Edward Gal & Moorlands Totilas Kür 90.750% European Championship 2009 UK Windsor

Just watch the bow

My yesterday Sunday was as untypical as my Sunday can get. Of all my working days, Sundays are probably the most routinely organised with very little changes to my schedule.

Considering all the things I have on my mind at the moment the routine mix couldn't have arrived with a better timing.

I gave a few lessons in the morning as per usual but then went for a nice relaxing hack with P. and S. in Richmond Park and had a lot of fun running a little in-house clear round throughout the rest of the day. Decided to give a free lesson to 2 most stylish rounds so everybody was assessed on their riding skills as well as the penalty points and time as normal.

Having drawn the course for my master course builders to build, I consulted the layout with my Show Jumping Course Building Assistant but she didn't seem to approve:

When I say it was a little clear round I mean LITTLE:

The jumps were absolutely tiny but the riders still managed to knock a few down ;) They all tried their hearts out though and provided me with a lot of entertainment...:)

Some had a good few of near misses which obviously meant they never had a lesson from Cpt. Garry on how to steer a motor boat: you just got to watch the bow. Simple as that ;) If the front of your horse is pointing left and the jump is on your right then no amount of pleads is going to help you.

I, on the other hand, did have a lesson from the Cpt that very evening and managed some fabulous three loop serpentines on the river. He did want me to go straight but hey, details are better paid attention to in Dressage...

Pic.above: I steering the boat called Dougal (Suzanne would need to correct me if I spelled that wrong!) with Cpt. Garry making sure I don't hit anything;)

It was a great evening with a very tasty picnic in the middle and a cruise back to the docks at night. Unfortunately, most of the people on the cruise are also my riders and now their suspicions as to my sanity are no longer that but a certainty. Something tells me I will need a cunning plan to convince them it's all right for me to teach them again ;) Just remember:

“Truly great madness can not be achieved without significant intelligence.”

Henrik Tikkanen quotes

Thank you to Suzanne for organising the lovely evening! And Anja, please make a SWEET dessert next time please please ;))) x

"Oomah" means "horse"

We had 32 Japanese kids for 3 hours in the afternoon. I tried to learn the language but they spoke bit fast ;)

My morning lessons were more typical with English language being used which always makes my work that little easier!

We have a set of fantastic arena mirrors put up and the riders see the benefits already. You can't beat visual feedback.

The going back into the swing of my life here is progressing slowly. I don't know whether it's some sort of telepathic siblings thing but I find myself rather down knowing how much my brother is depressed about Poker's illness. I go about my day just fine only to find myself in tears in the most unsuitable moments, mornings and evenings being the worse.

Busy day ahead tomorrow which should keep me from thinking too much. I am teaching in the morning, afternoon judging a home show at Barnfields and off on a boat party on the river with a few friends from the stables. Not sure yet how on earth will I get back home afterwards...!

Then on Monday there is a big annual show at one of the centres I work at so although I am not teaching I am planning to convince Ricky to go with me to watch and just relax.

Back to Work!

Rather tired me this evening. After all the holidaying and not doing much I was on my feet all day today teaching in the wind which knackered both my knees and my voice ;)

It's great to be back though. Running one of my Training Days tomorrow so I am hoping for glorious weather. My rider doesn't know it yet but I might take her for a 2 hour fast hack - got to get her riding fitness up!

Alltech European Champs - Dressage Day at Windsor

I got up very early today to join my two crazy friends and riders I teach, one is German (they always win you know!) and one from Zim (apart from Suzanne, they don't really count in Dressage;) to watch FEI Alltech European Championships in Dressage at Windsor.

We got there before 9am, just in time to have a look around and see the first rider going in. Windsor Castle grounds provide such a beautiful set up for the arenas and horses.

Pic.: Whip fight with Suzanne!

The show had the best food stands I have ever seen at an equestrian event so we made a good use of them and stuffed ourselves accordingly in regular intervals in between the tests.

I got the show radio to listen to Sandy Phillips and Carl Hester's running commentary and as we were sat in front of the score board it was a great learning experience.

Edward Gal and Moorland Totilas gave the performance out of this world. I have seen him ride on videos before but watching the horse live today was a totally different experience. What really hits is how relax Totilas is, how supple and submissive and yet so expressive and full of life and his own character. Just amazing.

However, as far as learning goes, I think it's more beneficial to watch the less perfect combinations and see how the riders present horses that are maybe less talented but still score highly through correct training.

The Gold went to Netherlands with Totilas scoring 84% (ish). Great Britain took Silver, well deserved. Germans landed with Bronze.

