Diamond Dressage
Diamond Dressage
Where the horses really do come first
Diamond Blog
11 November
A good week for Diamond Dressage (well mostly)!!
Helen and Riley won their second Novice at Norton Heath on 68.62%, Louis publicly humiliated me at the same show in an Elementary, not even hitting 60%!!!
Then at the weekend Clare and Molly won two classes at Woodlands and Louis got his last 3 points for Elementary qualification at Patchetts, coming 2nd on 66%
Charlston and Louis have now qualified for 7 classes between them, I'm going to be vry busy at the 2014 Winter Regionals!
October
Helen and Riley did their first Novice at Norton Heath and finished in 3rd place on 64.83%!! Considering they have only ever done Prelim 19 and it was blowing a substantial gale this was a fabulous result. They gained 7's all the way apart from a handful of mistakes - so many more marks to come when they are more established at this level!!! I should also add that they were 2nd in Prelim 19 on 67.72 - not a bad day at the office!!!
Louis has had two days training with Ferdi, the first day didn't go totally according to plan when he decided that he would be very BAD!!! Luckily he redeemed himself on day 2!!
When Louis is good he goes from strength to strength and as one judge commented on the bottom of his sheet "when he is good, he is very very good..... etc etc!!"
He is almost ready to go out and try a medium! Wish me luck.......
Helen and Riley completed their qualification for the Winter Regional Championships at Prelim on 6 October, in fine style at Brook Farm, on a score of 72.72%!!!! They now moving up to Novice level, watch this space!!
Nikki and Ruby have now finished their Eventing Season and have been just out of the top 10 at virtually every event!! Nikki is committed to show jumping and dressage over the Winter and next season we'll be in the money for sure!!!
26 July
Louis and Molly set off to Keysoe for the Summer Regional Championships. We had a great time, always good fun staying away in the lorries, lots of food wine and laughs!! Louis proved to be slightly challenging in the stabling as he kept trying to drag adults, small children and dogs alike into his stable as they walked down the barn - he ended up having a day stable and a bedroom to avoid him killing someone!!! Molly was, as ever, a good girl!! Louis ended up 22nd in the Novice and 17th in the Elementary, great experience for him.
Molly also put in a greatperformance to finish 21st in the Restricted Elementary Class.
25 July
Helen and Riley's first show since arriving and starting to train at Diamond Dressage. Norton Heath on a lovely sunny day, and a great score of 66.63% and 3rd place in P19. A great day, Helen and Riley's first rosette and on the way to the Pet Plan qualification!!!!
16 July 2013
Qruz's debut at the British Breeding Futurity Grading. What a star he was too!!! He was top placed Dressage 2 year old and ended up top placed 2 year old across all disciplines!!! Many thanks to my friend, Ben Martin for running him for me, to Sue and Nikki for getting up at silly o'clock to come in the lorry with me and to Mandy, Jane and Nikki for coming to support us!!!
5 July 2013
A whole month has gone by without a blog update, so here goes rolled into one!!
I've had some great results (see Competition Results page) with Charlston and Louis in the run up to the Summer Regional Championships. Louis has qualified for the Open Novice and Elementary and Charlston the Restricted Medium. Louis will be going to Keysoe, Charlston to Addington.
Nikki has done 4 events with Ruby - on three of them just finishing up outside of the placings, so a great effort from them!
I've had a couple of training sessions with Ferdi with both boys! Yes Ferdi finally got to meet Louis! Both went really well and we are well on track for the regionals.
All the horses and ponies are well at the yard, Hazel and Angela went home after 2 months of intensive schooling/lessons and Helen and Riley joined us.
All in all a good month at Diamond Dressage!
10 June
Off to Patchetts with Charlston, Sue, Patricia and Dougal. Medium 73 beckoned..... He warmed up well and put in a solid test. I was very disappointed with the mark given on 61.17%.... for 3rd. However, the class was won on 63% so all relative I guess...... I can take away some real positives (and after watching the video a few negatives) from the test, so that's always a good thing!!!! Angela had driven over to support us too, so we ended the day with a lovely lunch in the bar!
