The Waiting Game - 22nd - 31st January

 The last week has been hard. I’m not used to not being able to ride Guinness and pottering around is not my forte! Still - I’ve taken the winter rugs to the repairers/ cleaners, sorted out my boxes, cleaned my tack and boots (well, not quite yet but I’m going to!), given Guinness lots of grooms….. but I can’t wait to get back on!! God knows how people (like my sister Chloe) who’ horses are off for months and months cope! It’s only been 10 days and we are both going stir-crazy!!

 Guinness enjoying a haynet in his paddock

Guinness too has been feeling the boredom. He was in a little paddock by himself for a few hours a day with a haynet which I had been threading carrots in to daily to add to his entertainment levels, but he was clearly getting bored of his being in his stable. I decided to put him back out with Big and Remi a few days early and Guinness couldn’t wait to hang out with his friends again, rearing up and making it near impossible for Chloe to get his headcollar off!!!  Clearly he doesn’t think he’s got anything wrong with himself!!!

Anna Johnson the Physiotherapist is due on Thursday and Fraser is coming to do Guinness shoes on Monday so all fingers are crossed that we can get on track soon.

Lesson on Remi – pole work

Thankfully Remi has been a pleasure recently. After his time off after our visit to Rossdales, he was a little tense again, but quickly got back into the routine, of bending, relaxing and softening. In my lesson with Sue, we got some poles out and used these as problem solving exercise and also to test Remi’s confidence in me as a rider. At first when we got them out, even though we didn’t go near them I could feel Remi tense through his back and shorten his stride. So I just completely ignored them and carried on exactly the same as before until he forgot about them.

We then circled around them until we were now quite close without any tension. Then came the moment of truth, walking over one! Remi can walk over poles but he is scared, so ‘making him’ doesn’t really achieve anything. Our aim was to get Remi to walk over the poles without fear or tension, so that he not only showed the confidence in me as a rider, that what I was asking was safe, but that also he could judge the situation and decide for himself.

When we walked up to the first pole I let Remi walk as slowly as he wanted and ensured I didn’t touch him with my leg. He stopped a few strides away and hollowed. I encouraged him to lower his head and look at the problem. When he edged forward, I gave him a big rub and told him how brave he was! We got to the edge of the pole and Remi took a few moments, clearly thinking about his current situation and the best way to get out of it, you could almost see the cogs turning in his brain. This is what we were aiming for. He wasn’t panicking or evading (as I wasn’t giving him any aids to evade!) but was thinking. Eventually, I offered a little encouragement and quietly whispered ‘walk on’ at which he took one very large step over the pole. He didn’t break into trot or rush off and after all the praise and rubs he was clearly very proud of himself!!! Next time he walked straight over and I did this again and again and again whilst chatting away to Sue, not really paying much attention to Remi. Whereas previously every time he walked over the pole he gave it plenty of clearance, by the end he was so relaxed that he actually knocked it once.

When we came to a different pole, Remi needed a few moments to assess the ‘new’ situation, but didn’t take as long to walk on and get lots of cuddles. By the end we were walking over difference poles, in different directions, without Remi ever hollowing, tensing or changing his rhythm. I think I can honestly say Remi enjoyed this lesson as much as I did and by the end of it almost looked smug with how well he had done.

Joshua continues to gain confidence in trot

Joshua has also been making great progress in his lessons with Jodie. At the weekend his grandparents came to watch his lesson and were very proud! His hands are still a little wobbly but it's hard trying to multi-task, steering and rising trot at the same time!! He's such a natural and after only 4 lessons, I think he will be showing me up in the not too distant future. 

Taffy and Josh (last summer.. he has proper boots and chaps now!)

Taffy is such a star though, and we are so lucky to have such a wonderful pony in our family. He was my first pony when I was ten years old and took me to the BSJA British novice finals when I was 12. Now my son is learning to ride on him and he will enjoy the rest of his (hopefully many) days to come in as much luxury as we can provide, as he owes us nothing.

Guinness goes to Rossdales Equine Clinic in Newmarket

1^st – 21st January

Guinness and I have been keeping busy the last few week.

I finally got the confirmation from my insurer that Guinness could go to Rossdales for investigation which was great news, although I had a couple of weeks to wait until my appointment.

