Show Jumping Champs Trial #3

Well guys we had our 3rd and final show jumping trials. I thought I would share the pics with you. I had so much fun. Though they screwed up the distances on the triple and everyone in our ring (senior ring) had at least 1 stop. So in our 2nd round they then moved the distances.

This is the coolest oxar I've ever done. It was a 3 bar oxar.

Landing the cool oxar

Going over the wall. I took a bad line into this but he still cleared it!!

Landing the wall and looking for my next jump.

Going over the natural coloured upright.

Going over the final jump in the triple. It was an upright, then an oxar, then this picket fence upright.

Going over the cone oxar. I liked this jump, it was nice and easy.

So I guess you are all wondering how we did overall?? well guys, We came 4th overall!! im so proude of Gizmo!! We made a way out dream which was to trial for show jumping champs this season and we did it!! I didnt get into the Hamilton team but I can go as a draft rider. That means that If a team is missing a senior rider then i ride for them. I really really hope I can go. That would mean the world for me!! Just want to take the oppourtunity to say thankyou to Val for giving me Gizmo. Hes such a special angel!

Show jumping champs trial number 1

ok so last night i had my fisrt trial for show jumping champs. i was first to go in our ring. we had 2 rails down which was entirely my fault so therefore we didnt make it into the jump off. we did however come 4th equal.

in our 2nd round we were going so nicely, it was against the clock but i just rode it like normal otherwise he jumps flat. he was awesum. i took him to a real bad line going from number 6 to number 7. he was pretty much going at it sideways without even looking at it but he pulled out his best and still managed to clear it. hes so great. we even cleared the double, something im not too great at. we did however, fall off at the 2nd to last jump which got us eliminated. im so proud of my boy. he gave it his best and looked after me. hes such a forgiving jumper. i have a terrible position as u will see in these pics and no matter wat i do he still clears them. anyway here are some of the pictures. (they are bad quality because they are pics off the tv)

A day at the Beach

Ok so it was really sunny and hot here in Hamilton today so my boyfriend drove my friend and me to the beach. I rode Gizmo and she rode Casey, the pony I graze with. I've never ever been horse riding on the beach and I know that Gizmo gets excited in open spaces. Well we loaded everything in to the back of the car and then we loaded the horses. Casey went on the float well, 2nd attempt and she was in. then i loaded Gizmo. we travelled to Raglan beach, which is a really nice nice west coast beach about 45mins from Hamilton. We had to go to the harbour part because we wernt sure if we were allowed the horses on the surf beach. Saarin and I unloaded and tacked the horses up. We went for a wander down to the beach which involved a short road ride.



When we got there the horses didnt want to step on the sand. Well actually, it was mud. The whole lot was mud. So i had to get off Gizmo and lead him off the concrete boat ramp onto the beach itslef. Once he got on the beach it was fine. I got on him and we went for a walk.




The horses didnt want to go in the water either to start with, funny seeing as Gizmo loves water.



After a few attempts they were fine and it meant we were able to go swimming.

We then went for a gallop along the beach and just had heaps of fun hooning around.

It was my first time ever on the beach with a horse. After we fininshed riding we rode up the boat ramp again and rinsed everything because it was iced in mud. we then loaded the horses again which took a bit of time because Casey wasnt too pleased about going home. We were given a beautiful sunrise to end the day too.

Nothing wrong with old horses....

Okay so I just thought I would quickly tell u about my lesson the other day. I was doing a jumpng lesson as I have show jumping champs trial comming up, the 1st being on the 13th of november. Well anyway I got Gizmo in and got him all ready and gosh he was in a silly mood that day, not behaving like the other day at all. Well my instructor, Belinda (who is my cousin in-law), kept changing the jump height. The one where the barrels are she put up huge. There was a gap between the barrels and the pole. She even put the other jump up too. Well when she put the barrel jump up it looked HUGE and I didnt wanna do it so Gizi refused. Then i bought him around again and he refused again because I was nervous still. The 3rd time around I was like "we can do this!!" and he jumped it. We jumped it 3 times, clearing it the 1st and 3rd times but knocking it in the 2nd. Before she left she told me that she had put the barrel jump up to the top nail (thats what holds our jumps up) and I was freaking because on the the nail thats 2nd to top it is 1.15m!! Well I measuerd the 2 jumps and the barrel jump was 1.38m!! I jumped almost 1.40m!!! And I cant believe it. My horse is 21 too and we have come so far . The other jump was 1.15m!! So im definately trialling for show jumping champs but i tend to break under pressure. I will keep you updated with posts and pictures of how he trials go. The funny thing is, I've only ever competed Gizmo to a height of 70cm! Thats because at the start of winter thats all I was confident at. I thank him for giving me more confidence and for always trying his hardest. I thank Val too, for giving me this wonderful horse. I promised her one thing when she told me I could have him, and that was that i didnt send him on the dog trucks. Well no way will he ever end up there. Hes way too special. So dont worry Val, im keeping my promise to you and Gizmo.
This just goes to show that......theres nothing wrong with old horses.

