Review - Finding the perfect jump saddle

My search for the perfect jump saddle started almost a year ago when I realised his wow no longer fitted. For a short term fix I bought a Falcon Event saddle which was fab and suited what we needed at the time but it was never meant to be a long term solution. However I never thought I would have such a drama trying to find something suitable!!

www.northumbriaequine.co.uk

The issue we had was that I am incredibly long hip to knee so need something very forward cut or my knees hang over the flap plus I needed something without knee rolls (otherwise my knees cling and my lower leg gets insecure) and then B has a decent wither AND big shoulders which saddles either restrict (if they are forward cut enough for me) or just get pushed back. Oh and I didn't have a massive budget.

I contacted several saddlers and most of them had nothing that would suit both of us but we tried an ideal (didn't fit pony as well as I'd like), black country vinici (I loved but didn't fit pony), albion (too blocky) and finally a style (uncomfortable for me). I was at my wits end so did a pleading post on the TwitterEventing facebook page and someone suggested I have a look at Northumbria Equine.

I toddled off to google and was mega impressed with the way the saddles looked and their price! I got in touch with Kate Hardt who is the MD and chatted with her about the challenges I was having and what I was looking for. She explained the fitting process to me which made complete sense and so I booked her in for a visit.

The session started with Kate looking at Buddy and then getting a huge selection of trees out of the car to try. The main difference with the NE saddles is that they fit the tree to the horse and build from there which pretty much guarantees a perfect fit. We tried about 10 different trees and Kate explained why some fitted better than others (points too far back, too curved for his back etc) and we found a perfect fit pretty quickly. It highlighted to me how important getting the tree right is. I have never ever seen the bare bones of a saddle used as a template and too often just a few measurements are taken to create a saddle but what happens if the tree shape isn't right?!

The final creation!

We then moved on to actually sitting in the saddles. I knew what I wanted so picked this one first and it was heaven to sit in. I tried it over a small fence and was happy that it put me in the right position but I wanted a bit more room so ended up ordering it 1" more forward cut than the one I tried. Buddy loved it too so I was happy to part with the cash!!

Kate kept in regular contact and the saddles were ready so quickly - I couldn't believe it. When they arrived the quality was incredible and I couldn't wait to sit in it! After riding in it for a short while it had dropped and needed a bit more flock in it to keep it off the wither so I was very sad to see it packed off to go back to the factory for a tweak. However I didn't have to wait long for it to come back - it was back in my arms less than 48hrs after Kate left the yard! Seriously great service.

Since then I've ridden in it a lot and have done fast work and jumping in it. I still love it! The first time I jumped in it I was really impressed at how I could just hold my position and didn't collapse on landing when B took off two strides out and caught me off guard. I then had a session with Warren who also agreed that it was a huge improvement, I was balanced over my leg the whole time and that it was a beautifully made saddle - he guessed it was almost £1K more than I spent. It has filled me with confidence over a fence and I am able to ride in a much better position so I cannot wait to go XC schooling in it.

I have been so impressed that I will be putting an order in for their dressage saddle as soon as I've saved a few more pennies!

 

Honoured by The Herbal Horse

We've had a really fantastic couple of weeks here which was topped by gaining sponsorship from The Herbal Horse - I was truly honoured and humbled to read some of your lovely comments and it was amazing to see so many of you that are inspired by Buddy's journey and I did shed a tear or two whilst reading them. Thank you for your amazing support and obviously a huge thank you has to go to The Herbal Horse for choosing us when there were some amazing combinations shortlisted.

 

 

 

 

As a result of this amazing opportunity we have been using their 'Farriers Mix' and the 'Sports Horse Mix'. I will do full reviews on both but I am delighted to report that so far, with horrifically toxic grass, our capability has not decreased and has remained stable. I am still supplementing magnesium and salt at the same levels I have always done at this time of year but I am really pleased with the short term results. The proof will, of course, be in the long term usage and to see if there is any change in the new growth but Buddy is pretty good at showing changes quickly so I'm reasonably confident that this will continue.

