5 steps forward 2 steps back!
Things had been going really well recently and I was entered for my first intro at BCA. I had a feeling we weren’t quite ready but as I couldn’t get my money back I thought I would go just to do the dressage and the showjumping. However, this was not to be! The weather was terrible with horizontal rain and lots of it! Despite this though, I found the quietest part of the dressage warm up and Guinness settled well. I always feel a bit of a plum wearing my back protector in the dressage but I never know how he is going to be on any given day, so it’s best to be on the safe side. 5 minutes before I was due to go into my arena, I walked over to the stewards so they knew I was ready and this is when thing started to go downhill. This area of the warm up was much busier and Guinness started disregarding my aids and napping in various directions and kicking out when I asked him to walk on. Time was against us though as I now had to make my way over to the arena. I barely managed to get him to walk over and was attempting to trot around to acclimatise him to the new area when the judge rang us to go in. Clearly she could see I could have done with one more minute! Never the less, I entered the arena and tried to smile as he cantered up the centre line. It didn’t get much better and he did several enormous bucks and I was so distracted at that point I also went wrong in the test. I completed but before I’d left the arena the judge called me over and said she was referring me to the stewards on unsafe grounds and it would be up to me to put my case to them as to whether or not I’d be able to continue. I could have cried!! I put Guinness back on the box and although, after speaking to the stewards who were happy for me to do the showjumping, I was so negative by this point I decided it was best not make things worse at a show, and so we went home. I was so devastated, mostly because never before had I let his…. ‘quirkiness’ get the better of me, but on this day it did and in some ways, I felt I’d let myself down. However, being told by a dressage judge that “In all my years of judging, I’ve never seen anything like it” is more than disheartening, especially when I know what he can be capable of.
Different Horse at home.
Since BCA, at home it’s been like nothing has changed. He is still the cuddliest horse I’ve ever owned, he likes to follow me around the stable and try to get the polos out my coat pocket. He’s my baby and I love him very much. We’ve done hacking as normal, a little flatwork, some jumping etc to keep it varied and he’s been his normal self. I don’t know what happened at BCA but it just didn’t make any sense to me.
I started to think that maybe it was an evasion technique because he only started to ‘mess around’ once his martingale was removed so I decide to be a little ‘firmer with him. Dawn and I went on a hack to the ford one evening and I lead. Guinness had a few moments where he said ‘No!’ I don’t want to go that way but I was firm and gave him a kick or a tap with the whip and he went on. As the ride went on though he got spookier and spookier and played up more and more each time, eventually kicking out and hitting Big. I was mortified! It was like he’d gone into mental meltdown. I stayed firm though and eventually we overcame each obstacle he protested at but it was very hard work.
Low key Dressage
Dawn was going to Pyatts Farm evening dressage to try to qualify for the C&T Champs at Elementary so I decided to go along with her to do an novice test just for a bit of practise and a change of scenery. When we got there it was exactly as I’d hoped; there were only 2 other horses in the warm up and it was very quiet and relaxed. As soon as we entered the warm up arena he felt on edge, and when I went to walk him down towards the other end of the arena without any warning he started leaping all four feet off the ground. I got him going forward in trot and canter but everything was very tense and rushed. Dawn rode Big down the other end as well and I managed to get Guinness down there but he kept trying to spin round and shoot off or buck. I did a fair amount of cantering to try to tire him a little, which he did seem to, but that didn’t stop him jumping around. Consequently the test didn’t go well. He was tense, not going forward, was spooking and napping and looking the wrong way. He struck off on the wrong canter lead and bucked in the mediums. I did have a little more control than I did at BCA but it didn’t make much difference. Once I’d completed the test I ran through it again at the end of the arena he felt comfortable in and he was much better. Then I sat on Guinness and called Dawn’s test and he stood quietly which I was pleased about.
Never the less I felt very disappointed and confused and convinced I must be doing something wrong.
I contacted my trainer Sue Edwards the next day and explained the situation. She said it was all anxiety related and I needed to arrange to go out in a non-competition environment without any stress and allow as much time as I need, so he can get comfortable with his surroundings. She said that even if I’m not feeling pressure, he still feels pressure. She also said that if I ask for a test before he is happy in his environment this just confirms his anxiety. She also said it’s not as bad as I think and it’s very common. So we’re just going to keep it very low key for now, no competitions and no pressure and when we go to great Westwood, we will just get him comfortable in his surroundings before I ask anything difficult of him. Suddenly it seems that it all makes sense as when I was ‘firm’ with him on the hack with Dawn before, he did just get worse and worse (probably because this made him more and more anxious).
So it’s back to softly, softly and lots of confidence building time and cuddles until Sue is next up in July to teach us.
No pressure Cross country training
On Saturday 25th June, Guinness and I went to Great Westwood Equestrian Park
Considering Guinness used to refuse to go anywhere within 20 feet of a water jump, it’s amazing how he’s Mr Cool about it all now. It just goes to show how far we have come together. Before we left, as Guinness was being such a star, I left the others and went round the small route we had just done and jumped the fences we had already practised. This was purely to see if Guinness had the confidence to go off on his own and he was excellent. I’m positive that once it clicks that we always come back to the same place we started, I think he will be much more confident on the XC course. I was very pleased with him indeed.
