Cross Country Success! 19th October

We left the yard at 8.30am to get to Great Westwood in good time, which was good planning as the roads were covered in thick fog and visibility wasn’t much better by the time we arrived at the showground. Chloe and I had walked the course the day before. We were feeling quietly confident, the only question I was concerned about was a bounce of steps in the novice, as the first step required a good amount of impulsion to bounce up the 2^nd step which was made harder by the fact it was preceded by a 90 degree turn in a wooded area.

Pairs

Both Taffy and Guinness were pretty relaxed when we arrived and Chloe and I had to force ourselves to get changed in the freezing cold lorry. Kitted out in our red, black and white XC colours, we made our way to the start. Those of you who have been following by blog for a while will know, warming Guinness up for XC has had it’s difficulties in the past, so I took my time and remained as calm as possible. We walked for at least 15 mins before slowly trotting and then cantering and then popping a few small fences, all the time ensuring Guinness didn’t get over excited. There were several times when another competitor would race up and jump a fence right next to us and too my delight, Guinness didn’t over-react to this. He does not however like hanging around at the start, and I kept as much distance between myself and the other horses near the start line as possible. 

When in was our turn, Chloe and I lined up side by side. I could feel Guinness reluctance to leave all the other horses as he was ignoring my leg aids so I told Chloe to lead over the first few fences. Chloe jumped fence 1 and we followed although she then turned left instead of right and almost missed fence 2! Thankfully I knew where we were going so I called out to her to follow me and I was leading the way. Guinness ears were pricked and he was going nicely forward and we cantered most of the way. Chloe had to take the lead at fence 6, some silver beer barrels that were reflecting the sunlight as I could feel Guinness backing off but after that we took over and lead the rest of the way. Taffy’s little pony stride meant that when I trotted Guinness down the hill, Taffy was still cantering but I could see he was loving every minute of it. Guinness didn’t even look at either of the 2 ditches and before I knew it we were across the finishing line – home safe and clear.

Novice

We walked them around, although both Guinness and Taffy were barely puffing and took them back to the lorry for a brush down and a rest. Guinness was in the novice class an hour later, and I was particularly proud that he didn’t make a fuss about leaving Taffy behind on the box. He warmed up well without any hiccups and although he was resistant at first off the starting line (leaving the other horses,) he was very genuine and popped number one from almost nothing. After that we kept up the impulsion and Guinness had no problems bouncing up the steps. He swerved past a couple of the other fences that weren’t in our course but apart from that he stayed in a pretty good rhythm. He even took a pull a couple of times!!! We trotted down the hill again as I was worried it was a bit slippy (I think this is where we lost a bit of time) but he had no problems with the rest of the course and we sailed home clear! Guinness first (individual) Cross country clear! So that’s the 3^rd of my targets for this year achieved. I was over the moon.

Later we found out that Chloe and I were 8.8 seconds over the optimum time in the pairs and came 5^th so we each had a smart Rosie to take home to top the day off!

Week ahead

This week I had been for a couple of hacks with Jodie and ‘Tom’ and done a few low key flatwork exercises. I’ve got a lesson with Sue Edwards on Saturday morning and I want to use this to practise my dressage tests for next week and see where I can pick up a few extra marks in advance of the Chiltern and Thames Champs in less than 2 weeks time!

Unforeseen issues 11th October

Saddle issues

Having been really pleased with the progress Guinness and I have been making on the flatwork front, I’ve hit a bit of an unexpected problem. My 2^nd hand dressage saddle I bought a few months back is giving me a sore bum!! I’ve literally rubbed a few layers of skin off one cheek! I knew when I got it I’d have to replace the seat at some point but was putting this off until my birthday, however it’s now becoming urgent!

I’m still really struggling with the sitting trot and my canter strike off’s are suffering, which I’m positive is due to my bad position because my bony bum is rubbing on the hard saddle seat! So for now it’s back to schooling in the GP (which isn’t ideal with the Chiltern & Thames Dressage Champs now less than 3 weeks away!)

