Up for the dressage most of last weekend.
Not our best and no ribbons :( ; 60% in Intro A, 50% in Prelim 10. All said and done really the best possibility given that I had a back with all the suppleness of a concrete python.
Intro could have been better, what have I learnt - more warm up, suppleness in me is important too! But we did improve on the exactness and balance of downward work from last month :). As for the Prelim, it was actually all I was hoping for, given the need for a little more collection plus quite a bit of canter work. I got one canter which was one more than I was hoping for.
All really good experience. I remember complaining to Sophie about the whole getting dressed up bit .... but you know I think I really enjoy it! And generally Ernie seems to raise his game too - one or two noted exceptions of course! Most of you have seen the jump vid on FB.
Anyway am up for doing some Internet dressage next week. Video it, post thru youtube, get judged! Nice and easy, keep doing it till you get it right!!
We're looking for some new hack-pals for Ernie as well. Nero and Pru have both been out with us this week though perhaps in latter case we might have been a little too flirty - though actually I put it down to Ernie's good old "Oi, I wanna go first!" which to a degree seems to be returning - evidenced by a couple of sizable bucks around canter time - undoing some of my prudent investment in physio this week.
But we've schooled, hacked and jumped this week - a really good combination for the chap and we've avoided napping circumstances as much as possible - though there have been a couple, but put another horse in front and we're done. I think we're happy boys. I'm riding 5 times a week at the moment and you know what I love it, but we are doing less than we were, need to look at that. Ernie has a couple of days off and I think he loves that too.
His schooling this week has been better, the lightening of the forehand last week is definitely helping and we keep building on that. I have been working more on lateral work as well, leg-yeilds, starting shoulder-in and something cowboy called milling (like turn on the forehand around a small circle), I'm hoping this will develop more suppleness in him, a constant theme coming out of our dressage tests And my maintenance of contact, not a strength of mine. Starting to get some good canter transition work in the school for the first time, and no bucks. I think jumping is teaching me a little bit more about motivating and balancing the big man.
Famous last words!
My big panic is summer hols - I need to arrange cover for our US odyssey. Plus the poor sod will have to put up me returning from releasing the ever-slumbering cowboy in my heart!
Trot on y'all!!
G
The continuing learning curve that is my life with Ernie
Saturday, 25 June 2011
Wednesday, 15 June 2011
Another dip in the sand.... And this time it hurts!
It's almost like he's learnt a new trick. If I think about everything I've sat through for the last year or so with Ernie, particularly when he was a school horse, to have been unseated twice in 10 days seems a tad concerning. I'm going for coincidence because I have to believe that ...... the alternatives are too much to bear!!!
In both cases it really seems to have been the slightest of bucks.
Ironic really he has been very good all week. We've concentrated on gentle hacks and school work. I have been working on the "hey, its fun to be together" strategy, which generally seemed to be paying dividends. Then on Sunday, a little fresh in spirit but with all the makings of what would be a very positive schooling session, 5 mins into warm up and i'm on the floor, a slightly excitable canter transition as the Taylor's horses were being turned out. Clearly my fruity young man had mares on his mind!
Landed on my seat, never done that before, bloody hell it hurt. Someone pointed out to me this week that it's ok there it's nice no soft. Yeah right. You try dropping 13 stone from a height of just under 2 metres and you see .....
Wednesday night now and I'm still drugged and trussed up. Still I've been riding both Tuesday and tonight. Used the opportunity for some more subtle schooling and tuition - not un-needed. I believe Ernie really enjoys being taught new things - at least when I can muster up the right instructions.
Nancy rode him for 10 mins tonight and really lightened the forehand. Some good instruction on teaching him more self-carriage, issue the right instruction and he quickly shows respect, will I remember it? Lifting him through the bit quickly with a supporting "up!up!", then quick release as he cedes. He does tend to collapse into his downward transitions and this begins to feel like a solution as ride it afterwards. This delivers a real the change in feel around his transitions, both up (which feels genuinely "up") and down.
