A Mally Update!

The last feww weeks have been so hectic I haven't had a chance to update my Blog, so will try and do a round up!

After Draycott, we took a spur of the moment trip to Weston Lawns to do their Unaff Monday Evening Dressage. Hoping that I could maybe crack the warm up and get her to settle, unfortunately Mally had other plans and on Sunday night her and the rest of her fieldmates broke out of their field and went on a feeding frenzy!! Luckily they were caught before doing any real damage, but Mally had her first taste of barley and oats and then spent the day in her stable whilst the fencing was repaired, so was rather energetic!
15 minutes of cantering did nothing to dampen her enthusiasm and the Judges didn't appreciate her 'expression' and she came 5th in the W&T and LAST in the Prelim 7!!

We also took a trip to Vale View to get rid of my SJ demons and practise for Stafford BE90. So we entered the 85cm and the 95cm on the bases that I would see how she coped in the 85cm and then make a decision whether to go for the 95cm.
I needn't have worried, she was fanstastic, jumped clear in the 85cm and then had one down in the JO (down to idiot jockey getting carried away!) to come 5th!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_LiHgQF-o8&feature=channel_video_title
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf2THp9IhFU&feature=relmfu

So obviously I had to the 95cm then! It was the biggest course I have ever competitively jumped, so needless to say I was a bit nervous, however coming into the first jump on Mally I had complete faith in her! Unfortunately I still rode like a muppet and she flattened the third fence, but in a class where there were only a handful of clear rounds I was over the moon with her! Especially as she never even glanced at the water tray or had an issue with the treble, which was concerning a lot of riders in the warm up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uS2lWZal5Y&feature=relmfu

She was also treated to a gorgeous dressage saddle after Draycott, which was a complete eBay bargain! I am positive that the saddle and the white boots and pads have convinced her she is a Dressage Diva and her flatwork is definitely improving.

And just to prove what a fabulous horse she really is, she went from schooling over 1m10 with ease...

To plodding around with my novice Dad on board!!!

And what better way to cool off, than a nice drink out of the hosepipe!



So we are off to EHOA Camp next week (very excited and nervous!) and the Stafford BE90 the week after!

Draycott BE80

Mally's BE80 debut saw us at Draycott House on Saturday. I had fairly late times, so had a relaxed morning getting Mally ready, perhaps a little too relaxed for Moot...

We arrived and I was pleased to see a giant Dressage warm up, so didn't think we would have the same issues as at Eland with lots of horses winding her up. She had studs in for the first time ever, which was rather easier said than done as she's not a fan of her back feet being fiddled with! I managed to get them in with just the one kick and by the end of the day, she was much better at having them in and out, thank god for SupaStuds as they are much easier than normal studs!
She was still unsettled (it is only her 2nd ever event!) so walked her around on a loose rein to let her relax. Unfortunately everytime I picked up the reins she thought I wanted canter, so I trotted and trotted until she started to get the idea, until we entered the ring and she immediately tried to canter... She settled down and did what i thought was some nice work, until the Judge beeped us in the first canter... Panic set in at this point as I was sure I hadn't gone wrong, so thought I'd learnt the wrong test! It turned out the judge had accidently lent on the steering wheel!! So we carried on, feeling rather unsettled yet again! The second canter was awful! I think she was always going to get tense after the first canter, but the beep didn't do anything to help and I began to hesitate about where i should ride the movements, leading to a lot of late of early transition.
I felt the scoring was rather harsh, a lot of 4s and we ended up with 44, but everyone was in the same position, so hey ho!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqsKuyph9gA&feature=channel_video_title

After a long wait, we made our way down to the Show Jumping, where Mally warmed up like a lunatic! I think I anticipate her firing herself at the fence, so slow her down too much which makes her fire even more.
Some of the kids I teach had come to watch, so they gave me some advice (steer and kick!) and crossed their fingers tightly!
Mally went into the ring and jumped ok, if rather out of control! As we approached 6, which she had already spooked at and I had seen a couple stop at, I booted her instead of steadied slightly, so she had an awkward jump and took the rail off. Jumped the last few slightly better to finish on 4 faults.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHwEYA5fcUw&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

