Last weekend saw us eventing at Bickenhall in the glorious sunshine, although the downside to this weather is the ground is now already very firm. On the Saturday i took Archidamus (Big Archie) having his first event outing for nearly a year. Whilst the dressage was disappointing and he rolled a pole in the show jumping form just getting rather strung out, he really performed cross country to post a lovely clear inside the time and felt great. I also took Tilly for ther BE100plus, but only run her in the dressage. She unfortunately had developed a swelling around her fetlock  a few days before and although completely sound it just didn't seem worth the risk on the hard ground. She warmed up great, but we both tensed a little trying to fit the movements of Novice into the 40 by 20m arena to score a respectable 36 which can definitely be improved on so I was very pleased. I did however feel so guilty taking her home without the fun bit as she was raring to go, but better safe than sorry.

Sunday was the turn of little Archie who felt rather important having the lorry to himself. A dressage time of 3pm meant a leisurely start, but unfortunately by then the temperature had risen enough to bring out lots of flies which really made this connie crazy despite puring copious amounts of fly spray all over him. As a result I did not manage to get him to settle before we had to go in for the test and we made it round with a lot of head shaking, grabbing the bit, running and a couple of minor explosions breaking into canter; so infuritating when he had scored 70% last time out.

He did however redeem himself slightly with a clear show jump round and then a foot perfect cross country round in a new bit we are trying, a cheltenham gag. In the warm up I found he jumped rather stickily if I checked him too much in it so I decided to lengthen the reins and just keep coming to every fence and it worked a treat, definitely helping to keep his head up and saving my arms being pulled out. Fingers crossed it continues to have this effect as in the past different bits have lost their effectiveness after 2 to 3 events. In the end he finished 11th on his dressage of 40.5; with the winner on 32, he really could have had a good placing if he had just behaved in that first phase.

Introducing Sadie (Steeler's Singalong) who is my own homebred mare 4 years in May and the last few days she has really made me smile through what have been exceptionally tiring and hectic days. She is out of my 'horse of a lifetime' mare who went clear at CCI*** by Up with the Lark (one of his first crop of foals) and we nearly lost her to septisemia when she was 2 days old. Coupled by the fact that both her younger sisters were lost through tragic circumstances, she is very special and means the world to me. I backed last summer and just hacked her a bit and she then had the winter off before coming back into work a few weeks ago. However as I have 11 other horses to ride for owners it is hard to find the time to fit her in and she is ridden 3-4 times a week and lives out.

I have however just managed to ride her a few times in the arena and started some trot and canter poles/cross poles and I haven't stopped smiling since. Understandably she tires after 20 minutes but as such enthusiasm for it all and whilst she may look a bit plain just standing comes alive when she is moving. I put the back protector on just in case, but really she feels safe as houses just quite bouncy.

On to trot poles and initially she found it the best thing ever to bound through them jumping each one!

I did however calm her down and make her trot through properly



On to jumping. She has never loose jumped as I just don't have the right facilities and I was so unsure how she would react. She is such a laid character I could imagine her just ploughing through them but how wrong could I be, she can get that huge stomach off the ground and be co-ordinated when she wants to!





Understandably did tire quite quickly so we kept the session short, but have since gone back in and jumped a small double plus a filler which she didn't really notice at all.

Choccies all round to those who have got this far. I am just so pleased she is enjoying herself and it is like having her mum back again (hence the awful grim I seem to have in most of the photos!). Also so nice to get on a baby who feels safe! Plans for the year are not fixed as I will be taking it slowly, but a 4 year old class later is not out of the question building upto badminton in 5-6 years time!!!!

Archie as the only horse yet competing BE is definitely feeling king of the yard and was pleased as punch to be taken to Aldon for the BE100 on Friday. He has come out this year with a pretty much 'I'm invincible' attitude and as such is rather taking charge cross country. In the week I had a quick bit trial on the cross country course with both a myler combination bit and the nathe tandem bit, but neither seemed to have any effect so I opted to stick with the tomb thumb gag which had been partially successful last year. 

With his customary nupafeed syringe of calmer he felt lively but relatively controlled warming up for the dressage. Wearing tiny spurs for the first time this year I was definitely getting more engagement and energy in the warm up, but it was all a bit touch and go whether we could keep this from over boiling over in the test. Overall he behaved brilliantly just marred by myself sitting that bit too quietly in the first canter which is where he has in the past exploded. Instead he actually broke into trot which suprised us both but was quickly remedied. A smile from the judge left me hopeful, but not counting my chickens as judges often mark him quite harshly.

