My last post was very sad, but in many ways due to us losing the old boy, this post is very much happier. Because shortly after his death, Kinna ended up on the market. Remember Kinna? The little odd coloured Appaloosa with the fluffy teddy bear ears and gangly legs. We had to leave her behind when we left France because we just couldn't afford to bring all four of them with us, let alone pay UK livery prices for four. She went to our friends John and Carole when we relocated back to the UK.
But now she was for sale, along with many of their other horses, as they were having to sell the business. and we now had a spare livery space. So with the financial backing of our friend Emma, we hatched a plan to get her back. There was a fair amount of paperwork involved, things have changed since we brought the others back, but yesterday it all finally happened and she stepped off the huge lorry (we used LOC International again, another excellent job), cool as a cucumber......
I think she was pretty happy to see Sky again, but the feeling doesn't seem to be reciprocated so for the moment we have put her in with Tari, who has chased her about a bit but basically doesn't let things like new horses arriving get in the way of important things like eating. For all her chasing, Kinna can easily outpace her and dances away with a contemptuous flick of her hindlegs.....
We're very happy to have he back, and are looking forward to having lots of fun with her again :-)
We were up first thing on Sunday, despite the late night involving beer and cognac, and it promised to be a hot one. The last day of competition was the Hunt Track, followed by the FFE Club competition that Ali was entered for.
The Hunt Track is basically a cross country course but with targets instead of jumps. A lot of these were 3D targets in the shape of the various creatures they like to pursue in France (although they usually go for it with big guns). Have to say, looked like a lot of fun and I really want a go at it one day!
We picked a nice spot near the start under some shady trees and waited for the action to start. Was actually quite difficult to photograph due to the white tape marking the track everywhere and having to be careful where I stood since the targets were on both sides and I didn't fancy getting hit by a stray arrow!
Ali ended up appointing herself head groom for the German team and spent most of her time holding on to various horses and passing up bows and quivers, and at one point being in charge of the wolf dog who tried to follow his owner onto the track!
A TV crew showed up in the afternoon and once they'd been told to move since they went to stand in one of the danger zones, they shot a load of footage of the competition and did some interviews, one of which was with Johan, so Kinna got on the telly (sort of)
Only one casualty, one of the Hungarians came off when his horse took exception to a plastic wild boar and he broke his wrist. For once, the pompiers showed up within minutes and took him off to hospital.
It was a great competition to watch, for the same reason we always go to Badminton on cross country day. There was even a Qabaq shot, where the target is above your head:
Quite a lot for the riders to think about, there was an optimum time and you lose points if you are too slow but also if you go too fast. A lot of them borrowed eventing watches and spent a lot of time checking them.
After everyone had been round, there was of course the prize-giving....
Then it was time for the Club competition, a bit of an anti-climax after the international one, but Ali and Kinna were up for it. She didn't do very well, largely because she was more focussed on getting Kinna to listen to her and stop at the end when she should, but then Ali really isn't very competitive at all.
She is keen to improve her shooting though, and Adam from the British team is always keen to help, so after the comp it was back to the training.....
We ended up with Kinna in hand as John was doing the club élite comp with the other horse and we didn't think it'd be a good idea to leave her on her own, so naturally she got drafted into service when Ali was practising her back shot
So another long but fun day, rounded off with a meal for all the competitors who hadn't had to rush off home, and a meeting of the new French branch of the IHAA
Great fun weekend, think I need to go and photograph some more competitions abroad, there's talk of a stage in Germany next summer :-)
Saturday morning saw us up and about early. We seemed to have been camping in the lumpiest field ever. Note to self: airbeds are NOT optional when camping......but sanity was restored with a trip to Luc and Isa's tent who had the camping stove to make us tea :-)
First thing was a reconnaissance of Sunday's hunt track, after her overenthusiasm the day before, we decided to get Ali to take Kinna round the track to make sure there wouldn't be any surprises on the day....
She was absolutely fine and sprang along with the funny-coloured ears flicking round at all the strange looking targets, but she didn't spook at any of them :-)
Thankfully the day dawned cloudy, so the temperature was lower, just as well since the Korean track was in a different field with no shade whatsoever......no trees to get in the way of the photos though :-)
After lunch the left-handed group were on last again, but I didn't need to catch Kinna this time!