 

We haven't done any competing since our BD solo debut as I've been very busy with work but we have been training hard. I am enjoying my dressage more than I have ever done and I am starting to get to the stage where my brain is aching as much as Buddy's at the end of each lesson - sideways stuff is really hard!! Our next outing is scheduled for 2nd May - BD at Fairoak again and I am hoping to get my last AF  sheet. We will be aiming for Bury Farm in August to give us some practise at a big atmosphere before TQ regionals and even possibly Nationals (crosses fingers tightly). Then our next one will be 10th May - its another TQ competition and it feels like a lifetime ago since 56%-gate. I am looking forward to strutting our stuff again.

 

In other exciting news, our new jump saddle has been built - and it should be back with me in the next couple of days as it needed some more flock. I love it, Buddy loves it so fingers crossed Warren sees a benefit in my position!!! Again, we've had brilliant service from the Northumbria Equine team so I will do a separate post once I have more pictures.

Brilliant BD Bonanza

So after the disasterous outing at BCA I was half excited and half terrified for our solo BD debut at Fairoak. I really needed a confidence boost as the flip flopping between personal best and personal worst scores when the tests themselves didn't feel horrendously different was making me doubt myself a little bit. 

Fairoak is just around the corner from the yard and I always feel very lazy loading Buddy up when it's a 15 minute amble but I won't hack without hi-viz and as I had no hands on site its the only way! Buddy started his warm up paying far more attention to the horses in the field next door so I spent the majority of my time in walk, leg yielding then straightening into shoulder in which really helps get his attention and evens up the contact. Once he was soft we went into trot and worked on making sure he wasn't bulging out of the shoulder and stayed connected. Quick canter and it was time to go in. 

First test was P13 and I was really pleased with him. Not as forward as I would have liked and we were a fraction late into our canters but other than that I was happy and came out with a smile on my face. There was only 15 minutes between the two tests so I stayed on him and went back into the warm up just making sure he stayed supple in the walk. 

Second test was P17 and is a long arena test - I was slightly concerned that I would forget where I was going as I'm not totally au fait with the long arena letters! I had a moment of panic as I was coming down the centre line as I wasn't sure whether to go left or right and where I was changing the rein!! Luckily I chose right and my change of rein was a bit wobbly but I was satisfied with the rest of the test. Our canter-trot transitions need to be sharpened in a test but I've focused on keeping him forwards in the canter to stop the changing but that's got better with every test so I'm hoping we will be able to improve that soon.

I was really happy with both tests but whilst walking to collect my scores I had serious butterflies as I wasn't sure whether it was as good as I'd hoped. I needn't have worried! P13 we had 66.48% and were 3rd then P15 we got 65%. Totally agree with all the comments and just need to work on those to improve. 

So a very successful outing! As both tests were summer qualifiers we have got 4 points towards regionals but I'm not sure I've got enough time to get the sheets to get the 20 points needed (only scores over 66% count) so I'll give it a go but I'm thinking that I'll focus on area festivals instead as I only need one more sheet (over 62%) to qualify for that. Then I can get my winter regionals qualification for prelim and aim to get novice sheets for novice. We are turning into proper dressage divas!!

Then, to top off the weekend, I found out that we have been shortlisted as UK finalists for the Herbal Horse sponsorship. This company has had huge success and won a BETA innovation award with their calm mix and I am trialling their farriers mix and sports horse mix so blog posts will follow with reviews on those shortly. To win we need as many comments on their facebook post voting for us - we're doing well so far but would like to nail it! The link to vote is here: 

Blinged Up Bullet Dodgers rule!

After our triumphant start to Team Quest things started to get a bit more serious! High on the back of a win we started looking at getting to regionals - we didn't care if it was a fluke ;o)

Team Photo!

Our second competition came off the back of a really busy week for me (although I'm not sure I have anything bar busy weeks at the moment) and didn't quite as expected. I'd had an amazing lesson the day before and Buddy had worked really hard and felt super so I was hopeful for amazing things. Buddy came off the lorry breathing fire, he was hot as hell, I was concerned whether I'd be able to get on without any drama! But I needn't of worried - he held onto himself for me to get on and then we jogged off to the warm up. He eventually softened and relaxed and I was getting my lesson feeling. I had a big grin.

