BSJA- Hand Equestrian and Rossettes galore!

Millie and Archie sporting some of the rossettes

I have decided show jumpers have it easy; you just load up a lorry load of horses with minimul preparation and then 10 minutes warming up each one before jumping round; all quite different to the endless preparation for the 3 phases of an event. We took Millie, Ben and 'big' Archie to Hand EC yesterday and jumping them each in two classes was still back by 2pm. However as the classes weren't that large it did mean very quick horse changes and warm ups in order to fit them all in and I couldn't have done it without the help of Dee and Fiona who were fabulous. One thing I have to admire the show jumpers for is remembering all the different courses as once I have memorised one course my brain really finds it diffucult to adapt to a new one over the same set of jumps!

Anyway despite these lapses which were fueled partly by tiredness and me forgetting to eat or drink anything all morning, it ended up a very successful day and it was very refreshing to actually get enough prize money to nearly pay for the day! In the British Novice I ended up 1st (Ben), 3rd (Millie) and 4th (Archie) and then in the Discovery was 1st on Millie and 3rd on Archie having one pole down on Ben as well as jockey forgeting the course, oops! Videos are available here. 

Millie was sporting a hackamore which she really likes and is much more focused and bold jumping in than with a bit that she tends to lean on. When I decided to up the pace going last in the jump off of the discovery she responded brilliantly and really attacked the fences so i think we will continue with it. Archie, who belongs to Ben's owner Anita, is just with me for a week for some fun and felt fabulous, very quickly getting back into jumping and really enjoying himself giving the fences feet in the warm up just for fun. Considering he is a well built 16.3hh he was remarkably balanced and easy to steer around the relatively tight courses and very light on his feet. Finally Ben was very well behaved and was also trying a different bit, the nathe tamden combination, as when out competing in the nathe snaffle even that can cut his very soft mouth if he gets strong. This bit acts also on the nose and the plus side was his mouth didn't get at all sore, but unfortunately he did back off it a bit too much at times and didn't like me putting any pressure on the ren as the day progressed. I think this might be a great bit for the cross country, but for just one round show jumping when eventing the snaffle may be better, but it is definitely a useful option to have for 'Mr Sensitive'.

Millie at the head of the line in her first win at BSJA