6 June
Day trip to Wellington PL to watch Ben and the gorgeous Gio contest their second PSG!!! An absolutely fabulous day with great friends and a great result for Ben, 8th place on 66+% - with no lines of tempis shown - well there were 2s, 3s and 4s actually!!!!!! This talented partnership are really going places once Ben learns how to count!!!!
4 & 5 June
Training with Ferdi. A great two days with Charlston in his new double bridle bits, recently purchased after a bitting session with Hilary Vernon at Dan Sheriff's yard (thanks Dan). Two fantastic lessons and a great catch up with everyone!
1 June
My beautiful Qruz in the school today!!!
23 May
Charlston started his piaffe training today!!! Watch this space!!!
19 & 20 May
Off to Ferdi's with Charlston, Dougal , Mandy, Ben and Gio, for two days training. It's always such a privilege to visit Ferdi's yard and to have the opportunity to watch Maria and Michael riding their fabulous horses. Farouche was being hand grazed at the side of the arena during one of my training sessions (shhhhh, don't tell Ferdi I noticed, he'll freak if he thinks I wasn't 100% concentrating on what he was telling me to do!!!!)
15 May
No rest for the wicked - off to Essendon and Epping DG to do our first Advanced Medium to music....... with no floorplan!!!! My idea was to put flying changes in where my simple changes were for my medium music floor plan...............
It was a very windy day and the sound system at Woodlands had decided to die!!!!! When we arrived the music was being played out of a mini, with all the windows and doors open!!!!!!!!!!!! Riders were struggling to hear their music, but carrying on in the hope that they would end up in the right place at the right time!!!
This is a great venue, where the team goes out of their way to accommodate people, I did feel for them!!!
Charlston warmed up well and I was feeling fairly confident when we were called to the arena......................... Another car - a Jeep - had been drafted in to play the music on.....
I got in to position, put my hand up to start....... thought I heard my music start, presumed it wasn't going to be as loud as normal as playing in a car and that the wind was making it even more difficult to hear. Came up the centre line, halted and saluted. NO MUSIC!
Start again.
Hand up, yes there was music!!!!! Up the centre line - oooooooooooops traffic information on the radio cut in.....................
Start again.
Hand up, no music, lady hadn't seen my hand waving frantically in the air.....
Start again..................... Charlston, by this time, had had enough and was convinced it was time to go home.
Riding him was like pushing water up hill, he was so switched off.... We got through the test with me carrying his head....... and came up the FINAL centre line through a downpoor of hailstones!!!!!
13 May
Patchetts today with Charlston, supergroom Sue and Dougal, to do another Advanced Medium. He always tries his heart out for me, even if he's not sure what it is I'm asking him to do!!! Even if I'm not sure I know what I'm asking him to do, he'll always give it a go! We had a personal best today in an AM of 64.11% for third place. We don't really believe in ourselves yet at this level, but hopefully we are getting there!
3 May
Louis, Dougal and I set off for the Sheepgate Tack and Toggs Championships in Boston, Lincs. I was feeling quite nervous as I had foolishly signed up to dealing with Louis on my own for 4 days and wasn't particularly looking forward to it!!!
Well, when I say, "on my own", several of my friends were also competing there and had 'promised' to come to my rescue if I needed them!!
A very long journey not helped by us getting caught up in a traffic jam on the A1 for an hour 4 miles from my house...... Dougal slept, I learnt my test and Louis kicked off in the back..... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!
Sandie arrived before us and had kindly sorted Louis' stable out, my plan was to get Louis ready on the box, work him and then put him in his stable....... mmmmmm, his behaviour on the lorry was so outrageous he had to come off. Tied to the lorry with a haynet, rearing, bucking and shaking with excitement wasn't really filling me with confidence, but I managed to get him ready...... Sandie wandered over on Tom and blocked him in while I got on.
For the next hour, Louis totally ignored me and ran through the bridle. Not the start I had hoped for....... He was dripping with sweat and foaming when we got back to the stables and wasn't keen on the temporary stabling. He's never stayed away from home before, so I don't blame him for not liking the flappy roof, or the size of the stable!!!! He wouldn't touch his hay or feed and would only stare over the stable door at what was going on. It very suddenly became wine o'clock!!!