Saddle fitting and a new bit.
When I first got Guinness I got him a wintec saddle as I was short of funds and at 4, realised he would probably change shape a reasonable amount. He now needed to go into a slightly narrower gullet to accommodate generally building up muscle all over his shoulders and back. I also picked up a new bit for him to try. We’d originally started with our ‘old faithful’ straight bar happy mouth, and moved on to a soft and chunky snaffle, so now I felt he might prefer something a little more delicate in his mouth, so I picked up a loose ring French link which he seems to love. Since BCA, just in case the removing of the martingale had anything to do with it, I have been riding without my martingale. Surprisingly it has been a lot easier than I thought it would be and I’ve been hacking and jumping without it as well as riding in the school.
Jumping lesson with Sasha Arbuthnott-Nicol
Jumping at home can be quite difficult without any extra hands to help, so I asked Sasha, who has held a few training days for my Riding Club to come over and give me a lesson. We worked on lower leg position and maintaining good transitions. I have a habit of thinking after the fence I don’t need to do anymore, but Sasha rightly pointed out, once I have made a few good downwards transitions, then I can let the rein out and praise him. She also said that as he is comfortable at home, this is the place to ask new questions, and keep it very simple at shows or other places where he gets anxious. I really enjoyed my lesson and I will be working hard on my lower leg position in the interim!
Lots of hacking
Since our upset at BCA I’ve been keeping things very low key. I’ve primarily been hacking, in company and alone and been trying some new variations on routes. So far, Guinness hasn’t had any considerable upsets, although occasionally he might stop and take a few moments to ‘assess the situation’ before moving on. He has felt a lot more relaxed and we’ve been able to do most of our schooling whilst hacking, including recently, practising our shoulder-in, leg yield and even ‘baby’ traver in the woods! We’ve encountered holes in the road, lawn mowers, police tape, and random weird people sitting in the oddest of places and over come them all!
Willow Court Clear Round
A small livery yard approximately 10 minutes up the lane from us holds evening clear round jumping. They have a good selection of fences with coloured fillers and water trays and the owner will put them up and down as you want. It’s great because you warm up in the arena with the jumps and can pop as many as you want before you do your actual ‘clear round’. I spent quite a bit of time walking and trotting Guinness round and he settled very quickly which was encouraging. He popped all the fences first time without hesitation, if anything he felt a little lazy! I was very please indeed.
Lesson with Sue Edwards
At 7am on Friday 8th July, I hacked over to my friends yard in the village to have my lesson with Sue in his arena. Guinness has never been there before so I thought it would be good practise. It was very rainy though and I got thoroughly soaked, but despite the weather conditions, Guinness didn’t react too much and settled more and more throughout the lesson. Sue and I talked a lot about the recent events and she reminded me that although he is very talented and capable, mentally he is still very much a baby, and just because he didn’t have a problem or find something scary before, doesn’t mean he won’t find it scary at another time. We discussed signals to look for to see how anxious or relaxed a horse is that although seem obvious, can be quiet easy to over look.
Signs of anxiety
Ø Head in the air and ears forward (startled looking)
Ø Not inclined to lower head, relax neck or back.
Ø Not blinking
Ø Chomping at bit, or not moving mouth at all
Ø Standing very, very still
Signs of relaxation
Ø Lots of blinking
Ø Soft in the neck and back/ supple
Ø Ears flicking forward and back on to rider
Ø Gentle, relaxed mouth movements
Ø Happy to lower head and pick at grass
Ø Resting leg when standing
New approach
On Sunday 10th July I decided to put this into practise and I tagged along with Dawn, Joules and ‘Big’ to High Wycombe Riding Club Open Show. We walked in hand, first staying close to the lorry. Guinness sniffed the ground a lot in various different areas. We gradually moved out of the lorry park and over towards the rings. Guinness was very good and although he walked quite quickly, stopped the second I asked. Eve ntually he started to graze and we stood by the rings and hand grazed whilst I watched Joules in her class. Then I longed him for 15 mins, just walk and trot on both reins, and even though other horses were warming up relatively closely to him he didn’t react badly to it. Then I walked him back to the lorry and despite being on his own, he happily munched on his haynet whilst I got changed and tacked him up. As we were just starting to walk back over the show rings another horse came galloping towards us with a helpless riding screaming “can’t stop!!!!”. I just halted Guinness and stroked his neck and even though the horse came quite close past us he watched, but didn’t flinch. We then went over to the warm up area and popped a couple of warm up fences. The only moment when he spooked a little was when the horses in the showjumping ring beside us cantered round during their lap of honour. We then walked round whilst we waited to do our clear round. I trotted Guinness round the whole ring and then cantered round before I approached the first fence. His legs were a bit all over the place and we didn’t get a great stride on a few of the fences but he didn’t stop and popped them all. Clear round rosette and a huge smiley face to take home. I was very proud of how relaxed and grown up he had been throughout – this is definitely the way forward.
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