https://www.eventingfit.com/podcast/018-i-dont-like-bananas-caroline-mosely/

​:D Hope you enjoy! 

​ Soon horse trials will begin again and events will be needing our help volunteering for various roles.  If you haven't helped before then doing some jump judging is a great way to start.  There are many roles though - dressage stewarding, XC control, XC scoring, warm up stewarding amongst others so if you want to help but are unsure what you can bring then do get in touch with organisers as they will be very happy to have you! 

If you haven't been jump judging before then don't worry, you will be invited to a briefing at the start of the day and will have a copy of the judges guide to refer to if unsure.  

Its a fun day, I've done several over the years and I have put together a checklist of items that you may find useful if you take them along with you.   Over the years I have added to it so as you can see its quite long, don't worry you don't NEED these things but I do like to be prepared for any eventuality so created this for myself, and now  - in case you find it useful - I'm sharing it with you!  You can download the doc below too if it helps!

Jump Judging check list from Orange Fox Eventing
1.4x4 car
2.Camera/phone charger
3.Lap mate each
4.Pencils & pens
5.Whistle
6.Folding chair each
7.Folding table if poss
8.Blanket for legs
9.Sunglasses
10.Sun cream
11.Sun hat
12.Lipsalve
13.Fly repellent
14.Warm coat
15.Woolly hat/scarf
16.Gloves
17.Wellies (water jump)
18.Thick socks
19.Thermals!
20.Change of shoes/socks
21.Jump leads (must have)
22.Deodorant
23.Biodegradable Baby wipes/ or flannel/water to freshen up
24.Kitchen roll
25.Black bin bag
26.Lead rope.
27.Headache tablets
28.Penknife/multitool
29.Cool box to use as a table (large box)
30.Cable ties for fence repair
31.Rake for take off/landings
Food/Dinrk
1.Tea/coffee/hot chocolate
2.Camping stove
3.Kettle for stove
4.water
5.Sugar/sweetener
6.Hot water
7.Diluting juice
8.Cold water
9.Plastic cups
10.Travel mugs
11.Chocolate biscuits
12.Crisps
13.Fruit
14.Sandwiches
15.Wine gums!

 
Dogs - if taking
1. Dog stake out tether
2.Dog harnesses
3.Poo bags
4. Towel
5. Treats
6. Water container filled
7. travel bowl
8. extra dog bed

Well the British Eventing fixtures list is now out!
So looking at the THE EVENTING PLUS – SCOTLAND "GIN IT 2 WIN IT” 40+ POINTS CHALLENGE* there are some awesome Scottish fixtures to choose from! :D :D .
I do also love travelling to those in the North so have added them for my own diary. I won't be doing all of these but its good to have a list and options :D
So many fantastic events running in 2020 - Roll on the BE season! :D :D
*to take part in the challenge then head over to here for more info - http://eepurl.com/gJCZpP

​Funday outing to Forgandenny Horse Trials today. Was lovely to have a proper run in fantastic weather!
Dressage was good, tried a different warm up and worked on just getting her softer. Same score as usual (36.3) although not too far off the leaders so pleased with it and now I can maybe work on riding relaxed but asking for more!
After withdrawing from Dalkeith and our SJ round that nearly had us fall over the second fence I was a little apprehensive for the SJ today. Didn’t need to worry as Dwinababes popped round for a lovely clear 😄😄
Onto XC and Dwina headed out at full speed! We were pretty well up on the clock until the last few fences for home when I managed to slow her down but did it too much! 🤣🙈 for once I wasn’t the slowest rider of the day though! 👏👏💪🏼💪🏼
Picked up a few time which dropped us from 7th to 10th but I’m pleased we just had a fun day!
Thank you Renay for the loan of your Lorry!
Sorbeo Horse Bedding - your rug is perfect for travelling in this weather and the wonderful Cryochaps were perfect as usual.  <3 

Tired out my new Nomad washer which was also perfect! Dwina loved her wash off after XC!
Next stop for Dweens - Frenchfield! 😄