It was great to see Polish riders at this level too, especially Katarzyna Milczarek whose Ekwador is just stunning and looks like the horse to watch. The commentators liked him too and although he made mistakes he is only 9 yrs old and shows a lot of talent as well as fantastic attitude to work.

Michal Rapcewicz and Randon had a very unfortunate test in a pouring rain and strong wind and the horse took a great dislike to a camera man a few times spooking badly enough to significantly disrupt the performance. Carl Hester criticised the too tight a neck in the horse but seemed impressed with Randon's talent for passage and piaffe and the regularity of his paces.

Few videos but the quality is bad. The dappled grey horse at the very end is Ekwador.

Apart from watching the tests we had a good browse around the stands ending up buying loads of books and some dvds. I treated myself to Mary King's autobiography and a great new book on equine bio mechanics. If I could I would buy half of the book stand :)

Another thing that got us interested was a super hay steamer:

Here is the official info on it: www.haygain.com

Having once had a horse with RAO I am always drawn towards anything that gives hay as high quality as possible. Dust-free. The hay from the HayGain had delicious smell too.

I am back to work tomorrow. Can't wait to collect little horse and start riding him. He will be called Kingsley and I should be able to get him transported on Wednesday.

Back from holidays - my family, friends & the World Cup Eventing Final in Strzegom, Poland

If I was religious I would say: "God forbid I should go to any heaven where there is no family, friends and horses"......slightly amended by Me but originally by R.B. Cunningham Graham

There is so much to tell I almost don't know where to start. For some, holidays are to lie down on the beach and read a book. For others it's a search for a thrill.

For me, at this moment in time, holidays are about seeing my beloved family and treat myself to the rare time when we can all just spend some time together. It's great to keep busy, great to go for adventure trips but there is a certain art to being with people you can just be still with. When there is no effort involved in keeping the holiday going, when you can chat or just sit together and yet it feels right.

The last week was exactly that. Quality time.

I invited a very special friend of mine to come along and we had so much fun. I did a lot of translating which left me mixing the two languages completely. As a result I would speak to my parents in English and my friend in Polish ;) I think we managed somehow just fine and I hope she enjoyed the whole trip as much as I did.

After a day at my parents' house we set off to Strzegom which is a good 4 hours drive away. My brother, his girlfriend and Poker the dog joined us on the second day. There was a bit of a dilemma as to what to do with Poker as we stayed at a 3* hotel rather than a B&B but that was sorted...by smuggling Poker into the hotel room!

Pic.: View from our hotel room

We wondered whether we would be discovered as there was apparently a CCTV in the hotel but all went smoothly. The ideas of how to get the dog out of the hotel the next morning (ranging from creating a sling from bed sheets to descent him out of the window, packing him into the biggest suitcase to plainly advising anybody who enquired that the dog had only came in to use a toilet) provided us with an hour of uncontrollable laughter

Here is a PART 1 of a picture story of those several days with some very important people in my life.

MORE SOON!

I've been putting away writing this post because I always feel so incredibly emotional just after coming back, this time especially so, and I had such fantastic time that I didn't want to sound grim.

It's doubly emotional for two reasons. My granddad was told he either has an operation or he is being given a year to live. The problem is he has had two strokes already and sedating him is not a very real option...he's awaiting more tests.

Then there is Poker whom I found on the street as a few weeks old puppy in 1997 and had him for a couple of years before giving him to my brother when I left home to go to Uni. My brother is crazy about this dog. And Poker is ill. They got diagnosis today after doing x-rays. He's got cancer which has already spread to multiple organs and the newest growth is very close to his lungs.

Many people would say, hey it's just a dog, but you know what, it's not only that. In this fury creature there are 12 years of family life. The laughter, the joys, the tears. Memories.

It's just heartbreaking to know I'm not very likely to cuddle his cheeky face ever again.

But don't get me wrong. It was a fabulous week. It's only emotional because it was so special. And because I miss them all so much.

Little horse passed the 5 stage vetting - meet the new project :)

These photos were taken when I first went to try him just after I rode him. As you can see he needs to build the muscles in the right places and put condition on. He's turned 5 yrs old, 15.2hh ish gelding, unknown breeding with some anglo-arab blood, has the sweetest nature but most of all fantastic work ethic which is what I like in the horse. And he loves to jump - as added bonus ;))

He is going to stay at the seller's yard until I am back from holiday and then the fun can begin :)

He is very green on the flat so the idea is to bring him on and either sell or he will be the first horse for the Equestrian Academy (more news on the latter very soon!). That is providing Pauline doesn't fall in love with him totally and wants to keep him for herself once he's schooled up :)

Right, off I go to finish packing my suitcase and catch a train. If I have the time I will blog from Poland, otherwise I shall "see" you in 5 days. I will try to take as many pics and videos as possible :)

For those who don't know, here's a link to my destination: http://www.worldcupstrzegom.pl/

Inner Peace?

