This month we haven’t been up to much as we have been on a family holiday but I have crammed as much into the month as possible.
My dear BHF’ers spring is upon us!
Sophie
I’m riding a horse for my friend Rachel Fairbrother whilst she is on ‘maternity leave’ her lovely mare Lucy, was a pleasure to ride. She’s not very experienced, and has plenty of personality, but she again behaved beautifully and answered every question asked. I was so pleased with her.
Onwards and Upwards!
We started this month with Harry coming sound again which was some great news as it had seemed like a long waiting game! Although we haven’t managed to compete this month I have high hopes for jumping straight back into things as soon as the next opportunity arises.
I also hope to record as much of our progress this year as possible using videos. I’m finding this very helpful to be able to notice when I’m not riding as effectively as well as looking for positives. As my Dad is working abroad for the next few months, he has kindly leant me his GoPro so that I can record on the go, including exciting rides with my friends down at the beach or collecting evidence for my college ‘investigative project’ based on preparation for a one-day event.
In regards to my New Year’s resolution of running on a weekly basis, I’m actually starting to enjoy myself! My spaniel, Zippy, is playing a big part in this as we are now running together which is working surprisingly well. Last week we went for a run down to the sand dunes and ended up doing a route I would take Harry on, plus we ran all the way back to the farm and both of us came home still feeling fresh and ready to do it all over again! We’re hoping to take this further and aim to join a ‘Cani-Cross’ club with hopes of completing a 5K run by the end of the year – something I never thought I would want to do!
During the half term we managed to have a lesson with Paralympic dressage coach, Erik, who travelled down from Scotland to teach me and my fellow ‘HU Squad’ riders. We were supposed to have a joint lesson but it ended up as a private lesson, which Harry wasn’t best pleased about as he had to work twice as hard! During the lesson we worked on developing a better connection from leg to hand and I had to work hard at moving Harry’s shoulders and hind quarters exactly where I wanted them. We left the lesson with some new exercises to practice at home which should increase our dressage marks in the future, as long as we continue to improve.
Next month….
We will really start getting to grips with our interval training with the eventing season starting soon! I’m also hoping to enter a local dressage competition.
Philippa & Harry
What a month! It’s been a whirlwind but we have loved every minute!
We started the month with some lessons focusing on getting him sharper and carrying himself so I don’t have to keep reminding him. This is something I need to carry on with over the next couple of months to ensure it’s firmly embedded in his mind! We did lots and lots of transitions too, often vital exercises that we don’t do enough of, it helped to maintain his engagement and uphill push which we started working on last month.
Our first competition of the month was at Merrist Wood, another opportunity to get between the white boards and spooky flowers. I wasn’t impressed with the 5.30am start however, as it turned out it was probably a blessing as by the time we got home at 10am hurricane force winds were just making an appearance!
Merrist Wood was running a whole weekend of Freestyle to Music tests which was fantastic as they are really few and far between around this area, and having only done three tests before I thought I should practice before the regionals!
I was pleased with the test but I did nearly keel over when I saw the score… 76.9%! Winning really was the icing on the cake! However, I think it might be time to start creating our elementary floorplan! We were interviewed by Horse & Hound and even got our very first mention and photo in the magazine the week later – WOW! I’m sure it is normal for some people but for us mere mortals it was a fantastic feeling.
The following week was full of more lessons and the 2016 Regional countdown had well and truly begun. I always manage to wind myself up before these big competitions expecting perfection so I made sure we had lots of eyes on the ground to keep us on the straight and narrow. I am lucky to have fantastic trainers who remind me that Stanley will only be able to give me what he is capable of at this stage in his development. He really has started to become more consistent on the rein and, on the whole, was much more uphill and rhythmical in all his work. He still has a tendency to ‘drop me’ on movements such as 10m circles where he loses his balance however 75% of the work has definitely 90% improved since before Christmas.
So the regional weekend finally arrived; Stanley was washed, plaited, cleaned and shined to within an inch of his life and he knew something important was happening when his bright pink, Lycra, plait-protecting hood was brought out the cupboard on Friday evening! We were third to go on Saturday in the Novice Freestyle so arrived in plenty of time and soaked up the atmosphere before going to do our test.
He was super, there were little bits that could of been better but on the whole he was much more forward and I smiled the whole way round! I thought our 76% at the beginning of the month was a bit of a fluke and never dreamt we could get that score again. So when a score of 76.2% (from three judges!) was announced my jaw hit the floor! It was a very long evening waiting for the rest of the competitors to go and watching some beautiful tests and all the scores go up, but he stayed at the front all the way to the end! I couldn’t believe it, I still can’t… Nationals here we come!
After all the excitement we got home very late and had a super early turn around the next morning to go back for the Novice class. He tried incredibly hard and despite feeling very tired I was thrilled with 69.08%, which is one of his highest marks in that test to date. We finished fifth which meant we were able to do our second mounted prize giving of the weekend – just amazing!
In just one year we have gone from being unplaced at Prelim level to being the Novice Freestyle Southern Regional Champions… Proof that coupled with hard work, Fibre-Beet has transformed my pony. Thank you so much British Horse Feeds for believing in us and helping us to have a brilliant start to what will hopefully be the most fantastic journey.
Hannah & Stanley
(Photo credit: Sara-Jane Lanning Dressage)
My first show was with Ted at Richmond. He was giddy in his first test and hated the sunlight shinning in the arena, and he seemed to think that it was very scary. He seemed so much better in the second test and finished second with 69%, which means he’s part qualified for next year. We just need another result like that and we have done it.
We then visited Addington Manor for our regionals and seemed Ted rather fresh. Whenever we clip him and take him over night he turns into dynamite. He did some great work but also decided to put a few new moves into the Elementary test including a flying change and oh yes… a rear! None of which are required, but still some great work and we ended up 8th with 67%. If only Ted had been good!
