Kick Start to 2015 Season
For Christmas my partner Rich Taylor bid on a charity auction to win me a lesson and a yard tour with Vittoria Pannizon - which he won! This was a brilliant surprise and I couldn't wait to go. I contacted Vittoria and we settled on a date - Friday 30th January. A perfect kick start to 2015! Luckily enough Vittoria's yard is not far from Broadway Horse Trials which for us isn't far from our base in Wickwar - South Gloucestershire. It was the longest journey that Bobby had been on before but he was a saint and we heard nothing from him the whole way even with the journey being slightly lengthier due to diversions - cue mild panic as we were already running behind. HackWe arrived 15 minutes late (!) but there was no need to panic as it was very chilled and Vittoria was still riding a horse up on the school. I tacked up and met Vittoria up there. I settled Bobby down as she had a swift horse change. To my surprise we then went for a little stroll around the surrounding fields which was great. Vittoria was on a lovely coloured called Magwa, although small I was told he thought he was more of a 17 hander! It was great to have a chat and gain some advice on working them out on a hack such as encouraging them to carry their heads long and low to stretch the walk out to ensure they are marching out. Bobby started to spook at one point and Vittoria advised me to pop in a counteractive bend to help keep him straight. FlatworkAfter a leg stretch we ventured back to the arena where we started off on some flatwork. Bobby often loses balance through transitions and either comes above the bit or behind the vertical - we worked on walk - trot transitions to begin with where I was advised during to ride the transitions slower and open my hands wider and lower to encourage him to stay balanced. This definitely helped and we also used this concept with trot - halt - trot transitions. To add to this Vittoria asked my to drop my feet out of my stirrups and do rising trot! This is just as hard as it sounds but a great exercise to carry out to strengthen your core muscles - which in the long term will benefit your horse and balance. We moved onto canter work - he is very green and unbalanced in canter. I have often done the least possible work with this as I don't want to have a battle with him - Vittoria advised me how she thought he wasn't the battling the type and that I need to do more to improve his canter. We worked on decreasing the circle in canter which naturally placed the weight on his hindquarters and the difference was noted by my parents watching. Jumping - GridworkWe then moved onto jumping and a couple of gridwork exercises. Bobby has never done any gridwork so I was amazed with how he took it all in his stride. I was very impressed that Vittioria managed the jumps with Magwa in hand, she mentioned how all her horses are well trained :) we ended up jumping down a line of 3 fences with a stride in-between each - a placing pole, cross pole, spread, spread. It ended up being 90cm and Vittoria built the spreads fairly wide to encourage him to take them on. I was coming in slightly too fast on the approach as I wanted to ensure I had enough momentum but as Vittoria pointed out, this exercise is crafted in a way that the horse is to do all the work and we as a rider are not to interfere. Instead I needed to come in a steady rhythm and give one big kick at the placing pole then let Bobby do the work. To finish Vittoria set out a line of 5 bounces - the first a cross pole, then alternate poles to an upright. This exercise again is used to get Bobby doing the work. It also strengthens his abs and overall jumping muscles which in turn will help with his canter quality which was 100 times better after this exercise. What an experience!So after an hour and a half we were both suitably knackered! The day ended by having a cuppa with Vittoria in her very impressive tack room and then a tour of her yard where we were introduced to each of her horses - it was a shame that Pennyz wasn't around but great to see the others. It was a brilliant afternoon where Bobby and I learnt lots! Hopefully we will be booking some more lessons in :) |