12 November 2022
I'll be totally honest. I was NOT expecting 3rd out of 6.
I decided to give Elementary another go, and this time, all I wanted to achieve was that I actually breathed! in the test and managed to get my shoulders out of my ears and back down where they belong! Oh and to let go of my butt cheeks! So that at least Freddie could move.
We entered and as we were 'circling' the arena I was like, "yeah, I have a STONKING trot going, we can do this".... the bell rang and then just as I was about to start my 10m 'descent' to 'A', Ruby screamed from her stable (alongside the arena) Fred screamed back, threw his head up, fell over the white boards taking them out. Jayne had to come in and re-arrange the boards, and I didn't know if I had enough time to do a lap of the arena again, so I circled and headed on in.
We did our entry, halted (square and accurate), tracked left and had an attempt at Medium trot with a very tense Freddie, turned down the centre line again ready for our 2 10m circles. Started the first one well, until Ruby called again, with Fred returning fire and losing the shape of the circle - argh! then decided in the second 10m circle to slow down to poo. REALLY????
There was one more scream after that, and some tension when we started the canter but with some nice balanced 10m turns back to the track and counter canter earning us 7 and 7.5 marks, we redeemed ourselves... I used my 6 second halt (square and accurate again) to breathe!!!!
I was really disappointed that Fred had not given me his best frame and as I rugged him and Ruby up, I told them both they were in the dog house and no apples would be forthcoming....
Dejected, I headed round to put away my tack and collect a 6th rosette with a 50something score...... To discover my test sheet with a little yellow number sitting on it. Shock did not cover it. Lol.
Jane (the judge) said my canter work, particularly my back to the track was sooo balanced, and there were some simple places I'd lost half a mark which I could amend to make up. That was really helpful information.
And so Fantastic Fred, managed to bring home a 3rd... just 3% off the winner again.
So despite himself and the frame, just goes to show the marks are there for accuracy, straightness and balance!
Video.....
My test sheet