking then personally I'd use the nose net. Ok so they're frowned upon in showing but you said you're interested in having a good ride and doing your best rather than winning so if Willow is comfortable when wearing the nose net put it on and if the judges mark you down for it you'll still know the two of you have performed your best.