 

Looking handsome at Wellington

We went into the arena and he died on me a bit but still managed to spook and spin at the judge when she opened her car door to ask my number! The trot work felt amazing, he died in the canter on both reins (he just wasn't off my leg enough) and the walk was a bit lethargic but I thought the trot work would have made up for it and we'd be ok with a mid 60's test. After the team had all ridden we went back and checked our scores - Lucy was on an amazing 77%, Emily on 73% (again) and I was on.. 61%. I was gutted. As the girls had such amazing scores we still managed to win but it was bittersweet for me. I sent the video to my YO and instructor who all agreed that the mistakes would have been costly but that it was still a 65-67% test in their opinion.

 

Next up we were back to Wellington - it was a manic crazy day for me as I'd had a saddle fitting in the morning and despite asking for late times I'd been put pretty much at the start of the class! So poor old donkey was the smartest horse for a saddle fitting ever and was chucked on the lorry an we arrived with 20 mins before our test. He wasn't as soft as I would have liked but in we went for our test anyway! I was pleased with the work, would have liked a bit more from him but we did all the things in the right places so I was pleased when I came out. Back to the scoreboard and we had done well as a team this time! Emily on 71%, Lucy on 66% and I was on 69%. It wasn't quite good enough for the win (we lost out by 0.75) but a fabulous second.

Gloomy at BCA

Then, last weekend we were back to BCA. It was the same test and the same judge so I wasn't expecting greatness but he'd been great in the week leading up to it (I'd actually managed to ride) and we'd had a fabulous lesson on the Thursday prior. He warmed up well and we did a sweet test. Not a record breaker but we did all the things in the right places and I was pleased with him as I don't find it an easy test to ride. I was expecting a 65-67% considering the improvement from the previous occasion. I couldn't have been more wrong!! Worst result I've ever had - 56%. Luckily our team photographer had come along and video'd the test so I can see that he did go well but it's still incredibly disheartening to have such a bad score when it's undeserved. It also meant that we stood very little chance of doing well in the team standings and we were lucky to come 9th - I'd thought we'd not get anything!! We are still 3rd in the Central team rankings though so are still on track for regionals, with the top 15 teams getting a qualifying spot.

 

I am flip flopping between personal best and personal worst scores doing TQ so it's a bit of a rollercoaster ride but I am loving my dressage at the moment. I am doing my first proper BD this weekend - again it's not been the best week for preparation but it will be interesting to see how we do there... I am very little expectations but it would be nice to get over 60%

Triumphant Team Quest

The weekend started well as we had an amazing jump session with Warren. The training is with BS Berkshire and is hosted by Warren in a reasonably small (20x50 I guess) indoor school. It's spooky but such a great training tool as it makes me think! Warren really put us through our paces and was making Buddy and I really think about what we were doing. We focused on riding the hindleg, powering the canter and ensuring that I was commited to the jump. We started with cross to vertical along the long sides and then started building a grid down the centre line.

This was really hard as it meant I needed a really powerful canter out of the corner into the first jump which was about 10m in (we kept this very small, almost caveletti so it encouraged the hind leg but didn't punish any mistakes), one stride to a vertical then we built up to adding an oxer and then another small jump. This then became part of the course and we had a double on one long side and the vertical on the other plus the grid. A lot of fences for a small space and a big striding horse! But he was superb. Really starting to find his jump now and never, ever thought about saying no when I got it right or almost right!! I finished beaming and it was the first jump session I've had for ages where Warren hasn't had to point out all the good things we did - I could see the growth in us and finally felt positive again.

Blinged up Bullet Dodgers uniform!

It was then all systems go to prepare for our BD debut at Team Quest on the Sunday. Our team - Blinged up Bullet Dodgers - are all Rockley Rehabs and Buddy is the longest graduate. We had our team uniform sorted and were ready to have some fun. The classes were jam packed, we'd all entered the prelim and there were 42 competitors in the class so we expected absolutely nothing from the day - although a point towards regionals would have been nice. 

