Being only a 10 minute hack away from a decent equestrian centre was the perfect excuse to get him to his first show. Only tiny heights to begin with, resulting in a steady clear in the first class and a 'green' 8 faults in our second. Immaculate behaviour is the aim of the game though and that was certainly what I got from him. Smiles all round! Unfortunately in the next few weeks he became a little fresh and cock sure of himself after his first 'public party', which meant lots of unnecessary spooking in the school and out hacking and a less than perfect performance at his next jumping competition(at the same venue, over the same jumps!)backing off the fences and getting us eliminated.
It was pretty frustrating, but in a way I was glad. Piper was gaining confidence - he had a bit of attitude at last! I just had to use it in a positive way and get him working as well as he could. We had a couple of fantastic lessons with a local event rider which were really helpful and brought Piper on in leaps and bounds ,leaving us with plenty to work on - myself included, as all this race riding has left me with a dreadful habit of tipping forward! Riding with slightly longer stirrups beckoned as well as losing the humongous loose ring snaffle that hid half of Piper's face (it was a racing one) and swapping it for a more delicate version with a nice lozenge in the middle.
I was soon happy enough to take my little (well actually quite big) thoroughbred to his first dressage, a simple Intro (walk and trot only) test at a very friendly, local venue. However drama arose when unloading him off the lorry, as he decided to demonstrate how one jumps off the Derby Bank at Hickstead, only managing to get behind me and take me with him in the process. It wasn't the best start before our 'Stressage', especially after noticing large, green grass stains on my breeches, which I tried but failed to scrub off! He produced a reasonable test to gain a good mark of 57% and 4th place. He was behind my leg throughout and cutting corners due to those dreaded, white boards(which also caused a major whip-round before the test!) but it could have been far worse and I was exceptionally pleased with his warm up, where he had produced some of his best work at the time.
That particular 'Stressage' outing obviously brought out my inner 'Dressage Diva' as I even bought a brand new dressage saddle online, -well I couldn't be off a £300 bargain- which fits so nicely that he is supposed to wear it 90% of the time(unless jumping) as GP's and jumping saddles don't fit him too well as a result of his rather large shoulders!
August and September was general hacking and schooling but we also got out Autumn Hunting a couple of times. To qualify for pointing Piper would most definitely have seen hounds-even if it was literally seeing them- so I wasn't in the least bit worried about how he would react. Just as well, as he was blooming amazing both times! Even though 'cubbing' is taken at a generally steady pace, he was fitter than most of the other horses and we had some great canters across stubble fields, with brakes just about intact! The feel he gave me was incredible, if nothing else he will make a first class hunter! When out with the East Essex we even jumped rails- first time, with no broken bones! Result!
As Autumn started to come early, the decision was made to move my two boys 'home' to assure no dangerous commuting in the vile winter weather. Although sorry that I would have to turn Piper away for at least a couple of months, it was just as well. With no facilities and what with me being so busy working on a hunting yard, juggling keeping Piper in work was never going to be much fun. His holiday happened to be for the best anyway, as I tried and struggled, to come to terms with the saddest experience that I have ever faced...
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