Latest from Horse & Hound in Charlie-hutton

Could changing how you hold the reins improve your contact? Become a more independent rider with Charlie Hutton’s rein-handling techniques

bethany.stone@futurenet.com (Bethany Stone) — Mon, 05 May 2025 07:32:07 +0000

If a rider feels unbalanced, how do they steady themselves? In most cases, it’ll be an unconscious reaction involving their hands. Being aware not just of how we hold the reins, but exactly what we do with our hands is crucial. And it might be that a subtle change in our rein-handling technique could improve our understanding of contact.

“Humans do everything with their hands; they are always in front of us,” says grand prix dressage rider and British Equestrian P3 coach, Charlie Hutton. “Instinctively, we go to our hands to secure ourselves, but when we ride, we have to be more conscious.”

A balanced rider is at liberty, as Charlie says, “to ride from the hindquarters”.

In other words, a balanced rider can deliver aids to their horse using different parts of their body independently to encourage him to travel forward in to the rein from the hindquarters. This isn’t possible if the rider becomes over-reliant on the rein as an aid not just to their horse, but to help maintain their own balance too.

Using the rein for balance interferes with maintaining the ideal feeling of connection in the rein, or contact – and is unlikely to be comfortable for the horse. But horse to horse, it’s hard to pinpoint precisely what the optimum feeling in the rein should be.

“To put it simply, it should feel like you have enough connection to communicate with your horse, but be light enough that you don’t meet with resistance,” says Charlie. “A true contact is one where the horse is comfortable with and following the rein – harmony and self-carriage should always be the rider’s goal.”

While contact and balance issues are best tackled with your trainer, Charlie recommends trying different rein-handling techniques when you’re schooling alone.

“Changing the way you hold the reins gives you a new perspective,” explains Charlie. “It might help raise awareness of an area of tension, for example, or highlight a way you could be using aids more effectively.”

You can use rein-handling exercises to test the quality of your contact, the security of your position and the effectiveness of your other aids.

“Think of them as tools and techniques at your disposal that will help you analyse the quality of your work,” he adds.

How to hold the reins in three simple exercises

Exercise 1: thumb and forefinger

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

Focus on: quality of contact

Hold the reins so the end attached to the bit comes out of the top of your hard between your thumb and forefinger. The loose loop in the rein should run down through your fist with all your fingers curled around it – don’t put it back through the gap between your ring finger and little finger.

How it helps

“My grandmother taught me this technique,” explains Charlie. “She told me it originated from the Cadre Noir, the French classical training centre.”

According to Charlie, it’s something Carl Hester uses to help horses with lightness and self-carriage. William Fox-Pitt has also been seen using this rein position on some horses during the cross-country phase.

“It also changes the muscles you’re using in your forearm, so it helps you to be more elastic and less restrictive through your elbow,” Charlie explains.

What to look out for

“When you’re not used to holding the rein like that, your arm will fatigue a little bit sooner than usual,” warns Charlie, “so watch out for getting tired and losing form.”

Exercise 2: half bridging the reins

(Image credit: creditUnknown)

Focus on: stability of your position, effectiveness of other aids

Bridging the reins means looping your left rein into your right hand and your right rein into your left hand, so each hand holds the rein twice. The reins will make a circle shape around your hand. This can be a useful technique when riding horses that tend to pull down at speed.

Alternatively, instead of bridging both reins, bridge one side at a time. For example, bridge the left rein so your right hand is holding the right and left reins, and your left hand holds the left rein only. If you look down, your hands will be connected by the left rein.

How it helps

“Half bridging the reins gives you a bit more stability,” says Charlie. “You’ve added another point of contact to help you keep your hands stable and as a pair.

“Because your hands are paired together again, you must do more with your body,” he continues.

It’s especially good for riders who are over-reliant on their rein aids while neglecting the rest of their body.

“It makes you more aware of how to turn through your shoulders, for example, or the use of your outside aids,” he says.

What to look out for

This exercise might reveal areas to work on in your position, for example if you collapse through your body and don’t turn your shoulders. If using your body suddenly feels difficult, this might indicate a reliance on your rein aids.

Bridging the reins can also emphasise the dominance of one hand over the other. Experiment with which hand forms the bridge and analyse the feeling.

Finally, you might need to adjust your rein length and the carriage of your hands. “Many people ride with their reins too long, which this will highlight,” advises Charlie.

Exercise 3: one-handed lateral work

Taking the inside hand off the reins teaches you to use your legs and body aids as well as opening up the shoulders. (Image credit: Emma Herrod Photography)

Focus on: effectiveness of other aids, quality of contact

Take the reins in your outside hand; the inside hand drops to your side. Begin with basic shapes such as 20m circles and changes of rein.

Introduce simple lateral work, such as leg-yield from the ¾ line to the track or shoulder-fore/shoulder-in up the long side.

Ensure you repeat on the opposite rein, switching hands so you’re always holding the reins in the outside hand.

How it helps

This is a good follow-up to the half bridge exercise, which has already established how to hold both reins in one hand.

“Dropping your inside hand helps you open up your shoulders,” says Charlie, “and allows you to turn in the direction of the movement more, which is helpful.

“Restricting to one hand also makes you focus on how to guide your horse. Now that you can’t use the reins as freely to steer, how effective are your leg and body aids?”

What to look out for

“This exercise shines a spotlight on how good your contact is,” says Charlie. “It raises an awareness of what you need to do to maintain the connection now you’re restricted.”

The quality of your lateral work might also be compromised, showing you where to make improvements.

“For example, shoulder-in should be done from the inside leg to lift and engage the horse,” says Charlie. “Then, the outside rein secures him.

“When a rider does shoulder-in one-handed, you often see horses fall to a metre to the inside, which shows they have been using the inside rein to balance.”

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‘He gave me my life back’: farewell to national champion and European gold medallist

Polly Bryan — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 12:18:44 +0000

The triple European para gold medallist and British young rider team dressage horse Abira has died, aged 20.

The Danish-bred gelding by Dom Perignon x Dolomit was owned by Pammy Hutton and competed successfully by her son Charlie and daughter Pippa on international youth teams and at small tour, going on to win medals with para dressage rider Suzanna Hext.

“He had already had a double colic and we knew that they wouldn’t be able to operate on him a third time,” Pammy told H&H.

“Three or four months ago he had a bad colic day and settled down, but he didn’t deserve to ever be in agony again, and I knew it was time. We have to be fair to our older horses and it’s better to say goodbye a week too early than a day too late.”

The Huttons bought Abira as a three-year-old, without initially realising he was out of the same mare, Mie, as Pammy’s grand prix ride Belmondo.

With Charlie, he went to the junior European championships in 2006 and 2007, and the young rider European championships in 2008 and 2010. The pair competed successfully at small tour on the national circuit, and were crowned national winter inter I freestyle champions in 2010.

“Thank you Abira for teaching me so much. Your grit and strength will never be forgotten,” said Charlie.

Dressage horse Abira went on to compete briefly with Pippa Hutton in international young rider ranks in 2012, before teaming up with para rider Suzanna Hext in 2015, three years after the devastating riding accident that left the former eventer paralysed.