So we kept ourselves busy. We’ve been hacking although we’ve been limited to the woods as the weather was so cold that the roads were slippery in the frost most mornings. We’ve also been working on our flatwork a lot.

More progress with our flatwork

Guinness is so sensitive in the mouth that he tends to come behind the vertical and back off a proper contact. I’ve found that if I start with 10-15mins walk work this helps. I must ensure I am consistent in my approach and keep and even contact in both reins and only soften when he does, and by constantly alternating between medium walk and free walk on a long rein, I encourage him to take the contact down and forwards more and more. I also use serpentines, and 10m circles to keep the contact and control the shoulders in the turns better although I have to be very conscious of what my legs are doing at all times, as if I use my inside leg at the wrong moment Guinness goes straight into a lateral movement.

I repeat this in trot next, a good working trot again with an even contact in both reins, alternated with long and low. Serpentines and 10m circles to control the bend.

Canter is easier for him and he is learning to sit and bring his hind quarters more underneath him although until the muscles are more developed in this area I only ask for a few strides at a time. As always, frequent breaks to stretch and lots of praise make the work very rewarding for the both of us.

The improved contact has made several things much easier. Not only can I control the shoulders on the turns more effectively but our lateral work has greatly improved. Before, because our contact was a bit ‘fluffy’ I struggled to control the amount of neck bend and as a consequence he would often fall out the shoulder or over-bent. Now I can keep the correct amount of bend and Guinness extends in his crossing over beautifully when he gets the support and balance from me.

Guinness still struggles to keep as much impulsion in the lateral movements as the normal movements so I’ve been using medium trot down the long sides and across the diagonal to energise the trot gain, before trotting up the centre line and leg yielding back to the side. This has done wonders and not only has the rhythm in the lateral work improved, but also it helps me to get enough forward as well as lateral movement (whereas previously we could do the lateral but didn’t travel forward enough).

So overall Guinness is making great progress and when I watch back the video from Patchetts in November I can already see a noticeable difference.

Off to horsey hospital

On Wednesday 18^th January we took Remi and Guinness to Rossdales. Remi came along to have a check up from the vet who did his kissing spine operation many years ago, so it was nice Guinness had some company for the journey. However, they were stabled in different yards and both Guinness and Remi were noticeably agitated to be separated and were calling to each other constantly. Guinness settled down once I got him a haynet, but Remi wasn’t so easily clamed!

Guinness was thoroughly examined and they walked and trotted him up. Then he was longed on both a soft and a hard surface and the vet, Marcus, said he was perfectly sound (which in itself was a relief!) They took Guinness straight in to have an X-ray of his neck and before long, Marcus was talking us through the pictures. Guinness had a noticeable area between the C6 and C7 vertebra which was irregular and most likely arthritis. Arthritis is not uncommon in young horses, particularly thoroughbreds, and is probably the site of an injury as a foal. Consequently, the bone damage has repaired in an irregular fashion. The most likely cause of the ‘head stuck on the floor’ issue is that the tissues in this area are inflamed and at times, perhaps when he tweaks it and the muscles go in to spasm, the nerve gets pinched.

Guinness stayed at Rossdales to have a bone scan the following day to verify the extent of the inflammation and arthritis.

Guinness in his stable at Rossdales

Although at first I panicked, the treatment and prognosis for this is very positive. First a steroid is injected in to the joint to reduce the inflammation and in most cases this only needs to be done the once. Then physio and exercises are used to manage the area and going forward, there is no reason he cannot continue to do what he is doing and enjoy competition for many years to come. Ultimately, he may start to feel the symptoms of old age in this area first, but hopefully that’s a long way off.

In some ways I was relieved to finally know what the problem was and at least we can rule out that it is anything neurological which was my worst fear!

On Saturday we left early to collect Guinness from Rossdales. I couldn’t wait to see him!!!

Pleased to be bringing my baby home

Last time we travelled Guinness on his own (over a year ago now), he got very upset and was rearing and kicking most of the way. Seeing as he is a bit older now and done a lot more lorry journeys since then we decided he didn’t need a travel companion on the way home. The Vet gave him a little sedative just before we left which definitely helped but we didn’t hear a peep out of him the whole 2 hour journey (except when we had to stop at the petrol station!) so I was very proud of his grown up behaviour. Massive thanks to Dawn (as usual!) who used most of her Saturday driving the lorry to Cambridgeshire and back with me.