Straight on to the show jumping and unfortunately the light but very wet rain, that was to continue all afternoon, started. By now any calmer had all worn off and he felt strong and excited warming up, but jumping superbly. The course looked huge after Moreton BE90 and had some difficult lines and as I approached the first the judge announced my dressage score as 30 (one of his best yet) and so the pressure was on. Archie however spooked at some sand on the grass and I made the cardinal sin of putting my leg gently on to try and bring his focus back to fence 1. Well that was it, we were off with Archie relishing the freedom of a lovely big grass arena and all I could do was sit and steer which itself was made more difficult with my old gloves loosing grip on the now wet rains. Thankfully we got round all the turns and he jumped like a stag, giving the fences feet, for a great clear round although it was up a gear or two from what I would have wanted.

Finally the cross country and as the rain was getting heavier and the ground decidedly greasy bigger studs and the thumb thumb were installed and I started off with the vain hope that as Archie has never been round Aldon before the unfamiliar territory coupled with substantial well dressed fences would hopefully back him off. No such luck, he stormed round in fine style but my arms did finish a couple of inches longer trying to keep some control. No worries at all the combinations and technical fences and he jumped the tricky corner out of the water very well, it was just the straight forward ones where he couldn't resist the odd flyer followed by head down charging and as a result I did not let him go quite at full speed to pick up 4 time penalties. I think if Archie has his own way he would much prefer going around without a rider intervering at all! His owners Suzie and Kieron managed to get some cracking photos which show that his technique has improved massively from when he started eventing two years ago and is now very tidy over his fences.

Overall I great result although in a tough section the time penalties put us down to 8th place. Some more experimentation with bitting may be on the cards before our next outing at Bickenhall, although hopefully he will start to settle now as the season progresses and perhaps I should just relax a bit more and just let him get on with it. Afterall it take two to pull....

The yard is now literally over flowing with horses, although thankfully the recent gorgeous weather has made the daily task of caring for and riding 10 horses everyday a joy rather than a chore. New equine arrivals  over the last couple of weeks include Ronnie and rising 7 year old Arab ex-racehorse who has come for 2 months schooling, Ted a stunning  6year competition pony in for sale, Louis a feisty welsh cob back for a repeat of 4 weeks training he had last spring and Tilly, a gorgeous 9 year old warmblood mare who he with me to event for the season whilst her owner Sarah has a baby. Tilly is already established at Novice level and has some points and I am very excited to be eventing her. Fortunately I have also found a lovely new groom, Amy to help cope with all the new arrivals and she is settling in quickly and will soon be working full time. Her next task will be to become photographer and get some photos of all the horses as their training progresses.

In the meantime Millie and Ben competed at the unaffiliated ODE at Stockland Lovell last Saturday. Millie produced a good, accurate dressage and probably the most active one I have ever managed without a whip! It was only marred slightly with her beinga little uncomfortable in the mouth which has prompted an investigation into finding a bit she is happier in. She scored 34 which was good in her section.

Video of dressage

I then jumped her in a hackamore  and without a bit she felt wonderful, flying round giving them feet to spare.. However I chickened out taking her cross country without a bit and opted for the rubber pelham I used last year and found once I was on the course that I had no steering to the right! Coupled with her being very spooky we unfortunately had a little altercation when she refused to turn right to the small wall before the first water which gave us 20 penalties which cost us a rossette, but after that flew round.

Video of Show Jumping

Video of Cross Country

In the BE100 class Ben was very tense to warm up for the dressage, but did keep a lid on any antics in the ring to score 39.5.

Dressage Test Video

He then was beside himself with excitement to jump a lovely show jump round.

Show Jumping Video

I then made the hard, but sensible decision to not run cross country as he is not yet fully fit and had not had any cross country schooling as yet due to the course being closed. Whilst I am sure his adrenalin would have seen him flying round, it was not worth the risk with such a sharp sensitive horse.

Instead on Monday he did the cross country clinic with Jeanette Brakewell when I tried out a new bit called the nathe Tamden which is a combination of a nathe straight bar and hackamore. Ben has a very sensitive mouth which splits easily when he becomes onward bound jumping, but doesn't need a very strong bit as such as he is horse that goes better when he thinks he is in charge! He started the clinic on his best behaviour and was so happy to be jumping cross country again, just desperate to jump as many fences as possible and not backing off anything! As the clinic went on he did unfortunately get rather wound up with the stopping and starting which prompted a couple of bronco displays, one of which was captured by the photographer; Click Here for the evidence! Luckily I did stay on and despite these antics I was pleased with his jumping and boldness and he seemed to like the bit. Click Here and here and here and here and here for more!

Yeah, finally after a cold and wet winter we have finally had a dry week and the eventing has started. Due to weather, holidays and injury only Archie was ready to go and needed to outing to calm him down a bit! A very short cross country school on Friday was a scary experience as I could hardly hold him just cantering around the field and the only way to get him to lift his head and stop broncing was to face him to a fence, although this only work for about 10 fences hence it being a very short school! However new he would settle a bit more on a course when all the dressing an atmosphere makes him focus more.

