Planning for winter

Since the Chiltern and Thames Showing Champs, I’ve been enjoying doing a few different things with Guinness. We’ve done lots of hacking, making use of the last bit of light in the evenings before the clocks change. I’ve been on some pleasant hacks with my sister and my Mum which is lovely as you can just plod and chat and relax. Guinness is so much more confident now, and I think I’ve reached the point where I could hack him almost anywhere now. We overcame his greatest fear last week, which is pigs and despite a few hesitations a little gentle encouragement and he ‘braved it’ for me. It may seem like a small thing to people who don’t know him but when I think back to the days when he would leap all over the place if I asked him to walk off the yard, I’m very proud of how far we’ve come.

I’ve also been enjoying catching up on my flatwork, as the Chiltern and Thames Dressage Champs are only 4 weeks away now. Guinness confidence to move forward into the contact is ever increasing and fingers crossed, I will come home with a rosette!

We decided to make a last minute trip to South Bucks Riding Club Open Show last Sunday for some Showjumping practise. It was such a wonderful revelation to go to a show without hours of bathing, cleaning and platting and just throw the tack on the lorry and go! 

I grew up with the South Bucks Riding Club Open Shows and I used to hack my pony Taffy (who we’ve still got) up to the show and we’d be there all day. Beryl and Jeff who run the club and all the shows have known me since I was 10 years old and they’re so friendly and supportive. Unfortunately, entries were down and by the time we arrived the jumping classes were almost finished! I didn’t much fancy doing the 3’3” jumping so instead I opted to have a laugh and do the Horse and Hound class with Martina and her German Shepherd ‘Billana’ putting in a brilliant time to secure 2^nd place! Guinness was a bit fresh and kept leaping off the ground in excitement, but once he was going forward he was easier to handle. He gave the tiny jumps a ridiculous amount of air and I’m so glad we didn’t do the 3’3” otherwise I might have ended up in the clouds!!!

The last class of the day was the combined showjumping and XC class. I’ve never done this before but thankfully I had my back protector in the lorry and Guinness did me proud, not even hesitating when it came to leaving the showjumping arena and heading off to the XC course and I was very pleased with my 4^th.

He is very capable and Beryl rightly pointed out that I underestimate him sometimes, so now I need to get on with it and believe we can do it!

I’ve got a few things to look forward to over the next few weeks, I’ve arranged to go on a sponsored ride with some of the other liveries next weekend, which I’m really looking forward to, and then mid- October I will be doing the South Bucks Riding Club Hunter Trails at Great Westwood and finger crossed, I will secure a clear round and achieve my final target I set myself for this year! Then a rosy at the Dressage Champs will be an added bonus.

Other things planned are Guinness is having his massage on Saturday with Ros which I think he is well overdue, and on Sunday Dawn is competing in the Petplan areas at Patchetts so I will going up to watch and support her which I always enjoy.

So as usual it’s busy busy busy!!!!

Hard Work Pays Off, Showing and not letting stress get the better of you!!

Stresses!

Over the past few months, I had been letting several things stress me out and although it’s not like me to lose perspective and get ‘bogged down’, a few things all seemed to hit me all at once and it started to take its toll. One of these was that everything just kept getting more and more expensive and finding the funds to train and compete was becoming increasingly difficult. Guinness was originally intended to be a joint venture ( including joint expense) for Chloe (my sister) and I, but as he was fairly difficult and unpredictable when he first arrived, Chloe was a little put off by this and she hasn’t been able to contribute financially as she’d intended either. So I have had to make the extremely hard decision to look for a sharer for Guinness.

Guinness isn’t your usual happy hacker sharing horse, but there will be someone suitable out there, it just may take a bit of time to find the right person. For a thoroughbred he is surprisingly laid back in the school and will follow any horse anywhere on a hack but he can still have ‘unpredictable’ moments when hacking on his own or at competitions so I’m going to be completely honest with any potential sharers and just see what happens.

Showing around the corner!!

The Chiltern and Thames Showing Champs were now only round the corner, and Guinness and I hadn’t had any practise since we qualified back in June (gulp!). Although showing is something I’ve never really been interested in, as Guinness is only young, I wanted to let him experience as many different disciplines as possible to give him a broader education. However, with the showing I’ve had to seek lots of advice from friends on what was required as I didn’t have a clue!

