Lion d'Angers - day 3

 I was very pleased with Luxury FH’s dressage on Friday, he really felt the atmosphere in the main arena and was very distracted by all the people.  However once he was in the arena I was very impressed by how he went.  He did his very best to concentrate and scored a respectable 47 which left him in joint 15^th place.  He showed some great potential which is exciting for next season.

Cross country day was sadly a disappointing one.  Top Biats had a glance off a triple brush near the end of the course.  He was much greener than I anticipated as he has been so straightforward and relaxed in all his previous events.   However Lion d’Angers is all about the experience and education and he will have learnt an awful lot.  There were some plastic cows beside one of the fences which he took a drastic dislike too, not incurring any penalties, but very nearly dropping me over his shoulder.

Henton for Fun was giving me a superb ride right up to the end of the course when he had a run-out at a skinny at the bottom of a bank.  He has never felt like deviating off a line before so this caught me by surprise.  He then took a dislike to the owl hole at the second last, which again was very out of character. 

Sadly my back was giving me a fair amount of pain after those two rides so I decided not to take Luxury FH across country, I also felt it was not worth jumping on the Sunday.  Top Biats and Henton for Fun’s owners were very understanding, and with Pau this week, we decided it was best to get the problem sorted.  I have been very lucky with my back, so this has been a bit of a shock.  I guess it has been a long season, or perhaps it is old age!