Barbury.... just not meant to be....

And so to my next attempt at qualification.... Barbury castle... .do you ever get that feeling that some things just aren’t meant to be...? I suppose Barbury was like that for me.... having entered Roger in the novice on Friday, I asked for Friday dressage with Bow.... my request went unheeded.....Roger’s otherwise double clear was marred by 4 faults in the show jumping for an impromptu reverse.... then on the way home on Friday Marcus had to perform an emergency stop at a roundabout and both partition arms snapped off on impact.....
.....Saturday’s drama involved the customarily cool Bow suffering a minor meltdown in the dressage arena - not only did we have the cross-country going on next to our warm up, in the main arena we also had to contend with hunting horns, hounds, loud cheering from the Country Fair – he just wasn’t listening to me and we made several mistakes....
Sunday began relatively smoothly in the show jumping arena but when I got down to the xc start I learnt that there was a hold on course and that three of the first 15 horses had fallen in the water (at least two of which had been taken off in the horse ambulance) A brief rider/ steward meeting followed where we were ‘reassured’ that the falls had been inexperienced rider error and that the water had been checked..... it was our choice to run.
Desperate for my qualification I psyched myself up as they restarted the course ....I told myself Bow would be fine.....but although two more jumped through without problems, another more experienced combination fell and they did then, after another hold and discussion, take the fence out.....thankful I wasn’t going to have to risk injuring Bow in the same way, I shoved any negative thoughts aside as we were counted down (nearly an hour late) and determined to ride positively we set off in a good rhythm, Bow made nothing of the first few fences and I began to relax.
Approaching the owl hole I reminded myself to sit up so that I was prepared for the next combination..... following my own plan I felt my head brush through the fence as we jumped through....losing my hat silk in the process ... really not a good look! We negotiated the next ten fences well and approached the undulating part of the course, the quarry Bow jumped in well surprising himself and me by bouncing down the step....possibly as a result he was a little suspicious of the next drop fence and left a leg... throwing me onto his neck.... he stumbled on landing and despite desperate attempts to stay on ....I was unable to recover..... I landed on my most well padded asset.... anything dented?...only my pride! GRRR...! I swore under my breath as I recovered my composure, unclipped my air jacket and walked dejectedly towards the lorry park...Bow bouncing along beside me wondering why we’d stopped.... It’s taught me a few more things...duck through owl hole fences and shorten my stirrups again.....
And so another failed attempt at qualifying for Blenheim.... I’m forcing myself to be philosophical... at least we’re both okay .... if it’s meant to be and all that.... Afterall if we don’t qualify this year then it will be because we’re not ready! Hartpury is our last chance this year... here’s hoping it’ll be third time lucky....