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REPORTS FROM THE AREA 20 DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFER
REPORT BY KAREN PAGE, SENIOR NOVICE TEAM
Area 20 Dressage Sat 9th July Weds Mid Showground, Shrewsbury
Oh my! They were sort of the words I uttered when a mail came through from Janet asking if anybody was interested in taking part in a team event at dressage! Of course I was but was my little horse and I were not ready to take part in anything so grand!!!! Yes sometimes we could do a lovely 20m circle and sometimes a straight line but more often than not I would get a tense little horse and a rider even more so. This was just an opportunity too good to miss and we needed the miles on our clock. After a few chats with those far more knowledgeable I mailed Janet to say yes we would love to …. I think that is when I felt the first wave of sickness!!!
My friend Jill (a big thank you!) said she would be with me and read for me. My husband, bless him, had come with me the night before for a trial run so that we knew where we were going! I didn’t want to have the panic of getting lost to add to the panic of riding tests. We arrived and were taken aback from the amount of horseboxes, trailers, horses and people and at how vast the area was. Think that brought on my 15th wave of sickness! There were 8 neatly marked out arenas, plenty of schooling in areas too, all very professional and all seemed very calm. We parked up, checked my little mare was ok then went for a nose round to see what was what. We had to go into a building where they took passports/vaccination certificates off you and put them in well marked files and you were then given your number …. How exciting …. Oooh 16th bout of sickness! (or was that 116!) There were boards around the walls listing horses, riders for each test …. Very scary as there seemed to be hundreds! It was here that you found out your time and arena.
We went for a walk round and saw the food vans – very important, we checked out what number arena we were to be in and walked to see where it was. We luckily got to see a bit of Steve’s test and all of Janet’s test …. Very exiting too and we managed to hold back on the whooping and clapping. We saw Alwena’s beaming face just after her test as she was very pleased with Stan!!!
Pippa
behaved wonderfully. She took it in her stride and saw me through the day. We
don’t do much on grass so I had to let her sort herself out. The warm up areas
were great and plentiful. Horses and riders were very polite and kept a
sensible distance apart. It all seemed a bit too good to be true!!!! Alwena
was before me in the next test so I had the pleasure of watching …. Didn’t make
me feel less sick mind! They did a splendid job and again Alwena came out
beaming, well pleased with Stan!
Anyway we did our test, cantered on the wrong leg and didn’t correct which was down to nerves, we did enjoy it mind and were raring to go for the next test!!!! We were very lucky and only had a ¾ hour wait. The next test was much better, we got our act together and did a bit of nice work here and there! I’ve learnt to wait for scoresheets for the judges comments not the score itself. At our stage we need to learn from our mistakes.
All in all the day was marvellous. Well organised, very well attended and the organisors should be proud of what they achieved. Janet has kindly taken some pics of us all and there was a photographer (www.equestrianbargains.com) who has taken some great shots too. Thanks to Janet who sorted us out and organised us … it is appreciated. Roll on next time!!!!! Ooooh wave of sickness!
REPORT BY ALWENA BARTLEY - SENIOR NOVICE TEAM
After agreeing to go to the Area qualifier, I had a panic attack, when I next saw Janet, I said ".....if someone better than me wantes to, that's fine with me...". No such luck, I was on the team. When I realised the test was P12, another wave of panic hit, as the last time I rode P12, we left the arena at A and E, so I fitted in as many lessons as I could before the day, and off we went.
Carol Williams came to help, so Janet, Carol and I set of at 7am for Shrewsbury, things went well, the two horses loaded first time and the weather looked good. We were on time, what a good start! As we approved the roundabout before Shrewsbury, a car travelling alongside us tooted and pointed to the trailer, we had a flat tyre, we limped along until we found a suitable place to change the wheel. The horses were very quiet and calm in the trailer, Carol's husband Paul was on his way to a fishing trip in Shrewsbury, and saw us, and decided to check our wheel changing skills when we had finished!! It's a good job Janet is such a calm person, I think the flat tyre would have been much more upsetting for me. Off we went, the rest of the journey went well, when Janet and Carol went to hand in the passport's I stayed with the horses. Loads of wagons and trailers cme in, and that's when I ralised how big the event was. We went to find the arenas we would be competing in, there were 8, and the stewards were very helpful.
Janet
went first, I thought Mango went well, then it was turn, the dreaded P12.
