Circus Workshop

We've just spent the day at the circus! Becca, Ronan, Navvy, Casper and I set off this morning for Broadway, to run a circus skills workshop for some local school children on behalf of Gifford's Circus. The day went brilliantly well, aside from the fact that I'm writing this with my foot wrapped in ice - more on that later! Having arrived we took all the horses into the ring to show them what it was all about, and whilst Becca and Ronan were in there Nell bought one of her twins, five month old Cecil, in to see what was going on. He'd never been on a horse before but after only a few minutes he was standing up on Ronan's back - nothing like starting them young!

The idea was to use Casper and Navvy to demonstrate some tricks and the methods we use to train them, then run through some basics with the children on the barrel, before getting them on Ronan to have a little go themselves, then finally showing them some canter work. And that's almost exactly what we did! For the first group, Casper and I started off by showing them some tricks. Casper did really well - he worked in the ring inside the tent, with the children clapping him when he did a trick, and concentrated on me throughout. I was very pleased with him as the last time we tried performing in front of the public (at the Devil's Horsemen Christmas Pantomime) he didn't concentrate on me at all and did virtually nothing I asked him!

When Casper had finished I took him back and swapped him for Ronan, whist Becca led the ten children through some basic warm up and stretching. I then took each of them through some simple moves on the barrel before sending them to Becca who helped them have a go at everything on Ronan. The only problems we had we the fact that they were all wearing their school uniform. The poor girls, they had a much harder time than the boys - summer dresses are not ideal vaulting wear! Once everyone had had a go, it was time to go outside and show them some canter work. Just in time the second group arrived, so they were all able to watch as I did a bit of freestyle on Ronan. At the end I finished with a big flank off, and managed to land funnily on the hard ground. It hurt my foot a bit, but not too badly so we just carried on.

It was now time for the second group, and as Becca had Ronan out already she decided to use him for the trick training demo. I think she just wanted to do some more performing with Ronan in the ring - it was at the circus that they met and fell in love after all! Ronan did some lovely tricks as usual, and then it was my turn to lead the warm up - and that's exactly what it was! By this time it was about midday, and the tent had heated up quite a lot - I can't imagine how hot it must get performing a show in there all dressed up in costume and make up! We then followed the same pattern with me taking them through the basics on the barrel before Becca took them on the horse. The second group had a few members who were quite nervous of Ronan, but by the end of the session every single one had had a sit on him, with most going up to knees and doing a flare leg - brilliant! As they'd already seen the canter work we finished off with them all giving Ronan a treat and a big thank you pat - I'm not sure they wanted to leave at the end! Once all the children had left, we got Kelly and Niomi (who do a fantastic job in the Circus office) up on Ronan. Kelly is especially nervous of horses, but had managed to sit on Ronan at the last workshop we did, back in January. So this time we had her doing mill! There was one point when she was sitting backwards with no hands - we'll have her up in stand next time!

As Navvy hadn't yet been used Becca bought him in to the ring for some practice - shutting him in the dark chute on the way! He was very good and performed all his tricks well, making Becca proud. Both him and Casper behaved impeccably so they will definitely be at a show soon! We did manage to get quite a few pictures - just click here to see them. Before we knew it it was time to go home, so we said our goodbyes, loaded up and trundled home. However, by the time we got back my foot was hurting quite a lot, so I was hobbling around as we were unloading the boys. I took Tink out for a little ride, but couldn't even manage rising trot - and then had to drive all the way home in third gear because I couldn't press the clutch down!

We're off to the Three Counties Show tomorrow for a three day duo, and are all really looking forward to it. We love the Three Counties, it was Tinker's first ever show (as a four year old stallion!) back in 2007, but we haven't performed there since 2008. I only hope my foot recovers in time for the first show on Friday! I'll let you know how we get on!

