A national riding competition, a concours complet, took place at Cluny this weekend. It was a three day event where each horse and rider had to compete a dressage section, take part in the showjumping and finally tackle a cross country course.
Watching the dressage we realised why we do so much of it in lessons at the pony club. Controlling direction and pace is the basis of all riding. We went to see Chris’s teacher Anaïs compete. She proved that she could do it as well as teach it as she was well placed in the final results.
Anaïs in the dressage
Chris and I were lucky enough to be able to help judge the cross country at the Hippodrome. For each stage we were allocated an obstacle. A little confusing as the obstacles had different numbers in different colours for various courses. Once installed we sat with pen and clipboard to record the riders’ numbers and tick the columns for bien passé, un, deux or trois refus or une chute. In addition each time a horse passed we had to report to mission control by walkie talkie. I had always been a bit phobic about numbers, especially big ones (do you know how to say 79 or 193 in French without having to think about it?), but by the end of the weekend no problem. And I thought everybody was just being funny when they talked about talkie-walkies but that is what they call them in French!
Sunday afternoon was especially interesting for me as I was judging a jump that non of the horses liked. It was not particularly big but solid and it came after a long gallop and a descent down a bank. Several horses refused at least once, one refused three times and was eliminated, as was one unfortunate young rider who fell off.
un refus
deux refus!
You have to be really brave for cross country. You are on a madly galloping horse facing the most daunting obstacles. Some riders talked constantly to their horses, more, I think, to bolster their own courage. Bravo to all those who managed to finish.
