12th -23rd March More dressage, more XC and the dreaded pigs!!!

We've had another busy week!

Physiotherapy

Guinness had a couple of days off after the eventer trial and Anna (www.annajohnson.co.uk) came to give Guinness his 2^nd session of Physio. She was very pleased with how well Guinness was following his treatment and although he was a bit grumpy about being touched and poked at first, he relaxed in to it by the end.

Lesson with Sue Edwards

We had our first lesson with Sue Edwards since before Christmas and needless to say, I’ve got some catching up to do! I’ve slipped back in to several bad habits and Sue quickly corrected me for being too soft on Guinness and not taking a strong enough contact and being inconsistent. It was all too ‘woolly’ and Sue was pretty tough on me but I obviously needed it!

More Affiliated Dressage at Windmill

The next day we had more Affiliated Dressage at Windmill Farm, as I chase another 1^st placing in a Prelim to qualify for the Regionals. It was all a bit of a rush for the first class and Guinness practically came straight off the lorry and into his first test, which was unsurprisingly, lacking in energy. We scraped 62.9% and 3^rd place. In the next class Guinness was more energetic and I was feeling braver with my contact. We improved our score to 65.08% which was good enough for 2^nd out of 9 starters…

Looking back at the video, I can see much more clearly where I’m going wrong. It’s amazing how different it looks to how it feels. From the video I can see that Guinness could be much more forward and how long my reins are! This was a surprise as they don’t ever feel long, but it’s clear on the video that I need to start asking for more so that he develops the muscles to take more weight behind so that, especially in canter, he falls less on to the forehand.

Cross Country Practice at Rosehill

On Sunday I‘d organized to go back to Rosehill. I was keen to get Guinness down the steps we had trouble at previously and try some of the bigger fences.  It was great fun going with other people from my yard – Joules took Dawn’s horse ‘Big’ and James came on his horse ‘Kudys’ with another of the liveries, Anne on Finlay. Although, we are all at different levels we jumped a variety of fences. I was super pleased with Guinness who jumped several of the open fences including the coffin, the sunken road and some decent ditches. 

He even jumped straight in to the water! The steps did take a while to negotiate, as Guinness was very skeptical about where all his legs would go on the way down. After a couple of times we were bouncing down them like pros!!!

Flatwork and Hacking

This week we’ve continued to work on our flatwork which has improved remarkably since I’ve started asking Guinness for more in all aspects and he feels absolutely amazing! The hacking has taken a bit of a backwards step though as we had a particularly difficult hack past the pigs this week in which, after Guinness practically sat down on the road after all his usual antics failed to unseat me (bucking/ rearing/ broncing/ spinning/ reversing at high speed and a move I like to call the ‘star jump’) I had to resort to getting off and leading him past the scary monsters and even then I had to drag him!!  We walked past them several times, on foot and backwards which I think probably only made him more upset and tense so the next day we took Chloe and my first pony (a 13.1h welsh pony called Taffy) for moral support. Guinness used Taffy as an equine shield the first time we went past, literally trying to hide behind a pony half his size!  This is something we need to go over again it seems……. But hey – that’s horses for you!

The weather has been lovely this week and the horses went out naked for the first time this year! Cue cute pictures of horses grooming each other and playing!

Another lesson with Sue

I was very lucky that Sue was back only a week later to teach so I made sure I booked another lesson. Sue was very pleased with how much I’d taken on from the previous lesson and described my trot at one point as ‘stunning’! We worked on transitions mostly. My upward transitions are pretty good, but downwards needs some improvement as, especially trot to walk is not forward enough. We did a bit of work in sitting trot as well, as Guinness was preempting a transition whenever I sat so this was the first step. Once he was settled in the sitting trot we worked on keeping him rounder in the transition and thinking of ‘forwards’ to walk. By the end, these were much improved and I was very pleased with myself.

Next…..

We are aiming to go back to windmill for more dressage and I’m entered for an Intro at Aston in early April which will be my main focus over the next few weeks! Fingers crossed, we can pull it all together when it counts!!!

23rd February – 11th March Busy, busy, busy!

Well, it’s been very busy since my last blog. Guinness has been working brilliantly at home and he’s really starting to take the contact forward and down. This means we now have much better control of the shoulder and are much straighter in all aspects of our work.

We’ve also been doing lots of hacking now that it’s light enough to fit a 30 minute trip round the woods before work and Guinness confidence and trust in me continues to grow. We’ve even been past the scary pigs by ourselves a few times!

Dressage at Waylands

On Sunday 26^th February, Guinness and I hacked up to Waylands to get some dressage practice. It was organized by Susie and Marcus Bicknell who raise funds to maintain the fabulous tracks and bridleways we are blessed with in Hodgemoor Wood. I'd entered Guinness for the novice but even though we’d been there a few weeks prior for jumping practice, Guinness was fresh and high on adrenalin and was quite spooky. He managed a few of his trade mark leaps in the warm up just for good measure as well. Despite this, we managed to keep it together during the actual test and I was very pleased with 68.85% to win the class. Not a bad way to start the year!

First Affiliated Dressage Competition on a very special day

So it was off to Windmill Farm on Wednesday 7^th March for our first British Dressage Competition and it also happened to be Guinness 6^th Birthday! The weather was not on our side though… thankfully Kevin Malyon, who runs a livery yard round the corner in Seer Green gave me a lift up there. As I warmed up for my first class the wind was blowing a gale and the rain had soaked me through. Guinness wasn’t very impressed and combined with the adrenalin of a new venue, meant I had to sit tight a couple of times during the warm up! Needless to say he wasn’t as relaxed or forward as he could have been in the test but it was reasonably neat and accurate.

In the second test I pushed for more impulsion but consequently lost a little balance and rhythm. This is something I need to continue to work on at home, but the buck in the canter transition didn’t help our cause.

I was delighted to discover I came 1^st in the first test with 66.95% and 3^rd in the 2^nd, with 61.81%. Clever pony… however Kevin was already on his way back to pick up his horse for a later class so despite the rain, Guinness and I hacked home. We were both very wet and tired by the time we got back but it was well worth it and Guinness ate almost half a bag of carrots (well, it was his birthday after all!)

Jumpy jumpy!!!

On Sunday 11^th March we went to Rosehill for the Thames Valley Riding Club Eventer Trial, the going was perfect and the sun shone all day. I’ve not done one of these with Guinness before but the format suited him as there is no waiting around between showjumping and cross country. Guinness warmed up well and jumped the best showjumping round we’ve ever done, a beautiful and very careful clear. 

On the Cross country, he went straight through the start without any disagreements and although he backed off a few fences, he tried his little heart out and jumped a couple when many others would have stopped. Unfortunately the 4 steps down (we’ve never done 4 in a row before!!!!) was a little too much but the very kind stewards allowed us to continue. 

We jumped the sunken road, several ditches, banks, and although he only walked in, conquered the water as well so I was grinning from ear to ear! He also didn’t disgrace himself at the lorry and stood calmly and quietly throughout, he was an absolute pleasure.

Marcus and Susie Bicknell from Hodgemoor were also there and Marcus came home with  a beautiful purple rosette!!

Next on the calendar is more British Dressage at Windmill to see if we can get another 1^st placing in the Prelim to qualify for the Regionals and then maybe some more cross country practice.

Also I’ve got my first lesson with Sue on Guinness since before Christmas which I’m really looking forward to……