Lots of love

Rosie xx

Hearing Dogs Summer Fair

I can't believe it's been two months since my last post, but unfortunately that's how long it's been since our last show! However, this weekend we were finally back in action with a duo show at The Hearing Dogs Summer Fair in Princes Risborough. It was the first time we'd done a duo since the Midland Gamefair in September, so Rebecca and I were both feeling a bit rusty to say the least! Having done quite a bit of rehearsal on foot we decided we really ought to take the boys for some Roman Riding practice. We took them up to the big school up the road (huge thank yous to Marilyn and Graham!) and just went for it! Much to our relief they were absolutely foot perfect - and Becca and I weren't too bad either! Bryn (Becca's boyfriend) came up too and took some photos - more on those later! Having done a couple of sessions of Roman Riding, and trying out some new vaulting moves we felt ready for the show, although we did get some last minute props and costumes which we didn't get a chance to rehearse with...

So, Saturday afternoon came and Rebecca, Ronan, Tim, Alex, Tinker and myself set off for Princes Risborough. It was a lovely hot day and the drive down was uneventful. However, we'd literally just arrived at the showground and put the ramp down when the heavens opened and it absolutely poured with rain. Hoping it was a passing shower we left the boys on board (much to their bemusement!), and thankfully after about ten minutes it eased off enough for us to get on with setting up. We passed the evening by running through both shows, endless sewing (which I HATE!) and playing Aerobie until it was too dark to see it until it whizzed past your head! Soon enough it was time for bed, at which point Tim and Alex enquired as to where the base for their bed was. The seating in the lorry converts into a large bed which they normally share, but unfortunately the one and only thing that Becca had forgotten to pack was the necessary piece of wood to make the bed - oops! They ended up sleeping just on the cushions on the floor, but as there wasn't enough floor space for both of them Tim had to sleep in the back where the horses travel!

Soon enough it was showtime on Sunday, and Rebecca and I were feeling very nervous! We'd changed some costume and music since last year, and we were also hoping that we remembered our lines and cues in all the right places. The audience were really keen and were about six deep around the entire arena - no pressure then! We needn't have worried - the show went well! Becca had a really good show with Ronan performing really well throughout. I wasn't quite so lucky with Tinker, but through no fault of his own. As we went to our corner of the arena for our dance we were mobbed by strange flying beetles. They were bright red and about the size of my thumbnail, and drove poor Tink mad! I actually had to stop the dance about half way through and rake my hands through his mane - there were about fifteen of them all over his neck, mane and face - needless to say he wasn't really concentrating on his tricks! After that he just spent the rest of the show whizzing about - but I don't really mind, secretly I love it when he goes fast! The really strange thing about the beetles was that not a single one went near Becca and Ronan over the other side of the arena - very bizarre!

We didn't have much time between shows and before we knew it we were back on with our second performance. This time we had our new blue and black costume, which I'd already worn at Bexley Heath Easter Show, but which Becca had never worn. We had made some changes since Easter though - mainly four bright blue pom-poms each! We'd not tried them with the horses before but were fairly confident they wouldn't mind them - if they can ignore things like the Red Arrows and White Headed Vultures flying over them surely they wouldn't mind pom-poms? We were right not to worry about the horses - it was us who struggled with them! Try having two pom-poms in each hand, whilst steering a horse and then finding your microphone and talking! Eeek! We just about managed, although we're definitely going to have a rethink before the next show! I'd also drenched Tinker in fly spray to try and deter the beetles, as well as dancing in a different part of the arena, and didn't see a single one throughout the whole show - all very peculiar! It was Becca's turn to have an interesting show - when it came to the roman riding her vaulting shoes were too worn out to give her any grip on our nice new pad covers, so that whole section was a bit dicey! At least she managed to keep both shoes on this time though...

After our whirlwind of shows during the afternoon it was time to pack down and head home - but not before we'd learnt the sign language for 'Jive Pony'! There were some amazing signers throughout the day - and a special thank you to Tom who had the unenviable task of trying to sign our shows! All in all we had a lovely weekend, and were very well looked after by Ruth and the team. We managed to get a few pictures over the weekend (and also some from our rehearsals...), just click here to have a look.

We're off to Giffords Circus for a day next Wednesday! Rebecca has very strong ties with the circus as she performed with them for three seasons before leaving to set up Jive Pony, so is very much looking forward to getting back inside the big top! We're going to be taking Ronan, who started his career there as a four year old with Becca, and who hasn't seen the circus since we did the Newbury Parade back in 2008. We're also going to take Casper and Navvy - it'll be their first official Jive Pony outing! Fingers crossed they behave - I'll tell you all about it next week!

