Things have been going well the last few weeks, first of all I got Bluey back onto Llwynpiod’s gallops for a 6km session, he went really well and was full of energy even after he’d finished.
Then I took him to Brechfa forest for a 32km hack with my friend Jess and her cob Holly. The flies drove Bluey crazy and he was very fidgety all the way round, reversing and stamping his feet whenever I had to stop, but he enjoyed himself, and so did I!
Sunday saw us heading to Bridgend to compete in our wettest ever ride! The heavens opened just past Swansea and I was very grateful that Mum had thought to pack a coat- I had everything else sorted, but the beautiful sunshine in Carmarthen had put rain straight out of my head.
The pre-ride vetting was great, Bluey trotted up nicely along the tarmac corridor marked out by sheep hurdles, and convinced the vet that he was an Anglo- Arab. Setting off the rain came in, and I was asked to ride with Angharad Morgan and her cob Llangennydd Flying Comet. Coming to CP1 I was very pleased to see that the checkpoint steward and photographer Celia Saunders had tempted the donkeys off the mountain and beside their car, meaning no nasty donkey surprises later on! However I was less pleased later on when we find ourselves back at CP1 rather early- somehow we had wandered off the outbound track and come onto the arrows marking the homebound loop!
Pushing the horses on we soon got back onto track, however no sooner had we done so than thick fog started to swirl onto the mountain, reducing visibility to about 20m. The fog occasionally lifted, revealing beautiful views across the valley, but it was by far the eeriest ride I had ever ridden, and the by this time I was soaked through.
We came to CP2 10 minutes behind on time, the checkpoint was down a very steep shaley incline and by now everyone’s crews had realised that the best thing to do was to drive on, stop by the checkpoint and call out their rider’s number to the steward as the riders appeared at the ridge.
Knowing that we were behind on time Angharad and I put Comet and Bluey into steady canters and pushed on home, as the ride was linear back to Point B it was a case opf just following one’s tracks, and trying to avoid incoming horses. Again visibility was poor, but the horses were great and the ride had a real sense of adventure!
We got back to CP1 (in the correct order this time) and were happy to see that we had over an hour left (the cantering had made up a lot of time) and both horses were happy.
Our final speed was 13.19kph, the fastest ride time that Bluey has posted. Spotting a break in the rain I presented Bluey at 11 minutes and he stood relatively still for a heart rate of 52. He had a B for his gait, I think as a result of a stoney track, but the vet was happy with him and couldn’t see anything obviously wrong. So that was a Grade 4, and now I’ve just got to convince Bluey to relax at vettings!
Thanks has to go to all the De Cymru helpers, who braved such horrible weather conditions to vet steward, vet, checkpoint steward, timekeep, TS and mark (and demark) the course. The ride wouldn’t have taken place without them.
After three days off Bluey is back in work, and is fit and well, our next ride will I hope be 70km at Tintern, it’s just a case of keeping him in work for 4 weeks and getting him safely around the course! My farrier has already been booked to show him with pads a few days before the ride as Tintern is well known as a stoney ride.
Anna and Bluey xxx
Filed under: News, Ride Report | Tagged: Bridgend, De Cymru EGB, endurance, endurance GB, ex-racehorses, rain, ride report, ridig in Wales, riding, thoroughbreds | Leave a Comment »
Mine was pretty good, although it’s rained nearly every day here, and as Bluey is in 24/7 over the winter riding him has been rather exciting!
