The First Week of the Fast Track!!

I have finally managed to acquire electricity for my lap top so I can up date on this week's many events!!

Monday was an early start - 4 am to be up the stables, horse loaded and on the road before 6 am.

Paris was very extroverted but loaded well and we set off for Warwickshire. We arrives at Stoneleigh just after 9am and were greated by Terry Martinaus and Ruth. We parked the horsebox and were given a tour of the stable area before we unloaded Paris and put him in his box. He was alert and tense but not the right brain extrovert wreck he used to be when we unloaded him! He was not sweated up but had a graze above his eye and on his hock.

The stables are semi-permanent structures - made of panels, in rows of five with a feed room at one end. Paris is in number 13 - my lucky number! (I was born on the 13th so that has to be lucky!) Each stable had a pile of wood chips in it, I hung Paris' haynet and gave him a bucket of water before heading to the campsite to set up our tent.

My previous plans to test the tent and ensure all the parts were there had been foiled when I was told it would be better to borrow a friends tent as it was easier and would all be there. When we began setting up, we realised that it is only easier if you know what you are doing and all the tent pegs were missing! So I jumped in my car to find some shops and buy extra tent pegs. After over an hour of a team of five people trying to set up my tent, whilst a lone figure in the distance set up her own, much bigger, tent all by herself in a fraction of the time, we eventually had a tent! I threw all my belongings in and headed off to the lunch room ready to gather before we all headed to the class room.

In the class room we were explained about the logistics of the course and the general structure. We would be tested over the first few days, then focus on online and freestyle for the first couple of weeks before focusing on liberty and finesse and final testing in the last few weeks. We were handed some forms to fill in and then given an hour to complete a written theory test. After that we all gathered at the stables. We were told to bring our horses out as a herd into the "Stable Field" and were told how to use the power of the herd to mosey around and get our horses familiar with their new environment. I had expected Paris to be really extroverted after having been cooped up in a series of various boxes all day but the sight of grass, the such as he has not seen for a very long time, kept him occupied and helped him decide that this was not such a bad place after all!

My tent is set up near Fleaur's, who I had done the 10 day trial in France with and we set up the gas cooker and cooked soup and boiled eggs and had ham and rolls.

Tuesday morning we had to meet at the stables by 8.30 to have our tools techniques tested! we were split into groups of 5 and I was in Team A (The A Team!) we had to demonstrate how we throw a 45 ft line and coil it back in - with both hands! Then we had three balloons to try to burst with the "quickdraw" game. next we had to assemble a bridle with horsemans reins, demontrate the correct method of putting up a halter in the barn then show a series of knots... I eventually hit a balloon but it didn't burst, I assembeld the bridle but the reins were not tied on with the correct knot, and I couldn't remember any "knots" except the wrap!

Next we got our horses for the online testing. Task one was trailer load your horse whilst sitting on the fender - two minute limit and we had zip ties on our lines to test how light we were on the lines. I knew better than to attempt sitting on the fender - Paris loads in the horse box but we have not practiced with the trailer and I have never loaded him from where he cannot se me. I used most of my two minutes just doing squeeze game across the ramp and when Paris looked in I asked him to go in. he put all four feet on the ramp and his head and neck in before the two minutes was up. I was very pleased with him.
The next task was to drive your horse from zone 5 through a weave pattern then place the green ball on you horse for 7 seconds and bounce it on him - I drove Paris fron zone 3-4 and got from one end of the weave to the other with only one major hick up. It was raining by this point and I couldn't even pick up the big green ball to place it on Paris' back so I attempted to bounce it and got it to touch his leg.
The third task was to back our horses 45 ft, get them to trot back (without moving our feet), then (without moving our feet or using carrot stick, do a figure 8 around the barrels, and finally do a squeeze over a log, each way from varying distances. My back up was awful, draw was sooo slow, my figure eight was abominable and eventually we got the squeeze...!

Next we went up to the Hill Pasture and did Circle game testing - this seemed to go well although I know Paris can do better!! We had to do 6 laps in trot or canter with 2 changes of direction.

The final task was to stand still and have your horse do sideways away from you for 12 ft without a fence and then send them into the pond. Our sideways was rubbish and Paris decided to spend our 2 minute time limit drinking from the pond and as soon as Sally, the instructor, called time he marched straight in and nearly dragged me with him into the muddy pond!

We broke for lunch and reassembled for freestyle testing. I was assessed in saddling before I was told that the boots I had brought were not safe or suitable for riding and so I could not participate in the ridden tasks. I was unable to demonstrate bridling from my knees as I had not brought my bridle out for the test! (we had not been told it would be needed!) So I watched the others get tested in "controlled catastrophe", rein positions, canter clover leaf with carrot sticks and follow the rail with transitions.

That night I headed out and found an ASDA that was open late so I could buy more sleeping bags and an air bed as I had been just a tad cold and very uncomfortable the night before!