The pair went on to record numerous international wins in the grade III category, culminating in winning three gold medals at the European Para Dressage Championships in Gothenburg, Sweden, in 2017.

Suzanna Hext and dresage horse Abira at the European Para Dressage Championships in Gothenburg, 2017. (Image credit: creditUnknown)

“I’ll never forget the first day I sat on Abira. I felt like I was floating, it was like nothing else mattered any more,” Suzanna told H&H.

“Every time I was with Abira he never failed to put a smile on my face no matter what. He took away the challenges I face in daily life. The bond and partnership I had with Abira was my anchor. His zest for life and everything he did was infectious.

“At the Gothenburg Europeans all my dreams came true and more,” she added. “I never necessarily thought I’d enjoy my life after my accident, to the same extent as before. However, Abira gave me a reason to fight hard, even through the tough times.

“He went through the archway at the Europeans and grew a hand! He said to me, ‘Let’s do this’, and on the final day when my body was in pieces he took over the reins and showed me the way.”

Continues below…

(Image credit: Kevin Sparrow)

Charlie Hutton takes top winter dressage championship title

Abira returns from six months off following colic to win the intermediaire I music with young rider Charlie Hutton

(Image credit: Kevin Sparrow)

Horse & Hound columnist lends team horse to H&H blogger with paralympic ambitions

Former two-star eventer, Suzanna Hext, will now be campaigning Pammy’s horse, Abira, in para dressage competitions

(Image credit: Kevin Sparrow)

Suz continued: “The freedom Abira gave me was like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. He’s one in a million, a horse of a lifetime, and a true legend. I honestly can’t thank Abira, Pammy and Charlie enough for giving me my life back, and helping me to believe in myself again after my accident. The opportunity they gave me to compete their special boy means the absolute world to me. He’s been my lifeline.”

As a much-loved schoolmaster at the Huttons’ Talland School of Equitation, Abira “taught so many so much”.

“He never said no. He was the most incredibly kind horse, and sometimes I thought he was almost human,” said Pammy.

“Letting him go was so hard – he was truly part of the family at Talland.”

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#SundaySchool: Charlie Hutton — how to improve your horse’s medium trot

Gemma Redrup — Sun, 12 Jul 2020 15:24:44 +0000

Charlie is a successful grand prix dressage rider and trainer who has represented Great Britain at junior, young rider and senior levels. Raised at the Talland School of Equitation, Charlie now runs his own competition yard and coaches internationally.

Not all horses can do a medium trot and score a 10. But most can learn to do the best they are capable of for a decent mark. Teaching your horse to take the weight onto his hindlegs is my solution for horses who run onto the forehand or won’t go forward.

The key is to train your horse to have a basic connection and to be straight in his body. Without these prerequisites, he will not be in balance and will either run onto his front end or get behind your leg.

Tackling the issue

While I do a lot of preparation, as outlined in the following paragraphs, I don’t often ride medium trot outside of competition. Follow these steps to try it at home…

1. Work on an inner track and do some walk-trot-walk transitions. Be vigilant about keeping your horse straight and active. Keep your leg on in the transitions (both up and down), if necessary, to encourage the horse’s hindlegs to reach underneath him.

2. When you can do this without your horse losing his balance or going crooked, ride the transitions on the diagonal.

3. Adjust the pace within the trot — open it out and then bring it back to encourage the hindlegs to come under your horse’s body — riding into the corners helps to shift his bodyweight back onto the hindlegs and to create greater impulsion.

4. Recognise when your horse is out of his comfort zone and don’t go to that point. If he is not particularly athletic, he may break into canter rather than push with his hindlegs. Should that happen, it becomes important to spend more time on the transition work.

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Consider this…

Don’t push your horse out of his natural rhythm. Aim for the best he can do within his limits — it’s better to have a good tempo than get marked down for “running”.
If your horse struggles with straightness, it can impact the medium trot. To address this, ride 10m trot circles with lots of rein changes.

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Charlie Hutton thrills in gala night freestyle at British Dressage Winter Championships

Polly Bryan — Sat, 09 Apr 2016 23:19:12 +0000

Charlie Hutton thrived in Hartpury’s electric atmosphere on Saturday night (9 April) to win the Superflex inter I freestyle championship at the NAF Five Star British Dressage Winter Championships with Judy Peploe’s Super Blue.

Charlie sat tight as the horse showed off some impressive gymnastics in the prize giving.

The Showstar x Floristan 12-year-old’s tight big bold extensions, super changes and balanced uphill way of going earned them 72.46% – one of their best scores at the level.

Their test, set to a rock compilation put together by Gary Wood at Equitunes, proved a hit with the packed gala night audience.

“I love riding here; it’s a great honour. It’s quite a daunting atmosphere with the crowd high up but also very close, but ‘Pepe’ went in tonight and really listened – I was very pleased with him,” said Charlie, who had a particularly busy evening, juggling competing alongside performing a display to music with wife Abi.

Second-placed Maria Griffin was overcome with excitement at D-J’s performance for 71.83%.

“He did a really fun, bouncy and energetic test tonight – he tries his heart out for me,” she said of Adrian Baker’s Diamond Hit x Sandro Song 14-year-old, whom she’s ridden since he was a four-year-old. “We’ve had a very good start to the season this year so I was hoping I might get into the prize-giving, but you really never know in an atmosphere like that – there’s nothing like it.”

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Richard Barratt finished third aboard Mark Philpott’s 16-year-old Warkant gelding Walid 4. He also produced a fluid, mistake-free test, with just a couple of small moments of miscommunication. Their score of 71.42% matched that of fourth-placed Bryony Goodwin and Hawtins Floriana, with just one collective mark separating the two.

“When he goes well he’s a plus-70% horse and tonight he was very good,” said Richard, who only got the music five days ago. “He’s quirky to ride but tonight he was easy to ride and we had fun. He seems to go well in the atmosphere here.”

For a full report from the British Dressage NAF Five Star Winter Championships and the Petplan Equine Area Festival Final pick up a copy of Horse & Hound on Thursday, 14 April.

My day at Stoneleigh: Charlie Hutton and Don Dino

Horse & Hound — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 14:07:31 +0000

Hi, Charlie Hutton here. I’ve been a competition dressage rider for eight years, competing at international grand prix and teaching dressage all over the world.

Don Dino is an eight-year-old 17.1hh Hanovarian chestnut gelding. He is working up through the levels and I’m hoping he will be one of my top horses at grand prix. He qualified for Sunday’s advanced medium open class at Stoneleigh.

There was a much bigger crowd this year at the Espayo National Dressage Championships in comparison to previous years — it really is fantastic to see the sport grow.

The atmosphere was great and there were a lot of strong classes, especially in my advanced medium open class on Sunday, which was filled with top combinations — only 1 score dropped below 64%.

Dino settled in well to his new temporary home and was very eager to go. He’s a horse that’s always full of enthusiasm. On the day he warmed up great with some help from Carl Hester, but going into the test was unfamiliar for us as he has little experience at championship level.

Despite having warmed up beautifully we had three costly mistakes. Riding Dino in the test felt like being stuck in a traffic jam in a Bugatti — he just wanted to show so much more, which resulted in some obvious tension.

