Getting Ready For The Event Season

Posted on 29th January 2016 and written by Alicia Wilkinson

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year and are finding their feet once again. It is so difficult getting back into the swing of things after the holidays. My university term luckily doesn’t start till the 1st February, so I have had almost an extra month to get the horses out of their winter PJs and into pre-season training.

The aim I have had through January is to build up the horses’ fitness again and improve our flatwork, as this is the biggest thing that I struggle with! Saying that, Googie is feeling great at the moment and is improving all the time – all the flat lessons I had in the run up to the Weston Park three day event last autumn are paying off now. She is on a complete Dengie fibre diet and is looking amazing, if I say so myself. She has plenty of energy at the moment, so she will be having a little less haylage and I’ll replace it with hay! Googie and I have had a few fabulous dressage lessons with Caroline Starling. She has really helped to improve our canter, which was rather a downfall last year. We are now making new goals to accomplish before the season begins, so we have the best chance of doing well.

Tim clearly had an amazing Christmas and put on 35kg, so since then he has been on a strict diet and fitness campaign! Pooh has been clipped and is looking a bit more loved. She is producing some pleasing work and has really grown up – in the last few years she was always rather left in the shadows of the other horses. With a little help from a Pony Club stable management session, Diva has been beautifully brushed – she still doesn’t look very in foal, but she is a maiden mare so I think they tend not to show till quite late on.

We have done a few shows:
Topthorn showjumping: Googie – 2nd Newcomers and 1st 1.15m
Wix showjumping: Googie – 2nd Newcomers Tim – first show back (couple of poles down)
Wix dressage: Googie – 3rd Novice and 2nd Elementary with 70%.

Last Tuesday, all three horses had an amazing jumping lesson with Barrett Watson. They jumped brilliantly and it was Pooh’s first jump since July. My Mum and I also had a lovely afternoon galloping on the beach at Frinton. We took Googie and Tim – they were great and went splashing through the water, which is so good for their legs.

Tip of the Month:
Adding a feed with added oil, such as Dengie Alfa-A Molasses Free, to your horse’s ration will help give a shiny gloss to their coats.