The weather was horrendous and scheduled to get worse but we were competing indoors so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. All of us warmed up well and I timed B's warm up perfectly - he was being a changer in the canter but that's going to take a while to eliminate completely but we are getting there. I went in determined to RIDE so I did a power trot around the outside. Halted, the bell rang and it was time to enter. He was naughty in his left canter and kept breaking but I corrected it quickly. When it was time to canter right I kept him straight, didn't let the bend go crazy and rode every stride. It felt awesome and I came out feeling that it was an 8 canter. I was really pleased with the test, it wasn't perfect but it was good. I was hoping for a mid 60's score. 

Once ponies were put away we went to see how we'd done... well what we saw was incredible. Two scores in the 70's and a 67! We were all in the top 4. There was a looooong way to go and I did wonder if the judge was just being over generous with the scores so did not expect anything but with a team score of 211 I hoped we'd be in the top 10 teams. We trundled off home and I planned to pop back to collect the sheets later on....

In the car on the way there I was thinking how awesome it would be if we managed a placing but then quickly discounted that though as there were 11 team scores to go after ours and with an overgenerous judge... it was unlikely. However, I walked in to the cafe where the scores were... walked up to the scoreboard and had to check a few times... we were still in the lead with only one more team to go. Emily was still in 1st place in our class, I'd been pushed down to 3rd and Lucy was still 6th. I was sending messages to the girls whilst waiting for the final team scores to go up and it felt so emotional. It took ages for the final scores to go up and they left the final score blank for a long time but finally they put it up. I had to stop myself from screaming 'yeessssss!' but we'd only gone and done it!! We won!

They did a proper prize giving and they told our story of being Rockley Rehabs (the secretary had asked where our team name came from), the whole room cheered and I ended up blubbing! It was completely emotional, very fairytale-esque and completely unexpected. To finish 1st out of 16 teams was just a massive achievement and we are now going to give it our best shot to get to regionals. Our next outing is on 8th March and I can't wait!

Working hard and moving forward

We've been keeping busy again, ramping up to the start of the event season. Unfortunately we were balloted from ALW so I have re-routed to Munstead at the end of March instead. It was actually a good thing in the end as I now need to be abroad with work the week preceeding ALW. We are off schooling at Munstead on 1st March so will make sure we are all good to go. We are pretty much guaranteed a run as my ballot sticker from ALW has now been upgraded to a super sticker.

The day after my tumble we went off to dressage at a local EC. We had entered prelim 12 and Novice 24. Buddy was pleased to be out again and was rather bright to tack up - I had the previous days events in the back of my mind and so made sure I stuck to my mounting routine. It was all fine and I wandered down to the warm up... only to be told I'd not put my hat on!!! What an absolute idiot and a slightly critical piece of equipment, especially when your horse can bugger off as you're getting on. Anyway, hat on we went down to the warm up. They were running very early so I had to tell them that I needed my full warm up time. I could have done with an extra 5-10 mins to get him on side but had no option but to go in. He was a total idiot!! Very camel-esque, onward bound and had lost all concept of bend. I saluted the judge with a wry smile at the end. Silly donkey. His worst score at the level - and last place!!

I stayed on him as there was only 20 minutes between tests and just walked around, keeping the focus on getting him soft and listening to me. It was soon time to go in and he was so much more rideable in the Novice test. I finished feeling pleased with our performance as we are still not particularly established at that level. The sheet echoed what I felt and we finished on a decent score of 64.2% Although I added my sheet up again when I got home only to find that it had been added up wrong and we actually got 65.7% which would have put us in 2nd place rather than the 4th we ended up with. Despite the loss of a blue frilly I was very happy with the original score and delighted with the actual one!

April 2014 vs Feb 2015

The tests were both qualifiers for Trailblazers and we qualified for second rounds in both tests despite the disasterous performance in the prelim! I won't be taking it further as the finals are in July and I cannot take any time off during that month so it's pointless trying!

April 2014 vs Feb 2015 - Looking much more established in the canter

Then onto this weekend we had another lesson with SJL. I had two lovely friends come along and take some pictures which I was hugely grateful for as I could see the transformation from the last photos taken in Sept. I wanted to spend the lesson working on our canter as Buddy has a habit of changing behind when we come off of a circle and straighten up. We started the session making sure that Buddy was soft and accepting the contact, I need to make sure that he is round to get the back really swinging through - he is not a horse that you could ride back end to front end as he would happily go along like an inverted camel forever!! Once we moved onto the canter work SJL had me keep almost counterflexion on the right rein as I tend to get overzealous with the inside bend and then B just falls out through his left shoulder. On the left rein I need to keep his ribs soft and ensure that there is true bend around my inside leg as well as keeping my body almost to the outside and manage that left shoulder on this rein too. There is a lot of work to do but it is all coming together! 