Am now preparing for dressage this weekend, an opportunity to improve our performance discipline - particularly downward transitions - in Intro A and to create all sorts of mayhem in Prelim 7 - the latter is about 25% canter work .... at this point this weeks blog descends into wild hysterical almost villaineous laughter, which slowly fades to silence as the image draws to ever smaller dot in the middle of the screen .....
In both cases it really seems to have been the slightest of bucks.
Ironic really he has been very good all week. We've concentrated on gentle hacks and school work. I have been working on the "hey, its fun to be together" strategy, which generally seemed to be paying dividends. Then on Sunday, a little fresh in spirit but with all the makings of what would be a very positive schooling session, 5 mins into warm up and i'm on the floor, a slightly excitable canter transition as the Taylor's horses were being turned out. Clearly my fruity young man had mares on his mind!
Landed on my seat, never done that before, bloody hell it hurt. Someone pointed out to me this week that it's ok there it's nice no soft. Yeah right. You try dropping 13 stone from a height of just under 2 metres and you see .....
Wednesday night now and I'm still drugged and trussed up. Still I've been riding both Tuesday and tonight. Used the opportunity for some more subtle schooling and tuition - not un-needed. I believe Ernie really enjoys being taught new things - at least when I can muster up the right instructions.
Nancy rode him for 10 mins tonight and really lightened the forehand. Some good instruction on teaching him more self-carriage, issue the right instruction and he quickly shows respect, will I remember it? Lifting him through the bit quickly with a supporting "up!up!", then quick release as he cedes. He does tend to collapse into his downward transitions and this begins to feel like a solution as ride it afterwards. This delivers a real the change in feel around his transitions, both up (which feels genuinely "up") and down.
Am now preparing for dressage this weekend, an opportunity to improve our performance discipline - particularly downward transitions - in Intro A and to create all sorts of mayhem in Prelim 7 - the latter is about 25% canter work .... at this point this weeks blog descends into wild hysterical almost villaineous laughter, which slowly fades to silence as the image draws to ever smaller dot in the middle of the screen .....
Monday, 6 June 2011
The ups and downs of a first outing away from home
So we ventured a whole half a km down the entrance road to Old Bexley to give Ernie the chance to try out competing at an unfamiliar venue.
The plan was simple... walk him down, warm him up, Graeme competes in minimus, Sophie completes him in Novice and home we go. And back home for a late lunch. Should have sensed things were up as those promising to cheer from the sidelines slowly dropped away .....
So Saturday I took him up to Taylors, we did some good school work and did a dozen or so jumps just to get us into the spirit, a completely perfect warm up, then comes Sunday....
I get down to the stables early to muck-out before going to the competition and Ernie siezes the opportunity to escape, barging wheel-barrows and pitchforks this was and that, harrassing Mary-Lou on route - much squeeling ensues - and then moves on. Eventually stupidly corners himself in another stable which was open, where he has been enticed to enter and enjoy another breakfast - then on the way back trys to squeeze himself into pony stall for similar reason! I discover controlling a 17.1 horse with just a rope wrapped round his neck is quite challenging.
I walked him down inhand with a rucksack containing extra bits of tack, cameras etc. As we arrived he became a little more excitable, but it took me serveral hours to understand that one! So there I was one man and his slightly nervous horse, admin to sort and nowhere to put him! You try tieing a number to the arm of your jacket whilst holding a horse - actually in the fog of memory I can't actually recall how we did that in the end. Some sort of Harry Potter trick.
Finally got rid of my ricksack I decided it was warm up time. The mountain block here seemed to be an old piece of iron-work from an external fire escape - getting him to stand there was a destined loser. So the poor chap's getting more and more wound up. Eventually we cheat him when someone produces a chair and I precariously mount from them. We go to the warm-up arena, which seemed to be a mixture of sand-dune and quarry, depending on where you rode. Ernie not settled. Children arrive and start galloping their ponies around, this doesn't calm the big E. After they've gone we start some trot work, next thing I know I'm flying over his shoulder. One well timed buck and I'm off -- the first time! Am not sure which one of us is more surprised.
