Stadium Video & Cadence's First PT Level Event

Cadence at her first Pre-Training (Novice) HT.  Her dressage was quite good considering the weather, her stadium was brilliant (though we got 1.5 time & almost had a rail), and her xc started really well.  The course was huge, and contained a ditch, bank, turning question, trakehner, jump out of water, jump at the top of a hill (couldn't see landing) and a huge brush galloping fence.  She started out great.  Neatly over the first two fences, bold over the scary flowering log in the tree line, up the hill & neatly around the turning question (though she had a flip fit about one of the prelim or intermediate jumps as we ran past it up the hill...) and strong over the ditch.  I think that one surprised her a bit... I was working relatively hard to get her back and she was too busy fighting me to notice the ditch until she was already half way over it!! Just like at champs.  Seems to be our recipe for ditch success.  Then, we were on to the bank which was the bottom ledge of a set of steps located at the top of a steep hill, leading down to the tree line.  You had to cut in, jump down the bank (couldn't see the ground.... the hill was truly very steep) and get control back quickly for a sharp turn to the next fence, loc. at the bottom of the hill. 

Cadence didn't want to come back after jumping the ditch, and by the time I'd finally gotten her back into the trot, we were at the top of the hill.  I probably definately came in too weak.  She took one look at the ledge and into the chasm of impending doom that awaited her, and backed right on up the hill.  Not what I was going for.  Anyway, to make a long story short, I wasn't able to get her down it.  It's frustrating, especially since we'd had such a good round up to that point.  However, it was my fault that we were eliminated- I was high on getting over that chasm of a ditch (seriously, it was easily 2'3 deep & 2'6 across) and not expecting her to react the way she did to the bank.  She was so forward and strong, I completely under rode her.  Ah well... its a learning experience.  I just dislike the fact that we had to end on a refusal.