The Faldero Files

[Ann Burling]

sounds like you are doing really well and are zipping along the road to full recovery 

[Ednovean Farm - Charles & Christine]

Glad to hear it went well for you

[Chris Hall]

Well suffered a bit of a set-back of late and it's reminded me that the road to full recovery is going to be hard - and I need to be a little more patient with myself 

The screws came out 2 weeks ago and now the stitches are gone. Ankle is so much better but quite sore - riding boots are not the most comfortable footware at the moment but with an extra pair of socks the padding helps  BUT now it's hit home how riding unfit I am  My last couple of sessions have left a little to be desired, but pleasingly there are things to celebrate: Fally is much easier to ride thanks to Rach and Rosie and is more prepared to work for me, even if I can't engage properly! And whilst I keep running out of steam, I can ride Fally in a good outline, more consistently, even through the transitions and best of all - in the canter 

Fally looks fabulous at the moment - hope to get some pics soon 

[Ednovean Farm - Charles & Christine]

Keep you eye on your goal Chris and you'll get there!

[Chris Hall]

OK - I'm now on a mission 

Fitness aside, our session yesterday afternoon highlighted what has gone wrong with me after busting my ankle  Wouldn't you just know it - my left leg is fine, no tension at all but because I had to rely on my right leg for so long all those muscles have tightened and it feels like it's shorter than the other - when riding it feels like I've lost steerage  so my instructions to Fally are to go in ever decreasing circles 

With this lovely weather I am inspired to try harder, or rather put more effort into getting fit on the ground so I can be better in the saddle. I was told by my physio that things would seem like they have gone backwards when they haven't - so must stay calm and relaxed and stick with the training programmes 

After saying all that, Fally and I had quite a good session with Rach yesterday and I was pleased with progress. We achieved some very nice trot work once I got the measure of what I was doing. And best of all, I managed to dismount unaided - it's these minute things that make all the difference to one's ego .....   

[Ednovean Farm - Charles & Christine]

I'm being forceably sent trying a yoga programme at the moment Chrissie - maybe that would help

[Chris Hall]

Thanks Christine - I'm going to start Pilates when I get back from my holiday in Gozo (jetting off on Friday to see my big sister for a week!)

I learned 2 good things today: riding is definitely good for your health and Fally now has turbo brakes  yes, I know - it's really that he's learned to listen to his rider and I've learned to communicate my instructions a little better  We had a super ride this afternoon in the lovely Cornish sunshine - albiet quite breezey. We only did 20 minutes but we put in some very good work. We can work reasonably well together for 20 minutes at the moment (this is me and Fally on our own) and I will build this up over the summer as I get fitter and can push myself harder. Today though I was really pleased: we did some very nice relaxed and rounded trot, some excellent work in walk and some nice canter - even large around the school  We worked on our halt transitions through all the paces and this is when I realised how well Fally was working with me. All I had to do to ride the halt was sit down and breathe in but I didn't realise how effective this was until I breathed in rather too much in the canter and yes, you've guessed, Fally performed an almost perfect canter/halt - spoilt by me not expecting it and tipping slightly forward    This seemed to focus both of us as our trot work afterwards was really rather good! We ended the session with figures of eight in trot and the circles were almost the correct shape though they still tend to have straight edges 

I've also found that my ankle is so much better after riding. Not nearly so much swelling and it's a lot freer  Sorry Don - I just have to do more riding ......

[Chris Hall]

It's been a while since I've posted anything so I thought I'd better update things a bit. Holiday in Gozo was superb - all that sun, sea, pasta and red wine was just what I needed 

Fally and I are starting to get the idea of working together properly. Rosie is riding him twice a week for me and it is proving very successful as he is becoming much easier to ride and more willing to work, well most of the time  Fally being Fally we will always have days where he just won't play. Yesterday for example, we didn’t do as well as on Thursday when we went quite nicely in all three paces, as Fally decided to spook in all the corners and at one point tried to leap across the school. However, now I can be relaxed about how long we work (I've just now taken early retirement!), I am being doggedly determined that Fally doesn’t get away with messing around and our session together was a battle of wits, which I have to say, I won  That sounds worse than it was – Fally didn’t do anything dreadful, just his usual I-don’t-want-to-work-so-I’ll-piss-you-around kinda thing. I surprised myself too – we worked for around 50 minutes. And before you say it, we didn't work so hard that we were both on our knees afterwards  I found on Thursday that we could work quite happily for that amount of time with a good 10 minutes at the start and end of the session in a good active walk on a loose rein with harder work in between. I didn’t wear myself out trying to achieve: each time things went wrong, I came back down to walk, insisted on a forward walk, got him back in the hand and off again and I found that way I can stop myself getting stressed, it was easier to correct my position and when Fally realised that we weren’t going to stop he put in some really good work – and I still had the energy to keep him working. It wouldn’t have been the prettiest school work for anyone watching, but it was a good lesson in who’s in charge, so whilst I wasn’t entirely happy with the quality of our work, I was happy that Fally found that now I won’t give in!

