Fantastic month! April saw Rose Equine off to a flying start selling all of our stock! Wally, the lovely little 4yo NF gelding that I broke last August, sold to a wonderful family on Exmoor where I'm told he will be enjoying lots of hacking and stag hunting which I can just picture him being brilliant at. Top Chianti, a well bred TB mare I bought in March, sold to a home in Bristol for showing and hacking as a first horse. At the beginning of the month I also bought a super 2yo roan NF type filly called Ruby- she sold in 2 days sight unseen to a fantastic home in Cornwall where in time she will be brought on for showjumping, so all in all a cracking start !
A successful month set us thinking about the next stage, which will (fingers crossed) be a small stable block and arena as well as additional land next September. It should mean I will be able to keep more stock through the winter, not to mention keeping the horses in fuller work through the wetter colder months so hopefully will allow us to be out and about competing much later on in the year!
One blot to a great month was Penny developing a cough just in time for a hunter trial, so decided it would be best to hold off. Bit of a mystery what brought it on, so I found the last of the Respiratory Power from winter feeding and dosed her up on that for a week - you'll be pleased to hear it worked a treat , so back in business and have some showjumping planned at Bluehayes next weekend weather permitting!
Also started my BHS Stage 2 training this month, going well so far so looking forward to moving onwards and upwards towards a teaching qualification. The exam is end of June.
With the competition season now well under way, and with the business off to a good start which will hopefully continue, I have started browsing for my own competition horse. I will never sell Penny, my jumping pony, but I am now looking the bigger model! Preferably 15-15.3hh for showjumping, planning to affiliate with right horse. Off to a sport horse sale in May, so who knows I may find my superstar yet!
Looking forward to May, Ive planned a packed few weeks of compeitions and sales so hoping our successful streak continues- and of course not forgetting Badminton Horse Trials, where I will be treating myself to some retail therapy!
Hope everyone has had a good month, and thanks to Organic Horses Respiratory Power for saving the day again!
Friday, 30 April 2010
Chloe Chubb is a busy little bee!
Well where do I start, this season has got off to a very busy start with lots of ponies to compete and school ready for the shows. The jobs to do with the horses seem never ending!
The team has had a great start to the season with the Connemara stallion Spud winning the amateur rider championship at the PUK winter champs as well as the Concours D'Elegance class where I was made to go side saddle for the first time in 15 years! Thankfully Spud was very laid back about it and gave me a nice ride around the indoor arena.
Spud and Jacob my section C have been out competing in RIHS qualifiers and started off with some good results. Jacob managed to get his ticket the other week at South of England Spring Show which was great, as it means he does not have to do anymore qualifiers now for this and it is such a lovely show to qualify for. Spud has had some near misses and I am really hoping he will have his ticket soon to. It would be great to go to the RIHS this year with a couple of ponies qualified.
The baby ponies have had their up and downs or should I say I have after my little Dartmoor brought me back down to earth with a bump the other week (literally)! He has however redeemed himself by going to his first ever show to look around where he behaved impeccably showing some of the older ones we had there how to do it! He is continuing his education at home at the moment as I am in no rush to get him into the ring. I have just brought my young section B back into work after he got a kicked in the field so hopefully we will now begin to crack on and I am aiming to get to some shows in June sometime.
My baby hack Toby has had a few limited outings and has so far touch wood been a very well behaved little horse. He has managed to qualify for the Cherif final in October already which I am thrilled with as this is one of the main things I wanted to qualify him for this year. He also went to the Ponies UK Winter champs were he handled everything we threw at him with a smile on his face. He went in and out the evening performance so many times and had some great results for a youngster.
Now the sun is shining I feel like the show season has well and truly got underway. It is great to be back out there seeing all my friends and the new ponies they have for the year. Well that's my update for now, next time I will have contested my first HOYS qualifier - fingers crossed for a good placing.
The team has had a great start to the season with the Connemara stallion Spud winning the amateur rider championship at the PUK winter champs as well as the Concours D'Elegance class where I was made to go side saddle for the first time in 15 years! Thankfully Spud was very laid back about it and gave me a nice ride around the indoor arena.
Spud and Jacob my section C have been out competing in RIHS qualifiers and started off with some good results. Jacob managed to get his ticket the other week at South of England Spring Show which was great, as it means he does not have to do anymore qualifiers now for this and it is such a lovely show to qualify for. Spud has had some near misses and I am really hoping he will have his ticket soon to. It would be great to go to the RIHS this year with a couple of ponies qualified.
