Mixing things up

With the disobediences making a reappearance I thought it was time to mix things up a bit and get Socks jumping with the aim of entering our first ever Showjumping competition.  Then, all things going to plan continuing to jump over the winter and who knows we could affiliate early next year... however, with my mare plans could change ten times over!

We'd still like to throw in a few dressage competitions for variety and continue with lessons on the flat as its vital to achieve a good canter and balance for jumping.  We've been concentrating on lots of grids and pole work at home which Socks is thoroughly enjoying although the best thing is she really hates hitting the poles, but she could be a little less expressive when she does show her dislike of touching them!

I think the hard work is paying off as her technique is looking good (I'm obviously biased)

We've got a few weeks to prepare for her first jumping outing and have a little work to do on her waistline and energy levels before then.  Also hoping to find a feed suitable for her soon as she's a natural fatty but lacks stamina so harassing feed companies at the moment for ideas.  She's worked 5/6 days a week stabled in the day with small Haynet and on a feed balancer as she needs no extra calories.  Socks lacks stamina and concentration at times but also can always find energy to explode! She also suffers with puffy joints which doesn't help when she has to be stabled to help control her waistline and needs a long warm up to get the best work out of her.  If anyone has any ideas or recommendations let me know.

What Knot put to the test

When out competing I like my hair out the way and struggle sometimes with stray hairs escaping out of a hair net that's too big or too small and after one class I risk looking like the mad professor!  For this reason I thought i'd give the What Knot hairnets from aerborn a try, there are a choice of colours and sizes to match your hair length and they include a matching tie to secure hair like mine that likes to escape.

  

The hair net was put to the test while completing two classes and a lively warm up for dressage.

The colour I chose was a good match to my own hair colour as you can see and the tie included with the hair net secured my hair neatly in place and didn't interfere with my riding hat as the material is so soft and comfortable.  

The result? My hair stayed firmly in place for the entire competition, no stray hairs and looked as neat and tidy after the second class as when I started, even better we finished 2nd scoring over 70% so it must have good luck powers included!

Interested? Check out the website

http://www.whatknothairnet.co.uk/

Always think positive

 

It seems Socks has run out of good behaviour and obviously has been keeping her alter ego bottled up but she definitely released some tension at Summerhouse on Friday!

 

After lots of training recently we have been going really well and Socks is starting to use her back end and come up a little in front.  This is always an issue as she is built downhill so requires extra effort and although she is getting better she still struggles to maintain a good frame for long periods of time therefore becomes inconsistent but it is an area we are working on and needs to be developed slowly as she is not a horse you can rush as gets easily upset and stops trying.

 

I thought it was time to get out to a competition and see where we are at so booked in at Summerhouse for one prelim and thought we'd have a go at an easy novice test.  Well, let's start with the good news, the first test went OK and we achieved our last percentage to allow us to qualify for the area festivals.  The best news of the day was that I think I may have solved Socks' game of climbing on the tack locker when travelling, result! 

 

Now for the not so good news...  The disobedience's have returned!!!   Considering how hot the weather was and the fact Socks had already completed one test, I think I don't need to worry about her stamina any longer.  The warm up was very tense and Socks was a bit spooky so I spent time trying to relax her which I thought went well, however coming down the centre line I felt like I was sat on an unexploded bomb, she was however not on her forehand, so I kept positive thoughts as I continued the test.  The first canter she kicked out against my leg and then continued to threaten humping as we went round our 20m circle, having managed to contain her we got to the walk and she stretched down very relaxed with regular steps, thankful she'd started to settle I prepared for the upwards transition to trot followed by canter, it then went a bit wrong!  The walk was obviously the lull before the storm and the bottled up energy I felt earlier all exploded as she leaped into the air showing off her acrobatics, thankfully remaining a passenger we got back under control and redeemed ourselves with some good canter work and a beautiful square halt to finish!

 

So it seems we have a little more arena practise to do but I think I might start including some jumping outings soon to mix things up a bit and hope that helps her concentration and consistency and reduce those costly disobedience's!!!  I am however still feeling very positive as in the grand scheme of things we have come a really long way from the days when we couldn't even stay on the same rein or complete a 20m circle without disappearing down the opposite end or at worst out the arena!  It might take us a little longer to achieve our goals and I might need to keep tweaking them as things don't go to plan but we are on the right track and thoroughly enjoying ourselves in the process.

Here's a few photos of our progress from the good to the bad 😀

Test riding, brain training and balancing on balls

Just returned from another great weekend away with Socks, this time it was intense training at Hartpury for the South West region Senior camp.  It involved three days of riding, balancing on balls, brain training among other activities including a little wine!