A quick change and down to the XC warm up, which was tiny and absolutely rammed with horses! So I took her to the now empty Dressage warm up and had a blast to open her up a bit, then popped the practice fence and went into the start box.
Managed to time our start perfectly (for once!) and she leapt out the box and over the first, jumped the second well and then went very wobbly and green at the third, but jumped it well with some 'vocal' encouragement. 4 was a tiny house which I don't think she noticed until she was almost over it and down to a step at 5, which had a horrible approach. It was really steep and narrow and it confused mally for a few moments, but she went down in the end and didn't hesitate at the actual fence.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atK_SPYS2z4&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL
6 was a small flower box that she flew and then round to 7 which was a large drop in the woods, dropped back to trot and she popped off neatly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ-oDuDqu2I&NR=1
She stormed around most of the rest of the course, had a slight hesitation at 9, which was a hedge in the shade and almost ground to a halt but went after a hefty boot! Even jumped the ditch at 12 which I think caused a few issues (Boy was I glad we went ditch schooling the other day!), the flew the last bit of the course with no problems at all! In fact the biggest issue we had on the course was her spooking at the fences in the other classes!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxMUXX-UPLc&NR=1

Despite the fact I felt she flew round, she ended up with 42 (!!) time penalities, however I was happy with the speed we went at and wouldn't have wanted to go any faster and potentially scare her. So although th results don't necessarily look great, I was really pleased with her. I felt her Dressage was better and her SJ was confident (maybe a little too confident!), the XC was a big ask, this was the first time she had jumped a course without schooling around first, and I felt she really stepped up to the mark and by the end of the round was full of confidence.

So she is going to have a quiet couple of weeks, mainly hacking and then I want to get out and do some 90cm SJ so I can get over my SJ nerves! Then it's the EHOA camp in July and hopefully Stafford BE90 a couple of weeks after that!

Yet MORE Cross Country!?!

As Moot has her BE Debut on Saturday (albeit at 80T level!) and I suspect there could be an open ditch on the course, I decided that Moot's last encounter with a ditch (unplanned and she stopped, it was large and there was no alternative to get her confidence back!) was maybe not the best experience to go forward with, and that we should get a last minute XC schooling session in.

This does mean that she has gone XC rather a lot recently, but she had most of last week off and will get another short holiday after this weekend, and she certainly seems to enjoy herself, so I'm not overly concerned that I'm over-doing it.

I needn't have worried that she would be ditchy, as she ate up every possible ditch Aylesford had to offer and flew a couple of Trakehners without so much as a second glance!

She is super confident (almost too confident!) with ditches, steps and water, she stays straight at skinnies (I just need to trust her more!) and she positively flies the bigger and wider the jumps get! I am so chuffed with how she is turning out, she is exceeding my wildest expectations!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Jukar1_tY&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWaFdodL_2Y&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

She also proved just how honest she was after being confronted with three steps down to the water (we had worked up to it and she had sailed through all the easier versions!), her tiny brain couldn't quite grasp the concept, but instead of stopping, she carried on... just VERY slowly....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIdoWwjUg1c&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

I was slightly concerned she was stuck at first, but she was just working out what I was asking her! She flew through it the second time, a tad too confidently for my liking!!

So I am hoping our confidence stays on a high for Draycott (our BE debut!) and she eats up the XC course in the same way she did today!

We also have had a couple of small breakthroughs in her flatwork... 1) I have changed her from a Neue Schule Loose Ring, to an Eggbutt version and she seems much happier in the contact, I think the loose ring was just a bit wobbly for her, and 2) I have discovered that in my quest for a light seat to prevent hollowing, I am actually ruining the downward transition and if I just sit that bit deeper, I can ride with my leg a bit more and the downward transitions are really starting to improve!

So, the plan is, Draycott this weekend, then a short holiday, then a bit of 90cm SJ, EHOA camp in July and the Stafford BE90! Fingers crossed everything runs smoothly!

All That Malarky's Eventing Debut!

Finally the day arrived for Mally's first ODE. I had packed, polished and prepared weeks ago due to extreme excitement, so only had bathing and plaiting of Mally to do. Luckily I decided to keep her in last night as we had a very stormy night, so the pristine pony I left yesterday was still there this morning! I managed to plait and load with minimal stress and we arrived in plenty of time. So had a lovely relaxed time getting ready and pootling down to the Dressage warm up.

Arrived and found a PACKED warm up and coupled with the windy conditions, Mal's tiny brain was whirring at warp speed! The end result was a test on a horse that was far too busy gawping to concentrate and a few freestyling movements to boot! Overall I was pleased and felt the 40.5 score was fair, the comments echoed exactly what I felt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whP39tsLp2U&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

We had AGES to wait for the Show Jumping, so loaded Mal up out of the rain... except Mally decided to use my foot as a stepping stone and my chest padding for the partitions! Naughty Mal! She was so forgiven and after a long wait, we tacked back up and headed off to the Show Jumping.
She jumped a super round, despite quite a few pilot errors, and was unlucky to roll the second to last fence (all my fault!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQe-WnDjX7Q&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Then a quick change a we scooted off to the XC. I watched a few go and seemed to jinx every one of them as there were problems with napping/spooking/refusing galore! So not filled with confidence I went to the start box, and my super little horse charged out the box and set off without a second glance! Had a few sticky moments where her greeness came out and she began to tire up the final hill, but I couldn't be happier with how she had gone! Felt rather teary going through the finish line!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4RJidjpmX0&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Stuck around for a wee while and bought LOTS of photos, then had a quick look at the scoreboard to see that Mally had finished around 9th, so EVEN more pleased with the Moot's first attempt!

