Lauren Shannon’s blog: training, missing fences and fun hunter trials
I headed to my first World Class training day last Wednesday at Weston Lawns with Lux and Crunchie. It was great to get some help with both of them, and to understand how the World Class system works.
I had jumping lessons on both horses with Kenneth Clawson, who pointed out how influential my body is when I jump (I tend to lean forward too much), and then Nick Burton helped me on the flat. It made me realise that this winter will be spent doing a lot of dressage practice…
Then I headed to Moreton Morrell on Friday for the Novice with Robbie and Smartie. They were both brilliant, with Robbie doing a 32 double clear and finishing 3rd. Smartie did a great 28 dressage, one down and clear cross-country, that is until I realised that I had missed out fence 15! I was very annoyed with myself for letting her down, but both horses were brilliant, so I can’t complain too much.
On Saturday, it was Crunchie’s turn at Brooksby. She did a great test so I was disappointed with 35. She had one down showjumping and sent clear cross-country to finish 8th, which meant I was the best Leicestershire rider.
The babies headed to the Fernie Hunter Trial on Sunday, which is really well run. We had a great day, and all the young horses went brilliantly. We are so lucky to be in Leicestershire, where there are so many hunter trials, Pony Club and unaffiliated events to choose from.
Yesterday, I took Lux and Smartie to Vale View EC to be guinea pigs for a BE training accreditation day. They were both great, and I feel like Lux is ready for her two-star run this week in the seven-year-olds at Osberton. I’ll let you know how we get on next week.
Lauren
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Event rider Lauren Shannon blogged on Horseandhound.co.uk from June 2011 until September 2014. Born in Brighton, she lived in America from the age of three to 16, returning to the UK to go to university after she finished school. After university she worked for Mark and Tanya Kyle before setting up her own yard in Leicestershire. Her best result to date was finishing 9th at the Land Rover Burghley Horse Trials with her top horse, Zero Flight.