'Are we home???'

So Guinness will be on restricted grazing for the next 2 weeks, as we don’t want his head down to long at a time, and he will also be off work but I’ve got Remi to ride while Martina is in the USA next week and it will give me some time to start planning fitness work and which events I want to aim for in 2012!!

17th December - 1st January 2012 - Christmas Break

Ticking over 

Well, Guinness has been having a fairly laid back time with a bit of longing and schooling but generally just chilling out. His winter coat has almost completely grown back through now and he resembles a fluffy highland pony!!

With the winter grass fast running out, the horses have taken to entertaining themselves in the field. On daily basis Guinness likes to test the limits of how much mud he can cover himself in and one week the grooms at the stable were completely perplexed when they went to catch him in, only to find him standing in his summer sheet. His New Zealand was lying in the mud, with no damage other than a broken fillet string, with all the buckles still in tact and done up (Neck straps, chest straps and belly straps)!!! His summer sheet has been added to the pile of rugs waiting to go off to the cleaners/ menders!!!

Christmas Dressage

I’ve been keeping myself busy by arranging a Christmas dressage competition at my yard between Christmas and New Year. There’s a lot more to organise than people realise. There’s rosettes and test sheets to order, book a judge, arrange refreshments, create a schedule and entry form, publicity, entries and start times, writers, scorers, the list goes on and on… but it will be worth it as all proceeds are going to ‘The Brooke’. Also, I’ve persuaded my Mum to do her first ever dressage competition on my old boy Donald. I’ve been giving her lessons each week, just working on basics – rhythm, transitions, steering!! I’m pleased to say she’s come on leaps and bounds and has been practising hard so I will be very proud to award her a rosette on the day. Joshua (my 8 year old son) is also going to do his first dressage competition on Taffy.

Remi

My friend Martina has now gone to Germany for Christmas with her father and so I am looking after and exercising her horse Remi whilst she is away. Remi is quite a sensitive soul and so first I had a lesson with Sue on him. He is one of those horses who fret about everything and his instinct is to run away when he gets scared. Sue and I worked on building his confidence and I’m quietly confident I will be able to do the walk-trot test on him next week (finger crossed).

Christmas Day

On Christmas day after I’d done all my mucking out and jobs, the Adams family went out for a Christmas day ride, complete with my Dad riding Dawn’s horse Big. Dad has only ridden a few times so we took it easy but it was lovely to all hack out together.

Joshua starts riding lessons

Joshua also had his first few lessons with Jodie Maile over the Christmas period and in 2 lessons, he’s gone from trotting on the lunge, holding on to the front of the saddle to trotting around the arena by himself doing rising trot! I know all Mum’s think their children are brilliant but I’m sure it took me much longer to master rising trot – he’s just got such great balance!

Competition Day

The big day arrived and the Christmas dressage went well and ran to time. Everyone enjoyed themselves and I was particularly proud of Remi staying very relaxed throughout his test.

Mum also did a great job in her test and Chloe won the novice class on Merlot. Guinness made a good attempt in the Elementary for 2^nd but was somewhat distracted as the rest of the yard got fed their dinner!

I’m still waiting for approval to send Guinness off to Rossdales for an investigation in to the ‘head stuck on the floor’ thing but I think I’ll have to wait until New Year now.

British Dressage Jinxed! - 29th November - 15th December

I’ve had a bit of a disappointing few weeks. I was really excited about having my lesson with Sue on Friday, and doing my first British Dressage competition the following day at Windmill Farm but unfortunately, this wasn’t meant to be! I warmed Guinness up for my lesson only to find that he was a little ‘hoppy’ on his near hind. He is always a little stiff to start with, especially if he has been standing in his box for a while but this improves once he’s warmed up. However, this was different and although most of the time he felt fine, every now and then he would ’skip’ a little with his off hind so that was that!! I was gutted to miss my lesson and this also meant I wouldn’t be going to Windmill the next day. I started to feel I’m obviously not meant to do a BD as 2 weeks ago when I was entered for Oaklands, Guinness had a fat knee the morning of the competition and I couldn’t go to that either.

We think he may have just strained or tweaked something in the field as the stable girls had said the horses had been haring around that day, so I kept him in all of Saturday so he couldn’t make it any worse.

