When one (stable) door closes......

Okay okay okaaaaaaaaaaaayyy...I’m sorry. I’ve been a bad blogger! My last blog was written in early February and Romy was suffering from mud rash...nasty little bugger, that stuff. It eventually cleared up and we headed out to try qualify for the Winter National Championships. We qualified (just about) at medium level with some nice tests and some really not so nice tests. I must admit, there is a specific judge who I know doesn’t like Romy and I. We got an absolutely shocking score of 53.97% at one show. Yes, I admit...I went wrong...twice (numpty). But still, 53.97 seemed incredibly harsh and looking across the entire class, the winner was on 58%. So I’ve etched the judge down as being a particularly tricky judge to impress and if I’m completely honest, I will withdraw from shows if I know that judge will be judging in the future. And I know that seems incredibly unsportsmanlike of me but it’s less to do with the score and more to do with what it does to my confidence as a rider. I KNOW Romy and I are better than that. And I know the other people in that class were better than that too. Does anyone else have judges they try to avoid?

 

Anyway, I digress. Winter Nationals came around in April and I wasn’t feeling overly confident, given Romy’s mudrash which hadn’t totally cleared up. The mudrash had meant he didn’t have the turnout which he so desperately needs. Thankfully we had a walker at the yard so he got the movement but it’s not quite the same as Dr. Green, in my opinion. He had been quite sore on the hooves effected by the mudrash and I’m not sure if it was that or if something else was going on but looking back on my video at nationals he wasn’t totally sound in front. Refreshing, given Romy’s issues have always been behind, but he actually felt good to ride so I’m annoyed at myself for not picking up on it. And guess what...I went wrong. AGAIN! I’ve actually been considering having some sports psychology sessions again to try figure out what the hell is going on in the little Barbie brain of mine during tests. So the first test on the Saturday I felt went quite well although he was tense in some spots. He was quite forward and I enjoyed riding the test. A couple of little blips and lack of concentration (or perhaps TOO much concentration) on my part landed us in third place, which I was delighted for. One judge had us in second place so I went into day 2 feeling confident. Maybe TOO confident. And then went wrong. And Romy wasn't totally sound. And the surface of the arena was AWFUL so I spent the time looking at places to avoid. So we got a measly score of 61.397, however our score from the day before was good enough to end up on an overall placing of fourth in the medium. I was really happy with Romy...his attitude as always was the best. He’s just the nicest horse to be around and it really felt like I was having a weekend away with my bestie (insert heart emoji). 

After that we had some changes in our lives. We found out the lovely yard we were stabled at with Sandra Blake-Farrell (Dollanstown) was for sale and all liveries had to find a new yard. Coincidentally, I was tagged in a post by the owner of my old ride, Woody (horses name...humans name is Amy), who was letting me know that UK trainer and list 1 judge, Mark Ruddock, was opening up a yard with his partner in crime Sean Burgess in Kildare...IRELAND! Yes, a bit more of a drive but after speaking to Mark and Sean and going for a little trip to visit the yard it was a no-brainer. Yes, the journey is long but less than the journey I drove for Woody when I lived in London. The surface is great, the facilities are / will be great and having two trainers plus a list 1 judge live on site has so far been an incredible help. And the yard itself backs on to the Curragh, a gorgeous part of Kildare with rolling hills which has been great for Romy’s fitness. We’re also close to the Equine Aqua Centre so easier to get to the water walker in future.

Very shortly after arriving at the new yard, Brownstown, I decided to give advanced medium a shot. Most people are fond of getting really high scores, some accused of ‘pot hunting’...staying at the same level for as long as they can in order to bag a first place and red rosette. Not me. If I thought I could enter a grand prix tomorrow, I would! Ready to wear tails...HELL YEAH! So probably a little too unprepared, we went into our first ever advanced medium test together. And guess who was judging us? See paragraph 1 above (rolls eyes). So expecting to get in the 50’s I wasn’t too surprised to see our score of 58.5%...but it was better than our last medium test and we didn’t come last so while I was disheartened with the score I wasn’t completely disheartened by the performance. I'd also like to point out that EIGHT riders either withdrew or went HC when they saw judgewhoshallnotbenamed was judging.

Vowing to prepare more, ride the test more, get more lessons ahead of the next competition I decided to try again last weekend. The sun was beaming, I was excited to be out and DELIGHTED that judge ala paragraph 1 was not judging us and rode two advanced medium tests...one not so great and one way better. I was super happy with Romy, as always...he’s my little darling. Any issues we had were because of my poor riding rather than his effort. We got 64.67% in the advanced medium 85, ending up fourth in a class of nine and in the advanced medium 91 we got a score of 64.74% and came second from six. I was over the moon. So much to learn and as a rider I learnt so much that day. I know I, for some reason, don’t ride well in tests but Sean was there to help me warm up and he kept telling me to ride...it was like my body froze and I stopped really riding once I went into the warm up arena and the first test. I don’t know why or what makes my mind go but I need to figure it out...stat! He spoke to me after my first test and put a fire under my arse so I went into the second test and rode like I would at home...willing to make mistakes for the sake of trying to get Romy going correctly. In fact I think that’s it, I’m so scared of making mistakes in a test I kind of sit there and baby Romy around the arena instead of putting my leg on and really riding him.