Our mark was disappointing (65%) but I am not disheartened. The judges made lovely comments about his paces and what a powerhouse he is, so I know that in the long run I have a fantastic horse that will flourish in a more difficult test.

Charlie

Read H&H’s full 12-page report on all the action from the Espayo British Dressage National Championships in Thursday’s magazine (on sale 20 September, 2012)

Charlie Hutton’s dressage blog

Horse & Hound — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 17:26:04 +0000

Inspired at Windsor

Charlie misses out at the regionals, but finds motivation at Windsor Europeans

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Competitions galore

It’s been a busy couple of weeks for the Hutton family with more time spent out at competitions than at home

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Addington international

Charlie’s horses show the reverse of their expected form at Addington international

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Winter dressage champs

Charlie was pleased with how his horses went at the winter dressage championships at Hartpury

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Training and fabulous physio

It’s been a busy week for Charlie with two days of World Class training and two days competing

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Feeling a bit below par

I was fine on Monday, but then Tuesday night I threw up about five times and was sick for the next two days…

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

A new challenge

This week eventer Lucy Wiegersma brought one of her advanced horses, Porloe Alvin, to Talland for me to ride for three weeks…

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Success at Burrows Court

I went out competing on Thursday at Burrows Court, not far from us in Gloucestershire. I took my sister Pippa’s ride, Belmondo, as well as my own home-bred mare Amo…

Read Charlie Hutton’s blog

Life at Talland

Welcome to my first weekly blog for Horse&Hound. I thought I’d start by letting you know a little about my day-to-day life. I’m generally on the yard at my family’s Talland School of Equitation in Gloucestershire by half seven, and try to get 8 horses ridden by half one…

Read Charlie Hutton’s first blog

Charlie Hutton takes top winter dressage championship title

Horse & Hound — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 10:36:42 +0000

Young rider Charlie Hutton topped the Superflex intermediaire I freestyle at the winter dressage finals, Hartpury College, Glos, 10 April.

Charlie piloted his own and his mother Pammy’s Abira through a technical floorplan to take the top spot, beating favourites Matt Frost (Flyaway Wish) who won the prix st georges equivalent here last year.

Charlie said: “I was feeling very nervous as it was his first competition all year — he has been off following colic for six months. He’s been going so well at home but I didn’t know what to expect here tonight.”

Maria Eilberg led the British Horse Feeds advanced medium open with Lynne and Dave Crowden’s breeding stallion Woodlander Rockstar.

“I told her plenty of competitions have been won from the front,” said father and trainer Ferdi.

Maria added: “I wasn’t thrilled to be going first, I’d rather the competition had got going first, but Rockstar was fabulous and is feeling so much stronger now.”

Jo Barry took her second title of the competition, the Bucas medium music freestyle riding the now eight-year-old former young horse champion Vivaldi V, who she co-owns with Lady Hope.

For full report, results and pictures from the championships don’t miss Horse & Hound 15 April.

Pammy and Charlie Hutton masterclass at Arena UK

Horse & Hound — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:15:09 +0000

Dressage enthusiasts will be able to learn from the experts this April in a British Dressage (BD) forum held by H&H columnist and international trainer Pammy Hutton, alongside her son Charlie.

The lecture and demonstration, to be held on 14 April at Arena UK in Grantham, Lincolnshire, will focus on the techniques required for success in dressage.

The forum will feature horses from novice up to advanced level and finish with a display of dressage to music.

“We’re delighted that Pammy and Charlie are coming to the northern forum to allow us to benefit from their experience and expertise,” explained Chrissie Havis, BD northern region development officer.

Pammy, who has had an illustrious competition career and is listed as one of the top 12 dressage riders in the UK, is currently involved in training members of the gold medal winning Paralympic team.

She is also join principal of the Talland School of Equitation in Cirencester.

Charlie, who is currently competing at Young Rider international and Grand Prix level, won team Gold and individual silver at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival in 2009.

The forum, which is organised by Hoyland Events, is sponsored by Equissage, who produce multi-unit physiotherapy massage systems.

For more information, visit www.hoylandevent.co.uk

Young dressage rider Charlie Hutton wins in Germany

Horse & Hound — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 13:11:42 +0000

Young rider Charlie Hutton has won the B final of the FEI World Cup for young riders in Frankfurt, Germany on 20 December

Charlie, 20, from Cirencester, Gloucestershire rode Merlin Nemorensis, Lady Anne evans’ 17.1hh nine-year-old German-bred gelding by Clintino.

The pair finished ninth in the first round with 64.95% and eighth in the second round, improving his score to 66.11%. With these results he just missed out on qualifying for the A final by 0.5%.

He beat five combinations to take the B final, a freestyle, by almost 3%.

Charlie said: “I’m delighted to have won to have won the B final. I achieved some great scores in the past two days, which gives me a lot of confidence for the future. I really enjoyed taking part and look forward to further competitions in 2010.”

Charlie is part of the British Equestrian Federation’s World Class Development Programme and started competing internationally in 2005.

The competition ran alongside Frankfurt senior World Cup qualifier, with riders entered Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Italy, Denmark, Canada, USA, France, Belgium and New Zealand.

The Netherlands’ Imke Schellekens took the senior qualifier with 81.45% riding Sunrise.

Blue Chip sponsors young dressage star Charlie Hutton

Charlotte White — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 12:28:38 +0000

Young dressage rider and H&H blogger Charlie Hutton, 20, has secured a new three-year sponsorship deal for his horses from Blue Chip Feeds.

Blue Chip founder Clare Blaskey said, “We are very pleased to have renewed our sponsorship of this very talented young rider.

“It is company policy to help these young riders to reach their goals, representing our country. We’re all delighted to support Charlie and wish him every success.”

A member of the Junior Team in 2006 and 2007, Charlie was a member of the Young Rider Team in 2008 with Abira.

This season he was again a Young Rider team member with Merlin Nemorensis (Nemo) and at the 2009 European Dressage Championships, the pair finished best of the Brits individually.

Charlie also competed at the British Dressage National Championships and competing at Grand Prix this season for the first time, he was delighted to finish just outside the Top 10 in the Grand Prix Kur with Penny Manning’s Aljano.

Based near Cirencester, Charlie is trained mostly by his mother Pammy Hutton, with regular help from Erik Thielgaard.

Charlie said he was delighted with the support from Blue Chip, singling out Nemo as an example of how Blue Chip Pro can make an amazing difference.

He explains, “Nemo is a very big, powerful horse and since feeding Blue Chip Pro, it has really given him the extra muscle development and structure to work towards Grand Prix level.”

Charlie Hutton’s blog: inspired by Windsor Europeans

Horse & Hound — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:04:15 +0000

The regionals didn’t go very well last week. I was pleased with the horses but the classes at Addington were very strong. I got 66% on Belmondo in the medium and that put me 20th and I know Kate Attlee got 69% and ended up ninth. I’m still quite happy though as I already have eight rides directly qualified for the nationals.