The organisers had asked all the competitors to bring a blunt arrow along with them, and on Saturday evening we found out why, there was an extra competition just for fun. The target this time was a plate!
It was a knockout competiton and only a few people managed to break a plate to get through to the second round. Ali had a go but just missed it.....
...but Johan hit the plate, didn't break it as he wasn't using a blunt, but made a neat hole in it so they gave it to him to keep as a souvenir :-)
The evening light made for some nice photos.....
...and it was nice to see one of the competitors competing bridleless!
So once a winner was decided by the second round being timed, we then all went off for more apéros and a pleasant evening drinking beer and cognac and talking about horses. Ali stayed up even later than me talking to the German team and a very drunk Pole....
Last weekend saw Ali and I packing our bags to fly to Limoges for the second stage of the European Horseback Archery Grand Prix. As it was in France, I'd decided it was a good excuse for a jolly, and to go and catch up with some old friends who were going. The fact that Kinna was entered for the competition might have had something to do with it too....... ;-)
And we had an excellent time. We arrived at the venue, the Domaine de Gauchoux, at around lunchtime on Friday, just in time to get stuck in to the usual excellent French spread. We met up with John and Carole from our old club, and Luc and Isabelle from Beaumont. Then it was off to the Hungarian track to watch the first of the 3 competitions.
They have a funky electric target at Gauchoux, so instead of 3 target faces, there's just the one and it turns as the rider goes down the track. Some video of that here:
The track itself is dug into the ground a bit and lined so the sand stays put (mostly). 'Twas a bit hot and dry however, so sand was flying all over the place as spectators huddled under the trees for shade, or hid in the woods and risked the horseflies biting......
The trees along the front of the track made it a bit tricky to get decent shots, as did the very pretty but somewhat obtrusive plastic flowers, but I managed some....
Emil riding for Sweden
Dorine riding for France
Wojtek riding for Poland
Some great costumes on display, much fur in evidence (on saddles too) but possibly a tad warm for the Limousin in summer!
As usual, the guys were all very lovely and when Ali asked for some tips with her shooting, they duly whisked her away to the practise range (OK, some big round bales with the tattered remains of target faces on them) for some instruction.
She somehow managed to come out of it 2 euros in profit too ;-)
The left-handed archers were the last group of the day, and Kinna duly made her appearance, ridden by Johan, John and Carole's son. Mademoiselle gave some cause for concern to begin with, unsurprisingly really as it was her first big competition away from home, and he was having trouble getting her attention hen it came to things like stopping.....this resulted in me standing at the end of the run to make sure she did, and didn't try to rush off back to the others.
Once we'd replaced stressed pony with chilled pony, I was able to get a picture! She soon realised that her mate Idaa wasn't going anywhere and that she only needed to do the same thing each time on the track. She has always been a quick study.......
So with day 1 over, a lot of very hot and bothered people retired to the picnic tables (via a spéctacle put on by the kids from the club which involved ponies painted as zebras and giraffes!) for a good old French aperitif.....which of course turned into a proper drinking session. For once I was surrounded by languages I couldn't all understand (although was quite chuffed I was able to get most of what the German team was saying). Very pleasant evening, but we didn't stay up too late having been up at 4.30 to get to the airport!
We've been back in the UK for about a year and a half now, and there are some things I've really noticed are different over here when it comes to horses. Before we moved to France I never owned a horse, keeping one was too expensive basically. I rode a lot though, worked at a local stables when I was younger, learned the "traditional" way of doing things, saw people out and about on horses all the time, it all seemed normal to me.
But after 12 years in France, my perspective has definitely changed. I got my first horse, realised how much I didn't know, started questioning things, learning new things, going to clinics, riding with lots of different people and gradually things evolved from me having a horse because I wanted to ride to having a horse (or two, or three) because I also like being with them and working with them, and wanted to understand them better and make their lives as pleasant and stress-free as possible as domestic horses.
