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2015...and they're off

3/31/2015

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This year we start off the season with three horses competing at BE90. Jo will be taking over the ride on Todd (News For You) for her first ever season of BE, while Barry will be riding the seven year old Stan (Seein Star) and the five year old Ina (In A Spark). This will be the debut season for both horses.

So after a long winter of dressage and showjumping, we kicked off the eventing season at Poplar Park. It was a very positive start for the two youngsters, neither of whom had ever dressaged or showjumped on grass. Ina did a reasonable, if not slightly tense test and a really smart double clear, time penalties cross country meant that they were never going to be in with a chance of a place but she won't be 5 until next month so all in all a very positive first event. Stan did a solid first dressage test on grass but sadly lowered a pole in the showjumping (his first ever competitively). A bold but fairly slow run cross country finished off an encouraging day. The real stars of the day though were Jo and Todd. Todd is an experienced campaigner but BE90 open classes are very difficult to get placed in and Jo did really well to jump a double clear and finish in the rosettes.

we're off to Hartpury Easter weekend with Stan for the BRC winter sj finals and both Ina and Stan are entered for their next BE at Solihull next month.
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The Highs and Lows of Eventing...

10/7/2014

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Hi folks, 
It's Jo here, well I'm sure you've all heard the saying that horses are great levelers - here at Meadow Lane Equestrian, Team Meningen are experiencing a little leveling at the moment, so I thought I'd share with you our highs and lows, as I'm sure lots of these experiences will be familiar to some of you!

The picture this time is of Todd (News For You) and I at the Solihull UA.  We achieved a 27.5 dressage and a clear XC - no I have not missed the show jumping phase out, I have just chosen not to mention it as I unfortunately missed out a few jumps so eliminated ourselves!  

This was really the start of some disappointing results.  However I still love this picture, and felt very proud of myself in lots of ways.  This time last year, I was struggling to muster the courage to jump 70cms, it's easy to forget how far you've come when faced with frustration, but it's always worth being reminded - I have great family and friends to help me with that.

Lola (Lomark Lady) had a good run at the MK3D, dressage is not her forte but other than a rider navigational error (the start of Barry's leveling) she jumped boldly round a tricky XC course and delivered a fab clear on SJ day.  Unfortunately, Rosie (Kiss That Doesn't Pop) and I can't say the same.  I get a bit dramatic here but stay with me :-)...  We came home from the endurance phase on our dressage score, laying in 4th position.  I have to admit, it felt great.  We do a lot of Show Jumping training with the wonderful Carol Mailer, so I was keen to go and give a good account of ourselves, and you never know stay in the ribbons!  Sadly, this was not to be.  Jumping quite late on, we warmed up superbly - everything was feeling great, until we got into the arena!  The nerves hit me like bulldozer and to be frank, I wasn't sure I could make it through the round without a sharp exit to use the facilities!  Rosie could clearly feel my tension and we basically zoomed round the course, rather fast, taking poles with us on most occasions.  To say I was disappointed is an understatement.  I couldn't (still can't if I'm honest) believe I'd messed up quite so badly.  It has taken a bit of toll to be honest, and so I'm now taking some time to gather my thoughts, motivate and confidence to get back to it.   

This weekend saw Barry take all three (Rosie, Lola and Todd) to the Little Downham Horse Trials.  There were positives and negatives from the three horses.  Lola had a good performance in the show jumping, considering it was here first proper attempt at 100 level in a big arena with lots of atmosphere but let herself down across the country - unusual for her as she is usually so bold.  Rosie on the other hand let herself down in the show jumping but excelled across the country, coming home clear and inside the time (of course - anyone that knows Rose, knows she does not hang about, coming home fastest in her section with no negative time penalties).  Todd jumped a fantastic round show jumping but had an unfortunate run out XC.  

From writing this and recalling and mentally reliving these highs and lows reinforces a couple of things.  They are horses we ride, not machines, and we are humans not robots - both equally able to make mistakes, have off days and generally loose our way a bit - whatever level you compete at.  However as with any sport, it is not really our successes which we learn most from but our mistakes and it is not by our mistakes that we are judged, but how well we recover from them!   Easier to write than to feel, I know!

Anyways, to finish on a lighter note, Barry and I have been horsey hunting so I hope to be introducing a new addition to the Meningen family in the next edition! 

Take care all!

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MK 3D - Here we come....

9/17/2014

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Welcome to Barry's Blog, this week brought to you by Jo Meningen.  We'll see how many Barry does - we may need to consider changing the title :-).



Tomorrow Team Meningen are heading to the gorgeous village of Hanslope, the home of Milton Keynes Eventing center, for the last ever Milton Keynes Three Day Event.


Are the horses fit, well and ready? - yes
Are we very excited? - yes 
Are we packed? ...... erm, no - not quite!  Details, details.

We only went to our first MK3D last September, and it's hard to believe we'd been missing out for so long - especially as this will be the last one.  It is the most amount of fun with a fabulous community atmosphere, excellent going (even after masses of rain), GREAT food and wonderful people.   We are very luck that a group of local friends go, and so we have a great few days socialising with friends.  

Going away is a challenge for anyone with animals, we take the monster dogs with us (anyone who has met Elsa, knows this title is particularly fitting) but rely on  friends and family to help with the horses staying at home and our 4 lovely cats (Hugo (Boss), Sandy Cat, Flea and Tic).  We are very grateful for the support of our family and friends, especially Gill Meningen (Mum/Mum-Law) who steps into hold to fort whilst we're off.  Especially as next week Gill is taking a 'break' from her busy teaching schedule to go trekking in the Romanian mountains in order to raise money for The World Animal Protection Bear Sanctuary.  Gill does loads of fundraising also heading up The Brooke's Cambridgeshire Supporters group.  Good luck!  

The next few days will be filled with plaiting, brushing, cleaning, grazing, eating (mostly), the odd drinkie or two and with a bit of luck not too much of the wet stuff. Whatever the weather it's a fabulous experience, one of my favourite bits is the steeple chase.  I'd never experienced it before last year and I can assure you it's never too late to give it a go.... I'm hoping Rosie leaves her rocket fuel at home this weekend and Lola brings her best behaviour.

Before we head off tomorrow, it's school night for Elsa and swim night for Badger.  Every Wednesday we go to Charlie's Dog School in Soham.  There's a great bunch of people in our group and we have loads of fun trying to channel Elsa's enthusiasm for everything (especially anything that may, possibly result in a treat - or a smell of one.... well she is a labrador after all) into some obedience (*cough*) work, gun dog exercises and agility.  She loves it, and always snores on the way home.  Badger also now comes along for a swim in the hydro-therapy pool.  A  few weeks back I was putting Elsa in the car and he jumped in and refused to get out - he had a very definite "You are not take her out with out me" look on his face.  So we thought that as he's a bit delicate to do full training, he can come and swim which will hopefully help keep him strong and supple for many years to come.  Oh and yes, there is still packing to do but we wont talk about that.  Whatever you're up to this weekend, enjoy :-) 






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