My blog started in August, 2005 to chronicle my progress in training “A First Romance" (a.k.a. Solo) into a world class Eventing horse. Now eight-years-old, Solo is close to competing in the Intermediate 1 division. He's fabulous XC but does still tend to voice his opinion during dressage... never a dull moment.
Solo's ridden by my daughter, Selena, who competed at her first Olympics in 2008 with Colombo. Selena also rides several different horses out of our homebase, Hawkridge Farms, which is owned by the Davies.
This blog chronicles both our adventures as we continue to train Eventing horses. Occasionally, Selena will make an entry on her progress at competitions particularly on the lead up to major events. Please feel free to ask questions or send comments.
Winter Preparations
The sudden change from perfect summer weather to a deluge today made me realise that it’s time we started riding Solo outside the roundpen. The roundpen was unusable today and will be flooded for the next week at least. Solo’s
The Black Hole
Today we had a major spooking problem with Solo. On his way into and out of both his work area and his paddock, he has to pass by some reflective windows on one side, and a fence line that sometimes
Shoulder rubs and other trials…
When it was decided that Solo’s education would receive a necessary boost by ‘Going to the Royal’, we had to think carefully about how we wanted this to impact his daily routine. At the moment he is living outside most
November Comes Quickly!
Solo’s education so far has been pretty much blip free other than one thing. He is inclined to spook at things and when he does, he feels it is his right to stop for as long as he deems necessary.
Trotting on the Lunge
To begin with I led Solo around with Selena on his back at the end of each work session. Sometimes he will only be ridden back from the roundpen to the stables but he is ‘backed’ every day. The next
Backing For The First Time
Solo has had a few quiet days this week. We had a busy carriage driving clinic hosted at Hawkridge followed straight away by my being away for two days. I try not to have breaks in a young horse’s training.
Food… Glorious Food
Routine is a really powerful training tool. Horses thrive on routine. They seem to unwind and blossom as soon as they are put into a structured lifestyle. I find the two most exciting aspects of the days routine, are feeds
A Place To Call Home
Part of a good training routine, is to ensure that the horse is as relaxed and settled with his surroundings as possible. The right turnout buddy, if he is to have one. A friendly neighbor in the next door stall
Ponying Out
As soon as Solo was fit enough, we took him out the roundpen and ponied him from an calm, well trained horse. On his first trip, he was just walked on the lead for about 20 minutes to see how
The de Gogue
Solo is owned by Mr. and Mrs. Sean Dennis. Mr. Dennis previously sponsored Selena on his lovely Trekhaner gelding, Karot. When Karot went off to do his Young Rider job for a new jockey, Geraldine and Sean Dennis and I