The baby ponies have had their up and downs or should I say I have after my little Dartmoor brought me back down to earth with a bump the other week (literally)! He has however redeemed himself by going to his first ever show to look around where he behaved impeccably showing some of the older ones we had there how to do it! He is continuing his education at home at the moment as I am in no rush to get him into the ring. I have just brought my young section B back into work after he got a kicked in the field so hopefully we will now begin to crack on and I am aiming to get to some shows in June sometime.
My baby hack Toby has had a few limited outings and has so far touch wood been a very well behaved little horse. He has managed to qualify for the Cherif final in October already which I am thrilled with as this is one of the main things I wanted to qualify him for this year. He also went to the Ponies UK Winter champs were he handled everything we threw at him with a smile on his face. He went in and out the evening performance so many times and had some great results for a youngster.
Now the sun is shining I feel like the show season has well and truly got underway. It is great to be back out there seeing all my friends and the new ponies they have for the year. Well that's my update for now, next time I will have contested my first HOYS qualifier - fingers crossed for a good placing.
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Sam Penn's trip to Withington Manor
We have spent this weekend down in Gloucestershire at one of my favourite events, Withington Manor. Unfortunately due to its popularity we had both Brooke and Flynn balloted out and so it was just Captain Christy (Smurf) and Boundalong (Muffin) who made the trip. Both had dressage on the Saturday afternoon, Smurf was first up, in Advanced section M1. Apart from two minor blips (those white letters are very scarey things!) I felt it was a pretty good test, however we got a rather dissapointing mark of 43, we seem to get the recurring comments of 'tight through back' or 'needs to work more freely over back' however he feels pretty good and was very accurate, so it' s back for more homework with Mary Ann to see if we can figure out what we do differently at home compared to out at a party. Next up was Muffin in Intermediate section H. Its only our 3rd event together and taking a bit of time to get used to each other. The work at home is really starting to come together, but at present she is still getting tense in an arena, and then makes mistakes, such as changing in counter canter, then when corrected she throws a huge strop!! However things were better than at SofE as the first half of the test was lovely, getting 7's for all her trot work and there was even an 8 in there too so her mark of 42.3 was as expected.
Overnight we stayed locally in the most beautiful yard, that apparently is usually home to polo ponies, although I'm not too sure about the early morning alarm call from half a dozen peacocks! We were back on the showground nice and early for Muffin's showjumping at 9, the better ground is certianly more suited to her than the mud we have had recently and she jumped the most fantastic double clear, for the first time I asked her to move on a bit more xc as the time is always tight here, we had a few instances where we had different ideas but I think we will get used to each other pretty quickly and then with the dressage sorted she will be a real superstar. We finished 10th on 52.7, my first placing at this level this year, lol.
We then had a long wait until 4.30 for Smurfs' showjumping. 8 faults was comparativly good, and we set out xc feeling pretty confident. he gave me a lovely ride up until fence 20, a combination consisting of a left-handed corner, 4 strides to a wagon then 5 strides to a right-handed corner, where he very naughtily ducked out of the last part. I am always the first to say if it was a 'rider error', as was the case at Burnham Market, but on this occasion it wasn't and I was very disapointed as he jumped it fine at the second attempt and then happily finished the course. So Mr Smurf has a lot of homework to do before Houghton Hall CIC3*. As 707 missed his Advanced run he will now be headed for the 2* along with Muffin and hopefully we will be taking Pusiden for his BYEH debut. However we have plenty to do before then, our next outing is Moreton Morrell in a couple of weeks, so until then.........x
Overnight we stayed locally in the most beautiful yard, that apparently is usually home to polo ponies, although I'm not too sure about the early morning alarm call from half a dozen peacocks! We were back on the showground nice and early for Muffin's showjumping at 9, the better ground is certianly more suited to her than the mud we have had recently and she jumped the most fantastic double clear, for the first time I asked her to move on a bit more xc as the time is always tight here, we had a few instances where we had different ideas but I think we will get used to each other pretty quickly and then with the dressage sorted she will be a real superstar. We finished 10th on 52.7, my first placing at this level this year, lol.
