My dressage was at 4pm, so I tacked up and got on at about half past 3. She was lovely and clean!
Of course, we then ventured over to the dressage warm up which was baically a mud pit after 2 days of eventing and some really heavy rain. Thankfully it wasn't boggy, but Emmie is a total princess when it comes to standing in rain and mud! I did quite a lot of walking before moving up to trot and then canter. She was not near as soft as last week, but I don't doubt this was due to the ground. She was still very soft and I went in feeling quite positive. My arena was, unfortunately, also pretty muddy so Emmie was trying to dodge the deep bits and also had a bit of a slip going into the first canter. I also had an error and forgot my first give and retake of the inside rein, whoops! But all in all, a very pleasant test given the circumstances.
I was kind of disappointed with my mark of 35 given I was the second the last and therefore had some of the worst going, coupled with the fact that my sheet was totally mixed up - said I missed the second give-and-retake when I missed the first - so that made me feel a bit rubbish!
Then off to walk the XC, which was a beautiful course, and they had done an incredible job to keep the ground as it was. It was muddy, but not deep at all, and they had hardcored etc where possible.
So back to the box, I started getting ready for SJ when a call comes over the tannoy saying they are waiting for me, a good bit of time before I was actually supposed to SJ. But I rushed and got warmed up, and in we went.
She seemed a bit flat in the warm up, but she does usually perk up once we're in. She actually jumped well, but felt like she was not really travelling anywhere. At fence 5 she had a huge spook, where I gave her a smack and I think that's possibly where it all went wrong. She then completely flat out refused to go near fence 6 - twice! - eventually popped over it on the third attempt with no drama. She then proceeded to take a rail off 8B and 9, but I didn't mind as we were at least jumping! She then slammed the breaks on for the last fence, so a bit fat E for us.
I've got a few things to investigate, but she seems sound, her back feels ok, so my main worry is obviously her stomach. She's not really a stopper and the last time she behaved like this it was pain related, so I'm inclined to think that again. I've ordered some Equishure in case her hindgut is troubling her, and will get my physio to come and give her a once over. Hopefully she'll be jumping like her usual self again soon and it's nothing too serious.
Anyway, we did get some lovely SJ shots - as you can see, the stuff she jumped did actually go quite well!
Anyway, while not quite the day we had hoped for, huge props go to the organisers, BE and Speetley EC, and all the volunteers needed to keep the event running! It was a lovely venue and hopefully we'll be able to come back and do a little bit better in the future!
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