Arthur's first test

Er....so I need to try being less cocky in the future! Clever Arthur took home first place and a score of 71.4% in his prelim test and 72.2% in his Novice test! Not bad for a horse who has only been back in work for 2 months!

So now, on to the winters.....come on little Arthur, you can do it! Please Baby Jesus keep his footsie from falling off, Amen.

Helfie

Warmup

Pretty Arthur

A new chapter

So I feel like every time I write in this blog it always starts with ‘Phew, so much has happened since I last wrote’…but this time it really, really has.

But first..........

 

So when I last wrote, I was getting ready to do our first medium test. And I had planned on writing straight away about the test, how amazing it was and how we walked out of there to fanfares and banners and people screaming our names. Alas, this was not to be. And it was my own fault. I was tense and uptight and stupidly changed his tack last minute and to cut a long story short it wasn’t the best test I’ve ever done – BUT we came 6^th and we were the only medium riders in the mixed group of elementary and medium tests. Deep breath, and move on.

 

Beau was going really well. He started to learn flying changes and was doing half passes in his sleep – such a great boy. But lots was going on with me, my life and I think we were getting to a stage that it just wasn’t working for us both anymore. I HATE that I am so goddamn competitive but I wanted to move up the levels quickly. I wanted to have a horse that could help me to reach my goal of number 1 dressage rider of all time, AKA Carl Hesters muse, AKA Olympic dressage star of the future. But Beau needs someone who is patient. So, I decided to sell him. Gasp. And the plan was to go to Holland and get a slightly younger, more advanced horse-of-amazingness. Double Gasp.

The last ride

 

But then life got in the way.

 

Work got crazy, life got crazy and it actually made more sense to sell Beau but actually to try NOT owning a horse for a while (please note, anyone thinking of doing this….don’t do it. It sucks). I thought I should probably spend SOME amount of time with my boyfriend for a change…he had been hanging in for the last 6 years after all so I guess giving him a couple of evenings a week wouldn’t be so bad…would it? So a few people came to see Beau, I had quite a bit of interest in him (of course I did – he’s freaking gorgeous….biased much???). But the day that Tracy and her family and instructor came down to try him changed both mine and Beau’s lives forever. I just knew. They were perfect. The yard sounded perfect. Everything was perfect. And Beau now resides near the pretty south coast of the UK, I’m sure getting fatter than a pregnant mare and enjoying life.
 

I can’t even talk about the amount of tears I cried when he left though. Everywhere I turned I saw his name. Every song on the radio seemed to be about Beau and I. Somewhere amidst the tears I remember declaring ‘I want babies’, to which my boyfriend softly responded ‘we need to get you another horse my darling’. Who would have thought my boyfriend, of all people, would be an advocate of my addiction.  

So I decided to look for a horse to share, or loan. Which brought me to Arthur. A 16.3 Dutch by London who has had a lot of work done to his hoof lately – basically blood started spurting out of the middle of it, and therefore has had some time off. So was unfit but adorable.

 

I accepted Arthur into my life like an addict taking a hit of their poison after being denied it for a long time. I felt the eyes rolling back in my head and the feeling of panic starting to subside. There is life after Beau.

 

I’m not sure how long I will keep sharing for but for now it is the right thing for me. I don’t know how long Arthur will be in my life for but right now he’s perfect. I plan on taking him out to our first test next Sunday and after the last competition, I promise to be slightly less cocky and will be happy if we manage to stay inside the dressage markers.

 

Until next time,

Victoria (and Arthur) xx

Arthur (aka Hannibal Lecter) and his Irish friend, Jimmy

 

2 years on and we're hanging in there....just about!

OK – sheesh, a lot has happened since I last wrote! Again! I have now had Beau for over two years and from the last post I shared in May 2012, when we had done our first prelim test together, we are now preparing for our first medium level test next weekend. See, if you pray enough to baby jesus, miracles DO happen!

I’ve realised a lot about my horse. I’ve realised he needs someone to have a calm but firm hand. I’ve realised he needs patience. I’ve realised he relaxes  once his rider relaxes. I’ve realised that he will 99.9% of the time shit his pants going up the centre line in a test when he sees the judge. But I’ve also learnt a lot about myself. I’ve learnt that I’m NOT patient. I’ve learnt I’m NOT relaxed and I’ve learnt that perhaps we are not the best suited pair in the world. But we have learnt so much together and finally Beau trusts me and I trust him and I know when he’s going through a hard time.

So we’ve moved around a bit for various reasons and have found the right yard for us – it’s a nice small, quiet yard, which Beau likes, and it’s close to 2 competition yards so the crazy competitive freak girl within me is also satisfied. Due to lots of combined factors, along with the help of our great trainer, Louise Evans, we are no longer as worried about doing the bucking bronco in the middle of a test while fancy dressage types on their plump horses with shiny over reach boots and sheepskin everything look on in disgust. We are now more concerned with the amount of cadence and impulsion Beau is showing (if any) and whether or not he is shaped like a banana or a plank. He has his tantrums still and I have to admit they annoy the life out of me. I can picture myself in the future if I ever have children knocking on the door of the hospital dangling the kid by the leg to see if the hospital want it back. I have had that moment many a time with Beau but right now I’m very happy I made the decision to stick with it. We’re doing a medium test for chrissake…never did I think I’d achieve that in 2 years.

The amount of sheepskin goods has increased ten fold in the hope that the equation ‘fluffy things = amazing dressage horses’ is correct. It seems however, that it is not. 

We have also gone through a few new sharers and we now have such a great mix, I’m so lucky that I have some really great people to help me out with Beau. Trying to find the right sharer is a TOTAL nightmare. Finding the right sharer is a dream come true with cherries on top. Said new sharer has started to jump Beau. He jumps over poles as if you were ask a cat to jump into a bath of water. He is very clearly a dressage horse. And while you can almost hear him saying ‘Excuuuuuuuuuuuse me but what the DEVIL are you expecting me to do here.....tallyho…snarf’ he actually quite enjoys it. Not the cleanest jumper you’ve ever seen but it’s good for him to try a few new things from time to time.

Thankfully throughout it all, one thing Beau has been is healthy. He went through a brief stage of not being great for a month due to various external reasons but when I hear stories from friends about horses on box rest, horses with colic, horses with half a fence stuck in their faces etc, I feel very lucky that Beau has only given me a few bumps and scratches. And he is a dream to handle in the stable and around the yard. Except when you go near him with a clippers. NEVER go near him with a clippers. Sorry previous yard manager, whom he tried to kill with one swift boot to the head (that’s when I discovered the beauty of the twitch).

We have been out and about a lot and we now focus on venues where I know he will chill out – ie venues where there are other horses within sight! We’re on the way to qualifiying for the regionals at Elementary level so watch out Carl Hester and all the posho fancy pants dressage people ala paragraph 3.

Highlights from the past 2 years:

• Starting to compete in affiliated BD competitions
• Winning the overall ridden section at the Chiltern and Thames showing championships
• Beau receiving his first over 70% at elementary level (unaffiliated)
• Onboarding Lynda and Camilla to Team Beau
• Getting our highest elementary affiliated dressage score, 69%, beating the fancy pants Lucitano stallion that I was giving evils to
• Qualifying for the Petplan championships
• Seeing Lynda win her novice class at Oldencraig
• Doing our first flying change
• Competing at the south east championships in Hickstead (even if I left my mum's wedding celebrations early to get back for it)
• Finding our perfect yard and seeing Beau make friends

I promise to be a good blogger and update this much more often Amen.