Ali and Seraphina competing at Porte Ste Foy
In France, Ali and I hacked out on hairy, muddy horses. We rode in rope headcollars or bitless bridles, we showed up at TREC or endurance competitions in hi viz gear with never a thought of plaiting, or turnout. Yes, you were expected to put a jacket (if it wasn't too hot!) and light jodhs on for jumping, but that was about it. Never even saw a sign of hairnets or tweed......apart from on the ex-pats ;-)
Gandalf and I at a TREC competition in Cleyrac
Over here, we continue to hack out on hairy, muddy horses. No one else seems to though! We meet many shiny, clean horses, often sporting a collection of exercise sheets, boots and bandages that make it hard to see the horse underneath it all. They often quite literally look down on us from the lofty height of their TB/WB/sports horse types and very few of them say as much as hello. If you met someone out hacking in France, you'd stop for a chat, even if you'd never met them before. Only one other rider has done that to us since we got here (and she was riding a barefoot horse in a headcollar).
In France, no one mentioned the fact that you were riding a draft cross, cos often they were too. No one saw the need to comment that your horse didn't have shoes on, cos often theirs didn't either. And in all the years of riding over there no one ever felt the need to tell me that riding in a headcollar on the road is dangerous because I don't have control over my horse without a bit. Here on the other hand.........
Just got back from 3 weeks in France (where we no longer have wifi at the house, which is my excuse for not blogging for ages), supposedly on holiday but actually ended up on a kind of extended horse archery training course.....as you do!
This is a new FFE discipline and John at our old club has taken it up big time. As they had a competition planned for the final weekend of our stay, we decided it'd be fun to have a go. Ali of course got to ride Kinna, and as she's been doing field archery for a few years, turned out to be some good at it.
I on the other hand, got totally thrashed by everyone in Club 3 (the easiest level, all at the walk), even the kids on a lead rein. But it really was a lot of fun :-)
We went for several training sessions, including one where I managed to fall off Nanou, she only has 2 speeds, plodding along like a donkey or full speed racehorse and I ended up swearing (and laughing) a lot as she tanked off up the run.....
Needless to say, I can only actually hit the target when she's in donkey mode ;-)
John has done a really good job with Kinns, she totally gets what you have to do and doesn't bat an eyelid at any of it.....
So, Easter holidays are here and we've just been back to la maison en France for a week. Not exactly a holiday, mind you. Spent most of the week running around catching up with people. And drinking wine. Quite a lot of wine, as you do.......
Had lined up some riding lessons for Ali back at the club in Porte Ste Foy. Of course she wanted to ride Kinna. Pretty much as soon as we arrived, Carole was phoning to see if we wanted to come and see the horses getting fitted for their new hoof boots before their endurance comp at the weekend. So we went up there and got to catch up with Howard as he told me all about these new boots, Floating Boots, that he gets from Spain.
Like the look of them, even the sole is flexible......
Then it was down to see Tess and her horses who are in a new home and seem very happy and relaxed there. The yard owner has a Mérens mare who is fabulous, the SNO certainly thought so!
Back up to the stables for Ali to ride Kinna - and the little darling did her Tigger impression specially for us ;-)
Got actual sunburn up there standing by the school, having arrived looking like a pale English person. And that was just day 1......
Ali had another lesson on the Saturday on the lovely Nanou, who showed some really nice moments during the flatwork lesson
But the highlight of the week was going to Kinna's first endurance competition. After the usual crack of dawn start and endless drive, we arrived, unloaded, and she was like an overexcited kid, those funny-coloured ears were flicking at everything.....
She didn't want to stand still, pulled away from the trailer, stuck her head in the locker to get at the hay in there, reminded me of the SNO when she's on a mission to get into trouble......when we went for the vet check, she couldn't keep her feet still and even tried to eat the pot plant I thought all this excitement would mean a high heart rate......but no, it was only 28 bpm!!
Her winter coat is coming out in handfuls and where her skin fell off last year there's nothing left, she looks like a bit of a welfare case! They'll have to put suncream on her! But she is on good form, once she was saddled and wearing her new floating boots, she was impatient to be off.
John was intending to keep her at the back, but by the time they came back, she was out in front.....
.....and looking like she could go round again!
Then there was an argument about having water poured over her, she didn't seem to think that was necessary, although it was pretty hot by then (and I was well on the way to getting sunburned again) and more fidgeting and trying to go off and visit other horses or otherwise trying to get John's attention whilst he was trying to get his other horse ready for the 20k ride. Kinns seems to like him, she follows him about. The second vet check gave a heart rate of 48, not so good, but still not bad for a first time out. She came joint 7th with Carole and Valerie's horses both of whom have done this before a fair bit.
