Hoof-Beat

Home of rider and journalist Chloé Sharrocks

January 2009

Before returning back to University for the new term, I decided to enter an affiliated dressage competition with Rocky on 11th January.  The lowest class was unfortunately Novice so we tackled N22 with some interpretation.  We ended up getting 58.28% (a pleasing mark as we're not really novice standard!) and coming 6th place in the restricted section.

On 21st January I had my first BUCS League Competition representing Imperial College.  The competition was held at our home venue of Trent Park EC in North London so we had the added advantage of competing horses we had previously ridden.  In the dressage section I rode a piebald horse called James who did a reasonable but spooky test with me to get 63.6% but unfortunately only good enough for 10th place individually after the dressage phase.  Good performances by the rest of my team (for 1st, 5th & 6th place individually) meant that going into the showjumping phase we were in 1st place overall.

in the showjumping phase my team-mates put in solid performances to mean that we were guaranteed first place before I jumped last for the team.  My showjumping round was thus a mere formality and I recorded a clear on a lovely tricoloured horse called Trio (strange I always seem to compete coloureds!).  We finished the competition in first place, 5 points ahead of RVC with UCL a further 5 points behind in 3rd place.  It was a great result to get ahead of a further two more competitions before the qualifying team for the regionals will be decided.  There was also great news individually with our team captain winning individually.

The images below are copyright of SBM Photographic: http://www.sbmphotographic.co.uk

December 2008

This month I have been able to come home and compete Rocky twice with great success.  On 7th December we entered an unaffiliated showjumping competition and then an affiliated dressage show the following weekend on the 14th.

In the showjumping we entered the 75cm class as a warm-up round and we managed to jump a double clear and come 5th (out of over 20 people, 13 of whom made the jump off).  Unfortunately, the classes were so busy that it took over 2hours for the 75 cm class and with the same number of people entered in the 80cm class, we couldn't stay as I had to get back to London.  So unfortunately we only did that one class, which was a shame as we would have loved to have done the 80cm and then possibly even the 90cm afterwards, especially as there was a professional photographer there!

Dressage on the 14th December was much less hectic and in our first class Prelim 4, Rocky managed to win the open section and then take 2nd place in Prelim 7.

Since I've been at home over Christmas I've been schooling Rocky ready for our Novice dressage class in January as well as practising jumping larger showjumping courses both for Rocky's BSJA debut later next year and as experience for my competitions with Imperial College in January.

Above: Image Copyright of Brillpix http://www.brillpix.com

Below: Image Copyright of JT Photography http://www.bigtimemedia.co.uk/

November 2008

Training with Imperial College has been going really well and it's been great riding lots of different horses every week - have really noticed that my seat is improving by learning to school and jump horses of a variety of sizes and abilities.  Not to mention that training with a team of riders who have competed at high level are definitely proving a good influence - am learning lots by watching the other members of the riding club ride.  On the right are some photos from training.

September 2008

Despite moving to London at the beginning of the month, I've been fortunate enough to be able to come back lots to ride Rocky since my postgraduate course doesn't start until October.

On 21st Sept Rocky and I entered two prelim classes at my yard's BD Show and we managed to come 2nd in Prelim 15 and although we got 61.36% in Prelim 19 we didn't place.  Sadly, we didn't have quite so much success in the unaffiliated showjumping as we got both  4 faults (both rider error!) in the 75cm and 80cm classes we did.

August 2008

Having schooled Rocky a fair amount in the last few weeks we were hopeful that he would improve on the scores we achieved at our last competition. Despite the humidity, in Prelim 10 he went well, although could have been more accepting of my contact, and we achieved 60.45% which put us in 2nd place behind the winner on 63%. After having a quick rest and a mouthful of grass, we tackled our second test which I felt went slightly better. However, as usual my interpretation was wrong and we got 60.42% in Prelim 18 which left us in equal 3rd. A good performance overall, especially compared to last time we did these tests, but I still feel that Rocky always warms up slightly better and lacks impulsion when he goes in the indoor to begin his tests.

Unfortunately I forgot to pack the camera, so we don't have any photos of today's competition!

June 2008

 Having just returned from University days earlier, I didn't have much time to school Rocky prior to this competition and unfortunately this was reflected in our marks. Having warmed up quite well he found the indoor school a little warm and lacked impulsion refusing to work through his back properly. In our first test (Prelim 10) we scored only 59.55%, but a positive comment saying that if he worked softer through his back he would score highly. By the time our second test (Prelim 18) came around Rocky was really feeling the warm weather and we achieved only 59.55% and an almost identical comment from a different judge.

Rocky is now going to have a short holiday before he is brought back into work at the end of July.

May 2008

This year the Oxford University Riding Cuppers (where different Oxford Uni colleges compete against each other) took a different format being split into an Advanced (3ft3in SJing round) and Novice section (flatwork test and then 2ft-2ft9ins SJ round). My team, The Turl Street Colleges, was made up of myself and 2 other students (Caroline & Zanna) from my own college, Lincoln, and another experienced rider, Rachel, from Exeter College. The novice category consisted of a flatwork assessment in front of the judge followed by a SJing course comprising of fences ranging in height from about 2ft- 2ft9ins. For each fence cleared you earned a certain number of points with the larger fences carrying more weight. Since both Caroline & Rachel were very experienced showjumpers, I I competed first for our team in the novice category riding a piebald pony called Yogi, who I managed to get into an outline for the flatwork assessment and then who I jumped successfully around the entire SJing course. Zanna and her pony Snickers put in an equally good performance for her to finish 2nd, behind me.

In the advanced category but Caroline (riding Alfie) & Rachel (Brennan) qualified for the jump off, but unfortunately Caroline jumped the wrong jump off course disqualifying her from that second round (and finishing 6th overall). Luckily Rachel and Brennan put in a solid performance to finish 3rd in the advanced category.

Overall the competition was a great success with our team winning overall and being crowned the 2008 Riding Cuppers Champions!

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