A Crazy Week with Charmeur...

As I have mentioned before, Charmeur often gets missed out whilst I focus on Risby and clients' horses. So I decided a good way to get me to work more on him would be to enter our first unaffiliated prelim. After much deliberating whether to go to a low key local venue or somewhere that also holds affiliated which would be more useful in the future, I chose the latter. Oldencraig (again!) it would be.

The previous weekend my other half came out cycling with me whilst I hacked Charmeur and we had a lovely time through the woods and then did some slightly "lively" schooling in the big field nearby. He took some great photos, aided by the fact there were motorbikes flying past the hedge in the adjacent woods which added somewhat to his cadence! I do not generally practice medium trot on him at this stage, but these photos show at least that he does have one!

Since last year I have been trying to book a lesson with Markus Bauer. For one reason or another this has not happened. I had pictured having a lesson on Risby, but after bumping into Markus and chatting to him at June's the previous week, I decided it would be very interesting to have a lesson with Charmeur. Especially prior to going to Germany, as this pony has taught me a lot about straightness! Little did I know how interesting it would turn out to be...

His yard is a good 1 hour 20mins away and it felt like a long drive down those country lanes to East Sussex. My heart started beating a little faster when I discovered that his outdoor school had no fence, there was a busy road close by, and I could tell in Charmeur's eyes everything looked a little "exciting"! Charmeur can be very sharp and spooky at times, but is never nasty. I like them like that in the early stages as this natural energy pays off much later in the training. I've done a lot of hacking, jumping and different things to give him a good all round education and let him see the world and grow up in his own time.

So, the lesson started well. Charmeur was relatively relaxed and it was really interesting Markus talking through in detail what he actually does with his back end, the stiff and hollow sides, and how I can help him through it. Was just like being back in Germany in fact! We started with achieving submission, asking for some outside flexion, then building up impulsion with inside flexion once he was tracking up and relaxed over his back. About half way through something seemed to upset Charmeur and he started calling out and became really tense. Markus said don't worry, just accept the situation (that by now every horse in Sussex was calling back to him!) and to just carry on. So we did, and started working the trot canter transitions, thinking leg yield on the right rein prior to asking for the canter to engage that right hind leg. Once we got the canter with him remaining balanced and straight I then needed to give the outside rein (rather than the inside one initially) as he tilts his head slightly to the outside. Once I managed to really let go and get him under my seat more he remained straight really nicely.

Still, all was going well. We gave him a walk break and had a chat. Whilst walking with loose reins, something startled him, he spun 180 degrees so I lost my left stirrup, then he galloped off across the school bucking, which is very unlike him. He used to do this at times in the early days but I would just pull him up, but as I'd lost a stirrup this made it impossible, and he didn't appreciate me bouncing around all the more on his back. Off we bounded, like a crazed deer on drugs, right out of the school while I tried to stay on and not ruin my record of not falling off for 17 years. Sadly the worst was about to happen and I was quite in shock as I hit the ground as I really never come off!! I have gained quite a reputation for staying on tricky horses. And how mortifying to come off in front of Markus!! Anyway I was soon back on board and Markus importantly said forget that anything happened, don't get angry, don't ride differently. Within a few minutes we were back trotting and cantering calmly just as we had been, so at least order was restored, not sure what all that was about but still, overall a very good lesson.

Markus offered me a job as a "stunt rider" helping to break in his youngsters over the Winter haha.

So all this was two days before Charmeur's dressage debut at Oldencraig, and the fact the weather was meant to be awful (torrential rain) didn't put me in good spirits! I took along my good friend Nikki and gave her instructions to catch the pony first if we did part company! We arrived in the morning and Charmeur thought everything was very interesting indeed, and whilst on the box called out to every horse and passer by. I was tentative as I headed to the warm up as he felt very, very fresh. But I tried to ride as we always do, gave him out all the rein and waited for him to settle. Which actually he did do quite quickly, although I was ready for any spooks or spins. We stayed in no higher than second gear as we know the pony can move, its all about getting him chilled and focusing. I apologise to people who said hello, including a lady on a lovely grey who recognised us from the Horse and Hound forum, as I was really concentrating to keep it all together.

To make matters worse both of our tests were outside. I'd hoped at least one would be indoors then I could pass on the outdoor one. He was reasonably calm as we headed over for our test but naturally woke up a bit when he entered the ring. I trotted him forwards and past the judge's box which he had a good look at. I had zero expectations of the test besides to just get round it, not fall off and not gallop out of the arena! So I'm really pleased to say we managed these goals. Yes he was very tense, spooky and all over the place, but he's a really intelligent pony and I know he will get over all this in a few outings, he doesn't tend to keep spooking at the same old things.

