IT'S ALL ABOUT THE BASE...OF THE NECK

Qrac and I at a show in the south of France, September 2015

Qrac turns 12 this year. I can hardly believe it's been five years since my trainer and I moseyed on down to the south of France to look at a seven year-old Lusitano stallion we knew literally nothing about, that someone had suggested we go see. It seems like yesterday that she and I were led down a short, dark corridor housing a collection of Cremelo Lusos with light blue eyes and bright pink noses, our enthusiasm sinking deeper and deeper into our mud-splattered Timberlands. I know that a lot of people love Cremelos, but they just don't do it for me. Just as she and I glanced at each other, simultaneously thinking we'd wasted an entire day travelling, there, right in the very last stable, right at the back, stood a gorgeous black horse with soft, almond-shaped eyes, a beautiful big neck, and a tiny white kissing spot on the tip of his velvety nose. Oh, and he smelt really good, too. Most horses smell good, but I swear that Qracy smells particularly yummy.

They saddled him up, and I got on, and despite him not being anywhere near as advanced in his work as would be expected for a seven-year old, and that riding a super-short backed, mega reactive, uber-wiggly Lusitano felt really strange after having ridden warmbloods all my life, I totally fell in love with Qrac de la Font. 

Five years down the line and I'm still smitten. It hasn't been easy, and we're still not as advanced in our work as we "should be" (say the text books, but text books are, well,  just text books), but we've come a long way since that first drunken zig-zag across the circular walled arena just south of Avignon. I'm tickled that I thought Qracy looked all big and manly back then! Compare  his "then and now" photos and it's hard to imagine they feature the same horse. 

Qrac, January 2016

Qrac, February 2011

I'm probably (alright, make that definitely!) biased, but I think that Qrac has the wow-factor. His massive shoulders and neck are the subject of many a grooming-area conversation while I'm tacking him up. He isn't an easy ride, has a stubborn, macho personality and keeping his attention focused on his work is always going to be an issue. His spins are legendary; he has an insane ability to drop his shoulder and spin left in a mini-fraction of a nano-second when he decides he's had enough. I've got a lot better at controlling his naughtiness and his spins, at sensing he's about to blow just before he blows, but there are times when he still gets me. Everyone who knows horses knows that patience is a virtue when it comes to training, but Qracy has upped my horsey patience virtuousness big time! He get's his knickers in a twist for the silliest things and is always full of surprises. I suppose professional people wouldn't give him high marks for "rideability", and yet while I find his bag of tricks frustrating at times, his monkey antics have also taught me a heck of a lot. Yes, it really is all about the base....of the neck. And that big neck, those big shoulders, that short back and that pesky personality are a constant challenge.

Qrac has more gears than most horses. He has about 47 different trots, yet until a few months ago he didn't have an extended trot at all. Desperation was beginning to set in when, thanks to Irish National Dressage Champion Roland Tong, the amazing trainer I discovered early last year and who now flies to Geneva every month for two-day clinics at my stables, Qrac and I suddenly twigged it. I'll never forget that one magical session last October when Roland had us careering around the arena, yelling at me to "keep going, keep going, I want him to go go go, like a show horse at an auction"!  I was red in the face, sweating like a nobody's business, mortifyingly aware that little Qracy's long legs were whirling away like an uncoordinated can-can dancer on crack, when all of a sudden everything became smooth, powerful and rhythmical. Even the light played a part in that memorable moment; it had been a grey, grumpy-weathered day, and I was riding late in the afternoon. During my lesson the sun came out between clusters of bruised clouds, slipped beneath the level of the roof of the indoor school, spearing us with wild laser beams of golden light. Lights, camera,  action! Yep, it was epic! Ever since, our extended trot has been far more consistent, and I truly believe that Qrac now enjoys showing off his newfound ability. 