Lots of love,

Rosie xx

Bexley Heath Easter Show

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but March really was a very quiet month in the Jive Pony camp. We've just been slogging away with training and working the horses, teaching our vaulting group, and getting ready for our first show. We did have an interesting corporate day teaching a group of hairdressers, but as yet haven't got any photos - as soon as I get some I'll tell you more about it.

But... Our 2010 season is underway! We had our first show this weekend, and it was really great to get back into it. Rebecca, Ronan, Tim, Tinker and I set off on Saturday afternoon for Bexley Heath in Kent for an Oakleigh run show. We were really looking forward to seeing everyone again, as our last show for Charlie and Emma was back in August at the Danson Summer Show. We arrived in good time and set up with no problems. We'd turned the boys out in the arena whilst setting up, which we usually do as it keeps them out of the way and lets them get used to the space. However, the ground was still quite wet and muddy, and by the time I came to get Tinker back in he'd done his best hippopotamus impression and had covered as much of himself as possible in lovely black mud. And he'd only had a bath that afternoon! The rest of the evening went without a hitch - apart from the case of the exploding herrings. An unopened tin of them accidentally got left under the grill, and as we were eating supper - BANG! The mess and smell was unbelievable!! The herrings wern't the only explosion of the night either, Becca was suffering from a very large, very angry ulcer on the roof of her mouth, which was causing her lots of pain. So... self surgery! She heated up a pin and POP! It was almost comparable to the herrings!! Hats off to Becca, there's no way I'd have been brave enough to do that to myself. But it did the job and she didn't have any more grief from it!

Sunday dawned grey and miserable, and we were fully expecting it to rain all day. However, apart from a bit of drizzle here and there it really wasn't too bad. It was very very windy though, and quite cold - not ideal when you're standing on the back of a horse trying to take your clothes off! Not only was it our first show but it was the first outing for our new costume - think Grease/cheerleader! Although we're both going to be wearing the costume for the duo shows, it was just me wearing it for the first time this weekend, and despite some initial trepidations it actually worked really well! The only thing wrong with it was that the collar is round neck, meaning I couldn't keep any 'titbits' for Tinker in their usual place (my bra!) - but we worked around it and will do some alterations for the next show. The second show also went really well, although it took Ronan a while to get up to speed! After the first section of the show I'm not sure who was more out of breath - Becca from vaulting or me from chasing Ronan round and round!

Monday's shows also both went really well, the weather was slightly brighter although the wind was soooo cold - early April is a bit to soon to go running around in a leotard! Tim had an unexpected change of costume when in between our shows he was abducted from our tent and press ganged into becoming a medical porter for the Officers of the Confederate State! We went to watch him doing his bit and although he was very good his medical expertise wasn't - the poor soldier he was treating died! The little video below (shot by Tilly Spielberg) shows Tim doing what he does best - being a naughty glamourous assistant!

All in all we had a lovely weekend. It was really good to catch up with everyone who we've not seen for while, such as Richard (from The Sheep Show, doing both a shearing demonstration and the very funny sheep racing), and Randal and Jeff Carey of Countrywide Falconry (who gave me a falcon to hold just before the first show for an impromptu photoshoot!). I did manage to get quite a few photos over the weekend of various different things - just click here to have a look at them. Tinker and Ronan were both their usual superb selves all weekend - they really do look after us very well and we couldn't do any of it without them! Thankyou boys!

Unfortunately we've not got another show until 6th June, so until then it'll just be more of the same. We do have our coaching exams at the end of the month so wish us luck and I'll let you know how we get on!

Lots of love Rosie xx

Vaulting Training Day

Monday morning bright and early and we were off to Moulton College in Northamptonshire for a vaulting training day. Becca and I have been attending a coaching course, which so far has mostly been theoretical. However, as it was half term this week the organisers had planned for each of the participating coaches to bring two members of their club to join in a training day with the British Team, which meant both the vaulters and coaches would gain more practical and hands on experience. We had also decided to take Navvy (Becca's youngster) for him to get some more vaulting practice in a different environment. So it was Becca, myself, Navvy, Gemma and Livvy that set off in the lorry on Monday morning. The journey was going really well until we were about twelve miles away from the college, whizzing along the dual carriageway, when BANG! We had a blow out. Now, this is the fourth time we've had a blow out, but the very first time it's happened when Becca's been driving. I'm so glad she was because now she can't blame them happening on my driving! The three other times have been at Wolsingham, Dumfries, and the CLA Gamefair, so we're very well practised with them! Thankfully it was one of the rear tyres, and as there are two on each side we were able to carry on steadily until we got to the college. As we'd limped on I'd rung the breakdown people (Hello, it's Jive Pony again...), so it was all arranged for the tyre man to come and sort us out during the day.

