Alice Oppenheimer

A busy month and a well earned holiday for the Headmore Team

With the Nationals in September, the three who had qualified; Wiz (Wurlizer), Del (Headmore Delegate) and Bracks (Headmore Boadicia), were all being geared up for that, but we still had others to try and qualify for the winter regionals.

Having promised to take Roxy (Headmore Roxanne) out to more shows in quick succession to help her gain confidence and experience at parties, we had entered her for a novice freestyle to music at Sparsholt on 3rd September. Not only was it Roxy’s first freestyle test, but it was also Gayle’s first freestyle as well! By the time we had got organised with the music, we only had four days to perfect it and teach Gayle how to ride to music, so there was a lot of practicing going on! Roxy warmed up very well and was looking the best I had ever seen her go at a show. This didn’t, however, stop me being incredibly nervous as Gayle went in, not because I didn’t think the test would go well, but because I was sure that it would! Their test wasn’t perfect but Gayle did an incredibly good job of riding to the music and making it look like she was always where she was supposed to be, which doesn’t always happen when it comes to music tests! It was good enough to score 69.75% and finish a very close 3rd, which we were very pleased with and, although they just missed out on qualifying for the regionals; it was a fabulous effort for their first music test!

I then took Wiz (Wurlizer) back to Sparsholt in the afternoon to ride him through the Grand Prix in the pick your own class before the Nationals. The aim was to have a bit of a school round the test to prepare us as well as we could for the Nationals, so we weren’t aiming for a massive score. He warmed up fairly well, just lacked a bit of confidence in places as he hadn’t been out to a party for a while. Overall, I was very pleased with the test; there were no major errors, just a few places where it is still a little bit green and inexperienced. There were some moments of absolute brilliance, the passage in places felt mega, the trot extensions were very expressive and his changes were enormous, I nearly ran out of space on the diagonal! I was, understandably, a bit disappointed with my mark of 62.77% after the test that he had done, but I wasn’t expecting a big score and it was a perfect last outing before the Nationals, we knew the main things we needed to iron out before we left!

Bracks had her final outing before the Nationals at Wellington for the Wellington Riding Advanced Medium freestyle to music final on the evening of Wednesday 7th September. We weren’t on until 8:58p.m, so it was a fairly leisurely run up to it, no panicking! She warmed up well but I was expecting her to be a little bit ‘looky’ as Wellington’s International arena is very spooky and every horse spooks in there, especially considering that it was pitch black outside and we were doing the test under floodlights with a crowd! However, she amazed me as ever and didn’t even look at a thing throughout her whole test. She is just unreal! The test wasn’t perfect, there were a few little mistakes here and there and the changes were a little bit green in the atmosphere, but I was nevertheless over the moon with how she had just gone into the arena and got on with her job! We scored 74.33%, which was good enough to finish 2nd, that mare really is truly amazing! We then had the prize giving, where she amazed everyone further. She stood there looking, literally, like a donkey while all of the presentations were done, and then when she trotted off she transformed into looking unreal and doing her most amazing extended trot, she is such a superstar! 

On Friday 9th, we went back to trying to get all of the horses qualified for the winters, so we took Roxy (Headmore Roxanne) and Yogi (Ca-Traum), Gayle’s 9 year old international show jumper who we are trying to turn into a dressage horse, to Crofton Manor for a prelim and a novice. Gayle was on first in the prelim on Roxy and she warmed up quite well, she was very up for a party but was a little bit spooky and unsettled in the test. She still managed to score 68.64% however, so it wasn’t all bad. I then did the novice H/C on Roxy to have a ride on her in the arena and see what she was like. The trot work was a little unsettled in places but the canter work felt lovely and I think it did Roxy good to have a bit of a schooling round as she is still green! It was then back to Gayle to do the prelim on Yogi. It was Yogi’s first ever dressage test and Gayle was very nervous. However, they didn’t do a bad job, it was a little bit wobbly and a bit spooky but she got round, so we weren’t too disappointed. They also scored 68.64%, meaning that Gayle finished =1st on both horses and that Roxy is now qualified for the regionals at prelim, we couldn’t really have asked for a better result! Also, Gayle is really competitive and gets grumpy if she doesn’t win, so I was happy as well!!!!!! I then got on Yogi for the novice H/C as it was his first competition and we wanted him to have a quiet ride round. He was much more settled than in the prelim and did an absolutely smashing test, especially as it was his first ever dressage show. His mediums were good and his counter canter was balanced (which is obviously a difficult movement for a show jumper) and we were all pleased. If I hadn’t been H/C he’d have won the class, so it was a good day all round!

Also, now that the Nationals are all over and done with and our main season now over, the three horses who went to the nationals; Wiz, Del and Bracks, are all enjoying a well earned holiday. Luckily, I wasn’t left without horses to ride and jobs to do! It just meant that I could have a bit of a foray into other disciplines (not competing though!). For example, we are in the process of organising and getting together a new set of show jumps which will go in a field so all of the show jumpers and eventers can practice jumping on grass. This meant that we have been busy painting various items whenever we have had a spare few minutes. However, Gina (the eventer) and I left our whole Saturday afternoon free to paint and clear out the shed where the jumps will live all winter so they are out of the elements. We had a very productive afternoon, the shed looks amazing and we got as much painting done as we could with the paint that we had! It now looks like I might have to borrow a horse to jump round the new fences next year as I have been doing quite a lot of painting! I don’t think it’s what most dressage riders get up to when their horses are having a holiday!

The following day, instead of spending another day painting, I went and watched polo as it was the last day of the season and Nick Pepper, who my friend Kerri grooms for, was playing and, as I didn’t have too many horses to ride, I went over with them to watch. Nick’s team, BHC polo, were playing in the autumn cup sub final at Coworth Park and I made myself useful by plaiting their tails, oiling their hooves and putting their boots on. I left the incredibly complicated tack to the professional however and watched the game. I did have the important job of spare stick holder, in case Nick broke his during the game. It was a good game and Nick’s team won 7-5, with Nick scoring a lot of the goals, so we had an easy trip home in the lorry and it was a good end to the polo season. I will now have to find some different jobs to do this week as ‘my three’ are still on holiday!

Also, it is now a whole year since my partnership with Dengie began, and I think we have achieved a lot in that time, and the horses are all looking and going incredibly well on their Dengie diets. Let’s hope things improve as much in the next 12 months as they have in the preceding year!

Alice