Flying without wings....

Ok so today i asked mum to come and video me riding so that i could get some still pictures. shes not the nest at taking them at the right time with a digital camera so this was best option and then to play them back on the TV and take pictures of the tv.

well i got out to see my boy and he was quite pleased to see me. i think he was a little bit sorry about standing on my foot yesterday. I go him all tacked up and he was good.
I have decided to use a martingale in jumping as we have bonked heads a few time from him throwing his head up. Anyway i went out to the paddock at put the jumps back together as the cows had demolished them.
I put the jumps up to 1.10m as this is the maximum height that is in the show jumping champs senior ring.

well anyway Gizmo was soo good. he was listening to everything i asked him to do or not to do and he enjoyed it i think.
Theres a song sung by Westlife that i like called "flying without wings" and thats what jumping Gizmo feels like. whoever said that we cant fly was rong, they obviously havnt ridden a horse before.

Anyway heres some pix for ya, sorry about the quality.

This is one of my favourite pictures because im looking up, hes clearing it by heaps, im releasing enough, and im leaning foward enough. The only thing i dont like about it is that my leg has slipped back a little and my heels arent down enough.

And here is another one of us jumping.

This one is the other jump. My position isnt too great over this one but thats ok.

Filling in the gaps....

Well as you all can see, i havent really updated my blog. so this post is going to have lots of pictures to bring you all up to speed.
During the winter i did the first day of the winter dressage series. my gosh was that a horrible day, he wouldnt walk, or go on the bit or do anything i asked him to. basically it was a disaster. and to top things off, i was using a jumping saddle to do a dressage test! anyway we managed to get some pictures from that day and here it is.

During winter i also chose to get Gizmo clipped as he was quite hairy and it was getting quite hard to brush him down properly. Warning, hes looking very skinny in these pics, but has since put on much more weight.

I also took Gizmo to the open days at the waikato equestrian centre. my goodness he was awesum!! ive never jumped so big and he gave me so much confidence. my position is absolutely terrible but i stayed on and i have now sorted out my postition. here are some of the pics from that day.

The pony club season started quite well with our first rally at the top part of the Waikato Equestrian centre. we just walked, trotted, and did one tiny circle of canter. we did trotting poles and we wernt allowed to do the cavoletties which was frustrating. Two weeks later we had a combined Hamilton rally at te uku which was amuzing. Gizmo was packing a tantrum on the cross country course. imagine a little child in a lollie shop on the floor kicking and screaming and flailing their arm about-well that was gizmo. he wouldnt go foward, you gave him the reins and we start walking back as fast as possible, he would stop and stamp the gound so hard while breathing like an angry bull. it was so hilarious and nothing me or anyone could do would stop it.
We have since figured out (from another tantrum at my pony club) that Gizmo cannot do cross country in a group. Hes 21 so for 18 years hes been taught that he goes out through the start gate and gallops, and if theres a jump in the way he jumps it. he doesnt understand why he has to stop after each jump and it does his head in.

The very beginning.....

I guess I should at the very beginning by first introducing the boy that this blog is dedicated to. His name is Gizmo, and his show name is High Opinion. It stated when i started riding half way through 2003. I used to ride ponies for a lady called Joy, and you will find snippets of them in this blog as well.

This chapter of my riding life began when I emailed Val saying that i was looking for my own horse and she suggested Gizmo to me. He was her daughter's horse, who is the same age as me. She said that Gizmo was in Taupo with some friends of hers but he hadnt been in work for 18months to 2 years. her friends kindly bought him up to me when they came to visit their daughter in cambidge. Gizmo arrived on Wednesday teh 4th April 2007 very sweaty from his truck ride from taupo. He stayed at my friend Nicole's house with her 2 horses Casper, and Mr Socks. I payed them $10 dollars a week for grazing. Gizmo was quite skinny and he was coverd in rain scald and his feet were terrible! he arrived with a cob sized halter on his head and a cap bridle which i have to retur. now if any of you have seen Gizmo you will understand that a cob size is much too small for a horses head as big as gizmo.

Here is a picture of Gizmo on the day he arrived with a much better sized halter on his head!

Well i guess i should say that I'm well, not exactly the tallest person in the world and im used to riding 14.2hh and 15hh ponies so getting on my new horse was a little scarier than i had anticipated. never the less things went well on my very own horsie.

Here is a pic of our first ride together with a saddle (we didnt have one for a few days).