The day we twigged the extended trot, October 2015

Our current challenge is mastering the flying change. Qrac can do them beautifully, but most of the time he only does them beautifully when he decides to do them, and not when I ask him to do them. He's a very compact, very wiggly, very hot little horse and controlling the placement of his shoulders and his haunches can do my head in. I have his back, and then I don't, and then I do again, and so feeling, precision and timing is everything. Right now I'm working hard with my long time trainer and friend, Marie-Valentine Gygax (with whom I found Qrac five years ago), at keeping the quality of the canter and counter canter,  at keeping control of the shoulders, at keeping him straight, at getting more bend, at keeping his mind busy by using leg yield and shoulder-fore and haunches in and (big) pirouettes and half-passes and small circles and half circles and you name it we (try to) do it, making sure he's truly through his body before I ask for the change. It's coming, slowly, very slowly maybe, but it's coming surely and I think we're going about it right. I'm armed to the teeth with patience, and I'm trusting that patience, together with the help of my two fabulous trainers, will get us doing Prix St Georges (at home, not in competition) before the end of 2016. That, to me, would be an amazing achievement. 

What has taken you a long time to master? What are your horse's strengths and weaknesses? Have you found particular ways to work through specific training issues?  What are your goals for this year? 

Thanks for reading, and a happy mega-belated New Year!

Francesca xxx

HOW IRISH GRAND PRIX RIDER ROLAND TONG GAINED A SWISS FAN CLUB

By Francesca Prescott

Roland Tong and Pompidou, at Windsor

The idea of organising a dressage clinic at my stables began to form sometime last year, after I attended a two-day course with Rafael Soto, the famous Spanish silver medallist on Invasor at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, and now trainer of the Spanish team. Rafael Soto was great to work with, and Qrac and I came away with some great suppling exercises to use in our daily warm-up. Rafael was charming and friendly and down-to-earth, and I would happily attend another clinic with him.

That said, I'm not sure I'd want to go back to the place where it was held. Okay, so everyone was very nice, and once we were safely inside the indoor arena, all was well. The problem was that Qrac had to walk down a wonky, slippery, twisty-turny cement and stone staircase to get to the indoor arena. Seriously. I almost turned the trailer around and drove back home when I saw what we were expected to do. In fact, looking back, the sensible thing to do would have been to turn the trailer around and go home. But nobody else seemed to be making a fuss about it. Peer pressure got the best of me, and luckily Qrac didn’t freak out and fall over and hurt himself. As I said, I'm not sure I'd go back there. Not even for Carl Hester.

But to have Carl Hester come and give a clinic at my yard? How amazing would that be? I put the idea to the owner of my stables. Yes, having Carl over here would be amazing. Let’s do it!

So I wrote Carl an email. In my humble opinion, it was a good email, one that would attract his attention, make him want to fly over to this pretty part of Switzerland and spend two days teaching a bunch of friendly, motivated people in fabulous, state-of-the-art facilities. If it had been technologically possible, I’d probably have scented the email with, well, not Eau de Qrac as that just sounds wrong, but with, say, Eau de Swarovski, my friend Josephine’s horse! Naturally, I expected an answer within minutes, so was rather bummed when after ten days or so Carl hadn’t enthusiastically accepted my proposal, given Charlotte and Valegro some tips on how to further improve their tempi changes, and hopped on the first orange plane headed for Geneva. Yep, I’m naïve and optimistic like that.

Impatient for news, I contacted a friend who is well connected in the British equestrian world, wondering whether she might do a little investigating for me. Pretty soon the answer came back: Carl Hester was terribly sorry, but he was simply far too busy. Which is fair enough. I mean, the man is an equestrian rock star, so it figures he’d have more interesting things to do than come over here and sort out my flying changes. And my half-passes, and my bouncy trot, and my extended trot, and my rein-back, and my… well, you get the picture. And that’s just me! There were going to be eleven of us, not all of us dressage riders, all at different levels, all with different personalities.  And the more I watch clinics and trainers, the more I realize that to be a good trainer, you also need to be a decent psychologist too.

Anyway, so Carl Hester was a no-go. However, my friend with the UK contacts suggested we organize a clinic with a Grand Prix rider she represents, Roland Tong. To be honest, I’d never heard of Roland Tong, who rides for Ireland and and had represented his country at the World Equestrian Games in Caen, France in 2014 on Pompidou. I did a little research, found all sorts of super interesting information and videos of him, and then spoke to the owner of my stables who was favourably impressed and told me to go ahead and organize the event.

Roland Tong and Ambience, aka Alf

Roland flew over in early March and the Ecuries de la Ruche in Founex enjoyed a fabulous, incredibly motivating weekend clinic with this friendly, down-to earth, super talented rider and trainer who also happens to have a great sense of humour.