I spent the rest of the week riding the horses at home and getting them set up for my mother to take over riding them this week while I’m at Windsor performing in part of a dressage quadrille each day. We were working on Nemo’s passage while there’s no competitions for him as I want to get it confirmed this winter so that we can get him secure at grand prix in training — we want to try and come out with a bang when we do start grand prix in competition.

I had to work on Sunday as I wanted to ride all the horses before I came to Windsor — I’ve been away so much with internationals and the Euros. Being at Windsor doing the quadrille is such an amazing opportunity, to ride in such a great atmosphere and then be able to watch such top combinations.

I haven’t had a chance to see Edward Gal in competition yet as we were warming up for the quadrille. Watching Emma Hindle — I’ve never been so nervous watching somebody else’s test before. I was slightly tearful ringing Mum yesterday to let her know that we had won team silver.

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: YR Europeans and onwards to Addington

Horse & Hound — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:36:29 +0000

I think the best way to sum up the Young Rider Europeans for me personally is ‘disappointing, but showing great promise for the future’.

Nemo was certainly full of energy when we arrived, which was great as it means we have got him up to real competition fitness. But the drawback with having him so ‘hot’ is that he can lack concentration. When it came to my test I struggled to keep him ‘under the thumb’ and when you are competing at a championship there is simply no room for error.

There was a real championship atmosphere in Ermelo and he did pick up on that so our marks weren’t as consistent as they have been at home. Also there was a large discrepancy between some of the judges, with one having me in 7th place and another in 33rd!

We arrived back in the UK at 1am in the morning, so it was a case of sorting out the horses then off to bed. Then Monday was spent unpacking the lorry and on Tuesday it was straight back into the swing of things with 8 horses to ride and 5 lessons to teach! It was good to get back on the other horses as I did get a little bit bored with only one horse to ride while I was away.

Last Thursday we took Amo over to Addington for a practise run before this week’s regionals. Turned out it was a good thing we did as while we produced some really expressive movements, we also pretended that we had never seen letters in an arena before and spooked at every single one! Hopefully we will have got that out of the way and we will produce a good test this week.

Then on Saturday night I went to the pub to catch up with a few school friends I hadn’t seen for a while. While we were there we decided to head off to the Hartpury CIC party, which is just 20mins down the road, and had a really great night.

I’m at Addington for the regionals at the moment and I’ll let you know how we get on next week. It’s going a busy week as I’m going to be riding in the dressage quadrille at the Windsor Europeans, as well as helping out H&H with their online dressage coverage. Til then…

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: YR Euros and the delights of Amsterdam

Horse & Hound — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:23:46 +0000

I’m writing this from Ermelo in the Netherlands, in between cooking sausages on the barbeque, having arrived with the rest of the British team for the young rider European championships.

We all drove over on Friday, hitting hideous afternoon traffic on the M25. Dawn, who is grooming for me, and I had four horses in our lorry and there were another four in Emile Faurie’s, plus a nine seater van went ahead with the other riders. We were planning to get the 8:30pm ferry from Dover but some festival that was on in the Netherlands was causing traffic so we only managed the 9:50pm.

Then it took 6hrs to drive from Calais to Ermelo, stopping a few times to give the horses rest and water along the way. They all travelled really well and have settled in well. There’s indoor stables, automatic drinkers and everything is really close together so it’s easy to get around the site.

On Sunday, we went into Amsterdam and visited the red-light district. That was educational! I’d never realised quite how blatant it is, no watershed or anything, with girls sat in windows all day. And the most prominent smell down the streets is marijuana. I’m not sure Amsterdam’s the prettiest city in the world, but I can see why it’s well known…

Then on Monday we all got to go to Edward Gal’s yard and watched him ride Totilas, which was amazing. He’s so athletic and responsive, submissive but not hot or crazy — really impressive. It was nice to see Edward doesn’t ride him at full power at home, and he doesn’t work him with his head right down — mind you he couldn’t in passage as the horse’s knees would hit his nose!

I’ve been on a couple of runs since I got out here as the days are long and there’s not a huge amount to do in between riding. You may remember me talking about getting healthier, trying to consider myself as an athlete as well as my horse? Well this idea included not drinking, and I announced my new restraint on this blog. However, I actually only managed a week. I was in the bar at Hartpury, and I did start with a diet coke, but when you tell your body it can’t have something (beer) it really craves it. So I have a new plan, drinking less and in moderation. At the moment I seem to be able to stick to that…

Nemo is going really well out here; he’s surprisingly fit and I’m working him for about 50mins a day. He sailed through the trot up this morning — all our team horses are through. There’s a great team spirit here. I’m the third rider in the team to go, so I’ll be on this Thursday. And I’ll let you know how I get on after that.

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: my first senior international

Horse & Hound — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:33:15 +0000

Hartpury CDI (16-19 July) was my first senior international. I was hopeful that I’d do well with Abira in the small tour and I was pleased with his results — it gave me a real confidence boost before the Europeans (4–9 August).

I got the only eight in the class from judge Stephen Clarke for submission, which has been rare for Abira in the past. You know you do some tests and you’re just not sure how it looked or what mark you might get? But with that one I knew because he felt spot on. As I was getting towards the end of the test I just kept thinking, ‘stay calm, just five movements to go, don’t mess it up’.

In the big tour my marks weren’t so good, but to be getting around 61% with lots of mistakes isn’t bad. The judge’s comment was ‘your horse likes doing many one-tempis’! Ollie put them in all over the place, down the long-side, in the extended canter, all sorts. He’s not experienced that kind of atmosphere for over two years and maybe I should have done a bit more test practise at home beforehand. That was the first time I’d ridden him without a stick in the arena, too.

Then it was straight to Hickstead. I had planned to ride Nemo while I was at Hartpury, going back and forth to home, but it turned out to be impossible. So he’d had three days off before Hickstead but still managed nearly 68% in the team class with a safe solid test. In the individual test he was cheeky, but I got him back for the freestyle and he managed 71%.

We collected out team kit for the Euros including red, white and blue browbands, and I’ve power-hosed the lorry and am busy packing up ready to go on Friday. Because everyone knows I’m going away, they’ve booked in loads of lessons so I’ve been very busy teaching as well as riding the other horses so they are ready for a small holiday while I’m gone.

It’s about a four-hour drive from us to Dover, then we’ll get the overnight ferry and the venue is about five hours from Calais to Ermelo, the Netherlands. My trot up is on Tuesday and I’ll be back online then to let you know how things are shaping up out there.

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: riders are athletes so I’m giving up the booze

Horse & Hound — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:51:57 +0000

I’ve been busy packing up for Hartpury Festival of Dressage, where I’m taking Abira in the small tour and Ollie in the big tour.

I haven’t competed for the past week but went to a World Class monitoring day last Monday with Abira and Nemo, where I worked with Erik Theilgaard polishing things up before the up coming internationals.

We worked on getting Nemo to use himself more, so I don’t have to carry him around. I score sevens and eights if I hold him together, but long-term he needs to carry himself. He’ll be doing the pre-young riders Europeans event at Hickstead next week.

With Abira we worked on activating his hindleg too, and doing lots of lateral work to get him crossing over and so loosening up.

