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.

"However" not "how we've"!!

That's brilliant - well done both you and horse. A Hunter Trial will be much more fun though....! I love hunter trials, but they're hard to find nowadays which is a shame as I think the pairs is a brilliant class.

I've ridden 5 times this week - horse is seriously unimpressed and started being difficult to catch! The knee hasn't been too bad really, it's a bit sore but the more I ride the stronger it get. The strange thing is how insecure I feel in the saddle, I've got nowhere near as much grip as I need and and I'm absolutely knackered every time. It's scary how quickly you lose fitness and muscle strength. D horse is pretty unfit so we're on a joint regime with an outing 6 days out of 7 and hopefully we'll be ready for Autumn hunting in a couple of weeks.

Any luck with the horse search Dinosaur?

A couple of mornings AH will soon sort you out but yes very scary about how quickly fitness is lost. Good that you are back on board though and hope the knee starts feeling stronger each day.

We've got quite a few hunter trials coming up. Saturday is over the local BE course so that will be interesting as never jumped proper XC fences on him. Would like to go schooling first but don't think I will have time so will just treat it as a schooling session. In a month there is a HT/Team chase/pairs over the other local BE course which should be fun. I'm hoping by then I will have my saddle. Wishful thinking?!

Wow frosty, you are properly back on. Good luck. You can use the winter to build up fitness ready for some competitions next year. Do you have any particular plans in your head yet?

Great dressage outing Gin. Where do you put your rosettes? Obviously when I was a teenager I had lots of string to hang them on in my bedroom, now I've started sticking them on the mirror in our bedroom, but I can't see myself in it anymore! I'm not sure the bedroom is the right place for rosettes now seeing as I share it with DH - need to find a grown up solution! Have you taken your horse xc before?

Competition report from Frickley Park this weekend. Another 90. Very average dressage after working in well - we both went a bit tense. Score 31. Lovely clear SJ, it felt soooo nice and confident. However, commentator announced my dressage score just as I was approaching fence 5 and I misheard it as 21. Got completely over excited, brain went, forgot to turn left after the fence and ended up taking massive line to fence 6 and got 3 time penalties. Gah! XC, had ANOTHER stupid annoying spooky stop - at fence 2, which was diddy, but covered in flowers! After that he flew round, skinnies, water, drops, trakehners etc. I really should have given him a bigger whack than I did, and I also should have bought some plastic flower pots by now for schooling over. After the stop I didn't put my foot down as hard as I needed to and had 28 time penalties. The time was really tight, virtually everyone had time penalties. I also had a brand new shiny stop watch and forgot to press start! So lots more lessons taken away from the weekend, in the hope I will learn from them for the next outing in 2 weeks. Bought THREE photos .

Update on horse search RollingDinosaur?

Well done Tootsie - that's annoying about the SJ, you'll have to tune out next time! XC sounds good though despite the scary flowers - as you say you'll have to get some to practice with, but expect he'll find something different to be frightened of.

I'm more of a hunting person than a competitor so my objective all along has been to be ready for this season and so far so good. I was hoping to do a couple of fun rides but they have been cancelled so I might go XC schooling somewhere just to get my eye back in before we start jumping scary hedges again. There is an Eventers Challenge locally on 2nd but I think neither of us will be fit enough. I'd like to beat my total of 36 days last season so can't hang about!

36 days is huge dedication! But you do have just enough time to be fit for November! I've managed 26 a few seasons ago which felt like it took some doing. I think the hunting might be a bit derailed by the eventing now though, I am itching to do some winter Jump Training and Jumping and Style!

Well done Tootsie!! Naughty pony though! They do like to keep us on our toes don't they?! When next?

36 days Frosty???? That is serious dedication!! My Granny has an early Vale meet so am looking forward to some hedges there but once the ground gets really heavy we will stop and do some arena based stuff.

Well when you pay a full sub you take every opportunity you can! I will confess that 9 of those were Autumn Hunting so it's not as bonkers as it seems. There's no better incentive when you can hear the rain hammering on the roof at 6am to get you up! By the time we've squeezed in a few days of AH Dhorse should be fit enough - his face in the morning when I go and get him in at the moment is a picture, he looks like he's saying "what, again? We went out yesterday, and the day before and you want me out now, I don't think so" And he turns his back and walks determinedly off!

