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.
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 3rd 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.
Next dates in the diary are indoor hunter trials at BCA on 27th November which I’ve never done before but will be a laugh I’m sure! Then on the 10th December Jodie with Tom and Guinness and I are aiming to go to Patchetts for some Christmas showjumping!
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