We then had a long wait until 4.30 for Smurfs' showjumping. 8 faults was comparativly good, and we set out xc feeling pretty confident. he gave me a lovely ride up until fence 20, a combination consisting of a left-handed corner, 4 strides to a wagon then 5 strides to a right-handed corner, where he very naughtily ducked out of the last part. I am always the first to say if it was a 'rider error', as was the case at Burnham Market, but on this occasion it wasn't and I was very disapointed as he jumped it fine at the second attempt and then happily finished the course. So Mr Smurf has a lot of homework to do before Houghton Hall CIC3*. As 707 missed his Advanced run he will now be headed for the 2* along with Muffin and hopefully we will be taking Pusiden for his BYEH debut. However we have plenty to do before then, our next outing is Moreton Morrell in a couple of weeks, so until then.........x
Ups and downs in Josh Thompson's start to the season
Lots has happened since my last blog, good and bad! At the end of March we headed to my first event of the season; Lincoln. It was a real novelty to be starting in March as last year my first event was July! I had Shannah in the ON and Duncan in the novice. Duncan performed a slightly disappointing dressage test, to score a 38. However he was quite flat and I think the long journey and the fact he had a hard day before in an attempt to try to reduce his bucking spell tired him out. However, he was still much more rideable than last season and as a first event I wasn’t too disappointed. I seem to get very nervous in BE dressage (more on this later!)
In the showjumping again he was flat in the ring, to gain a bit of a cricket score of 20 jumping and 1 time faults. I think it was perhaps a combination of horse and rider error but he was very lazy-and as Tuffy said when she saw him he will get bored of Novice soon! We decided to just take him slowly XC as there was obviously no chance of a placing. We did two long routes and came back with 29 time-which actually looking back was not too bad within the section. He felt spot on and is so classy and keen XC, even at the water he is starting to trust me more and apart from a sticky moment at fence 18 I was very impressed with how he has matured.
Shannah only had 10 minuets to warm-up for the dressage, as I was delayed with Duncan due to XC fence repairs. He scored 46.5 for his test in the ON, which I felt was slightly harshly marked as apart from a squeal and buck in the second canter transition he had no major errors. He then show jumped well, with just the first fence down but as this was his first round over the coloured poles since Weston I wasn't too disappointed. Again, he put in a good XC round to come home with 11.2 time penalties. We were the last to go of the day and the ground was quite deep so I was impressed with how well he coped.
With Witton cancelled due to the weather we had a few weeks at home to practice, practice, practice before Weston Park. At Weston the weather was glorious; quite a contrast to Lincoln where I had gone XC with Shannah in the pouring rain! Again, I was hampered by slightly disappointing dressage marks; Duncan scored 40 and Shannah 41. However, both tests were better then Lincoln and it's coming more together all of the time. After a disappointing showjumping round at Lincoln with Duncan I was keen to resurrect any errors which we had. He jumped a much better round, and was unlucky to have one pole down on a track which caused plenty of trouble. Shannah again jumped nicely, however we had a few minor disagreements so had two poles; I need to try working more on an even stride.
The XC again produced two pleasing rounds. With Duncan I tried to push him on more, and he started well but lost energy towards the end. However, I was very happy with him and bar the waters where he was slightly sticky he showed real confidence. He is starting to open up more now and soon should be easily making the time; he has a lovely big stride starting to develop. Shannah was a total star. I made the decision to run him in just a snaffle; to get more flow and prevent over-checking. It paid off! He showed total confidence and gave me the best round I’ve ever had, coming back with 2 time penalties which was one of the quickest of the day!
Last weekend I was at Central Scotland. Sadly, Shannah was to be left at home as he has had a couple of small nose-bleeds recently so we are getting him scoped this week, hopefully it will be nothing major! We had horrific times which meant leaving home at 3am- a feat I never want to repeat! Duncan had had a lot of attitude all week, but after going nicely the day before I was confident of a nice test. However, the rider’s total pilot error prevented that! We have been working on rhythm and slowing things down; which was evident in the test. Sadly Duncan did a massive spook down the centre line which didn’t give us the most perfect start! I then went wrong half way through, and forgot the two medium canters to his mark of 46 could have easily been reduced if I had learnt my test-my excuse is that I was too busy getting my oh so important A-level RAVEision in! The weather then took a turn for a worse and after my high hopes of a sunny season after Weston I was disappointed! We didn’t have the best warm-up but he jumped better in the ring, and just got a bit tight into the two fences we had down. He warmed up like a dream XC and started really strongly, giving me a much more galloping rhythm. However, he then for no reason started to nap and spin at a simple coffin fence, after two stops he got over and again continued to please me with his maturity and confidence-only to have another stop at the water. So all in all not an entirely successful weekend however, as mentioned I was very pleased with his way of galloping and jumping on the XC, and think it was attitude more than anything else that prevented a clear. Once we got him home and trotted him up he appeared to not be 100% so he has the physio this week, although is looking sound now. Hopefully after his pelvis is sorted be will be back on form!
