A clinic with......Judy Reynolds

As everyone knows, I'm a big fan of training with different trainers. Not only is it great to have another perspective on things, it's fun to do something away from the yard without having the pressures of competition. Having a good understanding of your goals with your core trainer is absolutely vital and I am reminded every week how luck I am to have Sandra Blake-Farrell as my regular trainer. There is always something I take away from every single lesson and having trained with a lot of different trainers across Europe I can say that it isn't always the case so to keep learning from my regular weekly lesson is fantastic. Often with Sandra I will spend quite some time walking around her in circles while she explains something to me and that's when I get the light bulb moments. It's all well and good riding around trying the competition movements but personally I want to really understand the reasoning behind each movement and learn not only the concept but the purpose behind them. To find out more on the objectives of each movement and the general rules of dressage, I found this link really helpful: https://inside.fei.org/sites/default/files/DRE-Rules_2017_GA_approved_clean.pdf

I started really teaching the changes a few weeks ago. Romy had done them before but they hadn't really been focussed on and I hadn't done much with them since buying him. In my first 'changes' lesson with Sandra, she quickly realised that we needed to change up our way of going so rather than collect him into the change, I had to ride forward into a counter canter with my seat, ask for the new bend and then stop asking for counter canter, rather than ask for the new canter lead. Romy is VERY sensitive to my leg behind the girth (and yes, he showed negative to test for both front and hind gut ulcers!) and while sensitivity is a fab thing to have in a dressage horse, my overactive right leg, coupled with Romys overactive sensitivity can result in a few teenage strops from time to time. Romy understands what I'm asking of him now and other than the odd aforementioned strops (usually my fault for asking too much with the new outside leg) he is really starting to get them. HUZZAH AND HALLELUJA!


On the 26th of November last year I was kindly offered a slot to train with the Irish Olympic dressage rider, Judy Reynolds. Judy was really hitting the headlines as she was doing so much for the Irish dressage scene and she and her horse JP were smashing world records for Ireland across the globe. So I was excited to train with her. And of course, sods law, Romy started to get poorly. I had to pull out of that lesson so when I was offered another lesson with Judy this November and Romy was feeling great, it seemed somewhat fitting to see in the anniversary of his injury with a lesson from an Olympian! The lesson was at her family home in Kildare and the weather couldn't have been better. Blue skies and a crispness to the air, perfect weather for horse riding if you ask me.

I decided to ride without a stick and in a snaffle for the lesson and I didn't miss the stick once so I'm not going to carry one in future. I'll always bring one to my training sessions just in case but Romy really doesn't need any added aids at this stage, which I'm thankful for. Romy has been going really nicely in the Micklem bridle lately, which was good as we have just ordered new double bridle bits and they haven't yet arrived so don't have much choice!

After warming up and going through all of Romy's history, current training plan and areas to work on, Judy asked us to pick up trot and watched Romys way of going. The main thing I took from the entire lesson was the first thing she said to us and reminded me of throughout the lesson 'make him quicker behind'. Quicker, but not faster. Romy is a good learner and is always looking for the next challenge so he was willing to try this new quickness....I on the other hand was puffing after a while. After a little break she looked at the canter and did some canter trot canter transitions, something I had been working on with Sandra. I think I mentioned before that Romy often thinks passage when I half halt so Judy wanted to maintain the quickness into the walk. If I half halted and Romy started to slow down and think passage, I would ride him forward out of it and keep doing that until he kept the quickness and activity into the downward transition.

We then went to look at some shoulder in in trot. I had worked on the shoulder in with Sandra the day before so I was confident enough riding them and was happy when Judy seemed content with both reins. Her main comment in that movement was for me to be aware of the flexion at the poll rather than angle at the neck, which Sandra had also spoken to me about. I really do find shoulder ins quite tough if I'm honest....I think they're my nemesis!

On to the half passes in trot, Romy had no issues with the half pass right but in the half pass left I almost forgot who I was riding and rode it as I would ride a typical half pass, asking the horse to bend around my inside leg and controlling the quarters with the outside leg (cue aforementioned teenage strop in the form of a buck into canter and 'I REFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSE TO TROT YOU WITCH HOOMAN'. Romythemostsensitivehorseintheworld doesn't like me reminding him, particularly with my right leg, so I have always had to ride his half pass left with more shoulder steering than leg control. Judy reminded me that he has to allow me to put his leg on him so that's something I will have to work with a little more at home.