One by one other friends began arriving at Sheepgate - Ben, Mandy, Daisy, Jo, Maddie.... so at least I would have a laugh, if nothing else!!!
The following day, early(!) there was an arena walk which I wouldn't normally bother doing, however, this was Louis!!! He was actually very good in the arena - however, the arena he was competing in today had a raised lip to the entrance and he totally freaked out and wouldn't go over it....... I eventually managed to persuade someone to walk beside him on foot and he forced himself over....... in a massive leap in and out. I didn't fancy my chances of staying on him for a second attempt so I left it at that and organised for Ben to lead us in for the test......... we were entered into the N35 as a run through for the championships.
One actually in the arena, Louis was a superstar and apart from a few blips, where he wasn't in front of my leg, got a very respectable 69.23% and won the class!!!!
He had also settled down now in his stable as lots more horses had arrived, he turned into a very easy horse to deal with!!!
With the 'out of bounds' zone around his stable and a warning note pinned to the door, he actually started to enjoy himself!!!!!
The next two days was a blur, Louis was fantastic in the Championships, the classes were huge and we were 4th on both days, with 69.04% on the Sunday and 65.96% on the Monday - we ended up 5th overall. A fantastic result for my boy, who really grew in confidence over the weekend.
It's always good to stay away and I love sleeping in my lorry and spending quality time with just one horse to do. It's even better to have a good catch up with great friends, and meet new people. We all had a great time and bought home loads of rosettes and prizes! I'll definitely be going back next year!!
29 April
Just Sue and the hounds in the lorry today, back to Patchetts to do our first Elementary Music!!! Lisa was meeting us there.
I was the only rider in the Open section, so knew if we got the qualifying score of 68%, we would qualify. However we were under a List 1 judge and there were things in the required movements that Louis had never done in an arena....... and being such a sensitive soul, I wasn't entirely confident!!!
He actually felt a little tired, which in a way helps!!! He was a star in the test, the medium trots weren't his best, I could feel him tiring and didn't want him to break, so was nervous of asking for too much and he did a huge flying change in his medium canter...... HOWEVER, we won the class overall by 7% on a score of 70%. In fact, we had the highest score of the whole day!!!
Another lovely lunch with Sue and Lisa. We were also joined by the lovely Deborah Collins - who did her first PSG Music and finished on a great score of 68%.
Louis is going from strength to strength and never stops amazing me (in one way or another!!!!!). I now have to beef up the floor plans for his Novice and Elementary music tests for the regionals!!!
28 April
Sue, Nikki and my pack of hounds set off for Patchetts with Louis - SJ was meeting us there. Another E53 beckoned in an attempt to get some points towards Summer Regional Qualification. We have already got 11 points in non-qualifiers and need another 9 in qualifiers..... He felt fabulous in the warm up, again......... The bell went and we were off. He felt much more settled today and there was no spooking. He still felt tense when approaching the letters, but held it together.... apart from the medium canters........ we were 2nd on 65.88% Guess what, we need 66.0% for qualifying points............ grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
Still lunch was good and he got 8's for his leg yields - YAY!!!!!
25 April
Starting our build up to the Sheepgate Tack and Toggs Championships, Sue, David (Our new Super Groom!!! See news), Dougal, Thistle and Foxy left for Norton Heath with Louis today for an Elementary qualifier. He felt absolutely amazing in the warm-up and definitely won that..... HOWEVER, was tricky and sharp in the actual test, resulting in a score of 60% which included errors or course when I made him re perform movements he initially refused to do!!!!! Amazingly he won.........
My friend Ben arrived early to call for me, and his better half, Mandy had made cakes for my birthday!!!! YAY. Ben and his fabulous mare Gio, were contesting their first Advanced 100 test and got an amazing score of 75%!!!!!!!
24 April
Nikki and Ruby's first event of the season!!! We set of at 0630...... yes, that's right, 0630...... for Milton Keynes...... Nothing untoward happened with Nikki's NEW lorry before we left, no dead cat swinging underneath and nothing had fallen off of it in the car park - we were looking good. Sue, Dougal and Lisa in the front, Nikki driving, me in the living asleep on a reclining garden chair and Ruby munching on her hay!!!!!
