In the last few weeks Sadie has been doing one session a week over the show jumps and her progress is incredible. She has hardly spooked at any fillers and we have progressed from a small grid to single jumps from both trot and canter with or without placing poles. I like to mix it up to keep her think and I am conscious to just keep her straight and in a controlled rythym and leave the rest to her so she learns to look after herself. I am really pleased that she always seems to learn from her mistakes and is developing great technique whilst staying very calm and relaxed. Yesterday she had her longest session yet and got lots of photos and video.

Started with a simple grid approaching in trot of two cross poles with a one stride distance and placing poles and this was her reaction when the filler was added to the second one!  Then built up to an upright and a spread and started putting it up a bit as she was finding it effortless.

Sequence of three as she popped down it as if she had been doing it for years. Whilst she was spot on, I must admit I was rather excited at jumping my first proper size fence on my baby and let myself get a bit too far forward on take off.

Next took her round the rest of the show jumps

Finally the water tray which warranted a little look and a big leap.

Videos of various below which I have finally managed to embed into the website.

In summary I am really can't express how pleased I am with my girl who is so rewarding to ride. I am still determined to take things slowly although after such a good performance we have decided to do the clear round at the show Jumping on Saturday here at Stockland Lovell just for a bit of fun!

Finally tired out and hot, but still happy! For a horse that loves to pull faces in the stable she has her ears permanently pricked when being ridden.

As usual the last few weeks have been manic and I have been a little remiss on updating my blog, sorry!

Firstly we went British ShowJumping at Bicton Arena at Easter taking Ben, Millie and new addition Tilly (Ultimate Quest) who is a stunning mare owned by Sarah Worrel who i am hoping to event at Novice/Intermediate level this year. In addition Anita (Ben's owner) met us there with Archidamus, known on the yard as big Archie as at big 16.2hh he is slightly larger than the crazie connie of the same name.

To be honest with the terrible rain we all thought the jumping would be off, but the rearranged the classes into the two all weather arenas and as the sun was shinning we trundle down on Sunday. Unfortunately all my classes were in the rather tight 60m by20m dressage arena and as the format was 2 phase they squashed a good 15 fences in there. Furthermore the tiny grass warm up was so cut up it was like riding in plough and was defintely not suitable for jumping on so we had to resort to going into the clear round to warm up where the ground was a bit better costing £4 each time.

Quick summary was that mayhem seemed to reign the whole day with the horsebox a long walk away and just too many horses to fit into the classes and results were mixed to say the least. Millie had a silly 1 down in the British Novice and did not seem quite herself. Ben managed to get incredibly wound up with his mate Archie goading him on and as a result was like an unexploded bomb as he entered the arena for the discovery after only 5 minutes warm up. Jumping the first few tensely, he turned down the line to the double and just on take off dropped his shoulder so fast catapulting me into the air hands still holding the reins with such force that the bridle came clean off and then proceeded to eye up the outer fence to get back to Archie on the other side who Anita was trying to keep out of sight. Pete managed to catch it all on camera and just to show I post the bad as well as the good here it is for you all to see. Luckily it didn't hurt at all!

Fortunately the day did improve slightly from there. Big Archie just had the first fence down in the discovery solely due to lack of concentration before jumping clear and then jumped a beautiful double clear in the Amateurs Open to finish 5th. Tilly was rather tense and over jumping everything in the discovery just tipping a pole in the jump off due to me holding on to her a bit to tight. I therefore made the effort to relax my arms and body in the Open and she jumped superbly and also posted quite a fast jump off time to finish 2nd. Both Archie and her qualified for the Second Rounds later in the year.

Archidamus (Big Archie)

Ultimate Quest (Tilly)

Ronnie has come to me for a couple of months whilst his owner Angela has wisely chosen to find some sun in Portugal after such a harsh winter. Since being in training Ronnie was first turned away and has since done nothing but hacking so the whole notion of schooling and jumping in an arena is completely alien to him.

A happy, bouncy character he loves to be ridden and has taken to it all really well  and he has lovely paces and presence, although his inquisitive nature means that gaining his attention when other things are going on is a bit of a challenge. In the photos below he was mesmerised by horses jumping in the adjoining arena!

Initially he found the jumps in the arena a great source of fun for spooking but once we put down some trot poles he was very happy to oblige in trot and canter.

Next we introduced a crosspole with a trot placing pole before and another one after and we a few attempts he managed to co-ordinate himself to produce a lovely jump.

Next progressed to a small upright again with the placing poles to help him get the right take off spot and again after a couple of attempts he clicked and started to give the fence some air.

So all in all a very successful introduction to coloured poles. We left it at that as he was beginning to tire and will now give him a couple of days to digest it all before giving him another jump and progressing things further.

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!!!!

Millie and Archie sporting some of the rossettes

I have decided show jumpers have it easy; you just load up a lorry load of horses with minimul preparation and then 10 minutes warming up each one before jumping round; all quite different to the endless preparation for the 3 phases of an event. We took Millie, Ben and 'big' Archie to Hand EC yesterday and jumping them each in two classes was still back by 2pm. However as the classes weren't that large it did mean very quick horse changes and warm ups in order to fit them all in and I couldn't have done it without the help of Dee and Fiona who were fabulous. One thing I have to admire the show jumpers for is remembering all the different courses as once I have memorised one course my brain really finds it diffucult to adapt to a new one over the same set of jumps!

