A blog about a Shire x TB showjumper (a.k.a. Picnic) and her stablemates sharing news on training, competing and the ups and downs of showjumping and horse ownership!
A quiet weekend training at home for Picnic and she is looking and feeling great at the moment, the extra time meant we could spend time on some gymnastic work which is invaluable to keep her supple. Socks also was put through her paces down the grid and seems to be getting stronger behind starting to really sit and push but gets tired very quickly so keeping sessions short so she stays keen!
Picnic feeling well and looking good
Earlier this week I visited the TTT in Surrey to watch Herwig Radnetter teach who is one of the most senior riders at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. There was a good selection of horses and riders of all standards and Herwig makes the training sessions very informative and progressive. I now have lots of inspiration to try out some of his methods on my clients so watch out! My horses have already been subjected to being guinea pigs and I have to say Picnic was almost enjoying her flatwork and turning into a dressage shire showing off half pass and changes. Including this work in my training sessions is really helping loosen her back and the canter is benefitting becoming much more powerful and connected - we will be out jumping Puissance classes at this rate! (But we'll settle for consistent double clears).
As promised here are some pictures from Socks' weekend away training at Stockland Lovell earlier in October. She slept for two days afterwards - being a well behaved model 4 year old takes a lot apparently!
Exciting news I have received an e-mail from Animalife accepting us onto the sponsorship programme not sure what it will consist of yet but very pleased to be working with them and will keep checking my e-mails for further updates.
More news on the mail front is that my course coaching pack arrived on my doormat for my top up course to gain my UKCC2. Being a freelance instructor I decided I wanted to add to my BHS qualifications with the aim of eventually becoming a BS accredited trainer so first step was to get onto the UK Coaching Certificate path and work towards entry for next September onto the UKCC3 showjumping specific award in coaching. Having gained my BHSAI many years ago it is going to be a shock to the system 'going back to school' and preparing for exams and building portfolios but I am really looking forward to it as all the hard work and studying will be worth it in the end!
After all the excitement a well deserved ride in the sunshine was on the cards and of course we had to celebrate with a drink, it would be rude not to!!!
It was a foggy day on Sunday so much so that you could only see half the arena at summerhouse and horses disappeared for part of the course! Slowly the sun made an appearance and the conditions improved by the time our classes were up, we took two horses but unfortunately Amber looked out of sorts in the warm up so we withdrew her so hopefully just something minor and nothing a few days rest won't sort out.
Picnic was on top form in the warm up and very keen to be back out as she was taking great delight over-jumping every fence just checking I had a secure seat! She didn't take too long to settle and in the Discovery jumped a fantastic round only tipping the penultimate fence to finish on 4 faults but other than that I was impressed with her attitude and we had no fighting or snatching and jumped all combinations spot on. In the 1.05m we were first to go and she jumped a great round coping with the additional height in the second half brilliantly so relief over we can get back out jumping newcomers, the showjumpingshire is back :)
Socks had a very successful outing at Stockland Lovell last weekend, as a 4 year old I am very excited about her for next year as she is showing amazing scope over a fence. The weekend consisted of a flatwork session, a grid, a course and a xc session but unfortunately the weather had been so awful that the course was too wet to get out there so we will have to wait to find out what she thinks of the great outdoors! She behaved impecably on day one working beautifully on the flat and then in the gridwork she was foot perfect taking everything in her stride with no hesitation and putting 110% in, very proud!!! I think a little brain overload and feeling rather full of herself the next morning I had to ensure I had my sticky bum jods on as she was a little full of it but still able to produce a great shape over a fence even if the bits in between were a bit hairy. By the afternoon she had settled and had a super session jumping a course even managing to throw in some changes! Photos to follow :)
Apologies for lack of posts but Picnic has been out of action and enjoying life as a field pet for a little while. Now fully recovered and back in a fitness regime which has been eventful as she is in very high spirits being back in work! Slowly settling down and getting over the initial excitement of jumping again where brakes and control were a big issue, we are soon to be back out and ready for the winter season and qualifiers :)
Having some time off has given me a chance to spend time refreshing my knowledge and brushing up my skills as I have decided to train towards my UKCC3 next year showjumping specific. I have attended lecture and demos from various trainers and also taken the opportunity to take my youngster away for intensive training sessions at AM Dressage with Matt Frost in the hopes to really give her the best start and make sure all the basics are in place before we get carried away jumping, my time there also included my attempt at being a dressage rider on one of their schoolmasters that is trained to Grand Prix. I didn't do too bad for a showjumper and yes I have to admit I thoroughly enjoyed playing with piaffe and passage round the arena!!! However I have not been coverted yet but it did my riding wonders and I can really notice a difference back home riding my horses with a stronger position (also made me realise I need to do more pilates to strenthen my core as my stomach muscles ached for two days after)
Next stop is weekend away with Socks showjumping and cross country schooling - watch this space to see how we get on....
