Squad Training

We travelled to Bury Farm for the Squad training day on the 3rd January 2009. Temperatures of -8 recorded as we slept in the wagon...... very chilly. We were quite toasty in the wgon until it was time to get out from under our quilts... soon warmed up in the lovely cafeteria at Bury Farm.

Kwad had a really settled night in his luxury stable. Bury has an entire stable block set aside for temporary stabling but in fact rather nicely done. Home from home.

In the morning Sam had a fitness session with Jon Pitts, lots of rolling around on the balance balls from what I could see. Some very good techniques and now I have a shopping list which includes snaffling my balance ball for Sam to take to the Moodys. She really felt that the balance ball was helping with opening her hips, something the little stiffy has a problem with. You would think at 16 she would be more flexible.... although i do believe that the "child friendly pony" she tried from a local dealer some years ago is still playing havoc with her bones. Some 18 hours in A&E with lost feeling in her legs. The manic pony was brutal, after an exhaustive session trying to remove Sam from the saddle, when it finally did, it came back and jumped all over her. Very unusual for a horse to do this but this little pony was having none of it. She had only just started to trot. Anyway we feel the stiffness probably stems from this incident and she has rto work really hard to come through it. So balance ball it is...

Before lunch there was also a talk with Anna Ross Davies. What a lovely lady, so funny. Mums and Dads were allowed to join in and listen to gain all the tips we could to help our young riders. Really enjoyed the talk and found what she said made sense. Anna explained how she prepares for competition and how to eradicate those crucial stressy moments which cause pre competition stress. Anna explained how her trainer advised preparation for a big show and walked us through her preprations, thoughts and routines. How it was difficult for her to have a groom when she was so used to doing the hrose pre herself. Not having to do the plaiting up meant she had time on her hands. How she had to find ways of using this time constructively so that it wasnt filled with stressy moments. Very informative. I must say though I think the lack of qwuestions after her talk was down to one of two things, she either explained everything extremely well or we were so cold we didnt dare ask a question for fear we would be kept in the room a bit longer. Everyone enjoyed the talk and we certainly seemed to get a few ideas for combating any nerves.

After lunch Sam was ready to go into her session. Having only watched her a few times now on Kwad I was keen to see if I noticed any improvement. Fortuntately Sam got to keep her stirrups this time. This session seemed to focus more on obtaining a soft outline with a lot of stretching exercises and working the muscles across the back. Kwad seems to enjoy this now and is really warming to the experience. I must say I have seen an improvement in Sam, maybe its just because she is growing up and I see a young lady now instead of my little girl. Whatever it is I do enjoy and like what I see.

Anyway another fantastic session with Ferdi was over and we watched a few more lessons before our journey back to Sheffield. Selectors had a little chat with everyone after their training session too so after that we headed off back home. It was 4 and half hours to Sheffield and a further 2 hours for me to get back home so a long couple of days. But thankfully back to a warm bed.