A bit of everything ......17th - 25th November

Plan change after poorly knee

After Guinness knee was swollen on Sunday he had 3 days off work and cold hosing on it twice a day. By Wednesday all the swelling had dispersed and I took Guinness for a very sedate walk round the woods with Jodie and Tom before work. Despite not being ridden for 3 days he was very laid back! All the swelling and heat is now gone from his knee and because we missed the British Dressage competition at Oaklands, I’ve changed my plans and I’m now entered for the BD competition at Windmill Farm in Chalfont st Giles on 26^th November, instead of doing the indoor hunter trial at BCA the same weekend. Those who know me well will be stunned to hear I’ve chosen to do dressage over jumping but the truth is I really enjoy my dressage, especially as Guinness is so capable and really seems to enjoy it too.

It has also recently been by birthday and I must say a big thanks to my very generous Mum and Dad as Guinness and I are now a ‘proper’ dressage combination and are now full British Dressage members! I’m really looking forward to mixing my eventing with lots of dressage next year!

Last few early morning hacks of the year!

It’s much darker in the mornings now and I’ve enjoyed the last few hacks I will be able to fit in before work. I took Guinness around the forestry which is a lovely bridleway near my yard and despite not having ridden this route for a long time (and the suspicious fluffy new residents in the adjacent fields,) I was extremely proud of Guinness who looked but didn’t stop once. We had a lovely canter along some of the tracks and I realised how incredibly proud I am of my unbelievably grown up 5 year old thoroughbred.

When I look back at all the difficulties we’ve overcome, primarily confidence when hacking, I find it astounding that I can now take Guinness anywhere and no matter what we come across he is able to process and assess anything he may naturally be frightened of, and overcome it. Plus being able to canter in the wood and fields with only my voice needed to send him forwards and only my breathing required to slow him down, I am amazed at what a fabulous all round horse I own, and it’s nice just to take stock of how far we have come together.

Chloe rides Guinness!

On my birthday Chloe and I went for a hack together, only this time I rode my old boy, Donald (who’s 23 years old now) and Chloe rode Guinness. There was a lot for her to take in as I have taught Guinness on a lot of voice and breathing aids which Chloe isn’t used to but after our hack Chloe was very complimentary about how well I’ve trained Guinness and I felt very proud. I have to say, Donald hasn’t changed much at all and (I’m sure he only does it because he knows it’s me) he bucked several times when we cantered and I couldn’t stop because I was laughing too hard! Chloe is now feeling confident enough to hack Guinness out on her own and will take him out for me once a week in the day time, as it’s too dark before work anymore and weekends are often taken up with competitions and lessons.

Jumping practise

I also did some jumping with Jodie and Tom in the school. I haven’t jumped since the South Bucks Riding Club Hunter Trials back in October, and we are aiming to go to Patchetts in December for some Christmas showjumping. I set up two cross poles, with 2 strides in between, and a placing pole at both ends and practised controlling the shoulder and impulsion in the canter. I used 15m canter circles and loops 5 metres in from the track down the other side of the school to ensure I had the shoulder ‘up’ enough to make the turn without loosing the impulsion and rhythm. A couple of times I turned too early, so I placed a cone for me to go round as part of the training exercise. We then progressed to 2 uprights which made it easier to drift and not stay straight but we managed to stay fairly central. Overall I was extremely pleased with Guinness.

A visit from the dentist (smile!)

Guinness has also had his routine 6 monthly visit from the equine dentist. I had a feeling some of his teeth were getting a bit sharp as recently he has been tilting his head marginally and this is usually his little sign that he needs doing, so I called Kay from Grant Chanter to arrange his appointment a month early. It’s always fascinating watching his teeth being done, and as suspected, a dominant molar on the roof of his mouth had worn a ‘dip’ in to the molars on the bottom of the jaw and consequently there were two quite sharp points. His teeth erupt quite quickly (mostly because he is young) and a 6 monthly visit is appropriate at the moment but when he gets older he will gradually be able to go longer and longer between visits (up to a year).

