Visiting South Of England One Day Event: Intermediate and Novice, Trying on new Air Body Protector & Riding Hamlet

Sunday is very very rarely on the map of my days off and I was rather happy for the weather to appreciate that fact. Although windy it was gorgeously sunny and I spent a fab several hours wandering around the grounds of the South Of England British Eventing One Day Event. The classes today included Intermediate and Novice with the higher one running first. 

The show-jumping was interesting to watch - most of the riders didn't really ride their approaches correctly which cost them knocked poles. 

The XC courses were set over some stunning terrain. I've gotten used to the flat and boring Berkshire and must say that West Sussex is way more pleasing to the eye. I used to spend quite a bit of time in Kent/Sussex area and have almost forgotten how much I liked it. 

Jenny and I walked around the whole course which probably took us an hour or so as we stood for a bit at each fence to see it being ridden. 

I must say that I think I should go and watch those events more often, all the schooling fences we have at the centre and even the novice course looked tiny in comparison to the Intermediate jumps. 

We watched a little bit of dressage too which was set on a rather downhill slope. I reckon pure dressage riders would be positively shocked by the degree of it! It meant your final halt had to be really ridden and balanced properly. Laura Collette rode a lovely test on one of her horses, a pleasure to watch. We concluded she just has a very good saddle ;)))) 

Here's a little video remix from the day.

Had a look around the shopping tents and I agreed to try one of those new body protectors which fill up with air upon hitting the ground - Pro Air Inflatable Air Jacket (click this link for pictures and more info). 

(From manufacturer: "The coiled wire of the jacket connects with the holding strap placed at the saddle. After the rider has mounted the saddle, he or she clips the 2 ends together. The coiled wire enables full movement in all directions for the rider. The airbag will only be activated if the rider is separated from the horse. The airbag jacket will then inflate within 0.15 seconds, protecting the all important areas of the body, the neck, ribs and coccyx.")

The sales man from Justequine.co.uk put this weird gillet like clothing on me (which is VERY lightweight and doesn't feel like a body protector at all, rather like a thin gillet) and plugged the demo valve into a pipe and to a gas bottle.  

Let me tell you, you certainly feel well hugged by it when it gets filled with air!!!! Seems to have a super neck protection and it felt a bit like being wrapped in a life-jacket that is custom made and molds to the shape of your body. 

I was told that it was tried on tarmac at some stupid speeds and the testers reported the feeling of 'falling down in a bouncy castle'. 

I was quite impressed by the feeling of being in a protective bubble the jacket gave once inflated but...1) it costs almost £400 and 2) what if it doesn't inflate (guess it's a bit of a 'will my parachute definitely open' dilemma...). 

Then off we went back to Kent to ride Hammie boy. 

He's such a super little horse, didn't do that great on him today but miss riding him as he never really accepts anything but good. It has always made me so much more disciplined and attentive. This on/off riding situation I am at right now isn't great at all...(will put some pics up once I've received them from Jenny).

I also had a chance to say hello to a lovely lady who I used to teach and her horse I used to ride: here they are doing Rex's daily carrot stretches after arriving from a dressage show. He is excellent at them now! :)

Day by Day

Yesterday

Misty and foggy day that you may call gloomy if you need to but was everything but. It felt like the rain was due any minute but it stayed away throughout the day. I had some super clients for the Training Day, they are my regular riders in another centre and came for a bit of intensive practice today. 

Very good, kept me on my toes and in a think tank mode. Some visual records from their experience can be found on: http://trainingdays-equestrian.blogspot.com/ (scroll down to the post entitled: Sara, Katya and Maddie).

Today...

...was a mixture of - fun(surprisingly) teaching of the little kids - tiny tots, oh the joys. Included an hour with an adorable girl who loans one of the centre's pony and her friend on another pony. Almost fell over running with them in the muddy woods, ended up in mud knee high but had a good laugh. 

Then total change of climate - proper work running Training Day for a lady working towards her Stage II/III riding. 

The sun stayed with us all day. Lots of bluebells in the woods.

Pic. below: End of the day. Horses on way to the field.

Tomorrow

I am skiving work ;) Come back tomorrow night to find out why...

Have a look at the sneaky preview of...

a trailer for My Sister's Keeper , movie based on an amazing book I read about a year ago by Jodi Picoult. The book is beautifully written and very moving, not sure about the movie, guess we'll see. Sometimes books are so much better. 

Hectic day but hey (!) - managed to ride, yay!