Back to Moreton. Up at 4am to muckout 8 before leaving and arrived with time to spare only to find out there was a one hour delay due to frozen ground. Archie was behaving remarkably well and I opted for a rather dull but atleast obedient test as if I had put on any pressure to engage like he can at home I would have been told where to go! Just spoiled at the end when he stumbled turning on to the centre line and shot off on his head in reponse meaning we rather over shot it. Score of 38 which I thought was quite harsh, but understandable as he wasn't really through and engaged.

Show jumping next and a 3 fence warm up was perfect as he seemed not yet to have clicked as to what was next. The course seemed tiny and he calmly popped the first 3 and then jumped so relaxed over 4 that I had to put my leg on gently to get the 4 strides to the next. Utterly disgusted with such an action some broncing followed and the last few fences were taken in a higher gear, but clear.

On to cross country and as expected in the warm up he was pulling with his head on his knees and paying no attention to these boring fences. So I was towed over a couple and straight down to the startbox and luckily he did then focus and listen to me over the first few up the hill jumping beautifully. Slight disagreement on what speed we should go down the hill to the drop, i had visions of him rolling all the way down if I didn't interfere a bit, but then jumped great until going back down the hill towards the finish. Serious brakes were applied before the two logs on a curve, but on jumping the first he went into overdrive determined to get as few as strides as possible in between them. So i just sat back and braced as I did over the last two brush fences where he gave a finish any grand national horse would have been proud of; standing off them both and giving them feet to spare....

Unsurprisingly no time faults (Archie would never let that happen!) and he finished 9th on his dressage. So all in all good day and he has had his first adrenaline fix which will hopefully settle him a little for BE100 at Aldon in two weeks. Photos below and for professional photos click here.

Dressage warm up

First jump in the arena when he was still half asleep; trying to tell me he can do this size with his eyes closed!

At the XC start with ears pricked and raring to go

The last week has again been very busy. Charlie a 14hh sports pony arrived for 2 weeks boot camp whilst his family were on holiday. He has recently lost a bit of confidence jumping so my brief was to work mainly on that with some schooling as well. I have had great fun working with this cheeky character. After a couple of sessions working on engaging his back end particularly in the canter we started jumping and he started off trying to charge blindly at anything and launching him off long strides whenever he could! He was obviously quite worried about the whole process and was making it all much harder for himself and occassionally would put on the brakes the last second as he bottled out. Therefore I went back to basics with lot of pole work until he could comfortably canter over poles wiothout changing his rhythm or leaning on my hand and then progressed to cross poles and small jumps. With regular sessions always finishing on a good note, his confidence has grown and he has stopped rushing or pulling and has remained calm and confident as the jumps were raised up to 1 metre and he showed off an impressive pop for a small pony.

On Sunday Millie, Archie and Fling all did the Eventers Show Jumping at Stockland Lovell where a complicated course of 16 show jump and cross country style fences gave them a good work out. All of them produced lovely clear rounds in the 90cm class with both Millie and Archie incredibly excited and needing the long course for them to settle down.

Millie flying the water tray

Fling came out remarkably calm having been rather wild the day before and jumped a great round in a hackamore where I felt in total control. With a bit she can get quite anxious and fling her head and back end around whilst being incredibly strong.  For the 1 metre class I decided to try out a new bit called a nathe combination bit combining a snaffle with a hackamore. The result was some head flinging at the beginning, but she did settle as the round progressed and this may provide the answer for the show jumping and cross country phase at events, although I think she is going to be a horse where bits are changed regularly.

Fling enjoying the cross country phase

After these good rounds, I was very excited for Wednesday as Kate, Fling's owner had organised us to go to a clinic with William Fox-Pitt. However disaster struck on Tuesday when she escaped from the field and slipped over on the concrete resulting in numerous scrapes and bruises mostly superficial but slightly deeper on her elbow and knee. As a result she is confined to her stable for 5 days with bute and antibiotics for the cuts and bruises to heal. Hopefully then she will be able to start walking after this and come back into work slowly, but this is all very frustrating when after 4 weeks of working her virtually a very day she had finally settled down.

Ben who has now been back three weeks is going well and had a great lesson with Sue Edwards in the week. His belly is slowly subsiding and I hope to start jumping him soon. I have also finally managed to get back on Sadie who has hacked out perfectly, but has shown her naughty side with some impressive acrobatics on the lunge although they subside as she gets tired and eventually decides that it isn't so bad to go round in circles.

Finally I have another new arrival Monty, the ex-racehorse I sold before Xmas. After a couple of months turn out and hacking, Dee his new owner has sent him back for some more training for 6 weeks or so and is coming down every weekend to ride him. He has come back very settled and is now much less excited when seeing other horses when in the arena and is focusing well in his schooling and over poles. He has athletic paces and really tries and is an exciting prospect. The next step will be to introduce some jumping and try to teach him that he can't hurdle over show jumps!

