Well, once again days just seem to be passing without even having a chance to take a breath but at the same time it's great to be busy! The last 3 weeks has been a very varied mix of highs and lows.
I arranged to go to windmill farm to practise my dressage to music floorplan in an arena of correct proportions. These plans went mostly out the window though when Guinness freaked out at the bushed near 'A' and most of my ride ended up being about gently coaxing him nearer and nearer to A. Once I was able to use the whole arena, we attempted a run through but one thing or another initiated either a buck, rear or spin and we had to start again. I was desperately trying to keep my cool but I was getting very frustrated by this point and with Guinness adrenalin still high, this wasn't helping matters. Eventually we managed to get from start to finish and I decided to call it a day feeling somewhat deflated about the whole experience. Lesson to learn from this - take a friend with you even on practise days who can help you take a breath and take the pressure off when things start to get tough.
The next week I literally had a big blow when I managed to get kicked by a youngster who's been on box rest for a long time whilst hand grazing and was pretty badly hurt. Lesson to learn from this - NEVER be complacent around any horse! The following week was a real struggle but the timing couldn't have been worse as I was only 5 days away from the Petplan Area qualifier! With the aid of an extra box on top of the mountain block, I was able to 'climb' on Guinness the day before although I didn't feel I was much use whilst I was up there to be honest. It's at times like this when you're extremely grateful you've put the time and effort in to train your horse to stand properly and calmly at the block. It took me nearly 5 minuted but Guinness waited patiently.
The next day we set off to Oldencraig and when I got to the warm up and it was empty I prayed this was a sign that luck was on my side! We warmed up calmly, a few other riders came in and everything was going well until what was obviously a very 'hot' horse came in to the warm up. The rider even asked everyone to walk whilst she coaxed her horse around the arena. Guinness immediately picked up on the tension and energy and once this other horse had a spin and a dash, Guinness dropped me and suddenly I was also sitting on what felt like a firework. We did our best to continue but Guinness adrenalin was already racing through his system and when a leaf blew out of one of the bushed he span so quick that I came within an inch of hitting the deck. This seriously knocked my confidence and we had only minutes until our test. Never the less, we gave it a good try but there were several extra movements added which weren't in the test! After my knock in confidence in the warm up, I pretty much froze and rather than helping Guinness and riding him forward I became a bit of a passenger for the next few movements. What I am pleased about though is that despite the difficulties in the first part of the test, we both relaxed and improved towards the end. That is one test I will definitely put down to experience!
The next day didn't get much better when I thought a nice hack would be a good idea. Long story short, the closer we got to home the more Guinness seemed to be having some sort of panic attack which nearly ended up with us having a collision with a car when he ran backwards in to a cross roads. Thank goodness I was wearing a ton of fluorescent gear and the drivers saw me early enough to stop. But that night I was pretty sleepless, worrying why my horse who has virtually been an angel the last 6 months had suddenly become so insecure?!?!?! You start asking yourself all the usual questions.. his feed, routine, field hadn't changed so what was the problem? The next day I took him down to the arena to do some groundwork 'on line'. He seemed calm and attentive until I attempted a figure of 8 at which point he had a complete mental breakdown and just galloped, leaped and bucked around me until he was too tired to gallop any more. I brought him in and gave him a long rub and a cuddle. Then we went back to the figure of 8 very slowly and gradually he got the idea and started to feel more comfortable and confident with it. Then I tacked him up and we went for a short hack and he was perfectly behaved this time and I felt totally comfortable to mosey around on a long rein.
Since then Guinness has still had spooky and hot-headed moments, but I'm feeling more confident to 'take his hand' and say, 'come on, come with me' by being more confident in the contact and riding him more forwards in to it which seems to be working! Yey! bit of a mini breakthrough!!!!
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