There was plently of room to warm up, I was trying to think of all the things
Sian Lloyd-Price my instructor, and Debbie Jones, had been telling me for the
past few weeks "give my inside hand, shorten my reins, shoulders back, enjoy the
experience". It was time for my jacket and number to go on, and off we
went, Stanley and me in our first BRC qualifier. I cannot tell you how I
went, all I remember is the canter was bad, but when we rode down the centre
line to G, I felt really good! I felt we had done the best we could, and I
left the arena proud of my gypsy horse (as my husband insists on calling him).
Carol and Janet were there to congratulate us. We tried to watch the rest
of the team, but with 8 arenas, it was difficult. The atmosphere was
relaxed, and everyone was friendly, and I think that made the day more memorable
for me. Many thanks to Janet for organising a brilliant day, and being a
calming influence on a day I'm glad I didn't miss!
REPORT BY JANET COSTIDELL - SENIOR OPEN TEAM
One evening in Mid June, I had a call from club treasurer, Glenys Hickerton, saying that she had received a call from a member asking about the possibility of competing at the Area 20 Dressage Championship Qualifiers. Apparently, I had given Glenys’s name as the organiser on the website, which was not really the case, ooops! Feeling guilty, I offered to investigate the possibility of entering a F&DRC team into this comp, something that hasn’t been done for a long time (if at all?).
With Sarah Watkins being keen to complete, we already had one team member so I thought the rest would be easy. Not. I contacted everyone who had expressed an interest in competing in team dressage events on their membership form by e-mail, and those without an e-mail address, by phone. This wasn’t terribly successful. I asked at our yard, and decided that (if pushed for a team) I would compete myself, and I knew Alwena Bartley would be up for the challenge! I contacted the organiser, who told me that not only did I have to submit entries to her for the team competitions, I also had to submit entries to BRC on a specific form before a specific date. Me “when do these BRC entries have to be in?” her, “tomorrow”. A grovelling phone call to BRC resulted in me being allowed a day’s grace in getting the entries in, which I am very grateful for. At this point, I had to decide how many teams to enter (bearing in mind I barely had enough keen people for one team), so I bit the bullet and entered a senior Novice Team, who would all ride P12, and a senior Open team, 3 of whom would ride different novice tests, and one would ride Elementary 51. Next, another call to the event organiser, to tell her of the decision. She was very helpful and also allowed me a few days grace to get the entries in. “Now, do you have the official form with the green writing on….?” “Er, what form?” This was a recurring theme throughout this operation, but thank goodness, the lovely lady allowed me to submit an ordinary sheet of A4, and all was well.
Now I needed to get two teams together. I made a last splurge and contacted everyone on the team dressage list by telephone. I decided very early on that the team selection procedure was going to be based solely on enthusiasm, and I wasn’t disappointed. I had already spoken to Karen Page, who was very keen, if a little uncertain, and wanted to ask her instructor whether or not she should compete (her instructor is also my instructor, so I knew what the answer would be, she was on the team from the first call). Steve Boyle had wanted to compete last year, along with myself, so I thought he was a good bet for Elementary test! Alwena is usually up for a challenge, and is always dead keen. Sarah Watkins had set the ball rolling in the first place. Liz Chambers, Rachel Burke, and Jenny Berger were the remaining victims/volunteers, and F&DRC had two teams! Thank you so much all of you for volunteering, and those of you who agreed to compete should we be short of numbers, many thanks to you too! The entries went in. Then came the frantic checking of vaccination cards and passports, Jenny had to get a letter from her vet, stating that her lovely horse required a nose net in order to compete, and this letter then had to be sent to BRC before the competition. Oh, the stress.
And the stress hadn’t finished yet. A couple of days before the competition, a large envelope arrived containing all our test times, directions and helper requirements. HELPER???? I had no idea we were required to provide a helper. Another call to the competition organiser. Apparently, if we didn’t bring a helper to carry out our allocated task, both our teams would be eliminated. Ho hum. Having got this far, I wasn’t going to back out that easily. I called the Area 20 chairman, who was very sympathetic to our plight. He said that we could compete, if we could man the post between us for the day. I agreed. Then, sadly, I had a phone call from Liz Chambers, whose horse had just gone lame, Liz was unable to compete. Poor Liz was very disappointed, but very kindly agreed to drive all the way from Corwen to Shrewsbury to carry out our help task. Thank you Liz, you are a marvel, we would have been very stuck without you.
