Post by liamclancy on Apr 14, 2011 16:33:43 GMT
Now, you may recall a couple of weeks ago I posted a report (with no small measure of pride) on mine and Sean's glorious winning performance in our first Trec event. Well in the interest of fairness it's only right that I report on our second event last week. Unlike the last event this time we competed as individuals and so it was every man for himself. Sean swept all before him and finished on top. I on the other hand came in last,that's right bottom, wooden sthingy,also ran,humiliatingly last.
In fairness I have lots of valid excuses. Instead of the obstacle course being in an arena it was over the cross country course in Clonshire and because it was a serious competition there were more rules and regulations that I hadn't bothered to check up on. Ed and I have never taken a jump in our lives and of course a lot of the obstacles were over jumps! The question was do I put the pedal to the metal, drive him into the jumps and trust he will take off and not throw me over the handlebars, or just avoid the jumps entirely. In the end I trotted him with as much enthusiasm as I could muster only for him to come to a dead stop, look down, snort,fart and back off. I didn't argue with him so I suppose you could say it was a joint decision to swerve the rest of the jumps and as it took longer to go round them than jump we inevitably started piling up serious time penalties.
You might also recall a video I posted a couple of weeks ago showcasing my outstanding ability to back my horse through a horsebox. Well, the last obstacle you encounter in Trec is the very simple walk your horse through a trailer. I suppose you've guessed he walked up, bent down,snorted,farted and backed off. You probably see a pattern emerging here, whenever I boast about something things change and it very quickly all goes down the toilet.
Every weekend thousands of people go out and compete with their horses and all hope to do well, healthy competition is no doubt a good thing and it encourages us all to improve our skills, but for every winner unfortunately someone also has to come last.
Refreshingly what I found with the Trec organisers is an ability to make each and every competitor feel equal and that there's a great achievment in simply taking part.
I was gobsmacked when they told me I had won a rosette! Yes I was awarded a rosette for being the "Bravest rider on the day". I can't for the life in me think of anything that could be considered brave unless having put in such a humiliating performance I had the brass neck to face everyone at the end of the day and pretend I was still in with a chance.
Maybe I'll do more competitions,maybe I won't, maybe I'll make more boastful videos,maybe I won't,whatever, the trick seems to be to enjoy every minute both good and bad (and I do).
The best of congratulations to Sean and all the people who did so well at Clonshire, but still,at the end of the day, it was me who was "the bravest soldier".
In fairness I have lots of valid excuses. Instead of the obstacle course being in an arena it was over the cross country course in Clonshire and because it was a serious competition there were more rules and regulations that I hadn't bothered to check up on. Ed and I have never taken a jump in our lives and of course a lot of the obstacles were over jumps! The question was do I put the pedal to the metal, drive him into the jumps and trust he will take off and not throw me over the handlebars, or just avoid the jumps entirely. In the end I trotted him with as much enthusiasm as I could muster only for him to come to a dead stop, look down, snort,fart and back off. I didn't argue with him so I suppose you could say it was a joint decision to swerve the rest of the jumps and as it took longer to go round them than jump we inevitably started piling up serious time penalties.
You might also recall a video I posted a couple of weeks ago showcasing my outstanding ability to back my horse through a horsebox. Well, the last obstacle you encounter in Trec is the very simple walk your horse through a trailer. I suppose you've guessed he walked up, bent down,snorted,farted and backed off. You probably see a pattern emerging here, whenever I boast about something things change and it very quickly all goes down the toilet.
Every weekend thousands of people go out and compete with their horses and all hope to do well, healthy competition is no doubt a good thing and it encourages us all to improve our skills, but for every winner unfortunately someone also has to come last.
Refreshingly what I found with the Trec organisers is an ability to make each and every competitor feel equal and that there's a great achievment in simply taking part.
I was gobsmacked when they told me I had won a rosette! Yes I was awarded a rosette for being the "Bravest rider on the day". I can't for the life in me think of anything that could be considered brave unless having put in such a humiliating performance I had the brass neck to face everyone at the end of the day and pretend I was still in with a chance.
Maybe I'll do more competitions,maybe I won't, maybe I'll make more boastful videos,maybe I won't,whatever, the trick seems to be to enjoy every minute both good and bad (and I do).
The best of congratulations to Sean and all the people who did so well at Clonshire, but still,at the end of the day, it was me who was "the bravest soldier".
