Tuesday 17 December 2013

Nancy Dec 2013 clinic videos

*WARNING VIDEO HEAVY then WORDY*

My apologies for the delay in posting this Autumn/Winter, I'm afraid life has been a little hectic and I sadly have not been logging in anywhere near as much saddle time as I would like. As such my updates would be pretty redundant & boring if I wrote every day.

However I am thankfully still getting to see the little darlings daily as most lunchtimes I make the mad-dash from work through town to yard & back by bus and foot to turn the three girls out every afternoon for some fresh air & leg stretching.
I hate the idea of them being stuck in their stables all the time, not to mention the immeasurable difference turnout makes to Kika's (in particular) well being - both mental & physical as her hind legs get quite swollen/stacked when she can't be turned out - usually her own fault for being a Horsey Houdini.

Thankfully my good friend & guru has been a life-saver for me and has been riding the girls when I cannot get there. Sadly, this means I will be lucky if I can ride one side of them when I make my return to the saddle, as between the training clinic and her superior riding ability in general...iI'll deff be playing catch up trying to learn to ride the girls with all their fancy new buttons.

Right without further ado, here are the videos of Nancy from the training clinic. Again, PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT ON THE RIDER AS IT IS NOT ME!

Video I




Video II


Video III


Video IV


Video V


Video VI



Video VII



Video VIII



Video IX



Video X



Video XI



Video XII


Video XIII



Video XIV



Video XV




All these videos and those of Kika in the previous post were taken by me on my camera phone on Sunday the 8th of December. Both the girls & the guru had had a lesson with the trainer on the Friday & i rode the pair of them on the day in between - i cannot tell you how terrified i was that i would undo & ruin all the work L & the trainer had put into them on the Friday. Thankfully this was not the case, or if the trainer noticed or commented to L, it was all done in German & as such i was blissfully unaware of it!

The overall consensus from rider & trainer was happiness. It was his (the trainer's) first time seeing Nancy and despite an initial aversion to her due to her Friesian papa (dressage snobbery @ work) he gladly changed his tune after the two lessons. He said she was a lovely mover and seemed like a fun horse and level-headed animal to work with. Perhaps a not so covert a dig at Kika's quirkyness? ;-)
As you can see from the videos (I do not blame you for not watching them all) Nancy is showing more personality under saddle and pretends to be unable to bend on her bad rein - now she may need some adjustment which will be seen to this week as osteo is due out for both girls on Wednesday.

Kika did try to throw the toys out of the pram in Fridays session (which i missed as i was still in work) and reared once in defence as she didn't understand what was being asked of her. I in no way condone her behaviour, however it would sadly appear that this is her go-to defence mechanism when confused. She does have a tell though and can be cut off at the source and diverted back to the riders way of doing things without getting into a full blown argument.
Sadly she will always be opinionated, quirky and challenging but this os just part and parcel of her charm. She is your typical mare that cannot be TOLD what to do, you mist ask/cajole and win her around to your way of doing things.

In saying all this the trainer was very impressed with her and how far she has come since he first saw her, in fact he said that if  you'd told him after her first session, that she would be doing the movements in the previous post's videos at all let alone this quickly he would have said it was impossible as he thought her dangerous initially, which i deff did not know at the time and with hindsight am glad i didn't know as i'm not sure my confidence with her would be what it is now if i'd known then the professional thought her dangerous. It is a fine line to tread, i know, but seeing how far she & i have come i am super happy i was ignorant of that fact at the time!

He also said it is too soon for her to be working on lead changes in the canter that she needs a better foundation in counter cantering first. However those of you readers who have followed Kika's journey over the last few years will know she is very fussy about a strong hold being taken of her head, collection, proper use of her backside and opening up her back are not things she likes being asked to do - these types of requests are typically met with the severest resistance (rearing).
Bearing all that in mind you can imagine mine & L's (the guru's) pride when Kika calmly performed the canter/halt transition on the FIRST ever asking during the lesson (I hope I caught it on video and shared it, sadly at this moment in time I cannot remember). L said that when the trainer asked her to do that during the lesson she was very apprehensive of Kika's reaction & extra proud when K performed the downward transition without an iota of fuss.

Right i think this has been more than enough blabbering for one post! As always it is after getting SO MUCH longer & wordier then i thought it would when i started the update. It was supposed to be mostly videos and very few words, however, sadly the proud-mama in me raised her head & demanded to crow about her little darlings successes!

One final thing before i go...i would love to host a Christmas Photo contest with a prize giveaway. Would there be any interest in this kind of a contest?
Please comment to let me know along with any and all comments on all the rest of my waffle!
Please remember NOT TO COMMENT ON THE RIDER as it is not me. Massive thanks & congratulations if you have read all of this post and viewed some or all of the videos. I can only hope watching those snippets of "dancing" ponies & strops can be considered a form of reward for the epic wordiness of this post!
I only wish i could give those who've read this far, some milk & cookies or perhaps a shot of something stronger to revive you after the snoozefest of this novel post!

PS: this marathon post has been written on my phone at stupid o'clock in the morning as i couldn't sleep - I can't imagine this will be a problem for anyone who has reached the end of this mammoth post!

15 comments:

  1. Both of your girls are really looking lovely. I don't blame "proud Momma" for crowing one bit!

    I don't always have the ability to get photos but I love looking at everyone else's!

