Yikes the year is fast disappearing!?! Regionals are approaching and the Winter Championships seem a distant memory.
Rafa made a quick start into qualifiers after the Winter Championships before having a few weeks off. He won his first two qualifiers and so gained qualification by the end of April. He was asked to step in last minute when a guinea pig had to drop out from the Jennie Loriston Clarke demonstration that was held at Gleneagles at the beginning of May. Freddie was already going to perform his Elementary and Medium freestyle tests, so Rafa enjoyed a relaxed outing having to show what was looked for in a young horse. Freddie as ever enjoyed his 'public performance', it was his last for a while as I had decided to concentrate on his training.
I took Freddie and Hugo down to see Carl mid-May, it was Hugo's first ever training with Carl and the first time he was to see Carl's yard which even to older horses can be scary! I rode with my skull and body protector on each day hoping people would notice and give me a wide berth...not a chance! Hugo was fantastic he arrived a toddler and although he wasn't a man when he left he was certainly in his late teens! I rode him indoors and out, with horses arriving and leaving the arena, lorries going past, people appearing from nowhere dogs running round the school, the peacocks, guinea fowl and hens scrapping in the hedges and we survived! Freddie continued work on his changes, canter pirouettes, piaffe and passage. Carl concluded after the few days that I shouldn't concentrate solely on the changes but try to improve collection and ride the changes using the collection I could achieve. I then took Freddie back down to see Stephen Clarke for two days at the end of May. Stephen came to the same conclusion as Carl had and so I felt confident to carry on with my set homework.
In mid-June we took Hugo and Rafa to Ingliston Equestrian Centre for a competition. Rafa did the Elementary freestyle using the same music that I had used for his Novice freestyle but with a new floor plan. He won and qualified for the freestyle semi-final which will be held in February 2011. Hugo behaved brilliantly. He didn't qualify but I was thrilled that he didn't look at the boards, flowers or worry about anything. I have to admit that seeing him spend 2hrs bucking in the stable we had hired had made me slightly apprehensive!!
At the end of June I travelled down to the Hartpury Dressage Extravaganza. I had been asked to ride in the Pro/Am competition and it was something that I had always wanted to take part in from my days of watching the Medium Elite class that used to be held at the Winter Championships. The amateur rider rides their own horse through a medium test and then the professional has 10 minutes to get to know the horse before having to ride the same test themselves. The professional riders names are put in a hat and a draw is done to pair riders with horses, so fingers are kept crossed that you get a nice one! I did thankfully, a lovely bay owned and ridden by Charlotte Holes. Charlotte had already ridden a good test in the morning to place her 2nd so the pressure was on!Raff was very nice to ride, responsive and well trained...I hope Charlotte was happy with what I was able to produce! I managed to improve her already good score by 1% and we maintained our 2nd placing.
I have just returned from training with Stephen, this time taking Freddie and Rafa. I had hit a stumbling block with the changes with Freddie and had to return to the drawing board. He did not cope well with riding the changes with a large amount of collection being involved...he could make an attempt at one or the other but not both at the same time. He had got strong and tense and it was tending to made me ride backwards. The horse that had never got anything wrong or found anything difficult couldn't understand why he was making mistakes and could not do what was being asked...mentally I think his head was in a spin. While working on my own I had a 'light bulb' moment and remembered how I had taught him any new movements previously. I had always started through riding him deep...it kept him open in his body and mind as he felt he had somewhere to move to when asked something new. I played with this idea with the changes and could see a big improvement BUT I wasn't sure how a trainer would view my thought process and see an improvement! Stephen thankfully was very pleased with what I had done and that I was well on my way to my goal...phew! Rafa went with the Regionals in mind, I hoped for confirmation that what I was feeling was what was being seen. Stephen was very impressed with Rafa's development and couldn't believe the change in him from when he had last seen him just over a year ago.
So...the Regionals are next. Hopes lie with Rafa to keep the flag flying. He has the Novice and Elementary Open classes to contest and if he goes like he has been the last few weeks I will be happy...if the judges agree that will be brilliant!!
On a personal note July has also been very exciting, I got engaged! My boyfriend, Ross took me to New York for a couple of days and proposed so it hasn't just been Freddie's head that has been spinning of late!!