Gloria Leveret came to do all three horses backs last week. She comes over once every six to eight weeks when the horses are competing. I find it makes a huge difference as if you have the horse completely comfortable you know it is down to the rider if anything that needs improvement.

On Sunday I went for a one-and-a-half hour run. This was off the back of something Amber de Savary’s father said to me at the European championships last year, that too many riders don’t see themselves as athletes.

With that in mind I’m also giving up alcohol between now and after the nationals in September. Then I can at least eliminate the possibility of anything not going well on account of me having been drunk the night before. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stick to it, but telling people on here will be a big incentive as I’ll be embarrassed if I don’t manage it!

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: Europeans, bouncy castles and backhands

Horse & Hound — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:37:25 +0000

So last week I heard I’d been selected for the young rider European championships. It’s great to be picked for the fourth year running and this time I’m taking Merlin Nemorensis instead of Abira — although I have him as reserve should anything happen. The championships take place in Ermelo, the Netherlands in the first week in August, so of course I’m looking forward to that.

A few people have said to me lately that I compete my horses a lot — possibly because I talk about it on here quite a bit! So I’d like to reassure them that our horses really aren’t overworked. Nemo has just had a week off and, although all our horses do compete regularly, Mum and I sit down with the diary each week to make sure they have a balanced schedule and are happy, with slots marked in for turn-out, hacking and training.

The horses are lunged, too. I found this training aid in Germany when I was working for Jonny Hilberath. It’s a rope that connects either to a snaffle or a headcollar, goes through the horse’s front legs, over the wither, back through the legs to the bit or headcollar. It encourages the horse not to lift his head and get tense over his back, so teaches them to loosen up and let go over their backs. It’s so simple and easy to use, you can’t really get it wrong. This means it’s a handy tool for when I’m away, too, as I can easily ask one of the students to exercise the horses this way.

I’ve been asked to be part of a grand prix music demo at the European championships in August at Windsor. There are eight of us being organised by Jennie Loriston-Clarke. I’ll be riding Ollie and we have to dress up in some kind of uniform — a yellow jacket with red bits on. I’m excited about riding in front of so many of my heroes and such a big crowd, which is also rather daunting come to think of it. Ollie’s a bit lazy but I hope that having seven other horses in there with him will give him a boost and he’ll just keep piaffing!

On the weekend I went to Amber de Savary’s 21st birthday party, a lovely sit down dinner with speeches. I was only drinking moderately and didn’t get too trollied, mainly because the entertainment included a bouncy castle and a bungee run — where you have one to three elastics tied to you and have to run away from an inflated wall, tag someone’s hand, and get slung back again — which could otherwise have been fairly messy!

Then on Sunday I watched the Wimbledon final. I wanted Federer to win to score the record, but part of me wanted Roddick to take the best game he’s ever played, because I don’t know if he’ll ever be that good again. It’s such a test of endurance, to have that stamina for four hours and still be able to sprint to the ball — plus the mental focus you need for that length of time, it’s so tough. For dressage you just need to focus for 45 minutes in your warm up, and then an eight-minute test — quite a difference!

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: competitions, competitions and more competitions

Horse & Hound — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:41:59 +0000

I’ve had a mammoth few weeks of competitions. Between Wellington Premier League and the Welsh Festival, mum [Pammy] and I had the lorry out for 10 days out of the past 14.

I managed to qualify four horses for the nationals at Wellington. I have to thank my mother for that too as, on Tuesday and Wednesday when I was riding, she set up both Abira and Merlin Nemorensis [Nemo].

In the following intermediaire I, where I was second on Nemo, I’ve never felt him more established. I tend to get great expression with him but then lose marks inbetween on the transitions for example. This time he felt really secure and on my aids.

We were second to Matt Frost and Flyaway Wish in the PSG music, but Nemo was quite exhausted by then. He can be quite naughty on the lorry so we tend to have to hobble him. He got over excited at Wellington in the car park and broke his headcollar and hobbles, and managed to get his foot caught in a haynet twice!

I had my second PSG outing on my sister Pippa’s ride, Belmondo, and won. He then went to Catherston for junior squad training with Pippa on Saturday and I had him back to win another PSG at the Welsh Festival on Sunday.

And that’s been my two weeks really, competitions and more competitions — I managed to fit in teaching just one lesson! All the Talland students were begging me to go out last weekend and I was very tempted but, having been getting up at five and finishing work at 10 all week it was probably sensible that I didn’t.

Until next week,

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: learning to drive and forgetting to ride

Horse & Hound — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 10:10:38 +0000

On Tuesday I did my final HGV assessment drive so was able to send my completed portfolio to the DVLA. Because I’m taking my HGV test early on a government scheme, I have to complete an NVQ in driving as well. That covers the reasons for me to be taking the test early.

I haven’t found it terribly hard, I think I’m quite a natural driver; I’ve been driving farm equipment since I was about three. Driving a lorry doesn’t faze you when you’re used to a dodgy tractor and a trailer with a squiffy wheel.

I went for a run on Wednesday to get fit for Somerford Park premier league. I’ve always enjoyed running, I did a lot more at school and would love to run the London marathon but it’s just not feasible to find time to fit all the training in.

Somerford was good, though, having said last week in my blog that I’d been unbeaten on Nemo in young rider classes recently, I promptly got beaten by Rebecca Drane. I think I jinxed myself! Hopefully that was just a blip. He was still good though, as were Ollie (in the inter II and grand prix) and Zep (in the young horse classes).

I went in with Ollie behind Carl Hester on Liebling. I’d seen him forget his rein-back and was so pleased with myself for not forgetting mine that I totally forgot what I was meant to do next, so I went wrong!

There must have been 40 in the young horse class and although Zep wasn’t placed I was really pleased with how he went. Everyone’s producing such quality young horses these days and since top pros aren’t allowed to ride at novice there’s nothing else they can enter to get their horses in the ring. I guess that’s why they’re so popular now.

Till next week,

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: jumping dressage horses, world class and parties

Horse & Hound — Wed, 27 May 2009 17:40:03 +0000

All the horses had a day off on Monday while I caught up with some paperwork, which always gets neglected between riding and teaching. Then it was back to normal with the riding and teaching.

On Thursday, I decided to jump Nemo [Merlin Nemorensis] before a World Class monitoring day on Friday. I would have jumped the grand prix horse I was taking, too, Ollie, but he doesn’t do jumps — even if they’re in the same arena as him you might as well give up.

I did grid work with Nemo because if I put up a course he falls asleep between the fences and then buggers off with me at them three strides out. I jumped Zep too. He’s only five and by dressage stallion Painted Black; I wasn’t sure how that would go, but I was nicely surprised.

I jump all the horses that will — it’s so good for them to have a bit of variety and not be in the school six days a week. I won’t jump every week, but alternate with hacking and taking them out on the gallops. They need fun in their lives.

Of course jumping Nemo before the World Class day could have gone one of two ways, but he was pinging afterwards and went the best he’s ever gone. The point of the day was just to check up on how the horses are going since their last squad session. The World Class physio and, I always want to say psycho, no, psychologist, that’s right, are also there so you can go to them with any problems.

