First BE ODE next month, any advice welcome!

[Rollingdinosaur]

I am finally taking the plunge, and having a go at a proper affiliated ODE next month, if I don't get balloted out. I am excited, and somewhat terrified. I have done several unaffiliated ones, and not made a complete tit of myself, so this seems like the logical next step.

I would be interested to hear any tips, or ideas of what to expect, from those in the know. Will the standard be a lot higher? Will I look a prat, as a lot of my gear is on the cheap side, and I will be turning up in 4WD and trailer, rather than a swanky lorry. I am also not sure on the hat standard required, it mentions PAS 015, and kitemark. Does that mean it needs both? My hat has the kite mark, but not the other bit. I suspect that means I need a new hat, but I don't want to fork out for one if I don't need to. Any tips will be gratefully accepted, thanks.

That's an amazing picture! Your horse is lovely :)

My favourite photo of my old pony is similar, he's only 13hh and I really miss jumping him! I've had him for 10 years and I would do anything with him. He's living a nice retired life now :)

Love the pictures! Hello Jonsnow. Your old pony looks fabulous, look at his tucked up front legs!

Fab photos! These are my favourite photo of me jumping my old horse, and the best one I have so far of new horse.

Lovely! I love a hedge photo. This is my new one...can you spot the theme

Hmm, yes - lots of washing required! I use sheep show shampoo for mine as it's lots cheaper than any equine shampoo. Lovely sensible head Jon, he looks very wise!

How are things going Rolling - looks like he's going well?

My "grey" is skipping around the field having a rest, at the first hint of damp in the ground he goes and rolls in the gateway - currently he looks more skewbald than grey. I thought he'd developed a splint as there was a hard lump, about the diameter of a 10p coin on the inside of his knee which appeared as if from nowhere a few weeks ago. I cold hosed it, he wasn't lame, and it didn't seem to change at all. However this morning when I felt his legs it wasn't there at all which is weird. Do splints disappear? If it wasn't that then I have no idea as to what it was, but I'm very pleased it's gone!

Hello everyone! Long time no type! Lovely reading all your news. Love your pics too! Frosty yours is looking fab. Will try and attach a pic in a moment although not entirely sure how.

Dear horse is well. We've moved back to my childhood home which is amazing as means I can have the horses here. So lucky but happened largely due to my DM diagnosis of cancer 4 years ago and her very sad departure. If I could choose between being here or her being her, obviously I would choose her but that's obviously not possible. So here we have my horse, the kids now have a pony and we also have the yearlong who is beautifully bred for eventing but obviously has a few years to wait.

We spent the winter hunting and are now working on calmer jumping in the school. The hunting brakes are being used as he is ridiculously strong but each time there is some improvement so who knows!

Have just spent the day at Bicton with the boss. He had 4 in the novice. Eventing is just such a lovely way to spend the day isn't it?

Hello Gin, long time no "see". I'm glad your move went well and hope that everything is settling down, it must be bitter sweet really but I'm sure your Mum is pleased you're there.

Hope Bicton went well, there is something wonderful about a day outside doing what you love. I'm going to the Hunter Chase evening at Cheltenham next Friday and then Badminton on Saturday so that's two of my favourite things covered in two days. I suspect I'll be knackered on Sunday. And then on Monday I take on a new "job" as MFH which I'm both excited and terrified about!

Hope your horse settles soon - it's hard work when they're strong!

Frosty you can't just slip that in!!!! More information required!!! MFH! Wow. For where? That's really exciting.

And Badminton is fast approaching. I'm organising a course walk on the Friday but will still be hanging out on the Saturday. Really looking forward to it. Any one else going?

I'm slowly winning with the brakes situation. Have finally found the right bit but think I need to swap from grackle to combination as he now crosses his jaw to express his frustration that he can't figure out the bit. One step forward one step back?!

And a picture. This has to be my favourite. He is a lout but a lovely big eared lout.

That's a brilliant picture, what a feeling that must have given you! Very small hunt (so not many people to choose from!) west of Worcester. Scared sideways of the responsibility - and field mastering - but also honoured, my granny was MFH for years up in Wales and I like to think she'd be proud.

Have you considered a Micklem? Although a grakle worked for me the horse hated it and we have reached a compromise with a Micklem and Waterford snaffle, although it has to be said I had very little control at the team chase!

It was the best feeling! That was at my grandmothers meet last year, I had only had him a week and that was the first jump of the day! He made it feel so easy.

The micklem has been suggested by someone else too. The grackle doesn't seem to make much difference so I need to either accept the jaw crossing or try and do something about it. I'm kind of hoping that if I use the combination on him then he will realise that he can't do it and then we can go back to a grackle. Wishful thinking...

MFH though is amazing. Doesn't matter how big the hunt is and massive respect for field mastering. I would get lost!!! Your grandmother would be very proud.

ooer MFH! Congratulations, I'm sure it will be a great experience, apart from the hunt politics, I hope that part is minimal!

What lovely pictures of everyone's horses. It's always a stroke of luck when there is a photographer on hand to catch you jumping a hedge well!

I thought I would show you this picture of us which ended up in the Blue Chip advert in last weekend's BE programme . Of course it completely jinxed us as the little sh*t (sorry, not feeling very generous towards him right now) stopped at the Blue Chip sponsored fence! After another great dressage of 25.5 . We're out again this weekend though, and he's had his warm up runs now, he needs to get his brain in gear and give up on the dirty stops!

I'm at Badminton all next week, to watch the grassroots and dream about doing it. Is your course walk open to all gin?

Is there anyone here reading this thread who is doing the wobbleberry challenge?

