Quadrille and Talland
Quadrille
I may not have mentioned that this year - for the first time since we heard of quadrille as a discipline, we will not be competing. I won't go into details but this year the team has experienced (in no particular order): Close family bereavement which saw Tory and I unable to focus on horses at all for about six months. Lame horse due to illness - retired. Lame horse due to carriage crash - recovered. Broken ribs, slipped disc, broken back (3 different people), divorce, house move. Our targeted 'spare' horse proved not to enjoy quadrille, and our new horse has just not had enough practise with the team to be settled.
However, we will be going this weekend to cheer on the other teams (especially our very good friends from Buchan RC in Aberdeen), and to actually watch the evening performances. I am so excited, because we normally spend our time out back caring for the horses and getting ourselves ready, so I have never actually seen the quadrille as a whole!
So in a dramatic shift in direction, Tory and I decided to work on becoming better riders instead
Talland School of Equitation
Last Saturday we went to Talland School of Equitation for an assessment lesson with Hilary Hughes. The idea was that we would be assessed as riders then, and the following week would be mounted on a suitable schoolmaster for an advanced lesson
We expected to be met with poshness at every angle and to be intimidated by even being at Talland. We could not have been more wrong! The signpost at the gate is small, the gate is a normal wooden gate. The drive is not paved with gold, but hardcore as is the (huge) carpark. The horses all live in normal sized stables and the paddocks are full of normal grass!
The first thing that strikes you at Talland is how relaxed and happy all the people and animals are, and the second thing is how friendly everyone is! We were made very welcome at reception whilst we booked in, and by the instructor whose lesson we watched whilst waiting for our go. In fact said instructor deserves a medal because when one of the ponies wouldn't co-operate she had to run alongside so the child got to canter!
Whilst we were waiting our instructor found us and introduced herself. We must have stood out like sore thumbs. If we stood out because everybody else there was a regular - and people were STILL that friendly - that is a lovely reflection on the place, its ethos and its people
At the appointed time our horses were brought to the school and introduced to us. Our stirrups were adjusted and on we hopped. I say hopped but my mount had to have been over 18 hands so it was more of a clamber from a high step!
The lesson was eye opening. I discovered through Hilary's clear explanation that my legs need to change (which I also discovered I CAN do), but actually, in general, I can ride! Tory had a similar revelation and so together we are ready for our next session this coming Saturday morning
I will write a full account of that session - and quadrille from the viewer's perspective - after this weekend
Love and hugs
Tam and Beau x
Quadrille
I may not have mentioned that this year - for the first time since we heard of quadrille as a discipline, we will not be competing. I won't go into details but this year the team has experienced (in no particular order): Close family bereavement which saw Tory and I unable to focus on horses at all for about six months. Lame horse due to illness - retired. Lame horse due to carriage crash - recovered. Broken ribs, slipped disc, broken back (3 different people), divorce, house move. Our targeted 'spare' horse proved not to enjoy quadrille, and our new horse has just not had enough practise with the team to be settled.
However, we will be going this weekend to cheer on the other teams (especially our very good friends from Buchan RC in Aberdeen), and to actually watch the evening performances. I am so excited, because we normally spend our time out back caring for the horses and getting ourselves ready, so I have never actually seen the quadrille as a whole!
So in a dramatic shift in direction, Tory and I decided to work on becoming better riders instead
Talland School of Equitation
Last Saturday we went to Talland School of Equitation for an assessment lesson with Hilary Hughes. The idea was that we would be assessed as riders then, and the following week would be mounted on a suitable schoolmaster for an advanced lesson
We expected to be met with poshness at every angle and to be intimidated by even being at Talland. We could not have been more wrong! The signpost at the gate is small, the gate is a normal wooden gate. The drive is not paved with gold, but hardcore as is the (huge) carpark. The horses all live in normal sized stables and the paddocks are full of normal grass!
The first thing that strikes you at Talland is how relaxed and happy all the people and animals are, and the second thing is how friendly everyone is! We were made very welcome at reception whilst we booked in, and by the instructor whose lesson we watched whilst waiting for our go. In fact said instructor deserves a medal because when one of the ponies wouldn't co-operate she had to run alongside so the child got to canter!
Whilst we were waiting our instructor found us and introduced herself. We must have stood out like sore thumbs. If we stood out because everybody else there was a regular - and people were STILL that friendly - that is a lovely reflection on the place, its ethos and its people
At the appointed time our horses were brought to the school and introduced to us. Our stirrups were adjusted and on we hopped. I say hopped but my mount had to have been over 18 hands so it was more of a clamber from a high step!
The lesson was eye opening. I discovered through Hilary's clear explanation that my legs need to change (which I also discovered I CAN do), but actually, in general, I can ride! Tory had a similar revelation and so together we are ready for our next session this coming Saturday morning
I will write a full account of that session - and quadrille from the viewer's perspective - after this weekend
Love and hugs
Tam and Beau x
Comments
Post a Comment