H&C

11
Mar
2010

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Pony days and competing in the cold

Zeus and Tessa relaxing in the field

"Another very busy couple of weeks at Contessa! We are very glad to have Amy back with us after two and half weeks in the Cayman Islands (lucky thing!). Our John Bowen Clinic on the 28th January went very smoothly with no dramas. On the 1st and 2nd February I was at the TTT in Guildford for my training session with Queijada and Arthur Kottas. She was very well behaved and we worked to improve her canter and flying changes. She did some excellent piaffe and passage and Arthur was pleased with her progress.

We had a Video Day Course on the 6th, where clients had a lesson videoed, and a playback with feedback followed by a second ridden session in which to perfect positions!

On the 11th February Jade and I took Queijada and Marcus to a competition at Norton Heath. It was Jade’s first ever affiliated competition but we threw her in at the deep end and we both rode two Advanced Medium tests. Marcus was superbly behaved and looked after Jade well (who was a tad nervous), giving her a taste for the competition world!

Queijada was very sharp and decided that leaping and rearing was on the agenda for the day! That aside, she won her first class and came first in her section of the second class. Thanks go to Dawn, Sharon and Crystal for grooming, test calling etc in the FREEZING cold. We decided after that to wait until Spring and warmer weather for the next outing.

On the 13th February, Theresa came down from the College of West Anglia for our NVQ1 students to be assessed. They were all very nervous but passed with flying colours, well done.

Half term was extremely busy with full Pony Days on each day. The kids had a great time grooming, riding, vaulting, playing games etc. On the Monday of half term we took some members of our Vaulting Group to a training day in Warwickshire. They all did very well and tried their hardest, but we came away thinking that perhaps we needed a bit of a push/drive on the fitness front, after watching the pros!

On the 20th February we had another successful day course; Introduction to Dressage. Participants rode twice and had lectures on effectiveness, how the horse should work correctly and an introduction to lateral movements.

Tomorrow is our next John Adams Show Jumping Clinic which I am hoping will go well, although I think the horses may be a little spirited after riding inside mostly for the last couple of weeks with the recent weather.

In March we are looking forward to Zak’s birthday, lots of day courses and hopefully Spring! As the weather improves we will also prepare Queijada and Marcus for their next outing."