So about a month ago I decided to bring Coco out to do some cross country at Quarryland Cross Country in Meath. This was going to be a new adventure for us as while we have popped some of the smaller cross country fences in our yard at home, this would be the first time I took Coco out somewhere to school. My mission for the day was to keep everything as low pressure as possible. I just wanted to pop her over some easy jumps once or twice and have some fun. And that was certainly achieved despite an unscheduled dismount at the end!
If you’d like to skip the full de-brief, check out the video below of our highlights. If you want to see the video of me falling head over to our instagram, account @NoBuckingWayBlog. It’s an entertaining watch!
We started over some of the much smaller fences to start building her confidence. As we navigated the track we came across a variety of fences including banks, dips, corners and water. I quickly found that our weak spots are banks and water so I did some small banks and I managed to get her through the water with a lead and a bit of persuading. She gave everything a go and was absolutely loving it, I was so happy with her.
Unfortunately however I did have an unpleasant fall at a skinny. Coco had jumped it already but at a bit of an angle so I wanted to try and get her straight over it. She came into the fence completely distracted and I ended up going straight over her head, landing very hard on the ground. Thankfully I was wearing a back protector but I had the wind knocked right out of me and was left with some painful bruises. Once I got myself together I hopped back up and popped Coco over a small set of tyres and left her at that.
Despite the unscheduled dismount we both had a brilliant time. We really enjoyed ourselves so I’m looking forward to giving it another go once I have my nerve back!
We’ve recently been recommended to pay Carlanstown a visit. This venue looks AMAZING so keep an eye out for that adventure! If you’re ever looking for inspiration of where to head for your next schooling session, be sure to check out our recommended schooling venues page.
Thanks for reading,
Orla