The groom becomes the rider for the weekend

Well I'm sure you'll know from my post last weekend that I had a dressage test, so today was the day!

I got up at 6 to dress, and eat a quick breakfast and straight out to start grooming and plaiting.

Mum is great and had been out at 5 ish to let Beanie out to have his breakfast and go for a walk and stretch  before we got him in. So at 6.30 I went and got him in.. Well Beanie thought if he sticks his head in a bush and hides his face that I wouldn't see him.. 

Well sorry B, I can see you...your white socks give you away mate..!

We were first at Rosewood Stud, B was nice and chilled and was happy to walk about and have a quick munch of grass before getting tacked up.

I got dressed, and if I do say so myself, I'm looking alright for a rusty amateur! Plus I've lost a lot of weight since I wore that jacket last, so that's another plus!

Once tacked up I mounted up and went to warm up and let B see his sorroundings. He was a little spooky and eyes on stalks cause he's not been out much lately but he soon settled in and worked really well in the warm up arena

He was just such a good boy, he warmed up beautifully, and just was so sweet.

He was a bit jumpy in the test and a noise outside did make him spook but overall I'm pretty happy! 

For my first test in over 15 years I got 59.7% and got some really lovely comments from the judge.

And I came 6th!! Not bad really, could have been much worse!

I am so proud of B and how he tried for me! He made my return to stressage a positive one, and I even channeled my inner Dujardin and sat back and was not a sack of potatoes!

As soon as we got home and rugged Beanie up, it didn't take him long to undo all my hard sprucing this morning! Only a few steps into the field and he rolled and rolled! Covering himself in mud, but he deserves it so can't hold it against him!

I know I am going to be stiff in the morning, but no pain, no gain!!

Dressage, or is it Stressage?

Today I rode B in preparation for next weekends dressage test. Before today I've not ridden in well over a year and not schooled a horse in well over 10 years.

I had fun, I'd forgotten how much hard work it is and that I am also really critical of myself.

Because I'm around horses so much I assumed it would just come back to me like riding a bike.. Well, it did really but remembering everything, keeping your hands up, bending your elbows, keeping a good contact on the rein, squeezing with my legs rather than just kicking all the time and remember a dressage test is a lot for my brain to remember. Transitions! I've not done transitions since pony club! Diagonals, well I'd completely forgotten diagonals, that I had to ask Georgie to remind me!

Well I'm truly tired, my thighs are gonna kill in the morning but I had fun, I learnt a lot. I've memorised my test so I just need to convince Beanie to stop being such a slug and kick on.

I might be rusty but I'd completely forgotten B is too! He's spent most of the winter being a mud monster and going drag hunting galloping round the countryside all the time and forgotten what show schooling!

I also learnt how to tie a stock again today cause that has been a very very long time since I did that. My jackets ready, hats ready just gotta clean my boots up and ready to go.

Here's some photos of today. Excuse my toward position and chicken elbows. Note to self - must keep elbows bent and tucked in!

Overall it went ok today. Just got to remember what Charlotte says "go in there and have fun and enjoy it" 

Dressage, what's dressage?

Georgie has done a boo boo and entered a dressage competition only to realise that she's away on holiday!
I get a text today asking did I want to do it..
Hold up, i've not done a dressage test since I gave up pony club at about the age of 14 or so. I'm now 27.. 13 years!
So safe to say i'm just a bit nervous!
Beanie is beautiful and lovely and I trust him, but i've also never schooled him. I've ridden out and jumped him once but never actually schooled him and got him really listening to me...

So with that I've now got to memorise Intro A 2008 walk and trot test and try and not to cock it up. If worse comes to worse then Mum can call it for me and I can focus on riding, although it's not too difficult so hopefully I can engrain it in my brain!

He is a beautiful boy who can go really well so here's to making him go like this

Riding hats. Why we should always wear them and the arguments for and against

Although to some, this post it going to be a little frustrating and maybe what I am going to write will be a tough pill to swallow.

This week alone i've seen two very scary hat related stories I wanted to make you all aware of so there they are -

First is this Race Post photo that is of Edgar Prado's helmet after falling off while racing..
Just look at it for a minute and let that sink in...

Then today a good friend of mine and fellow equestrian Alix sharing this -

All of these in one week.

Now I know that in the world of showing and hunting, a lot of people still wear beaglers, bowler hats, and top hats. They are 'correct dress' traditionally and are still 'correct dress' and allowed in the show ring.

Less and less people are choosing to wear them though due to stories about the above. Plus a lot of show societies are not allowing them in classes anymore.

See this article by Horse & Hound about SHB (GB) after they banned hats without a strap here

Now, don't get me wrong, I think that top hats, bowlers and beaglers look absolutely beautiful, they really do. They're traditional and all. But, saying that, I do think that whenever on a horse you should wear a riding hat up to safety standard which cannot come off your head if you were to fall off..

The above photos are from two completely different situations one is a professional race jockey, the other a amateur rider. There have been dressage riders who have had accidents. Even Charlotte Dujardin said in this interview that she has suffered from a fractured skull from riding without a hat and won't ride without a helmet on again. Same for Courtney King-Dye who rode without a helmet, the horse tripped and took her with it, she also suffered a skull fracture..

So with a top hat, bowler or beagler, just how much would they actually help in a fall while wearing one? Who knows, and i'm certainly not going to try and find out..

I've seen this video with someone showing a Charles Owen Beagler coming off and a Patey staying on, then again I've seen photos of a Patey coming off in a fall too! So really with the risk of it might come off, why do people continue to wear them? As the H&H article above writes, is it vanity or tradition, or both?

My vibe I get from reading more and more on the subject is that non safety standard hats are on the way out. See here and here for examples of questioning why everyone should wear safety standard hats.

Many a time in facebook debates people have argued "It's my head, my decision" in the sake of argument in wearing a top hat, beagler or bowler but had they stopped and thought of the long term of who would look after them if they were to suffer a debilitating fall which left them disabled and unable to look after themselves? 

The stories i've read are that those who have had accidents have had husbands and family to look after them, but what if they didn't? And what if they had been killed, leaving family and friends behind.

I think it's definitely a thinking point to ponder on... So on that one, I'll leave it there