I have really enjoyed using Forest Farmacy products recently; including Emergency Herbal Cream, Horse Power and Perfect Performance Shampoo. I have started to realise that I sometimes feel ‘BE pressure’ generally in the first two phases at events. This nervousness means that I never seem to get the results in the competition that I get at home, where I am always much more relaxed. It has been suggested that I take to serious alcoholism before the dressage to try to get me ‘tipsy’ and hopefully calmer, and although generally the idea may appeal to me I’m sure BE rules state something against it! I have found Perfect Performance drops very helpful though, although I maybe need a larger dosage than is suggested! In all seriousness though I am looking at getting a few Sports Psychologist sessions to really ‘get into my mind’.
Looking forward my next event is Auchinleck, where all being well I will have Duncan in the Novice and Shannah in the Intermediate, followed by Floors Castle. The main aim in May is for Shannah to go to Houghton CCI*, and Duncan may join him to experience just how fun 3-day parties can be, and do some of the unaffiliated classes. Until then goodbye.
We get to know squad member Sue Barr
Sue Barr rides three horses, Gunner, a 16.2hh ISH gelding who is competing at BE100, Rivers Blue, a 16.1hh Polish WB x ID who competes at unaffiliated dressage and Rupert a 16hh TB gelding whom she is currently backing and riding away with a view to producing him for eventing. Sue has been on most local riding club teams, has evented to BE100, enjoys hunting and producing her horses. Blue qualified for the Trailblazers Prelim dressage championships in 2008 however has been plagued with lameness issues in relation to his cartilage within his joints. She has a propensity for taking of difficult or young horses and producing them for competition work which means she spends a lot of time on the ground watching horses work and progress. Sue's main competition horse this season will be Rivers Blue whom she will be aiming at affiliated dressage up to Elementary. Blue tends to be very uptight and lively, mainly arising from his inherent stiffness so she will be working on that during the summer, so she hoping she survives backing the young horse and riding Blue at competitions !
Sue is also breeding her first eventer, due in July. The foal will be out of Heligan (Michaels Revenge) by Chilli Morning ( by Nick Gauntletts advanced event stallion). The foal is certainly going to be ginger but Sue has great hopes for its future given the superb ‘in the purple’ parenthood. Sue runs her own small yard in the south west and when not competing or riding loves to volunteer at BE events.
Why Horses? "The obsession started as soon as I could talk and being from a non-horsey background I complained until I was taken to ride every weekend. I couldn’t imagine being without them."
Biggest horsey bug bear? "Seeing young horses being pushed too far and too hard."
Worst Horsey habit? "Horse kleptomania, if it needs a home it generally ends up with me."
If not horses what? "Anything to do with the sea, as a tidal energy developer and marine biologist the only thing that isn’t marine in my life is horses."
What could you not live without? "Definitely Rivers Blue. He looks like black beauty, has a huge personality and is my favourite boy, regardless of his duff legs!"
Sue is also breeding her first eventer, due in July. The foal will be out of Heligan (Michaels Revenge) by Chilli Morning ( by Nick Gauntletts advanced event stallion). The foal is certainly going to be ginger but Sue has great hopes for its future given the superb ‘in the purple’ parenthood. Sue runs her own small yard in the south west and when not competing or riding loves to volunteer at BE events.
Why Horses? "The obsession started as soon as I could talk and being from a non-horsey background I complained until I was taken to ride every weekend. I couldn’t imagine being without them."
Biggest horsey bug bear? "Seeing young horses being pushed too far and too hard."
Worst Horsey habit? "Horse kleptomania, if it needs a home it generally ends up with me."
If not horses what? "Anything to do with the sea, as a tidal energy developer and marine biologist the only thing that isn’t marine in my life is horses."