We arrived in good time at 0810......... to walk the XC course - nothing to bother Ruby on it, a few things that bothered Nikki, but a kick up the backside in the right direction from me soon sorted that out!!!!
I have to say, the mare warmed up for the dressage beautifully, no tantrums at all. She went up the centre line as good as gold and put in her best test ever. I was SO proud of Nikki, I could see her preparing for every movement and Ruby responded well. So I was VERY disappointed with their score of 43.5 penalties.......
The showjumping was up-to-height, but a nice flowing course. The course builder had used the undulating ground to catch riders out, but we had walked the course and were 'on top of it'. Ruby, as enthusiastic as ever, had one fence down - just rolled it.... bugger.
XC is this mare's forte and she is a joy to watch round a course. Nikki's 'bogey' fences, the corner and the trakhener were jumped professionally and with ease!!! A clear round well within the time!!!!!
14th out of 32 finishing on a score of 47.5!!! Absolutely thrilled for Nikki, who is riding better than ever. The mare looked confident and a true pro thoughout. We're at Borde Hill next and really looking forward to it.
22 April
Two days later, off to Patchetts with Charlston to contest another advanced medium. A few little mistakes, but on the whole a good test for our best score of 63.35%, 2 qualifying points and some nice comments from the judge.
20 April
Brook Farm, this time with Charlston - not much to say really, did the AM92, he made one mistake, but nailed every change for 58%.... moving on.
14 April
Kelly bought Ranger for her daughter, who then lost interest.... so, Kelly (being tiny herself) then decided to keep him and turn him into a dressage pony!!! They have been over to me for a couple of lessons and Ranger, at his first show, promptly qualified for the Chiltern and Thames Championships. So, Ranger's second party EVER, was at Keysoe at a Championship show!!! Such a good boy - and he's only 4 years old!! The cutest pony ever (apart from the Chunkmeister, obviously)!!!!!.
Kelly sent me a lovely message: "Hi Tracey, we made it to the Chiltern and Thames Champs on Sunday and we scored 60.4%, the scores went from 54% to 65% in the adult section so were nicely in the middle. Considering Ranger is so young and it was his second ever test I was so pleased with him! We wouldn't have done so well without your help and training and you will be pleased to hear we got a 7 for our half 10m circle in walk at the end that I previously kept getting so wrong without your help :-) See you soon Kelly and Ranger x"
How lovely!
7 April
Off to Brook Farm again, this time with Kathy, Dougal, Thistle, Foxy and Louis. I had managed to get a very late entry for Elementary 45 - Zoe, the Show Secretary at Brook Farm, always goes out of her way to help!
Louis kicked off in the lorry when we got there, resulting in me getting on him 15 minutes earlier than planned to try to settle him. He's such a freak...... as soon as I got on him he relaxed and felt much more confident than last week at this venue. He marched from the lorry park straight to the outdoor arena to warm up, didn't look at a thing!!!!!
The warm up was very busy, which Louis hates. He is very nervous of the other horses, which makes life in the warm up difficult!
He felt amazing though, wanting to do his BIG trot all the time - which he is not allowed to do yet, as he can't cope with it and when he loses balance he loses his confidence. So 2nd gear only for Louis for a while yet!
E45 has a few things in it that Louis is only just coping with ie the dreaded rein back...... medium canter into collected canter 10m circle, extended walk..... so I wanted a confidence giving clear round..............
Unfortunately the class was running 15 minutes late... which meant that I had been on Louis for an hour and 15 minutes before I entered the arena....... He runs on adrenalin, when that runs out he goes as flat as a pancake...... then I override.......
We got through the test, some bits felt fabulous... the rein back was crooked, he changed legs as I brought him back from medium to collected canter and I pushed for more in the extended walk and he threw his head up and jogged. The rest of the test felt OK - apart from going like a banana down the long side in the second medium canter..... We weren't placed, but did end up on a very respectable score of 69.65%. Generous judging???? YES, but everyone needs a little bit of luck in this game!!!!!!!
