Team Eilberg plan for the year ahead!

Our holiday seems a long time ago now, but am looking forward to the competition season starting again :-) We have the high profile show at Addington next weekend which will be a good test to see where the horses are at after their Winters training. We are hoping to compete at Vidauban end Feb begin March. We will have the Winter Regionals before that and a few local shows to help prepare.

Woodlander Rockstar and U Rockstar are coming on with their Grand Prix work, they won't be established enough to start the season at Grand Prix, but perhaps towards the end of the season we can have a go at an INT 2 . . . Woodlander Wawavoom has come on a lot over the Winter, he will be going to Germany for a short moment for Stallion testing so won't be competing with the others initally. Mike has got Marakov and Half Moon Delphi who he will be bringing out at Grand Prix, Woodlander Dornroeschen is coming on well but again not quite established at Grand Prix yet. Not only do they have to learn the movements when going up a level, it also requires a new level of fitness and strength which takes time, that's why it is always wise to introduce the new things early so the horses not only have time for the new work to sink in but also have time to condition their bodies. Half Moon Dynasty will be doing the Winter Regionals and Woodlander Farouche will be aimed for the 6yr old classes.

 

We have quite a lot of youngsters in at the moment, it is quite a challenge to go from sitting on an advanced horse to then sitting on a youngster and vice versa. Although you are using the same scales of training both require quite a different approach! We hope to bring them out a bit during the season to acclimatize them to the show environment, we will have to sell a few as we cant keep all of them unfortunately :-(

Back to the UK from a safari adventure and full of cold!!

We have returned from our lovely 2 week holiday in South Africa, it has been a bit of a shock returning to the cold weather, needless to say we all have colds! It was rather a rush to get away, making sure everything had been done and covered, not much time to check in once we got to the airport! We joined some close friends who had been to South Africa before and knew the area well, they were very kind and took us on a fantastic tour! We started in the South visiting Cape Town, we did manage to see some whales while on the coast, they had been in the bay to breed! We gradually made our way further North where we spent time at the Game lodges observing the animals. It was a fairly long drive to get to the Game lodges, we had to drive through a variety of different places, some areas which were lovely and others which were in great poverty, quite an eye opener! We had to drive through the Game Reserve to get to the Game lodges and were regularly confronted with a variety of animals from a Wart Hog to an Elephant crossing the road! The Game Reserve is huge, approximately the size of Wales, and all of the animals are left free to roam within! We would go out on the Game drives around 5am and 7pm to avoid the heat of the day, it was also a good time to catch the animals from their night's hunting or just before they were to venture out. We were all a bit blurry eyed first thing in the morning but soon woke up! We were able to get fairly close to the animals, with some more than others depending on whether they would tolerate the truck, some would run away and others would attack! Towards the end of our trip we were extremely fortunate to experience a family of Elephants one on one, they were tame elephants who had been rescued. We were able to walk with them having hands on contact which was truely amazing, something which I will never forget!! For such big powerful animals they were extremely personable and sensitive.

All of the horses are feeling well for having had a short break, quite fresh and cheeky! The Christmas decorations are up, Dad surprised me with one special piece, he had made a display of our competition plaques and had used them to write 'ED' which was Two Sox's stable name, it has taken prime position on the yard! We will have a few quieter days over Christmas but otherwise the horses will stay in work, we will start with competitions again towards the end of January. Wishing everyone a Happy Christmas and New Year! xx

An autumnal "spring" clean!

Hi guys, it has been a while since my last blog, time seems to have run away yet again. We have been taking things a little quieter on the competition front, we have done a few local qualifiers but on the whole are concentrating on the bringing the horses on in their training and getting stuck in to winter projects! From end Jan through to the end Sept competition is given priority and everything else gets put on a back burner so it is a good opportunity to do in essence what is a 'Spring Clean.' As well as having a clear out I have also had to do a major restock of the yard, Equestrianism definitely has to be the most expensive sport going! 

It has been tough this last month with having had Ed put down so suddenly, it still is a mystery how he managed to shatter his pastern, he seemed so quiet and content. Everyone has been so supportive, I would like to thank everyone once again for all of their kind messages, the courier did ask me who all the flowers were for and was a little surprised when I said it was for my horse who had passed away, only we know how personable horses really are! I do feel that I am only just about able to talk about it now, I can't believe that it has already been a month and a half. I think I have definitely been a bit in a daze, and am hopefully getting back to normal now. It has been good to have the projects to get stuck into! We are also going on holiday, today in fact, which I am really looking forward to. We are going on Safari in South Africa for a couple of weeks so will be sure to take some pics to show on my return :-)

The horses will continue to be exercised while we are away, working on their fitness. The timing has worked really well as the training has been fairly intense this last month, the horses will benefit from a short break now and then we can crack on for a bit again until Christmas, and then it will be 2012! We haven't quite decided on our plans for next year but will aim to start with competitions again in January, it is always really good to use the competitions to assess how much the training has progressed over the Winter, giving plenty of time for any adjustments before the season gets into full flow!

