Lil happy in her yard with LH Miss Boss (home name Knickers)
©Team Joyce

By Trish Joyce

I wanted to share this particular blog because surely I am not alone with how my day went on the weekend as it was not ideal. Some of you may have read my past blogs, stating that I have just started riding again after having a long break – over 20 years. I have myself a lovely little 12 year old clydie cross mare named LH Lily Puss. Anyway it’s been a year since we got together and last month we ventured out to our first showjumping competition and on the weekend we went again.

I ride Lil every day; doing all sorts of things from flat work, trail riding and a bit of jumping. She felt great all week. Last month she was relaxed and happy but this time she felt edgy and a bit forward. My warm up felt pretty good but when we entered the arena she was not so relaxed. Maybe my reins were to short and I was trying to place her too much. I don’t have a great eye anyway and can see that some jumps are going to come up wrong. The thought of my canter pace being too slow entered my mind at fence 4, but when I clicked it up a tad to 5A and 5B she felt hollow in the back with a classic tranter going on. Very uncomfortable. Trying to concentrate on the next fence making sure I didn’t lose my way was another challenge. Lil jumped everything I pointed her to, she never feels like she wants to run out which is a great confidence builder. It makes no difference to her where we take off from, whether it is deep or long, it just means sometimes I get left behind. We are only talking the height of 65cm here, just to clarify exactly where my level is. I wish to state again “MY’ level not Lily’s, as I am sure with a better rider she would be jumping higher with a more collected canter. My dreams are to eventually conquer 90cm comfortably and in the time frame of turning 70 odd I should make it by then. Hoping Lil will be around for us to show pictures of! So as you can see I am in no hurry at all. I have decided that time setting is of no interest to me in anything I do regarding riding. I will get there when I do, and in the meantime I’ll lap up the highs and lows and learn!

Have you ever come away from competition thinking, wow, that was not such a smooth day out? How could I have made it better? What can I do next time? Is it my riding at the event or is it my training at home?

Lil waiting to jump
©Team Joyce

I feel I need to work harder on a few things – firstly, myself. I am no educator trainer extraordinaire. My canter pace is far too inconsistent which then escalates many other little problems. None are major; all can be made better with lots of practise. So before our next outing which is at the end of the month (dressage) I shall work on my position to stay sitting up as leaning forward gives her the opportunity to run and not stay collected without hanging onto my reins which pull her mouth.

Lots of walk to trot – trot to canter – and then canter to walk. Stay tuned to see if there is a plus to our next outing. Just keep an eye out on our Lals Haven web page to stay up to date on all of what Team Joyce do. We change it regularly to bring you some enjoyable horsey reading. Hopefully our stories can relate to your experiences in a roundabout way.