I had been away on holiday the week before, and had managed one schooling session, and one Debbie Jones clinic before the competition, so I definitely didn’t think that this would be our finest hour. Alwena and I loaded our spotty and splodgy boys, and headed off for Shrewsbury, at 7am! The journey was fine, except for one very shredded, very hot trailer tyre, which we managed to change with both horses still in the trailer, just off a roundabout on the main Shrewsbury dual carriageway! On arrival, we took our documents and declaration sheets to the secretary, queue started to build behind us, and the passports and vac. Cards were put into folders for checking later in the day.
Feeling ever more queasy, I decided to take things slowly, and started getting changed early. My first test was 10.35, and was Novice 25, a test I hadn’t ridden before. The temperature was rising, and so was my nausea level. Each of the team members had opted to ride a non-qualifying test as well as a team qualifying test, N25 was my non-qual, so was a good opportunity for a warm up. Thanks to member Carol Williams, and Cathy Limb who came with us, we had our jackets and drinks carried to the ringside for us, so we didn’t need to wear them to warm up, something we are very grateful for, as it was very, very hot!
Well, despite being somewhat ‘awkward’ for the previous week, Mango was a star. He didn’t put a foot wrong, he didn’t even scream as much as usual. The problem with Mango is he sticks out like a sore thumb, which if we are having a bad day, is not always a good thing. But no worries today. I went into my test, both of us were a little tense at first, but we soon relaxed into it, but my bad riding resulted in leaving the arena (usual story), so I was a little disappointed in myself, but absolutely thrilled with Mango! A short break, and then into my second test. This was my team test, and the pressure was on! Mango did a lovely test, again I disappointed myself by forgetting where I was going until the last moment, overshooting my 20m circle, and leaving the arena by jumping the boards, right in front of the judges car! However my good bits were good, and I was pleased.
After
this test, I had a chance to relax. I watched Steve Boyle’s test, which looked
fantastic, despite his horse showing a little enthusiasm at one point, but his
good bits were very good too! Jenny Berger’s horse performed a lovely calm
test, with beautiful even rhythm, well done Jenny. Unfortunately, I didn’t
manage to see Rachel’s or Sarah’s test, but I know they did well. Alwena was
thrilled with her test, only her second on grass, and Karen, despite struggling
with holding down her lunch, performed very nicely for her debut on grass!
Things were a little hectic when I went to get the results for the team, it was incredibly hot in the building, there were hundreds of people all doing the same as I. I waited, and waited, but then decided it was getting too late, and I would have to set off home. I was thrilled with my own results, I came 6th in my non-qualifying class, and 11th in the qualifier! I wasn’t last, much to my amazement. I was very, very pleased with my horse, and what’s more, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole day, which is not something I was prepared for as I had left the house in the morning full of gloom and doom about my own performance!
Full marks to Area 20 for holding such a high standard of competition, everything flowed very smoothly, there were vast areas for warming up, away from other horses if necessary. I felt for those members of other clubs, who because the cards and passports were filed on arrival and then checked throughout the day, were allowed to ride their test and compete, and were then eliminated from the competition because their vaccination cards were not 100% in order. But, rules is rules.
We finished the day by watching Sarah Watkins having a go at the Le Trec tryout/demonstration that had been set up at the back of the field (see pics). In Sarah’s own words “A proper little voyage of discovery.”.
We didn’t qualify, but we held our own in very stiff competition. Some clubs had entered 4 or more teams, and I think we all did fantastically well, as most of us had never competed in a competition of that standard, with 8 dressage arenas in operation at all times. If any members feel that they would like to compete in the Area competitions, don’t wait to be asked! The diary dates are available to all on the club website, or in the newsletters. Feel free to e-mail, or telephone if there’s something you would like to have a go at, same goes for the showjumping and horse trials competitions, be pro-active, get yourself on the team, I assure you, the opportunity will be there. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and would like to thank everyone who came down to Shrewsbury for the day, looking forward to next year (at least I’ll know what I’m doing next time!).
Steve Boyle, riding Raw Diamond
(click image for larger version)
Jenny Berger, riding Vwrnwy Bill
(click image for larger version)
Sarah
Watkins, expanding her repertoire, doing the low branches obstacle at the Le
Trec demo with Morgan.
(click image for larger version)