June 2009 Archives

I'm still on cloud 9 after Saturday's result, it's really given me a boost. As I said before it really makes you realise how much the hard work has paid off & makes you want to work harder to improve. We have a  prelim test next week in the long arena.  I'm going to have to work really hard to keep his attention on me when we're at the venue, especially after our previous experiences in the long arena, the centre line feels soooooo long & it's all open & outdoors, so I'll have to be more interesting to him than the horses grazing in the fields around the arena, or the people out hacking along the road, that could prove difficult, maybe I should dangle a carrot in front of his nose, he loves his food so that could work, I'm definately not expecting to get 71% but over 60% would be great. I'll be practising lots of transitions & trying to get him going forward more, the carrot could work for that too hey?

I've had a good week of training this week. Janet was over on Monday & I had a lesson with her after I finished work. I didn't take Bernie this time, I borrowed my cousin Sally's horse Buzz, Sally competes him in the Novice classes, so he's a lot more advanced than B. I really enjoyed the lesson, we did lots of trot & canter work, towards the end I felt like he was really going well, working from his hind legs & really bringing them under him. I'm not sure who was puffing more by the end of the session, Buzz or me, it was a really good workout & I was dying for a plate of chips & a good cup of tea by the end of it. I'm really paying for it now though as I'm pretty sore round my neck & shoulders, but as they say, no pain, no gain. 

Angela schooled B on Thursday & I watched & took it all in, he went lovely for her & really tried hard, we think he goes out the field and practices, I can't wait until he's learning piaffe, I can just imagine him saying to his friends, "hey boy's, bet you can't do this!" 

Friday I had a training session on Buzz again, with Angela this time. It took me a while to activate him, but when I did he was going lovely. I managed to get some medium trot & we did some counter canter too, this is all kind of new to me, I did it all 10yrs ago before my accident, but I have to relearn, so it's good to know how it feels on a horse that knows how to do it before I start trying it on B. 

I'm going to spend the weekend hacking George out, I don't want him feeling left out. The vet had a look at him last week & says his muscle has really developed, so again, that shows the hard work pays off, she said if he'd just been left to rest in the field he'd be really lame now. I took him out yesterday after riding Buzz & he was full of beans, there must've been a lot of faeries out because he seemed to be seeing them all, but he hasn't been out on the road for a couple off weeks due to TT, so I'll let him off. 

I feel I've had a really good couple of weeks lately with my lessons, last week I had a great lesson on the lunge on Sherry, she has really free paces & is great on the lunge, I also had a run through of my para test on her, it's nice to get a feel of it on different horses even if I'm not competing on them. On Thursday I had a lesson on Bernie, he was really good & hardly put a foot wrong, he always tries his best & loves to please, so between the noise of all the motorbikes roaring around the TT course, I managed to hear Angela enough to get him going really well. I also feel I'm getting somewhere with my position & understanding how to correct Bernie when he starts ignoring me & trying to do his own thing.

 After a while away from the dressage arena, it was time for my para test today. Gilbeys competitions put a para class on for me. This is brilliant because it means I get judged by a listed judge & I can keep a record of my marks for the future, so I'd like to say thanks to them for doing that for me.

Bernie was very patient this morning while we plaited him up ready for our class. We weren't on until 4pm so we didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn, which was brill because I'm not at my best in the morning, I used to do a milkround on saturday mornings with my dad & I was always a bit of a grump until I got my morning bar of chocolate, maybe I should keep a bar by my bed! Mum had started already & had the Henry hoover out giving B a good vacuuming to remove some of the excess dust & hair, he's so good he hardly noticed, he just loves the attention. When we got there we tacked up & Angela warmed him up for me so I didn't tire myself out, I got on him about 25minutes before it was time for my test. He was really relaxed & taking everything in his stride. It felt like our best test yet, he really listened to me & I had my fingers crossed & really hoped we'd get over the 60% mark. After untacking B we made our way up to the results box to check out my marks, they weren't up so Bernie got a belly full of grass while we waited. The results came out & to say I was surprised when they put my mark up was a bit of an understatement, I managed to bag myself 71.67% woo-hoo.....Bernie was an absolute star, I'm so happy with him, when you get a score like that it really lifts spirits & you realise the hard work pays off, Bev & Julie, your horse is fantastic. All I have to worry about now is beating that score, my competitive instict always wants to beat my last mark, so a lot more hardwork is on the cards!!

Another good lesson was had on Thursday, we hired the indoor at a local equestrian centre again & practiced bits of our para test for the 13th. One of the reasons I find dressage so addictive is you always want to better your score, I never thought I'd be a dressage fan. I used to do it on the lead rein on my first pony Sonny boy, before I could jump, then once I got jumping that was it, dressage was only done when I had to at two day events etc. Grub was my second pony, a 12.2 palomino, on all my old dressage sheets it says lovely pony, will excel in the cross country tomorrow & he always did, my brakes were never any good though. I used to take him drag hunting, I think I always went three times as far as anyone else after the amount of laps I'd have to do of the field to stop.

The TT practices have started now, Mum & Dad live on the course & the bikes go right past their front garden, I was sitting in the garden watching the races a couple of yrs ago, when a bike came wobbling round the corner & the rider did a cartwheel & landed in my mum's bush....luckily he wasn't hurt too badly, but it was horrible to see.

I've got a lesson this Thursday, Angela's friend Liz is kind enough to let us borrow her horse Sherry for me to ride on the lunge, she has lovely free paces, we'll be working on her this week, I can concentrate on me when I'm on the lunge and not think about how the horse is going. Hopefully the weather will stay fine too so I can keep Bernie in his new lean, mean, dressage machine shape with lots of hacks up the hills.