I slow down so rarely that when I do all the tiredness seems to hit me head on. Knowing this will happen I arranged for a couple of days off before setting off to Poland.

I've been feeling so sleepy all day today it's almost funny. That is it would be funny if it wasn't rather annoying. I guess I could actually let myself nap all day but looks like my engine is still on high as sleeping seems like a waste of time...! Maybe tomorrow.

The art of resting and relaxing is not an easy one.

I made an attempt to do some clothes shopping today (last time was about 6 months ago;)) but gave up half way through. The 'retail therapy' really doesn't have much influence on me! I got fed up after 40 minutes ;) Things I like are way beyond my budget anyway, just the luck.

Right, I am off to cultivate my Inner Peace watching Horse And Country TV with a glass of white wine ;)

P.S. One of my riders sent me some pictures from her holiday with her boyfriend: 'Romantic rural camping in Wales' think it was meant to be ....;) It turned out they had a company...it really made me giggle for ages, here is one of the photos:

And here are some pics my parents have just emailed; they went on one of their cycling trips, this time to watch the National Young Horses Championships (Show-Jumping):

Subject to Vetting Take 2!

Fast pace day today. Not a great start as my train was delayed so I missed the next connecting one which made me half an hour late for work.

After some early morning lessons I then spent the rest of the day running one of my Intensive Training Day for Pauline. She is now at a stage when she is learning how to ride a horse to the contact and put it on the bit as well as pushing her riding fitness levels. The session on light seat and jumping seemed to worn my poor rider out ;) More of those needed!

Over the years I noticed that many riders, when they are first taught poll flexion and jaw flexion, go through a stage of riding with straight arms and very low hands in a desperate attempt to keep the horse 'round'. We had a bit of the same problem today but we are working on it. It's the case of what the legs and seat didn't manage to produce the hand tries to correct so the main focus today was on understanding the need for creating energy rather than speed and sending it to the bit rather than creating standalone jaw flexion.

Working day over Pauline and I went to view a horse that is a potential project for us to have a bit of fun with as well as being a potential horse for the Equestrian Academy project.

Little horse went really well, he is by no means perfect but is nice enough, have a lovely attitude to work being also responsive and very sweet natured. We are going to have him vetted and providing that goes well he will be bought.

Moorlands Totilas at World Dressage Masters 2009

http://horseandcountry.tv/episode/Edward-Gal-and-Moorlands-Totilas-Record-Breaking-WDM-Kur

Just a quick one

Long day but I went to try a lovely young horse today so keep your fingers crossed that my friend who would buy it likes it too!

Check this out: EQUICISION - "the very first sports medicine based program for the Equestrian Athlete."

To visit the website CLICK HERE

Me on the other side of camera - video from my lesson today

It's normally me who is filming everything so I rarely have any footage of my own lessons. Swapped places today hence below you can watch a snippet from my lesson on lovely Hamlet. On the video we are working on him accepting my half-halts and staying over the back through transitions. As you can see it's still a long way to go.

Considering how long he was off work Hammie is feeling great and has really strengthened since I last saw him. We warmed up long and low which he loves and really loosens up and relaxes.

The challenge now is to get him to work up and soften in half-halts. I've got loads of things to work on too so most of those moments when he goes really tense and hollow are the pilot timing errors!

M. is a good instructor, makes me think and work which I like and I really enjoyed my lesson. We met earlier today to discuss the Academy Project over lunch and looks like she will be joining the team :) Something we talked about today gave me a light bulb moment and I came up with a perhaps genius idea on how to move a few things forward.

But now, I am going to submerge in a lovely bubble bath and relax completely :)

P.S. Many Thanks to Jenny for a super day :) xxx

BHS Stage 3 Video from Huntley School Of Equitation (same place where I took my Int.T. exam)

HorseHero.com is one of my favourite source of super training videos to watch. I had a browse through it today and noticed a new one they've recorded recently: it's a video from a BHS Stage 3 exam filmed at the centre I took my Intermediate Teaching exam in the end of last month :)

LINK TO VIDEO (if clicking on photo above doesn't work). You may need to Register on the site to be able to watch the video but registration is quick and FREE.

Life is like a trumpet...

