....and then there was Woody

In true rubbish blogger style, my equestrian world has once again been turned upside down and inside out and I haven't had a moment to update you. So once again, here we go!

Arthur had been going well and was an adorable horse but I was really missing having my own and I had started to put out the feelers to a few yards in Holland to see if they had anything suitable. I was looking for something bigger and more advanced but also affordable (those things don't go together well in dressage apparently). But they say everything happens for a reason and I truly believe they do. Before I had a chance to make any offers, a friend showed me an advert for a girl in Kent who was advertising her horse for full loan and asked me was I interested. Currently competing BD medium, 17.3hh, 11 years old and amazing temperament. Hmmm...am I interested....am...I....interested....HELL YEAH IM INTERESTED!!!

I contacted his owner, Amy, and arranged to go down to see him. She rode him around beautifully and I thought there was no way I could ride him so nicely. And of course I didn't...but I didn't make a TOTAL knob out of myself. Me being me, I couldn't keep my feelings inside and pretty much signed on the dotted line then and there. I loved him. He is big moving, safe, floaty, sensitive and I could tell I would learn a lot off him. Not the easiest ride in the world, but then who wants to just sit there and not learn anything....we have to both put in some effort! WHO CARES if I can't afford it right now. WHO CARES if he's stabled about 500 miles from my home. I'm in love.



So without going in to too much detail and boring the life out of anyone, I now have full loan of an amazing horse, at an amazing yard, with an amazing instructor and so far we have been getting pretty good results in the dressage arena. I took Woody on in December and we went out for our first competition in early January. From then on he's pulled in mainly firsts and I have loved every second of having this massive overgrown, overcuddly beast.



Not only that, but I got contacted by a reporter for the Horse and Hound magazine and she asked me if she could include me in the features because we had pulled the highest score of the day at our most recent competition. Can I be included? ME? In Horse and Hound magazine??? Em, yes, I think that would be ok....I'll have to run it by my em, person who em, deals with, my, I mean, em the publicity, em, YES SHE SAID ITS FIIIIIIIIIIIIINE! So in the April 2nd issue of Horse and Hound if you get your binoculars and look reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally closely, you MIGHT just spot a photo of me looking like a creepy smiling weirdo on top of a very beautiful un-creepy horse - Woody!



Next goals are:

1. Qualify for the Elementary summer regionals (update, done!)
2. Qualify for the Senior Inter County team (update, done and I'll put a further update in my next post!)
3. Start competing Medium to Music

This is the start of a VERY exciting future with Woody....I can feel it in my ageing Irish bones ;-)

WATCH THIS SPACE!

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.

The highs and the lows....and the highs again!

Wow. So a LOT has happened since I last blogged (including numerous vehicle write offs, health issues, family pet deaths and just general bad luckery). I have gone from feeling excited about my future with Beau to selling him in my mind, looking for a new horse, trying things out and finally realising that I have an amazing horse on my hands.

 

So where to begin. I guess after I last wrote I was feeling excited about Beau's progress. He was still very spooky and napped like a b*gger, but I felt like he was less spooky with me and was slowly beginning to gain trust. We got a sharer on board. Tick. She could ride 3 days a week. Tick. She had a BHSAI qualification. Tick tick tick. But I realised that qualifications do not a good rider make and unfortunately Beau got progressively worse over the few weeks that she was with us. She-who-will-not-be-named rode with confidence and an "if he says no, push him forward and make him do it anyway" attitude but I have learnt that Beau, who she suggested was "not fit for purpose" and was "evil" is actually a very scared, nervous horse. So after an evening which ended on said sharers bum, she was gone as quickly as she came. Good riddance!

 

So after that I was feeling incredibly low and I will admit now, through gritted teeth, that I regretted my decision to get a horse. Not only was he difficult to ride so I wasn't enjoying the time I spent on his back, I also didn't have a sharer which meant I was up there a LOT. 5 days at the yard + 2 days complaining about the horse at the yard = a very unhappy boyfriend. Sad face. I was spending all my money on Beau, getting his back checked, his saddle checked, buying calmers for him and just spending every spare penny I had trying to get remedies, cures, bells and whistles to help my poor horse learn to relax. No Beau, the world is NOT trying to tear you apart. And if he had been a total ass in the stable it wouldn't have been a hard decision to make. But he was adorable. He is adorable. If I could take him home with me and let him sleep at the end of my bed, I would. I reckon that would be the end of my 4 year relationship with my partner, however, so a stable does him just fine. For now.