Sophie arrives and discovers that we hadn't posted ourselves for our round - long wait ensues. Anyway it is eventually our time. By this time I've done my course learning, am a little surprised about my earlier intimacy with the sandpit and am thinking the jumps are a bit higher than I thought. Chaos ensues, Ernie naps and has to be led in, we immediately start jumping around which after refusing fence 2 develops into bucking, rearing and more refusing - then we start spooking at the bottom corner (see above on arrival) of the sand school. On refusing fence 4 we are technically eliminated, I don't hear this or the wise advice been shouted from behind the camera. I continue. Of the remaining five fences I think we get over about three (a few more bucks n spooks), more me just wanting to settle things a bit rather than actual competition. And I do, and there's a lot of applause.
Sophie tags on to the end of the class and gets him to do it properly! Nice! I suspect driven by the need for survival when the bigger fences come along - quite reasonably. A little irritation on the part of the judges about horses only entering each class only once. Next painful wait ensues, jump-off of 15 horses! ....
Although they're up second they are cursed with a clear round and then have to penultimate position in the novice jump off. Another long wait. Anyway Ernie's perfomance this time is much better, Sophie has calmed him down, got him focussed and deliver the sort of performance we know he can do. After the long wait for the jump off, he's cold and wet (rain having started) and brings down a couple of jumps, so we breathe a sigh of relief and head home with him.
So in the middle of all this hanging around I offer to take the big E for a walk. Not thinking I take him out towards the road, and in horse psychology, towards home. Dumb move 1. I have to walk him past the other jumping horses, this gets him on his toes. As he senses home he picks up the pace. I realise the error of my ways and turn him in the car park and I find the source of our spooking, a cockeral stands on a fence and crows, Ernie rears. The cock crows, Ernie rears, the cock crows, Ernie rears ..... in the middle of this I am barking calming instructions and offering calming pats when he stands and the cock crows again.....
Monday morning - I am beaten up, hands raw from the lead rope, toes bruised from hooves landing on them, back and inner thighs screaming from being bounced here and there.... oh and a bruised shoulder .......
Link to youtube and Sophie's great rounds http://www.youtube.com/graemebesgreen
The plan was simple... walk him down, warm him up, Graeme competes in minimus, Sophie completes him in Novice and home we go. And back home for a late lunch. Should have sensed things were up as those promising to cheer from the sidelines slowly dropped away .....
So Saturday I took him up to Taylors, we did some good school work and did a dozen or so jumps just to get us into the spirit, a completely perfect warm up, then comes Sunday....
I get down to the stables early to muck-out before going to the competition and Ernie siezes the opportunity to escape, barging wheel-barrows and pitchforks this was and that, harrassing Mary-Lou on route - much squeeling ensues - and then moves on. Eventually stupidly corners himself in another stable which was open, where he has been enticed to enter and enjoy another breakfast - then on the way back trys to squeeze himself into pony stall for similar reason! I discover controlling a 17.1 horse with just a rope wrapped round his neck is quite challenging.
I walked him down inhand with a rucksack containing extra bits of tack, cameras etc. As we arrived he became a little more excitable, but it took me serveral hours to understand that one! So there I was one man and his slightly nervous horse, admin to sort and nowhere to put him! You try tieing a number to the arm of your jacket whilst holding a horse - actually in the fog of memory I can't actually recall how we did that in the end. Some sort of Harry Potter trick.
Finally got rid of my ricksack I decided it was warm up time. The mountain block here seemed to be an old piece of iron-work from an external fire escape - getting him to stand there was a destined loser. So the poor chap's getting more and more wound up. Eventually we cheat him when someone produces a chair and I precariously mount from them. We go to the warm-up arena, which seemed to be a mixture of sand-dune and quarry, depending on where you rode. Ernie not settled. Children arrive and start galloping their ponies around, this doesn't calm the big E. After they've gone we start some trot work, next thing I know I'm flying over his shoulder. One well timed buck and I'm off -- the first time! Am not sure which one of us is more surprised.