Socks 4 year old - intensive training day one!
Socks - first time jumping away from home
My attempt at dressage - I do have those stomach muscles somewhere...
Well our weekend away was very mixed and the great British Weather didn't disappoint, on the first night there were points when I thought the lorry was going to get blown over and woke up several times to howling wind and heavy downpours worrying about whether the stable roofs would still be on! Thankfully they were but walking past the rings on the way to the stables a definate delayed start would be on the cards as all the jumps had been blown down and in need of a course rebuild. This was the theme for the whole weekend really but the sun did make an appearance every now and then between showers. Class one was the most intersting course I've ever ridden, we entered the 1.05m adventurer Scope Qualifer and the course kept moving due to boggy patches of ground and when I left to warm up there was a straight line combination to a two stride double but when we were on route jumping the combination was now a dog leg to a one stride double, which took me by surprise as on approach the jumps we were expecting were not there so added a circle to reorganise as was on completely the wrong stride and angle for the dog leg, at which point she jumped round the rest of the course well albeit a bit slow as she was finding the boggy ground quite hard going, the jumps felt 10cm bigger after sinking so deep on take off :) Putting that behind us we had a good round in the Regonal Final warm up class jumping double clear and placing 6th but unfortunately had a pole in the main class at the penultimate fence running down hill. More rain and wind meant jumping was quite demanding, the ground was now very soft and slightly slippery and I was very proud of Picnic still jumping boldly in these conditions, once again we were plagued by 4 faults but she jumped so well I couldn't complain - at least know I know we can jump in all conditions! Picnic is now having a few days rest to recover and enjoy herself in the field.
Entires are in for a busy weekend at the SWSJC for the Discovery Regional Final now all we need is the weather to arrive bright and early Friday morning and remain until Sunday!!!
Fingers crossed its not cancelled due to the lovely British weather as on our last attempt at getting to the Regional Final the lorry broke down so we'll try again hopefully with more success. Picnic feels on form and jumping well so we will have to wait see what Picnic comes out the lorry on Friday - hopefully the rosette winning one as we'd like to qualify for Scope over the weekend as well... watch this space!!!
17 June 2012 - Area 42 show was held at West Wilts Equestrian Centre in the new outdoor arena. This is the first time we've been to West Wilts in a very long time and the new warm up and main arena have a superb surface and set of show jumps we'd highly recommend!
The day did not go quite to plan and Picnic decided that it was about time she showed some 'personality'. First a bit of background as to why Picnic did not want to play ball:
The previous day while out showjumping at Wales and West we were approached to ask if Picnic competes in Maxi Cobs and Hunters? The lady was really impressed by how well she jumped she thought her 'type' was ideal. Now we are used to by now seeing surprised expressions when Picnic jumps and looks 'athletic' but this is a first to be thought of as a showing horse!
So we entered the Scope 1m Qualifier, the course started really well and Picnic felt on form but then... Fence 4 was a rustic, now Picnic has jumped rustics many times before and really is a horse that doesn't stop so when she put the anchors on and shot off to the left it was quite a surprise, even more so when re-presented to it she popped over and continued the course clear as if nothing had happened!!! Attached is the video of our round
Putting that class to one side I thought we'd enter the next class as she was jumping really well and keen. Once again the round started well and approached in much more collected canter into the rustic to make sure we didn't have a repeat performance - how wrong could I be??? This time she took it on then put back down ducking into the bottom of it, slightly unseated but still on board I politely told her off before our 2nd attempt, and again popped over and completed the course jumping all combinations and more spooky fences!
After wondering why it suddenly occured to me Picnic was just proving her point that she would not make a very good working hunter or maxi cob by refusing rustic fences!!! Thanks for clarifying that Picnic.
Picnic was one of the horses selected to represent Wiltshire at the National Team Jumping Qualifier at Wales and West.
16 June 2012 Wiltshire had two teams entered for the qualifer and the rain was torrential! Thankfully it eased off as the day went on but we all got very wet.
The first team won the competition in style with a superb jump off and have qualified for the final at Scope!!!
Our team all jumped well and finished as a team on 4 faults but we were still in the prize giving with a respectable 6th place so a good day for Area 42
