My goodness its been a very busy season!! So much has happened and been achieved that its all so exciting! Unfortunately my Grand Prix horse has been off games this summer which has been very disappointing especially after achieving nearly 70% in our first Grand Prix of the season! Thankfully though he is back in work and coming along nicely so we will be back fighting for the start of the season in March! Time to hit the gallops again!!

My new horse Farramir (Alfie) arrived safely from Switzerland 5 months ago and we have achieved so much together already.....he lost a lot of condition during his 3 day journey over here so its been a struggle to get the weight back on him but he is now looking tip top and has had a season to remember. In a very short time we managed to qualify for the summer regional championships at Elementary and Medium level. He was a little tense in these champs but did two solid test and came 6th in the Elementary with 68.6%! This meant we qualified for the National Championships which was so exciting after only having him for 2 months!!

So the day of the National Championships arrived and Alfie's first stay away show....as you can imagine we were all a little nervous as we are still getting to know each other as a partnership. Well i need not have worried as he produced a professional and stunning test to achieve 68%!! The class was very strong and very large and we came 5th!!!! It was such an achievement and i am now so excited by our future together......

We have since been out to gain our ticket to the winter Regional Championships which we have achieved in few outings including 2 wins last weekend at medium level with 67% and 72%!! Happy days!

London Pride (Maverick) my 4 year old is growing by the day and a strong chap now! He has been doing a few shows this summer with my Groom Emily and achieving great starter results already....they have acheived over 70% at Novice level so its exciting to see him improve even more over the winter....if all goes to plan we have a strong team of horses for the season next year!!!

 

In 10 days time my Swiss trainer Tiggy Lenherr is coming to visit for a few days for some intensive training with my boys...i cant wait and i know we will learn a massive amount ready for our winter training!

 

Anyway thats all for now...i shall update very soon!

 

 

After a lot of thought and discussion we have decided to sell Rodger (Lenherr Rocco). He is such a lovely and special boy but unfortunately to achieve my goals of being on a British team in the future he is not insane and wild enough to make the grade!!!!!!!!!!! It was not an easy decision to make but every cloud has a silver lining as he has found the most amazing new home.......he has been bought by Olympic Para Rider Ricky Balshaw who got on with him brilliantly when he came to try him, Rodge looked after him and i think they have a bright future ahead of them!!! London Olympics 2012 beckons for Rodge and Ricky.....sooooooo exciting!

 

That now leaves a free stable to fill and it hasnt taken long to find a set of new shiny hooves.......Ally (Farramir) will arrive in the Uk in the next 10 days from Switzerland!! Last week we made a whistle stop visit to my trainer and good friend Tiggy Lenherr to try Ally. He is a beautiful 6yr old black boy with fantastic breeding and movement to match.....i cant wait to get him over and hit the competition scene!!!!!!!! Will put up pics when he arrives and keep you posted on how he is settling in!!

 

Tomorrow Maverick (London Pride) is going to visit Spencer Wilton for his first outing out and his first proper taste of being a grown up! Emily will be riding him as she has her first competition with him next week so it practice practice pratice!!! Fingers crossed he behaves and its really nice to be able to concentrate on him for a bit.

 

Well it has been far too long since i updated my blog so a new season means more updates on life at Lucy Straker Dressage!!!!!

 

Having left the rollercoaster of 2010 behind me i cant wait for what 2011 is going to bring......the yard is bursting at the seams with horses...training is full on and everything is going to plan!!

 

Since the end of the National Championships last september the programme for my winter training changed dramatically to previous years....Having felt that Lionheart (Leo) needed to gain more fitness to perform well at Grand Prix and also get his Va va voom back in the arena we have spent the winter out on the all weather gallops once or twice a week, jumping little fences and generally making the intensive Grand Prix work much more fun!!!! Wow it has made such a difference....he is not only fitter but stronger and has a totally different attitiude to his work.

 Well to see if this new regime had worked we went out 2 weeks ago to do our first Grand Prix of the season. He warmed up brilliantly...everytime he did something well i pushed him on forwards with big pats to continue our little routine that we have at home to make him think he is top dog!!! In the test he felt amazing...really forward and expressive and our piaffe and Passage tour picked up all 7's and 8's. We had a fantastic result and personal best score of 69.5%!!! I was so thrilled with him and it felt like i was riding a different horse.......so all the hard work has been worth it!!!!

Our first Premier League of the season is in two weeks so although the training has increased we are still finding time for him to have fun on the gallops and jump!

 

Lenherr Rocco (Rodger) is going very well and following our winter training he is now working Prix St. George. He has picked up his tempi changes easily and is proving very trainable for all the more advanced movements. We have been out in the last month to do his first couple of Advanced Mediums...although a little green he is feeling stronger all the time and the harder the test the better!! I think we will be ready for our first PSG mid summer so very exciting!!

 

My rising 4 yr old (Maverick)who i have had since he was 2 is now broken and ready for his first competitve season!! I have finally thought of his posh name which is to be London Pride so lets hope he's as good as the Beer!!!!!!!! He is proving to be a very quick learner.....his brain is ticking all the time so has to be kept busy or we all get bucked off!!!! He is so lovely to ride as he is so well put together and my Head Girl Emily and I are sharing his training at the moment. She will be competing him this year in Prelim and Novice classes and i shall do the young horse classes on him. I have decided to leave him turned out 24/7 as he is happier and easier to ride with that routine at the moment.

 

Well that is what 2011 is looking like so far......i shall keep you posted on all our news and results and promise to update my blog more often so check back soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Last weekend i had a very busy time competing. I went to Moreton Equestrian centre with both my boys. Rodger was competing in his first every Medium......the weather was horrendous with torential rain, high winds and boggy arenas but he was brilliant and a total professional and managed to win both of his classes with a percentage of 68% in one!!! He did feel a little tired in the second medium but hopefully as he gets stronger at this level then he'll find the work easier.

Leo competed in the Pick your Own class and we did an Intermediare 2. We both felt so much more confident in the arena at this level and he was feeling very powerful!!! We got a personal best score of 65.6% and 2nd with so much more to come and i was absolutely thrilled!!!! The help that Adam Kemp gave me a couple of days before with them both paid off enormously.  

I then went on Sunday to Equisense Equestrian with the little mare that is owned by showjumper Geoff Lucket and is with me to train and then sell. It was only the second time in a lorry for her and her first ever show so as you can imagine she thought it was all very exciting!!! Considering she has only been under saddle now 4 months she behaved like such a grown up......she never took her mind off the job in hand and gained 67% and 2nd in her first ever Novice test.........the only thing that needs work is the fact that she thinks that halting at the end of a test is very boring and totally unnececessary and instead we wobbled about like she had ants in her pants!!! She totally suprised me and i cant wait to go to our next competition in a couple of weeks as she is such an exciting prospect for the future........