Roland Tong exceeded all our expectations with his individually tailored lessons. His energy and enthusiasm never flagged during those two crazy-long days. Everyone rode out of his lessons with a big smile and the feeling of having achieved something they’d never achieved before. He pushed us all, yet had the utmost respect for our horses and for what they were capable of doing. He even got on a couple of horses, including mine, and got them moving in ways we could only dream of getting them to move. Why oh why can’t I get Qrac to trot like that? Why can’t I achieve that rhythm and reaching and suspension while keeping him relaxed? Sure, I can achieve it for a little while during a session, but getting it consistently? Riding a full test with that impulsion, that lift in the shoulders and that swing? We’re working towards it, but if it came so easily I guess I’d be a Grand Prix rider, too.

Qrac and I working with Roland Tong, March 2015

So there was some monkey business, too!

That said, I must admit that when I watch my videos of the two lessons I had with Roland, I’m extremely pleased with what I see, despite wishing (of course) that it looked a whole lot better! Physically speaking, Qrac looks nothing like the gangly, extremely green 7 year-old Lusitano I bought four years ago. His shoulders are massive, his bum is rounded and muscly, and while his neck was always impressive (he was a stud stallion back then), it’s nothing like it is now, so I must be doing something right. Going through your video records works wonders in reminding you how far you’ve come when you’re feeling frustrated and discouraged and pathologically pathetic and wondering whether taking up macramé might be a more fulfilling occupation.

Qrac, March 2015

Qrac and me, four years ago

What struck everyone who took part in the clinic was how personally involved, how encouraging and motivating Roland Tong was. He’s one of those trainers who makes you feel like he’s riding with you every step of the way. Over those two days, Roland walked miles, striding up and down the arena, his body language in sync with his verbal instructions on how to achieve whatever it is we were working on. Everyone made progress, everyone felt things that had previously eluded them, everyone wanted more.

My friend Caroline Rieder on the fabulous Kayal with Roland Tong

Lucky for us, Roland Tong enjoyed his weekend with us too, and is happy to come back and train us for two days once a month until the end of the year! Our next clinic is scheduled for mid-May, and we’re all super excited about working with him again. Yes, Roland Tong has a little Swiss Fan Club! La Ruche is rooting for him as he works towards the European Championships later this year, not to mention towards qualifying for the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016 with his new horse, Ambience, aka Alf. Go Roland! But come back to Switzerland soon!

Have you come across trainers you have found particularly motivating and inspiring, no matter what discipline you ride? What was it about them that made the difference?

  

More Fun than Stamps

Riding out last summer

By Francesca Prescott

I’m probably going to come across as super superficial, but that's ok because there are plenty of other aspects of my personality that don’t strike me as such. Let’s just call this part of my lighter side. Life’s too short, and all that jazz isn’t any fun without a little touch of color. Besides, I don’t really like jazz, unless it’s been bubblified by someone like, well, Michael Buble. Ok, so my musical tastes are superficial, too...

"When in a hole, stop digging," I hear someone saying.

But I’m not even digging, I’m just telling the truth. I love Michael Buble. Among other artists, of course (I wrote “Mucho Caliente!” with Ricky Martin in mind). Mainly, I like my music to be musical. Humm-alongable. Sing-alongable. I like a good tune, not a schizophrenic freak-out. But that’s just me. My husband enjoys all that senseless tromboning and bungled double bassing. When he plays it I tend to roll my eyes and go bake a cake. Our terrain d’entente is the ambient chill-out genre, which makes our son roll his eyes and turn up his iPod. You can’t please everyone.

Which brings me back to what pleases me. I’ve always been into clothes and fashion, as well as into horses. Since I spend a good part of my day with my horse, and that I rarely wear anything other than jeans and a nice t-shirt or sweater (depending on the season) when I’m not with my horse, it’s strikes me as perfectly normal to want to look nice when I’m with my horse. And, basically, if I’m not at the stables, I’m either at home or at the supermarket. Which is perfectly fine with me. 

What I particularly enjoy is matching what Qrac wears to what I wear, if only by way of subtle detail. For example, Qrac has an off-white saddlepad edged with a tiny ribbon of leopard print. I think there’s also a touch of gold braid involved in the edging as well. Yep, it’s pretty fancy. It’s Italian. While I don’t think many horses could pull off this look without looking totally OTT, I think Qrac manages it perfectly. Put me into this particular equation wearing my super discreetly patterned brown jodhpurs with an off white techno-top and – tah-dah! – my leopard-print belt, and you’ve got a fashion victim on horseback! So I get teased. And maybe that look is not so subtle. Pff!