Romy is still very green in the changes but the scores varied from a 4 because it wasn’t on my aid to a 7 (most of them were 6.5 or 7 so I was happy with that!). So I think I’ll stick at this level now until we are getting comfortably in the high 60’s before donning the tails and galloping head first down the centre line!

We have one qualifying score under our belt and I need another score from a qualifying test before we can start thinking about summer nationals. Romy, as always, tests me at every show and the last show we went to I withdrew from because he just wasn't feeling it. But I just keep reminding myself that it's the nature of the game and they're entitled to off days, just like us. I'm putting less pressure on summer nationals now and will try to just see what happens......pretty tough for a planner like me!

Till next time,

V&R

Our brush with fame (kinda!)

So it’s taken me a while to write this post, partly because it took me that long to come back down to earth and partly because of seasonal festivities and trips to South Africa! Let me take you back to the super exciting message I got from Irish Olympian Judy Reynolds shortly after our lesson, which I wrote about in my last post.


I was chilling at home browsing documentaries (definitely NOT watching videos on the funny noises squirrels make when they sleep) when Judy messaged me to ask if I had been approached by Leinster Dressage. I knew Leinster Dressage had a super secret night of dressage planned so I had the evening in my diary but I wasn’t sure what it was about. The night would involve a dressage masterclass in which Judy would talk spectators through a variety of horse and rider combinations and look at the common mistakes and training methods that they come up against at their particular level. And it turned out one of those rider combinations would be ROMY AND I!!! In front of hundreds of people. So exciting and scary, all in one. But mainly exciting.

 

There would be 5 combinations throughout the evening working on varying levels and as we spruced up the horses back stage, the tractors touched down at JAG Equestrian in Kildare and the spectactors and media (the Irish Field did a piece on the evening) settled down with blankets and hot drinks. Not without it’s drama, the evening started with me getting a flat tyre so I got to the event slightly flustered and thanked the world, once again, for my cool headed horse who helps me keep calm.


First in was Joanne Logue and Cashmir’s Hadena while I warmed up around the outside. I was at a slight disadvantage that night as Judy had only ever taught us once but the other riders were regular students of hers, not least Joanne and the gorgeous ‘Hattie’. Judy spoke about the importance of taking it slowly with a young horse and overall leaving them with an impression that they enjoyed themselves so they are always eager to work. She worked on the basics of teaching them to stop and go and encourage the correct reactions when asked by doing lots of (correct and accurate) transitions throughout the session.

 

 

Romy and I were in next and Judy emphasised the importance of a horse of his age and level learning to take the weight on his hind leg. She worked on getting his hind leg quicker and then we moved into the lateral movements in trot. I don’t think I had ever done so much sitting trot on Romy so I could feel he was starting to get a little grumpy by the end of it and as always I was focussing too much on his attitude rather than be practical so I gave allowances for it and didn’t ride a very clean half pass. When I threw all that out the window and just rode a half pass like I should do, he was perfect. But after so much trot work I was thankful when Judy said ‘lets look at the canter’. We gave Romy lots of breaks throughout the session and Judy rapped my wrists slightly when I used the walk to throw everything away and sit like a baked potato (holding your stomach in for that long is tough work y’all). We finished with the flying changes which Romy, as always, did perfectly one way and took a little more persuading on the other rein but he got it eventually...much to the delight of the crowd! Little clip below.
 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BcQj_mnAkEq/?taken-by=victoriaocarroll

 

 

 

 

Next in was event organiser (how she rode AND organised I’ll never know) Sarah Mellor and her fab horse Hotshot. The mare is really my type so I’m raging I didn’t get to see much of them because I was too busy giving carrots to Romy backstage but I believe they focussed on how to channel tension into something positive by encouraging her to lower her frame and listen to Sarah’s leg by using some leg yielding exercises. They did lots of circle work and finished off the session by looking at the beginnings of the canter pirouettes.


Following Sarah and Holly came Irish Draught gelding Duke and his owner Simone Hessian who were training at Prix St. George level. I always loving seeing non-warmblood types doing dressage and this horse was no exception. The chunky monkey was already established in his collection, however Judy reminded Simone to ride forward too in order to help engage the hind end further. They worked on the tempi changes with an emphasis on short, correct changes which Judy pointed out can be easier for a less expressive horse and so a possible opening for some good marks in a test.

 

 

Kate Dwyer closed the night on her gorgeous Welsh D x Warmblood Grand Prix horse, Snowdon Faberge (Fabio). After competing on the international circuit last year they had taken some time out after Kate had an unfortunate fall on one of her younger horses. So the night eased them back in to the higher level movements, with lots of breaks and breathers in between. Judy mainly looked at the passage and piaffe and reminded Kate to really ride the piaffe to encourage more expression.

 

If you want to read the full article produced by The Irish Field you can click here.

 

 

After the masterclass Christmas came around quickly, followed by a near 3 week holiday for me in South Africa where Romy got lots of field time. Unfortunately this meant he got a nasty bout of mud rash so we haven’t had a chance to do much lately and I am ITCHING to get out. I’m hoping the mudrash will clear up in the next week and we’ll get a chance to compete before the end of February. Qualification dates are running low so I desperately need to try get a few marks under our belt as we hope to compete elementary and medium at winter nationals before moving on to advanced medium for summer nationals.

Christmas Kisses

 

 

Till next time y’all!