Back home from our last event of the season. Sad that it’s all over for the year now but Dwinababes will now chill and hack for a while before we start preparing for next year.
What a day! I know I was ‘just’ doing Novice after our fun times at Intermediate and Advanced but I went today with the aim to go double clear and if possible get inside the time xc (for a change 😂).
It was a really early start - up at 3.45am - and on the road by 4.30 as I decided I would plait when we arrived. Accompanied by the Chief Eventador (who is getting very excited over her new sister arriving soon 🧡) we arrived in time although too early for the coffee stand 🙈. Anyway off we went to dressage and we got a 32 😄😄. Dweens was glad to be back at the Lorry and eating hay as it was FREEZING!! Headed off to walk the xc and it looked good, lots of skinny jumps but as always a lovely course. Eventador checked the water jump depth then got very cold and was shivering! 😕 poor Labradog (now snuggling up to me at home all toasty and warm I’m happy to add 😍).
Sj was indoors this time, warm up outdoors which is different from the event earlier in the year. The SJ was bright and lots to see in the ring but nothing to Dwinababes who jumped round for an easy clear  ✅
After thawing in the Lorry with the heater on I headed over to XC wearing so many layers (my Apt Cavalier Ltd performance top, teamed with the short sleeved base layer, plus my cycling sleeves to keep the wind out!) to keep warm (which worked perfectly!). 
Off on the course and I made sure we ‘kicked on’ round the course. I was worried we’d have a silly run out or something as I wanted a nice finish to the season but I’m pleased to report we flew round INSIDE THE TIME!! (First time this year!!) so finished on our dressage score! Had we been competitive in the section and not HC we would have won it!!! 😄😄😄👏👏👏

Finally home from Allerton Horse Trials with the wonderful Dwinababes. 🧡
Lots to learn and plenty of mistakes but we have just completed our first Advanced!!!
My ramblings, thoughts, positives etc from the weekend. Apologies for the long post!
The most important thing to me is that Dweens is happy. And I won’t truly be happy with our weekend until mon/tues when I can assess her and see that she is all ok and has no tweaks or niggles from the weekend. She is incredibly important to me and her being fit, sound and happy makes all our outings end on a positive one even if they don’t go to plan. I’m an optimistic person and will always find positives! My horse being happy is most definitely the main one! 😍Edited to add that she is feeling fab and recovered brill from her weekend ☺️
So.....
Headed down to Allerton on sat only to meet a road closure and detour taking us 5 hours instead of four to get down to the stabling. Weatherby racecourse is lovely although Dweens didn’t like the shredded paper bedding so much!
Dropped her off and drove over to Allerton to walk the course.
In a random ‘I’m 40yo, Dwina is going well this season and you never know what’s around the corner’ type of moment I actually checked to see if I was eligible to ride in the advanced 🙈 errrr when did that ever become a possibility.... 🙈 so it turns out I am. And with that in mind I thought I might just walk the Advanced and see what it looked like...
Not going to lie. Some of these fences were huge! But most looked perfectly jumpable so I went and asked if I could move sections which was confirmed and immediately I felt slightly sick!! 🤢 Back to the stables to learn my dressage test and a restless night riding it (and the xc) in my head!
Getting up this morning I was slightly disappointed that Dwina hadn’t found the stabling and paper to be satisfactory. She hasn’t done the usual rolling or laid down to sleep so cue a bit of inner worry that I was now doing too much (those pesky mind games you play on yourself!! 😬). She seemed happy enough though despite my worry so plaited, loaded up and headed over to the showfield.
Went for my number and saw the intermediate showjumping. Thought ‘hmmm that looks decent, oh wait, it’s going to be bigger for mine, oh crap crappity’. And then quickly walked away .......then checked the rule book and repeatedly told myself it would only be one hole higher...
Dressage first. Was lovely to ride in a long arena. It’s definitely easier for us. Considering we can’t do flying changes I was pretty happy that we got 46.5. Obviously plenty to improve on but I’m definitely much better at riding through some tension and allowing us to pull some better marks later on rather than carrying it through the whole test 😄😄 oh and I didn’t go wrong! 🤣
After dressage we had time to walk the xc again. Usually the fences look smaller but they didn’t! Some are just fecking massive! And to top it off the SJ was fairly meaty too!! Despite me telling myself it would be fine😆
I’m slightly disappointed with the SJ. We had two fences down that I definitely deserved as I got us a bit deep and then two that we really didn’t but left us with 16 faults - but the positives - we pinged the biggest fences (1.30m square parallel!) on the course and Dwina felt awesome 😄
On to XC. Well the usual misser I seem to get at the first fence still happened! Even when they are bigger I still manage to f**k up the first fence! So onto 2 and a much better stride. Pleased to say that we nailed all combinations. I wasn’t so keen on the skinny boxes at 4A and B that were a curving four strides but we got it spot on and she was amazing. Same for the two stride rails at 5 and all other combinations were met really well 😄. Dweens got a bit sticky at the fences through the tracks outside the walled garden but kept jumping when asked. I did land at the drop at fence 12b and didn’t present to fence 13 to give me time to collect knitting (a 2m drop is quite big!🙈) this section of fences really slowed the pace and I just didn’t ride away like I ought to (something to work on!). Jumped everything really well until we got to the saw bench. I think Dweens couldn’t work out what the massive wheel was and scooted off to the right. As I need to be fitter to ride Dwina at this level (another take home from this!) I just let it happen! Totally let her down and should have been on it to give her the reassurance she needed 😕. Re presented and she pinged it. Continued on and a few fences later was caught up by a rider. The route ran along the side of the pond and I veered off to allow them to pass but they vanished in a different direction! So I continued to the next fence and as I came over the brow of the hill they were just in front of me! A safe enough distance so I continued along. I should have taken note that if a rider is catching me up I must be going slow! (Numpty jockey!) anyway popped the last few and finished! We had completed an advanced!!! I’m so proud of Dwina for being so amazing, slightly disappointed in myself for letting her down but also pleased that we did this together. 😍
I won’t be doing another advanced for a while! Will stick to Intermediate and aim for 2* next season all being well.