Squad trainer Erik Theilgaard, who’s also my trainer, was away in Belgium where his daughter was competing. Chief selector Nick Burton was watching instead, so it was a good opportunity to show Nemo off as his piaffe and passage are established at home. A couple of months ago, World Class said they wanted to monitor Nemo’s progress. In the test he was inclined to back off —just like he falls asleep when he’s jumping — and then surge forward. But they were really pleased with the way his muscles have developed in such a short space of time. And he’s been winning young rider classes consistently.

After the monitoring day I was off to The May Ball at Cirencester Agricultural College, which I’ve never been to before but have always heard good things about. I went with a very good friend from school; it was £80 a ticket, which included beer, cider and wine on tap. Nobody at the World Class day could understand why I was eating so much — I call it good pre-planning, lining your stomach. It was meant to be an all-nighter — there’s a survivor’s picture taken at the end — but I only lasted till 4am as I had lessons to teach the next day and needed my sleep.

I had a headache like a steamtraining running through it, but I crawled through the afternoon, riding my horses. Then on Saturday night, very excitingly, Mrs P Manning’s two new horses were delivered from Germany. Mrs Manning owns my grand prix ride, Ollie, and these two are with me to produce and sell. They’re fabulous, so I’m feeling very lucky. They’re both chestnut and I could hardly tell them apart at first. Libertist is a nine-year-old prix st georges horse and Don Vino is just a five-year-old.

After I’d settled the horses in, I sat up with friends watching DVDs till 5am. The plan was a lie-in on Sunday, but no such luck; I was rudely awoken at 9am. I did manage a pub lunch and spent the afternoon drinking Pimms in the glorious sunshine and playing rugby. Then it was Britain’s Got Talent and an early night!

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: Addington premier league and BD rules

Horse & Hound — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:50:40 +0000

Last week was all about preparing the horses for Addington premier league. I took four on Friday, including Zep, who scored 70% in the five-year-old class to sneak into the top 10.

He’s a lovely horse, but doesn’t have the “wow-factor” that some of the very expensive horses in those classes have, so I was pleased he did that well when he was up against such stiff competition.

I forgot I did a grand prix in November and had been happily riding at novice still on Zep, not knowing this was against the rules. I got a letter through from British Dressage so rang them and luckily got away with a telling off rather than a fine. It’s frustrating though not being able to ride my younger horses at novice now. The eventers are allowed to, and it is, after all, more about the horse than the rider — and there’s already restricted sections to protect those new to the level from having to compete against advanced riders.

Back at Addington I took Ollie, the horse I’ve ridden at grand prix, in the intermediaire II in the pouring rain, and Merlin Nemorensis was third in the PSG while Abira was third in the inter I. Those later two were very exuberant — they’ve done a lot of competing lately so I wanted to give them some time off, but perhaps over did it as they were explosive! Nemo managed a flying change and a buck in one pirouette all at the same time.

In the following day’s grand prix, Mum [Pammy] rode Amanti against me and we had a bet — £20 to whoever did better. I was feeling confident but sadly had a few mistakes, like halting in a pirouette, doing one-time changes when I wasn’t supposed to and not doing one-time changes when I was supposed to. So I let her win, really. And she won’t forget about the money, though she did say she would cancel the debt if I found her schooling whip — no joy on that front so far…

On Sunday I had a first and a second place in the young rider class and thought I’d clinched to PSG music qualifier for Wellington too with 73%, but last to go Matt Frost beat me by a fraction. I congratulated him of course, though mentioning I wasn’t very impressed. But Matt said he’d have cried if he hadn’t won and I wouldn’t have wanted to see that.

Till next week,

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: Badminton demo and a hangover

Horse & Hound — Fri, 15 May 2009 11:41:02 +0000

After getting back from Saumur international late last Monday night, I managed to get a rare lie-in. Then, in between catching up with riding my horses, I did some teaching at Burnt Ash Farm, which is near to me in Glos, and the following day I travelled to Wales and taught from 1:45 to 8:30, so I came out of there with a nice wad of cash.

On Thursday I was in Carl Hester’s demo at Badminton. He and mum [Pammy] have been doing the commentary for years, and this time Charlotte Dujardin was there to show off Valegro’s stunning paces, and I rode Merlin Nemorensis (Nemo) through out prix st georges music test. Nemo was so tired after going to France and all the competing he’s done lately that he was really well behaved, even though there was a huge amount of people there and a lot of atmosphere. It really surprised me how fast grass rides compared to a surface — I’ve never had to ride so collected and contained. From my halt onwards I was ahead of my music.

A good friend of mine, Laura Ferrier, was leaving Talland last weekend, so we all went out for dinner and then out in Cirencester. I had a little bit too much to drink a little bit too quickly and woke up with a little bit of a hangover on Saturday. Once I’d recovered, I ferried people to Badminton to watch the cross-country. Then I sat under the screen with my shades on, recuperating and hoping I wouldn’t be noticed.

I went home for supper as we had guests and then headed back to Badminton for the party — apparently it was very good, but I was only in time for last orders. So then it was all of us back in the cars to the after party at The Tunnel.

Other than that, I’ve seen two films this week — X-men — very good, 7 out of 10 — and Ghost of Girlfriends past — which might seem a bit gay, two guys going to see a chick-flick, but it was actually very funny, a good 8 out of 10.

Badminton final scores

So it was a week off from competitions, but I have to say I’m more tired than I was before it started. Tomorrow I’m off to Addington Premier League — more on that next week.

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: dealing with a deluge in Saumur

Horse & Hound — Fri, 08 May 2009 10:59:19 +0000

I spent last week in Saumur, France, for the international dressage show. I’ve been before and always love the show — there’s a great atmosphere, it’s a wonderful place, really well organised and everyone is very friendly. It’s the French national training base, home of the Cadre Noir, and being set in acres and acres you can go hacking off road for hours.

We knew before we arrived that it was going to be wet, but the first day we got away with it on the weather front — there was just a little drizzle. I rode Abira first and wanted to give him a confidence-building ride after things had not gone so well at Addington international two weeks before. We did a safe test for about 66%. It was a hot class, with lots of young rider team contenders there. There were 36 competing which is unusual for a young rider international — normally there’s about 15 or 20, unless you’re in Germany or the Netherlands where there’ll be hundreds! Merlin Nemorensis (Nemo) had another good day, finishing sixth.

On the second day I rode Abira in the dry and he was better, though the judges still gave us roughly the same mark. Then, in the afternoon, the heavens opened and I was drenched in this monsoon while warming-up Nemo. The surfaces in Saumur are sand, so when it rains that hard the water just sits on the top for a while. In the 10-minute box he was jumping all the puddles. My reins are made of nubuck and when they get that wet they just slip through my gloves — I was holding on to the curb rein for dear life! I did really worry what was going to happen in the arena. Nemo was still bothered by the puddles in there, so I just had to guide him through as best I could.

The whole competition really taught me that you can’t help the situation you’re in sometimes and you just have to get on with it, cope with what you’ve got and make the most of it. It was interesting to watch how the other riders in the senior competition dealt with any problems, too. The trick is to cover the problem up, so only you know it’s happening. A lot of the best riders do that really well, which is why they gain marks when they might otherwise be lost.

