News

June 30th 2003
The delete button
well it's been very busy, so I haven't done a diary entry for a little while. I came back to Australia on 18th June, via Hong Kong, another 45 hour journey, then promptly caught a nasty cold, which seems to be one of the side effects of international travel and jet lag induced immune deficiency.
In the last week at Wietelshof things started to come together for Pzazz and I. My hands are more still, I am taller, although not tall enough still. Pzazz really surprised me with what he was capable of. When Susanne says 'more' and I think that we have done the most we can, I have learned that she is always right, there is more that can be found, whether its straightness, impulsion, collection, length of stride. My ponderings on what is possible and what is not have lead me to a new strategy. I have inserted a delete button in my mind that I activate as fast as I can when the thought 'I can't' or 'its impossible' pops into my head. I no longer consider it, give it space for contemplation, just delete, proceed. It works well, I can recommend it, and I'm sure I'll use it for more than riding.

Practise
So now I'm home I am riding my friend's horse to keep practising. Scotty is a generous soul who does his best to understand. My favourite text has always been Podjasky's 'My Horse, My Teachers' as he really expresses the debt we all owe to our equine partners and how they can teach us so much if we are open to this. I am using a lot of imagery, and listening to the tape in my head of Susanne's advice:- sit taller, make your legs longer, belly forwards, outside rein leads, more outside rein, hands more still, lower hands, stretch the inside leg pushing him into the outside rein, straighter. Collect yourself and be tall before you ask your horse to collect himself. Taller.
I had a lesson with Richard Weiss, to get his thoughts on how to  stabilise my new position. Taller, but ride as one piece, not lots of  parts. Hips towards the hands. Weight into the stirrups, standing  balance to be grounded and to allow the upper thigh to be loose so that the sitting trot is possible (my apologies if I have got any of this wrong).

Farrier
in the last week in Germany the farrier (Schmiedmeister) came, a  charming man with good english. He had a fantastic mobile forge for hot shoeing. Of course everything had its place. He changed some things, using light shoes to encourage lighter movement and grinding the edges to make them even lighter. The heels on the shoes tend to be longer than what i am accustomed to seeing too. Herr Lukas watched us work so as to assess some more changes for next time. Very professional and knowledgeable, he was happy to discuss what he was doing with me and seemed to see himself rightly as part of the team.

The foal show
the foal show in Milte is a huge showcase for the breeders in Westphalia and nearby. Judging started at 9am and went to nearly 6 pm, with a continuos stream of more than100 foals. These events are a part of the structured marketing of the German sporthorses, most would have been for sale. Many foals were lead in by their mothers, lead ropes tied to the roller on the mare, or a rope around her chest and girth, or to a rubber
collar low on the mare. Looked like a great way to teach babies to lead. Each foal was presented to the panel of judges for a static assessment, then let go. A triangle was fenced off with dressage arena panels and the mares led clockwise at a fast trot, foals accompanying them. One round then to the holding yard. Foals were grouped according to their birth month, and gender. Each group paraded together after the individual showing. The judges selected 2 or 3finalists from each round  giving each a comment. This public feedback must help breeders and observers to be more educated about what they are seeing. At the end of the day all the finalists came together (colts and fillies separately). I didn't envy the judges the task of choosing winners from these classy groups.  Some of the younger stallions to produce super foals were furst piccolo (Fidermark/Newcastle) and Showstar (Sandrohit/Florestan). I think that there were two winners each in colts and fillies. The winners were all beautiful, uphill, with elasticity and scope.  In another ring pony foals were also judged, then the champions paraded in the main ring to the rousing music i had not heard before 'stand up for the champions' (english lyrics). Theses were pony foals which could move.  Also held were material classes, by age group. These young German horses  are breathtaking. 3 or 4 in the ring, a simple test called, judging  panel in the ring near x. Then one at a time horses stripped off and  judged in hand. Scores are given immediately, for each pace and  conformation and type.  Of course the day ended as all good horse shows end, with a friendly debrief at the bar with judges and competitors swapping notes.

One thing that is different from the Australian shows is that all horses spend the day on the float or truck. Now this seemed pretty strange to me until I really understood about horse flies. For several months of the year, if the vegetation is appealing to the flies, any horse in the open is a helpless victim to these ferocious blood suckers. A little larger than a march fly they bite so hard and deep that you cant just brush them off, and if you do remove one they draw blood from a horse.
The only saving grace is that they don't come inside buildings or trucks and floats, and they don't trouble people either. Strong fly repellents offer some protection. Thank goodness we don't have to contend with these.
Next
I'm back to Germany on the 12th of July (more German lessons and a visit to the sports psychologist meanwhile, and mal Byrne is making me a new bridle). We are planning to do a show in Schleswig-Holstein as a dress rehearsal for the world champs on the 17th. More news after that.

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