I think Kay is amazing as she always explains everything so thoroughly and lets me feel around in Guinness mouth so I can appreciate what she means and as always I’m full of questions which she is always more than happy to answer!

Lesson for my Mum

I also enjoyed some teaching this week. My Mum is a very good but nervous rider, and she regular hacks out my old horse Donald, who is a 16.2 Thoroughbred X. Despite being in his mid 20’s he can still be quirky and has ditched her a few times and with the daylight limited she wants to be able to ride in the arena. Donald can be quite lazy in the school and so we worked on getting him off the leg. I took Mum’s spurs away and gave her a schooling whip instead. Instead of nagging him with her leg, Mum was instructed to give Donald a clear kick (backed up with a tap from the schooling whip if he was unresponsive) and then immediately take the leg away. Nagging with the leg is a difficult habit to get out of, but ultimately the horse should go forward at the pace you dictate until you instruct them otherwise, and this is what we’ve started to work towards. We only did about 30 minutes but by the end Mum was doing trot – halt –trot transitions without her spurs or whip! She was beaming and so proud of herself and I was proud of her too!

Monday 14th November – High’s and Lows

Wintry days!

2 weeks since the Chiltern and Thames Champs and winter is well and truly here. Guinness is now clipped and between Chloe (my sister) and I, we managed it without too many problems. Chloe was less inclined to the back end though so I did that part, and Guinness was a superstar and even let me do a half head for the first time. He doesn’t like the area between his back legs being touched but thankfully the lines there aren’t very visable!

Mane pulling success!

I’ve also had a revelation in the form of a mane rake! The most amazing invention I’ve ever come across. Guinness was now allowing me to brush his mane again (progress after the last few weeks) but the second I hold a strand of hair he assumes I’m going to pull it (even when I’ve got the solo-comb at the ready) and rears up and gets himself all hot and bothered. Jayne at my yard kindly lent me her mane rake and it’s been brilliant. It thins the mane and it’s like using a brush and Guinness just assumes I’m brushing it so it’s win win!!!!

Confidence loss and feeling useless!

It’s been a few weeks of highs and lows (isn’t it always with horses?!). After the champs Guinness had a few well deserved days off and enjoyed some early morning hacking. This week, I started doing a bit of flatwork and after being such a superstar at the champs was really looking forward to our first British Dressage (affiliated) competition this weekend. However, I wasn’t able to replicate Guinness brilliant way of going at home and I was having problems with straightness and too much neck bend and Guinness was backing off the contact again.

I found myself questioning everything... Am I sitting straight? What am I doing wrong? I used to be able to do this so why can’t I do it anymore? And generally feeling a little down on myself and wishing I was a better rider. I think we all go through these phases sometimes and it’s important to step away and put it in to perspective (easier said than done).

Guinness was suddenly struggling to come through with his hind leg on the left rein, and I didn’t seem to be able to go anywhere in a straight line! Luckily I had Dawn on hand who took control of the situation and we went right back to basics and practised free walk on a long rein and taking the rein back gently. We did this over and over again until Guinness was actively seeking the contact and not shying away from it every time I picked up the reins. We then repeated this in trot and canter. Another useful exercise for this problem is working on a circle and spiralling in to a 10m circle and then slowly, leg yielding back out on a circle to the 20m again. This helps to control the shoulder and create the “inside leg to outside hand” connection.

If you don’t have some to help you and you can feel yourself get frustrated and in a flutter, my advice would be to stop there, as chances are, you’re not going to fix the problem today. Instead, do something simple you know the horse can do well, give them lots of praise and end there, that way you’ve still ended on a good note, and get your trainer to come and help you with the initial problem.

Lesson with Sue Edwards (x2!)

Sue being Sue, instantly knew the cause of all my problems was my left hand slipping down (my bad habit!) and not only was this creating too much neck bend so he was falling out the shoulder (hence why I couldn’t go straight) but it was also blocking his inside hind leg (on the left rein) and causing Guinness to come quarters in. So we focused on me keeping my left hand up and keeping the bit on the corner of Guinness mouth. We did this in trot and canter on both reins, on a circle, serpentine and across the diagonal, and by the end of the lesson, Guinness and I felt normal again.