Pic.above: The result of today's make over I gave to one of the horses. Bushy mane pulling, tail trimming, whiskers off (yard's way of turning out), ears trimming, lots of washing liquid, face wash, Johnson's baby oil-ed muzzle & nostrils (he loved that!), feet scrubbed and washed, hooves oiled (black on fore hooves, natural on hinds') and a thorough groom. After all this I thought he deserved a photo :)

I did have help with this but we ended up having hose fight and our turn out could be summarised: soggy and well foamed!

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Life is like a trumpet - if you don't put anything into it, you don't get anything out of it.
William Christopher Handy

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Lovely, sunny day with some really nice clients. It was rather quiet what with people going away on holidays but that let us catch up with a lot of yard work and making the horses look all fantastic.

It's the part of horse ownership I really miss - playing around with massive sponges and trimmers and grooming kits. I don't miss 5am starts, mucking out and late winter nights doing evening chores though ;)

Right, I have to polish off the Academy info for the meeting on Monday! Thinking, thinking, thinking.

I am also going to have a lesson on Hamlet, can't wait! It will be me sweating and working hard for a change which my riders might be pleased to hear ;)

But first, full day teaching tomorrow.

Crookedness and flexibility issues

Today I ran one my Intensive Training Days for two lovely ladies. It was their first such experience but one loans a horse and the other rides regularly. It's been a day of many discoveries and I hope they will be back soon for much more! It is always such a pleasure to teach committed riders, no matter the level.

Pics. above: Rider collapsing in left hip.

When I teach riders from their first lesson everything is much easier because I don't deal with any deeply ingrained bad habits, just instincts and behaviours that are relatively easy to shape.

When I teach riders who ride a lot but haven't had a good seat education, that's when we need to get creative. Sometimes I look at a rider and think "Right, where do we start!" ;))

I think it's important not to correct everything in one go as more often than not those riders have decent balance and can do rather a lot with the position they came up with! If I changed everything in one instant they might feel like all those years were for nothing.

Not to mention muscle memory is a very stubborn creature - good if it remembers the correct values, not so good if they are wrong.

With both riders today we had a bit of a mixture of bad habits, flexibility problems, various forms of crookedness and lack of alignment. We started addressing some of the issues and tried to have lots of fun in between :)

To watch these two riders on their Training day go to: http://trainingdays-equestrian.blogspot.com/ and scroll down to the 7th August.

Not great

Yard I worked on today got their lessons mixed up resulting in me being cancelled for entire afternoon/evening. Don't I just love those days when I won't even have my travelling expenses returned.

I should have probably argued with it but so not my style. Not to mention I doubt it would have made any difference.

Sometimes I really wonder why I bother making that extra effort to never let people down and always try to be there when they need me.

Oh the joys of negative sides of freelancing.

And typical - my finances are being cut short just in the month of my holiday (when every penny counts!!!).

You got to love life!

Nothing happens until first....an idea!

(Pic. left. Artists at ERS working on some fantastic horse sculptures. They were sculpting, painting and sketching. It was interesting to watch them working in between teaching :)

I've been doing a lot of thinking in the last few days. About my goals for the next 6 months and the next year, about the Academy project and how best to launch it, about various logistical things of which there is a million and one.

I've also been doing a lot of data gathering, Internet browsing, creating riding programmes for the Academy Project - all very exciting; and trying to figure out pricing and other less exciting stuff.

I have best ideas when I hand write everything so I spent half of Monday at the kitchen table with Bernie the plant.

I am pleased to say I now have a first version of the programmes and the layout of levels.

Today I started combining information for the SWOT analysis for the Project and I am mightily trying to recall everything I learned at Uni on this. Funnily enough I wrote my Master dissertation on PR & Marketing programme for an equestrian centre so I am going to dig it out when I visit my parents in...13 days (big YAY!:).

The problem is I have lots of ideas but many of them are totally unrealistic and even a complete dreamer like me knows this ;) So what I do is, I write my ideas down and then run them through the logically-cynical panel of judges in my brain. Then I do the same with the short-list. Then again. You get the picture ;)

Sometimes I end up with a couple of ideas that might work in the real world. But hey, nothing happens unless first a dream.

My teaching continues as normal of course so I am becoming almost nocturnal. Or 24 hours-whatever-you-would call a creature.

Tuesday. Two of my riders who did Intensive Training Days at the weekend had their regular weekly rides and what an improvement they shown! They were rather knackered after 5 hours of horsey experiences at the Training but I am having less and less doubts as to the success of my little teaching system.

(Pic. below. Always smiling Kiran. She had her first off the lunge canter training session. It went pretty well!)