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    1. Aw thanks Amanda - I do worry that I am to biased and view the girls through some serious rose tinted glasses, so it is a nice moral boost to hear/read others say lovely things about them too, :D
      I'm sorry for the delay in replying to your comment, for some weird reason it didn't show up for approval by e-mail like Carly's did, even though you commented first...odd!
      Shall try to be more on the ball and check to see if there are any comments waiting more regularly *blush*

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  2. Holy cow. Is Nancy fancy or what??

    And everyone loves a contest!

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    1. I think so, but I am very biased so it is really lovely to hear someone else say so. Thanks C!!

      Delighted to hear you'd be interested in a contest, shall have to get myself organised to that I can open it, get noms & close it for Xmas time :-D Obvi gift will be dispatched a little later...once contest over - makes for an extended Christmas experience :-)

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    2. PS I love the "moderation" option as I now get an email notification so I'll never miss anyone's comment (s) & should be able to reply to everyone!

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  3. Lol, you can mail some cookies ;) I really have become quite enamored with Nancy, she justs seems so lovely to deal with. I am glad you didn't know he thought Kika was dangerous too, I think that would have really set you two back. Mares, sigh. Honestly I find changes rather intimidating and groan every time I get yelled at to ask for one.

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    1. Shall see what i can do about mailing some cookies KK, although from this part of the world you might prefer straight up Belgian Chocolate over cookies, ;)
      Lemme know and I can sort you out no problemo :p

      I am super glad I wasn't told he thought Miss K dangerous, it would most definitely have set me well back if not kept me from her saddle altogether, and that would have devastated me as I do love her - quirks and all!

      Nancy is a pet, and quite a change from Miss Kika and her petulant stubborn ways - again cannot blame Kika as I see so many of my own character flaws in her - if Nancy ends up the same I'll know I'm deff the root of the problem :)
      N also has her say and at the moment likes to pretend she doesn't know what a leg aid is, but it'd be boring if they did everything perfect all of the time as where would be the challenge & sense of achievement in that?!

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    1. Thanks Karley, here's hoping I can ride half as good one day and hopefully we can float together like the Guru and her in the vids!

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  5. Wow, that's all I can say....
    N is so light on her feet, I'm in love.

    Can I comment on the rider if it's nice? I love her riding, she's soft, level headed and doesn't make a fuss if the horse makes a mistake...and best of all I can see the improvement throughout the session. Please send her my regards and tell her I'm absolutely pea green with jealousy. Can I please have a sit on N......pretty please???

    The only comment I can make further on the horse is that she drops behind the contact now and again and that's purely being down to her not being strong enough yet to carry her beautiful frame...give her a few months and she's going to be a jaw dropper.

    I'm impressed with the trainer if he said K's not ready for flying changes yet, I'm so used to trainers just wanting quick cash that they'll make the horses do anything. Good for you, Madam K will get there! My mare was a confirmed rearer and as a result no one would ride her (She only went over on me once and I couldn't allow anyone to ride her - I would never forgive myself if she went over on someone) and she reached Medium with established flying changes. She had a beautiful canter but was so excitable that she couldn't be spoken to - the slightest thing that didn't suit her provoked a buck or a rear - she was not a sensible choice as a competition horse as she was only ever consistently naughty. She was never lame and the chiro (the top in the country) couldn't stop waxing lyrical about her fantastic muscles. If this mare could do it, the K can definitely do it because my mare wasn't nearly as athletic!

    Keep at it! I'm so proud of you all. :)

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    1. Aw thanks so much C, you always have such lovely motivational comments. I have missed your input! *hugs*
      If you were closer I'd have absolutely no problem with you sitting on both girls!

      I love watching the Guru work with the girls (and indeed any horses she works with) as she is fantastic and adapts to every horse while being gentle yet effective. A real natural horsewoman!

      I know Nancy is inclined to duck behind the verticle, I am hoping when she gains more muscle she'll be better able to carry herself - however it could be in the breeding as Friesians I've seen undersaddle at events tend to carry themselves similarly.

      I am also impressed with the trainer, I'm just sorry my German isn't good enough to take lessons with him. Miss K gets so fussy about her back and is slightly allergic to "hard" work so we have to build her up bit by bit so that she doesn't realise she's doing demanding things ;-)

      Thank you so much for your very kind comments!
      *massive-big-hugs*

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  6. First of all I'm sorry I'm commenting so late! Congrats on your job! That is so exciting and awesome. Second, Nancy is soooo gorgeous! I love her! :D I haven't been following your blog long enough to know Kika's history, but I'm shocked the trainer thought she was dangerous and I'm so happy with how well she's doing now that he is impressed. :D Oh and I've been dealing with the dressage snobbery regarding Friesians and Friesian crosses too. The dressage clinic I went to this last weekend the clinician claims to hate Friesians, yet she said the Friesian cross that was in the clinic was the best turned out and had shown the most progress from the last clinic. :P I just think she needs to get over herself lol. I'll probably not ride Chrome in a clinic with her... ever! But I did learn some stuff so auditing was good. Anyway I'm going to try to get caught up on what I've missed, but I might not comment on every post because that slows me down. I just wanted to comment on the clinic posts because your girls are awesome!

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    1. You're so good to go so far back to catch up and thank you very much for all your lovely kind comments and well wishes!

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    2. Ps: as regards breed snobbery I'd ride in the clinic & only tell them after the fact about your lovely boys breeding ;-)

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    3. That would be the perfect plan except everyone there already knows I'm a Friesian fanatic and that I have a Friesian cross hehe. Darn it! :D

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