Sophie arrives and discovers that we hadn't posted ourselves for our round - long wait ensues. Anyway it is eventually our time. By this time I've done my course learning, am a little surprised about my earlier intimacy with the sandpit and am thinking the jumps are a bit higher than I thought. Chaos ensues, Ernie naps and has to be led in, we immediately start jumping around which after refusing fence 2 develops into bucking, rearing and more refusing - then we start spooking at the bottom corner (see above on arrival) of the sand school. On refusing fence 4 we are technically eliminated, I don't hear this or the wise advice been shouted from behind the camera. I continue. Of the remaining five fences I think we get over about three (a few more bucks n spooks), more me just wanting to settle things a bit rather than actual competition. And I do, and there's a lot of applause.
Sophie tags on to the end of the class and gets him to do it properly! Nice! I suspect driven by the need for survival when the bigger fences come along - quite reasonably. A little irritation on the part of the judges about horses only entering each class only once. Next painful wait ensues, jump-off of 15 horses! ....
Although they're up second they are cursed with a clear round and then have to penultimate position in the novice jump off. Another long wait. Anyway Ernie's perfomance this time is much better, Sophie has calmed him down, got him focussed and deliver the sort of performance we know he can do. After the long wait for the jump off, he's cold and wet (rain having started) and brings down a couple of jumps, so we breathe a sigh of relief and head home with him.
So in the middle of all this hanging around I offer to take the big E for a walk. Not thinking I take him out towards the road, and in horse psychology, towards home. Dumb move 1. I have to walk him past the other jumping horses, this gets him on his toes. As he senses home he picks up the pace. I realise the error of my ways and turn him in the car park and I find the source of our spooking, a cockeral stands on a fence and crows, Ernie rears. The cock crows, Ernie rears, the cock crows, Ernie rears ..... in the middle of this I am barking calming instructions and offering calming pats when he stands and the cock crows again.....
Monday morning - I am beaten up, hands raw from the lead rope, toes bruised from hooves landing on them, back and inner thighs screaming from being bounced here and there.... oh and a bruised shoulder .......
Link to youtube and Sophie's great rounds http://www.youtube.com/graemebesgreen
Thursday, 2 June 2011
Blimey ... what can good partners do?
So we competed this week in the MM combined training day. We came 2nd. Stunned!! If I was surprised by the last dressage outing, this went off the scale.
All of this made all the more amazing when you note that my lack of discipline threw away the first dressage event, picking up 6th place. What miracle produced this outcome then. Our jumping, OMG our jumping.... say it again and let me hear the friends ring it out. 1st place, and 1st place on one and a half weeks practice.
But lets set the context. Ernie knows how to jump. We've discussed that many times before, though not with me in the same sentence. I entered with supreme confidence of his ability and as such let him get on with it, pointing in the right direction and nudgung forward at the appropriate, assisted by Sophie making scary noises from the touchline at appropriate times. All beautifully captured by Courtenay, new job there I suspect.
Really he was wonderful. All morning actually. He has a wonderfully mature workmanlike approach to competition. Whatever we may say about his schooling, he knows what to produce and when. What will stick in my mind for the day was sitting on him waiting to go into jump and watching him watch all the preceding horses follow the course and do every jump. It was really as if he was studying form or learning the course or both..... He is an intelligent animal.
It has become in two days my most popular ever youtube post, but hey look at the competition, lets not go there!
It was a fantastic weekend of learning, jumping everyday, even jumping Barney as well. I have received a lot of compliments about my riding which has wonderful of course, I try in my way to defer to a willing horse, a great trainer etc. But hey, I was there too. My one regret is that these are truly one off occasions, these feelings will never happen again in quite the same way. Why, because these were just so unexpected, but these things go with you to your grave and bring a richness of experience to ones existence; that I may somehow have missed them is unthinkable. If I think how much I tried to persuade myself not to buy Ernie for example, then that I wouldn't compete him etc etc.
On the more day-to-day elements of our life our lessons on Tuesday have become more exciting as we move towards prix caprilli dressage (dressage incl jumps - woo-who, guess who likes that). Ernie very much playing up this week and found myself riding direct from spook to jump, all seat strengthening stuff! Not for the feint hearted, especially with something as large and (now) strong as Ernie.