Downtown Funk

Unfortunately not a post about a new funky song but more about my state of mind! I have debated whether I should post this (is it fuelling the negativity?!) but I've always believed that this blog is a warts and all account of our journey so here goes!

Our regular readers will probably not be surprised at this post, I'm conscious that my last few posts have been decidedly bleurgh and a bit negative and unfortunately this one is along the same theme - sorry! It's going to be long and probably disjointed so apologies for that in advance.. I'll try and find some pretty pictures to brighten it up a bit ;o)

Buddy's Brother - can you see the resemblence?! 

I have always had (and will always have) a competitive streak. I like to succeed and do well and that hunger to be the best I can be has brought it's benefits throughout my career but it also has a huge downside which I have now named the downtown funk. The downtown funk comes into play when you are striving to be the best you can be, are working really hard but nothing seems to go right when it matters. It's not a one off occurance (ie one dressage comp) but a series of unfortunate events that all come together to create the funk and make you feel completely rubbish about everything - it is impossible to see the positives straight away (even though your rational mind knows them) and all you do is focus on the negatives.

I am currently in the darkest depths of this downtown funk. Everytime I get on Buddy I have an objective and when it doesn't go to plan I am beating myself up, even though I know that I am being completely unrational. I am a huge fan of the Chimp Paradox and it has helped me hugely in the past but it's not working this time!! 

My previous blog posts have alluded to the fact that I have not been content with our results but even in my lessons I am struggling to see the good bits even when they are pointed out. I have awesome support from my trainers and poor Warren has had to deal with me the most during this weird period and has been everything an excellent coach should be, pointing out the positives and showing me clearly where I have progressed in each session and overall. Today was a bad day for me. I tried one of Warren's saddles to see if it would help my position.. Buddy used to have a huge mounting issue which, after a lot of hard work, we got him over but it is always at the back of my mind - especially in a place away from home and even more so if he is feeling bright - but I have a strategy to deal with it and he's not done it for a good couple of years. However I broke that strategy today and paid the price! As soon as I started to swing my leg over he shot off and I hit the deck (although I was particularly proud at how long I managed to cling like a limpet for). I got back on but Buddy was upset by the incident and TBH I was too. So I spent the majority of my lesson mentally chastising myself for being such an idiot, angry for ruining my friends lesson (we shared) and feeling like I was taking a massive step backwards. I know none of this is true, hindsight is a fabulous thing and Katie had a fab lesson with some huge lightbulb moments! Warren also highlighted the improvement in my balance in the saddle which meant that I could make adjustments without affecting B's confidence over and coming into a fence. It was a huge lightbulb moment and although I agree and can see it my overwhelming emotion is disappontment in myself and wondering why I am bothering. 

I really want to qualify for Badminton Grassroots but I know that a season to do it in isn't really realistic, especially our first BE season, but it is possible if the fates align and I work hard. Plus there are other bits in play - my saddle is crap and really hinders my position (grippy knees and an unsupporting lower leg as a result) so I need a new one if I want to progress in the way that I do... I should hopefully have that sorted in the next couple of months but in the meantime the fact that it is crap is just playing on my mind and I'm wondering why I'm even bothering when I know it's causing me (and Buddy) issues so should I just wait until I can sort it out?!

I know I am putting crazy amounts of pressure on myself to do well. We are both more than capable so we *should* be doing well so when it's not as good as it can be I am getting sucked into thinking negatively about it all. Urgh.

I have made a decision to see a sports psychologist who will hopefully help me out of this funk of mine so it will be interesting to hear her thoughts on my situation. I need to do something as although I still love riding I can see that the passion I have could start to dwindle if I don't get on top of it quickly. In the meantime I will keep on trucking - dressage tomorrow and the countdown to ALW is on although it looks like we may be getting balloted! If so, we will re-route to Munstead instead.