31 March
Off to Brook Farm with Nikki, Sue, Dougal, Thistle, Foxy and Louis. Two novices today and a new venue for Louis - which is always tricky on this sensitive soul...... but at 7 years old he needs to 'get a life' and man up!!!!
The walk from the lorry park to the warm up was 'jolly', with Nikki having to walk directly in front of him to lead the way...... once in there is was actually quite settled, although the lorries going past slightly unnerved him. With 10 minutes before our first test, we left the indoor school to head over to the vast, new outdoor arena - now home to the Olympic surface used at Greenwich!!!
A dreaded line of gleaming white boards greeted us. Louis promptly freaked out, resulting in Nikki walking up and down the other side of them while I walked him alongside, until he shut up.... He's not easy!!!!
Then in we went. Novice 39, the Championship test. WOW, he was fabulous and totally amazed me at how hard he tried. I've never ridden the test before and the movements come up thick and fast, but he just kept going and kept concentrating on me! We won the class on 73.44% and have now qualified for the Summer Regionals!!!
Our next class was N27 and was indoors. Just as we entered the arena to warm up a rogue pigeon narrowly missed Louis' head as it flew out of the school...... It startled me, so you can imagine what Spawn did - FREAKED OUT. Unlikely to recover from this traumatic, life endangering experience, I knew I was in for a rough ride!!!! Tense and crooked, we ended up 2nd on 65.71% which, all things considered, was a good score!
Louis will now move up to Elementary Level.
Nikki and Sue did quite a lot of moaning during the day about their 'lack of equipment'........ I now, apparently, have to go and purchase a posh 'over the shoulder' bag for them to carry my bandages and overreach boots in, together with a set of white patent piaffe boots.............. dream on girls, dream on.
17 & 18 March
Two days training with Ferdi for Charlston and another very quick turnaround at the yard after getting back from Patchetts with Louis!!!
It's great that Ferdi can see the improvement in Charlston from month to month, we work really hard at home and I can definitely feel the difference in his way of going. Looking forward now to getting out and doing some Advanced Mediums (when I can get my saddle situation sorted out...................). It's also a great opportunity to catch up with friends, old and new!
18 March
Patchetts again.... Novice Music this time with Louis and Sue came too! I was worried that he would be tired after yesterday, so I warmed him up for less time - good call. He went into the arena feeling active and was in front of my leg, but not silly.
A lovely obedient test with no mistakes, saw us in 2nd place on 72.5% which means we have 2014 Winter Regional Music qualification! He lost it by a tiny margin on the technicality of my floorplan - I'll be 'beefing it up' for the Regionals!!
17 March
Off to Patchetts (AGAIN) with Louis, Sue and Kathy, two novices today and hopefully more qualifying points.... The warm up went well for our first test, although it was absolutely freeeeeeeeeeeeezing.......
To say I struggled to learn N35 would be an understatement, but I had recited it perfectly in the lorry on the drive to the venue and felt slightly more confident..... WRONG.
Did the first 4 movements and froze. Got my act together, circled and carried on, did the second canter - brain freeze, a total blank. The judge asked if I had anyone that could call the rest of the test for me.... poor Kathy....... We struggled through to the final centre line where I retired, with 6 marks to be deducted it wasn't worth completing - or so I thought..... The judge called me to her and said how much she liked Loius and that I had been on all 7s and 8s.............. note to self, don't retire in future......
Kathy is still receiving counselling.................................
17 March
Off to Patchetts (AGAIN) with Louis, Sue and Kathy, two novices today and hopefully more qualifying points.... The warm up went well for our first test, although it was absolutely freeeeeeeeeeeeezing.......
15 March
Nikki and Ruby's first outing of the year, Dressage at Patchetts. Dressage is not their 'thing', but is a necessary evil being the first phase of what is their thing - eventing! Two good scores of 61% and 59% have set them up for the eventing season ahead.
As ever, his number one fan, Caroline, was snapping away as I was getting him ready!
We arrived in good time to be met by a beaming Clare who had just had a great ride in the Elementary Restricted FSM for a fantastic score of 68+% and 10th place!!!! Just FANTASTIC!!!!!