We then went on to the canter and Judy asked me to ride the flying change as I would at home......right...this is the moment Victoria, what were you told....ride forward with your seat, check. Counter canter, check. New bend, check. Don't ask for the counter canter anymore.....he did it! He did come a little croup high which meant I couldn't feel if it was clean or not (it was) but for our first attempt Judy was complimentary. Yay! The other way (left to right) was slightly more....exhuberant shall we say so Judy got us to change the canter a bit. She wanted him to be quicker behind, and when I asked for that I felt like I was sitting on a bouncy ball, it was a great feeling! We did a few changes either way in a straight line 5 meters in from the wall and Romy did a super job so we left it there.

I was a little nervous to see how Romy coped the day after the lesson as I had two training sessions one with Sandra on the Saturday and the other with Judy on the Sunday but I stretched his legs on the Monday and he felt super! His hindquarters are looking stronger and his coat has definitely changed for the better since putting him on Baileys Racehorse mix and spirulina.

I feel like I have a good training plan in place now and hope to continue with my lessons every Saturday with Sandra and also train with Judy when she's back over. I think so many riders feel a certain loyalty to a trainer, which I understand, but I think like every service you need to shop around until you find the product that's right for you and your horse. Good trainers are hard to come by and I feel like this is a pretty good team I've got going on now. I don't want to jinx things but I'm feeling excited again about Romy's future! *touches all the wood around her in the hope that her horses legs don't fall off*

Until next time
V & R x

Dressage Nationals 2017 - The Result

Well, we made it down the centre line and I’m proud to say WE CAME FOURTH!!! The sun was shining on the day that we were travelling to the Dressage Nationals at Cavan International Equestrian Centre and Romy loaded like a pro. I had the music blaring, a smile on my face and other than a slight hairy moment involving a ditch we made it safe and sound up to the venue in plenty of time to do an arena walk. The arena walk was...colourful, shall we say. A usually chilled out Romy found the atmosphere a bit much and decided to show off some illegal (and some downright never seen before) moves. It did mean we had a lot of space around us as other competitors side stepped out of our way with a look of sheer panic on their faces. I put the nerves down to the fact that Romy hadn’t been anywhere quite like it before so tried not to let it effect my confidence too much. Plus, bonus, we got away without the destruction of the arena markers, flower pots or innocent bystanders. After his little...ahem...incident, I gave Romy his evening feed, wrapped him up in his pj’s and settled him in for the night. A glass of red wine settled me in for the night.

 

Weeeeeee!

The alarm went off at 05.30 the following morning and I was at the yard, like an excited Duracell bunny, ready for the arena walk at 06.30. He went around the arena like it was something he does every morning. Aattta boy Romy...not a bother to you. I warmed up in the collecting ring, in hind sight I should have gone up to the big warm up arena instead as the space was tight and I didn’t get to ride Romy forward much, which meant he decided to think passage when I half halted (note for the future, half halt with your seat...wally). But I was feeling pretty confident when the time came for us to go in. I was announced as an international rider which made me fluff up my chest feathers and Romy (Furst Romanoff) was announced as Dutch..he’s German. We were both happy to run with our new found aliases (yes, I did just Google search that to make sure it was actually a word). I was focussing so much on Romy (particularly trying to ensure he stayed rhythmical and DIDN'T show the judges his illegal passage moves, by rising in my trot rather than sitting) that I only went and did a 20 meter circle where there should have been a 10 meter circle...again...wally. But Romy did a nice test, I rode it pretty safely to say the least, and we ended up on a very respectable 5^th place out of 40 riders in my class and only 2% behind first place. Had we not gone wrong we definitely would have moved up a place but we live and learn. We had another elementary test the following day, both scores would be added up to give our final score so I knew I had to take a few more risks the next day.

 

Side Steppin'

 