So, having arrived it was down to business. We were first of all due to do a forty-five minute warm up with a visiting German trainer, Steffi Burkhart. Steffi is a former rhythmic gymnast and has been training the British Team for the past two months, and she really worked us! The exercises were all very straightforward, but they completely reduced my legs to jelly! (Stairs have been agony all week as a result!) Anyway, just as we were about to start the warm up the tyre man arrived, so sneaky Becca managed to get out of the majority of it! Both Gemma and Livvy did really well, although I'm hoping for their sakes they didn't feel the after effects as much as I did!

After the warm up Livvy, Gemma and I stayed working in the gym, whilst Rebecca went with the horse group and worked Navvy. By all accounts he was really good, but after lunch he had to do it all over again! Having swapped the groups around in the afternoon all four of us, plus Navvy, were working in the school. Navvy did fantastically well, as it was only the third time he'd been lunged for vaulting. Not only did he have two up in canter doing baby freestyle moves, but he had different people lunging him and another horse working near him throughout. We managed to take quite a few photos of him, just click here to see them and others from the day. I also managed to take a little video of him, have a look below to see him in action.

The highlight of the day for me was having a little vault on Go Fast, the British Team horse. She's a lovely big girl, all 18hh of her, and it was just fantastic to be able to vault on a big horse again and as she was being lunged not have to worry about her at all (as we vault at liberty on our boys we have to be constantly aware of what both ourselves and they are doing). I did find her very different to Tinker though, as I'm so used to him anything else just feels a bit strange! I couldn't get my balance on her in stand properly, but I did do some good big swings - she certainly gives you plenty of lift! Having said all of that I wouldn't swap my Tink for the world, even if he is smaller with less lift! Both Livvy and Gemma also got to have a go on Go Fast, which was really good as both of them have only been vaulting since the beginning of January and the biggest horse they've been on so far is Tink. They both did well and managed bench, flare leg, and leg over the neck, all in canter - so both Becca and I were really pleased with them. Have a look at the video below to see Gemma in action.

At the end of the day we were shown the full British Team freestyle. Although only on the barrel you could see how well it will work on the horse. All the transitions were smooth and it was put beautifully to some Tango music. The team have got until October to perfect it when they're flying out to Kentucky to represent Britain at the World Equestrian Games. You can read more about the team and their WEG aspirations in a previously written post.

I did take a little video of Livvy vaulting on Go Fast too, and that's up on our facebook group. Anyone can join the group - just log in to facebook and search for Jive Pony. We've got about 200 members at the moment - but the more the merrier! I'm trying to keep the page quite up to date, and you can also comment on things, ask us questions etc etc - we always do our best to answer!

We've got the vaulting group again tomorrow, and this week I'm going to take Casper. He's very good on the lunge and I've spent a fair bit of time working on the transition commands with him, but he does have a bit of an issue with being approached, especially at the canter, so I'm hoping having ten girls in a row approach him will make him realise that it's not so bad after all! It will also be really good fitness work for all the girls, as I think he might be quite quick!! I'll take the camera with me and let you know how we get on!

Lots of love

Rosie xx

Jive Pony Vaulting Group

We did our second vaulting session yesterday, and once again it was a huge success! The first one was a few weeks ago, but what with all the snow we had to cancel a couple of Saturdays unfortunately - but now we're back in business!