Wandered over to the score board to see that the horse ahead of me at been withdrawn which meant I was first to go in my class..... Everyone hates going first as the Judges don't have anything to compare you with (which is why they have a test rider at big events like the Olympics, Badminton, Burghley etc). I wasn't particularly happy at this point!!!
Charlston warmed up like the pro he is and we went in to do our test! When they announced me as the rider that had withdrawn I stopped trotting round and indicated to the judges that it wasn't me. Hilariously, the comentator was saying that I was an BYRDS rider who had done this and done that. Well the croud, mainly made up of my 'friends'...... were laughing and shouting out to me 'not so much as a BYRDS rider, but definitely an OLD BIRD rider!!!', it was VERY funny and actually helped me relax!
They eventually announced ME and the bell went.
Charlston put in a fabulous test, not one mistake from him or me! Half passes were as good as every, I really had time to set him up for each movement and when I came down the centre final centre line I had a grin on my face. We left the arena to lots of thumbs up and clapping, and I was feeling pretty good!!! Definitely our best performance in M75.
Back at the lorry, the gorgeous boy was washed off and tucked up with his hay. Then I was told my score.................. 64.5% To say I was disappointed would be an understatement........ I actually felt like crying for my boy who had put his heart and soul into his performance.
On to another disappointment when the 'professional' photographer chose NOT to go to the toilet in the 15 minute break before my class, but to go as I entered the arena......... resulting in a few rushed shots of me finishing my test. You have to actually be there to 'Catch It' was my parting shot as I left their stand......
Luckily, as ever, Caroline got some great shots for me!!!
Charlston finished 4th, first and second riders were both on 68%, third placed on 66%. One judge had commented on my sheet 'it's never easy going first in a class'...... Kristina, my Northern Friend(!), quite rightly commented, "The judges should judge what they see in front of them and not hold back for what they might see!!!".
Oh well, we wont get a Wild Card on that score - which is a shame as on his performance he deserved to be going to Hartpury, bless him.
Charlston loves a prize giving and stands like a rock for the photographs and enjoys his lap of honour hugely. He'll always be a winner to me!!!
Moving on... that's dressage!!!
1 March
Louis FIRST Regional Championships!!!!! I was SO excited and looking forward to it, I never expected him to qualify on his first attempt at Novice Music and being in the Open section I knew it would be HOT!!
Having been bathed, trimmed and pampered the day before (which he absolutely hated, I don't actually think he'd had a proper bath since he was a foal!!!!) he was looking pretty gorgeous all plaited up and ready to go onto the lorry.
Super Groom, Sue Murray was coming in the lorry with us, accompanied by Dougal.... who was clearly totally stressed out by this auspicious occasion...
Being Kathy's birthday today, she was taking the day as holiday (how very dare she...). However, having being bullied by Louis for the last 7 years, she obviously wasn't going to miss this event and so was meeting us at Patchetts with Gary in tow! Gina and Belinda were also meeting us there - so lovely to have such great friends and support.
The warm up was pretty manic and Louis definitely took exception to a lovely big coloured horse....... ears flat back every time it was anywhere near us!!! BAD Louis! He felt amazing in the warm up and I enjoyed every second of it.
THEN WE WERE IN!!!!!!
My little man went in, did a lovely test and came out!!!!!!!!!!!! What a STAR. I was crying, Kathy was crying, Gina was crying.............. a very emotional moment for everyone that has been on the rollercoaster journey that is Louis!!!!!
6 January
Paul and I jetted off to the Maldives for 2 weeks, leaving the yard in the very capable hands of Kathy, Sarah, Hayley and Roxanne. We had a fabulous time!!! The artic conditions we met on our return, were not, however, appreciated!!!
Welcome to the 2013 blog and a very happy New Year to all!!!!!!!!!!!!
I shall attempt to keep you amused throughout the year with snippets of gossip and accounts of the goings on at the yard and at competitions!!
We had a great 2012 at the yard, some good competition results, but more importantly the horses are all progressing well with their training and I am very excited about the year to come!