Saturday came and I was feeling really excited about this test. I knew Romy could cope with the really quite spooky atmosphere now and any initial nerves had subsided. I decided to get out his fancy schmancy show rug and give him a really long warm up in the top arena. It was a windy day...I’m sure another one of the many storms that seem to have come our way lately. Romy got a bit of Storm Whatsisface up his bum and decided that he was going to have another go of those illegal moves, ala day 1 arena walk. And when he had a bit of a side step away from a very scary bush, the aforementioned show rug flapped against his side and poor Romy got an awful fright. We nearly went up a wall, with the focus being on the word 'NEARLY'. We didn’t. I stayed on. And I must say, it gave Romy a LOT of extra power and bounce. If that’s what we have to do from now on to get that lovely feeling then I will be hiring minions to stand in bushes in the warm up and jump out with a BOO from time to time. He felt lovely. And when we went down that centre line I couldn’t get the smile off my face. Some negative tension did creep into a few movements unfortunately, his walk got a little joggy, he broke in one of the simple changes and his halt, for which he ALWAYS gets 8’s, was akin to an impression of a passafino pony...his little legs couldn’t stay still. I managed a salute with a smile on my face and was just so over the moon with him, it didn’t really matter to me what we got. Given the marking is tough at nationals, we ended up on a super score of 67.031 and finished overall in 4^th place in the class, ending up on 4^th place overall in the elementary category 2 championship. Anyone wanting to watch our second test (elementary 59), see below;

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUjOJjjSDrg

 

Collecting our prize from Mark Ruddock

 

Sunday was the day of the freestyles. I was riding in the medium freestyle and the class was incredibly hot as they don’t separate the freestyle classes into categories so I was against a lot of professionals. I was excited about my music though so it was the test I was most looking forward to. And Sunday afternoon was the elementary freestyle...the class that I had originally thought we would have the best chance at doing well. I don’t know how to say this but, well, I did a Vikki. I mean, what type of blog would it be if there wasn’t SOME drama in it, right?

Game Face

 

I went to bed on Saturday night, high as a kite from our placing (which would have been third if I hadn’t gone the wrong way...grrr...wally). I set my alarm to be ready for the arena walk and would then go straight into the warm up, with the test on at 08.10. Easy enough task;

 

1.     Get charged phone: Check

2.     Set phone for the correct time: Check

3.     Set time for the correct day: Che….oh, wait….the correct DAY…oh no….FAIL

 

So. After all my preparing and sleepless nights and new white errtang and printed emergency numbers and first aid boxes, I only went and set my alarm for the wrong day. Expecting to wake up at 05.30 on Saturday, I jolted out of bed at 07.15 on Sunday. I’m actually still in shock about it, I never sleep in. I won’t go into too much detail about HOW I got to the yard (it may or may not have involved some driving-by-knees action) I pulled poor Romy out of his bed and gave him a very quick 15 minute warm up. He needs at least 15-20 minutes of walk alone so Romy went into the arena without warmth in his muscles and I went into the arena without mascara on my face. Neither of us were pretty. But Romy looked after me and did what I asked of him, just not in the most elegant fashion. I couldn’t ask him to do what he wasn’t ready for so didn’t collect him too much, meaning he was wide behind and on the forehand and I expected to come out with a 62/63%. I got 64%, didn’t come last and beat some professionals. But I felt awful that I had put Romy through it so swore to myself I would be uber prepared for our test later that day.

 

My Heart

 

I’d like to say the ele freestyle went smoothly, and the warm up did, and the pony went well but the rider forgot her floorplan, omitted two required movements and when the music finished we were mid leg yield out to M. It could have been SO good. And it wasn’t, all because...well...I’m a wally. Even without two movements (marked on each rein) we ended up on 62% so it could have been a LOT better. He deserved a better score. And everyone that was in that class we had beaten in the Elementary Category 2 championships, bar two combinations who we hadn't competed against.

 

AAAAAnnnd Breathe

I gave myself a hard time, I deserved it because I let my amazing horse down, and I’ve learnt for the next nationals. Even if I’m not nervous it doesn’t mean that I shouldn’t concentrate on the task in hand! For our first nationals, I never dreamed to come away with fourth place in such a huge class and most importantly my horse was happy and acted like a pro  (I’ve chosen to throw the memory involving the initial arena walk into the bad memories vault, along with the memories of my boyfriend from university and the purple lipstick I used to wear, aged 13).

 

So, what now? Unlike most horses, who would get a bit of a break after big competition, Romy has to keep on working to ensure his lumbar region remains strong. So I’m starting to teach him flying changes, so far so good...perhaps not the cleanest behind but it’s very early days and I know he can do clean changes because he likes to throw them in throughout tests sometimes...clever boy. So it’s just matching up what I’m asking him to do with what he can do. I’m hoping to get some training with Pammy Hutton in November and word on the street Matt Frost is going to be clinic'ing nearby in October so all of that, plus my regular training with Sandra Blake-Farrell will have us flying (changes) in no time! A little clip of the second day of working on changes is below from my Instagram feed;
 

https://instagram.com/p/BZ1UsObAXUA/

 

The dressage Ireland AGM is coming up at the end of this month so I’m going in with the main objective of requesting that they reconsider the rule around HC tests. Currently you can only ride HC at a level LOWER than the level the horse is competing at, which doesn’t make any sense to me. I would love to see what judges think of Romy’s changes before actually getting points on his record. And the moment we ride (non HC) advanced medium we are automatically pushed in to category 3 (similar to Gold in the UK) which would mean I would be competing against a lot of professionals...no fair.