Another amazing picture :) what's the wobbleberry challenge?
Lunged my new one last night over some bigger jumps (before we got drenched by rain and hail!) And he makes such a nice shape and is easily capable, just need to get my brave pants on!

It's a fundraising thing run by Hannah Francis's charity - a lot of people have committed to doing their first BE80 this season, and are raising sponsorship to do it.

Good luck with the brave pants!

Ah that sounds like a good idea, I'll look into it.

Buzz obviously didn't read his programme - naughty boy! I'll be at Badminton on the Saturday for the first time in ages. I have a friend competing in the Grassroots BE90 so will be keeping a close eye on it. She's on a 14.2 part Welsh D and has done so well. My friend's daughter aged just 13 was 17th in the 90 last year.

I'm afraid I'm not brave nor dedicated enough to do the Wobbleberry challenge, it requires time that I just don't have, particularly with all the hunt stuff and 3 part time jobs!

Sounds like things are going well Jon, I'd offer you a pair of my brave pants from my extensive collection, but think I'll need them all!

I've got a Buzz too that's the new one, old one is Misty.

The wobbleberry challenge is full for this year :( guess I'll just be trying it myself!

aaaaaaaaah! Two Buzzes!

Frosty, I love inspirational Badminton grassroots stories, tell me about your friend who is doing it this year! How long has she been eventing, where did she qualify, has she done it before, is she scared???

One of my best buddies is doing the wobbleberry challenge. She completely lost her nerve jumping a few years ago but this challenge has captured her imagination. She signed up last autum and since then has already lost 3 stone in weight. She has a lovely horse to do it on and is gaining in confidence all the time. Am so proud of her. We all keep telling her that she needs to do one relatively soon as she may get bitten by the eventing bug and want to do more. She has reassured me that she won't!

Love seeing everyone's pics. Keep them coming!

Good luck to your friend frosty. Will walk the course but won't see any of the competition unfortunately.

So the Badminton course walk is on Friday with WFP for members of his eventing club and guests. If you would like any information please ask!

She's young - 18, on a pony she's grown up with and seems to have nerves of steel! She's come through the Pony Club and is looking to make a career in horses but not eventing specifically. I think her parents are more nervous not surprisingly.

Fingers will be tightly crossed.

Oh to be young and brave. I remember being it but wish I still was!

Wow, MFH Frosty, good stuff! Tootsie, you are famous! I hope this weekend goes better and he stops stopping.

I'm also off to Badminton next weekend for XC day. I've never been before, and I'm beyond excited! If anyone has any tips on how to get the most out of it that would be much appreciated.

No one has started staring at me weirdly or asking for my autograph, so fortunately I'm not sure that I'm famous yet even in my very niche corner of the world! Caitlin Moran said in her book that she thinks she's 35% famous. I sometimes wonder if I might be 0.0001% famous now?

Rolling - Badminton xc day is very crowded, even though there's a whole cross country course for the crowd to spread out over. You probably need to decide whether you are "doing" the whole course, or whether you want to settle down on a blanket with a picnic for a few hours. If you walk it all then it would take you most of the day, you will see all the fences ridden, and most of the riders for a few seconds as they gallop past, mostly over a lot of people's heads. You would probably want one of the mini radios so that you can keep up with the results as the day goes on. Otherwise you would need to choose a less crowded fence to watch, and stake your position early in the day and settle down with chairs or a blanket. The Shogun hollow and all round the Vicarage Vee tend to be really crowded, but I think a good place to be is around the area of the Beaufort Steps, which is a bit less crowded and you can often find a spot overlooking the xc warm up area from where you can also see the steps and whatever fence is before or after it. Or of course you could sit in front of the big screen near the bar all day, which is what we mostly did when I was a student, and just venture out to the shops every so often! It's also quite fun spending an hour or so sitting in the main arena watching the start and finish, it's a great atmosphere and you really keep up with the competition, who's in the lead etc etc. There are loads of catering vans around, but they're really expensive. Take a backpack and lots of water and snacks, especially if you have the children with you otherwise they bother you for icecream, food and drinks from the vans all the time. Be dressed for hot sun or pouring rain. Then marvel at the ridiculous things that the amazing horses will jump and have fun!

This weekend was also not much better. Average dressage with an error of course, and two stops show jumping, which was bizarre, because we had the SJ nailed, but he took huge exception to a quite old fashioned airy filler and stopped at it twice. After that we managed to go clear xc only a few seconds over the time, which was such a relief, but he didn't exactly make it easy for me, I worked so hard I could barely breath when I finished. Next time I just have to put all the pieces of the jigsaw together at once.

Thanks for that, really helpful stuff! I'm sure you are at least 1% famous now . When is the next time? Hopefully its just a bit of spring silliness, and it will all come together soon!

Well I'm back from my 2 day equestrian marathon and absolutely worn out! Hunter Chase evening at Cheltenham was good fun, it was pretty cold but we had a box so could warm up and refuel. Betting wise it was disastrous, my first 3 picks pulled up so I pretty much gave up after that.

Badminton yesterday was fab but absolutely freezing. The course was massive and very tricky - we saw a couple of horses over each fence and it was interesting to see how "easy" some made it look and then how difficult it was for some people. They are all, horses and riders, incredibly brave and skilled. I haven't looked at catch up yet (which I'm going to do later before showjumping) but there were a fair few gaps as people failed to get round. It was great and provided you were prepared to wait you could get a pretty good view at each fence. I had the radio too for the first time which was really helpful. Most of all, my lovely DH who had arranged the day for my Christmas present, loved it too so it looks like we might go back again - he was even talking about doing 2 days next time!

I hope your horse is also planning on putting all 3 pieces of the jigsaw together tootsie!