I am also doing Stage 1 and 3 training in London for some mature horse enthusiasts so I need to revisit the syllabuses to make sure I am up to date with what is required. One of my riders-candidates is Polish so we are doing an interesting mish-mash of two languages! I discovered I am struggling to teach riding in Polish now! I have been doing it in English since 2003 and I am finding myself short of words - how embarrassing!

Video Analysis

I've been spending quite a lot of time on re watching videos from my lessons and analysing the riders' seat problems and coming up with ideas how to improve them.

I am also focusing a lot on seeing the bigger picture.

With beginner, novice & intermediate level riders it's all becoming quite easy now. I noticed I can pinpoint a problem and in my head design a route to get it better and, more often than not, it works. You know, what I would really want to get to one day would be to watch an advanced new rider-horse combination warming up and not only see the obvious problems, not only see any hidden shortcomings, not only even notice the barely visible mistakes. Not only know what to do to help them on the day. That's I think it's relatively easy. What I would love to be able to do is to look at them and see in my head how to make them better long term. How to make their partnership work better on higher level. See it as a progressive plan so I know exactly where to start, exactly where it will end and most of all, see all the in between actions.

For now, it's a system of trial and error with an element of hope that it will work.

Half of 2009 behind us. Time to set the next career steps for me:

1) Pass Stage IV exam (both Riding and Intermediate Stable Manager) early in 2010

2) Also in 2010 - Pass BHS Stable Manager's exam (this is one of the 3 parts that now form the BHSI exam: BHS Stable Manager's Certificate, BHS Senior Equitation Certificate, BHS Senior Coaching Certificate. Full new BHSI syllabus can be found on HERE).

Once the summer is over I will focus on more advanced clients. For now, a large part of my days is filled with teaching riding to International students! Some have a decent command of English, some can ride pretty well, some none and not at all. It's interesting to say the least.

Here's how they learned parts of the horse today:

An hour interview on rider's fitness - worth listening!

PODCAST: http://instantteleseminar.com/?eventid=8328693

About riding better, the cake and a pair of jodhpurs

Lovely warm day today with lots and lots of celebratory cake and biscuits :)

AND Suzanne arranged for tickets for Dressage at Alltech FEI European Jumping & Dressage Championships in Windsor!!! :)

We seem to have quite good seats so hope to have a great day. Many Thanks Suzanne :)x

I am taking my regular clients yet again up a level this summer and we are making dressage ponies out of our naughty bunch ;)

My goal for them now is to make sure they understand the theory behind the Scales Of Training and that they can apply it when warming up, working in and cooling down. We are having some encouraging results that get better and better from week to week and it really is fascinating to see them improve.

Here is a very short video of Anja and Ada getting the hang of the rhythm, suppleness & contact concept - the best thing about this pony is that if you ride it with too slow a tempo you will have her so above the bit there is no much else you can do. She is a fab teacher for a rider who tends to under ride and Anja is making a very decent progress (I can't be too complementary as she might read this and I can't lose my 'strict coach' reputation you see).

She also gets bored very quickly but absolutely loves to work. As long as you keep her interested with exercises and focus she is an angel. If you slouch and do nothing she finds herself other means of enjoyment - usually in the form of rather spectacular displays ;)

One of my new clients who only started riding a few weeks ago has made a leap in skills today by learning to feel trot diagonals (sitting on the correct one and changing from one to another). One thing I would like to point out. She got herself kitted out which helped immensely.

If you are new to the sport but you know you will be riding regularly please please please treat yourself to an inexpensive pair of jodhpurs, jodhpur boots and half-chaps. It makes SUCH a difference, both in comfort and in ability to follow instructions. Yes, it does make my job SO much easier too. It helps to know that if I ask you to do something you will not be fighting metres of fabric silently praying for stitches to hold.

At times I think I know how a swimming coach would feel if I turned up at a pool in knee high boots, a massive jumper floating around me and asked for some stroke technique lessons.

Ok, some riding gear is very costly but buy something from a lower shelf and it will do the job just fine. Your body will thank you for it and you will enjoy the learning process without discomfort.

Happy rides :)

I got a lift home from one of my riders so was back nice and early. The weather was so delightful that I had a quick shower and Ricky and I popped out for an evening stroll, snacks and reading.

Training Day

I had a chance to sleep until 9am today as my rider was picking me up and we didn't have to start until 11.30. It was a very productive day today although I'm feeling rather tired.

My today's rider has only been having lessons for several months so it's very much still the beginnings. I mix lunge lessons where we still focus a lot on position and aids with independent riding.

Should be a nice day tomorrow with my Barnfield team and some exam celebrations :)