The weather could have been nicer yesterday - it was drizzly - but that actually helped as it was quite humid and the cool rain was quite welcome!

I find myself signing up for Prelim 10 in the next round of CC Dressage: the test has lots of canter, so next week we'd better get cracking 

[Ednovean Farm - Charles & Christine]

Early retirement..........does that involve laying in bed in the morning until YOU want to get up and doing what you want to and and and.............madly jealous......I retired from the yoga hope the pilates goes better!

[Chris Hall]

Well, I have to say, I highly recommend retirement 

The saying is quite true: although I'm not at the beck and call of anyone anymore, I'm busier than ever! Getting in a lot more riding and it's fabulous  I haven't posted anything for ages, so I thought I'd bring the 'tail' up to date! The moral of the tale is that there's no substitute for hard work - if you want to do something, improve on something, then you've just got to get on and do it!

Fally and I have crossed quite a challenging ocean and the going has been tough at times but we are sailing into calmer waters and most importantly, we are together. There have been a few hissy fits from us both - but not in the 'all toys thrown out of the pram' kinda way, a few flounces off but no wild dramatics! The time I have spent in the saddle over the last month has done wonders for us both, together with a lot of hard work from Rach (thanks m'dear), Fally is looking and working better than he ever has. His attitude to work is now quite positive, no arguments when is is asked to put in more of an effort than he'd like. Fitness has improved too - we can work on our own for 40 to 50 minutes now.

We have been working on sustained trot and canter work and I have been very pleased with what we have acheived so far. Our trot to canter transitions are coming on and to keep my confidence up, I have been starting our canter work off from walk (I find it easier) on the right rein (the left is our problem rein). Our downward transitions, particularly on the left rein are still a bit abrupt, but we do manage to keep going in the trot most of the time, which was something I found hard to do - basically because I was unbalanced so Fally lost all impulsion. However, we have had a few issues with canter on the left rein. Both of us find it hard to make the turn C to H. Both of us fall in, so we cut a great chunk off the corner! It is mainly rider error as I don't make proper use of the outside rein and fail to establish a good bend: Fally looks to the outside and the corner is lost!

We had a session with Rach this afternoon and we worked hard on this. I have to say though that I didn't help as I showed off our work on the right rein a little too much which then left me a bit out of puff for the left rein work  We did make progress and we mastered the corner quite well come the end. Rach had us canter a circle on the right rein, then a trot circle and then back down to walk, when I wanted to, so we finished on a positive note and Fally didn't stop on his terms!

I learned quite a bit more than improving our canter on the left rein - that is school discipline. Rach gave me some very good advice on how to establish a work pattern so we work on both reins equally, switching reins when it looks like going pear shaped, going back again when we have re-established our way of going. And more importantly, not working too much on the 'good rein' first 

I am sooo enjoying myself. In spite of the awful weather this week, we managed to ride outside all the time. Hope the weather improves for next week, so we can get back out on the pitch!

Life is good 

[St Piran's - Rachel]

Hi Chris

It really is all coming together.  You are right retirement suites you!

Faldero - difficult to know where to start with him really.  I suppose confession that I really love riding him  ..........  .............. and that has been a long time coming!  He has it all, good conformation, movement and is of course PRE.  But for the last 2 years he has been a KEVIN and all of a sudden he has grown up and gone got himself a work ethic.  Couple with your jumps forward it means each session I have with him he puts in the effort, pulls out the stops and busts his butt.

We are working mainly in canter at the moment.  Work starts with relax, then flex, then lateral - at present walk leg yield, shoulder in traver, renver and half pass and then half pass to canter.  Canter is much more balanced and today we were focussed on canter 20m circle into canter 12m m circle left to get the corner required for the canter HF.

He though he was done after that, so we moved to canter, gallop long side, canter.  At the end when I ask for stop - he did 

He is now quietly munching hay.  Such a huge change in him AND tidy in his stable!!

Best he has gone and I am really looking forward to September and PMG assessment because he is ready now to be pushed and I know Peter will have a fab plan for what movements and exercises will really benefit Fally the most.

Our spiral of work is most definitely UP


Well Chuffed of Perranuthnoe 

[St Piran's - Rachel]

Hey Chris

Took some pics of Fally today for you

Freeeeedom!








He has matured into a really beautiful horse
Rach 

[Chris Hall]

Thanks ever so Rach 

He is looking gorgeous, though I am a tad biased!! I didn't realise how much he has grown up this year - quite the Spanish Gentleman 

Hopefully the weather will be kind to us this week so we can continue our wonderful journey together outside in the Cornish sunshine. Well, actually, I'll settle for it being dry 

[Shelley Farthing]

He is just Lovely Chris! 

[Peter Maddison-Greenwell]

He is looking great Chris. You must be very pleased. Looking forward to being down soon and hopefully helping so more.

Regards Peter