Tweseldown (1) Horse Trials 2008
Tweseldown had over 1000 entries over 4 days of competition, with the Pre-Novice running on the Thursday & Friday. It was however the Intermediate sections on Saturday that would be tested by the weather as well as the course.
The corners on the Intermediate were causing problems for some & even those on longer striding horses were finding that they had to ask for a long stretch to take the direct route. Like the sunken road there were well used alternatives which would add to the time. On both the Novice & the Intermediate the Half Hollow before the water was another popular stopping point as the horses suddenly realised that there was a ditch to be jumped as well.
There were several Novice riders who were just rushing things too much after their refusals & could have benefited from watching Daisy Dick who let her horse watch the next one through & then followed on with no problems. It is all a learning process for both horse & rider & I was impressed with Laura Collett, she really spent time setting up for the water & the final corner combination & was able to take a tighter line & was more controlled as a result.
I really don’t know how some of the riders got round on both Saturday & Sunday, the gusty wind & rain must have made it very difficult to see & I’m sure that I saw a couple of people veering off course as a result.
I usually hear some great quotes at Tweseldown, the best being “ Could Paul Tapner please report to the caravan by the dressage where his 4 year old daughter is waiting for him !! ”
“ I couldn’t care if my **** horse is going round the M25 ” No, I’m not going to tell you who it was, but don’t deny it - you’ve all felt like it when you’ve been turfed off unexpectedly.
“ I got lost on the xc course! I took the same route as my dog had taken, when he had stormed off after some other dogs when we were walking the course. I'd re-joined everyone else further up once I'd caught the little bugger, but must say my horse and I took a little longer to get back on track when we were re-routed. The commentator said I'd stop to have a chat with some fence judges, who I thought might be hiding the next fence I was looking for. Alas, they were judging fence no.4 that I'd already jumped an awful lot earlier ” - Names have been hidden here to protect the identity, but now I know why so many eventers have small dogs !!
Please Click on a photo to enlarge it !!
The corners on the Intermediate were causing problems for some & even those on longer striding horses were finding that they had to ask for a long stretch to take the direct route. Like the sunken road there were well used alternatives which would add to the time. On both the Novice & the Intermediate the Half Hollow before the water was another popular stopping point as the horses suddenly realised that there was a ditch to be jumped as well.
There were several Novice riders who were just rushing things too much after their refusals & could have benefited from watching Daisy Dick who let her horse watch the next one through & then followed on with no problems. It is all a learning process for both horse & rider & I was impressed with Laura Collett, she really spent time setting up for the water & the final corner combination & was able to take a tighter line & was more controlled as a result.
I really don’t know how some of the riders got round on both Saturday & Sunday, the gusty wind & rain must have made it very difficult to see & I’m sure that I saw a couple of people veering off course as a result.
I usually hear some great quotes at Tweseldown, the best being “ Could Paul Tapner please report to the caravan by the dressage where his 4 year old daughter is waiting for him !! ”
“ I couldn’t care if my **** horse is going round the M25 ” No, I’m not going to tell you who it was, but don’t deny it - you’ve all felt like it when you’ve been turfed off unexpectedly.
“ I got lost on the xc course! I took the same route as my dog had taken, when he had stormed off after some other dogs when we were walking the course. I'd re-joined everyone else further up once I'd caught the little bugger, but must say my horse and I took a little longer to get back on track when we were re-routed. The commentator said I'd stop to have a chat with some fence judges, who I thought might be hiding the next fence I was looking for. Alas, they were judging fence no.4 that I'd already jumped an awful lot earlier ” - Names have been hidden here to protect the identity, but now I know why so many eventers have small dogs !!
Please Click on a photo to enlarge it !!