As for hacking, took him out alone this morning and won a very significant napping situation in the chalk woods :). His mounting block rudeness irritates a little, so have just started getting on the wrong side to catch him out. He hasn't worked out that one yet - not sure what his next move will be there - hoping he'll just get bored.
Also today we had our first bolt since I brought him - had one once as well when he was a school horse. Quickly realised how much fitter and stronger he now is. A good 500m or so at flat out gallop, up hill and down dale as they say - only stopping at the main gate into the woods literally, which I was seriously worrying that he was going to jump ... in my attempts to stop this I discovered that horses can do shoulder-in or something like it at gallop (why - I decided if he couldn't focus both eyes on it he couldn't set himself up to jump - watch how he lines himself up pre-jump in video). We stopped in the last metre, his nose touching the gate and amazingly me staying on board. Not a recommend experience, but one really brought on by myself, although sensing him to be a little lively I still encouraged him to canter towards home, but quickly he got away from me!! Best comparison, Disney's thunder mountain ride without the safety harnesses.
All these challenges I seem to relish, good or bad. There is no questioning that the Big E is no average: his tricks, his talents, his personality.....
All of this made all the more amazing when you note that my lack of discipline threw away the first dressage event, picking up 6th place. What miracle produced this outcome then. Our jumping, OMG our jumping.... say it again and let me hear the friends ring it out. 1st place, and 1st place on one and a half weeks practice.
But lets set the context. Ernie knows how to jump. We've discussed that many times before, though not with me in the same sentence. I entered with supreme confidence of his ability and as such let him get on with it, pointing in the right direction and nudgung forward at the appropriate, assisted by Sophie making scary noises from the touchline at appropriate times. All beautifully captured by Courtenay, new job there I suspect.
Really he was wonderful. All morning actually. He has a wonderfully mature workmanlike approach to competition. Whatever we may say about his schooling, he knows what to produce and when. What will stick in my mind for the day was sitting on him waiting to go into jump and watching him watch all the preceding horses follow the course and do every jump. It was really as if he was studying form or learning the course or both..... He is an intelligent animal.
It has become in two days my most popular ever youtube post, but hey look at the competition, lets not go there!
It was a fantastic weekend of learning, jumping everyday, even jumping Barney as well. I have received a lot of compliments about my riding which has wonderful of course, I try in my way to defer to a willing horse, a great trainer etc. But hey, I was there too. My one regret is that these are truly one off occasions, these feelings will never happen again in quite the same way. Why, because these were just so unexpected, but these things go with you to your grave and bring a richness of experience to ones existence; that I may somehow have missed them is unthinkable. If I think how much I tried to persuade myself not to buy Ernie for example, then that I wouldn't compete him etc etc.
On the more day-to-day elements of our life our lessons on Tuesday have become more exciting as we move towards prix caprilli dressage (dressage incl jumps - woo-who, guess who likes that). Ernie very much playing up this week and found myself riding direct from spook to jump, all seat strengthening stuff! Not for the feint hearted, especially with something as large and (now) strong as Ernie.
As for hacking, took him out alone this morning and won a very significant napping situation in the chalk woods :). His mounting block rudeness irritates a little, so have just started getting on the wrong side to catch him out. He hasn't worked out that one yet - not sure what his next move will be there - hoping he'll just get bored.
Also today we had our first bolt since I brought him - had one once as well when he was a school horse. Quickly realised how much fitter and stronger he now is. A good 500m or so at flat out gallop, up hill and down dale as they say - only stopping at the main gate into the woods literally, which I was seriously worrying that he was going to jump ... in my attempts to stop this I discovered that horses can do shoulder-in or something like it at gallop (why - I decided if he couldn't focus both eyes on it he couldn't set himself up to jump - watch how he lines himself up pre-jump in video). We stopped in the last metre, his nose touching the gate and amazingly me staying on board. Not a recommend experience, but one really brought on by myself, although sensing him to be a little lively I still encouraged him to canter towards home, but quickly he got away from me!! Best comparison, Disney's thunder mountain ride without the safety harnesses.
All these challenges I seem to relish, good or bad. There is no questioning that the Big E is no average: his tricks, his talents, his personality.....
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