RachelB
Well-Known Member
Sorry for the delay, I know some of you wanted a camp report but since I got home on Thursday I haven't had much fun at home/with family
but you'll be pleased to hear that camp did go very well indeed anyway
Sunday:
Camp started on Sunday for Sil... after Berlin (my share horse) produced a nice large oedema on his girth area on Monday but this was deemed too insignificant to worry about, B decided he had to step up his sabotage campaign. I left him at 6pm with his owner, and got a phone call at 6.30pm - B was colicking
Vet was called immediately who gave him painkillers and checked everything else was normal. After 20 minutes he was eating again and looking good, but owner decided not to call me until 8.30pm ish
after telling me to not go to the field! Cue mad dash to get things clean and packed because I really did think until 9pm that I wasn't going to go!
Monday:
Ethel had arranged to pick up the trailer at 9am Monday morning, with a view to picking Berlin and I up at about 9.15am to make the two and a half hour journey in the Ethel-Mobile to Stockland Lovell in Somerset for our first lesson at 2.30pm. Sil being Sil arrived at the field at 8am and managed to spend FAR too much time fussing and washing him and eventually turned up at the bottom of the field "drive" at 9.30am with Ethel waiting
Berlin proceeded to be a prat about loading, but half an hour later we had set off to pick up Ethel's Finn. Who, of course, waltzed straight into the trailer
Jane, the lady who lives in the SatNav, managed not to get us lost on the way (although Sil did make us miss our "stop and check ponies" place and we couldn't find anywhere else to stop
) and we arrived at about 1pm. After inspecting the stables and saying hello to the RC chairlady and secretary we went back to unload the nags. The car park was packed out with PC ponies and children, and it was only then that we realised we had parked so the front ramp was pointing directly onto a huge pile of arena sand that B took violent exception to, by trying to leap over half of it (and me) when coming off the ramp. Finn thought it looked like fun and jumped straight out after B, trampling on everyone and dragging poor Ethel behind
We settled the ponies into their adjoining stables (they were in the middle row of the huge barn, so on three sides they had other stables and could touch noses between the slats) and hayed and watered them, before unloading our own gear into our portacabin. No sooner had we done that than it was time to groom, tack up and get our bums into the arena for our flatwork lesson!
Ethel and I had opted to be in the prelim group, and for the first lesson there was an assortment of youngsters, nervous, inexperienced and un-confident riders and inexperienced horses. Only about five of us per session which was nice, but I have to say it did get distracting being in the same arena (albeit fenced off!) as the SJ lessons! Our first instructor was Hayley Gilmour, I don't think any of us had met her before but I think I am safe in saying that everyone thought she was very good. She rather liked B and by the end of the session (an hour and a half) we had gone from stuffy happy hacker to forward-moving dressage pony! B worked really well and didn't spook much at all, and we even managed to walk over a pole without dying on the way out of the arena (B has a pole phobia
) Finn also worked really hard, although Ethel had decided not to push his right canter problem Hayley had them doing really well (after napping/rearing tantrums on F's part and scowling on E's part) and we both came away smiling
We put the tired nags away and went to explore/shower (fab showers)/change/watch other lessons before dinner at 7pm. We found the rec room (sofas, if you ever go there beware because some of them eat people whole!
), dug out our wine, went to a RC meeting to get the details of our lessons for the following three days, and went down to dinner. The food is always fab at Stockland Lovell, I'll be damned if I can remember what we had the first night but it was all delicious! Ponies were tucked away at 8.30pm ish and while Ethel had the bright idea of going to bed at a sensible time, Sil had the stupid notion that if she was this drunk, she may as well stay and talk to the maddest person she knew (and the one with the least common sense) at camp - in fact ever - until 11pm
Tuesday:
7am, no hangover, drag self out of bed, get dressed, clean teeth, muck out, un-rug as B had sweated in his fleece
and get self down to the kitchen for 8am breakfast. Fry-up on offer every morning, also cereal, toast and coffee, tea or orange juice. Ethel downed breakfast and headed over to the stables to tack up for her 8.30am gridwork lesson with Nicola Norman. I was on photo duty and was very pleased to watch Ethel and Finn growing in confidence during the next hour
I left half an hour early to tack up B for my flatwork lesson with Helen Griffiths. I introduced Berlin as "12 going on 4, not really done much" etc. etc. and was thoroughly shown up by the beast when he worked really well
12pm and time for lunch, baked potato and salad
Then 1pm and time for Ethel to ride again and me to be taking photos (flatwork with Helen). Although he wasn't forwards properly (I know Ethel has a huge problem motivating him), F was working fairly well and was listening and bending nicely (Helen had them encouraging inside flexion). 2.30pm and it was time for my lesson again, I was in a slightly more advanced group this time so Helen had us first getting inside flexion, then trying some shoulder-in, and eventually (luckily when the pro photographer turned up!) we tried our hand at the beginnings of half pass in walk
We ventured out that afternoon into the HUGE, GREEN grazing field next to the arenas so we could hold on to the ends of our lunge lines and let our ponies graze while watching the lessons, which is a nice way to spend an hour as long as you're wrapped up warm! The photographer set herself up in the rec room at 6pm so we fed the nags and went to buy some photos (spent faaaar too much!