What could you not live without? "Definitely Rivers Blue. He looks like black beauty, has a huge personality and is my favourite boy, regardless of his duff legs!"
Jo Barry gives us the lowdown of her amazing trip to the Winter Dressage Champs
The washing machine has worked on overtime since our trip to the British Dressage National Winter Championships at Hartpury. 7 days away with 2 horses takes a bit of preparation but equally so does the unpacking, catch-up and washing when you return...BUT what a fantastic week we had!
As seems to be usual for me the run up to the Championships was not straight forwards..the week before we left we had yet another batch of snow. On the Tuesday 6 inches fell, a complete nightmare as far as I was concerned! By Friday we were able to get the lorry out and hired the Scottish National Equestrian Centre (SNEC) for a couple of hours so that I could take Freddie and Rafa there to ride. By Saturday I was able to ride on my own school but it was in gale force winds and so we left for Hartpury on Tuesday feeling a little unprepared.
We borrowed a lorry for the trip so that Mum and I could have an actual 'living' to live in...our lorry doesn't have the living kited out, just a nice big space. However having a bit more comfort did mean that I had to unpack all the show equipment that stays permanently in my lorry and re-pack it into the other one adding in all the feed, haylage etc etc that was needed for the week. It seemed to take forever!
We hoped to leave at 6am...at 5.30 Freddie went back to bed, lay down and stretched out and said he was not going to budge! Eventually at 6.20 he got up and was bundled into the lorry. The journey was good and we made it down in 8hrs. It did feel like we had arrived in another world though, we left high winds, rain and the cold and arrived to sun, grass in the fields and blossom on the trees!
The boys settled into their new stables well, with front row seats for watching everyone that was arriving, it kept their interest for the whole show. Hartpury really spoils you with their stabling, we were in permanent boxes that had rubber matting floors and were of a good size...a home from home for them.
Rafa did the arena walk in the main arena in the afternoon. He had never seen anything like Hartpury before and so I wanted to give him the best chance by letting him see it the day before. It was really busy in the arena...sometimes because you can't do anything other than walk it actually upsets the horse more because they become more coiled up with excitement. You just have to keep an eye and try to give those horses a wide berth and hope it isn't yours that is causing the upset! Freddie just had a gentle stretch that night as the main arena had closed after the arena walk.
I worked Freddie early on the Wednesday morning as Rafa was going to take up most of the day with his two classes. He was competing in the Novice Open and the Novice Freestyle. I was really pleased with him, he really tried to do his best. In the Novice Open he made one mistake...when I asked for my first transition to canter, he just glazed over and didn't hear me. It was coming into the corner where all the trade stands were and he just wasn't there to listen to my aid. I did my best pony clubber impression and eventually we did make it into canter but it meant we got 4's from the three judges. We still managed to get 66.9% and finished 8th, so considering the mistake I was pleased with the placing. Later in the afternoon he competed in the Novice Freestyle. This time he stayed with me throughout and even though I had to help him along at times because he was tired he gave as much as he could. I was thrilled with his score of 75.19% and his second placing, he was thrilled with all the feed vouchers that he had won. Rafa's show was now over and the plan for him was just to hack and do light stetching for the rest of his stay and that he simply enjoy his holiday!
Day two and it was Freddie's turn in the Elementary Freestyle. He came out with guns blazing and for the first time I thought this could go either way!?! I had never felt him so on the knife edge at a competition before but at the same time it was amazing to feel! For the indoor Championship classes you warm-up in the indoor arena by the stables then 20 minutes before your test you go down to a smaller indoor that sits beside the main arena to do your final preparation for the test. The test went very well, though we possibly had slightly too much fuel injection in the medium canters! He gained 77.57%, with one judge giving him just over 80% for his test! He won a lovely crystal bowl, a sash and a rug but for Freddie the highlight was that he was in a prizegiving...he just loves being the centre of attention. That night we had dinner with a friend who lives locally, a good gossip was had and bottle No.1 of Champagne was consumed!
Day three, Friday and it was a day off from competition. Freddie was worked and Rafa did some light stretching. It was a beautiful day and Mum and I sat on the bank watching the PetPlan Championship riders competing in the afternoon. We were joined by a friend from Scotland who brought along a bottle of Champagne...No 2...a perfect way to enjoy an afternoon! We went to the evening performance that night to watch the PSG Freestyle, with hopes that Freddie will be in it himself next year!?
