Many thanks to everybody who’s sent me pictures to use, I have them up my sleeve for future Quizzes, but I simply couldn’t NOT use this one! For once, I do feel pretty confident that between this mystery rider and I, we have stumped the Eventing Nation….

Francis had spent altogether too much time gloating on twitter and various social media for the last couple of days about how hot it’s been down here in Ocala (relatively speaking, let’s remember he lives in England where it rains constantly!)

 so it was hardly suprising when the heavens opened on the first day of his clinic and barely stopped – even his wife texted him and told him it served him right for boasting about his sunburned arms so much, and it has to be said, the glow on his nose is certainly much less red now!

Nonetheless, it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for learning, and we had levels of horses from beginner novice up to CCI* come before him. Regardless of the level, the basic principles remained the same, they just became more nuanced as the courses got bigger and more complicated. Rhythm, Balance and Control: the perfect triangle – once you have two the third will come, and with them, harmony with your horse! At the lower levels control may be as simple as steering and dictating pace, as you progress in your training, the definition of control shifts to encompass things like lead changes. Actually Francis, naturally, explains it much better than I do, so here are a few snippets from the first day

Leslie Hicks, a local to the area, brought her nice, grey Thoroughbred to the clinic with a specific problem she wanted to work on, and I talked to her briefly in the rain,

It was also a real treat to catch up with World Equestrian Games Silver Medalist and Rolex CCI**** winner Dorothy Crowell who brought two horses and watch her go round with a huge grin!  Normally teaching most of the time herself, Dorothy admitted how nice it was to ride in front of someone else for a change, especially someone of Francis’ calibre, but just to have “eyes on the the ground”.

Dorothy Crowell on Distinguished

Anna Kjellestrom also brought a string of horses over, including, but not pictured the lovely Marvin, who was featured as one of the research horses in Dirty Jobs, but is now going gangbusters in his second career as an eventer.

Anna Kjellestrom

Francis emphasised using your body rather than your hands to slow down, as it will affect the balance, and rhythm of your horse less, but also enable you to maintain the quality of the  canter more easily in the approach to the fence. Every time you use your hand to check, you take the control away from your horse, whereas Francis would rather see the horse have more freedom in his head and neck, while the rider takes care of….the rhythm, the balance and the control! I’m not doing a very good job articulating it, and the second day is cross-country, and supposed to sunny so I hope to be able to bring you much more from there, and from the riders and Francis himself. Two quick notes: A huge EN congratulations to Missy Ransehousen who’s just been named USEF Para-Equestrian Coach of the Year, I can’t think of a more deserving person to receive any award, especially such an honour. Secondly, somebody asked about Francis’ boots, and they are Portugese hand-made to measure by Celeris. Thank you as always for reading, and Go Eventing! 

Francis had spent altogether too much time gloating on twitter and various social media for the last couple of days about how hot it’s been down here in Ocala (relatively speaking, let’s remember he lives in England where it rains constantly!)

 so it was hardly suprising when the heavens opened on the first day of his clinic and barely stopped – even his wife texted him and told him it served him right for boasting about his sunburned arms so much, and it has to be said, the glow on his nose is certainly much less red now!

Nonetheless, it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for learning, and we had levels of horses from beginner novice up to CCI* come before him. Regardless of the level, the basic principles remained the same, they just became more nuanced as the courses got bigger and more complicated. Rhythm, Balance and Control: the perfect triangle – once you have two the third will come, and with them, harmony with your horse! At the lower levels control may be as simple as steering and dictating pace, as you progress in your training, the definition of control shifts to encompass things like lead changes. Actually Francis, naturally, explains it much better than I do, so here are a few snippets from the first day

Leslie Hicks, a local to the area, brought her nice, grey Thoroughbred to the clinic with a specific problem she wanted to work on, and I talked to her briefly in the rain,

It was also a real treat to catch up with World Equestrian Games Silver Medalist and Rolex CCI**** winner Dorothy Crowell who brought two horses and watch her go round with a huge grin!  Normally teaching most of the time herself, Dorothy admitted how nice it was to ride in front of someone else for a change, especially someone of Francis’ calibre, but just to have “eyes on the the ground”.

Dorothy Crowell on Distinguished

Anna Kjellestrom also brought a string of horses over, including, but not pictured the lovely Marvin, who was featured as one of the research horses in Dirty Jobs, but is now going gangbusters in his second career as an eventer.

Anna Kjellestrom

Francis emphasised using your body rather than your hands to slow down, as it will affect the balance, and rhythm of your horse less, but also enable you to maintain the quality of the  canter more easily in the approach to the fence. Every time you use your hand to check, you take the control away from your horse, whereas Francis would rather see the horse have more freedom in his head and neck, while the rider takes care of….the rhythm, the balance and the control! I’m not doing a very good job articulating it, and the second day is cross-country, and supposed to sunny so I hope to be able to bring you much more from there, and from the riders and Francis himself. Two quick notes: A huge EN congratulations to Missy Ransehousen who’s just been named USEF Para-Equestrian Coach of the Year, I can’t think of a more deserving person to receive any award, especially such an honour. Secondly, somebody asked about Francis’ boots, and they are Portugese hand-made to measure by Celeris. Thank you as always for reading, and Go Eventing! 

I hate to gloat, and I’m only here for three days (but I am buying a lottery ticket even though Francis assures me it’s just a waste of money), but Florida in the winter – Hellz to the yeah, sign me up, baby! Longwood Farm in Ocala has long been a favourite place for many eventers to board, school and train, even for the USET, however now you can even compete, and of course clinic here! Joe Watkins explains it in a bit more detail, 

I hate to gloat, and I’m only here for three days (although I am buying a lottery ticket even though Francis assures me it’s just a waste of money), but Florida in the winter – Hellz to the yeah, sign me up, baby! Longwood Farm in Ocala has long been a favourite place for many eventers to board, school and train, even for the USET, but now you can even compete, and of course clinic here! Joe Watkins explains it in a bit more detail, 

The Ocala Winter Dressage Show at The Florida Horse Park this past weekend may have been a somewhat low-key affair, especially in comparison to some of the more glitzy shows taking place a few hours south in Wellington during the Season, but it had it’s fair share of high-profile competitors from the Eventing world, including quite a few comebacks. 

I should have known better! Of course the Eventing Nation can recognise a four star horse instantly from a shot of it’s behind – silly me! Thanks to Peter Atkins for sharing the answer on Facebook, this weekend’s Quiz Question Answer is indeed the super-horse HJ Hampton!

I should have known better! Of course the Eventing Nation can recognise a four star horse instantly from a shot of it’s behind – silly me! Thanks to Peter Atkins for sharing the answer on facebook, this weekend’s Quiz Question Answer is indeed the super-horse HJ Hampton!

Ireland is currently in the unenviable position of having to qualify a team for the Olympic Games next year based on individual rankings. Their Eventing High Performance Manager Ginny Elliot has named a provisional squad, and training has already begun in earnest so that they can compete at Ballindenisk CIC/CCI*** in February. As the youngest member named to the squad, Camilla Speirs boosted the Irish chances last autumn with a 2nd place finish at Boekelo CCI*** in Holland on the diminutive but wonderful Portersize Just a Jiff, and she kindly took some time out of her busy schedule of training to answer some questions. 

The Ocala Winter Dressage Show at The Florida Horse Park may have been a somewhat low-key affair, especially in comparison to some of the more glitzy shows taking place a few hours south in Wellington during the Season, but it had it’s fair share of high-profile competitors from the Eventing world, including quite a few comebacks.