So a good day out, the two girls from Carole's on their ponies did very well for a first go, one of them came first as her pony had a returning heartbeat of 32. I miss those guys, can't wait to get back out there this summer.....
Having been to a couple of TREC competitions here in SW
France and had a lot of fun, some friends and I decided to organise our own,
nothing official, just to give our friends an idea of what it’s all about.
So what is it all about? Invented in France in the 70s, le
TREC ('Technique de Randonnée Equestre de
Competition') was designed to test how good a horse and rider are at going anywhere
and doing anything. There are 3 elements to a competition, the POR (Parcours d’Orientation)
which is basically orienteering on horseback, the Control of Paces, which
involves cantering as slowly as possible over 150m, the slower you go, the more
marks you get, if you drop into trot then you get no points, then walking as
fast as possible back over the same distance, this time the faster you go, the
more points you get. This bit is incredibly difficult, particularly as in France
at least the 150m is not in a straight line and it’s a marked corridor 2 metres
wide, and if a hoof goes out of line, it’s
no points again. The final element is the PTV (Parcours en Terrain Varié)
or obstacle course. This involves 12 or 16 obstacles depending on the level you
compete at, some ridden, some in hand, such as walking over a bridge or through
water, under low branches, jumping a log, opening and closing a gate, mounting
from the off side, in short, things you might encounter when out and about.
I can organise that, I thought, how hard can it be?
So after weeks of trudging round a 12km route for the orienteering
checking that all the paths were passable, organising food, people to man
checkpoints, printing maps, getting the obstacle course together and sorting
out somewhere to put all the horses, we were ready to go.
All last week, it was warm and sunny. Saturday, the day of the TREC, it
rained. Luckily I’d thought to laminate the maps, I had predrawn them to make
things easier, in a proper competition you have to copy the map from a master
copy before you set off on the ride. We had four teams, the first one went out
at about 9.30. After they’d gone I realised that my checkpoint people were
standing around drinking tea instead of getting out on the course so I had to
chase them out sharpish.......
Then team two left 15 minutes later, one of them was on my horse, I
didn’t realise at first that the dog had gone with them........I sent out the
final two teams at 15 minute intervals, then set off in the car after the dog.
Tracked the dog down, Team two were doing well, so I went back to base but
never got there as on the way I found Team 4 going up the busy main road having
misread the map. I escorted them back to the proper route before an impatient
French driver could wipe them out, and decided it’d be a good idea to check
where the rest of the teams were. Team 1 was steaming ahead and already at
checkpoint 2, Teams 2 & 3 arrived together at the first checkpoint and stopped
for coffee & biscuits, then I got a call from Team 4 who were lost again.
I went to find them and got them back on track, then had to go in
search of Team 2 who had somehow managed to miss checkpoint 2 completely much
to the consternation of the people manning it, but they managed to find
checkpoint 3. By this time Team 1 had finished the ride, but there was no sign
of Team 4 again. So I went to find them again and pointed out the route through
the vines. I drove round the rest of the ride making sure the others were on
track, then went back for Team 4 again who had gone the wrong way and ended up
in a village 3km off the marked route. Teams 2 & 3 finished the ride, we
waited for Team 4. Everyone else untacked the horses and went for an excellent
lunch cooked by our hosts and all cheered when Team 4 eventually arrived back!
After lunch it was time for the PTV. It was raining again. The
competitors had to start off on foot and negotiate a maze of poles on the
floor, then mount from the off side with the horse preferably not moving out of
the circle marked on the floor. There was a wooden bridge to cross, a couple of
the horses were not happy with that, a log and brush jump to go over, a slope
to ride up, a slalom and low branch (well, string of flags in this case),
another circle marked on the floor for the horse to stand still in for 10
seconds (quite a few of them didn’t manage that) and a corridor of poles to
ride through. Some of the obstacles like the corridor and the slalom get more
points the faster you go, so there were horses and ponies bombing about all over
the place.......
After that we did the COP, and it was very difficult, I think only a
couple of people got any marks at all for that phase!
I totted up all the marks and dished out the rosettes and prizes, then
we put the horses away and all retired for a drink and a barbecue.It was a lot of fun but I don’t think I’ll be
organizing more than one a year!!
I thought all this excitement would mean a high heart rate......but no, it was only 28 bpm!!