Monty before I sold him in November; new photos coming soon.

Ben has finally come back from his winter holiday complete with a rather huge stomach. That means diet and that is something that Ben does not take kindly to. His modest haynet this morning disappeared in 10 minutes flat so he was put on the walker where he squealed alot, complaining that everyone else still seemed to be eating. As he was rather bright I decided a lunge would be the easiest re-introduction to work and to be fair, he was very restrained on the lunge. After jogging and spooky up to the arena and a couple of circuits bucking her realised that it was quite hard work with the extra weight and soon settled down.

Back at the yard the banging demanding more food started and so I decided that turn out was probably the best option as there isn't much grass at the moment. I tied him on the yard and then popped to the tack room to get the camera to take some first day photos. Ben obviously thought I was taking much too long and immediately pulled back, breaking the lead rope, and bounded down to the fields himself naked. As I followed him down he found the huge pile of droppings by the gate from pooh picking and yes, turned looked at me shouting "NO", he got down and rolled in it!!! After 5 minutes chasing him around he finally gave in to the temptation of food and I caught him and dragged him back to the yard. His penance for his antics was putting on the 'lovely' new, bright pink print rug that Anita so kindly sent down with him. I assume all her other horses refused point blank to wear it, as you can see from then photo even Ben looks a bit dazzled by it!

Down at the fields the other horses did look slightly alarmed at this luminous creature, not that Ben cared as he has some serious rolling to do and preceeded to spend the next hour rolling in every possible muddy patch. When I brought him in a few hours later, said rug was more brown than pink and there was definitely a smug look on his face; 'That will teach you to try and ruin my street cred and don't worry it will be all brown in a week.'

Think I need to browse through photos of Ben jumping just to remind me why I love this horse so much!

Archie arrived at the yard a couple of weeks ago having had a holiday at home where he had very quickly reverted back to his natural state of Irish Bog Pony! Despite being all clipped out and trimmed in October he had grown amazing amounts of hair everywhere and a mane on each side  to look decidedly shaggy.  Alongside a rather portly tummy and a nice red tail from the mud he looked a far cry from the little eventing superstar of last year.

Archie on Arrival

Something had to be done fast. With 3 inches of hair on his body the clippers came out straight away and much to his annoyance his mane was attacked and his tail washed.  The farrier provided a new set of shoes and viola! Event pony rematerialises. Amazingly his tummy was mostly fluff so he has escaped a dreaded diet.

Archie after some TLC

Archie is a serious workaholic and is very happy to be back being ridden, but does have a very cheeky sense of humour.... After a few days power hacking I took him in the arena for a gentle school and he was exceptionally obliging in his trot work. However having lulled me into a false sense of security I gently asked for canter and was answered by a high pitched squeak and some impressive bucks across the school! 10 minutes later and countless transitions Archie was still sounding like an irate mouse and was completely adamnant that he had completely forgotten how to canter, but surely broncing would do just as well! Eventually we manged to hold a few strides of canter without an explosion and as we were both getting rather puffed left it at that. Fortunately things have improved over the last week although there is still a lot of work to do before the events begin in March.

The next aim is to give him a little jump at the weekend although Archie, who hasn't had a jumping fix for three months, may have other ideas. After his break last year he did his very best to put me into orbit, so I am prepared to hang on very tight.

It was so lovely to have warm and sunny weather this weekend and all the horses seemed very happy to be back in work. We took some photos of Aragon today as he needs to be advertised for sale, although this is one I do not want to see go! He was so full of himself and showing off big time, but being Aragon was completely safe and we had a great time with a short schooling session and a quick jump through a grid. His stomach has grown over the last week without work as Aragon't favourite occupation is speed eating! Considering he really is not fit and has had very little training recently I thought he felt superb. This is one young horse with serious ability once he has more consistent training. he really has the most wondeful attitude. Some photos below and there are more at http://s855.photobucket.com/albums/ab115/southwesteventing/Aragon/Aragon%202010/

Aragon keenly watching the horses and carraige that went past!

Well my praying did no good at all  as I woke up to a complete white-out on Wednesday. Thankfully it has melted fairly quickly and I managed to lunge the horses on Thursday and then ride them today. Although obviously fresh, they were remarkably well behaved which I think is due to the fact that i have managed to turn them out every day, which alongside the walker has kept them sane.  So it is back to the grindstone from now with Bellindene Archdene hopefully returning this weekend along with a short term schooling livery, both of which were postphoned from last weekend.

With some time on my hands over the last few days I have added a new page to my website giving some details of some of the horses I have been lucky enough to event in the past. If you want a look please visit

http://www.southwesteventing.com/Horses/pasthorses/pasthorses.htm

There are still a few more to add which I will try to do over the weekend.