 

Till next time,

Victoria and Romy x

The Final Countdown!

Last minute preparations for nationals have well and truly begun. We head up to Cavan International Equestrian centre next Thursday and I’m proud to say we will be riding two elementary tests in category 2 (the scores are added together to give your final score), the elementary freestyle class and the medium freestyle class. By ‘last minute preparations’, I mean that I actually timed my music for one of my freestyle tests (yes, yes, I realise I should have done this months ago, not the week before nationals) and figured out that there was only 1 minute assigned to the trot work, 3 to the canter work and the whole thing was over 5 minutes, when it needs to be under 5 minutes. So in true Victoria unorganised fashion I had a panicky couple of days trying to be DJ, cutting and mixing my music and redoing my floorplan. I ordered some additional white goods to ensure we aren’t the grubbiest person at the party by the time I’ve done my fourth test and have upped Romy’s training levels and amended his feed to allow for this.

I went test training last week with Alison Mastin-Moore and found it really helpful. She made me really think about my accuracy, which I used to be pretty good at but I think I’ve concentrated so much on how Romy is going I’m almost throwing away half marks by not really thinking about each movement and what is needed in it. She worked a little on how Romy was going by encouraging lots of transitions and then I rode the test, Alison scored it and then we went through it at the end. Romy got 8’s for both of his halts and another 8 for his rein-back. Embarrassingly I went wrong (learn your test ahead of Nationals Victoria) and I rode a very sloppy medium walk (which looked like an extended walk rather than a medium walk). Alison encouraged me to really think about my corners, to prepare the transitions, and to really think forward with Romy because if I hold him back he gets tight in the back which can result in issues with regularity. We ended up on just under 67% which I was happy with, because without the niggly bits we could have broken the 70% barrier.

I have one more lesson with Sandra on Saturday so I will go through both my freestyle tests with her. I need to be careful not to try throw in tricky movements to get higher technical marks and focus more on Romy being correct, supple and forward. I’m pretty sure I will go from number one Phil Collins fan to never wanting to hear his music again but riding to music always makes me smile so for our first nationals I really want to focus on having a fun weekend and keeping Romy happy and sane.

I’m lucky that there are many friends at my yard who have also qualified so hopefully we can all give each other a helping hand and fingers crossed I get some video footage of our tests. The countdown is well and truly on....wish us luck!

V & R x

 

Rough Times
 

 

You never forget your first Furst first

WE WON!!! My positive thoughts worked and the clever mule went out and won at his first ever medium level competition. Let me bring you back to the scene.

It was raining. It was actually pouring dreaded sideways rain out of the heavens. Apparently some hurricane named Gert was on her way to reap havoc throughout Kildare, which was convenient because guess where our competition was? You guessed it...Gert ridden Kildare.

Romy had been feeling good and I was really looking forward to competing. The nerves that come with not competing regularly have now subsided and I actually adore going out. The early mornings less so and the 04.30am Sunday alarm did NOT make for a chirpy Victoria. Coffee: Check. Croissant: Check. Horse groomed within an inch of it’s life and plaits sewn in: Check (on a side note, I chose NOT to sew in my plaits recently...never again. I heard the THWANG of elastic bands with every stride and by the end of the test Romy looked like he had been hacked at by a teenage My Little Pony lover).

Warm Up

Romy is loading well now, I’m less nervous pulling a trailer and so other than good old Hurricane Gert, we had nothing holding us back. Romy warmed up well and even my yard managers husband saw us and admitted he said to himself ‘who is that lovely horse?'. I DO have a lovely horse *insert smug face*. I’m actually going to talk a bit about his personality for a minute. Romy is the best horse I could ask for when it comes to his temperament. He really is. Sharp enough when ridden so I can get some flicky toe action out of him but on the ground he is an angel who loves cuddles. Sure, he is quite babyish, loves to chew things, likes to pick things up and throw them around but he is a DARLING really. So well behaved. Even if he is scared of something, his spooks come by way of bunching up. But it never explodes. When I ask him to go forward, he does. When I leave him by the trailer, he stays there by himself. When his ditzy owner doesn’t tie him up with a 100 loop knot (he can undo them) he gets himself loose and rambles to the nearest piece of grass without any funny business. So yeah, love ma poneh. I believe a lot of the Furst offspring have good temperaments (Romy being by Furst Romancier) and I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending them to someone considering buying one.