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: success at Addington international

Horse & Hound — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:14:53 +0000

We headed off to Addington international last Wednesday for the trot up; I took two horses (Abira and Merlin Nemorensis), as did my sister, Pippa (Belmondo and Amadeus).

I went to the competition expecting Abira to do really well and Merlin Nemorensis (Nemo) not to do so well. Then Nemo, who belongs to Lady Anne Evans, went and won all three tests over the three days. Unfortunately, Abira had some big mistakes on the first day, though by the last day he had improved and scored 67% to win the consolation final.

After Abira didn’t go so well on the first day I knew I just had to go for a safe quiet round on Nemo — I couldn’t believe it when the commentator said he’d gone into the lead, I thought, ‘well, that must have been quite good then’. As the days progressed I could ask for a bit more.

Nemo’s such a gent in the stable, he’s the soppiest horse I know, like a puppy — he slobbers all over you. When he’s ridden he’s a little bit sensitive. He needs a lot of leg to keep him secure and for him to hold his balance.

It just all came together at the show; we’ve been training a lot over the winter and we’re more of a partnership now. Maybe because there was more pressure on Abira I was more relaxed on Nemo and he did better for it.

Anyway, it was a fantastic show — you never go to Addington and not have a good time; it’s so well organised, all indoors and the new stables are great.

I had a World Class review on Monday and we were discussing what to do next with Nemo. Our goal over the past sixth months was to be consistently achieving 65% at PSG, which he’s well surpassed. So it’s difficult to set our next goals as, although three wins in three days in consistency, this was just one show, and I can’t make big decisions on that basis.

One thing I did learn from the whole competition is that I need to use my legs more. I’ve been told I think I’m doing the right thing in the arena, but I’m not! I can override, but I need to use my legs more in the first place so I don’t get into the position where I need to override.

And I have to thank my mother for all her help in the lead up to this show, she always helps me but she made a huge difference for this event. So ‘thanks Mum’!

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: Winter dressage championships

Horse & Hound — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:22:29 +0000

Last week was taken up by the winter dressage championships, where I was fifth in the intermediaire freestyle with 70.58% on Abira. The class took place on Saturday’s gala night, quite late, and with a big crowd and lots of atmosphere.

Nicky Barrett gave me a good tip beforehand. She said: ‘whatever time your test is, ride him at the same time for a few days before, so he gets used to working and being handled that late in the day’. So I rode him at about eight in the evening for three days before the show.

I went through my test four times in the lead up to the class as well, not to make it foot-perfect every time, but so I knew my test floorplan and the music so well that I could adapt the test if necessary in the ring because I’d know exactly whether I was a little in front of or behind the music.

It wasn’t an easy test for him, so I was really pleased with the mark. He warmed-up amazingly but went into the arena and got a bit of stage fright. He hadn’t competed since the nationals last year and there was quite a buzz in the arena. So it was even more helpful to know the test inside out as I had to nurse him round.

I just went in and tried to maintain the balance. You have to remember the judges are looking at the scales of training, so it’s really important to keep the balance and rhythm and make sure the overall picture is pleasing – meaning that if they don’t feel great down the rein you have to compensate for that, it’s got to look harmonious. Abira’s floorplan is really quite complicated; it’s a high-risk test so when it comes off like it did he’s able to score well for the technical difficulty.

My only other ride at the winters was my sister’s horse Belmondo in the medium. He was fantastic, I rode with a little less power, just a steady test keeping the balance right — I had in mind that Pippa was going to be riding at Addington’s international this weekend, where I’ll also be competing, but more of that next week! Hope to see you there.

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: World Class training and fabulous physio

Horse & Hound — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:43:47 +0000

I’ve recovered from my vomiting bug and I’m feeling at my best again, which is good because on Tuesday and Wednesday I had World Class training at the Unicorn Centre in Gloucestershire.

Olympic judge and trainer Francis Verbeek was instructing, and I took my grand prix ride, Ollie. He wasn’t at his best as I hadn’t been able to ride him properly the week before, being ill. I could have opted to ride the intermediaire, but I want as much practice with the grand prix as possible, so went for that.

Francis and Nick Burton were judging and afterwards we did video analysis of the test. It’s so useful watching your test with judges, they pointed out exactly where I needed to kick on more, or needed the horse more uphill.

There are about 10 of us in World Class start and potential squads and we all watch each other’s video analysis — it’s handy to see what other people are having trouble with, too.

Fabulous physio

We had sessions with the World Class psychologist, as well as physio Andy Thomas. I have a slight problem with my left shoulder where I chipped a bone skiing. I’m more effective with my right side and Andy monitors my left to make sure my reactions don’t slow down on that side.

Human physio’s something not a lot of riders think about, but it’s so beneficial. I always have to work on keeping my pelvis loose — a lot of riders do, especially male riders. I have various stretches I have to do before I ride and they make me more aware of how I’m sitting on the horse.

Human physio can help identify why your horse has a problem with something, too. If, say, your horse pulls more on one rein, and you’ve tried all you can to soften him, you should look at your own position. Over time with physio my body’s become more symmetrical and it’s the riders responsibility to make sure they are straight on their horse.

Competing at Abbey

I went to a competition at Abbey in Gloucestershire on Saturday. My sister Pippa rode Belmondo in the advanced medium and got 69%, which is great as I’ve been riding the horse so it’s good he’s now going well for Pippa.

I did the prix st georges on Merlin Nemorensis and he was fantastic — there were slight discrepancies in the two judge’s scores, they had different opinions, but I was really happy with the horse.

I went back on Sunday with Zep and did two novices. He’s the five-year-old who was a bit wobbly at his last show, but this time he was much more consistent. It was blowing a gale but he still really concentrated on me, so it’s onwards and upwards with him.

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: feeling a touch below par

Horse & Hound — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:22:19 +0000

I’ve not been up to much this week — I’m not getting lazy, I was ill! I was fine on Monday, but then Tuesday night I threw up about five times and was sick for the next two days.

The doctors said I have Biogastroenteritis, which is apparently this virus that’s been going around. Anyway, it meant I couldn’t ride for a few days, which was annoying as I was meant to be competing at Bromyard on Tuesday.

I attempted to ride five horses on Friday, but not very well. I had to though as I was off to a show on Saturday.

I took a livery horse, Sir Karl, who is competing at elementary level. He belongs to Sheila Barron, who is a long-term Talland client and spends months at a time in Malawi.

One of the staff will ride her horse whenever she’s away, and this time she asked me to take him through a few tests. He’s a big horse and she’s a little lady, so it’s not easy for her to keep him together. Because I’ve got long legs, it’s easier for me.

He’s strong in the contact and can get quite fixed, so we have to do lots of short, sharp transitions to get him to bend his legs and use his body. By varying the rhythm in the pace, he’ll develop the muscles he needs to hold himself together. If you can sit him back on his hindlegs like this, his rider doesn’t end up supporting him with the hand.

The other horse I took to the show, Zep, belongs to Aly Hanson, who has two Olympic eventers with Dag Albert. She wanted a baby horse by Anky Van Grunsven’s Painted Black, which is why she’s got Zep.