Qrac wears Marta Morgan

Note the subtle leopard trim...

The thing is, Qrac has a lot of saddlepads. A LOT. In fact, my horse has so many that my husband says I should open a saddlepad museum, and give guided tours to raise money towards, errr, more saddlepads.

Imagine: “Step this way, madam. Now, on your right you can admire what appears to be a simple white RG competition model. However, if you look closely you will notice a discreet sprinkling of Swarovski elements adorning the bottom back rim. This particular saddlepad can be traced back to Francesca and Qrac’s somewhat diffident, while also memorably explosive, first meandering (incidentally, oh how we exploded and meandered!) in the dressage show ring. 

Our first show, a fiesta of meandering explosiveness.
Qrac wears RG

And on your left, beginning to look slightly worn in, you have the lovely, far more blingy white Equiline show pad, marking the beginning of a slightly more confident, if not altogether successful, period of competing. 

Gaining confidence.
Qrac wears Equiline

Moving on now, let’s admire this fabulous white and black Marta Morgan mega-bling marvel of Swarovski handiwork. Note the intricate design worked into the black Swarovski detailing. This saddlepad represents a milestone in Francesca and Qrac’s showing career as it was worn at the Vidauban showgrounds in the south of France, and, as such, marks the couple’s first foray into the international dressage scene (ah-hum… yeah, well, sort of… It was out of Switzerland, anyway.).”

Our "international début" in Vidauban, France.
Qrac wears Marta Morgan

You probably get the gist. And I haven’t even touched on all the coloured ones Qrac gets to model. Randomly chosen from my selection, let me show you:

1)   The blue and white gingham. Fresh looking, don’t you think? By RG. Tricky to combine with outfits; stray from blue and white and you’re teetering on the borders of tacky territory.

Qrac wears RG

2)   The brown and hot pink. I think Qrac looks great in this one, it’s easy and fun to match my clothes with. Also, I love pink.

Qrac wears RG

3)   The general purpose grey. Easy to coordinate with just about anything.

Qrac wears RG

4)   The burgundy Swarowski-embellished velvet by Marta Morgan, sometimes worn with matching bandages. I’ve coordinated it with a burgundy sleeveless vest worn over navy blue jodhpurs and techno-shirt. So regal! 

Qrac wears Burgundy Swarovski-embellished Marta Morgan

Regal or what?!

5)   A piled up portion of my saddlepad museum. There are more at the stables… Qrac looks great in red, too. And green. And beige. And ivory. Not to mention multiple shades of grey.

A portion of the saddlepad museum.

So there you have it. Some people collect butterflies. My sister collects porcelain ducks and fish. My friend Victoria collects just about everything. When I was a little girl, a kindly great-aunt once tried to get my pulse hyped-up over stamp collecting. Hmmmm.

I think collecting saddlepads is far more fun.

How about you? What do you collect?

Christmas Buzz at La Ruche

By Francesca Prescott

Photo by Aurore Biron

One year ago, Ecurie de la Ruche*, the stables where Qrac lives, inaugurated its new facilities. Previously a small, cosy village-stable with comfortable but basic facilities for 15 horses, La Ruche 
morphed into a top class, high-tech, super chic, state of the art equestrian paradise for 50 lucky steeds.

Some of you may have noticed that I’ve been absent from this blog for twelve months, before finally reappearing last week. Well, the main reason for my absence is that despite the stables being a four minute drive from my house instead of the 45 minutes it took me to get to Qrac’s previous residence, I seem to spend even more time partaking in horse related activities than I used to. It’s now so easy to go backwards and forwards to the stables that I practically live there. Also, I really appreciate being able to check on Qrac more than just once a day, to change a blanket if necessary, to pick out his feet if he’s been in the field, reassure myself that he’s ok if I have the slightest doubt about anything.

Qrac enjoying his terrace. He was lighter in the summer!

Qrac has a massive box with a matching massive terrace, which means his social life is wonderful as when he’s not with me, he’s either discussing carrots and sharing dressage tips on his terrace with his pony neighbour, or he’s out in the field, or, when the ground gets too waterlogged, hanging out in one of the “sand pits (winter parks). All in all, I think he’s a pretty happy horse.