It seems to be the rule now for Thursdays to be my manic days. The good thing about them though is that I do staff training as well as some more advanced teaching which is just what I like. If I am lucky I also get to ride a bit more which was the case today. 

We have some Stage IV students on a exam preparation course and they are currently doing jumping sessions so we get to do some of those too. Got to jump two horses over 1m course and it was great to be actually doing something rather than teaching only (apart from me feeling rather alien in the saddle after barely riding in the last two weeks). 

Then onto my next lesson with a very committed client who has her own horse, a youngster, and who came to me last year to enquire about some training. She insisted I told her bluntly what I thought about her then current level and what I would recommend...so me being perfectionist me I told her to book twice weekly lunge lessons for about 6 months, then she can have the reins again and start proper riding ;) She was not a beginner by any means but this is simply my ideal system and if someone insist on my opinion then hey ho. 

So she went away to have a good think about it and...came back in early March ready for a challenge. If someone ever EVER doubts the benefits of advanced lunge lessons should come and see this girl in action. I wish I have filmed her at her first session and then once in two weeks or so. The progress you make when you really focus is remarkable. I wish I could have those lessons!! 

Her feel improved immensely which proves what I believe in - that any rider can learn to ride with 'feel'. Sure, not everyone can develop super intricate coordination and not everyone has that elusive talent but knowledgeable riding is not a rocket science and every rider owes it to the horse to at least try to understand the movement they intend to work on. 

Lunge lesson done so quick quick to change and run to jump into the car for my driving lesson. I am making progress apparently, phew!

Out of the car, change back into my riding stuff, grab a toastie (thank goodness for the lovely lady who gets my food done on time!) and ride a fab 5 year old which I really enjoy schooling. 

He's got such a workman like attitude and really does try his best. Super ride (only wish I wasn't so all over the place, get annoyed with myself for how quickly I lose the quality of my skills if I don't ride regularly). 

Chop chop. Off the youngster, finished him off as nobody available at the yard, then quick to run staff training. I decided to take them XC as they really need to do more of it plus M. rode my "baby horse" and I knew he would enjoy it ;) 

Pic.: M. on D., the horse I would buy as a fun horse if I only could! He's a bit of a trouble but I totally adore him.

He did indeed. Maybe apart from the first jump which he overjumped in humongous fashion sending M. flying, literally FLYING above the saddle, legs in a split, hands in a desperate position and a loud squeak - cartoon style!! 

This is how he jumped it the second time (M. still sqeaking he he), think 3 to 4 times higher and you will get a picture of the first go..;)

Vid.: M. on D.

He got better and better as we went over more and more jumps, really got it in the end and breezed through. I once took him over some of the jumps so we went back to those and he just went into 'point-i-will-jump' mode :) 

Vid.: M. on D.

The tires remained sticky until the very end though, he obviously must be thinking there is a horse eating monster hidden in them. 

The other two horses jumped super, they are good old pathfinders and confidence givers and both riders did a decent job especially considering they can get a little nervous (to say the least). 

Back from hot footing the woods (as I wasn't on a horse I did fair amount of hiking from one fence to another) and quick quick to be on time in the arena for my next and last jumping lesson. 

Tired me now. Think hot bath is due!

Just grit the teeth

We are what we believe we are.
C. S. Lewis 

If I have ever mastered anything in my little life then it will be doing "the impossible things"...no, not anything of any specific monumental value ;) However, over and over again I have heard from people that what I wanted to do was impossible. The reasons varied depending on what I came up with at the time. From wanting to have my own horse while there was no way my family could have afforded it to going freelance in a foreign country (while having no clue how what when and what for) I've never seemed to have tackled any simple tasks. Apart from my mum who I think is the only person in the whole world who truly thinks I can do anything as long as I want it badly enough I know people always thought I am over ambitious, or a dreamer, or just plain crazy. And yet, over and over again I proved them wrong. 

The current time is the most testing though...I just hope that fighter in me will wake up soon as I am fed up with this I-can't-do-anything me. There are moments I feel my old powerful self is coming back but they are too rare to be of any help. 

One thing downed on me today - there is absolutely no way I am giving up now. On the way back home I was staring at the world outside the train window, passing so fast and furious...don't want anything to pass me by only because I haven't tried hard enough. 

So I will grit my teeth and keep going. 