New liveries

We’ve got some great new liveries at my yard this month. Firstly 2 gorgeous polo ponies arrived from Switzerland, who are absolutely gorgeous and so well mannered. Apparently, where they came from they had to wear muzzles in the stable so they didn’t eat the straw so coming to Widmer with straw beds, all day turnout and no exercise (they’re on their winter hols) they think they’ve hit the jackpot! Along with 2 other new liveries who seem very friendly, my friend Jodie is moving to Widmer this weekend with her horse Tom. She, like me, loves jumping and eventing and I’m really looking forward to going to some events together next year!

 Jodie and 'Tom'

Gale force winds!

The weather has been very windy recently and although Guinness is a million times less spooky than he used to be, considering it felt like gale force winds on Monday night when we rode, Guinness was impeccably behaved. The only thing to suffer was our rhythm when the trees suddenly whooshed or some the school surface suddenly blew in to the air, so this is just another sign of how far we have come together.

Clipping

I also attempted to clip Guinness last weekend but after starting on his neck, nothing was coming off, so I guess I’ll have to leave it a few more weeks, although everyone else seems to have their clips already.

“No I don’t want my mane pulled!!!!”

One area where Guinness hasn’t improved though is having his mane pulled! He gets completely hysterical the 2^nd you hold a strand (like he knows what your about to do) and after that there is no reasoning with him – he simply become wild! My friend Bec came to help me last night but after he went up and almost came down on us both, we decided to leave it for another day and it took me almost an hour for him to let me brush it with a hair brush!! I’ve tried solo combing it but he is just as hysterical about that so I think this is going to be another case of put in a lot of time and patience now, and eventually we will (hopefully) succeed. Oh well – I guess that’s horses for you.

XC practise

On Thursday evening, I jumped Guinness in the XC field (just in case he’s forgotten how to jump!) and despite leaping around a little at the start (when the tractor started up or when a cat leaped out of the long grass) I successfully managed to push him on through it and he jumped very well and very relaxed. I think his new ‘sugar-free’ diet has contributed to his calmer manner and any ‘leapy’ episodes seem to be shorter which is great as I don’t like falling off! 

So I’m going to put the flatwork on the back burner now until next week (and let my bum recover!) and go hacking before the Hunter Trials at Great Westwood this weekend – which I really I can’t wait for. Chloe (my sister) is going to ride our little 13.2 pony in the pairs class with me, although, as he is 24 years old now (not that he thinks it) we’re just going to take it steady, then I’m going to have a crack at the Novice on my own. Fingers crossed for that elusive XC clear round!

Another busy week!

New shoes!

Guinness had new shoes put on last weekend, which he was much in need of. His feet have been growing so quickly recently, and although he has flat Thoroughbred type feet, the walls are quite soft so rarely crack. After 5 weeks and 3 days I’d got a considerable amount of wear out of them and my farrier Fraser always says I get my money’s worth out my shoes as after 5 weeks they are as thin as Kit Kat wrappers!

Massage therapy

Guinness was also very spoilt to have a lovely massage from Ros last weekend. He loves his massages and it was nice to be able to take Ros out for a hack after on my old horse Donald, as a way of saying thank you for all she has done for me and Guinness.

Flatwork

He felt fabulous this week schooling (part of which was down to Ros’s magic hands) and he was really feeling more confident in the contact and it felt amazing. On Thursday we even did some lovely lateral work in trot and his mediums were supple and powerful, he really feels like a grown up horse in the arena now.

Jumping

In the week I also finally got a chance to jump the new XC fences which were recently built at the yard. They’ve made some great permanent fences from telegraph poles, tyres and big plastic tubing. Guinness didn’t look at a single fence and jumped everything first time, and never hesitated even at the skinny fences. I was chuffed.

Lesson with Sue Edwards

At 7am on Saturday morning I had a lesson with Sue and she was really pleased with how much we’ve improved the contact in the last 3 weeks since our last lesson. We worked on 3 key areas this week.