Day 4, Saturday and the Medium Freestyle. Freddie was first to go and scored 73.7%, a good score but would it be good enough?! It was a long wait for the final result -nerves were frayed by the end as the class was strong and so every mark was a potential threat. Another prizegiving, sash but this time he got 4 lovely Bucas rugs as his prize. Another sunny evening and another bottle of Champagne...if not 2! This time they were shared with some fellow Scottish competitors in the lorry park.
Day 5, Sunday and the Medium Open. I really felt the pressure was on...it seemed unbelievable to think that a 3rd Championship could be possible especially as the class had many top combinations in it. This of all the classes was the one I wanted to do well in. Freddie was not on till mid-afternoon so I took him out for a walk and gave him a light stretch first thing. Carl had said he would come to warm us up for this test so I felt more confident knowing that. Just before I was to tack Freddie up for the class a television crew arrived to have a chat about our Hartpury experience and the next class. Freddie was hilarious, he stood throwing his rug around and playing the fool behind me then decided that I was in the way and started nudging and pulling at my shoulder...he wanted to make sure I didn't steal his limelight! It was now time for the test, Freddie and I went up to the indoor arena and started working in. No sign of Carl and I have to admit I started to wobble. Freddie felt tired and a bit grumpy and for once I could hear all the comments the other trainers were giving to their own pupils...all I could hear was 'lovely', 'wow' and 'super'. Then Carl walked in, I relaxed, started to focus and ride again. Straight away I could feel a difference in Freddie, he started coming back to me and by the time we got to the entrance of the main arena I could almost hear him say 'go on then, one more time!' I came out almost not knowing how we had gone, all I knew was we had got through it. Carl came over, smiled and said that he was happy with both of us and that that was to be his last test at Medium! The score almost didn't matter as I knew neither of us had any more to give, the fact it was 72.07% was a huge bonus and then that he won was just unbelievable! His final prizegiving and yet again he stood like a rock and behaved beautifully. A third sash, a gorgeous Albion double bridle as a prize and huge smiles all round. Another bottle of Champagne courtesy of our dinner host from Thursday night but it remained un-opened until we got home, whereupon we arrived to two more bottles given by friends!
We decided to stay on Sunday night rather than leave and travel overnight. I got up at 3am to feed and we were loaded up to go just after 4am. We left, drove all of 500m to find that the entrance gate was padlocked shut!! We were not popular but at least another lorry was waiting to go too! We only had a half hour delay in leaving and were making good time up the road when we heard a huge bang...a blowout. 90mins later we were fixed and back on our way, then an hour later...ANOTHER bang and a second blowout. UNBELIEVABLE!?! An hour later we were sorted again and made it home in 10 hours.
Freddie has had a week in the field and Rafa had a few days off and then it was kick on to Elementary! May is going to be busy with training for Freddie and getting Hugo ready for his Young Horse qualifiers so I wanted to try and get Rafa's summer qualifications this month. He still had one novice test to win and I wanted to try and qualify him for Elementary. On Wednesday he started learning walk pirouettes and simple changes, on Sunday he did his first Elementary at SNEC and won! It was Elementary 58 and not an easy test to do as your introduction but I think he was so shocked that he followed exactly what I said with very few return comments from him. He won his novice class too so we now have that qualification and we will go to Rowallan this weekend and try and complete the elementary qualification...then he can have a holiday!
I just want to say a huge thankyou to everyone that supported Freddie, Rafa and I at the Championships and to those who sent congratulations. Also to TopSpec and Forestfarmacy for their help towards the care of the horses...to Mum for her help and for putting up with me and Lady Hope, who even though she could not be there was a nervous owner on the end of the telephone waiting for results. Finally, thankyou to BD, NAF, Blue Chip, Baileys, Equissage, Bucas and Albion for their work, sponsorship, encouragement and for making the British Dressage Winter Championships 2010 a really memorable week for me.
As seems to be usual for me the run up to the Championships was not straight forwards..the week before we left we had yet another batch of snow. On the Tuesday 6 inches fell, a complete nightmare as far as I was concerned! By Friday we were able to get the lorry out and hired the Scottish National Equestrian Centre (SNEC) for a couple of hours so that I could take Freddie and Rafa there to ride. By Saturday I was able to ride on my own school but it was in gale force winds and so we left for Hartpury on Tuesday feeling a little unprepared.