My second show was with my old boy Morris QD Esquire, he’s been through the wars like me, having had colic surgery and struggling with his asthma. We took Morris to Manor Grange Stud to run through our music, it’s his favourite party time! He was so good and won with over 72% with Jane Wilson judging. I was thrilled with him and we even had a phone call from Horse & Hound so we might be feature in the magazine!
For my third show we headed with the white horse, Pikkert, to Keysoe in Bedfordshire, to do the Medium and Advanced Freestyle to Music. Pikkert and I were slightly late for the warm up due to Mr P finding some poo to roll in, and yes yellow stains appeared taking me some time to clean him up. He definitely needed more work, in his first test he was unsettled but in the Advanced test he was great and the judge said how lovely he was. We finished third in the Advanced Freestyle to Music with a score of 67%, so he’s part qualified too!
Sarah and THE QD Boys.
“Your Oasby1 BE100 Open Sun Entry BALLYENGLAND TWLIGHT/CORAL HERBERT has been accepted” has been the most exciting text message I’ve received since October last year! The eventing countdown is on and I’m so looking forward to getting back out on the xc field!
We’ve been training hard and slowly getting through my list of things to do in preparation for our first event of the year. Robbie is starting the season for me this year, we are missing Isleham and heading to Oasby as our first event instead. We are getting back into the swing of things with a BE100 run before stepping up to the BE100plus at Great Witchingham. If all goes to plan, I’d like to have Robbie ready for Rockingham CIC* again in May.
This weekend we are heading to Burnham Market for a spin around their eventer trial and we are hoping to get over to Vale View the weekend after for an arena eventing competition.
The other horses are ticking along nicely at home. Alice will be next to get back on the road eventing, and Thursday will then come out to play a little later in the season, probably around May/June time when the ground is better for her.
I had another great lesson with Tiny last week. This time we did some pole work and jumping. I had done some grid work with Robbie and Darcy the day before thinking that’s what we’d be doing in the lesson and I’d try to be on the ball and one step ahead of her – wrong! I was pretty useless at the exercise she gave me to begin with!
We learnt a lot from the lesson however, and I’ve been doing my homework and practising it. I’m determined to have it perfected by the time our next lesson comes around, although I am sure she will have something else up her sleeve ready to catch me out yet again! Sometimes, I just need a day or two to process and think things over in my brain… I’m one of these very annoying people that probably spend way too much time analysing everything and trying to figure out how I could try things slightly differently to improve. I try to regularly get Mum to video my training sessions (or balance the camera on the arena gate) so I can watch them back and compare or I very often use a process of elimination “that way didn’t work, so maybe this way will instead…” We usually get there in the end!
Coral
I am writing this the day before my last day working at Redwings Horse Sanctuary. I have worked there nearly two years but now have to leave for my move to Warwickshire! I won’t have a job initially when I move but it will give me lots of time to ride! In just over a week’s time I will be taking Pumpkin to her new home. It is a lovely yard set in 220 acres. They have a big ménage, great hacking, a six-furlong all weather gallop and loads of grass! Pumpkin is going to love it, though I will have to introduce her to the grass gradually as she hasn’t had much since autumn.
This month I took Pumpkin to a place called High Ash Farm. It has great hacking, long grass strips and wide open grassy fields. We had an amazing gallop and there are also some wooded areas with jumps so we had a little pop over some cross country jumps. Pumpkin really enjoyed it and started pulling me towards more jumps. Our new livery has some cross country jumps so hopefully we can do some more jumping.
I had one last show on Juke last weekend. It was a memorial show for someone who had died who Jukes’ owner knew so she asked me if I would like to ride him. I can’t remember the last time I had rode him and he hadn’t been ridden since hunting in November! So I went to ride him the day before the show and we had a long wait for the last two ridden classes (cob and coloured) in the afternoon on the show day.
The weather was horrible out on the coast near Great Yarmouth but it was definitely worth the wait. We won both our classes, and then went on to take the ridden championship and overall supreme of the whole show! Not bad for a little five-year-old traditional cob! We got some lovely rosettes and an amazing trophy.
Photos of Pumpkins’ new home coming next month!
Rebecca
As we have now competed in a few 80cm Arena events over the winter, I decided to get brave and try the 90cm class. When walking the course, this suddenly didn’t seem like such a good idea, as the jumps looked so big and wide. I went into the ring feeling sick with nerves but Tilly took it all in her stride, only hesitating slightly at the first cross country jump asking me if I was really sure about it. We pushed on and managed to get clear in both the show jumping and cross country sections, inside the optimum time, which resulted in third place. I am still in shock, but so proud of my girl.
Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153970613766934.1073741976.750911933&type=1&l=27…
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJXXyWkKMF8
Back to Side Saddle riding the next day, and we entered at the bigger height of 80cm this time. Tilly was a bit hesitant at the first cross country jump as she seemed to think I was going to ask her to jump the big 90cm jump again. Our time was too slow for the 80cm class, but we completed it with a clear round which was my main ambition.
Photos: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153972629001934.1073741978.750911933&type=1&l=63…
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysvYUar7DMo
Official Photos from both arena eventing classes: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10153992723091934.1073741979.750911933&type=1&l=de…
The show schedule for all the side saddle shows came through the post the other day, so plans are now in place to get to as many as I can, as my instructor and I have plans for the National Side Saddle Show at Addington Manor this summer.
We finish of the month with Tilly in full moult and kindly sharing all her winter coat with me! At least this colder weather has finally helped dry the fields and the horses can start having a bit of field time instead of just using the arena for turnout due to very wet and muddy fields we have had.