Quick break before the second test. I thought the judge was incredibly generous to give us 59% actually as we had very little submission or relaxation, and I'd purposely made circles bigger or smaller depending on the situation. Also generous was the score of 7 for his paces, so wonder what he will get on a good day. But today wasn't about the marks anyway. So we warmed up for the second test and by now it was absolutely pouring with rain and we could barely trot let alone canter in the flooded warm up arena. Charmeur was ever so confident as he dragged me into the test arena, now being an expert in what happens next at a dressage show having just done it all half an hour ago. This is what I mean, he's not silly, he's actually quite bold once he knows what he's up to. I was really really pleased that before the bell went I had him trotting round on a circle so relaxed I could have stretched him down on a long rein. However, the judge rang the bell REALLY loudly this time and we went flying across the school! Sadly we started and ended the test in a similar fashion, all relaxation out the window. I made the elective decision to trot in some of the canter sections as he just felt too tense. But again, we did manage to make it through the entire test without anything totally disastrous occurring. Again, a generous score considering we'd ad libbed a bit, and a comment of "talented pony."

So actually a very interesting, varied and productive week for Charmeur. My aim is now to get him out to as many unaffiliated shows as I can until he becomes more ridable in the arena. I am confident he's going to be a really good one as he has the paces and the brain, plus a little added pizazz which is essential to stand out.

Area Festivals, an amazing lesson, and one last outing...

I hadn't thought about qualifying for anything this year, it was more about getting Risby more relaxed and maintaining consistency in the arena like we had at home. Surprisingly we ended up only 3 points off a regional qualification, but as I was away and pretty busy, I thought we would do an Area Festival instead. I had to squeeze in one before I headed off to Germany, and ironically it turned out to be good old Oldencraig, yet again, which seems to have been our second home this season!

The day before it was really hot, and we went to trainer June Long's yard for a thorough session of riding through our familiar friend M75 which was our warm up class, and then M69 for the Area Festival. She helped me to get the walk pirouettes much more accurate, and we also worked a lot on keeping him flowing forwards and using every corner and short side to help prepare for the next movement. We did some spiralling in and out on a circle using travers and shoulder fore to get him more active behind and to help me control and maintain the bend through his body.

So it was a fair day as we left the yard for the show, I was feeling more nervous than usual as it felt like a long while since our last show and it is difficult to maintain accuracy and practise test riding at home in an arena which is totally the wrong size. It was lovely to have one of my clients, Alex, come to help and support us which I was grateful for. Also nice to see so many familiar faces.

Risby warmed up fine for the first warm up class which was indoors. Overall he went round M75 fine, but with the usual slight anticipation of the walk pirouettes and walk to canter transitions. He was still a little tense through his body, which resulted in some slight swinging in of his quarters at times and not so accurate positioning in the canter half passes. I think this is partly due to me not "riding" him as much in the arena and that is something I need to work on and keep going out and doing more test riding.

The actual test was in the International Arena. As we entered Risby decided to have a good look at the plastic flowers they had put out, a new addition to his otherwise tried and tested arena! A few big kicks and we were power trotting round before the bell went. Again, another mistake free test with just a few wobbles in the canter half passes again.

Came out feeling pleased with him regardless of what score we got, as everything felt like an improvement on last time. Put Risby back on the box, where he seems to love standing quietly and munching his hay, then enjoyed some cheesey chips with Alex and we watched some of the other competitors. Was really happy to get 63.78% in both classes! This meant 2nd in the warm up and 4th in the actual class. The top 3 horses were all very nice, forwards movers so I was pleased with this result, definitely in line with where we are at the moment.

So here at the lovely photos that Alex took on her new camera, very grateful for them :-)

So on a high after this, I thought I'd squeeze in one last show at Cobham Manor before I head to Germany. I had recently got back in contact with my old trainer Eileen O'Connor, who I used to train with in Surrey before we moved back to Kent. She helped me produce Risby as a youngster but it had been a good few years since she'd seen him. So the week before Cobham she came to give me a lesson on firstly Risby, then Dotty. All I can say is WOW, Risby has been much much better since. He needs to take more weight behind now and just by slightly altering how I was sitting, Eileen helped us achieve much more than I thought we'd been capable of. I hadn't used the old favourite trick of holding the reins upside down recently, which basically stops you fixing the hand in any way and you are forced to ride more "up" through your chest and upper body. I have previously spent many hours on the lunge with Eileen doing this on every horse from a Cleveland Bay stallion to huge WBs, but like everything, good habits start to slack. Risby is THE bounciest horse ever with very loose, elastic paces, and since my lesson I've been very good and been riding a lot more without stirrups to make me less dependant on my hands and to have him very in tune with my weight aids and posture.

I must add I forgot my gloves so borrowed my friend's pink ones! They may be the secret to our new uphill canter...