Don't forget to select HD when watching for the best quality

​Video taken by An Eventful Life <3 

So after starting the season with a not-so-good time at Floors in the CIC1* where I withdrew after SJ, I have had a couple of runs at Intermediate-Novice to give myself a step up but without the scary Intermediate fences. We've had two runs so far, and to keep going while things were good I entered the Intermediate at Aske (eek!)
Little did I know that Aske is supposed to be a beefy Intermediate, but we were accepted into section A and were on early as requested (to avoid the heat!)
I pootled down the three hours south to stable overnight on Friday and then up at 4am Saturday to dash round the XC before we started.
Hmm, it was beefy, and technical. The first 5 fences were nice and inviting :D
6ab was a rail, four forward strides to a gappy corner with a fall away on landing. It was huge and I didn't like it! 🤢
7 to 8 was a parallel of bee hives left hand turn down hill to a narrower bee hive
9ab roll top with brush skinnies on a related line 3-4 strides
10, 11ab was a parallel four strides to a two stride double of offset hedges...
12 was a table, sweep left about 10 strides to a cover at 13a, right turn four strides to a table 13B
14 was the trakhner
15/16 were removed due to the ground
17 ditch palisade
18 corner straight
19abc skinny brush into water then step up and bounce over a log
Right turn to 20 a carved fish trakhner
homeward straight over a table, house and brush fence to finish.
So I felt sort of ok, but sort of not after walking it, the corner was massive and gappy and I didn't like the striding and also haven't jumped a step up to bounce before! 
I need gin….. to the lorry park and find my little 7.5t in amongst the mahoosive trucks parked around me. I think there were more pop-outs than not and the neighbouring truck had driven 5 hours (!) from the Cotswolds to get there!
So I headed off for dressage, meh, its a working progress. 40 dressage, sitting trot looking better but I need to fix my whimsical contact and stop throwing the reins at her. BD this winter I think!!
We weren’t last but a few places up from last. I have a tendency to freeze in the arena and ride like a lemon so its all working progress!
SJ - Very few clear rounds although it was a lovely course and the course builder had made good use of the undulating ground. Didn’t spend too long warming up as the ground was hard so over a couple of decent uprights and a parallel and we were in. We lost a bit of height coming out the treble for the last part down and then I let her bowl on down to a four stride related distance and we got deep to the next fence. Pleased we never got time faults though as so many did! Video here: https://youtu.be/UNC6yPYortc
Back to XC! 
I was 7th to go in my section and there were 4 sections of Intermediates (loads!!). Walking to XC I heard two people retire at 6B, one fall and at least one have a run out... it did not bode well! I arrived in the warm up to see one horse finishing absolutely white with sweat, and just one rider in front of me. Two fences jumped in the warm up, and walked over to the start box. I decided to ditch the watch, I am a slow XC rider and usually pick up time faults, but for our first run I felt the time wasn’t important I just wanted to get round. 
Annnnnd breathe….. walking over to the start box I suddenly felt nervous, mostly for fence 6, and told myself to kick on out the box and get in a good rhythm over the first few fences which should set me up for the rest.
Setting off out the start box, I tried to kick on and saw some good strides to the first 3 fences, then a veeeeery dodgy stride to fence 4 (apologies to the jump judge as I shouted WOAH on take off it was not pretty!), not a bad stride to 5 and then a quick decision as we came down the hill to turn to fence 6 that I would go on a short 5 stride A to B so cue a lot of setting up, a bouncy canter, good stride in and popped over part a and then one, two, three, four, five........PINGED over part B!! rock on we had done it and we were away, boy it was a big fence!
And now very quickly onto the rest. Dwina was brill but backed off several fences and I really had to stay committed. Although I was positive and asked her to jump I was also a bit less forward as I didn’t have much chance to pick up the pace I’d lost but she jumped when I asked and kept on looking for the next fence so we kept on going! Round over the last couple of fences and I'm so so pleased that we finished full of running and CLEAR!!! What a girl my Dwinababes is! She was sweaty but no white lathery foam and she got her breath back very quickly. We picked up a bucket load of time and just pipped out of the placings to finish 11th!
Super thrilled, things to work on in all phases but the Brave pants well and truly ready to go for the next one so I have now entered Burgham Intermediate – fingers crossed it’s a bit kinder!