We're running the group at a local riding school, Durham's Farm, and have had a group of about nine/ten girls come along, all of whom are really lovely and enthusiastic - and all seem to have boundless energy! We generally split them into two groups, with Rebecca taking one group to work on Ronan, whilst I teach the other group on the barrel. Barrel work is really important as a starting point in order to give a feel for how to move you body around in the space you will have available on the horse. It means I can teach the girls where their bodies should be in relation to the roller, how to use techniques to stay light and soft, and how to move about without getting off balance. I can then send them over to Rebecca so they can put all they've learnt into practise on Ronan! It's obviously completely different on a moving horse, so they take what they've learnt on the barrel and Rebecca builds on the techniques and helps them understand what they should be aiming for.

Ronan has been his usual wonderful self with all the girls, really looking after them. However, all the canter work has been a bit of a shock to his system - he was a hot sweaty thing even after having all his belly fluff clipped off! However, he wasn't nearly as hot or sweaty as Becca, who was cantering around next to him with each of the girls - she did have a huge amount of clothes on to keep warm but after all the running she definitely didn't need them and looked like she was going to have a heart attack! It's good to remind the horses what work is though (and us - I nearly died after leading a warm up for the girls!), as the show season will be upon us in no time so if we're vaulting regularly hopefully we'll remember what to do when we get to the first one! We're going to take Tinker to do the group next week, so the girls can try a different horse and also so Tinker can remind himself about vaulting!

Becca and I are also going to be embarking on a training course in order to become Level Two Vaulting Coaches. This will hopefully give us more ideas about how to structure the lessons and also improve our teaching skills. The course is one day a week for six weeks, starting next Wednesday in Northampton - it'll be a bit like going back to school! I must dig out my pencil case...

We did manage to get some photos of the group this time, just click here to have I look at them, and I'll let you know how we both get on the training course next week!

Lots of love

Rosie xx

Horse Hero Filming

I spent yesterday doing something very familiar to me but at the same quite different, as I was involved in some trick training filming for Horse Hero. In case you've not come across it, Horse Hero is a website described as 'a paradise for horse lovers', where you can watch an almost infinite number of videos on everything equestrian you can possibly imagine. Amongst others, there is also a section where many equestrian celebrities write blogs, a couple of which I read regularly such as the fantastic trainer Tanya Larrigan (whose book 'New Sensations for Horse and Rider' is a must read!), and Jo Eccles, the Scottish vaulter who is now European Champion. (Special mention for the lovely John Eccles who very kindly let me compete on his fantastic horses more than once, back in the day!).

Fiona and Lucy arrived in the morning, and got straight down to business by telling me I didn't look smart enough - and I'd even put clean jeans on! Admittedly, my coat is pretty grubby, but as I spend most of my time with muddy horses and muck heaps it's hardly surprising! Anyway, I soon raided Becca's clothes and found something that met their requirements, and I have to agree I did look better! Having relayed this story to Becca she burst out laughing and said its definitely the first time anyone has ever borrowed her clothes to smarten up!!

Spruced up and ready it was time to start filming. We started off with Aristo, who has never had any trick training. Aristo is a four year old stallion, and although he is broken in he hasn't done any work for the past six months. Come spring he will be off to learn polo before hopefully becoming a polo stud - lucky him! However, today was his big day - and having never really even handled him I was a bit apprehensive about how he was going to behave. I needn't have worried - he was fantastic! Considering all he's done since the summer is wander around the field, and then all of a sudden he got brought in, brushed and then spent the best part of an hour being trick trained, he couldn't have done better. I started with the head shake, which he did perfectly a couple of times, before getting wise to me tickling him and just ignoring me! We then moved on to the leg cross, which he took to really well, even balancing himself enough to bring his leg back rather than fall out of it after just a few attempts - very impressive. Finally we started the kiss, which he also worked out very quickly, and unlike Casper refrained from licking my face! I was so impressed with him, he is a clever little thing and I'm sure if I were to carry on the training with him he'd pick everything up super fast - I'm now a big fan of his!

Having shown how to start a novice horse off with some basic tricks, it was then time to demonstrate the finished tricks with my two boys. We all trudged through the muddy field to the school (which was still half covered in snow!), and started the filming with Tinker. I introduced him as 'my professional horse who I can take anywhere and I know he'll perform', which was a big mistake! To be fair to him he did do all his dancing, but it was sooooo lack lustre he looked like he was about to die of boredom. It was almost as if he was saying 'Where's the audience? Where's the music? Where's my applause? I'm not going to bother unless it's worth it.' Just like a true artiste!!