Counter Canter

OK so test day came.....rain, rain, wind, wind, bright orange burger stand, sideways rain, mud...’Victoria you have five minutes’...gulp...and we’re in. First test was Medium 61 with a tough but fair judge. Romy went well, he lost a bit of rhythm in his medium trot but his canter work was lovely and I was happy with how it went overall. And the judge was happy too. 2^nd place in our section, 3^rd overall and a score of 64.48. Not bad for his first time at that level. Then came the Medium 76 test. There is a LOT in that test and I was a little nervous about forgetting the test (I MAY have been known to go a wrong way or two in tests previously...ahem) and I think I focused a lot on the test and rode relatively safe, although I didn’t ride a couple of the movements particularly well and I was reminded of that by two 3.5’s. But he did feel a little tight over the back to me. I think probably it was to do with the awful weather. Romy does get tight in his lumbar region and I have to be very careful to listen to how he is feeling. I think he did a nice test but I felt him struggle a little in some of the movements and the judge agreed. However, despite all that he still won the class! He was the only horse in our section to get over 60% with everyone else in the section getting scores in the 50’s. I’m not going to say she was a harsh judge but...... I did agree with all her comments on our test sheet though and was delighted with our first ever red rossie!

Champion

A glutton for punishment,I brought Romy out again the following weekend. I hadn’t done much with him during the week to see how he coped with less schooling so I had mainly done some caveletti and lunging on the pessoa with him. Then he threw a shoe so I didn’t get to school before the competition. And it showed. He was tired, I could feel it, which resulted in him getting tight through the back again. We started on Medium 76 and I went in and decided to ride a safe test but not to push Romy too much. He won the section with a PB score of 68.64 and a whopping 9 for his extended trot so I was delighted with him! But I decided to listen to what my horse was telling me and he was quite sweaty after the one test so I made the choice to withdraw from the second test and bring the big clever boy home.

A real life 9!

We went out again the following weekend after upping the training and he had been going much better. Again, drama ensued (not with the horse, of course with the ditsy rider). I was excited about this day. The venue was our nemesis as we had had some sort of drama each time we went there and today was no different. Driving down the road on the way to the yard I realised I had left my show jacket at home. After a quick call to the groom at my yard, Kevin, he found my instructors spare jacket and cycled his little heart down country lanes with the jacket over his shoulder,  the little legs peddling away like something out of the goonies. Now, without going into TOO much detail, lets just say Sandra is about half my size. There was no way I was going to fit into her jacket. Kevin looked at me with a steely stare and said ‘You’re going to have to make it fit Victoria'. So I did.

We got there in plenty of time, the sun was out, I was feeling good, we warmed up, my name was called and I buttoned up the jacket and stood by the entrance of the arena. I took a deep breath to help keep the adrenaline at a steady pace and heard a POP and the top button of the jacked promptly went catapulting through the air. I calmly asked someone to please pick it up for me, slipped it into my pocket and went in to do my test. Romy was super! I really loved how he felt, and actually I would say it was the best he has gone for me and the happiest I have been with a test. I do keep messing up his simple changes at competition though, which is really annoying because they are so super at home. It’s less the canter to walk and more the walk to canter which is the problem. It usually ends up with Romy doing his best Passafino pony impression until he figures out what leg I want him to be on. So I need to figure that one out ahead of  nationals. His second test had less energy in it and Romy starts to bunch up when I ask him to go forward if he is feeling tired so I rode relatively safe again, and other than the simple change mess he did a good job. We ended up in a first overall and 66% in Medium 76 and a second over all and 65% in in Medium 75. He got 8’s for his halt rein back (which he hasn’t been doing for very long) and his medium / extended trots which are his party trick, I just need to keep them steady and rhythmical! Most importantly, the scores meant he qualified for nationals so I will be doing Elementary, Elementary Freestyle and Medium Freestyle at Cavan in two weeks time (TWO WEEKS....AAAGGHHHHH).

Flicky Toe Action

We have a lot of strengthening up to do now because Romy has struggled in the stamina department when he has two tests in a row so we will be doing a lot of gallops work! Plus I need to try get the freestyle floorplans together PRONTO! But heading into nationals with three consecutive wins in our pocket has definitely helped with the confidence levels. WE CAN DO THIS ROMY!!!

