Alice Hallows July Update

A belated July Blog from Hack Up Bespoke's RingCraft Ambassador 2022

 

"Hello! Wow we truly are having a very hot summer.

Quiz and Fritz had a month off eventing in July after Nunney International. I do like to give my horses a slower pace of work for a month during the season to work on other aspects of our training and as it turns out we haven’t had any rain and it has been rather hot. We were meant to be back out eventing at Aston-Le-Walls, but I decided it was too hot to not only compete at Intermediate, but the three hour journey to get there. Also, we are off to Frickley International next week to compete in the CCI3*-S so planning ahead to get the best possible result.

Competition wise I have been competing Luna and Bertie at Isleham and Little Downham. Both went well at Isleham with Luna jumping a double clear to come 3rd. The Novice Masters was an interesting day, the dressage was brilliant. Luna scored 29 and Bertie 32. The show jumping was certainly the biggest I have ever jumped them so two down on each around a 1.20m track was a great success. Then for the cross country it went down hill. Luna had a 20 penalties at the birch fence with the ditch underneath, because I took it on a slight angle to save time. And Bertie I had a communication malfunction at the step up out of the water so decided to retire. Anyway learnt my lessons from that day and we should have a good time with both of them at Frickley in the Novice.

Another string to my bow has begun. This July I taught at two Pony Club senior camps. I thoroughly enjoyed both camps and it was great to see so many kids enjoying their horses and ponies and forming great friendships with each other. I have enjoyed teaching and learnt very quickly on my feet about how to navigate a group of six children on different types of ponies and horses. I teach how I ride and I have had many lessons myself so I know through experience know how I want the children to feel when they finish my lesson, which is to be inspired to do the best they can and to keep on improving using practical knowledge. It is a funny thing teaching, I see so much of myself in each rider all doing the same thing at a certain point, during the different aspects of progression that I was at in the past when I was their age.

For example, lets discuss the sometimes the big elephant in the room, ‘seeing a stride’ lots of different interpretations… My explanation is simple and please no sarcasm is intended here. Use your eyesight to judge the distance to the take off point.

And then make decisions for the best outcome by feeling the horses length of stride, the strides balance and how powerful it is. You will know if your canter is what you want because it gives you the confidence to feel the optimum take off point for your horse and you are reacting quickly in your head so you make the decision about if you need more leg or to rebalance (half halt, equal pull of both reins) or keep up the good work because you know in five strides time that the take off point is correct. And I would just like to add this is only 1/4 of the jumping phase. There is the ‘all clear for take off’, ‘the bascule’, ‘coming back down to earth’, ‘touchdown’ and the get away. For the cross country I call the get away ‘the lickety- split’ and for the show jumping ‘bouncy stride make it count’, especially in a related distance or combination. I know I have had a bit of fun with the explanation for the phases of the horse and rider jumping, but I find if I make a piece of theory my own then I can be positive with what I am doing and make decisions that has the outcome we all want, which is jumping clear rounds and you giving the horses confidence to jump their socks off for you.

I only use the topic of seeing a stride because I realised compared to the flat work the children could feel a difference straight away from previous efforts of being a little too deep or standing off to when they were more aware of knowing when they were going to take off and taking control over that by making a positive decision of planning ahead and reacting. Also, in each ride their was one or two children who already had an understanding of the skill set and could show what the whole aim to taking a more detailed approach to their skill set resulted in with the horses jumping in a better shape, it looked effortless and ultimately jumped the bigger jumps.

The flatwork was interesting… It is an aspect to riding that some find irrelevant or boring but I think that is partly their own development in maturity. With dressage I believe it is a complete trust between coach and rider because it is very easy for a rider to not believe in what you are saying as a coach because the description of the scales of training can sound like magical words that make up a sentence but have no relevance because they may never have had the feeling of sitting on a supple horse that is willing to bend to the inside. And those of us that has this experience know that it takes more than an hour to gain the technique and the patience for getting the short, stubby, stiff body of a stubborn pony to bend to the inside. And no, the explanation of the term ‘on the bit’ does not just mean your ponies head is down by using all your strength in your arms.

I will say I did have a great session with a ride that were at B test level so teaching turn on the forehands and quarter pirouettes was beneficial to explaining that moving the horses hind quarters and shoulders improves suppleness and acceptance to the seat and leg aid. And then after doing these lateral movements it was easier to improve the quality of the trot and the canter to then finish with their horses stretching.

From a RingCraft point of view I am sure Alex will agree that unless your horse is moving in a soft rhythmical outline that doesn’t have any moments of resistance, you can show the judge an accurate test with the shape of the movements, but on the whole it probably won’t score a high mark. However, if you have your horse is going correctly and you do the movements accurately you will score a 7.5 or an 8 because it is a professional effort. Or it will be going correctly but it is untidy then it will only be a 6.5 (if they are mean) or a 7. But the accuracy and polished performance makes the judge sit up and look at you. Also, a key detail I have learnt from Alex is to ride to gain marks so it is a confident image that gives the judge the ability to give you the mark. Remember judges put a lot of effort and time into what they are doing. And I think that judges that judge event horses definitely have an understanding of how a thoroughbred will move and do appreciate a well ridden test as they won’t particularly be looking for a Valegro.

Thank you once again for reading my blog it always amazes me that anyone reads it! I am off now to enjoy the summer breeze on the beach at Felixstowe and enjoy some fish and chips in the evening sun!

Speak soon, take care. Alice x"