Anyway despite these lapses which were fueled partly by tiredness and me forgetting to eat or drink anything all morning, it ended up a very successful day and it was very refreshing to actually get enough prize money to nearly pay for the day! In the British Novice I ended up 1st (Ben), 3rd (Millie) and 4th (Archie) and then in the Discovery was 1st on Millie and 3rd on Archie having one pole down on Ben as well as jockey forgeting the course, oops! Videos are available here. 

Millie was sporting a hackamore which she really likes and is much more focused and bold jumping in than with a bit that she tends to lean on. When I decided to up the pace going last in the jump off of the discovery she responded brilliantly and really attacked the fences so i think we will continue with it. Archie, who belongs to Ben's owner Anita, is just with me for a week for some fun and felt fabulous, very quickly getting back into jumping and really enjoying himself giving the fences feet in the warm up just for fun. Considering he is a well built 16.3hh he was remarkably balanced and easy to steer around the relatively tight courses and very light on his feet. Finally Ben was very well behaved and was also trying a different bit, the nathe tamden combination, as when out competing in the nathe snaffle even that can cut his very soft mouth if he gets strong. This bit acts also on the nose and the plus side was his mouth didn't get at all sore, but unfortunately he did back off it a bit too much at times and didn't like me putting any pressure on the ren as the day progressed. I think this might be a great bit for the cross country, but for just one round show jumping when eventing the snaffle may be better, but it is definitely a useful option to have for 'Mr Sensitive'.

Millie at the head of the line in her first win at BSJA

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!

I rode Archie and Millie in the Prelim class at the Affiliated dressage for more practise. Ben should have done a test as well and went beautifully the day before, but unfortunately aggrivated a tiny sore on his mouth so I decided it was not worth making it any worse so he got of lightly. Archie first warmed up calmly while everything was nice and quiet. In the arena he produced a similar test to the week before when he won apart from two bad mistakes breaking in the walk and getting the wrong canter lead which were both caused by complete lack of concentration when he became mesmerised by a new horse in the warm up!

Millie on the other hand came out rather argumentative, but with plenty of energy which was very welcome. I decided to really ride every movement and she felt great throughout the trot work with much improved stride length and rhythm; being able to carry a whip makes a huge difference for her. She did lose a bit of her engagement in the canter work which she does find harder, but I was generally pleased. Sorry, nobody was around to take her photo this time.

I wasn't really sure which horse would get the better score, but Millie came out on top coming 2nd with 64%. Acheiving straight 7's for her trot work and 6's for everything else I was very pleased as the judge has marked quite harshly. Archie was understandably punished for his mistakes and scored just over 60% with the judge also commentating that he did occassionally come to low in his frame which is an ongoing battle with him. I text Fiona who was at work and she was ectastic that Millie had managed a rossette and prize money at her first attempt at affiliated and she told me it left her smiling all day!

Monty the ex-racehorse has now been here 3 weeks for his re-training and is being a star. He has settled down really well and is now not bothered working with horses in the arena next to him. He has fantastic potential on the flat but does like to lean on the left rein and slip out through his shoulder so I have spent a lot of time teaching him to turn his shoulders from my outside leg. Jumping wise we have been doing a lot of work over poles and from trot, progressing to a grid with 3 fences on a one stride distance. He has proved to be totally unfazed by fillers and is quickly learning to work out how to just pop the fence rather than launch at it with a huge leap! Photo's below courtesy of Dee, Monty's owner who was a little unsure with my camera!

Plans to go to Hand Equestrian for BSJA today were cancelled yesterday when the Met Office forecast heavy rain and 40 mile an hour winds for the morning which would have made the journey treacherous. However I woke at 6am with an uneasy feeling that something wasn't quite right having not heard any wind through the night. A quick look on the BBC website and the so called storm seeemed to have disappeared, so I hurried up to the yard texting Fiona (Millie's owner) to say that jumping was back on! Zooming through the mucking out, we groomed and loaded up for just after 8am with Millie and Ben on board as poor Fling is still on box rest.

Arriving just as the British Novice was starting it was all abit of a rush to get both into the class. Millie first was a bit flat warming up, but then was very strong in the arena and unfortunately spooked on take off at the 4th fence landing in it and managing to break a pole! Luckily it didn't put her off and she finished the rest clear. Back at the lorry I quickly tacked Ben up and got on leaving Fiona to try and persuade Millie to load back on the lorry. She obviously felt she hadn't done enough yet. After taking 5 minutes to get to the collecting ring with Ben having other ideas, he felt very tense and rather grumpy to warm up. This gave me some doubts that I should have brought him at all as he has only had a couple of jumping sessions at home and hasn't yet shown the power and pure joy he usually gives me. Luckily Fiona managed to get down for me to jump about 3 practise fences before I had to go in. However once in the ring any fears were unfounded as his ears flicked forward, he fixed on the fences and popped nicley round for a double clear and 4th place. Rather blurry video of only a few fences please click here. Photo below of him waiting for his prize and showing that his diet still has some way to go!

Given that he really isn't fit yet we decided to leave it on that good note and get back to yard to sort out the rest of the neddies. We have plans to go back a week on Wednesday when hopefully Fling will be able to go too and we will endeavour to be more organised....

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.