October & November 2012:
What a couple of months. October was the Talent Squad selection & the final competition for the year with the Qld State Championships. We headed off to Caboolture again for the Talent Squad & Surreal was in peak condition & ready to strut his stuff. Well what a disappointment this was. I was advised that Surreal was unsound & was to do the vet check prior to my showing. This was definitely not felt on his back & he was powerful & balanced as ever, he extended, collected. So I proceeded to un-saddle Surreal for the Vet to do the full check & trot up. We trotted out twice & rode on the grass & still there was not evidence of unsoundness. So we proceeded to the indoor again. Surreal showed is trainability & his amazing movement & that the higher movements were no problem. Well we came away from this day very disappointed at the non-true accusations that were thrown at us by the Judges, in saying that " I have/am the only one who is training Surreal & he was not purchased trained or is he sent anywhere to be trained". But on big high from this event, one of Australia's leading 'Olympic' coach's offered me a very large sum of money for my Surreal. That just shows that my boy is great & he will be that little bit extra special & his talents are showing.
Next was the Qld State Championships, Surreal was entered only in the Novice Championship & I was feeling quite positive about this event as we had got a couple of lessons in with Ben Conn & the work was solid & extremely balanced & cadenced. We were ready. The atmosphere was great, & it was good to see so many people come to the Qld States & actually compete & many stayed over to support the amazing freestyle tests.
Surreal & warmed up for our first test, we had bonus energy, which can always work in my favour. He became very relaxed & settled & did all the moved from the test & was ready. I decided to use arena 3 to familiarize ourselves with the sand as this was a free warm-up arena. This was not a good idea, Surreal decided to show just how much extra energy he was storing. After a couple of hair raising leaps, we got him back in total work mode & moved to our ring for entry. Upon circling the arena, I noticed my judges had been changed & I was now riding in front of the Talent Squad judge. Lucky I know Surreal & I can count on my boy. We completed our test with only a minor glitch in the first Medium trot. I was very pleased with the test. As we were on very early in the day, we had plenty of time to wait for the score & do some all important shopping. The score came out for the 2C & I was horrified, shocked & disappointed, 65.469%. Horses had beaten us that had not come near us all year & when I looked at the sheet, I had no comments from 1 judge & the other was all over the place. I watched the video & nothing corresponded to the sheet. I thought, were they actually watching my test. But never mind, I had to put it behind me & concentrate on the 2nd test the 2D, which was on much later in the day. Lyn had to leave as it is a big drive home & all the horse at home still needed there pampering & feeding, so I had my trustee groom Natasha with me. We had a very excited boy when we left the stable area, but as he is trustee, I could just give a kick along & he came straight into work mode. We entered the 2D & I do really like this test, probably because we have ridden it at just about every competition this year. Surreal was again super, so balanced in his trot & canter work & so accurate. I was one pleased mummy & gave my boy lots of carrots & big hugs. It took quite a while for the results to come out as the Live Scoring was extremely slow & many of the Div 2 riders were getting missed & mixed up. So when the score finally came out, I was again shocked. This was not our event, a score of 65% with an 8% difference in judging. I referred to the test sheet & the video. What I would like to know it how a very high level judge can possible say that I have a horse on the forehand & climbing. This was throughout the test. In defence of my trustee horse, he does not go on the forehand... I stayed & supported my friends who placed in their freestyles & Ben was in the Stallion Parade. After giving him several Vodka's he was ready to go. But after the whole weekend all I can say is "that is Dressage".
Ben Conn was off overseas to Denmark, so this gave me the opportunity to give Surreal a short break. He had 2 weeks off work & he enjoyed every day of it. He lazed around the paddock (rugs on) been a horse & relaxed. He has come back a million dollars. We have had several lessons with Ben in between him doing clinics all over the place. We have also went to the Leonie Bramall Clinic at the beautiful 'Kateland' in Toowoomba. Leonie was fantastic & gave us a few more things to work on. I would love to continue this connection in the future. Surreal's training has stepped up a gear, changes, half passes & many more exciting things have started. He is showing fantastic sit & oh boy can he Piaffe. We are losing Ben to Denmark, so training with him is so important & will be getting in as many lessons as Surreal & I can get.
Surreal also started his breeding season. We have inseminated Sophie & she is a 1 hit wonder. First & only insemination & we have a positive. Surreal's very potent & she must be very fertile. Fingers crossed this time round. Breeding season will continue until February 2013. He will only be available to a limited number of mares. So don't miss out on this opportunity to breed to this amazing stallion.