It was a nice day. Very busy morning followed by lunch with my friend. Seeing her so happy recharges my used up batteries, always seems to. For me she's one of those people who you would chose to spend time with when you feel like being by yourself. And to top it all my chargrilled chicken was splendid!

Afternoon saw me giving two lunge lessons to a lovely couple and taking my regular little people XC. They had lots of fun, only one rider 'dismounted without my permission' but jumped straight back on. 

I then sat watching J. jumping and chatted to C. while waiting for a girl I work with to finish turning horses out as she was going to show me around the place she lives in (I'm trying to get to know the surrounding areas, see as many places as possible so some move decision can finally be made).

I also managed to talk to a colleague who runs a show-jumping yard as I am trying to organise for some jumping lessons for myself so fingers crossed it will work out.

Work done and off we went for a very very long walk, my feet are falling apart - let me tell you, riding boots are NOT GOOD for hiking. 

If you're still with me have a look at this video, just watched it and thought there are some good bits and pieces of information in it (and the horse is super). Just click the link below:

GEMMA GREEN WORKS ON 'SMALL TOUR' MOVES WITH FINE TIME

Another Remix Ready

Just finished playing with pics and videos from the 27th March Training Day. Result on here:

http://trainingdays-equestrian.blogspot.com/2009/03/anja-andrea-and-suzanne.html

About stuffing myself with chocolate and about the Dyngus Day

I ate more chocolate today than in the past few months. Feel a bit overchocolated (am I allowed to make words up?). My fab clients and people I work with will be blamed as they gave me all those chocolate Easter eggs. If I end up morbidly obese I will know who to address my complaints to. 

Pic. below: Wendy and Nevada. What do I buy as a birthday present to a person who is totally besotted with a horse? Well, I buy her a present for that horse of course... Here's Wendy trying her birthday pressie on ;)

It's been a very easy day today. I taught all my usual lessons, ponies behaved and no one ended up biting the dust. I am especially pleased one of my young riders is fine after having had a rather painful fall a few days ago. 

**************

Easter is making me think about my family. If I was there we would have a big breakfast this morning, some telly watching, some chatting, some arguing with my brother over something absurdly silly. The dog would be told not to rest his head on the table but he would do it anyway.

Tomorrow it's a Dyngus Day in Poland 

"Barely had the day dawned on Easter Monday when I woke the boys and gathered some water to start throwing it on the girls. Up with the Piwezyny! (eiderdown)! There was screaming, shouting, and confusion. The girls are shrieking and hollering, but in their hearts they are glad because they know that she who isn't gotten wet will not be married that year. And the more they are annoyed, the more we dump water on them calling, Dyngus – Smigus! Then we had to change our clothes because there wasn't a dry thread on the girls and we boys were not better off.

The spirit of Poland’s Dyngus is captured in this description from the Poznan region during 1800s" 

Read more on here: http://www.wilsonsalmanac.com/eastmond.html).

You basically spend entire day pouring buckets of water at everybody around. A few years ago I was at my parents house and my brother woke me up, carried me to the bathroom and then dropped me into bath full of cold water. Pyjamas and dreams the lot. As you do. Of course he didn't keep his clothes very dry for long after that! It's a lot of fun ;) I do miss it.

**************

My dear friend never fails to make me laugh. Talented person.

Be not afraid of growing slowly...

Chinese proverb

Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.

Maybe it's due to Easter holiday and people having a go at riding, maybe it's just a pure coincident but I've spent most of this week teaching beginner riders and sat on a horse once (today in fact) and one thing is sure - sadly, this is not working for me. 

Don't get me wrong, I actually do like starting riders off 

and I am very committed to teaching my regular beginner riders who progress as we go but all those on/off-for-fun lessons are not my cup of tea. I am not even any good at them.  I am way too technical, way too strict and probably way too serious about riding to be able to offer enough fun for a twice-a-month recreational rider. There are much better instructors out there who can create fun atmosphere for those riders and yet teach well - I am not one of them. It's almost as if I had a limit of 'play lessons' that I am able to give before I go lethargic.

I like to keep my brain busy, figure out ways to improve people who really want to better themselves but who also have more opportunities to practice, more drive, more passion for the sport in general. 

Need to ride more regularly too. I seem to have weeks when I ride everyday, then weeks when all my work is teaching. Can't go on riding once a week as schooling horses and working on myself are the only things that keep my teaching truly alive.  

Had this hyper pony to school today first thing in the morning and absolutely loved it. There is nothing else that puts me in this state of total mental focus. You can leave whole world behind.