At the beginning of the year I had set myself 3 goals to aim for by the end of the year…

• To Qualify for the Chiltern and Thames Showing Champs in the Retrained Racehorse Class
• To Qualify for the Chiltern ad Thames Dressage Champs at Prelim and Novice
• To get a XC clear round!

So I’d qualified for the showing champs but was happy enough just to have qualified but now I was actually going to compete at the Champs. I knew the ‘Big Show’ environment would be a lot for Guinness nervous disposition to handle and this would be our main challenge.

Through the week I schooled and hacked in the showing bridle with the Pelham and double reins. Guinness isn’t particularly fond of the Pelham as he doesn’t need such a strong bit but I made sure I left the kerb chain loose and kept my hands soft.

As much as I enjoyed the day and achieving my goal, showing isn’t something I’m going to continue as it is such hard work! I definitely have a much greater appreciation for the showing classes I see at Windsor each year now, as the amount of time it takes to prepare properly for the competition day far outweighs any other discipline I’ve done! There are so many little details which need to be addressed – trimming whiskers, fetlocks, coronets, tails, manes even eyelashes!!! Platts have to be perfect with thread not bands, and white parts have to be gleaming and coats shimmering. Tack has to be immaculate as well as soft and comfortable with buckles at eye level, attire has to be colour co-ordinated and class appropriate, the list goes on and on……..

Anyway, I spread as much of the prep as I could over several days, bathed and trimmed  on Thursday as the weather was slightly warmer (although I still felt cruel giving him a cold bath in September!), sorted all my stuff out on Friday, cleaned all my tack and boots on Saturday morning and groomed and platted Saturday evening. I only left rolling the platts and platting his tail until Sunday morning.

Lesson with Sue – accepting the contact part 2

I also had a lesson with Sue Edwards at 7am on Saturday morning. It was an early start for a Saturday but I always enjoy my lessons and we continued our work on encouraging Guinness to take more of a contact. Guinness is still a little perplexed by this concept of going forward whilst he can feel my hands on his mouth and my job is to make myself as absolutely clear as possible.

When he is fighting my hands and contact, I must maintain the contact (and not give in and soften) so I don’t confuse him, but the second he flexes his poll and softens, or moves forward into my contact I must be instantaneous with my reaction and allow him to seek the contact down and allow the rein to gently slide through my fingers. I also learnt that when Guinness makes a ‘try’ at the correct answer (e.g. softens or flexes a little) I have to show him he is heading in the right direction by half softening. Sue calls it ‘showing him the door is open’ and this is just as important as rewarding him when he gets it right.

It’s just another puzzle for Guinness to solve and it’s my job to make it as clear as possible when he answers the questions correctly. Timing is everything!

Sue has another brilliant analogy which is the ladder in which a horse completes an action.

It goes: Brain – Flexion – Weight – Feet.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense, first the horse’s brain has to be engaged and listening and understand the question (i.e. interpret the aid), second they then flex accordingly, thirdly they transfer their weight to the appropriate place so that finally their feet can follow as instructed.

There was no questioning if Guinness brain was engaged during my lesson on Saturday though. He was concentrating so hard that as I rode down the long side of the school he didn’t even notice when a pigeon that had been dozing on the fence flew almost straight into his face!!

I was very pleased with him and how hard he tried and I was equally exhausted from concentrating on all the things I had to do at once!

Show day

I got to the yard at 5am in the pitch black and pouring rain. We left the yard at 6.45am and were the first to arrive at Herts County Show Ground at 7.30 on the dot, allowing me plenty of time to acclimatise Guinness to the showground (apologies to Dawn, Martina and Joules who had to get up extra, extra early on my behalf!).

Guinness seemed tetchy and tense and was kicking out which is usually his tell-tell sign he’s unsettled. I grazed him in hand in front of the ring our class was in and walked him around for a bit. I tacked up 45 mins before the start of my class and although he was a bit nappy to go away from the lorry, despite bucking a little, I pushed him on and he obliged (begrudgingly). We walked and trotted all around the outside of the ring and soon it was time for my class.  

Guinness was a little lethargic by the time I entered the ring but this was probably for the best as the horse I was behind for the ride round was bucking and going sideways but Guinness didn’t pay attention. I was pulled in 6^th for the line up and then we did our individual show. Guinness had fallen asleep by this time and I had to give him a sharp kick to get him into canter but overall his show was very nice.

