2012 has been a pivotal year for me; lots of excitement, lots of changes and plenty of bumps in the road too. The year started with so much hope and lots of rigorously thought-out plans of how the year would progress, but the phrase ‘best laid plans’ springs to mind...

Having won sponsorship for the year with my fantastic trainer Sharon of Kilminster Equestrian Ltd, we both knew that there would be lots of hard work ahead, and hopefully plenty of success too. However, the first 6 months of the year were really about 1 thing alone; partnership – namely that between me and 4 legged friend Willo. We spent many sessions training, working with him, and making inroads, but it was obvious that Willo just wasn’t the schoolmaster we had hoped he was. We had some really fantastic Eureka sessions, and some brilliant results out competing, but after a year of persevering it was certainly not getting easier – and a very interesting first BE90 together ended up with a fall across country that no doubt knocked my confidence. We had some tough times after that, and after much soul searching we decided that Willo was not the horse for me. We ploughed on until he was continuing to make progress, and getting us both jumping happily again, but we were very sure that it was the right decision for both horse and rider.  

I learnt so much from Willo, had some brilliant moments winning both xc and sj in style, and our flat work was always a challenge but there were visible improvements – both seeing our marks creep up, and also from a training perspective.  I was keen to keep my eyes on the prize and keep training and competing after he went, despite the circumstances. I was lucky enough to continue having both flat and jump lessons on a friends horse, Jake the lovely warmblood, which has allowed me to continue training with Sharon at a level that Ruby is not quite capable of yet, culminating in comments like ‘I’d be very pleased to see that in a novice test’ and ‘with a bit more elevation that wouldn’t look out of place at elementary.’ As someone who always been a jumper at heart, dressage is still new to me, so to hear those kind of comments has been fantastic – a testament to Sharon’s training. Yep it’s official, I actually enjoy dressage! I’ve also been riding another friends horse Daisy, a tricky character as she can be a handful, but very honest with it and an absolute jumping machine! I’ve enjoyed helping to establish her flatwork better as well as schooling over fences, and in just a few shows we have come away with some rosettes or at worst having just 1 pole down in 3’0” classes, as well as easily jumping round the open xc course at our local uk chasers. Really pleasing results, and something that I would never have had the confidence or skills to do a year ago. Again, a testament to Sharon’s training.

Meanwhile in the background, Ruby has been just ticking over. We still have an issue in her 1 sidedness which we are currently investigating thoroughly thanks to my vets and insurance company, but she has been making steady progress in between physio. In fact, having just Ruby has been a bit of a breakthrough for us both!

Comparing her to the horse she was at the beginning of the year she’s quietly come so far and matured greatly. Her breeding has really started to shine through recently by introducing her to jumping. We took her xc schooling for the first time with Sharon, and she was just unbelievable – jumped everything asked of her with massive enthusiasm and far exceeded everyone’s expectations, even jumping a few elements from the open course! This is no doubt where her talent and heart lies, and ironically when jumping although strong, we have managed to get some really nice balanced, light canter work. Lots of hacking, hill work, and cantering whilst out has helped to develop different muscle and I’m seeing the benefit in her work.

Sharon and I have a sj session planned at home before heading to a local venue to have a play over a course of fences, so watch this space. All being well it may not be all that long before Ruby is out doing some little courses.  She has masses of scope so it’s really between the fences that we will need to work on. Sharon has some brilliant clinics coming up too that we’re planning to attend, and a great fun xmas event that will be a great introduction to a competition type environment but without the pressure.

2012 has certainly been challenging; there have been trainer injuries, rider injuries, wonky horses, and mismatched partnerships, but throughout we have kept our focus, and where there’s a will there’s a way; we made the best of what we had and kept the Kilminster Equestrian name out and about. We finish the year with some lessons learned, my confidence soaring, my knowledge broadened, and safe in the knowledge that selling Willo was absolutely the right thing to do, even if it was hard at the time.  I’ve since ridden a variety of horses, none of whom could be described as easy, but with some great results, I can work many different horses consistently in an outline, jump happily and confidently, without any of the issues we had together.  Sharon told me many times that the problems we were having were not down to me, but as a rider you always tend to think that it must be because of something you’ve done wrong, but as always she was right, and my experiences in the saddle since have evidenced that.

I think it would be fair to say that we are both excited about Ruby’s future, and even despite having her ‘wonky’ issues she is really developing into a lovely horse with a bright future. Some real flashes of ‘wow’ moments on show lately. Sharon and I will continue to work closely together throughout 2013 and beyond, and with her extensive and sound knowledge I am sure there will be lots of exciting things to come as Ruby starts her career and who knows - maybe even a rosette or 2?! Perhaps Ruby will turn out to be the super little eventer I’ve been searching for? Watch this space. ..