We borrowed a lorry for the trip so that Mum and I could have an actual 'living' to live in...our lorry doesn't have the living kited out, just a nice big space. However having a bit more comfort did mean that I had to unpack all the show equipment that stays permanently in my lorry and re-pack it into the other one adding in all the feed, haylage etc etc that was needed for the week. It seemed to take forever!
We hoped to leave at 6am...at 5.30 Freddie went back to bed, lay down and stretched out and said he was not going to budge! Eventually at 6.20 he got up and was bundled into the lorry. The journey was good and we made it down in 8hrs. It did feel like we had arrived in another world though, we left high winds, rain and the cold and arrived to sun, grass in the fields and blossom on the trees!
The boys settled into their new stables well, with front row seats for watching everyone that was arriving, it kept their interest for the whole show. Hartpury really spoils you with their stabling, we were in permanent boxes that had rubber matting floors and were of a good size...a home from home for them.
Rafa did the arena walk in the main arena in the afternoon. He had never seen anything like Hartpury before and so I wanted to give him the best chance by letting him see it the day before. It was really busy in the arena...sometimes because you can't do anything other than walk it actually upsets the horse more because they become more coiled up with excitement. You just have to keep an eye and try to give those horses a wide berth and hope it isn't yours that is causing the upset! Freddie just had a gentle stretch that night as the main arena had closed after the arena walk.
I worked Freddie early on the Wednesday morning as Rafa was going to take up most of the day with his two classes. He was competing in the Novice Open and the Novice Freestyle. I was really pleased with him, he really tried to do his best. In the Novice Open he made one mistake...when I asked for my first transition to canter, he just glazed over and didn't hear me. It was coming into the corner where all the trade stands were and he just wasn't there to listen to my aid. I did my best pony clubber impression and eventually we did make it into canter but it meant we got 4's from the three judges. We still managed to get 66.9% and finished 8th, so considering the mistake I was pleased with the placing. Later in the afternoon he competed in the Novice Freestyle. This time he stayed with me throughout and even though I had to help him along at times because he was tired he gave as much as he could. I was thrilled with his score of 75.19% and his second placing, he was thrilled with all the feed vouchers that he had won. Rafa's show was now over and the plan for him was just to hack and do light stetching for the rest of his stay and that he simply enjoy his holiday!
Day two and it was Freddie's turn in the Elementary Freestyle. He came out with guns blazing and for the first time I thought this could go either way!?! I had never felt him so on the knife edge at a competition before but at the same time it was amazing to feel! For the indoor Championship classes you warm-up in the indoor arena by the stables then 20 minutes before your test you go down to a smaller indoor that sits beside the main arena to do your final preparation for the test. The test went very well, though we possibly had slightly too much fuel injection in the medium canters! He gained 77.57%, with one judge giving him just over 80% for his test! He won a lovely crystal bowl, a sash and a rug but for Freddie the highlight was that he was in a prizegiving...he just loves being the centre of attention. That night we had dinner with a friend who lives locally, a good gossip was had and bottle No.1 of Champagne was consumed!
Day three, Friday and it was a day off from competition. Freddie was worked and Rafa did some light stretching. It was a beautiful day and Mum and I sat on the bank watching the PetPlan Championship riders competing in the afternoon. We were joined by a friend from Scotland who brought along a bottle of Champagne...No 2...a perfect way to enjoy an afternoon! We went to the evening performance that night to watch the PSG Freestyle, with hopes that Freddie will be in it himself next year!?
Day 4, Saturday and the Medium Freestyle. Freddie was first to go and scored 73.7%, a good score but would it be good enough?! It was a long wait for the final result -nerves were frayed by the end as the class was strong and so every mark was a potential threat. Another prizegiving, sash but this time he got 4 lovely Bucas rugs as his prize. Another sunny evening and another bottle of Champagne...if not 2! This time they were shared with some fellow Scottish competitors in the lorry park.
