Gatcombe

The rain managed to stay clear and the sun actually shone on Gatcombe. The going was really impressive considering the rain we had had that week! I had a late dressage on Saturday and both jumping phases early on Sunday. I was, however at Gatcombe all day on Saturday because I went with a friend who’s times were much earlier. For me and The Undertaker, this was no bad thing because it meant I could ride him around a bit in the morning to settle him to the place. He came out calm and relaxed, which was a slight shock after his antics at Aldon, but unfortunately after about an hour of work he became more and more unsettled as the wind picked up. I decided to put him back and get on him for only about 20mins before my test so he wouldn’t have much time to get anxious. My tactic worked, he was much calmer, but unfortunately not calm enough to really push for any of the movements, meaning we scored a very mediocre mark that left us half way down the section. It was an early start on Sunday morning, made even earlier by my phone being a bit clever and putting itself forward an extra hour due to the clocks changing plus me putting it forward an hour! oops! Anyway, Herbie jumped well, unfortunately rolling one pole, the middle element of the treble. I was slightly concerned about Herbie having to go straight into an Intermediate because he missed his novice run at Aldon the week before, due to poor going. I decided to take what I thought was the longer route at fence 7, a double of corners. Herbie felt on flying form and jumped a lovely clear round. Unfortunately when I finished I found out I had been given 20 penalties for crossing my tracks at fence 7, where I had tried to take a longer route. I was truly gutted because Herbie did not deserve the 20 penalties, I did. I have learnt from my blonde moment and will hopefully never do such a thing again.
I was really really pleased with how Herbie started his season and am very excited about what is to come from him. 

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