Wow, well done everyone with the dressage, eventing and getting back on with dodgy knees! Amazing progress all round! Tootsie your description of the minor mishaps in the showjumping made me chuckle!

The horse hunt is still going. I've been to see a few but nothing that has been quite what I am after. I am like an addict without a fix at the moment. If I don't find a horse soon I may end up divorced. I wouldn't want to live with me right now! I do have three lined up to look at tomorrow though so fingers crossed.

To stave off complete insanity, I am still riding my old loan horse once a week, as his new owner wants help keeping him fit. Took him to the local county show last weekend to do some show jumping. No rosettes but he jumped brilliantly, round the 90, with only one down. We got brave after that and had a go at the 1m, which he sailed round, with a couple of unlucky poles. He may be 20, but he still loves it.

Sorry frosty, I've just read back and seen your kind offer to look round your way. It is a bit far for me to go at the moment, but if I don't find something soon I may be forced to look further afield.

3rd BE90 today, double clear inside the time, 29.5 dressage, 5th, whoop whoop! I got all excited about getting a regional final qualification, but didn't quite scrape into 4th. Annoyingly I had an error of course in the dressage so I might have managed a 4th without that - didn't get to check the results properly though as had to get to school to pick the children up! It was a very efficient day - put children on the bus, went eventing, got back just in time to collect them!

I want to hear more competition reports/goals please!

Also, how do all your children fit into competitions? Do they come with you and help? Or do you have a willing OH who looks after them while you go gallivanting?

Oh Tootsie! Fantastic but such a shame about missing out on a RF!! So close!! What was the score difference? But seriously well done!! Where to next?

News from this end... So took horse to a hunter trial last week. I do some teaching to some special nice people and let's just say if they followed my example I would be appalled. So horse never been to a xc course before. He has hunted, loves jumping but never seen proper BE questions. Aimed to get him xc schooling before but failed due to a comedy of errors so we thought we would wing it. Walked course the day before and it was a proper 90 BE track. Skinnies, step to house, water (!) and a corner plus all sorts. Shit. Warming up we narrowly missed trampling small children so only jumped the practice fence once, dropped reins down to bottom ring and was then informed it was our turn to go. The first 4 fences he backed off and listened, jumping them well. The 5th fence he recognised and flew at resulting in a lack of communication in approaching 2 scary skinnies on a dog leg in spooky trees. Enormous leap over first resulted in a dodgy line and too close to second skinny and an even more massive leap catapulting me into the stratosphere. He is 17.2 and I can remember my brain processing that I was falling but then questioning this as i should have landed by now. Then I did. He was a gent and waited and after being checked by the paramedic was allowed to continue. He was green but a star jumping the corner and somehow clambering up the step and over a house. Very proud of him getting round but need to do some proper schooling and stopping after every fence so he starts listening rather than getting cocky and thinking he's in charge.

Also had a dressage lesson in the week. Omg. He ended the session embracing his inner warmblood and felt like a dressage horse. Exciting. And now to finish off the week we are off cubbing tomorrow. And even more exciting - 4 more weeks until saddle...

Oh and I have realised my body protector is in fact an item of torture.

And children. DH is not horsey. So far he has come to a hunt meet and a dressage competition but usually does his own things with the kids while I am off gallivanting. It works out well though as he does triathlons which are almost as expensive and sometimes even more time consuming than horses!

Well done Tootsie - a major achievement and you must be thrilled. What a good note to end the season on.

Your outing sounds "exciting" Gin - I hope you're not too sore. I'm glad you were allowed to finish though, that would have been awful otherwise. Onwards and upwards....

I was up at 4.30 this morning for my first AH outing, Dhorse loaded like a dream onto the lorry (possibly still half asleep) and was thrilled to be out. We did a lot of prancing about, it's all quite civilised as he doesn't get far off the ground but it was a bit uncomfortable towards the end. The knee held up well although it's a bit achey now, the rest of me is absolutely worn out and it won't be long before I'm either asleep in front of the TV or in bed!

