Sam and Nico produced a super Elementary Freestyle to music test at Silverleys Equestrian last week to bag 2nd place and qualify for the Area Festival!
Nico excelled in his canter work, and they produced a rhythmic, flowing test. Their ‘Bond themes’ music suits Nico perfectly. Sam did a fantastic job of hitting the accents, and scored really well on musical interpretation.
Massive congratulations guys!
We enjoyed blazing sunshine for this showjumping training clinic with some great pony clubbers.
These riders have upcoming shows to prepare for, and are competing at between 70cm and 90cm. They have quite well-established positions, so after a warm up over a single fence, I concentrated on course riding skills, including related distances, riding accurate lines through turns and dogleg combinations, as well as tackling scary fillers.
I haven’t taught these combinations before, but was told one pony has had an issue with confidence. Sure enough, he was stopping or running out at the beginning of the session. If he wasn’t on a perfect stride, he wouldn’t take off, even over small fences. His canter was forward and active, and he is generally a very willing chap. But when he started panicking, he would rush into a fence and then stop when he arrived on a wrong stride.
The rider was great, she never became frustrated, and has a good, secure seat. I advised her to take her time between fences. ‘Let the fence come to you’ is an old favourite of mine. But it works by preventing the rider getting even slightly in front of the movement. Once the pony had a bit more time to think, and felt able to chip in a short stride if need be, he started popping round the course easily. His tendency, as I added more fences to make longer courses, was to start rushing again. I reminded the rider to rebalance him throughout, but with her leg on, to maintain the energy in the canter and a consistent canter rhythm that meant he always felt able to take off.
He was completing full courses by the end of the session, at a slightly lower height than the combination have competed at before. It was important for them to take a step back today, and work on developing confidence, to have a firmer grounding to build on for the future.
Big thanks to the newly-opened CCR Equestrian for providing a fantastic course of jumps and superb surface. We all enjoyed ourselves immensely.
I frequently use gridwork when coaching jumping because it has so many benefits for training. It develops balance and position in the rider, good jumping technique and rhythm in the horse, and boosts confidence in both.
Here one of my lovely clients is doing a fantastic demonstration of gridwork. Her pony had a break due to lameness and was gradually brought back into work over the course of a month or so.
This was their first attempt at jumping after the break and I was really pleased with how they did.
What a lovely sunny morning for cross country schooling. Well done Kazan for being mostly a very good boy. And well done Liz for managing him so well in those moments when it was all just a bit too exciting for his little brain!
They tackled several combinations, working on maintaining a consistent rhythm before and after fences, as well as some technical aspects such as light to dark on the ‘wooded path’ combination, and an introduction to ditches.
Liz also wanted to focus on getting Kaz comfortable going through the water, and completed several different combinations at the complex. Here they are doing the water with a step up on exit.
I managed to grab a quick look around the smart new facilities at Wellington Riding Centre whilst completing my first aid refresher course.
We all enjoyed a fabulous lunch in their newly refurbished cafe too!
I gave this little guy a tidy-up for a client today.
He had his mane pulled and feathers and tail trimmed.
I think he looks ten years younger!
It’s so nice to be back in the saddle! This was my first ride of 2016, schooling a lovely little horse for a client.
I’m now taking on new clients for lessons and schooling, so get in touch to book and give a kick start to your leisure riding or competing this New Year.
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Happy riding!
Popped up to Addington Manor yesterday to assist Fred Hodges BHSI, who was competing a client’s horse at BD Elementary.
Glad to be indoors as the rain hammered on the roof of the re-surfaced school at Chequers End this morning!
Luckily, the horses were brave and ignored the thunder and lightning!
I’m in the office today, preparing lecture handouts, determined to make rugs an interesting a topic as possible!
These are for my Level 1 BHS Horse Ownership Course, which is starting next month. The course covers aspects of basic stable management and horse care, and is suitable for first-time horse owners, riders keen to learn more about horse care, or parents of pony club children.
The course is run on an official BHS syllabus, and is part of a series of four levels. As you progress through the levels, you cover more wide ranging topics and more detailed knowledge is required. Each course results in a recognised qualification if students are successful in the optional exam.
Classes are small groups of no more than four, cost £20 and will run on Saturdays 10am to midday for eight weeks.
If you would like to find out more about what the course covers, or register to take part, please get in touch by 30th May, thanks!