Gridwork take 2!

With our first ODE rapidly approaching I decided to have one last jump this week, and really work on getting her to listen to me rather than locking on and charging over whatever was in front of her!
So after consulting my '101 Schooling Exercises' book I came up with two grids to work on - an upright, three strides to a bounce, two strides to a spread, to get her thinking about her feet and shortening and opening up her stride. The other exercise used the first part of the grid (upright, three strides) to two fences either side of the bounce, so that when she came over the upright and locked on to a fence, I could ride her over a completely different fence, so that she started to listen to me, rather than thinking she knew best!

She warmed up with her usual disregard for small fences, but really started to listen to me when she realised the jump infront of her wasn't necessarily what she was jumping! So goal one was acheived! The grid she found ridiculously easy, despite my over-estimating her stride, meaning it was actually a long 3/short4 to a bounce and then a long2/short3, Mally and her super adjustable canter (for a baby anyway!) found it easy on both, but she much preferred to go on a long one!

We built the grid up to about 3ft which is the minium she will actually try over and once again she jumped through beautifully! I then asked my 'helper' (my unhorsey, but very pushy boyfriend!) to raise the spread by a hole or two and rode round to jump it. As I approached I thought it looked rather large, but decided I was just being a wimp, kicked on and Mal flew it...

...It was then my boyfriend admitted to raising it rather a lot more than I asked and on closer inspection the fence was 1m15!!! Just a tad bigger than the 1m I had asked for!! However given how easy Mal had made it and with my confidence through the roof I decided to give it another shot and once again Mal flew through it without batting an eyelid!

So she will now more than likely knock every show jump at our ODE, as 70cms is so clearly beneath her ladyship! But at least I will have supreme confidence in her ability to get over the fences and therefore will actually ride her positively!

Eland Lodge XC Schooling

In preparation for Mally's first ODE on the 22nd, I decided to take her over to Eland Lodge to have a play around the course.
My intention was to let have a look at some of the 'spookier' fences she would meet and to have a go at a few of the larger fences. As Eland Lodge is a BE course and also run their own Unaff events they have a range of courses from 70cm, up to BE Novice height! They have also spent a lot of time during the dry weather to keep the ground good, so with the extra rain we've had the going was fantastic, with only the lack of water in the water jump being the only hint as to how dry it's been!

Right from the start Mally was as keen as mustard to get going, she seems to really love cross country and despite few green wobbly moments, she never stops! Her eagerness really fills me with confidence too and we ended up jumping a lot of the BE90 course, including a pallisade/hedge with a rather large drop on landing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38elomXwxdI&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

She tackled the Horsewear Island, but was rather shocked to see a ditch on the landing drop, so launched off that to my shock!!
                   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GJ195Qi-oE&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

Second time round, she was much less shocked! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HRDy-4wL38&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

She did the rest of the course with absolutely no issues, never hesitating other than to take a second to work out what she was being asked to do! It will take me some getting used to having a horse with such a gallop, my other horse is Part Shire, therefore not built for speed!!

So excited about my ODE now, although I think she will need a bigger challenge than 70cms for next time!

(Lots more videos on my Youtube channel!!)

Gridwork, gridwork and more gridwork!

As her Ladyship is getting rather cocky when it comes to jumping, I wanted to do some gridwork to challenge her tiny brain a bit.
After working through the poles and building up gradually, I set up a grid of cross pole, bounce, cross pole, stride, upright, stride, spread, hoping the bounce would make her think a bit more, however Mal being Mal, it didn't work! Her feet work just as quickly as her brain and she ploughed through far too easily! Until the jumps go up, she has absolutely no regard for them, so lots of clunking poles and knocking them down.

Once it reached 80cm she started to listen a bit more, but still barely making any effort! In an attempt to challenge her, the spread was gradully built up to a metre with a fairly decent spread on. Yet again she cleared it with little effort although at least gave it a modicum of respect!

I'm really chuffed as I am not the world's bravest jockey when it comes to jumping, 80cms would have been plenty large enough for me, but she feels me with such confidence that cantering down to a metre spread feels like nothing!
She is obviously trying to tell me how grown up she is, it's her fifth birthday on Tuesday and she's getting her very first set of back shoes!!