Was cooling the pony down thinking that I need a good balance in what I do and who I teach to truly enjoy my job. 

There is something in me that needs to move on and on and standing still feels detrimental. 

I am looking forward to teaching my tomorrow's riders, only wish I could get them horses that would give them better feedback. 

And then, here's hoping for next week to be more challenging than the past one. 

Sleep medicine

A friend is that one word "hello" over the phone that can make you feel better than 10 minutes of conversation with anyone else. 

The source unknown but whoever said it was very right...

***********

My centre ran a Good Friday show-jumping show today so I had no riders for Training Day. All back to normal next week and I had some new people booking in earlier in the week who got my details from a friend of a friend which is always good. Never enough committed riders although I am running out of available dates. Almost everything in April and May is already taken.

So - I slept most of the day!! Then watched 6 episodes of 'Breaking Bad with Ricky eating some very nice couscous chicken salad and a very not-nice(!) garlic bread which looked tasty but was everything but.

Breaking Bad follows protagonist Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a chemistry teacher who lives in New Mexico with his wife (Anna Gunn) and teenage son (RJ Mitte) who has cerebral palsy. White is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of two years left to live. With a new sense of fearlessness based on his medical prognosis, and a desire to secure his family's financial security, White chooses to enter a dangerous world of drugs and crime and ascends to power in this world. The series explores how a fatal diagnosis such as White's releases a typical man from the daily concerns and constraints of normal society and follows his transformation from mild family man to a kingpin of the drug trade.) 

Sleeping all day is rather crazy I know but I think my brain was just overloaded with various things needing sorting out and I simply just gave up and let it rest. I wish life wasn't one damned thing after another sometimes and a little bit of peace of mind would be great. I am looking forward to my energy levels going back up again.

EasyJet suddenly cancelled the flight I got tickets for (to go to FEI World Cup Eventing Final) so I re-booked the tickets with Rynair and the flight is now to the city where my parents live so they are rather happy (I usually fly to Warsaw and they have to fetch me from there; that's a 2.5h drive to be skipped). I really can't wait to see them. My super friend is going with me and hope she'll enjoy good old Polish hospitality.  

Emergency Stop

- We are going to learn the emergency stop today - says my driving instructor. I am hungry as hell as didn't have breakfast and was teaching on the trot with no break. I take my driving lessons at my lunch times, how very cunning of me Not!

- OK. But you better sit tight - I say - I have to warn you, I have an above average reaction time. Which is true. I was tested when I played volleyball at school. It's way above average. It was only fair to warn him...;)

We did two emergency stops. After the first one he agreed with me as to my reaction time. After the second he said we won't have to do it again and that it was of an exam standard. Te he. At least one thing I am doing fairly well behind that blooming wheel! 

The last two days were teaching-packed. Well, sort of. On Wednesday I ran a Family Day for five fantastic people I teach in Surrey on regular basis and who came to Hall-Place for a full day of horsey fun. I took lots of pictures so will have to get some to put up on here at some point. 

And today I taught from the moment I set my foot on the yard up until the end of the day. My voice is going. 

I also managed to hit my head against a rather ridiculously positioned metal rail and gave myself a bad whiplash like injury. Still have a headache. That will teach me. I guess having a speedy reflex isn't coupled with a speedy ability to spot the hazards...hmm.

2010 Radio Show Episode 31 - WEG Gold Medalist Megan Benjamin

We begin our "Chatting with the Champions" series with 2006 World Equestrian Games Gold Medal Vaulter Megan Benjamin. Megan shares her experiences at the 2006 WEG and what it was like to be the first American to win a Gold medal in vaulting at a WEG. Plus, the latest news of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Listen in...

2010 Radio Show Episode 31 - WEG Gold Medalist Megan Benjamin:

• Thank you to www.forequestrians.com for becoming an affiliate of the Horse Radio Network. Check out their website - we think you will like it!


• See the new construction pictures from the Kentucky Horse Park as they rush to get ready for the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event at the end of April.

• Thank you to 2006 World Equestrian Games Gold Medal Vaulter Megan Benjamin for joining us to share her WEG experiences.

• Megan performs her freestyle on Leonardo at the 2006 World Equestrian Games, Aachen, Germany. Video by the Barwig Family:

• Visit the American Vaulting Association website at americanvaulting.org.

___________________________

Listen Now, Download or Subscribe:

Bank Holiday...What Bank Holiday?