Sharon; thanks for giving me such a fabulous opportunity as a sponsored rider, the benefits of which I will continue to see in years to come, being much more accomplished in the saddle. Thanks for your continued support and mentoring, friendship, knowledge, training and endless patience. It means a lot to know you have always kept faith in me throughout even when I doubted myself, and Ruby and I look forward to representing #TeamKilminster in 2013 and beyond. It’s been emotional!

As some of you may have already seen, on 19 November I spent a very worthwhile day off by taking my 5y/o Ruby xc schooling for the first time at Dene Farm, under the guidance of Sharon of Kilminster Equestrian.

Our plan had always been to get the flatwork right before revisiting jumping, but recently we felt that it couldn’t hurt to try something different with her that we know she loves. The vet also felt it was potentially very good for getting her to use her back and hind end more.

I had a play in the school lunging her over some poles last week which she loved, and then popped it up – I was really struck by how much her technique had improved since last time; no more baby clambering over a fence but really jumping and using her back more and looking far more coordinated. At the end when she was jumping confidently, I hopped on and she finished jumping a few with me in the saddle. She had no issue with this, and just wanted to go again!

I had a chat with Sharon and we agreed xc schooling would be a great thing for her to try. Initially we had expected to just be jumping the tiny jumps – 1’3”, 2” fences, but it soon became clear that this was not enough of a challenge for Rubes! It wasn’t long before she was jumping fences from the 2’6” course, and looked as though she’d been doing it all her life. We were all gobsmacked, she just took it in her stride and didn’t have any trouble with ditches, steps, jumping in and out of water, logs – you name it, she jumped it, and with style too. In fact the only issue we had was bringing her back afterwards as she was very keen on locking onto the next fence – a little hairy when the next fence is on the open course! NOOO Ruby, not yet! Although she did actually end up coming down the steps from the open course, as she seemed to find going up and down steps particularly easy, and in fact the log before the water jump which is part of the open course. What a pleasing introduction to xc!

She was nothing short of brilliant and I couldn’t have asked for more – just might need to review the bitting situation, as the French link snaffle was no match for Ruby when she had locked onto a fence, as my shoulders can testify! This horse has always been a typical Opposition horse in many ways, and it’s looking as though she has inherited some of that fearless jumping ability. I’ve never had such a buzz as taking her xc for the first time and feeling the potential in her. She was keen, took you to the fence, had her (rather substantial) ears pricked up the whole way, a super little technique and just knew her job. What more can you want?

She is actually due to go for scans this Friday to check whether there is a medical diagnosis for her 1-sidedness, so I’m hoping we will be in a better position to deal with the issue afterwards. The vet has warned that we may not find anything, but it gives me some peace of mind if nothing else, and I do feel that such a chronic complaint warrants investigation. Have to say thanks to KBIS for giving us the go ahead to do the scans, they have been great. If it shows nothing, great! Except that it then means it may be a ‘learnt behaviour’ and then we are really going to have find a way to get to the bottom of it, and how we can break the cycle.

I’m more determined than ever to persevere with her and see what we can do to get her flatwork sorted. I would be absolutely bursting with pride if she were able to go eventing – whether that is in 2013 or beyond. Of all the horses I’ve tried, none of them have given me the same ‘wow’ feeling as Ruby gave me yesterday.  Fingers crossed Friday is a good outcome.

It’s been quite a while since my last update, so here goes!

With Willo we have gone back to basics; sometimes to move forward you need to take a few steps back. In terms of confidence, we were both suffering a little, so we’ve since kept things simple and built upon our successes. With jumping, Willo had become unsettled by me being defensive coming into a fence, so Sharon and I had a few sessions to help re-establish my position, using some exercises that always make me laugh (it feels like trying to pat your head and rub your tummy!) over some poles and building up to some small fences. It worked a treat, and we both felt better for it. Independently I have been practicing at home, and Willo and I are now back to jumping a decent height and some scary fillers with smiles on our faces, hurrah!  We also boxed over to Sparsholt for an outing to practice over a course of their jumps which is always extremely beneficial, and it felt great for him to be taking me to the fence again. I’m very keen to get out and compete round some courses, but equally we need to make sure we’re ready or we will back at square one. All good things come to those who wait!

