Spotless Vision

09-03-2006

Richard has entered Oscar into their 1st event, the pair will travel to Great Witchingham on Sunday 26th March. They have entered into the 'Intro' class and preparation is already well in hand. Spectators are very welcome, but please remember that the pair will be very busy until after all disciplines are completed.

11-02-2006

Oscar and Richard spent a glorious winters morning out hunting with the Cottesmore. The meet was at Morcott in Rutland and the pair stayed out for a couple of hours. Oscar was in excellent form and thoroughly enjoyed himself, tackling several jumps. Richard was very impressed with Oscar’s effort and commented that he thought that Oscar had found his ‘4 wheel drive’ and was becoming very sure footed. More.....


	The pairs 1st ever event was completed at Great Witchingham, Norfolk on Sunday 27 March. A brief report follows:

With the dressage test due to begin at 1230 it was an early start from Spalding to arrive in Norfolk with plenty of time to settle Oscar down before the event. The plan proved to be a good one; Oscar was very excited and needed a good walk around the site to take in the sights and sounds of his 1st competition. He quickly settled and even took the noisy tannoy system in his stride.

An extended warm up was called for and then Oscar was soon into the ring for his very 1st dressage test. There were lots of distractions, a new surface to get used to and no fence to help him maintain the correct position. No matter, he listened to Richard and performed as and when he was asked. A brilliant start to his career and the judges thought so too... giving him a score of 37 and the 5th best result of his section.

The SJ phase was next and again a new surface awaited and the biggest course Oscar had ever attempted. Richard decided that the main goal was to get Oscar into a good rhythm and make sure he was straight on the approaches. A clear and confidence giving round was the order of the day. Again, the plan was perfectly executed and the pair went clear. Although this considered approach meant that the team incurred 3 time penalties for being outside of the optimum time.

That just left the XC to complete, a quick change and the pair were straight out onto the course. Again Richard's plan was to use this as a confidence boosting exercise, keeping Oscar well in his comfort zone and leaving no room for mistakes. The hours of hunting and XC practice paid dividends; Oscar completed all of the jumps with no refusals. He was a little 'green' and did need some gentle encouragement at times, but the result was just what he needed; a clear round and he finished fresh and ready for more! However, this approach did mean that the pair picked up 16 time penalties, taking them into 29th place out of a field of 45 starters.

Overall the day was a resounding success and a great start to Oscar's season, he learned a great deal and all of it positive. He will build on this foundation and only a small increase in tempo will take him into optimum times - much better than getting the basics wrong and not being able to complete a clear SJ round, or getting into the habit of refusing a XC fence. The pair are destined to enter the winners enclosure and they will take Spotless Vision Eventing to the next level.