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!
No comments:
Post a Comment