) and went down to dinner (roast pork and apple sauce, mmmm). Once the ponies were wrapped up/hayed/watered, there was a Le Trec talk which would have been quite interesting had half the club not been asleep and the other half too drunk to care
Wednesday:
Morning routine was established and after breakfast Ethel and I took B and F out for a hack. SL is really fab for hacking as it's a dairy farm as well as a horsey place so there are plenty of cow and silage fields to hack around. They have marked routes and no roadwork is needed. We set off around one route, over some fields (lovely views) and into a wooded bit, across a concrete bridge, nearly got lost as one of the markers has fallen over, then we decided we hadn't had enough yet so we joined onto another route - this one took us round the XC course. We paddled in the big water jump (B started pawing at one point and I had to haul his head up and kick like stink to stop him thinking about rolling!
) and pootled home past the cows
After wandering around watching SJing, grazing the horses and having lunch, we were back for our next flatwork lesson with Sarah Anholt. Ethel liked her, however a lot of people found she wasn't really suited to them and came away a bit disappointed. She tried to throw lots of exercises at us and got us to practise them only a couple of times on each rein, without much help, before she gave us the next exercise. As I was in the basic/prelim group again I didn't expect her to ask much, but oh no she wanted everyone to be able to do a half pirouette in walk and then do a perfect walk to canter transition. Berlin perfected the walk pirouettes
but got so het up in the canter, and I couldn't get much help out of Sarah so I left early (B was also totally shattered). I went to say thank you and ask to leave and Sarah tried to tell me that these exercises she would expect to be used as a warm-up routine... by that time I was glad I was leaving and made a swift exit through the SJ arena (I also wanted to give B a look at some proper SJs to try to cure his phobia, and he was so very brave
)
After nicking our tea and cakes an hour early
Ethel and I ran back to the stables to meet the 3pm XC riders and their instructor, Pepsi Kohler. No that's not his real name, he was in the army, he got nick-named him Pepsi and it stuck!
We had a fab time taking photos of the group (much to their delight) and learning from Pepsi, who is a fantastic instructor. He pushed you and takes no nonsense, but he is sympathetic to the more nervous and inexperienced riders.
Over dinner that night (chicken curry) we all told our stories of how awfully each of our flatwork lessons went that day, and by the time we had ranted, drunk lots of wine and put the horses to bed, it was time for the BVRC quiz night. Ethel and I were the loners and ended up teamed with the chairlady and secretary (I hope I didn't make a fool of myself!) and managed to embarrass ourselves by getting eight points in the first round (general knowledge) - two points per question and we had played our joker to double our points
Six rounds later (Great Britain, equestrian, pictures, food and drink, musicals, Stockland Lovell) we emerged the victors and took home £8.50 each (I would have done had Ethel not lent me the money for my pro photos!)
Thursday:
We packed up after breakfast and each had a flatwork lesson with Helen again. Luckily, the remains of the new-found dressage pony in Berlin were salvaged by Helen and he worked well, although he was absolutely exhausted and didn't last for the full lesson. We swept up, cleaned out, bandaged/booted the horses and prepared for a battle to load Berlin - who walked straight in after a tiny hesitation, met by a timely tap on the bum by Ethel armed with my super long pony basher. Finn (as always) loaded quietly, we checked nothing was left behind and the Ethel-Mobile doors were closed (to fit in all the badly-packed gear, why is it so impossible to pack everything on the way back as well as on the way out?!) and we set off home at 1.30pm. Jane the SatNav lady got confused in the middle of Bridgwater, Sil the SatNav replacement decided heading for Glastonbury would be a good idea instead, and we took rather a winding (and hilly) detour before hitting the A303! Beautiful countryside though - we thought so, I'm not sure the rapildy-emptying Ethel-Mobile quite appreciated the scenery
So we're home safe and sound, utterly exhausted but all very inspired
Ethel has told me that she will go next year and she WILL go XC, so I may need some help on reminding her of that this time next year!
Essentials to take:
HORSE! Headcollar and rope plus lunge line for grazing, indoor rugs and coolers, tack and boots, horse food, feed bucket, haynets, water buckets, tack cleaning stuff, mucking out tools (try to share with someone, wheelbarrow if you can fit it in), at least a sponge for washing off hot horses (Berlin being grey needed the whole caboodle to keep him clean!), stall chain if you have one (everyone admired my cleverness
), hat, body protector if jumping, riding clothes, evening clothes (if you possess anything non-horsey
), WINE, a small amount of money and chequebook for the essentials (quiz entry, present for organiser(s), pro photos).
I hope that's not too long, I did try to cut it down! It is four days' worth/six lessons' worth!
