Alice Oppenheimer

Pub quizzies, shopping and the occasional dressage test

As the Nationals had been and gone, it meant that our main season was just about over for the year. This did mean, however, that as the horses were busy enjoying their two week holiday, I could also have a few days away from the yard. I spent four days with my best friend, Amy, round her parent’s pub at the beginning of the month. This was novel for me as it has been a long time since I have had any time off, and it meant that we could act like ‘normal’ best friends for a change, rather than spending all of our time together at the yard!

It started on the evening of Thursday 29th September when a load of us went over to the pub for a charity pub quiz in aid of Help for Heroes, a very worthy cause. I had rather shot myself in the foot as it was limited to teams of five but I had seven, meaning that we had to split into a three and a four, so I ended up with the three... oops! Nevertheless we had a fantastic time (apart from knocking a glass of wine over one of our answer sheets), we didn’t finish last (much to everyone’s amazement) and money was raised for a very worthwhile cause. The following day, Amy and I went shopping and to have our hair done, something which I normally do in a massive rush when I have a couple of hours spare! It was lovely to not have to panic about getting it all done, although I think I drove Amy mad as she wasn’t expecting me to be quite so picky about my clothes, comments such as too long or too short were then followed by too flowery or too Egyptian! I knew what I meant, however, and we did eventually find something for me that we both liked! Our very girly day was then followed by a lovely evening at the pub with a live band for entertainment!

Saturday morning started off with the rugby world cup, but I couldn’t be bothered to get out of bed for it so my day started with Rich’s (Amy’s boyfriend) 30th birthday party, which started in the early afternoon and went on until well into the night. It was a very enjoyable and relaxing day and the glorious sunshine made it even better! The partying didn’t stop there, however, as the following day was taken up with a celebration of Amy’s parents having had the pub for 25 years, so this was also a very enjoyable day with all the regulars, staff and close family and friends, a fantastic weekend! This just left me with Monday off to relax and unwind, before going back to normal on the Tuesday!

It was definitely back to the grind as we had Roxy (Headmore Roxanne) going to Oldencraig on 8th to try and get her novice restricted freestyle to music qualification with Gayle as she had only narrowly missed out at Sparsholt. It was an early start but Roxy warmed up well and we were pleased with her test and how much she has come on, despite Gayle taking the freestyle part a bit too seriously and ‘changing’ the test (going wrong) in the canter work. It was still good enough to score over 70% and win, completing her novice music qualification for the winters, so that was two down and one left to get. They also did a novice test while we were there, and all of us were over the moon as it was the best test that Roxy had done and I was sure that it was easily a plus 70% test, so we were disappointed with the score of just under 67%, which was still good enough for 1st place and few more points towards her novice qualification, so it was a very worthwhile trip to Oldencraig.

The following Monday we took Roxy and Yogi (Ca Traum) to Wellington Riding for a few more tests. Yogi was on first in the prelim and we were all very pleased as he was getting much more confident with the whole dressage thing and was looking much happier with the work. There were just a few little mistakes but he still scored over 67%, which wasn’t quite enough to complete his prelim qualification but we still felt we were going the right way with him. He then did a novice test, and we thought we had the correct test but as the horse before Gayle was going a different way to the copy I had in my hand we had a minor panic. Novice 24 had changed and we had the old copy! Luckily, the person who went before us let us borrow their test so I could read for Gayle, but it was a very complicated test with lots for me to read and Gayle to listen to! We only went wrong once and nearly twice, which was a shame as if those two mistakes hadn’t happened they would have won, but instead they had to settle for 3rd.

It was then Roxy’s turn in the novice 24 and, although Gayle went the correct way this time, Roxy was a little spooky in the International arena which kept her score down, but we were pleased as she is starting to get bolder if she is a little unsure in her surroundings. Roxy then did the novice qualifier test and she was much more settled, there were just a couple of green mistakes. They still scored nearly 70%, which was good enough to finish narrowly second, and get even more points for Roxy’s qualification, so we were well underway.

On Tuesday 11th, we took Headmore Wimoweh, our three year old Woiwode x Rubinstein gelding to Addington for the Brightwells auction pre-selection. He had never been off the yard before but he was impeccably behaved all day and the assessors really liked him so I hope we can find him a very lucky new owner on 3rd December as he is a truly delightful young horse and deserves a loving home.

The following Friday we took Roxy out for another outing to try and complete her novice regional qualification at Fair Oak Grange. Roxy is now really starting to gain confidence and enjoy her parties, and she was very keen when Gayle was warming her up for her first test. However, she settled well and produced a good first test, there were just a few little mistakes, but she still scored over 66% and finished 3rd. The second test was much more settled and Roxy is really starting to look very smart. She scored just under 70% and won the second test, which meant that she just needed one more point to complete her novice regional qualification as well.

We then all had a bit of a change of scene on Thursday 20th as three of us went cubbing with the HH. I took John, a coloured cob from the yard, Gayle took Yogi and Becky, one of the girls from the yard, took Ria, a 5 year old mare by Keystone Rhondeo. Both Yogi and Ria are for sale so we took them for some exposure and a bit of a change, and I just took John for a laugh and a bit of fun! We had a lovely morning, apart from the cold, there was a reasonable amount of galloping and a bit of jumping, and we all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, though I could be heard complaining about how I wasn’t used to short stirrups, which got quite uncomfortable after a while, but I think cubbing in a dressage saddle would be even more uncomfortable!

We had entered Crofton Manor on 25th and 26th with the intention of getting Roxy, Yogi and Bracks (Headmore Boadicia) all qualified at their respective levels, and it didn’t disappoint! On Tuesday 25th, we took Roxy and Yogi; Roxy just needed one more point at novice and Yogi needed one more win at prelim. Yogi was on first in the prelim and he warmed up really well so we had everything crossed that he would produce a good enough test to get it all done. He did the best test he had ever done (not that he’s done many yet) but he is really starting to get the hang of this dressage rubbish! He scored a massive 72.27% which was good enough to win and complete his prelim regional qualification, so that was one down. He then did the novice for experience and there were a few green errors which were frustrating as he would have been just behind Roxy with a clean test, but it is certainly all there and when he has done a few more tests he will be well away! Roxy just needed one point so she just needed a score of 65% to qualify. She produced a novice test to score just over 66% and win, so that was also Roxy all qualified for the winters at prelim, novice and novice music, so we had a very productive first day at Crofton!

I awoke on Wednesday 26th to pouring rain and a blowing gale which is not my idea of the best conditions to do dressage in, but Bracks only needed eight more points to complete her medium qualification so we set off, keeping our fingers crossed that we wouldn’t get too wet. She hadn’t been out since the nationals so I thought that we would both be a bit ring rusty, but she warmed up fairly well for the first test, and it was sunny outside so we were hoping to stay dry. As we went out, however, it started to rain, typically, but the test wasn’t too bad. We had a few mistakes where neither of us had competed for a while, but she felt much stronger and much more established. We scored over 72% and won, nearly finishing her qualification. I was fairly relaxed for the second test as she had settled by then and was really operating as we went into the arena. This test felt much more secure as we had already done one and we scored over 73%, easily completing her medium qualification for the regionals so she is now qualified at medium and advanced medium and the freestyle at both levels.

Both mares are now qualified for their respective levels at the winter regionals so we will now concentrate on training over the winter until we start competing again in the new year so, all in all, we had a very productive month!

Alice