 

It all came to a head when I had a friend up to see him and as I rode around the ménage she said "wow, he moves beautifully". Before you could say "eat your words" he started bucking like a lunatic. I couldn't ride him forward. I couldn't ride him sideways. I couldn't ride him around or backwards or any way in the world. Other than vertical. And to cut a long story short it ended up with me sitting on a bench having a panic attack with people around me searching for a paper bag, which I have now come to the conclusion do not exist in this very plasticy world anymore. So that day I came home with a heavy heart and sobbed to my boyfriend that I was going to sell Beau. I was so heart broken.

 

But then.....like a beam of light shining from the heavens a friend handed me a leaflet about a product which I can only describe is for horses with ADHD (or more scientifically looks at the amount of calcium stored in the brain). I figured it was my last resort and within two weeks of being on this supplement he was a different horse. Oh I had great fun smirking at the yard manager who told me "in all my years of working with horses, those supplements have NEVER worked...you're wasting your money"....stick THAT in your pipe and smoke it little miss cynical. I'm such a believer in this product. I'm not saying that it works for every horse and even if it was flour that they were putting in his feed, I'm believing in it so it's making me confident and him confident and it's just a beautiful, quite expensive, cycle. So he is still a massive scaredy cat and his little ticker goes crazy if he sees PONIES IN THE DISTANCE...petrifying things. I've realised that it's actually the unknown that scares him the most. So if he can hear something, or smell something, or KIND OF see something in the distance.....well, lets just say it's taught me to have a sticky arse. But he can take on luminous balloons hanging off barbed wire. Car boot sale? No problem. Big yellow noisy tractor? His best friend. But turning a corner when he doesn't know what's around the bend....HELL NO.

 

But the difference now is while he's still a nervous horse and will always be hot, he is a warmblood after all, he is listening to me. So he's not turning into a complete rodeo pony. If I use my voice and my leg he will react and if I can keep his mind active and keep him moving forward he is a total dream. Then, to top it all off, I got THE SHARER FROM HEAVEN! She has trained horses back in Poland and has competed to Advanced Medium in dressage. Beau goes so well for her and hasn't put a hoof wrong (although I'm not holding my minty fresh breath). She is also a doctor. OK, I made that last bit up. But she's fantastic!

I nervously entered us into a prelim test a couple of weeks ago and by some total miracle we got a total of 64.2% and a blue rosette. I was delighted with us and there is a SLIGHT chance that I shed a tear, although that's not hard for me.....I cry at Don't tell the Bride. I cry at 16 and Pregnant. I cry at Made in Chelsea. So two things we can take from this: 

1 - I am an emotional mess. 

2 - I have horrendous taste in television.

 So things are looking up for the Beau Beau. He's a lucky boy....SO close to becoming dog meat. I kid, I kid. But not many people would have kept going. I'm not much of a giver upper type person and I'm not saying I'll have Beau forever, but for now things are great. We are starting to train novice at home now and I have great dreams of us competing at higher levels by the end of the year but I also had dreams of taking over the world, hanging out with Donna Summer and being a winged pig so I won't expect them to come true. But one can hope......

 

Over and out

Victoria & Beau

Post 4: A Positive Quickie!

I just wanted to give my blog the update Beau deserves.....he is now BEAU, THE WONDERPONY! I don't know whether I've already turned into the dreaded horse owner who thinks her horse has gold beams shining from his arse but I swear....he's amazing. His winter coat is falling out and although I'm coughing up hair balls from the amount of hair he's shedding, it looks like he's going to be a really nice colour eventually. 

Something has happened in the last couple of weeks though. He's feeling like a rolls royce. OK, that's an overstatement but I'm seeing Olympic gold. He cuddles me so much in the stable. And not just because he's looking for treats or is bored. And not because I've had a glass of wine so think everything is brilliant right now. I think he actually......LIKES me. Gulp. I think this could be the beginning of a very beautiful friendship. 

I'm looking at a couple of showing shows coming up so I'll update again in a few weeks when we've had a bit of action.....

TBC

Post 3: The Competition!

OK. So I'm not going to lie. My horse has turned into a crazed lunatic! I was fully aware of this "finding his feet" period but holy mackerel he's totally changed. I have to keep reminding myself that he has gone from being on full time turn out to only have a few hours a day and a pretty busy schedule of 3 feeds a day and is ridden 5 days in the week.