We jumped a little hedge and some rails and I wasn't nervous (first time off the ground since my accident) - he's such a good jumper, but he does take off at least a stride earlier than I'm used to which caught me out a bit, but I put my hands through the neck strap and dropped the reins and let him get on with it for the second one and he was fine. It was a beautiful morning and it was so good to be out.

0.5 point difference between 4th and 5th! So without the error of course I would have been 4th. (I walked KXM instead of KEM. Just didn't read the sheet properly). However, as we have until the end of next June to qualify for RFs, I feel that if we really deserve to qualify we will have another top 3 or 4 result between now and then. We are doing the BE80 Blue Chip North West Championship at Weston Park in 2 weeks, and either finish on that or possibly do Broadway if I'm desperate to do another before the end of the season. I am absolutely totally hooked again, after 25 years!

Gin, that sound great, and scary. A fall on your first outing is not good, but it sounds as if you are not a "dweller" (it happens to the best doesn't it!) so get out there and do some schooling ready for the next one! If your dressage is hot then once the jumping is sorted then you will win prizes! I also have a non horsey husband, so have a similar set up to yours - he has an equally time consuming hobby so we are both either gallivanting or looking after the children by ourselves!

Happy days frosty fingers. I saw sunrise this morning, and it was beautiful here. Would have been even more beautiful from the back of a horse, jealous! Great to have a little jump!

Your morning sounds lovely Frosty and hope your knee isn't too sore in the morning. Our local hunt met this afternoon so managed to get out - horse's first time since last November and bits were brilliant (standing on the buckle on point) and other bits not so brilliant (hooning out of a wood and instead of slowing down to jump rail, swerving right and plunging into barbed wire and brambles)! I don't usually hunt in brushing boots but slapped them on due to ground not being muddy and think that helped a lot. One nasty looking but hopefully superficial cut on the front of his hock but didn't look deep so have sprayed him liberally in blue spray and will see what it looks like in the morning. He did listen to me better after that!! We need a calmer outing soon with less drama!! Luckily I'm not a dweller but I do think back and think crikey quite a lot!!

Love your way of thinking about the RF. That's a really positive way and healthy way to view things. So hope you get your qualification soon!!

Ah, you're having an exciting time Gin! Much as I love horses I'm not sure they're very bright sometimes. Fingers crossed it's only superficial.

I am hoping our times will become less exciting very soon...!

[tiptoes in quietly]....... we won! we went and won an event yesterday. Not just any event. The central north west blue chip BE80t challenge! (I have obviously identified myself, but not too bothered right now!). The prize is that I am to be sponsored by Blue Chip for a year, whatever that means. I think it means a lot of free supplements, clothes, rugs and I am going to be used in their advertising! I am beyond excited. The best bit was that 2nd and 3rd place were both taken by friends, also middle aged mothers trying eventing again after a long time, the friend who I have been training with was 3rd!

So, middle aged eventing mothers, if that doesn't inspire you, nothing will! Keep this thread up to date, I would love to hear about any winter training plans.

I am useless, I meant to do italics. oh well.

OMG!!!! That is totes amazeballs. How brilliant!! What exactly did you win? Tell us all! What a fabulous way to end the season!!

Well yesterday, to be precise, it was a saddlecloth, bottle of prosecco, blue chip coat, 2 rosettes and a trophy. And I stood on a podium, and I was interviewed! Bizarre. I hate being photographed! I have to call the blue chip office tomorrow so they can "take my details and sort out a contract"

It was 0.8 penalties between 1st and 4th, very close. Very special to share it with 2 friends (although even more special to win )

That is SO exciting, well done. What an amazing achievement, congratulations to you all - and the prizes sound good, although like you I'm not a fan of photographs & publicity. Sounds worth it though!

Thank you. Just such a shame I bought enough feed and supplement last week to last us until Christmas!

Oh wow tootsie, that is amazing well done! You must be over the moon!