 
 




Lots and lots and LOTS of "up" transitions to keep those hind legs coming and to maintain an uphill frame.

 

 

Risby spooks at the goats but we then end up with plenty more impulsion!

Quite a different picture to our Area Festival photos. Hopefully these little glimpses will become more and more the norm.

So off we headed to Cobham Manor to have a go at putting this into practice round two more mediums. The warm up was really fab. A friend who we haven't seen in a long while commented on how much better Ris looked which was lovely. He felt really uphill throughout, the transitions were good, and he just seemed more relaxed overall being ridden in this slightly different way. I wasn't nervous at all entering the ring and overall was pleased with how both tests went as he remained more forwards and connected. The main issue we have is with this cantering across the diagonal and he anticipates what is coming next. That is the only time in the test I tend to stop riding a bit and this doesn't help. But otherwise I was really thrilled that the walk pirouettes stayed much more active, plus we got 7s for trot half passes, extended trots, and lots of other bits that I've been working hard on. The classes were small and we won both tests (restricted) with a qualifying score of 63% and one of 62.94% which was annoying 0.06% short! But that's ok as I'm not really aiming to qualify, I just want to really improve everything over the Winter so he starts working in a more advanced way now.

Eileen was kind enough to let me have a sit on her 4 year old Westphalian the following week, in preparation for Germany and just to compare to Dotty. I was a little nervous to ride Kiss as no one else had ever ridden him and I didn't want to ruin him!! She assured me I wouldn't and I had a lovely time, naturally he was beautifully schooled (Eileen is the most amazing rider as well as trainer). Despite his downhill conformation due to his age, he wasn't strong in front whatsoever, he was amazingly light and he slowed just from me broadening my chest and slightly closing the leg.

 

 

So that rounds up my Summer so far. Off to Munster in a week and no doubt will be back with more highs, lows and plenty of learning experiences. Absolutely love it all :-)

Badminton Young Horse Championship July 2013

Back in June we took Dotty to a Badminton Young Horse qualifier at Oldencraig and came second with 7.52, hence qualifying for the championships. We were ecstatic as there had been some seriously talented horses there, but Dotty performed really well without tension and scored excellent marks all round, with an 8 for her canter and 7.8 for her general impression/adherence to the Scales of Training. We had all been convinced Luke Baber-Davie’s magnificent stallion Elgar would beat us, so we were pretty shocked when we came second, with a lovely Oldencraig horse winning on 7.72, so a very close result. The top two horses qualify.

Photos from the qualifier:

 

It was certainly a very hot run up to the championships and we ended up riding Dotty late in the evenings. We had a four week plan to get her ready and the week before we went for a lesson with 

Andrew Gould at his lovely yard in Surrey, another scorching hot day with long queues on the motorway. His main message was “ride her forwards!” which we practised religiously, with Caz being my eyes on the ground for the next few days.

Security at Andrew's yard

We decided to head up to Badminton the evening before as we anticipated a three and half hour journey. Caz managed to borrow her parent’s camper van (which even has a name, Rosie! Brilliant!) so we could do a bit of glamping whilst we were there. So Stacey, Caz, another friend Julie (our good luck mascot) and myself made the long journey up there on the Monday evening. We snacked on Jaffa cakes and moaned about the heat a lot and were glad when we arrived at the yard we were staying at, about 15 minutes from the show ground. It was very picturesque and idyllic. Surprisingly Dotty wasn’t too hot and settled into her “hotel” well. It was about 8.30pm by the time we’d organised ourselves and set about looking for food. A friend of Stacey’s was there too with her groom, so the 6 of us headed off across fields and stiles with directions to the local pub. Shorts were a bad idea with all the stinging nettles! We had a lovely meal and as I was the only rider was careful to only have the one glass of wine!! Somehow we made it back across the fields in the pitch black and settled into bed with alarms set for 5.45am.

We had the arena walk first thing so we boxed Dotty over early to have a good look round the venue. It was so hot already we headed straight for the indoor school which was full of very large, very shiny and impressive looking horses. Dotty was absolutely fine and took it all in her stride. Even when a rather excitable stallion decided to perform an impressive rodeo act and dump his rider right in front of us and gallop off round the warm up field. We drove back to the yard as our test wasn't until the afternoon.

Dotty buys her breakfast in the morning :-)



It already felt like a long day by the time we headed back for our test. Dotty warmed up beautifully on the grass, lovely and forwards and not silly at all. Certainly more mature than many of the 5 year olds. They were running late and we had to wait around before our test. Lizzie Murray came out of the indoor saying how hot it was, but it wasn’t until we actually entered it that I realised just how hot! I actually felt as if I might pass out for a few minutes, it was absolutely sweltering and the air was all dusty

and hazy. The judges were Judy Harvey and Sandy Phillips and most of all I was looking forwards to hearing their comments at the end.