 

So this "finding his feet", hereon referred to as Doom Day, happened just before his show. I had mentioned it in my previous post and had put it down to the mirror. But now I'm putting it down to him evading work. I'm getting his back checked to make sure it's nothing more sinister and he's on an incredibly low sugar, very plain diet of high fiber cubes and sugar free chaff but the majority of his diet consists of hay. 5 bales of it. Each week. I'd like to say I don't know where he puts it but I do. He shits like an elephant.

 

So after the mirror incident he was just constantly spooking in the same corner (but he did change it around from time to time so I know it's not actually something in that corner. The second time he turned into rodeo pony I pressed the eject button and catapulted myself off him in case it ended up worse if I tried to stay on. Since then I know what it feels like when he arches his back, I know how to handle him and I know if all else fails I can turn him sharply so he can't buck. But he's starting to trust me more and the more leg I give him he's actually listening to me now instead of bucking. But he's still really spooky from time to time.

 

We came across dreaded SCOUTS the other day. With their smiles and luminous backpacks. Beau acted like he'd seen the devil. He was so so stressed and walked backwards down the hill from the field staring the kids out of it. His best horsey friend, Kirby, thankfully is a happy, adorable, calm cob and she just plodded along beside him so I think he settled down because of her. And worst of all he's started to kick the wall in his stable. I'm thinking that maybe this is a sign that he needs more turn out. But now I'm investing in rubber matting for his stable. Horses are expensive little buggers.

 

So along came competition day and I thought, when he goes well he's lovely and I'd had a couple of lessons and friends had all given the advice and thoughts and I decided to go for it. So I fancied him up, with golfball-esq rosebuds and fancied myself up and posed for pictures, see below.

 

 

I have to say, I was quite impressed with how he looked! And a little shocked! He scrubbed up well. And he was so well behaved when I was getting him ready, I could tell he had done it all before and could almost feel him rolling his eyes when I held his head still to plait his forelock.

 

Next step: Getting past the monstrous horseboxes. GREAT SUCCESS! He didn't bat an eyelid. Then, passing crowds. AMAZING, I was starting to build my confidence. Into the warm up ring, I started to think we were going to win everything in the world. He was going really nicely, listening to me, working in an outline and carrying himself perfectly. And that's where the good times ended. 

My name was called so off we went. Walking into the arena he stopped. And started going backwards. So I growled at him (I've realised that he actually does listen if I growl, literally). And on he went. Warming up at the end of the arena, great. Off went the bell, fabulous. Enter the ring, fine, first circle, lovely. Working trot down the long side.....cue BEAU THE RODEO HORSE WHO SHITS HIS PANTS AT TREES. He through a massive couple of bucks but I managed to stay on and actually started laughing, out of nerves as we continued our test. I have to say I found it hard to concentrate and take it seriously after that but he was going quite well again until....THE DREADED PHOTOGRAPHER. Thanks to the dreaded photographer we have photographic evidence of our test, see below:

 

http://www.everybodysmile.biz/susanyoung/eq11/146506/page_es39.php?Cat=Rapscallion%20134

 

But the noises her monster camera made brought on another "episode". So understandably we did NOT win. But when he was going nicely I was really happy and if I'm honest I think the judges 57.9% was a bit mean. Her comments were that he has lovely paces but needs more confidence. I smiled at her at the end but she was having none of me, sitting stony faced in the judges cabin. I was happy with him though. Although he'd had two moments of boldness he was really nice when he was good so I was trying to focus on that.

 

Since then he's started to spook at a lot more things, the aforementioned scouts, rabbits, anything with colour, things that don't exist etc. He's still a loving horse and a dote to be around when he's calm so I'm getting him out hacking as much as I can to build his confidence. And I'm feeling hes getting better when I ride him, he's trusting me more, I think.

 

But at the end of the day I have to remember I've only had him 7 weeks and in hindsight have probably rushed him a bit too much. We've gone back to basics, lots of lunging and hacking and hopefully he'll get over his teenage strops. My horse is 10, going on 4.

 

But the good times make it all worth it......onwards and upwards for me and my Beau Beau (who's show name is aptly Rapscallion). He's getting much better on the lunge, we've been using the Pessoa to build up his topline and he has come on in leaps and bounds, a nice change to the mentalist he was the first day I lunged him. I'm hoping to do a few sponsored rides with him over the summer, just get out there and start enjoying life together. I'm sure there will plenty more blogs about our journey together.

 

TBC........