Wednesday morning arrived - half way through week one I could not believe it already! We had liberty testing in the morning and Paris was brilliant. We had to show yoyo and sideways at liberty - which we have not really worked on so it didn't go great, circling (which went loads better), front and hind end yeilds, a spin, stand on tarp for 7 secs and place tarp on back for 7 secs and finally squeeze over barrels and stick to me! Paris really acted like a partner!

At lunch time I headed with another student to the local saddlery so I could get riding boots and he could get a riding hat. We got back in time for the Finesse testing. I have not done ANY finesse with Paris because I had sworn that I would not ride with contact until I could do everything bareback first so that I had an independant seat. I decided to pop the bridle on Paris and mosey about on him, listen to the tasks and maybe attempt anything that was simple enough. The first task was legyeild and halfpass. I know Paris can leg yeild so I had a go at a walk (we were asked to show trot) and had a bash at half pass but that didn't work.

Next we had to show shoulder in and haunches in - and Paris was amazing! I was so proud of all the effort he was making! We then went into the honeycombe and had to place a foot on a target - Paris just did it as soon as I started! I think it was a fluke but it was very cool! Then we had to show turn on fore, turn on hind and 9 step back up. At this point the rain and wind picked up and Paris wanted to get his bum into the weather so it was a bit of a challenge but I attempted to use the weather conditions rather than fight them and got a goot turn on fore and back up but turn on hind was not happening.

Next was canter walk transitions - or not. Paris got very emgaged and impulsive and I struggled with the transitions.

Finally we had the precission pen test, which was like a dressage test. We had to trot 6 10 metre circles with walk transitions on the change of direction then canter 3 20 metre circles with flying hanges for level four or simple changes for level three. I kept to simple changes and on the last one my left stirrup fell off. I halted, removed my right stirrup and completed the test, including a trot down the long side, turn down the centre line and halt at X, with no stirrups.

I was so over the moon with how Paris coped with being ridden in the bridle!

On Thursday we had a class room lesson on horsenalties and strategies. Then we were seperated into new groups and had online lessons in friendly, porkupine, driving and yo-yo at a new level. We had an after noon online lesson on haltering with excellence and vet, farrier, dentist and riding preparations.

On Friday morning we had lessons in knot savvy, particularly the barn knot, wrap and bank robbers knot. Then we could choose firgure 8, Weaves or circles. I chose figure eights because, despite having done millions they were not getting any better. As I pictured the ideal, me standing still whilst Paris trots a figure eight I worked out the ingredients i needed. Paris kept cutting in tight and throwing his front end around the cones so I used the porcupine lesson from the day before to help guide him out onto two larger circles and he soon realised that was easier and more comfortable. I then thought about how the figure eight was a type of circle game and about the mutual responsibilities of horse and human. I put Paris on a circle around the cones, step back to signal the figure eight and went back into neutral. And he trotted the figure eight. I only moved to correct him if he broke gait or "changed direction" from the figure eight. Soon we had done 5 perfect trot figure eights with me in neutral and I sat on a log and gave him a long rest whilst I rejoiced in our breakthrough!

The next session was a choice of "improve your back up", "increase your imagination" or "increase your distance". I used two cones to give us a purpose for backing up straight and worked on using my phases better. Paris goes very LB with yo-yo so I tried the long phase one, quick two three four. I realised my four was not effective enough and experimented with finding what I needed to do to me clear. soon the seession was over. We had made a small improvement, overshadowed by the success of the figure eights. WE then watched a saddling demonstration and got our results for our first tests.

I scored 53% overall:
about 50% online - a little disappointing but not suprising as I have realise just how much scope for improvement there is!
6.5% freestyle - not bad considering I wasn't allowed to ride!
60% liberty (WOW!)
52.3% finesses (brilliant for our first attempt!)
10% tools - plenty to work on!
85% theory - I've got to nail that last 15%!!


In the afternoon we were told how we would also be assessed on our attitude, mental emotional and physical fitness, horse care and team work! We were then given more forms to fill in and asked to pick two focuses for online and two for freestyle for our coaches to help us with in the week ahead. My coach is Larrisa, who performed a demo with her horse Rocho and Linda Parelli at the NEC Celebration in April. We discussed my long term dream and short term goals and the ingredients I would need.

Yesterday was a lot of rushing to shops and I had a short play session with Paris including a little ride.

We had fish and chips on Thursday night and a little camp fire - it was such a laugh. Then we went for a meal on Friday and yesterday! Today I have been doing my washing and computer work hiding from the rain!

Oh and I have made friends with loads and loads of lovely people, not least of all Mandy from New Zealand who has offered me the use of the power point and bath in her hotel room! Her boots are not waterproof so she bought a very pretty pair of flowery wellies today! - she told me I had to blog about them!! ;)

Loads to look forward to next week!