Our landlady told me this morning about how she was looking forward to the Bank Holiday Monday (as in this coming Monday) and about having 4 days off etc When you work with horses and more importantly, when you work freelance, such things like Bank Holidays are the least acquainted of events. I don't even notice them in any other way but as a disruption to my commute (as obviously every means of transport is that less frequent!).

Bank Holiday reminds me of office drudgery. Of structured weeks when you are told when you have a right to enjoy your life. 

The good thing about all these Bank Holidays is that people have more time to come out and ride so I am starting my Late Night Tuesday at 1pm again today. I better get ready to pop...  

Can't decide

There are estimated 6.77 billion people in the world. If you happen to meet in your fairly short life a few you feel real connection with does it mean you are amazingly lucky? Or have you made the right choices for the right reasons and that has brought you to the places you were meant to be...?

Can't decide whether to kill my friend for leaving or to let her get away with it...I guess it will have to be the latter so we can at least see each other on those rare occasions when we both have the time. 

Well, had a lovely day today, first chatting to estate agents (who are quite confident they will find us something suitable) and then stuffing myself silly with some lovely food in the company of the aforementioned dear friend. 

I am so missing seeing her at work more often. That sucks. 

Oh well. There are times in life when you have to be on the right side and lose. If life experiences are anything to go by I should certainly have a good practice. 

Now time to try to put more of those training pics and videos together.    

Website Update

Ricky has just kindly updated the information and added a video for me on Training Days on my main website:

http://equestriantrainer.co.uk/plans.html

The good map is the key ;)

I had an absolutely super day today. Started an hour later as some of my regular riders are away skiing or doing something equally unnecessary (don't they know their priorities - riding comes first!!;))). Not that I minded that additional sleep ;)

I sat on the fence at my usual spot where I like to sit as I can see everything much better from there and watched my 10am riders. They've been riding with me for over a year now and although I am pleased with how they improved I am now determined to make them even better riders. I let them chose what they wanted to work on today as I wanted to observe them a little more and think about what to do to correct some problems I know need sorting. Finally decided to use a saddle strap with Suzanne who I really want to make to use her seat better and get that "riding the horse from leg/seat to the contact" feeling. The yard has these super long straps which they use for RDA and voila! I got Suzanne to use one and it did a great job and I am now going to use it next week on all three ladies in this group. I asked her to loop a few fingers around the strap, pull gently upwards on it (she later discovered that pushing the strap upwards AND forwards has a better effect) to give her the feel of 'pushing a trolley forwards' and her task was to ride the horse through three loop serpentines and transitions within trot by using her body/seat only. 

Suzanne is one of the best kind of riders to teach as she tries so hard and it actually does show in results! Before I move from London she is going to ride 100% better - that's my mission anyway.

Pic.: As you can see the strap made Suzanne keep her hands steady and in front of the saddle with her elbows bent and softly dropped by her sides. Amazingly it made her really *think* with the seat and not hands only. Great job Suzanne!

I then taught two new ladies who both did ballet in the past. They were great fun to teach and although there was a lot of body patterns we had to fight with (arched back, toes out, thighs rotated outwards!!!! - all the opposites!) they both had fantastic innate balance and awareness of the centre of gravity within their bodies. Go dancing people!!

After lunch I had to take another new client (see, they only manage to book new clients for me in times of holidays when all my regular riders are away) out for a hack in Richmond Park. Now, Richmond Park is NOT a little square, it's ginormous and all riders have to stay on special tracks. There is a fine for going off tracks without being allowed to do so (only a couple of months a year unfortunately) and I am not at all familiar with the part of the Park my stables use. The only hacks I have done so far were with regular riders who just told me where to go.

So, I asked Suzanne to draw me a map of my route. She promptly did...

She drew a map of ENGLAND!!!!!! How funny! (This actually was re a joke we once came up with but I won't bore you all with that;) 

I gently pointed out that I may need a little bit more details so she corrected herself: 

I made sure I read the map well...

And we managed to be back bang on time for my next lesson despite the fact that my dear ex-race mount tried to buck me off after getting a bit over excited seeing a long stretch of a track!

Pics. above: On way to the park

Pic.: One of the tracks

Then the last lesson with my regular rider who also kindly drove me back home yay!

Since I returned so early Ricky and I popped for a coffee and walkies around my favourite place: Holland Park. It's on our doorstep and is the only place I will truly miss when we move away. 

My day off tomorrow. I am going to chat to estate agents about the houses and see my dear friend so roll on Monday!