I had another lesson the following day and when I kept my position correctly, Guinness knew exactly what I wanted and I was over the moon to know we weren’t permanently scarred but just temporarily muddled (which was as usual all down to me!)

We also went over my warm up routine and all the roles a warm up plays. This can often be overlooked and is so important so that every horse can work well.

1). Warm up!

This literally means to warm up the muscles. Especially now the weather has got colder and horses will be standing still in the stables for more hours a day, it’s important to warm up the muscles and get the blood pumping. Guinness is not a ‘flashy’ mover and can be stiff when he first comes out the stable. 10mins of trotting on a longish, loose rein, maybe 5 mins at a steady pace then 5 minutes more of a working canter will raise the body temperature, get the muscles warm and also, means any messages and signals to the brain (i.e. the riders aids) will get there quicker.

2). Brakes, steering, accelerator

Next part of a warm up is to check that everything is working. When I put my leg on does the horse respond? When I ask for a downward transition does the horse oblige? Can I turn left and right? Sounds simple enough but at a competition if your horse is distracted by something in the distance, or scared of something nearby or just not paying attention to your aids one of the above will not be working (this should be apparent if your galloping across the car park with no brakes!) This tells you if you need to allow the horse to settle and keep it calm, if you need to wake it up a little or if you need to get it’s attention and on any given day the answer could be a different one. At the end of the day no one knows your horse better than you but make sure you give yourself enough time to test all the ‘buttons’. Transitions and circles, changes of rein etc will allow you to test all the above.

3). Schooling

Once all the above are confirmed, your horses is warm, muscles are well warmed up and stretched and your horses is listening and focused on you and your aids, then you’re ready to start working on which ever area of your schooling session you want to work on today and usually, 20 minutes is enough to do all the above.

First affiliated Dressage competition and sod’s law!

After my 2 lessons on the trot I was feeling full of confidence ready for my first affiliated dressage competition. Sadly though, when I arrived at the stables at 6am on Sunday morning to platt up and get ready, one of Guinness knees was twice the size of the other and I knew we wouldn’t be going anywhere (I was glad I spotted it in the dark before I’d platted up though!). He had the smallest nick on the inside of his knee and despite the size of the swelling, was not at all lame (Guinness is a tough cookie) so I cleaned the wound and cold hosed for 10 mins before tucking him back in bed.

I tried to look on the bright side and was glad I managed to have my lessons and that it wasn’t too serious and went back home for some breakfast and to watch the remembrance day service on TV, which put it all in to much better perspective.

So now it was down to Dawn to bring back a rosette for team Widmer and we set off in the lorry (fondly known as ‘Gertie’) with Martina, Jayne and ‘Mister Big Z’, who wore a lovely posy in his bridle. Despite getting terribly lost, Dawn pulled it out the bag with a win with 70% in the Novice and a 3^rd in the Elementary. We also had a giggle with some of our friends ‘Bec’ and ‘Bertie’ who were also there and ate chocolate mini rolls on the way home. All in all a successful day!

This evening, Guinness swollen knee was much improved and all things going well I’ll take him for a walk round the woods on Wednesday morning.

Coming up...

Next dates in the diary are indoor hunter trials at BCA on 27^th November which I’ve never done before but will be a laugh I’m sure! Then on the 10^th December Jodie with Tom and Guinness and I are aiming to go to Patchetts for some Christmas showjumping!

Chiltern and Thames Dressage Champs - Saturday 29th October

Everything was now focused on the forthcoming Chiltern and Thames Dressage Championships looming just a week away.

