Festival of the Horse Stoneleigh 9th -11th July 2010

THE FRIDAY

Okay arriving in good time with Jenny Newton considering we missed a turning then found ourselves driving back and forth until I seen the main entrance we arrived. Sun was blazing and we were welcomed by two lovely blokes who where obviously too young for us but they were really chatty and helped us in finding a good space to park the car.... anyway entered the FOH and it was pretty much laid out the same as when we went for a different show, not many stalls and those that were there were more suited to the traditional rider or for those that money was no object...

Jenny and I wandered to the main arena only to find you had to pay extra to go in.. WHAT... are they serious? Obviously not by the looks of the security at the entrances. I did find out on Sunday that after 1pm the tickets went down from £20 to £5, bit late to know that now though.

We spent some time wandering around and I am sure we went up the same aisle a few times and the amount of times I heard Jenny say "We've been down there coz look that's where we came in" I mean it's not like you could miss the two tents used as the entry point.. Sorry Jenny you must have been so patient with me lol

I bought a new fly mask, and then we headed off to the Parelli Pavillion, just catching the end of a session so off we went to the shopping area laid out for Parelli attire. Not much to buy but there were bargains, as a show only offer you could buy a Halter, 12ft Line, Carrot Stick and String for a mere £35, the halter and 12ft line are more expensive on their own. So if you missed that offer I bet your kicking yourself now.

While still getting used to the mobility scooter of which I found out around the Parelli stands is not the place to practise I accidently knocked down a bill board and stand, hit the wrong lever on the scooter and shot off and bumped into the wall. "Gulp" hope no one was looking.. Ahh Jenny saw the whole thing as I expecct did all the people standing there looking at me, I was sooooo embarassed and mumbled my apologies. I did buy a pink Parelli hoodie though so I was forgiven lol.

Then me and Jenny went and sat on a quilt she'd brought with pillows and soaked up the sun while having our picnic. After a bit we sauntered off and discovered a stand selling gorgeous pies at only £6 each some £5. I bought a Salmon and Brocolli Pie as did Jeny after having two huge samples and Jenny couldn't resist a tasty looking and huge sample of their fruit pie.

Checking the time we headed back to the Pavillion to watch the evening PNH Performance.

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PP entered the arena at approx 7pm and give his usual banter that we have heard so any times but with a large percent of the people there being new to Parelli it was very beneficial for them. After a long talk Robert Whitaker came in followed by his horse Catwalk. A 7 yr old Stallion bought 8 weeks ago as a promising showjumper but for one thing. He did not like being bridled and RW would not demonstrate nor elaborate on what they did to bridle the horse only that (in his words) it was not nice to watch. Pat spent a lot of time gaining Catwalks trust and got to a point where Catwalk would willingly and calmly except a bareback pad being passed over his ear down his neck and back agian over his head. (Previously Catwalk made it very clear he did not want anything near his head). This is where I myself thought the demo would end as we are always told to stop on a positive note so I was surprised and intrigued when PP asked for the bridle.

PP continued to work on Catwalk for some time using from (early on ...) a gum line and a line to tie up Catwalk's leg. Not sure why and I never heard any explanations. As time wore on I was tired, in some pain and also Jenny was ready to go so at 9.45pm we left.

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There is a huge thread on H&H going on about how Catwalk was abused yadda yadda, but while I did not agree with the gum line (nothing natural about using that IMO) I never once saw Cartwalk get distressed, rear violenty to attack, bite or do anything to show negativity which those on H&H seem to broadcast. I did see PP release at every try and saw a calm and passive horse up until the point the bridle was brought in. Then Catwalk become more and more stressed. I never saw what happened later so I can't comment but looking on U-Tube it is nice to see footage of Catwalk very happy to have a bridle taken on and off by James Roberts. I also hear Russell Higgins spent a good time with Catwalk as well to help him get over his issues.

THE SUNDAY

Arriving this time with Julia Bye and yeah we got lost and drove up and down looking for the main entrance and a few minutes before arriving Julia asks me if I have my Blue Badge... uh oh.. does having it in my car count. Phew.. No worries though the man on the gate just let us through no questions asked and we were also not asked for our savvy card as stated on the tickets. Got my scooter and off we headed to the Pavillion. Drove round looking for the other lasses and finally found them. The Northampton Posse where back together but with the exception of Hoppy who was greatly missed by us all.

Here's four of us... Not sure where Dawn Amour had got to but left to right is Julia Bye, Carole Ryan, me... and Evelyn Essam.
The day started with the PP banter which went on for ages the Instructor where introduced to us all. Then Laura (Manager at the Stoneleigh Office) came in with her horse. The issue was nothign drastic jsut that h eliked to pop his lips and shake his head a bit while on the circling game. It was quite funny to watch and looked like a learned behaviour that will take time to change. A small 15min break followed so I grabbed my scooter and went to the clothes area to see if I could get a black waistcoat but there was none. I bumped into Amber Murray and Lucy Curtis and Lucy wrapped her arms around me forgetting my operation. I screamed out a few times "My Back, my back" before she realised and boy was I in agony for a while after that even with my painkillers but it was accidental..

After the brief interval back in came PP and Alison Jones (3* Instructor from Devon) came in riding her horse Orange for a lesson with Pat on flying lead changes. This was great to watch and Alison was brilliant getting the right lead every time with Pat taking her though various exercises. It even got to one stage where Alison only needed to move a shoulder back for Orange to change leads. Sorry about the blurred photo but heck I was chuffed just getting it as I am no photographer.

We all went outdoors for lunch but I scarpered off first to buy another two Salmon Pies and a Chicken one as Brian polished off the one I bought on Friday and put them in Julia's car. We sat out and then grabbed a unsuspecting passer by to take photo's. There's always one isn't there... come on Carole, turn that butt around and hey... there's Dawn Amour. lol

The last session was with LP who give a demo with a 3 Day Eventer called Georgia and I forgot the horses name, yeah yeah I should have wrote it down but I think it may have been Andy.

Andy is the typical LBI so I was looking forward to watching this. Linda Parelli asked Georgia to squeeze with her butocks and when "Andy" I'll stick with that name for the time being.. did not move she was to ask Andy to step to the side and when he moved to release the reins. Georgia was great, she said she found it hard not to squeeze or nudge Andy and LP was often saying "I saw that, I saw that".

Andy was clever as LB are and soon realised he only had to walk a few steps and at one point Georgia said "But we are not going anywhere" when LP said to drop the reins when Andy moved off. At one point Georgia had to leave to collect an award and then again to ride another horse in her class. LP at this point rode Andy and said she was not expecting this. The session carried on with much the same scenerino and once again I was getting tired with only having 5 hrs interrupted sleep and my back hurting I decided I needed to go outside. Andy did start walking out more positively and from the squeeze but I decided to head out for some fresh air which was just as well as I found out at the same time I left the demo finished.

I forgot to take a photo of Georgia when she was riding but ahh well the photo of Linda on Andy is great.

Headed off home and yeah me and Julia got lost and ended up on the back roads coming out at junction 16 of the M1 but somehow we still got back 15 in quicker so that weren't too bad was it.

A great few days with great friends and good to meet and chat with those who I hadn't seen in a while