Last year Socks had a little meltdown at working in the main Hartpury arena, it was all a bit much for her and we seemed to go in every direction but the right one with varying levels of hooves in contact with the ground at any one time. So, this year I have prepared her by getting out to as many venues as possible but it's difficult to find any quite like Hartpury so I was just hoping for the best really.  I am pleased to say that this time hard work and patience paid off as Socks went through the tunnel into the main arena and worked her own little socks off!  First session of the weekend was a success, I just hoped we hadn't peaked too early.

The next couple of days were packed with plenty to do.  There were really interesting sports psychology sessions (just for me this time not Socks) which I found very useful and full of helpful tips on how to optimise your performance and train your brain.  The fitball classes were lots of fun (again Socks was left munching hay for this one) although in the sweltering heat we've been experiencing recently this was hard going and I found stomach muscles I didn't know existed.  But I'm proud to say I managed to sit, kneel and balance all over that ball!  (I felt I might have worked harder over the weekend than my horse)

On the Saturday it was time for Socks to do something but I don't think standing on a weighbridge, looking pretty and being complimented a lot counts.  Thankfully she was at an ideal weight and I seem to be feeding her all the right things and quantities so gold star for us.

Then the real work started with lessons and test riding, both sessions Socks remained cool, calm and rideable in the main arena and although a bit tired completed our first attempt at some higher novice tests which (a) I remembered and (b) no disobedience's (aka bucking!)

It's so exciting to finally be out progressing in our training, Socks is looking and feeling so much more grown up, I just need to get myself back in training to keep up with my horse as my fitness could definitely do with a bit of work.  

Next step is to qualify for the Petplan area festivals so let's hope we can put all this training into practise next week out competing!

eGlove Touchscreen glove trial

Thanks to twitter I saw an advert for bloggers wanted by eGlove to review their eQuest riding gloves that allow you to operate touchscreens.  eGlove kindly sent me a pair of their GripPro riding gloves and I have been putting them through their paces.

I was interested to try them as I often use my phone for various tasks while exercising my horse, the main one being setting the timer for interval training and lunging.  Now this often ends up with me removing a glove to set the timer which often ends up with one of two outcomes, me either dropping the glove or the phone when my horse senses an opportunity too good to miss as I'm not in full control trying to manage reins, whip and gloves in one hand!

The gloves arrived very quickly and I was impressed with the quality and lightweight material when I looked at them.  I went for them in black and size medium and the sizing was spot on.  I thought I would do a thorough test so also attempted tacking up with them on just to see how easy it would be, I have to say the feel through the gloves made doing up buckles as easy as without gloves on and I normally have to take them off to get the girth done up for extra grip.  Task one passed with flying colours, good grip, feel and even managed doing up the noseband one handed while taking photo!

Next test was obviously the 'horse ear view', we've all done it riding along and you're impelled to take a photo though the best view in the world... your horses ears!  You are not alone even the professionals can be seen snapping away to upload to Facebook and Twitter their view of the day.  Obviously I had to include the gloves to prove it was a legitimate eGlove taken photo so my attempt was a half horse ear view of grass but without the need to stuff the other glove in my hand, mouth or chaps it took seconds to snap away and all the icons worked first time, no bulky fingers or the 'if I just tap the screen harder it might work', so task two passed now onto the reason I wanted to try the gloves in the first place, for using the timer on my phone.  

I thought I'd test them whilst lunging and riding, I always set a timer to ensure my horse works equally on each rein on the lunge and also for interval training so needed both on and off the horse.  Also when interval training the horse can get quite sweaty making the reins slippery, so will the gloves still work in these conditions?  The answer is yes, great grip for both lunging and riding and also with a bit of rain included while we were riding I still had good feel down the reins.  The alarm goes and I am able to work the phone to get the timer set for a quick cool down before we repeat on the other rein.  Task complete and another success.  

Overall the gloves were a nice fit, felt comfortable and performed well as a riding glove giving excellent feel on the reins.  Different weather conditions didn't reduce the effectiveness of them when using my phone and the slim fit enabled you to easily use your touchscreen while wearing them.  Would I recommend them? Yes I would and I think I may even get myself a white pair for competing!  

For more information and prices visit eGlove online www.eglove.co.uk

They are also on Twitter (@egloveuk) and Facebook (EGlove) why not follow them to find out about any special offers or updates.