Day 5, Sunday and the Medium Open. I really felt the pressure was on...it seemed unbelievable to think that a 3rd Championship could be possible especially as the class had many top combinations in it. This of all the classes was the one I wanted to do well in. Freddie was not on till mid-afternoon so I took him out for a walk and gave him a light stretch first thing. Carl had said he would come to warm us up for this test so I felt more confident knowing that. Just before I was to tack Freddie up for the class a television crew arrived to have a chat about our Hartpury experience and the next class. Freddie was hilarious, he stood throwing his rug around and playing the fool behind me then decided that I was in the way and started nudging and pulling at my shoulder...he wanted to make sure I didn't steal his limelight! It was now time for the test, Freddie and I went up to the indoor arena and started working in. No sign of Carl and I have to admit I started to wobble. Freddie felt tired and a bit grumpy and for once I could hear all the comments the other trainers were giving to their own pupils...all I could hear was 'lovely', 'wow' and 'super'. Then Carl walked in, I relaxed, started to focus and ride again. Straight away I could feel a difference in Freddie, he started coming back to me and by the time we got to the entrance of the main arena I could almost hear him say 'go on then, one more time!' I came out almost not knowing how we had gone, all I knew was we had got through it. Carl came over, smiled and said that he was happy with both of us and that that was to be his last test at Medium! The score almost didn't matter as I knew neither of us had any more to give, the fact it was 72.07% was a huge bonus and then that he won was just unbelievable! His final prizegiving and yet again he stood like a rock and behaved beautifully. A third sash, a gorgeous Albion double bridle as a prize and huge smiles all round. Another bottle of Champagne courtesy of our dinner host from Thursday night but it remained un-opened until we got home, whereupon we arrived to two more bottles given by friends!
We decided to stay on Sunday night rather than leave and travel overnight. I got up at 3am to feed and we were loaded up to go just after 4am. We left, drove all of 500m to find that the entrance gate was padlocked shut!! We were not popular but at least another lorry was waiting to go too! We only had a half hour delay in leaving and were making good time up the road when we heard a huge bang...a blowout. 90mins later we were fixed and back on our way, then an hour later...ANOTHER bang and a second blowout. UNBELIEVABLE!?! An hour later we were sorted again and made it home in 10 hours.
Freddie has had a week in the field and Rafa had a few days off and then it was kick on to Elementary! May is going to be busy with training for Freddie and getting Hugo ready for his Young Horse qualifiers so I wanted to try and get Rafa's summer qualifications this month. He still had one novice test to win and I wanted to try and qualify him for Elementary. On Wednesday he started learning walk pirouettes and simple changes, on Sunday he did his first Elementary at SNEC and won! It was Elementary 58 and not an easy test to do as your introduction but I think he was so shocked that he followed exactly what I said with very few return comments from him. He won his novice class too so we now have that qualification and we will go to Rowallan this weekend and try and complete the elementary qualification...then he can have a holiday!
I just want to say a huge thankyou to everyone that supported Freddie, Rafa and I at the Championships and to those who sent congratulations. Also to TopSpec and Forestfarmacy for their help towards the care of the horses...to Mum for her help and for putting up with me and Lady Hope, who even though she could not be there was a nervous owner on the end of the telephone waiting for results. Finally, thankyou to BD, NAF, Blue Chip, Baileys, Equissage, Bucas and Albion for their work, sponsorship, encouragement and for making the British Dressage Winter Championships 2010 a really memorable week for me.
Monday, 19 April 2010
Claire Thomas' latest blog update
The start of the year has not exactly been perfect what with all the snow and then Aldo getting spasmodic colic a couple of times. Even when he seemed to recover from this he just didn't seem himself. The only thing that had changed in his routine was his hay was now being steamed in the steamer my brother made for me and gave to me as a Christmas present. I took him off the steamed hay and Aldo was soon back to his normal cheeky self.
The weather has improved and Aldo has now started competing again. He is getting better at loading although still not going in straight away. However, with a bit of patience he will suddenly walk up the ramp with confidence and no longer shakes when he is inside.
At his first dressage competition this year we achieved second and third which I was really pleased about considering he is still young.
The first test was rider error as I forgot a circle and the second test Aldo was rather too sure of himself and thought he would liven up proceedings by bucking when asked to canter! Looking at the positives the rest of the test was quite good and it gives us a few more things to work on!!
To do something different I have also taken Aldo jumping. He was very well behaved and enjoyed himself. He is not very brave and likes to have a good look at the jumps before he goes over. However, he will then fly them with confidence! Think its just as well I want him to do more dressage than jumping though!
Am hoping the good weather continues and am looking forward to more competitions.
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