So I had no test planned whatsoever, unlike in the qualifier where we had the test planned down to every last detail. Andrew had thought it was better to see how she felt on the day and just ride her as if at home. I felt relatively calm as we started, but I could feel Dotty struggling with the heat and she felt a little too deep through her frame and not as willing to move  as freely forwards as usual. However she didn’t put a foot wrong, we showed off her lovely canter and medium trots, and it was just a shame the conditions didn’t allow her to go at her very best. However we had to consider she is still only 4 years old and she behaved absolutely impeccably at such a big, busy show.

Sandy Phillips was very positive with her feedback and Dotty was awarded 34.4 which would eventually put her in the middle of the field of the 50 horses which included both 4 and 5 year olds and mainly well known professional young horse producers, so a fantastic result. The judges felt that she was still a little unbalanced but that she had been produced carefully and not been rushed, and they would like to see her in the future when she had matured some more. They also said we were a lovely partnership (which seems a recurring theme with the judges, but I really cannot afford to buy her!) So we were chuffed with that. It was eventually the stunning Birdsong ridden by Sadie Smith who deservedly won, a really exciting young horse.

So thoughts about the whole experience. People often feel that the young horse classes push horses out of their comfort zone. Having competed at both the Shearwater 4 yo (which was an easy short prelim style test) and the Badminton (where you devise your own simple test) I would say that both of these are excellent starter shows for 4 year olds. Naturally the standard for the 5 and 6 year olds is proportionally higher, but I would certainly compete in the 4 year old classes again. Receiving live feedback from the judges at Badminton was great and the whole experience was a positive one. Having a great team made it run smoothly, and I actually enjoyed warming up on grass, the little hack to the school, and then riding the test in front of such knowledgable judges.

Dotty then had a well deserved week off after the show and came back the following week feeling better than ever and much more in balance, so I would say overall the whole trip had been positive for all involved. We will certainly be more aware of what to do next year if Stacey decides to keep her and we aim for the 5 year old classes.

 

 

Summer Update

It has been a pretty hectic Summer already. Dotty has been to many shows and lessons, I have been judging regularly, teaching until sometimes 9pm in the evenings, and even doing a spot of breaking in. In this instance it was a polo pony, and after 3 weeks we had gone from never sat on to cantering round with me waving a polo stick around. Great fun! I think I forget my age sometimes and the fact that I do actually need the use of my limbs to carry on with my other career also! An average Saturday might consist of six horses in six different places, whether to school or to ride. My two boys are often the last in the line and get missed out when I have so many other commitments, so here are some updates from them.
 



A soggy outing with Risby and another win at Medium

Risby has now qualified for the Area Festivals at Medium Level. He only needed 3 more points to qualify for the Regionals but as I was away at the end of June on a retreat I decided not to push ourselves for the sake of it.

We competed at the BD Inter Regional Team Event at Oldencraig and were in a very strong team with Joe Bright on Praxis, Tia Quinn on Fantasia and Tania Dahdi on Damara ZG. We were lucky that trainer June came to help us warm up. It was a very busy day with lots of competitors. We had upped Risby’s feed a couple of weeks before and he was a little tense in the test with a couple of random flying changes thrown in which was costly. But overall I was pleased with him and several competitors commented on how nice he looked. It was a fun day meeting so many other BD members from Kent, Surrey and Sussex. Our team came a respectable 6^th.

We had planned to go for a lesson with Markus Bauer but unfortunately Risby ended up having some time off after getting nail bind. Our farrier came and re-set his shoe and he seems fine now, but even a short amount of time off plays such a huge part when you have a horse working at a decent level. So it has been back to fittenning and strengthening work before we start tackling the movements again.

 

Charmeur has been out jumping and having a great time. He is jumping easily clear around 80cm and is definitely showing scope to BSJA, although not sure about me! For various reasons he seems to keep missing his “first dressage outing” so we need to put an end to that and get him out. We seem to have turned a corner and by riding him a bit more positively, but more or less in the same way, and upping the pressure a bit he seems to stay more through and straight. As he likes to play with his bit (an NS Team Up with a lozenge) I have put him in a hanging cheek French link which sits higher in the mouth and seems to suit him more. We now have a lovely foamy mouth.

 

  

I was also lucky to recently meet Anna Brown from Shropshire who passed the tough Meister exams in Germany and it was a real treat watching her ride and discussing pony training tips. I would love to take little Charmeur to her for some training, seeing as ponies she has produced have represented GB internationally.

 

A little trip to Dressage Deluxe and a few online stores meant I have updated my entire competition wardrobe at last!

 

I am just starting to revise for Trainer B in Germany next month. I don't think it has quite hit me yet the amount of work I am letting myself in for!! Oh well, no pain no gain :-)