Elaine at Windmill very kindly let me pass my entry to Dawn, so at the last minute we changed plans and I platted up ‘Biggie’ and Martina, Dawn and I took Big instead. Dawn was not really sure what to expect having not practised for the test and Big hadn’t been ridden for 3 days!

Jane with Kenny at my yard was also competing at Windmill in an unaffiliated prelim class and kindly let me ride her horse Kenny in the 2^nd Prelim. It was nice to still be able to compete (and not waste all my money!) and it was good practise for me. Kenny is completely different to Guinness. Apart from being a bit smaller, he is also very tense and I spent 40 minutes before my test trying to get him soft and relaxed. He immediately tensed up when we went into the main arena, but despite this there were a few nice parts and I was pleased. It was also a valuable learning experience for me, as I don’t ride that many different horses these days with all the time I put into Guinness.

It was also Dawns birthday that day and so Biggie got to wear his smart new travel sheet (Dawns birthday pressie!) and we ate lemon drizzle birthday cake. Dawn rode an immaculate test and recorded a new personal best of over 72%!!!

Celebrations!

In the evening Martina, Dave and I all went out for dinner in London to celebrate Dawn’s birthday. Although I’m only 28, I don’t go out much (I’m more of an early morning person!) but I made a special exception for Dawny. We met Dawn’s long time friend Kirsty at her house near Hyde Park where she runs a riding school. It was fascinating to see how horses live in central London. Concealed within a little mews, you have no idea horses live there until you peeped through the grating and see 8 very relaxed horses quietly munching on their haynets in standing stalls. Each stall has excellent drainage so all the muck runs straight out down a gulley and is filled with a straw bed. Although the horses are always tied up, they have their own little space with their haynet and water and some were even lying down snoozing peacefully. I was fascinated by this, but in reality this is how all the horses would have been stabled back in the days when horses were a part of every day life in London, and these horses were certainly very content.

After we’d had a nose around, we walked round the corner and had a lovely Chinese meal together and all of Dawn’s friends were equally as entertaining as she is!

Still lame!

Back to Guinness…. I turned him out on Sunday and popped him on the lunge in the afternoon to see if he was still ‘hoppy’. I couldn’t notice anything unusual but in walk I could definitely hear something clicking in his off hind but only in walk. I did some internet research when I got home and this clicking sound is apparently the tendon or ligaments, clicking as they pass over the joint and if the horse isn’t lame, there’s nothing to worry about. Nether the less, I shall keep my eye on it (or ear!) as I’m sure it has never done this before (or maybe I’ve just never noticed??).

Guinness had another couple of days off and on Wednesday I took him for a walk round the woods. He was clearly not right and disinclined to go forward and un-level in trot so I decided it was best to keep him stabled to see if this helped.

On Thursday I popped up to the yard to see Guinness and give him a bit of attention whilst he’s stuck in his box. I took him to pick at some grass and would you believe it, his head got stuck again! If you follow my blog you will know what I’m talking about but Guinness randomly seems to get his head stuck in grazing position and then cannot lift it. It’s the most bizarre thing to witness and my vets are none the wiser to what could be the cause, but we’ve worked out that walking on circles and encouraging him to stretch sideways means he recovers within about 10 minutes. After an ‘episode’ you wouldn’t know there is anything wrong!

Visit from the vets

On Friday morning, Mark from Park Vets came to see Guinness. We investigated the off-hind and typically, Guinness was sound, even when we did a low level and hind level flexion test. On the lunge in walk the clicking was audible and Mark identified that it was coming from both of his stifles. He explained that a horse has 3 ligaments that run over the equivalent of their knee joint (the stifle) and that when they are at rest the knee cap actually moves to one side into a little nook. When they move it moves into the groove where it sits with the 3 ligaments running over it and the clicking noise is the sound of the knee cap moving against the ligaments. Many horses always click and it doesn’t cause any problems at all.

We discussed the ‘head stuck on the floor’ issue and decided as we are still none the wiser to the cause, that he should be referred to Newmarket for a thorough investigation. Now does seem to be the best time to try to resolve this as I’d rather do it now than leave it and have problems during next years eventing season. So it’s off to the insurance company for approval before Guinness can go to horsy hospital. What I’m going to do with myself whilst he’s away – I have no idea!!!!

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!