We’ve also been working further on our flatwork, with the help of Sharon. We’ve had some great lessons and on a few occasions recently he’s really given me the wow factor in his work; working deep and round, coming up underneath me, and becoming super light in the hand. Last weekend we ventured out to Altogether Equestrian at Cholderton to do some dressage. We were planning to pick Monty up but he picked up a knock, so we had to go without. Knowing I had entered 2 Prelim tests, I offered Sharon the 2nd ride on Willo; this mean she could still compete, but also that Willo would get the chance to show what he could do with a more established dressage rider. Well, after the hold up with Monty, we arrived late and my warm up was non-existent! Nonetheless, he felt so much improved and we finished the test smiling. Next up was Sharon’s turn and she rode P10 on him, finishing 7th with 66%! Pretty good considering she last sat on him about 7 months ago! Sharon felt excited having ridden him, and feels he’s got an 80% in him...great news. He’s continued well at home, and I popped him in the draw reins the other day to help remind him to get deep and round. With barely a contact on them, he just floated round the arena, and he’s very keen on showing me his medium trot at the minute! He was just awesome, so forward and off the leg...perhaps he’s feeling good for being on the summer paddocks?! If he can perform like that in a test I will be grinning from ear to ear! Yep, dressage making me smile, who’d have thought it?

I really feel we’ve turned a corner lately; having to step back from the situation has allowed me to see that Willo is just a very sensitive chap, and we were dealing with him in the wrong way. He takes confidence from his rider, and is unsure if you are; if you punish him for it and get after him, things can quickly spiral, but if you reassure him and work with him he tries his heart out for you! I think my changed mindset has helped, and I’m really keen to see if we can continue to make good progress. Ok, he will never be the schoolmaster I was originally looking for, but now that my understanding of him has deepened, we are working together as a team. It helps that he is just a nice person to be round too! If the right person comes along to buy him, I will sell him, but certainly in the mean time I’m happy that we have plenty to work with and build upon, and of course we will continue to compete. Partnerships can take a long time to develop, and part of me is now wondering if 9 months was long enough for me and him?? Definite wobbling!

Firstly, apologies for the lack of activity lately; I’ve been in a state of flux really, trying to figure out the best way forward. Now that has been established, and I’m happy with my decision, it’s probably time to share! If you aren’t already aware, after much deliberation I’ve decided to sell Willo. When I was looking to buy a horse, I was advertising for a Schoolmaster type, been there done it kind of horse to help me get started with the lower levels of British Eventing and British Showjumping. Along came Willo, with an enviable record showjumping and a great first effort at BE90.

He seemed the perfect horse, but as I’ve always said, very different to any horse I’ve had before! I’d had whizzy, sharp, spooky, nappy, strong, and Willo is none of those things. What he is though, is quite a sensitive, complex character, and he looks to his rider for confidence and support. We’ve had a few issues along the way but always managed to work through them with the help of my extremely patient trainer Sharon, and with some fantastic results because of it.

What has happened recently though, is that I’ve lost confidence with Willo after taking a tumble. It started with an honest stop, but because I ended up on the floor, since then my whole style of riding has changed. I hadn’t realised until I watched the video’s back, but when jumping I’m so worried that he might stop that I’m really sitting up and not allowing him to stretch over the fence. Willo being the sensitive soul he is, has picked up on this and now lost confidence in me. Whilst I am quite sure we could overcome that in the short term, and have just gone back to basics with it to build us back up again, it’s given us the opportunity to look at the bigger picture and reflect.

Having consulted with Sharon, and a local professional eventer, we have taken the decision that actually Willo and I probably aren’t the best match in the world. He’s not nasty, or dangerous, and in most ways he really is a delight to handle, but he isn’t that straightforward schoolmaster that I originally set out to buy. After much agonising, and knowing that I’ll probably never have a horse who can match Willo for ability, I have taken the decision that we need to go our separate ways because we are simply not getting the best from one another.

I will be extremely sorry to see him go; one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life would be when he jumped clear round the BE 90 course for a HT at Larkhill, and was just an absolute machine!  Oh, and not to mention the feeling that he’s giving me with his flatwork lately...all that training has really paid off because he just feels fantastic, the giraffe that we were working with at the start is a distant memory!

All that aside, I am now sure that this is the best option for us both, so hopefully soon Willo will find a new home where he will be a superstar again, and I will be actively looking for a new best buddy to go out and compete with. I think sometimes it’s almost harder to know when things aren’t quite right because your personal attachment to the horse and the situation can cloud your judgement, and it’s been far from disastrous so it was never a straightforward decision; just one that I’m sure will benefit us both in the long term. Phew! Actually feels good to commit some of this to paper...or virtual paper anyway ;-)

So, in the mean time, Willo is advertised for sale and has a few viewings arranged; if they aren’t quite right for one another then I will continue to ride, train and hopefully get to a few dressage competitions to see if we can get that elusive score we have been striving for. Once his sale is complete I will look into buying another – typically I’m sure the ones I like will be double what I have to spend, but I think that’s par for the course really! My main priority will be finding Willo a lovely new home where he will be happy, and trying to get back on track with my ambitions before we lose the eventing season. The little taster I had has left me wanting more, and I’m as ambitious and determined as ever – so watch this space!