BYRDS success in the mud

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31
Aug
2010

Delboy looks pleased with himself after his wins

Alice Oppenheimer is a dressage rider and trainer. She and her mother breed, produce and compete horses under the banner of the Headmore Stud. Her successes include Regional and National titles and she represented Great Britain at the 2009 European young rider Championships. In her exclusive H&C blog, Alice provides an insight into running a busy training and livery yard, as well as some of the highs and lows of competing.

"We were away again last week, this time at Sheepgate for the BYRDS [British Young Riders Dressage Scheme] under 25 championships. It’s quite a long way for us, but we made it in good time this year, it only took four and a half hours despite some lengthy road works and a road closure! Not a very good start!

Bracks holds her nerve

Wednesday was the first day of competition. Bracks (Headmore Boadicia) had the novice championship semi-final. There were no major mistakes in the test but she was a bit tense and not quite as soft as she could have been. Nevertheless, she scored 71.4% and finished third, qualifying her for the final on Thursday.

Weather sets in

We awoke on Thursday to a blowing gale and driving rain. This proved quite problematic as the lorry park and temporary stables are all in a field, so you can imagine the trouble this caused. Virtually every lorry had to be towed out; the staff at Sheepgate were fantastic. It also meant that the arenas were rather damp but, thankfully, Bracks didn’t mind the water too much! I had also given her some of my trusty Nupafeed, and it made a massive difference. She was much more relaxed and we were very pleased with her novice championship test. Unfortunately, the judges weren’t quite so enthused by it and only awarded us 63.94%, which we were disappointed with. However, it was still good enough to finish eigth and the winner was only on 67%, so they obviously weren’t marking very high! We then had our elementary semi-final and, once again, she was just a little tense as the Nupafeed was wearing off and there were a few costly mistakes. However, we did what we had to do and finished seventh to qualify for the final. However, we were only three marks behind second place so without the mistakes we would have been much higher.

A new saddle for Del

Friday was Bracks’ elementary final and she was a little on edge in the wind and the rain, making her a little tight, thus keeping our score down. However, it was still good enough to finish ninth, meaning that she got placed in everything she did, so overall we were pleased with her. Delboy (Headmore Delegate) also started competing on Friday. He started with an advanced medium and it was a clean test, but I kept it a little underpowered as he had two tests. He scored 70% and won. He then had the medium championship and the test was lovely, full of power and mistake free. We scored a massive 74.12% and won the class by about 6%! We also won a saddle, which was phenomenal, especially as Del needs a new saddle!

Ending on a high note

We were very relieved to get to the end of the week as the mud made everything very difficult; it was like a military operation to get on whilst still looking clean! Del did another advanced medium in the morning, again it was underpowered as he had two tests. He again scored 70% and won. His final test was the advanced medium championship and I rode a safe test as he is still green at advanced medium and the test was very difficult. We scored 69.74% and this was good enough for the win, although a couple came very close! We won a lot in this class as well, including a pair of clippers!

All in all, it was a very worthwhile trip and it made the long journey and the wallowing around in the mud more than worthwhile!"