Miss Lulu Herself - Pine Top 2 - Feb ‘23

This is a video for Bonnie Stead. Well, Bonnie, it came off, mate. We finished our first advance on Ms. Lulu, which was huge accomplishment since we've gone through all the years and years of developing her. She finally has reached the top of the sport and she did pretty well actually. This is obviously the dressage. This was on Friday morning, first thing, she was a bit hot and spicy in there. The flying changes weren't perfect but they were both clean. So it could have been, it will get a lot better but it could have been a lot worse. So she didn't embarrass me too much and we actually beat a few creditable horses. So obviously the half past which you're seeing a bit were good and the extended trots got to get a bit better. And the hardest thing with the Bon is that, you know, she's such an electric horse that these little local events are very, very difficult for her where you sort of turn up and put a saddle on her and do the test and like you can see that there's actually some good motion movements there in the trot work. And then obviously the canter she got a little bit hot in. But I think our next event's going to be the Carolina International, the four star short there. And my gut feeling is that we'll arrive at least the day before and I'll be able to get two or three rides into her to get her settled down. And I don't think she's being naughty, I just think she gets excited and feisty and. And don't forget she's very inexperienced at this level. And unfortunately with this advanced test A, there's so much walk in it and there's so much walk on a hot horse. You can see it just prancing around there. The old dressage judge gave me a bit of a hard time for that. Anyway, the show jumping was very good. She had one pole just with her back toes. I overrode fence three a little bit from memory and she just ticked it behind. But by saying that I was sort of so worried about the cross country this weekend that I hadn't actually been. I haven't show jumped her since this last event. I've just been practicing the cross country and, and on cross country she was absolutely brilliant. It was no gimme course. There was plenty of trouble in the, in the field there was a bit of everything. There was doubler corners and some offset hedges and 1, 2, 3 water jumps. Now she was green and I could feel her sort of inexperience but she, she Dug deep. She gritted teeth and she, she got the job done. I, I nearly came off at the water jump. You'll see that in a second. I lost my stirrup and was holding on for dear life. But she, she hung in there well and kept, kept going. For me, that was the best part about her. She, she knows her job. She, she, she knows what she's got to do and, and she was very, very good to me, actually. There was every reason in the world for her to run out or have a stop and she, she was good, good to me. All right, so this is our first flying change. Now don't forget Bonnie. I've been without Silver for nearly two months now. So this is Boyd Martin. Attempt the flying change and she actually got it clean. There's a little bit of a hop, skip and a jump. But I actually think because she's got sort of this short bouncy counter, I actually think she's going to get the change as well. So, Bon, I think we're planning on sending some horses home at the end of this week and we'll get her back up to Pennsylvania on the weekend, which would be good. Silver can start helping me, helping me again with her dressage work. And, and the best thing up there is the, the galloping is a lot better up there with the hills and the track and whatnot. So my goal hopefully is obviously we, if I could get her to the Carolina International four star Short in a couple of weeks, then three or four weeks after that would be Fair Hill. And then if I'm, if I'm feeling like a, a champion, we'll run her at the, the fork four star long. So this is her show jumping round. She jumped really, really well. And this next jump here, I think I yard her at it a bit too much and she just clipped it with the back toes, which was a little bit uncharacteristic. But it was a pretty big course. It'd be one of the biggest show jumping courses that she's jumped. And it's a little bit flimsy there. It's sort of out in the field and to be honest, I was more just hoping to get, you know, go around this course well with no mistakes. And then same with the cross country. There was so much to, to do out there. It's, you know, I really wanted just to complete. She's got a little bit of a short stride on us. So in the cross country there was a couple of options where you could cut out a stride or hold them back for a stride and I think, with her greenness at the moment, just easing off and holding her together for an extra stride at the moment in the big, big combinations, actually just gives her a little bit more of a moment to read the fences. And. And because she wants to do it, she. She knows her job now. All right, so this is the water jump, and it was a massive jump in here. And then she got six and a half strides here, and I lost my stirrup, and this was a corner, and somehow she. She got over it for me, which she was, like I said, very, very good to me there. I think this is towards the end of the course again, another massive hedge into the water and then out over a skinny. And she's being brave. So, anyway, we've done it. First advanced event.