As a member of the VictorianYoung Riders Dressage Squad I would like to report to SEDA members of my experience on Squad.

 My first time with the Squad was a bit of a non event because it was registration day.  This didn’t turn out to be as planned due to the Victorian Bush Fires.  So I only got to meet a few people, but I got my uniform and was informed of what to expect, there standards and the things we would be doing throughout the year.

 Next time we attended it was at Easter Time at the Young Rider Dressage Festival which was over five days which attracted some of the best riders in VIC, NSW and SA.  So the standard of competition was very high.  On Easter Sunday Mum and I travelled to Werribee and arrived about 5pm.  Raff got taken for a pick of grass and I met a lovely girl called Nicole who was on squad and chatted…….Then Raf was tucked into bed with his dinner.

It was an early start the next day to ride raf before we were expected to meet for squad.  He was worked  on sand arenas for about an hour and behaved really well.  Then it was time to meet all the others at the front office I was teamed with two other girls and we were given things to move to another building as we were all involved with the setting up of the festival.

Later all the squad members gathered together at the EFA office and Jackie Woodhead talked to all the parents and squad members about there expectation of us.  After that we were put into groups to do bonding activities.  We did various activities that helped us meet and make friends with all the girls and boys.  Then after lunch we went down to the indoor to help the parents who were setting up the arena.  Later after everything was finished Jackie gathered us all up and talked about the competition ahead and what we needed to do to help and make it run smoothly. (As we were all assigned jobs over the meeting)  Then it was more socializing then home for bed.

Next day it was up early again to get ready for my first two tests.  Before we went in Raf was working really well until I got into the arena of course!  He behaved really naughty in  both of his tests which was a complete surprise because he has been so good for so long.  So we were very tempted to take him over and sell him to the showjumpers at that time HA HA! 

So after my disappointment I had a lesson the next morning (wed) to iron out his problems, which of course he worked  perfectly .  Later that day I had to pick up tests for the Prix St George.  We had to put them in a folder then take them to a little room for the scores to be calculated.  It was great watching the higher levels perform.

Thursday  morning I was first in the novice.  In the warm up he was going really well and I think I got a bit distracted riding past so many people, socialising.  When we did my first novice test he was in my hand going forward and it was a nice test so I was happy.  My second test was very accurate and calm so I was pleasantly surprised after Tuesday tests.  Raf was back on the job.  That night Mum and I were pooped so we went back to motel and watched a movie and had an early night.

So Friday it was up early again to pack for home ride at 6am for practise for my freestyle.  We were meant to be on at 9,30 but they were running late so we didn’t get on until 10.30.  I really love riding the freestyles and he performed really well.  We ended up placing 4^th which I was stoked about as the competition was strong.  Presentations took a along  time so we didn’t get away until 2pm.  It was really good being there all week because I kept running into girls on squad so I bonded with them more.  It was definitely a great experience for me.

 June 09 (two days)

We travelled over on Friday arfternoon, got Raf settled and fed then we were up early Saturday start and met at the office.  We were put into groups of five that we will be performing a quadrille at the end of the year, so we will be working on that at each squad.  So as we got to know each other we planned our quadrille which was quite hard.  We discussed the horses differences and what level or tricks they had or what they were good at.  After the first session was over we moved straight onto the fitness theory session which was with Sheree and she discussed with us about how as athletes we need to stay healthy and fit and look after ourselves.  The fitness theory was really useful information to see how professional everyday dressage riders are.

Next session was held with Maggie who is our major sponsor “Hamag”.  Maggie gave us different types of activities such as getting to know some1 in the room, preparing mentally for an event.  This was all very interesting stuff.

Then lunch and  of course socializing before my lesson which I had to really hurry to get there and thanks to mum we made it.  Once I arrived at my lesson which was with Jan Smith who loved raf, I warmed up and got going straight away, doing  traver, shoulder in, counter canter.  This was beneficial because it kept his mind on the job.  Once my lesson was done I had to scoot over to another arena and ride a test of my choice and be videoed so we could get critiked the next day.  We had some cheeky pony stuff and some of it he was travelling really well.

That night we had dinner together and a Trivia night which was good fun.   Some of us girls formed a large group (only children) so we failed miserably, but we still managed to get a few answers off the parents. We learnt lots of horse stuff and had lots of laughs and a lovely dinner.

Next day  woke up not that bright, think I still needed heaps more sleep.Our first activity for the day was fitness which was hard and of course we all got pushed to our limits but it was very rewarding.  Afterwards we had our quadrill  to work on and discussed more of our test which we are going to ride.  We kept on changing the start of the test because we want it to be really interesting and  have an impact.

Then we moved on to watching out tests but they were having technical problems with the dvd players so we discussed all the new dressage tests.  It was extremely interesting  to hear  Marg McIver (who was our first Olympian ever to compete in dressage)  talk on tests and say they can practically tell what a dressage test is going to be like from the centre line.

As soon as that was finished we had lunch and off to our lessons again.  I had a lesson with Rob Clay and I loved him.  We got on with it straight away, no mucking around , shoulder in traver, flying changes counter canter and mediums**** what you say Raf doing mediums, yes and they were great.  He worked the best ever.  Raf was really pooped at the end of it and I felt sorry for him as we still had to go through our quadrille test.  After all that he was cleaned up and loaded on float after a hard day at the office to travel home.  We couldn’t stay another day as River had cut himself before we left and Mum wanted to get home to dress his wounds. 

So I had a very busy time at squad you are always on the go and I love the fact that I have met and made so many friends from all over the place there are others that travel as many hours if not more than us.  We have swapped email addresses and phone numbers with each other.   I look forward to my next squad as there will be a two day competition beforehand so we will probably be away for about five days.  This is just a sample of what happens on  Hamag Victorian Young Riders Squad.  I have been over  three times now and are due to go back in September.

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