And I’m a happy lady, because La Ruche is a great place for humans, too. The atmosphere is great, everyone gets along, and everywhere is always spotlessly clean without anyone coming across as obsessive compulsive about picking up a fleck of horse poo, or a strand of horse hair or anything. People just get on with things, generally clean up after themselves, and there is genuine mutual respect and friendship in the air. We even have Happy Hour every Friday afternoon as of approximately 5 o’clock until approximately goodness knows what time, with giggles aplenty! I love it! I think we all do.

Qrac gets plenty of turnout and likes to roll in the mud...

So last Saturday, we all celebrated one year of Rucharian bliss (Rucharians being the inhabitants of La Ruche, of course) with a Christmas competition. I think I have two extra wrinkles on either side of my mouth from an excess of smiling all day long. Seriously, it was a blast.

Concentration! Photo Aurore Biron

The festivities officially began at one o’clock with a dressage competition, followed, as of three, by jumping. We had all picked a competition partner: one person rode dressage, the other jumped. Some of the jumping participants proved particularly versatile, partnering twice in order to also take part in the dressage. There were different dressage tests and jumping heights according to everyone’s level, and the scores of each partnership’s dressage test and jumping course were added up, meaning that if you didn’t do a great dressage test, if your partner rode a fabulous jumping round your chances of winning or placing were still intact. Riding as a team made the event even more socially interactive, with everyone rooting for one another. As a dressage rider, accustomed to hushed, poker-faced ambiances, it was wonderful to ride in a lively, fun-scented atmosphere, with louder music than usual, and people clapping and cheering and generally having a great time. There was less pressure of course, but that didn’t mean that we didn’t take our programs and courses any less seriously; I’d worked hard to ride a higher level test than I’ve ever ridden before, and I was delighted with how hard Qrac tried for me in front of the judge, by how relaxed he stayed, and by how well we scored. But best of all, I thoroughly enjoyed my ride.

Me and my boy
Photo Aurore Biron

My partner, Antoine M., later rode a very nice clear-round, taking his time around the course so as not to wind-up his excitable Chicos Boy, and we ended up in 5^th place. We were both so happy you’d have thought we’d won the Olympics or the World Games or something, high-fiving one another over and over! A fun detail was that the prize-giving ceremony took place on horseback, which was a first for me, and Qrac and I loved galloping around the indoor arena with our ribbon trailing from his bridle while the crowd cheered. Such fun!

Antoine M. and Chicos Boy going for it!
Photo Isabelle Von Wattenwyl

Did we win the Olympics or something?!

Yay!

Antoine M. and Chicos Boy

But the fun wasn’t over yet, because one of our fellow Rucharians had prepared an in-hand presentation to music, with her horse doing all sorts of cool tricks, such as Spanish walk, curtseying, and lying down. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to watch her show since I was already back on Qrac, warming up in the outside arena with my friend Josephine and her beautiful black Oldenburg, Swarowski, for our pas-de-deux.

Josephine and I had hummed and hahed about doing a pas-de-deux at the competition for quite some time. Believe me, if we’d realised how difficult riding side-by-side to music would turn out to be, we’d have done a lot less humming and hahing and a lot more practising. Basically, we finally got it together ten days beforehand, and only practised the choreography four or five times, the first attempt being complete pandemonium, our horses becoming demented with excitement! We considered calling the whole thing off, but since we’d already bought our outfits, throwing in the towel struck us as a bit of a waste. Besides, we liked what we were going to wear, we loved the music we’d chosen (Ricky Martin’s new single, Adios), and the horses looked amazing side-by-side, so on we toiled, prancing and and sweating, determined to produce something vaguely decent and fun to watch. Things went a little more smoothly the second time we ran through our (very basic) choreography, and we enjoyed ourselves, particularly during the final bit where we passaged (or attempted to!) down the centre line side-by-side to Ricky’s infectious Latino beat.

Anyway, so late last Saturday afternoon, Josephine and I wriggled into our red jodhpurs, put on our white shirts with the frilly black-edged ruffles down the front, and our little black cropped jackets. We clipped on our long blonde swishy ponytails, inserted our big gold dangly-jangly hooped earrings, and put on our wide-brimmed, Spanish-style black hats. We had initially planned on wearing bright red lipstick, too, but we didn’t get around to applying it as everything was all a bit of a mad rush. Our friend Aurore, who had drawn up our choreography, quickly threaded red ribbon through Qrac and Swarowski’s plaited manes. Both horses looked amazing. Actually, if I may say so myself, I think Josephine and I looked pretty amazing too!

