Lyndsey - Petplan Equine Ambassador

Hello I'm Lyndsey Ryder and this is my next blog as an ambassador for Petplan Equine so here is a quick refresh. I compete in British Dressage with my welsh section D gelding called Max. We didn't get off to the best start this season due to me having a non-horse related accident and injury my knee. My last blog finished with the build up to our first competition of the year.

First competition and beyond

Well after lots of nerves we braved our first test of the year at Oaklands. I expected Max to be lively and perhaps a little inattentive, but actually he got on with the job and we finished in 2nd place and our first Petplan Equine Area Festival sheet was in the bag! We headed home feeling confident and excited for the future. Next we headed to Quainton Stud at the beginning of April to ride the elementary 57 test, we had practiced the test at home and although it's a really difficult test, it's actually quite good fun. On the day Max felt amazing, really firing on all cylinders, almost too much as we accidentally had flying changes instead of simple changes on the canter serpentine, of course I didn't mean for that to happen, Max just took over a bit which cost us lots of marks! But I was far from disappointed… why's that you ask? Well, Max tried, he really tried hard, perhaps too hard but he really made me smile and that's what it's all about isn't it?! So no Area Festivals sheet but I didn't mind about that.

British Dressage Winter Dressage Championships at Hartpury

Easter time was Hartpury fever weekend; I love going to the Championships. Although Max and I are yet to compete at the Championships, one day we will enter that centre line! Until then I'm happy going along as groom for Tahley Reeve-Smith. Why is Hartpury special to me? Well, I will tell you a little story. Three years ago, I headed to Hartpury as a groom for the first time; at this point in time I was at a loose end where I was heading with Max. I had originally purchased him for showing but due to his liver illness, he now had to be kept a lot leaner. So although I was never going to part with him, I lacked direction. Well while I was at the Championships I had some time to kill before Tahley’s afternoon class, so I sat on the hill and watched the Petplan Equine Area Festival arenas. I watched the (what was then) restricted prelim class. I watched the combinations enter the ring, complete their test, and most importantly their final halt. Watching riders overwhelmed by their horses efforts, the pride they must have felt, well that afternoon I spoke to Tahley about one day myself and Max riding down that same centre line. And so it began! So although Hartpury was a busy time grooming for Tahley this year, it was also successful and very inspiring. So with my mind focused on my own goal I headed home with the mindset to work hard and make it happen.

Max focused on the goal of competing at Hartpury

Fresh back from Hartpury we hit the ground running, within a week we had two elementary’s booked in at Keysoe, although we won both classes it wasn't our best performance. Max was spooky and not really listening, but we managed to scrape one Area Festival sheet so not all was lost. Next up, we headed back to Quainton Stud. I had learnt from our outing at Keysoe and really got him listening in the warm up. The first test he went well, second test; well honestly you couldn't make this stuff up! As we trotted down the centre line, a hailstorm descended upon us. I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or whip out my hair and sing ‘let it go’ from the movie Frozen. We completed a few movements but I couldn't really see where I was going; Max bless him was curling up. I had the words from Tahley ringing in my head ‘each time you ride; you’re either training or untraining your horse so I decided to put my hand up and withdraw. I left on a long rein and headed back to the lorry park. The hail had just started to calm down. I looked over my shoulder and the judge had got out of her car and was running after me. She asked me if I wanted a second go at the test, how nice of her! So I picked up my reins and headed back to the arena. Max was understandably a bit switched off but we got round and surprisingly finishing in 2nd place giving us two Area Festival sheets in the bag!

With four Petplan Equine Area Festival sheets collected and two to get; at the beginning of May we headed off to Bury Farm. It was an early start and absolutely freezing! Bury Farm didn't go well, in fact we didn't even make the white boards. So, what happened? Well as I mounted Max I could feel his back go up, not like Max I thought. I asked him to walk on and he bucked, again not like Max. As we went to enter the warm up he did a mini rear and buck combo, really not like max at all! I just knew someone was up; I hopped off and headed back to the lorry. I have owned Max for eight years so I know him very well and knew it was out of character and decided to head home. On the way home I called the saddler and Mel Bailey from Equine Bodywork Services and asked them to come as soon as possible to check Max. The saddler lives round the corner and came out the next day and reflocked my saddle but nothing major. A few days later Mel came over, she already knows Max and after watching Max move she noticed a problem/tightness with his last rib so she treated him and gave me instructions on how to work him over the following week. Once I was back on and after I had followed the instructions, Max felt fabulous. We kept to just training at home for a few weeks after that just to make sure.

Max training at home with Lyndsey

We later returned to Quainton Stud once again. I’m not going to lie, I was nervous, the kind of nerves that make you feel sick to your stomach. Was Max going to mess about? Were we going to get into the arena? Because I'm still carrying a knee injury it only added to the nerves. I honestly could have cried, but he warmed up a dream really listening and working nicely. As I headed off for our first test we had a ‘moment ‘he basically fed off my nerves and napped a little. My mind was screaming ‘I can't do this’ but I found some courage from somewhere and sent him quickly forward, low and behold he trotted on and got on with the Test. Hallelujah! For the second test I was more proactive; no messing on the way in, I rode every step and Max was with me.. yippee!! I was proud of myself which doesn't happen often. I was proud because at that moment in time, I pulled myself together, took charge of the situation, and finally rode with gusto even though I was nervous. We managed two 2nd in places and our final Area Festival sheets.

Knebworth Dressage Championships

Finally, we qualified for Knebworth Dressage Championships last year at elementary level, the Championships took place on June 10th at Oaklands college. I love Knebworth Dressage as it's such a friendly and supportive atmosphere, but I knew we would have to up our game if we want to contest the Championships. Max was on fine form and gave me a lovely ride on the day and I'm honestly over the moon to say Max and I were crowned elementary champions on 75%. I cried a lot! Only this time tears of joy; so proud of Max, after all we have been through he just amazes me. So after a few days on cloud nine it's back to reality as we had to prepare for the Petplan Equine Area Festival at Brook Farm and if we wanted a place in the top ten, then we were going to have to fight for it!

Knebworth Dressage Championships - elementary champions