Make Mental Equine Note

Last weekend was dominated by a big show jumping competition in Blaye near Bordeaux in France. It was also the first weekend since the twins were born that Sandie and I managed to get away just the two of us. The jumping went OK – Friday was a write-off with a shameful five faults, but Saturday and Sunday were much better with only one bar down in what is always a very tricky competition. So whilst there was no silverware being brought home, at least pride was salvaged by the time we picked up the tribe from various sets of grandparents on Sunday afternoon.

The major equine learning from the weekend was that I need to focus on jumping the bars rather than trying to be beautiful; efficiency rather than elegance is the key. Both Sandie and Michel came to the same conclusion independently. However when Michel told me that as I was waiting to go into the arena on Friday, I was so convinced that Sandie had “planted” the idea in his head that I instinctively decided to ignore it. 20 points later I was ruing that particular decision especially when both Sandie and Michel later confirmed that they had indeed not plotted jointly in any way beforehand. Using the inside leg to keep the hindquarters in line with the shoulders when coming round corners, not closing my fingers over the bars, and really attacking the obstacles especially when there is an uphill slope to be contended with, are other more technical lessons also learned.

Apart from Friday’s round, the whole weekend was a big success. It was good to have some time together with Sandie and she certainly enjoyed having the time to speak to our equine friends without having to interrupt every conversation with, “Maxime get down from there, Maxime don’t hit your sister, Maxime stop poking the dog with that stick, Maxime don’t eat the horse dung, Maxime stop drinking out of Pich’s water bucket etc”. Now I think it’s time for a break for the grandparents.....