Fedarman B - Devon Dressage Show - Sept ‘24

This is a video for the Annie Goodwin Syndicate. Well, guys, Bruno had an interesting weekend at the Devon Dressage show, the Devon Horse show, which is a very, very famous dressage show here in Pennsylvania at Devon. And we got a special rider, Silver Martin. And obviously the dressage has been a huge, huge. I don't want to say challenge, but it's the one chink in our armour with Bruno in the competition, like, looking back at it last year at Le Moulin and Po, and then again this year at the Olympic Games, you know, he's been flawless in the cross country, in the show jumping, and we're on an absolute mission to get him going better in the dressage. So Silva's sort of been doing a lot of the work with Bruno, helping him train. And what we discovered is that Bruno does change a bit at the competition. He gets a little bit different or he behaves a bit different, especially in the flying changes. You know, one of his flying changes has always been a bit tricky, but it's quite disheartening leading up to the Olympic Games, where I felt like I was getting the flying changes in training and in practice and then sadly in the, the competition, in the moment, he, he gets a little bit tight and nervous and. Well, Silva will explain. I've got my special guest here to talk through. She did two tests. This is the test you're looking at here is actually on Friday. And, well, Silver, you tell us what tests they were and your plan and whatnot.

Yeah. Hi, guys. I'm. I'm so glad that, that we decided to do this. It was a little bit of a, a job to get this done just because to ride at rest. I said, debbie, you have to qualify. So I had to go to, to a show in Maryland to qualify him for this class. This is, this is a fourth level test, which is a little bit more than he has to do at any level. In the venting, it's a little bit more difficult than any of the chairmanship tests, like the tests at the Olympic Games or World Games. But he qualified easily and I think it was so helpful for me to feel what happens in the ring. And I do agree with Boyd. I do think he changes quite a bit in the show ring. So the other thing that I think that was very, very helpful is that I wrote him two days. The first day he was a little bit fiery and this is the first day. Yeah, this is the first day. So the first day was not quite as rideable as today. He was. It's a little bit hard to See, because he always looks like a pretty quiet horse, but he's actually not. He's actually quite explosive to your leg. And you will see right here, when I pick up the reins from the extended walk, he gets quite hot because he knows Tucana is coming. So all that kind of stuff went away today. So that was so great that I had another one of the exact same test today. He came out a completely different horse today. We got it all done the first day, especially the changes, which was exciting. I've been schooling the changes a lot at home, but then again, Boyd told me that he does change in the showing and he does so. But I think because we gave him a good experience this first day, he was much more comfortable today. So I was really. I was really, really happy with him. I. I think I was very happy with him the first day, but I was over the moon with him today. So he. He actually scored quite well and held his own against all these bad dressage horses. So that was pretty exciting.

So, obviously, main goal is to head to Po France again. I really think we've got a sensational chance of being very, very competitive. Well, not only competitive, we're on a mission to win it. We've obviously got this guy ultra fit. He's still fit from the Olympic Games. And, you know, I often feel a bit bad that we keep sort of taking him overseas, but I really feel like Poe is so suited for Bruno, and I also think Bruno's in the absolute prime of his career and we've got to make the most of it while he's at the top of the sport, because you never know how long this ride will last. And at the moment, he's fit and sound and firing, and I would hope anyone out there that's got a. A relaxing weekend lined up in the third week of October to come over to the south of France and cheer us on or join us on the live feed, because I think if we can get the dressage work better and better and better, that we're in with a real chance. Just because he's such a. Such a legend in the cross country, in show jumping, he's so reliable. That being said, I feel terrible asking you guys all for this, but unfortunately, there's going to be no funding from the US Federation to help Brunei and I and get to Poe. So if. If any of you feeling charitable, we're desperate to for some funds. The trip will probably cost us 40 grand. That's flying the horse and the groom over and training there for a week. And anyway, I'll send you an email with a bit of a breakdown of the expenses. Anyway, the, the video you're seeing now is the exact same test, but a day later. And just to review the. The Devon Horse Show. It's got an amazing electric atmosphere. It's a very small warm up. Loudspeakers and horses everywhere. And so this is Bruno's third day. Bruno arrived at the show on Thursday. Silva trained him on Thursday. The dressage test you saw just a minute ago was Friday. And this is his second fourth level test one, is it? And this is the horse that we want to present at Depot.

Yeah, I was, I was so happy. Our friend Brett Parbury from Australia is over at the moment and he helped me out in the warm up and, and that was helpful just to kind of, you know, have some eyes on the ground and just say, oh, you know, the polar CB a little bit more. But no, so it's really mild. And anyway, he agreed that it was such a better test today. Bruno was so rideable today. You can see that everything looks a lot easier. He's not the most comfortable horse. So today it was actually not as hard to sit on him. He really, really tried hard. I think he did feel a little bit tired, which is funny because he's so fit. But I think doing dressage is a little different muscles for those event horses. And I've been really working on getting him to sit and carry behind a lot better. So I think he, he was a, you know, he was probably a little bit tired, but you can see here how much more supple he is in the pole and in this rib cage. And all the things that I didn't love so much the first day really improved today. So if we can replicate this a little bit at the event, I need to sit down with Boyd and kind of come up with a plan on how we can maybe get a bit

of the nervous energy.

Yeah. Like pretend to do a test or the same test the day before, let him kind of think on it and then do the actual test the next day. Somehow, if we can figure out how to do that, I think that would be hugely helpful. Just because he was so much more relaxed and the, the scores really reflected that.

What place did. He was second.

So he was second today. He was actually leading the class for a very long time and he, he beat the horse, that one yesterday easily. So just because he was so much yesterday, he, you know, he was showing a bit of tension and some stiffness and he's not the most supple horse, anyways, he's not bred for this, but today he was just. You can see in the walk here, he actually just was taking a big, big breath. And. And even though he still got a little bit hot here when I picked up the range, this is hard for him, this transition here, because there's a long, straight line here. But he was listening so much better to my leg and to my seed and any of my aids.

And then the dreaded flying changes are coming up now.

Yeah. So then even here, like, I was thinking big and slow and big and slow and big and slow, and just made him wait and said, buddy, you're gonna have to listen to me. And he. And he did. And then this is. The one to the left is actually the easier one for Boyd. For me, personally, it doesn't feel like the easier change, but for Boyd, it clearly is. But even with the change to the right, I felt like he was really listening and waiting for me, and it was just really nice for me to feel what happens, because I've helped with him all this time. And he goes in the ring, and it's very hard to see what's actually going on in there. So for me to ride him in there two times was hugely helpful because I know what it feels like, and I know I can tell Boyd a little bit more of what to expect and what to actually do, because it's a little bit of a different ride than it is in training. So here he's. He knows the change is coming, but he's actually waiting for me to give him, like, a really late 8. So the change that this was, it was a very good change. I. I actually think he got sevens for all his changes, which was exciting. And then this last line, so this extended cannon, he's obviously very good at it. He's good at cantering big and fast. So the next line is the diagonal with three changes, which he'll never have to do, that kind of movement in the eventing, but for these horses to actually do three changes on the diagonal is pretty impressive. And he really was waiting for me. So that was a good change. And now the dreaded change to the right. Boom. Is good. And now, again, he's waiting, waiting, waiting and change. And so that I. I was over the moon. He was. He did not get hard. He did not get excited. He. I think he was. It was just a. Another thing. And that's exactly what we were hoping for. So the test is almost done there.

So, anyway, guys, we've got some. Obviously, a couple more gallops to put into him some jump schools, and then we're heading over to see if we can. See if we can give the French a good scare with our horse, Bruno. But we're in fighting form and we're in great shape.