My lesson with Sue Edwards this week was brilliant. She quickly identified the area where I was likely to loose a few marks is when Guinness drifts slightly through the shoulder when I make a turn away from the track. So we practised my serpentines (which were in my novice test) and began by using a little outside flexion to control the outside shoulder through the turn. Guinness drifts more on the right rein than the left as he tends to fall onto his left shoulder more so than the right. Gradually we reduced the outside flexion until I could control the shoulder correctly, by having Guinness more in my outside rein. It was a small change that made a massive difference and I will continue working on this through the week. Also my left hand has a bad habit of getting weak and dropping down to his withers when I’m not paying attention so this is something else I need to remember. Considering we only started working on a more consistent contact 6 weeks ago, Guinness has improved greatly in this area and this has helped so many areas of our flatwork.

This week I have been taking it easy as not only does Guinness come out better when we haven’t overdone the flatwork in the week before a test, but my son Joshua has been staying through half term week which was thoroughly enjoyable. Guinness had a massage from Ros (www.horseandhand.co.uk) on Sunday and we’ve been on a couple of nice hacks as well as longing to help prevent Guinness getting bored.

His winter coat has finally come through but I decided against clipping the week before the champs so he is going to have to stay fluffy until next week! My friend Charlotte from my yard has also qualified for the Prelim at the Champs so she will coming with us which I’m really pleased about. There are 56 competitors in the prelim and 36 in the novice so I knew it was definitely going to be a tough competition.

Guinness was still very over sensitive about having his mane touched after we tried to pull it 2 weeks ago. Although I’ve made a point of brushing/combing it most evenings to try to get him to relax, when I tried to platt up on Friday evening, every time I took a strand in between my fingers I think he thought I was going to pull it and reared up. Eventually as I was getting no where and he was getting more and more stressed, I gave him a dose of sedation and I managed to start platting up. By the time I finished he was very sleepy and I think he went straight to sleep after I left!

We had a brief panic when the lorry wouldn’t start in the morning (the isolator hadn’t been put on after it’s last use so the battery had gone flat) but thankfully we’d allowed plenty of extra time and after 15mins charging up on the battery booster pack and we were on out way.

I walked Guinness around the warm up arena in hand whilst Charlotte and Mimi were warming up for their test. Guinness doesn’t like being left on the lorry on his own and he is always more settled when he has a chance to absorb the atmosphere and surroundings at a show.

Charlotte did a great job, especially as I know how nervous she was. Mimi did a lovely test but was just a little inconsistent in the contact at times and finished on 62%. A great job for only their 2^nd dressage test together!  Then it was my turn.

Guinness was relaxed and supple in the warm up and I didn’t push him too much or overdo it. The first test was in the smaller of the two indoor arenas and Guinness didn’t bat an eyelid at the flower pots, spectators or mirrors. Overall it was a nice, flowing test with no glaring mistakes. I was so pleased that Ros was able to film the test for me to watch back (videos coming shortly!). When I watched it I realised it was very similar to the test I did back in March when I qualified, and I knew I could add a bit more.

So I decided in the Novice I had nothing to loose by going all out and really asking for more impulsion, more contact and greater connection. I’m not really competitive at this level yet so this was my chance to see if I could be.

I did a shorter warm up for the 2^nd test, as I had no idea how Guinness would cope with the added pressure, whether he would understand and cope or blow up in confusion/frustration.

The Novice was in the bigger indoor arena and once again, Guinness didn’t even look at the flowers, banners, or people watching. I powered round the arena and made sure I started as I meant to go on. I was so pleased with Guinness. He tried his little heart out, he stayed focused and responsive and did me proud. We broke a little early in one of the counter canters and in the second half of the test he felt a little tired but he was amazing and finished with a cracking halt (even if he did rest one leg half way through my salute).

I finished 7^th in the Prelim (out of 28 in my section) with 65.83% and 6^th in the Novice (out of 18) with 61.66%. I was over the moon with Guinness and had two lovely rosettes to show for it. I also have learned a very valuable lesson, in that I can now ask Guinness for as much at shows as I do of him at home, and that he is now grown up enough to cope with this. 

Onwards and upwards! In 2 weeks time I’m off to Oaklands College to do my first British Dressage competition!