Transitions – a couple of my transitions were a little rushed or unbalanced and Sue said this was because when I go sitting, e.g. before a downwards transition from trot to walk, or upwards from trot to canter, Guinness stiffens his back and hollows so the transition is spoiled. So we worked on some sitting trot and getting the same relaxation and rhythm in sitting trot as in rising. It’s been a long time since I’ve done a lot of sitting trot and I’m sad to say I’m no where near as fit as I was when I was younger, and very quickly got a stitch!!  Once Guinness was accepting of my sitting and I was able to relax and move with him, rather than bracing against his movement, the transitions were easy.

Circles – Occasionally Guinness can drift out through the shoulder if I ask for too much bend and Sue got me to imagine a rope which marked out a 20m circle on the ground and that I was riding along it with 50% of Guinness body on either side, from his head to his tail.

Flexion – We also worked on getting the right amount of flexion on a circle and in the corners. This was fine on the right rein but on the left rein I had a bit of a mental block and kept asking for either not enough or too much. Naturally on the left rein Guinness can slightly flex to the right which means he falls onto his inside shoulder. I also have a bad habit of over using my inside leg which adds to Guinness’ confusion. Couple these 2 things with maintaining the impulsion and rhythm and remembering to not let my hands drop down and as someone who struggles to multi-task, it took me a while to get it together. However, I will practise over the next few weeks until it becomes natural. Guinness doesn’t really have any issues apart from trying to interpret all my mixed signals!!!

Sponsored Ride

On Sunday, 6 of us on the yard and my friend Vanessa were off on to do the South Oxfordshire Sponsored Ride. It was unbelievably hot for October, and we put as much water on the lorry as we could carry. I had been giving Guinness extra electrolytes for the past few days to ensure he had enough in reserve and had plenty of energy. I didn’t give him a calmer either as I didn’t really know how well he’d cope with the 12 mile ride, especially in the heat.

We set off together and Guinness having never been out hacking in a group that big, was expectedly excited. He was bouncing around and leaping and jogging at everything, and I struggled to get him to walk the first mile. Once we’d done some trotting and popped a few jumps he seemed to settle and I did my best to keep his excitement contained whilst trying to stay relaxed. We did a long trot which really helped as he settled in to a nice rhythm and I really enjoyed the rest of the ride. I took the lead for a while which gave my arms a rest as in front, Guinness wasn’t trying to pull or napping to follow the other horses and instead was striding out without any encouragement. He has such a fast walk though I had to stop a few times to let the others catch up and Guinness wasn’t overly impressed to wait.

There were some lovely jumps through the woods and then we were able to jump a couple of the bonus fences. We reached a large open trakhener which a couple of the other horses in my group had stopped at. Guinness was not inclined to canter away from the other horses and jump into another field without them and on our first attempt Guinness slowed right down so I allowed him to look at the question. Then I calmly cantered a large circle and approached the fence again, and without hesitation he popped it. I was incredibly proud as he is the baby of the group at only 5 and ended up leading the other horses over it. By the end of the ride he was still full of energy and after a row of jumps on the edge of a stubble field he even galloped up a big hill of his own accord!

It was a lovely day and there was a nice breeze to keep us cool, and we had the best part of the day as the second half of the ride, it felt like a lovely summers evening and the views were spectacular.

When we got back to the lorry Guinness was so itchy from sweat and kept trying to rub himself on anything and everything and then he broke loose when I tried to wash him down (he’s always hated being washed). So I did the best I could and he drank a bucket of water and was eager to get on the lorry and start devouring his haynet. Back at the yard he had a proper wash down, a dinner with some bran and some extra electrolytes and we ‘like iced’ his legs. The following morning he has well rested and very happy so the thorough after care obviously did the job.

Coming up…

2 weeks to go until South Bucks Riding Club Hunter Trials and after yesterday I think Guinness is more than fit enough. So over the next 2 weeks I will be continuing my flatwork training and fitting in as many hacks after work as possible before it gets too dark. I would like to clip Guinness before the Hunter trials but at the moment he hasn’t got enough hair to clip!