However, once we were riding around outside, warming up, I soon realised that there was no way my hat was going to stay on, despite having secured it under my chin with red ribbon. It was far too big and kept on flopping down in front of my eyes, preventing me from seeing where I was going. Also, as soon as I asked Qrac to canter, the wide brim caught in the wind and the hat blew off backwards. My husband handed it back to me twice, but I knew we’d have to make last minute adjustments to our presentation. Josephine’s hat was a smaller size than mine and seemed to be staying on fine, so she was a bit disappointed when I suggested we throw them off theatrically when we saluted, but had to agree it was the best way to start the show.

Help! I can't see!!!

Our swishy pony-tails!

What comes next...?!

So we rode into the indoor arena on our prancing black horses feeling fabulous. The music started and off we went, trotting around the arena and down the centre line, our ponytails swishing, my hat falling down over my nose, Qrac shying at the loudspeakers. We halted, bowed our heads, grinned at the expectant crowd and threw off our hats! Everyone cheered, and I’d swear I even heard a few wolf-whistles as away we trotted, parting and coming back together, crossing over in half pass, extending across the diagonal, Qrac thoroughly beside himself with excitement. It took a team effort to remind each other what came next, and we rode the entire thing giggling away about how wonky it was all turning out, while thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Everyone cheered as we finished, and we clattered out into the night all starry eyed as people milled around, showering us with compliments and congratulations. Ooh, it was so much fun!

An excellent cheese raclette for 74 people ensued, with oodles of atmosphere and plenty of wine. As the evening wound down and numbers dwindled, a group of us thought it would be fun to have a bit of a boogie. Driving was out of the question, so someone suggested we go across the road to her house. Off we went, cranking up the music, shaking our booties until we could shake them no more.

What struck me particularly, as well as the rest of the people I’ve spoken to about their impressions of Saturday, was the infectious enthusiasm and camaraderie that buzzed around the place, despite the low-lying cloud and the cold and the bone-marinating humidity. It was a genuinely happy day. Call me mushy, but the entire event seemed infused with love and generosity, both on the part of the tireless and charismatic Kilchherr family who own the premises, and on the part all those attending, be they participants or spectators. Everyone lent a hand, baking, putting up jumps, measuring and laying out the temporary dressage arena within the huge indoor school, poop-scooping, buying food, setting up the sound system, taking photos, cleaning up, decorating, giving riding advice when things weren’t going to plan in the warm-up arena, announcing riders and horses over the loudspeaker, scraping raclettes, scooping potatoes, making desserts. It was a team effort, everyone was really into it, making it a very special day that will be remembered for a very long time.

I hope we can do it again soon!

*FYI, “La Ruche” is French for “the beehive”. Hence the buzz!

PS: The photos of Josephine and I during our pas-de-deux were made by Josephine's husband from screenshots of the video of our mesmerising performance. You see, we were so mesmerising that nobody remembered to take any photos of us!  

Singing in the Ring

Qrac and me at a show last summer

Do you have moments when you’re driving in your car, music blaring, dreaming up freestyle choreographies that match the beat of the song you’re listening to? I do! All the time! There I am, cruising along to, say, “Bailamos”, that old hit by Enrique Iglesias, visualising Qrac and I dancing across the arena, half-passing and tempi-changing and piaffe-passing, then pirouetting during the break in the song before taking off in a fabulous extended canter. Yeah, it’s totally daft, but it’s a fun fantasy. And yeah, it’s definitely a fantasy especially if you know how difficult it is to ride a perfect ten metre circle. Needless to say, Qrac and I aren’t quite ready to do fancy footwork to Enrique Iglesias! But that’s ok. It’s something to work towards, right?

I’ve only ever ridden one freestyle program, and that was years ago, on Amanda, the mare I received as a wedding present from my father-in-law. Amanda wasn’t a dressage horse, she was more of a jumper. Amanda had a lot of thoroughbred in her and was never an easy ride. I jumped her for a few years, but never really enjoyed it as she hated touching the bars so would either jump massive, or pull up sharply, catapulting me over the jump instead, which kind of sucked.