Christmas next month, so don't forget to spoil your ponies with lots of presents & carrots or sugar. Happy Riding & stay safe
September 2012:
How quickly is this year going, we are full steam ahead for QLD state Champs and then onto breeding season. Again we have had quite a busy month at Miramar, we had several outings with Surreal and of course we continue to train.
Firstly we went to Caboolture and this was a great day. Surreal was entered into the Novice 2D and Elementary 3D. This was his first start at Elementary and yes I had to pick the hardest test. The Elementary was first up, I must say how proud I was of Surreal, he handled every movement like he had done the test hundreds of times. He was fluent, his simple changes were clear & accurate, his mediums in trot & canter are just getting more and more expressive. We came away with a 4th place and 61.41%. I was hoping for a higher percentage, but that is dressage. We then moved onto the novice. This was just an amazing test he was again smooth & everything just came together. We finished is 1st place with 74%. I was very happy with how Surreal performed.
We then went to PRARG **, this was the postponed day from March. I had altered Surreal's test and now have him in the Novice and Elementary. The novice 2D was first up, we had a few little hiccups in this test and the arena was quite thick, but we managed to pull off a good test with a score of 69.929% right behind the beautiful Cabaret C and Emma Flavelle. The Elementary was the 3B, this test was fantastic. Not much more I can say about it we came away with a 2nd place and 66.83%.
Then came Nambour **, we stayed over for this weekend as it is a little far to drive. We were entered into the Novice and Elementary Championships. This was not our best weekend, Surreal was just coming off a very minor muscle stretch and with the overly thick sand, I do believe this aggravated it. This was right before our Elementary test, which did not go to plan. Our scores were 3C - 62.375% and 7th and the 3D - 61.859% and 5th. Sunday was Novice and our scores were 2C -68.125% and 2nd and 2D - 66.928% and 3rd. It was a great weekend and I do thank my groom Natasha for helping me. Surreal loves his carrots.
During this busy time, we unfortunately have lost our Surreal baby from Sophie which was not due until December. A little colt with plenty of chrome. We will again try this breeding season and fingers crossed she will hold.
Onto the next month & happy riding.
August 2012:
This month has been a quite one on the competition side, we have not been out at all with the horses. We have however helped at the PRARG ** day, which was a perfect day & it was great to see all those lovely horses doing so well.
Surreal is going ahead with his training & we are going to have our first start at Elementary. I will post how we go as this is in September. Ebony's fitness is almost back to full standard & Lyn is planning her weeks for her Lesson with Danielle. She is looking forward to getting back into the nitty gritty.
Surreal & Debbie have entered Caboolture, PRARG ** and Nambour ** for September with Novice & Elementary at each event. The Qld State Championships are in October & the entries have been sent in for this.
Sophie (Revelwood Witness) is doing really well with her pregnancy, she is now really showing the peak & is in tip top condition. She is due to foal in December to Surreal & we are once again very excited about this combination. Expressions of Interest are been taken for this little gem. Sophie is by Weltmeyer & boy does she have a hind leg.....
Surreal's new ride has finally arrived. His Gooseneck will allow for easier camping when we are away at our events. I & Surreal are very happy with it & now we have to finish my section off & we are good to go. It will go to our valued sponsor Glindemann Signs for the artwork to be done.
Serene is growing into a stunning girl, she is quite a big filly & can really move, she has the uphill big canter & a floating expressive trot. We will have a video & updated photos soon & she will be advertised shortly.
Vyper's training is coming along well, he is getting fitter by the day. He will have a few silly weeks coming up with all the comps happening, but all going well, I would like to enter him into a low key day at PRARG, but we will see how he is going. This will be at Grand Prix.
The weather is warming & we are loving it, lots of riding & happy horses.
Until next month, happy riding & love your horses :)
July 2012:
The year is flying by and the Qld Dressage Festival and Brisbane CDI have passed. Surreal was present at the Dressage Festival for the Stallion show & he did not disappoint. He warmed up like a pro & I can tell you there was a lot of testosterone in the sand warm up arena... All the young stallions seemed to be the first ones to go, & they seemed like they did not want to show off, they were trying to exit. I of course was not concerned about this as Surreal is so brave. Well Surreal showed me, the banners & tables around the arena just got to much to handle & he decided the way we came in was much better & we would head that way. Surreal did show that impressive uphill & extravagant movement & especially on his exit, I though his front legs were going to smack his nose. I was very proud of him & it was definitely an experience. The FOD committee did a fantastic job & I enjoyed the day.