Sunday:
Camp started on Sunday for Sil... after Berlin (my share horse) produced a nice large oedema on his girth area on Monday but this was deemed too insignificant to worry about, B decided he had to step up his sabotage campaign. I left him at 6pm with his owner, and got a phone call at 6.30pm - B was colicking
Monday:
Ethel had arranged to pick up the trailer at 9am Monday morning, with a view to picking Berlin and I up at about 9.15am to make the two and a half hour journey in the Ethel-Mobile to Stockland Lovell in Somerset for our first lesson at 2.30pm. Sil being Sil arrived at the field at 8am and managed to spend FAR too much time fussing and washing him and eventually turned up at the bottom of the field "drive" at 9.30am with Ethel waiting
Jane, the lady who lives in the SatNav, managed not to get us lost on the way (although Sil did make us miss our "stop and check ponies" place and we couldn't find anywhere else to stop
Ethel and I had opted to be in the prelim group, and for the first lesson there was an assortment of youngsters, nervous, inexperienced and un-confident riders and inexperienced horses. Only about five of us per session which was nice, but I have to say it did get distracting being in the same arena (albeit fenced off!) as the SJ lessons! Our first instructor was Hayley Gilmour, I don't think any of us had met her before but I think I am safe in saying that everyone thought she was very good. She rather liked B and by the end of the session (an hour and a half) we had gone from stuffy happy hacker to forward-moving dressage pony! B worked really well and didn't spook much at all, and we even managed to walk over a pole without dying on the way out of the arena (B has a pole phobia
We put the tired nags away and went to explore/shower (fab showers)/change/watch other lessons before dinner at 7pm. We found the rec room (sofas, if you ever go there beware because some of them eat people whole!
Tuesday:
7am, no hangover, drag self out of bed, get dressed, clean teeth, muck out, un-rug as B had sweated in his fleece
12pm and time for lunch, baked potato and salad
We ventured out that afternoon into the HUGE, GREEN grazing field next to the arenas so we could hold on to the ends of our lunge lines and let our ponies graze while watching the lessons, which is a nice way to spend an hour as long as you're wrapped up warm! The photographer set herself up in the rec room at 6pm so we fed the nags and went to buy some photos (spent faaaar too much!
Wednesday:
Morning routine was established and after breakfast Ethel and I took B and F out for a hack. SL is really fab for hacking as it's a dairy farm as well as a horsey place so there are plenty of cow and silage fields to hack around. They have marked routes and no roadwork is needed. We set off around one route, over some fields (lovely views) and into a wooded bit, across a concrete bridge, nearly got lost as one of the markers has fallen over, then we decided we hadn't had enough yet so we joined onto another route - this one took us round the XC course. We paddled in the big water jump (B started pawing at one point and I had to haul his head up and kick like stink to stop him thinking about rolling!
After wandering around watching SJing, grazing the horses and having lunch, we were back for our next flatwork lesson with Sarah Anholt. Ethel liked her, however a lot of people found she wasn't really suited to them and came away a bit disappointed. She tried to throw lots of exercises at us and got us to practise them only a couple of times on each rein, without much help, before she gave us the next exercise. As I was in the basic/prelim group again I didn't expect her to ask much, but oh no she wanted everyone to be able to do a half pirouette in walk and then do a perfect walk to canter transition. Berlin perfected the walk pirouettes
After nicking our tea and cakes an hour early
Over dinner that night (chicken curry) we all told our stories of how awfully each of our flatwork lessons went that day, and by the time we had ranted, drunk lots of wine and put the horses to bed, it was time for the BVRC quiz night. Ethel and I were the loners and ended up teamed with the chairlady and secretary (I hope I didn't make a fool of myself!) and managed to embarrass ourselves by getting eight points in the first round (general knowledge) - two points per question and we had played our joker to double our points
Thursday:
We packed up after breakfast and each had a flatwork lesson with Helen again. Luckily, the remains of the new-found dressage pony in Berlin were salvaged by Helen and he worked well, although he was absolutely exhausted and didn't last for the full lesson. We swept up, cleaned out, bandaged/booted the horses and prepared for a battle to load Berlin - who walked straight in after a tiny hesitation, met by a timely tap on the bum by Ethel armed with my super long pony basher. Finn (as always) loaded quietly, we checked nothing was left behind and the Ethel-Mobile doors were closed (to fit in all the badly-packed gear, why is it so impossible to pack everything on the way back as well as on the way out?!) and we set off home at 1.30pm. Jane the SatNav lady got confused in the middle of Bridgwater, Sil the SatNav replacement decided heading for Glastonbury would be a good idea instead, and we took rather a winding (and hilly) detour before hitting the A303! Beautiful countryside though - we thought so, I'm not sure the rapildy-emptying Ethel-Mobile quite appreciated the scenery
So we're home safe and sound, utterly exhausted but all very inspired
Ethel has told me that she will go next year and she WILL go XC, so I may need some help on reminding her of that this time next year!
Essentials to take:
HORSE! Headcollar and rope plus lunge line for grazing, indoor rugs and coolers, tack and boots, horse food, feed bucket, haynets, water buckets, tack cleaning stuff, mucking out tools (try to share with someone, wheelbarrow if you can fit it in), at least a sponge for washing off hot horses (Berlin being grey needed the whole caboodle to keep him clean!), stall chain if you have one (everyone admired my cleverness
I hope that's not too long, I did try to cut it down! It is four days' worth/six lessons' worth!