Chloe looked very smart in all her gear as my groom and stripped and groomed Guinness beautifully for the trot up.

Eventually I was placed 5^th out of 11 so I was over the moon!

Guinness was quiet tired by now (I don’t think he liked being woken up that early) so I decided to quit whilst I was ahead and withdraw from the Riding Horse Class. In this class the judge rides and the judge was a fairly stocky gentleman and Guinness isn’t overly fond of men so this was probably a good decision. Instead I walked him around the show ground in hand and watched other classes, which is all more good exposure for him.

My friend Joules who was riding Dawn’s horse Big came 3^rd in the ridden hunter out of at least 16 horses so it was a brilliant result all round.

I was very happy and came home with some lovely photos which I will cherish as one of my few Showing experiences and although I’m pleased I’ve done it, I’m also pleased I don’t have to do it again!

Autumn is here!!!!

Although there still seems to be the odd day of sunshine, the weather is starting to feel distinctively autumnal and I can’t help but notice the sun isn’t quite up when I get up in the mornings anymore. We’ve had a decent amount of rain which is keeping the ground soft, however I’m already noticing muddy gateways in the fields and not looking forward to the prospect of winter.

The summer seems to have flown me by and with one problem or another, I haven’t achieved as much as I’d hoped or made it to as many competitions as I’d intended. It’s always hard when you don’t have your own transport but I am extremely fortunate to have the very next best thing in the form of Dawn and Martina who transport and support Guinness and I whenever possible. I don’t feel too bad about the few set backs I’ve had as, although they’ve taken time, hopefully I have now put these firmly behind be.

Guinness is feeling well and looking great and he is so much braver these days whilst hacking. Although this might not seem like an amazing achievement, it has considerable positive effects all round as it shows that he is learning to not be so afraid of the unknown and also to trust me when he is doubt. This will have a massive effect when we are back on the cross country course as hopefully he will be less fixated on the goings on around the course and more fixated on the fences ahead because he has a greater trust in me. We’ve now completely overcome any water issues we had in the past which was a very significant step.

Last week we had a pretty heavy downpour and I seized the opportunity to go and hack through the puddles. In the woods they were less like puddles and more like small lakes with one of the bridleways completely transformed into a small river! When we came across quite a large expanse of water at a folk in the bridleway, without my encouragement, Guinness took it upon himself to ‘investigate’ this new lake and after dropping his head to look at the water, walked straight in!

On the flatwork front Sue has given us a few more things to work on. I have been so fixed on teaching Guinness to carry himself in self carriage and to have a light contact that I’d overlooked the fact that I still need ‘some’ contact. So know we are working on encouraging him to stretch down, into the contact so I have more ‘feel’ on the end of the rein and this will give him more confidence as we move on to more complicated movements.

This isn’t as easy as it seems. As Guinness is used to such a light contact asking for more of a feel means I have to back it up with more leg so he understands even though I am taking more of a contact, that he still needs to maintain the impulsion and rhythm. Also, with this extra contact, any error on my part is immediately picked up by Guinness and if I ask for too much inside bend on a circle (whilst I backing up the impulsion with my leg) he goes into shoulder in so I have to control the outside shoulder more with enough outside contact so as not to confuse him! Also, I have to practise keeping my hands as still as possible which is easier said than done!

Jumping has been good as well. We had a lesson with Kevin down the road and practised grids and bounces which Guinness was completely unfazed by, and didn’t touch a single pole. He’s always got his ears pricked and seems to really enjoy it and even when Kevin’s stallion started galloping around the adjacent paddock, he didn’t loose his focus.

Last week my good friend Vanessa brought her horse Henry over to our yard so we could go for a hack and have a good natter which I really enjoyed. Vanessa owned Peter (aka Chilli Hifly) who I used to ride and compete in affiliated eventing in 2009. Although we had mixed results, he taught me a lot and he was a very special horse.

I’ve got a few things planned over the next few weeks and I want to make the most of it before the winter arrives. This weekend it’s the Chiltern and Thames Showing Champs. Fingers crossed, I’ll be able to take Guinness to Snowball Hunter Trails the following weekend and I’m determined that I will get my first cross country clear round with Guinness this year! Then it’s back to dressage in time for the Chiltern and Thames Dressage Champs at Patchetts in October. More than a one trick pony is my little thoroughbred!