Katrina had never been show jumping away from home before so I was a bit apprehensive, but more excited to see what she would do. Height isn't so much an issue but she is still pretty spooky with fillers so we chose some smaller classes because the fences are less likely to have fillers. It’s important to me to build Katrina's confidence jumping home I decided to simply start off small and straightforward.
Katrina wasn't all that convinced in the warm up to begin with, someone had carelessly left horse-eating beams of sunlight glowing suspiciously on the floor so I had to work her straight through them to get her used to seeing things like that. Soon we was popping quietly over the practice fence and Katrina seemed to be enjoying herself when suddenly in the air over the fence I saw a pony and rider coming flying towards us and the jump going the wrong way! Katrina landed and shot to the right saving us from a head on collision, it’s a good job she’s fast. Always remember that red should be on the right!
The first class, just a small 60cm clear round, was very wobbly. There was a lot of jumping from a standstill while she worked things out, but we managed to get over them all. I was so proud, she has all the honesty in the world, but she was just confused.
I went straight back in, it was like Katrina had a light bulb moment. She jumped everything absolutely perfectly. I am positive she had a smile on her face, until I allowed her to get in front of the bridle on a related distance dog leg and she ran past it, not so much running out as not properly presented in the first place! My fault, but I was glowing with pride when I came out.
After a wait, it was time for the 65cm class. Katrina got very confused when the bell rang and I trotted her round to the first fence, I’m positive she was expecting to trot down the centre line but there was a fence in the way which she promptly fell over. She jumped the rest well and got better as the round went on, I let her work things out for herself as Christie has taught me and I think Katrina might secretly fancy doing some more!
I may not have taken any rosettes home, but I laid the foundation for her to be confident jumping in the future. I can’t wait for next time!
Thank you so much to my amazing supporters who make this all possible, The Emporium at Wentworth, Tottie Clothing, Style Reins Magazine, Egloves UK