A tribute to Two Sox...

It has been a bit of a roller coaster ride over the past few weeks. We had an amazing National Championships, all of the horses were on good form, it was a huge team effort!

Sunday, in particular, was a very emotional day, it was the day I was to compete Two Sox for the final time. He did a great Grand Prix Freestyle, finishing at the top of his game. I had to put the occasion totally out of my mind for the test itself and bite onto my lip quite hard for his farewell lap of honour. I am so grateful to the organisers Kelvin Bywater and Caroline Griffith for the opportunity to celebrate his career and share this with everyone at the Championships. Also thanks to Winnie Murphy who helped with the commentary. It was a perfect moment, celebrating his 10 years of competing at the Championships themselves, 7 of which have been at Grand Prix level. The standing ovation was overwhelming and I'm sure that he was thinking he must have done a pretty awesome test as he stopped to admire the applause! The rain even held off- it was raining all around and then a rainbow appeared, it was very magical. 

Who could not have imagined what was to happen next, we had some lovely sunshine following the Champs so I wasted no time with introducing Two Sox to his much deserved turnout, he had always been hand grazed so was used to the grass. We have an ideal paddock which is next to the outdoor arena, level and secure. I cornered it off so it wasn't too big and stood with him while he grazed alone, having already hacked out beforehand he appeared very happy and settled. He enjoyed the following days in the same way, I always made sure he went out when we were there to keep an eye on him, we would often be riding on the arena and he would look up as if to say "good job, keep going." Then only a few days later when going to bring him in it became apparent that he was in acute pain and not wanting to take any weight on the left front leg. We immediately called the vet and had an x ray taken, his pastern bone showed three distinct fractures. There was no real explanation, he was quiet, he had protective leg wear on, no marks anywhere - the bone just seemed to give way. With no realistic chance of a full recovery we had to make that awful decision within minutes to say goodbye to him.  I was just coming to terms with his retirement with no idea that just two weeks later I was going to have to say goodbye to him for good.

People have been so kind, I want to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you for their kind messages and support, it means a lot. The great horse that he was with a wonderful attitude and big heart seems to have touched so many. Perhaps he wasn't meant to retire and thinking back to the rainbow at the National Championships during his farewell lap of honour, perhaps he was chosen to go early. I know it would have happened at some time, I just didn't expect it to happen so soon xxx

The countdown begins for the National Dressage Championships!

There is quite a lot to catch up on since my last update, Woodlander Farouche is the current 5yr old World Champion, and with the Senior Team having won Gold at this years Europeans Great Britain certainly seem to be taking the dressage world by storm!! 

It was a fairly long journey to get to Verden, roughly 16 hours door to door and ten days with all of us being away from home.  Farouche was impeccably behaved for the duration of the show.  It was a bit challenging when it came to the working in and to find the arena packed with young horses, mostly stallions, all being put through their paces but still all good experience and generally, she took it all in her stride. I took Two Sox for the Grand Prix which unfortunately clashed with Farouche and her Finale test! Nevertheless he did a good job to finish 10th out of a strong field.

Once home again we only had a few days to get things in place for the Regionals.The girls at home had done a great job with keeping things ticking, and with the horses having been well in work before we left, they felt nicely refreshed. Mike rode Half Moon Dynasty and I rode Worldwide in the Medium Open. They are both still fairly green in competition and Dynasty went really well to finish 3rd, where as Worldwide struggled a little bit with his nerves. I also rode Camilla Anderson's U Rockstar in the PSG who I was really pleased with as I had only had the few days to prepare.  He finished 4th with 67% which unfortunately just fell short for qualifying for the Championships.

We have the National Champs this week which we leave for in a couple of days, we have 9 horses competing in total so will be fairly busy, the only class we are not contesting is the Advanced Medium which is a first for a while, it is usually our favourite with Michael having won it twice, once with Woodlander Dornroeschen and once with Janeiro, I also won it back in 2004 with Topscore! The training has been going well, I will be taking Two Sox for the Grand Prix (Mike Marakov) and Woodlander Rockstar for the Small Tour Classes (Mike Woodlander Dornroeschen, Torino & Half Moon Delphi.) I also have Woodlander Wavavoom for the International Shearwater 5yr Final, Mike will be taking Woodlander Farouche. He also has Half Moon Dynasty in the Medium Open! Two Sox is feeling well, he will be 18 next year so think that this will be his Finale, he has done me so well and I want him to finish on a high and enjoy his retirement. It will be Rockstar who takes over, he is nicely established at Small Tour now and we will use this Winter to crack on with the Grand Prix work!

Things should be a little quieter after the Nationals, I have a Paragliding day lined up to follow the original day taster I did after the Regionals- I thoroughly enjoyed it so am going back for more! We also have my Gran's birthday in Germany which we will take a quick time out for. The main concentration after the Nationals will be to bring the horses on over the Winter ready for next year. 