Anyway, after my children were born I decided I no longer wanted to be a human cannonball, and luckily for me, my decision coincided with the arrival of two lovely dressage divas at my stables who took me under their wing, introducing my mare and I to dressage fundamentals such as “outside hand, inside leg”. Over the next few years I saw my mare change from a wiry, skinny-necked, hollow-backed sewing-machine to a chunky, nicely chiselled Muscle Woman. Ok, so she was never going to be a dressage arena dreamboat, but the physical metamorphosis was definitely impressive. Amanda and I entered a few dressage shows, and the one we did best in was a freestyle program performed to Brian Ferry’s “Slave to Love”. I’d spent ages trying to find a song that matched Amanda’s cadence in trot, and “Slave to Love” was perfect. Of course, it didn’t work quite as well for the canter or walk work, but back then (I’m talking maybe fifteen or sixteen years ago) we didn’t have the technology we have now to create sophisticated home-made freestyle mixes (not that I’ve any clue how to create one now), so we had to make do with riding to one track. Having said that, I remember other people managing to put various tracks together, but I guess they were just more techno-savvy than me. Anyway, whatever; riding that test was the most fun I’ve ever had in a competition.

Qrac and I are going to be competing next week (in a regular program, not a freestyle), so we’ve been working hard towards the test. It’s nothing complicated, and frankly I find it kind of depressing to think that I’ve been riding for eons and yet I’m still competing in the lowest levels. Not that I’ve done many shows; as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m not a competitive person. I’m far too emotional, and my nerves tend to get the better of me. Also, I’ve never had a horse long enough to be able to rise through the dressage levels. When

I bought Qrac two years ago he was extremely green. All he did was run, so we had to go back to basics, get him to work through his back, get him to connect, focus on trying to keep him soft and relaxed. One of my main difficulties is keeping him in a slow rhythmic trot; he didn’t come with a built-in metronome and finding the right cadence is quite a challenge. The most common comment I get during my lessons is “slow down”, yet no matter how hard I concentrate, I have an extremely hard time finding Qrac’s correct “slowness”.

When I mentioned this to one of my trainers the other day, she suggested I find music to fit his ideal rhythm. So I went home,  grabbed my iPad, found the video of my recent clinic with Bernard Sachsé, sat down in front of the computer, opened iTunes and then spent ages going through songs, trying to determine which songs fit matched his tempo when he was working at his best. It was an interesting exercise as many songs I’d imagined would work didn’t at all. In the end I made a playlist of four songs that work best. These are “Hall of Fame” by The Script (I’m currently addicted to that song), “Breakeven”, also by The Script, “Perdido sin Ti” by Ricky Martin (yes, I still love him) and “Weather with you” by Crowded House.

Unfortunately, there’s no music system at our stables so there’s no way I can burn a CD and play it while I’m riding. I don’t like riding with an iPod and headphones; I think it’s dangerous as you can’t hear what’s going on around you.

The only solution is to sing!

So I’ve been singing my heart out during my last few training sessions. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not torturing my fellow riders, belting out “Hall of Fame” at the top of my voice! For one, it’s really difficult to ride sitting trot and not massacre Danny O’Donoghue’s catchy tune. I sing softly, sometimes even just in my head, but I’ve found that this simple trick really helps. As soon as Qrac speeds up, the song rhythm reminds me to check him with a little half-halt, and the problem is solved. I also think Qrac enjoys being sung too; his ears flick backwards and forwards, somehow he’s more “with me”. I’m not saying “Hall of Fame” is going to solve all our cadence problems, and that thanks to Danny’s uplifting track we’re suddenly going to woosh through the levels and “the world’s gonna know (y)our name”, but it’s a useful tool to work with, especially in the downward transitions from canter to trot, which is where Qrac has a tendency to run. All I have to do is find the song to find the rhythm. Besides, it’s kind of fun, too!

As for the other songs I mentioned that also work with Qrac’s tempo, they don’t seem to come to me quite so naturally. I can belt them out nicely on the way to the stables in the privacy of my car, but for some reason I’ve found them far more difficult to sing on horseback. Or maybe it’s just because, similarly to my Enrique Iglesias freestyle fantasy, I’m far too happy trotting around in my own little “Hall of Fame”!

Do you have any personal, quirky “tricks” you use while riding? Have you ever done any freestyle programs? And, more generally, what music do you enjoy?