DISOBEDIENCES DISSAPEARING

The last couple of months have been very exciting with a mix of training, socialising and competing over the Central and South West regions.  We ventured over to the Central region and attended their senior camp at Addington Equestrian, this was a fun filled weekend including a dressage lesson both days, a test riding session and pole work and that was just the mounted sessions, we then had unMounted workshops and on the Saturday evening we were treated to a gala evening watching young stallions from Woodlander Stud under saddle which was very informative and thoroughly enjoyable.

It was our first time visiting Addington and I can't believe I have never been before it is like a palace for horses, a sea of arenas, horse walks and a relaxed friendly atmosphere.  On arrival I decided to take advantage of using one of the arenas that was available and as Socks is not hugely worldly wise I was a little apprehensive as to (a) how we were going to get to the arena on our own and (b) how I was going to get on as I was on my own!  These small details are the ones you forget about when taking a young horse out on your own, when you have your old faithful they don't even cross your mind.  So I decided to hand walk Socks around to the outdoor arenas as she showed off her Passage along the horse walk, unfortunately I seemed to be passing everyone going back having finished so I had no-one to follow and even more worrying no-one to help me get on, thankfully on arrival a nice lady was hand grazing her horse and held Socks while I quickly hopped on and we were away.  After a short and surprisingly uneventful leg stretch I braved riding her back along the horse walk and again she excelled herself, its funny how these 'normal' activities for most are such a highlight when you've had a tricky horse that had an opinion about almost everything (a.k.a stubborn/mare).

The whole weekend followed the same theme, complete surprise at having a well behaved horse that exceeded all expectations.  We even completed our first Novice test without a disobedience and gaining a mid 60 score, result!  The best part of the weekend had to be the first lesson, Socks was definitely not your average mare when 10 minutes in the horse at the other end of the arena dislodged its rider and came flat out towards us bucking... cool as a cucumber Socks stood still allowed it to canter around her without batting an eyelid then once the horse was safely under control continued our lesson as if nothing had happened (although we did have a bit more energy).

Next on the agenda was the South West Inter County Challenge, we had been selected as an individual to represent Wiltshire, so thankfully no pressure going as an individual and it was all to gain experience and mileage competing.  Coming from a showjumping background it was an unexpected surprise to have an arena walk every morning, even if it was at 6.30am!  Day one our test was outdoors and day two indoors with the results based on the combined scores over both days.  Socks went the best she has ever gone to gain just short of 70% leaving us lying 4th overnight.  Unfortunately being good is very tiring and Socks lacked energy the next day but still completed another test without a hint of a disobedience, we only dropped one place and was absolutely thrilled to be in the prize giving ending up in 5th place overall individually, good pony!

The not so average mare has gone from below average to above average and with the South West Camp at Hartpury just round the corner its exciting to see what is still to come from little Socks as she progresses.

My next update will also include a review of eGlove GripPro riding gloves, having just received a pair to trial and review from eGlove I'm interested to see how I get on with them.  I am constantly multitasking and although when riding my full concentration is on the horse there is the occasional time during the cool down or leisurely stroll through the fields or on your way to or from the arena when the phone goes and its that call/text you've been waiting for or you need to book in that appointment, you either clumsily try to use the touchscreen with bulky gloves at all sorts of angles to make it work or stuff one glove in your pocket/mouth/boot which always leads to either glove or phone ending up on the floor!  So lets see how we get on...

www.eglove.co.uk

  

GUINEA PIGS AND FREESTYLING

It has been an interesting and mixed journey with Socks, as with all young horses it is never easy and can take varying lengths of time with each horse but I can honestly say you never stop learning... or have the occasional day where you feel like giving up!  The progress has been a lot slower than I would have liked, lots of hurdles thrown in the way, my confidence, patience and ability tested but we are now on the road to start progressing through the levels.  If you had said to me a few years ago I'd be so pleased to be able to walk trot and canter and stay in an arena I'd have thought you were mad but right now I feel like I've accomplished Mount Everest!

ONE DOOR CLOSES ANOTHER ONE OPENS

The time has come to start a new blog as it's now official the showjumpingshire is in full retirement.

                             

It didn't seem right to continue posting under her name so the start of not your average mare begins!

                                              

Socks is now filling the huge shoes picnic left, unfortunately due to an injury she had to take a detour from showjumping and we both stepped into unfamiliar territory.... The dressage world!  I have to say it's been a real eye opener and I am thoroughly enjoying the temporary change, the people are friendly, the training opportunities are amazing and the competitions have exact timings. I do miss jumping but I've learnt so much in a short time and taken every opportunity going to develop and improve as a rider, I also think Socks has grown up and benefitted to look amazing and so much stronger.

So here goes the start of not your average mare begins...