Hartpury and Badminton Young Horse Final!

It has been a while since my last blog, quite a lot going on! Hartpury and the Badminton Young Horse Final have been the main events however we have also had other shows which we have gone to for qualifications etc so one way or another it has been rather none stop, Dad even got his competition riding gear back on!

We took 11 horses to Hartpury so as you can imagine it was quite an expedition and now feeling rather exhausted, however, it was a good trip with 9 wins so well worth it! We had horses for the Premier League, the CDI and the National Young Horse Shearwater Final. I have to say that the shows organisation was very good and the running of things couldn't have been much better. Mike rode Woodlander Dornroeschen in the Small Tour Premier League and Half Moon Delphi in the Int 2, both mares went very well and won their classes respectively to qualify directly for the Nationals. Monet was unfortunately a little too hot in the Int 2 struggling to relax and execute the all important halt and walk although the rest of his work was excellent.  We had a good start to the CDI with a one two in the Prix St Georges and continued good placings in the Int 1 and Freestyle with Torino and Woodlander Rockstar, Torino very nearly made it a hat trick, just missing out on Int 1 victory with having a few mistakes although the quality of his work was the best it's ever been! I was very pleased with Rockstar who was as level headed as ever and went in to do his job like a pro, there is still room for improvement but he has come on so much since the beginning of the year. Two Sox and Marakov were a little sharp in the Grand Prix having a few mistakes (Marakov more so who looked like his eyes were going to pop out of his head!) Two Sox did a great Freestyle to win with over 72%, it was really nice as he had not done the music for a while and Marakov settled well to win the Special- Mike used slightly different tactics in the warm up compared to the Grand Prix and instead of trying to acclimatise him to the atmosphere he kept him well away from it until the last possible moment which seemed to work! On the Saturday we had the National Shearwater Championship, I rode Woodlander Wavavoom and Mike rode Woodlander Farouche in the 5yr Final, Farouche was on fire and won with a comfortable lead while Wavavoom did a good job and was well placed. Mike also had another ride in the 6yr Final with Dargento, an attractive liver chestnut stallion, a fairly new addition to the yard, who finished 3rd.

We were back home for one day and then had to go off for the Badminton Young Horse Final where Farouche strutted her stuff again, not at all affected by it being on grass and thoroughly enjoying herself. She was once again victorious and is now aiming for the Young Horse World Breeding Champs in Verden (3-7 Aug), fingers crossed she continues her good form! We have more or less 1 week until we leave for Verden and then 1 week at home again before the Regionals, it is all systems go!

Addington Premier League!!

Another burst of shows have been and gone, we used Hartpury as a warm up for Addington Premier League which was very useful-Woodlander Rockstar had more or less just returned from Stud so was a little bit ring rusty with attentions not quite with me the whole time but all things considered he tried quite hard. I also rode Worldwide in his first Advanced Medium which he coped with really well, it was the 85, so quite nice to leave the changes to the very end! Mike rode Half Moon Dynasty in her first Medium which was a little green but again, all things considered, she coped really well. She is a very big moving mare with a lot of range and power so trying to get all of it together under control is the biggest challenge, I'm sure Mike wouldn't mind if the arena could be extended to a slightly bigger size! Half Moon Delphi did a pretty stunning test, again, it was her first competitive outing with us so it was just a case of seeing how things went, she really took things in her stride and looked pretty established at the level. Marakov went as well to have a run through the Intermediare 2.

Addington Premier League was a busy show with taking 7 horses. I took Rockstar to compete in the small tour classes, the Intermediare 1 on the second day was definitely one of his better tests. All of his trot work and the majority of the canter work is becoming really established now, I just have to work on his self carriage in the tempis-he is very keen to go into extended canter the minute he sees the diagonal and as a result I easily have too much hand on which makes him to deep, more strength in my seat I think! I took Worldwide and Two Sox, who had only just had his stitches taken out, to ride, needless to say, Two Sox in particular was behaving like a 3 year old! Mike had success with Half Moon Delphi again, winning both the Prix St Georges and Intermediare 1, Torino came very close to an Intermediare 1 victory, but a slight error of course in the walk cost it which was unfortunate. Very pleased with Marakov who generally sees ghosts everywhere, it was quite windy for the Grand Prix and the Special which were held outside, he had a few small mistakes but generally his work is improving all the time with him becoming stonger and more powerful. He won the Grand Prix Special which was a nice one to finish on!

Once back home again it was a quick unpack and re pack to go to Vale View with Dynasty and Worldwide for some more qualifying points. We had entered a Medium and an Advanced Medium again but slightly more challenging with it being the M75 and AM98! Definitely quite a challenge for both horses with the movements coming up quite fast, also a challenge for us with the horses being a little green at the level.

Next up we have Somerford and Wellington Premier Leagues which aren't that far away . . . we also have some more day shows planned with the younger horses/horses who are working at the lower levels so busy busy busy!