Saturday, February 26, 2011

Bucky's Advanced Debut at Pine Top Horse Trials

As I know many of you were watching the live scoring yesterday with bated breath, I am pleased to announce that Bucky and I had a very successful first Advanced run at Pine Top Farm yesterday.  Bucky put in a great effort, finishing sixth place in a field of twenty Advanced horses!
 
Both of us felt a bit green having our first try at the Advanced A test.  I have been working with Silva since december on training the half-passes and changes, and it was finally time to put them all together.  Bucky is trying very hard with the changes, but he anticipates them a bit and tends to have very expressive changes when riding them in the test.  I felt he put a good effort forth to score a 38, and there's heaps of room for improvement as our training goes on.
 
I was most impressed with Bucky's efforts in the showjumping yesterday.  It was a big course in a small paddock set on a hill, and the tumultuous ground makes for a tricky ride.  He felt like he was jumping out of his skin over every fence, just having one rail down that was completely rider error.  I was nervous to see how he would take to the larger fences, and to my pleasant surprise, he just keeps jumping better and better.
 
The cross-country course was a big, galloping advanced course and it was really well suited for his first run.  He had a dodgy moment early on in the course at the 5 AB combination.  I knew the combination would spook him, so I was ready kick on and help him through it.  He galloped around the rest of the course bold and strong and he had a blast!  I took some photos of the cross country fences below.  Enjoy the virtual coursewalk!
 
Please stay tuned to the blog on Monday as I will be announcing some important news about Bucky and our plans for the season!









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