Unfortunately with horses and 4*/Olympic dreams, you have to sit back and ask yourself - is this horse taking me where I want to go?
I’ve had to ask myself this question after Will sent me to hospital last year and also injured himself, when CP Qualified became too much horse for me to handle during my PTS (post-traumatic stress) which I received from my accident on Will, and then again when my beloved Touch of Honour had reached his physical limits at 1*. And now I’ve had to sit back, yet again, and try to put my emotions aside when it comes to Ace (Wyuna Clear Image).
Ace heading into the dressage at the VEA CT day
The decision to put Ace on the market was even more difficult than any of the previous three, because I generally have never had a connection with a horse like I do him. Yes he can be a bit quirky, yes he’s sensitive to ride and can change in a nanosecond and yes his default is tension. But putting all of this aside, never I have EVER sat on such a talented, honest and gutsy horse in my 17 years of riding.
Ace is the type of horse that will jump anything, from anywhere. You can physically feel him keep trying even when he’s tired or sore. And to add to all of this, he’s the most incredible and loveable character – even if he does drive me up the wall sometimes!
Because of his interesting weekend at the Friends Of Werribee event, I've been doing a LOT of show-jump training lately, experimenting with bits (he’s strong, but then gets offended if the bit is too strong… thoroughbreds!) and have booked in jumping and dressage competitions almost every weekend until Candlebark, where we’ll be competing in the Pre Novice Young Rider Championships.
Ace looking rather happy with himself after scoring the winning test at Boneo
The weekend following FOW, I took both the horses to Boneo Park Combined Training Day. It seems the tables are starting to turn for both Ace and Myself, coming home with a 68% in the dressage and a blue ribbon.
I have made a deal with Mum and Dad that if Ace and I can come out swinging then I am able to take him from the market and travel through the grades together as my first 2* and above horse. So with this in mind, my stubborn nature has made me that more determined to do well when out and make serious plans for the future. Right now, we’ll sit at PN to see where things are. I have a feeling that we may need to get to 1* fairly quickly for him to start respecting the jumps on cross-country and just sit there until both horse and rider are fit and ready to tackle 2* competitions.
Ace in the Prelim jumping round at the Boneo Park CT day Photo courtesy Lisa Sultana
Because I want to make this work as much as I possibly can I’ve been busy procrastinating my university assignments as I YouTube and Google exercises to build my strength, improve certain areas in our jumping and dressage. You name it and I have searched it!
For the remainder of 2013 the plan is to sit Ace in PN at Candlebark, Colac and Lakes while using show-jumping and combined training days as opportunities to jump 1.10 – 1.20m tracks. If all goes well, we’ll be coming to Tonimbuk 1* and then either Melbourne or Sydney 1* and finally finishing off the year in the 2* class at Lakes and Craters again. It may seem rather simple to those professionals or experienced riders, but a LOT of work must be done on me, probably more so than the horse, to make sure we’re fit enough as a combination to do it well.
A cancelled jumping lesson doesn't mean cancelled lessons in this household. Instead we did self-loading float lessons at home!