The CDI was the next on the agenda. Surreal was entered into the 5 year old class & his first run was on Friday. We arrived with plenty of time to spare & he settled in well into his stable. We headed over to the indoor arena & began our relaxing warm-up. We then had the help of Ben Conn to get us right into the mix & for this I am very grateful for. We had another horse in with us in the arena, this does not worry Surreal as we train everyday with Ebony. We started the test & Surreal was on fire. He was relaxed, loose and forward. I unfortunately got quite ahead of the other rider who's horse was not as big moving as Surreal, however we did not collide & we both finished well. The judges gave our scores to us prior to leaving the arena. The comments were not what I was feeling & the scores was good, but it felt better, Surreal got 7.620 & placed 3rd behind some pretty tough competition.
Our 2nd round was on Saturday, so we decided to take Surreal home so he could relax in his own box & as I rode late in the afternoon he would be able to get some paddock time as well. Our 2nd round was in the indoor arena, I was concerned how this would go as the week before was the Dressage Festival. But Surreal did not worry about the arena at all, he relaxed and was on my aids throughout the test. Ben warmed me up again & we had Surreal in perfect poise for this round. We completed our test with a minor hiccup in the Rein back & our 1st medium was a true medium rather than his extended he performs. Surreal gave me everything I asked, his canter/walk, walk/canter were accurate & smooth his canter balanced & relaxed, his trot was expressive & flowing & his walk was the best it has ever been. The judges again gave our scores before we left. I, Ben & virtually the whole crowd were astounded at the comments the judges came up with. They were harsh & untrue, I felt nothing of what was said & others could not see where the judges were coming from. With the low scores that were given Surreal dropped to 7th place on 6.96. I was so proud of my boy, he did everything he was asked of & more. Lucky I am training a dressage horse & not a young horse. But the experience was great.
So back to training, if this cold would disappear, I might be able to get some solid work in. Until next month, happy riding .
June 2012:
Where do we start, it has rained and rained and more rain. I think we are really over the rain now, it can finally stop. We did get the Caboolture ** day in, which was a nice day/weekend. We took Surreal for the Novice classes & wow, his tests were just brilliant, he was engaged & really showed his strength was coming along, he gave massive medium trots & canters, very uphill & balanced. We were extremely pleased with both his tests. We were somewhat horrified with the judging & comments & very disappointed with the marks we received. 2C he scored 67.578% but the difference in the judges scores was very questionable. C judge: 63.906% and E Judge: 71.250% I really don't know what was not seen. The 2D score was 63.357% which was well below the feel & what the video says to the comments and marks. We don't know how a balanced good circle can only score 6.5 or loss of line at M is a 6 (& what loss of line). I really think the judges need to get a kick up the bottom & start judging what they see & not who they see. Very disappointing... But we have moved on & now look forward to actually getting to the next comp.
PRARG had to postpone their Med-GP ** due to the wet, so we had a free weekend, this is always nice as there is lots of repairs & upgrading going on at the stud, but we do really feel for the clubs who have to keep postponing & cancelling there comps.
We have been getting in lots of lessons, rain or dry, we are going. Surreal is really coming along, next introduction is the double bridle, so he is coming along nicely. He has really settled into his Travers & rein backs & his turn on the haunches, so he will start Elementary on the next comp or so, I will keep you posted.
We have also managed to complete the Stallion photos and video (coming) for the Dressage Festival, thanks to Benn Conn & his team, some fantastic photos were taken & can be viewed at the Dressage Festival otherwise they will be posted her soon (A little taste has been posted in the Stallion page).
Ebony is back in full work, after a short break & then light work, so she is full steam ahead to be fit & ready for lessons with Danielle & hopefully a comp or two in the very near future.
Sophie is 5 1/2 months pregnant & looking fat & beautiful, so all seems to be going well so far & fingers crossed it stays positive, as we are very excited about this baby. The movement with both of them mixed should be breathtaking. Of course this baby will be for sale. Sophie's owner Abbey, has expressed interest in selling her, we are at this moment are undecided if our stud will purchase her, as we are small & prefer not to have to many full siblings & we have a few to many numbers, she will be put back in foal to Surreal, so closer to weaning of our foal & our decision of what we will do finalised, otherwise any interest can be directed to Abbey. (Contact Debbie for details.)