Thankfully Casper saved the day. He is the most enthusiastic little horse - I think he's stolen Tinker's quota too! He did all his tricks really well, although some were quite over zealous - the Spanish walk was more like a speedy Spanish stomp, and the kiss was definitely a dirty great snog! I was really pleased with him, he kept focused on me throughout the session, managing to ignore both the camera and Tinker in the background - a definite improvement from the pantomime! Having finished the filming he then did more tricks for the camera, you can see the snaps Fiona took of us by clicking here. (Or see some in the Horse Hero gallery by clicking here - we're right at the bottom).

I really enjoyed doing the filming, although I did find it quite difficult sometimes - I never realised how much I say 'umm' - must try and stop that! It was also hard to give a running commentary as to what I was doing. The reactions you need to give to reward the horse when you get the desired behaviour are far quicker than I can talk, so I think I may have stumbled over my words a bit. Afterwards, I also thought of loads of things I should have said but didn't - typical! It was good fun though, and I hope very much I get to do it again one day!

Hopefully the finished videos will be up on the site early to mid February, and as soon as they are I'll put a link up so you can watch them (unless I'm horrific in which case I won't tell anyone!!).

We're doing our vaulting group again on Saturday, so I'll take some more photos and tell you how we got on next week.

Lots of love

Rosie xx

Snow, Snow, Snow!

I was going to tell you all about our little vaulting group we started up last Saturday, but as I didn't manage to get many photos I thought I'd wait another week, get some more shots, and then write about it. And then the snow came.

The snow quite literally put a stop to everything for me. I couldn't get my car out of my road (parallel parked nice and tight on a very steep hill!) so was completely stranded. Thankfully the horses live with Becca, and she managed to squeeze looking after them into her busy schedule - for which I am eternally grateful!! Having not seen them for about five days and getting very bored Becca again came to my rescue and drove the ten miles to pick me up, take me to see them (and muck out!), before bringing me home again - oh for a four wheel drive truck!

I finally managed to dig my car out on Monday and make it over to my boys under my own steam, although the journey did take me 45 minutes instead of the usual fifteen! Having got back home I left the car at the bottom of the hill, which was a good decision as following the further two inches we had that night had I not I would have been stuck again! I took my camera over to the horses when I went today and took quite a few photos of them, despite the fact that everything is starting to look quite dirty now! On my way home I was amazed to see the hounds being exercised along the main road - it was a wonderful sight and just goes to show how quiet the roads are at the moment, they don't do that normally! Just click here to have a look at the photos.

The snow really has been exquisitely beautiful; I'm especially drawn to the icicles which have been absolutely stunning - I've even seen one which must have been about eight foot long! (Wouldn't want that one falling on my head though!) Aside from the beauty of it, one of my favourite things about the snow is that it makes the horses so lovely and clean! Although I turn them out covered in stable stains, by the time they come back in they have lovely white legs and feet again! They also have fluffy faces and clean manes! Self cleaning horses - brilliant! If only that happened in the summer when I need them to look smart...

Speaking of smart I will have to spruce them up a bit for Monday, as we're due to be doing some filming for Horse Hero. Fiona and the team are going to be making a short film on trick training, featuring Tinker, Casper and myself, as well as a novice horse completely new to the idea. This last part is in order to demonstrate how to start your very first session, and I will be using Aristo, a very sweet little stallion who also lives at our yard, but is unbroken and out of work - hopefully he'll enjoy doing something different and won't embarrass me on film! I'm also going to use Casper as much as possible, as after the panto debacle he needs as much 'atmosphere and distraction' training as possible. And of course Tinker, the professional, who will show us all how it's done (hopefully - he does pick his moments to embarrass me and this would be an ideal opportunity!!). I'll let you know how I get on!

Unfortunately we had to cancel our vaulting group both last week and this Saturday due to the snow, but as soon as we do the next one and get some photos I promise I'll tell you all about that too.

Becca is off to Paris again in the morning for more Annie Oakley, so is going to miss the filming on Monday, but will hopefully be having much better weather than us - fingers crossed she brings it back with her next week!

In the meantime I hope everyone is coping with the snow - and the thaw!

Love Rosie xx