Until next time y’all

V&R x
 
 
 
 

Here's to His Health

I think I mentioned that Romy had a sore leg (mild ligament strain to be precise) a while ago and we realised after a LOT of investigation that it was compensation due to him having a sore lumbar region. With a few tweaks, including him now being turned out overnight (in rainy Ireland...shit buzz), he’s back to his amazing self and has finally got his zing back. His physio Niamh has been kept busy with him but has done such an amazing job. Not only has she kept his muscles comfortable, she has been the first to spot anything out of the ordinary and I know she will be my second pair of eyes for a long time to come. It astounds me how many dressage horses out there don’t get regular physio / osteo / chiro appointments. Romy sees Niamh every 4-6 weeks, Rob Jackson when he’s in Ireland and I still use his equilibrium massage pad and heat pad before and after every ride as well as other ad hoc chiro / acupuncture treatements. I’ve now had four separate saddlers check his saddle and have gone through four models in a year to ensure he is comfortable (Fairfax Gareth is where we’re at now) and while I know not everyone can afford this level of attention, it’s important to do what you can to help your horse be the best athlete it can be. I think it’s so easy for owners to focus on what the horse is looking like on the outside and the visual effect it offers and forget what could be going on underneath it all. In my humble opinion, if there’s one thing an owner should do, it’s take care of your horses back, especially if it is a dressage horse.

So, less of the preaching and back to the fun stuff! We went out competing a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to update with photos but unfortunately didn’t get many (really need to hire that minion soon) so this is just a quick update to say Romy was the best behaved boy, a little stiff in the first test but I’m still learning what’s best for him and a longer warm up is most definitely best for him. We still managed just under 65% in the Elementary 43 and then he warmed up beautifully for the second test and did what I thought was a really lovely test. We ended up on just under 66%, which I found it a little odd because we only got 6.5’s, 7’s and 7.5’s throughout the entire test but then got three 6’s in our collectives (with a 6.5 for riding) and as they are double scores they brought the end score down. I’m currently training to be a judge and I thought the collectives should reflect the entire test so it seemed a little unfair to me but I guess that’s dressage for ya! I was really happy with how he went and he was forward, supple and content and to me that’s the most important thing. Apart from winning, obvs...I kid, I kid. But I still see big things for Romy's future and I'm sure his scores will increase along with his confidence and experience (I often forget that he has only been to 5 competitions ever!).

 

 

Our scores meant we have qualified for the dressage summer nationals in Cavan International Equestrian Centre in Ireland this September at Elementary level. This also means we can ride Elementary freestyle so I FINALLY get to whip out my Phil Collins number, wahoooo! And I’m jumping on the great feeling that Romy is giving me and am going to try qualify at Medium level too. We are out this weekend doing M61 and M76 so fingers crossed we get at least one qualifying score. I have 2 more chances to try to qualify after this so NO PRESSURE VICTORIA...JUST BRING HOME THE GODDAMN RED!

It’s definitely annoying me that we haven’t yet won a class but with a suspensory strain that was never going to be easy. Also, the classes in Ireland are bloomin HUGE, my last class had 23 riders in it...NO FAIR. And I find the judges tend to be a bit more stingey with their markings in Ireland, compared to the UK. So all these yellow and blue rosettes are NOT boding well for my competitive streak and love of red rosettes. Still, I feel it in my waters...we’re due one ANY day now. Any day. Twitch.

Keep everything crossed for us this weekend purleeeeeeeeeease!

 

V&R x

 

Product Review: Cryochaps

So after my review of the Ice Vibe boots I had messages from a couple of people asking if I had tried Cryochaps...Cryowho?? I’d never heard of them so hit the google for a bit of research. Cryochaps is a relatively new, small company based in the UK who sell ‘The indispensable ice wrap chap for horses post exercise & post injury for every discipline’ (to read more see http://www.cryochaps.co.uk). As Romy had been mildly lame high up on his suspensory, a couple of people had suggested that Cryochaps would be a better alternative to the Ice Vibe boots because they have a greater surface area which reaches right up to the hocks.

 

At very first glance on the website, the first thing that I noticed was the price. At just £85.50 for a pair, they are very reasonable. And even better, you can buy one for £45 if your horse is recovering from a one legged owie or if like me you’ve had an expensive summer making the most of the sales on Hope Valley Saddlery and Premier Equine so can just about afford one boot at a time!

 

The boots arrived in a lightweight carry bag and felt like good quality that would last the distance. As with any ice boots, I would like the option of buying an ice box / ice bag to transport them to the yard in but having spoken to Tricia at Cryochaps I believe they are planning to offer these in the future. Romy had some time off after the last competition...more on that in my next post, but he had basically forgotten How To Horse. Rolls eyes. Again. And I also had some time away because I had forgotten How To Human so a holiday was needed for us both. So I’ve been trying out the boots for about 2 weeks now, following his time off.

 

The boots are easy to freeze and easy to put on. There is a marker on each boot to tell you if it’s the right or left boot so you don’t have to fiddle about too much and waste precious cooling time. The coverage area IS good, as you can see from the below (Cryochap is closest to the camera in this image, alternative ice boot is furthest away) and the gel that is inside the chap is very malleable so also allows for a closer contact to the leg. As a reminder, my horse is a very leggy 17.2 warmblood so you can see that the boots reach those hard to get places. But one of my favourite things about these boots was the way they are applied. They have four straps which go around the leg and one strap which goes around the fetlock. And it meant that I could really put the chaps on quite tightly. I’ve found with other ice boots that as the ice cools down and turns to liquid, they end up quite loose around the leg but I was able to ensure a very close contact with the ice packs with these. Likewise, some alternative boots offer an additional top boot which helps you to get a close contact with the horse, however they are often big and bulky and from my experience they heat the ice pack up quicker so you have to take them off sooner. The straps on the Cryochaps are incredibly lightweight so I don’t think they had an effect on the length of time the chaps stayed cool.

 

And the big tester was when I took both boots off (I kept them on for 15 minutes), the leg which had the Cryochap on it was much colder from his fetlock right up to his hock and stayed colder for longer, compared to the alternative ice boot. Negatives? I think my biggest negative with these boots involves the straps (which are also my favourite thing about them...go figure!). With other ice boots, which are all plastic and just need a wipe down to clean, the straps on the Cryochaps are material. This does allow for a close contact but it also means the boots need to be properly washed if dirt / horse poop gets on them. However, for a better cooling result I’m happy to give them a proper clean every now and then.

In summary;

Value for money: 9/10 At £45 per chap it means they are affordable for most people and I like that you can buy per chap, rather than having to buy in a pair.

Comfort: 10/10 I’m not sure what could be done to make these more comfy on my horse, they fit him well and he was able to move about freely with them on. There was no pressure points once they were on, unlike some other boots.

Negatives: The material straps mean you would have to properly clean them rather than just give them a wipe down. I also found them a bit twiddley to put on the first couple of times but then got the hang of it!

Positives: Great quality, great coverage area and I think the best price for good quality products that are currently on the market.

Overall impression: Definitely something you should consider if your horses injury is high up on his leg or your conscious about cooling from the fetlock right up to the hock; a good, innovative addition to the ice boot family that ticks a lot of boxes.

Would I recommend: Yes, especially if your horse suffers from PSD or issues pertaining to the higher part of the leg. Even horses that have issues in the fetlock would benefit from these boots because they do stretch down to the fetlock and are secured neatly with the bottom strap.

 

I want to point out that I have no affiliation with neither Ice Vibe nor Cryochaps but if my review helps buyers figure out what is best for their horse then I’ll always give an honest review. I also want to point out that while people asked me to compare them to the Ice Vibe boots, I can’t really as they are a different product. The Cryochaps don’t vibrate. They are a cooling ice wrap so if vibration before (or even after) exercise is something which you think would benefit your horse then the Ice Vibes are a great choice. If you’re more focussed on gaining a better cooling surface area on your horses leg or have limited funds, I would go for the Cryochaps. And as mentioned, horses who have suffered from injury high up on the leg, such as PSD, may find the Cryochaps work better for them. If anyone has any thoughts or comments I’d be happy to hear them!

 

In my next post I will get back to my dressage journey with Romy...who is keeping me on my toes, as always! So for now I will leave you with a couple of photos of our most recent matchy matchy sets (see paragraph 2 above!).

Eskadron Matchy Matchy

 

Secure Men Wear Pink

 

Till next time,

V & R x

　

　

Competition Time (finally)!

It’s been so long since we’ve been out so I thought I’d grab the bull by the horns and enter a competition at the last minute. It was at a very lovely venue, close to the yard and had a relatively easy elementary test on the schedule so it seemed like a no-brainer. Plus, half the yard were going so I didn’t want to miss out on the party! It had been nine months since Romy and I were out, I actually could hardly believe that myself when I counted. I was used to going out at least once a month and the gap meant I was more nervous than I ever was (not difficult, given I’m normally pretty chilled at competitions).

It was like I was going competing for the first time. His white bandages were bleached within an inch of their shiny white lives. I got a new saddle cloth for the occasion. He was trimmed and prepped and painted as if it were nationals. Plaits sewn in. Hooves blackened. Tack soaked and oiled. Game on.

 

 

 

My first mistake of the day was leaving the yard about 17 hours before my test. I’m all for giving yourself plenty of time but Romy is still new to this competing lark and I’m still learning things about him. That day, I learnt that he doesn’t wee when he’s out. I’m sure the grooms at my yard will vouch for me (with anger it their hearts) when I say that Romy drinks water like a fish and pisses like a racehorse so it was a long time to go without wee’ing.




Checking out the 'monsters'

Second mistake of the day came by way of a pair of spurs. I hadn’t been wearing spurs because I need to work on getting him forward and when he feels the spur he bunches up. And he had been going well without the spurs. So why oh why in baby jesus’ name I decided to put them on and dig him in his overflowing bladder is beyond me. Such a rookie mistake, and I don’t consider myself a rookie so there’s no excuse at all.

 

Third mistake of the day happened just as we were about to go in to do our test....I heard 'VICTORIAAAAAAAAA' and looked to see my instructor Sandra doing a billy-go-lightly across the arena. 'YOUR BANDAGES ARE STILL ON'....cue four people frantically pulling at my horses legs and a red faced Victoria sat on board like a ripened tomato.

But to rewind; with a little persuasion from Mr. Leadrope, Romy loaded fine and travelled like a dream. In fact, he behaved impeccably all day. He was a little nervous going into the warmup, but that’s understandable given he hasn’t been out in so long. And actually for only his fourth ever competition I couldn’t be happier. We had a nice bit of communication going on, he was definitely distracted from time to time but eventually got down to it.

 

Me: Good boy Romy, you’re getting to grips with all this dressage stuff.

Romy: Yeah, totes I am…..wait….SQUIRRELL……where was I…oh yeah, I’m enjoying being around all these other…..SQUIRREL

Me: Romy, lets stop looking at the trailblazers classes…I know you don’t know what a pony is, or a small child for that matter, but they’re not that interesting, promise.

Romy: OK, ok, lets try this half pass thing we’ve been working on……how’d ya like them apples?

Me: Yeah, good boy! You’re definitely getting to grips with….oh, what was that…a flying change? Oh, no worries, I think it was clean so lets keep going.

Romy: Yeah, that was good eh? How about THIS one…. (changes, clean, again).

Me: Hmmmm, yeah, that will be good in about two levels higher than this one, lets try the other rein.

Romy: I CAN DO MY TRICK ON THE OTHER REIN TOO…..YEEEAAAAHHHH MEEEEEEEEEEE.

  

Game Face

 

So I gave him a bit of a breather but in hindsight I should have whipped off the spurs. He went into the arena a little tense because of the monster children and monster ponies (actually the cutest things I’ve ever seen) and was tense up the top of the arena. I wasn’t asking too much of him because it had been so long out, I just wanted us both to enjoy it so I wasn’t really riding for 10s. But the second I touched him to go forward into the medium canter he changed about 75 million times along the long side. I eventually got him walking and then back on the correct lead but doing the give and retake across the centre line was also a struggle as I could feel his back legs start bouncing around like tigger behind me. I can’t be angry, can I?!!!!

 

 

 

We got a few 8’s for his collected canter and some 7.5s for him medium trot and the medium canter where he DIDN'T look like a bouncing ball of (not very forwards) energy. In the collectives he only got a costly 6 for his submission and a 6.5 for his impulsion (as Matt put it ‘Romy is like a stallion, he gives you a reaction but not always the one you want!’) but 7.5 for his paces and 7 for my riding. Because of the couple of 3’s for his unwanted fancy moves we ended up on 65.8%. One of my favourite comments ever received by a judge ‘Super big horse, full of power. Just needs to let you ride him’…..that definitely would help matters!

I just did the one test as he’s still coming back from time off but I will try him out again in a couple of weeks if he’s feeling up to it. Apples for pony, wine for moi, lots of lessons learnt and things to remember for next time.

V x

BOOOOIIIING!!