He was a bit full of himself in the second novice and I was flying through the air at some points — he just had so much energy and wanted to have some fun. He’d already finished second in his first test with 69%, he’s normally perfectly quiet, and it was only his third outing.

Other than that I’ve nothing to report but, having been recuperating, I’m planning to be back to 100% next week!

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: Lucy Wiegersma’s eventer comes to stay

Horse & Hound — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 12:13:02 +0000

This week eventer Lucy Wiegersma brought one of her advanced horses, Porloe Alvin, to Talland for me to ride for three weeks.

Alvin’s a lovely horse but he gets tense at competitions, so the plan is for me to get him out a lot so he relaxes and doesn’t predict going cross-country. Our first outing will to be to Burrows Court on Saturday.

He’s a very good mover for an eventer and is perfectly happy in trot and canter. But when you ask for halt he acts like he is in the start box and wiggles like a worm. He’s a different kind of challenge to all my dressage horses.

This was the first week I can remember when I’ve been home everyday, so I’ve had more time to get the horses ridden — all 9 of them — before teaching all afternoon.

Relaxing and rugby

On the weekend I went out for a few drinks on Saturday night and had an old friend from school over on Sunday to watch the rugby. England played well to start and utilised France’s mistakes, but we were complacent in the second half. I used to want to play rugby professionally so I still really follow the sport.

It’s never enough just to watch something on TV, (like when you see Formula 1 and it makes you want to get in your car) so we went out and played some rugby after the game. We have this rectangular field on the drive up to Talland, which is just perfect for it.

It was mum’s [Pammy] birthday on Sunday. Her only request was to be allowed a peaceful day where she had very little to do. We let her have a lie-in and then looked after her for the rest of the day. She attempted to do a bit of sunbathing, but gave up on that pretty quickly since it was a nice day, but not quite that hot!

Charlie

Charlie Hutton’s blog: success at Burrows Court on a borrowed horse

Horse & Hound — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 11:19:52 +0000

I went out competing on Thursday at Burrows Court, not far from us in Gloucestershire. I took my sister Pippa’s ride, Belmondo, as well as my own home-bred mare Amo, and entered both in the advanced medium and prix st georges.

I’m riding Belmondo while Pippa, who is 15, is busy at school. She doesn’t mind, she likes riding him after I’ve done a bit of work with him. He won the advanced medium on just under 72%, beating my mum [Pammy] into second on Bronco R.

Belmondo then did his first PSG and scored 66% — exactly the same score as Amo who was on her second attempt at the level, so that was weird.

On Saturday I had young rider squad training with Erik Theilgaard on Abira. We were working on quickening his hindleg and the selectors said they were pleased with how he’s going.

Erik’s very demanding, but not in a bad way. He always wants the horse in self-carriage with a good hindleg and some positive tension — so they have expression when they go in for their test.

I went out on Saturday night in Cirencester with some of the students at Talland. We got back home reasonably early — about 2am — and I slept till 1pm on Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon we went out to the cinema and saw The Unborn. It is quite a frightening film and, although I wasn’t particularly scared, the girls that came with us kept leaping out of their seats and grabbing on to me and to Paul, who was the only other guy from Talland there. On reflection, it possibly wasn’t the best film choice for them, but then again I do get forced along to chick flicks all the time!

Til next time,

Charlie

Top riders’ exclusive blogs on Horse & Hound

Horse & Hound — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:21:37 +0000

Dee Kennedy’s blog: packed and ready

Dee reports on her final preparations for Badminton

Read Dee Kennedy’s latest blog

Dee Kennedy’s blog: a week of very mixed emotions

Dee is looking forward to Badminton, but was rocked by the news of Ian Olding’s death at Belton

Read Dee Kennedy’s latest blog

Charlotte Platt: being bucked off and first 2009 foal

Charlotte’s young horse are feeling a little too fit and well at the moment and she is excited about the arrival of their first foal of 2009

Read Charlotte Platt’s latest blog

Charlie Hutton: Addington international

Charlie’s horses show the reverse of their expected form at Addington international

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Dee Kennedy: what to wear at the Badminton trot-up?

Big El continues to work well, while Dee Kennedy considers her footwear for the trot-up

Read Dee Kennedy’s latest blog

Charlie Hutton: Winter dressage champs

Charlie was pleased with how his horses went at the winter dressage championships at Hartpury

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Dee Kennedy: Good day at Burnham Market

Badminton Horse Trials entrant Dee Kennedy is impressed with Big El in the three-star at Burnham Market

Read Dee Kennedy’s latest blog

Dee Kennedy: first advanced run of 2009

Dee Kennedy and Big El tackle the advanced course at Weston Park as part of their Badminton preparation

Read Dee Kennedy’s latest blog

Charlotte Platt: Back to reality

Charlotte is back from Italy and enjoying the spring sunshine at home

Read Charlotte Platt’s latest blog

Charlie Hutton: Training and fabulous physio

It’s been a busy week for Charlie with two days of World Class training and two days competing

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Dee Kennedy: We are in at Badminton!

The waiting is over… entries have closed for Badminton and to our delight, Big El (“Eliot”) and I are in!

Read Dee Kennedy’s latest blog

Charlotte Platt: hello from sunny Tuscany

I’m writing my first blog from sunny Tuscany, in Italy. I am here for three weeks on the Toscana tour. The horses are jumping well, although all the courses are 5cm bigger than it says in the schedule…

Read Charlotte Platt’s latest blog

Dee Kennedy: Big El does his first event

Big El was a true pleasure around the cross-country. He is so easy and he reminded me why I love him after the other two phases…

Read Dee Kennedy’s latest blog

Charlie Hutton: feeling a bit below par

I was fine on Monday, but then Tuesday night I threw up about five times and was sick for the next two days…

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Dee Kennedy: youngsters’ first event

Friday was our first eventing outing of the year — the BE100 at Stafford — and it didn’t go entirely without problems…

Read Dee Kennedy’s blog

Charlie Hutton: a new challenge

This week eventer Lucy Wiegersma brought one of her advanced horses, Porloe Alvin, to Talland for me to ride for three weeks…

Read Charlie Hutton’s latest blog

Dee Kennedy: Big El is on track

On Thursday Big El had his first “away from home canter” and this was a really great sweetener as he loved it and worked very well. He went beautifully on the flat the next day, making me think I should canter him more often…

Read Dee Kennedy’s blog

Charlie Hutton: success at Burrows Court

I went out competing on Thursday at Burrows Court, not far from us in Gloucestershire. I took my sister Pippa’s ride, Belmondo, as well as my own home-bred mare Amo…

Read Charlie Hutton’s blog

Dee Kennedy: plans for the eventing season

Hi, I’m Dee Kennedy and I’ll be writing every week in the build-up to Badminton. I thought this week I would start my blog by introducing myself and telling you a bit about my eventing career so far…

Read Dee Kennedy’s first blog

Charlie Hutton: Life at Talland

Read Charlie Hutton’s first blog

Charlie Hutton, British young rider dressage competitor

Horse & Hound — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:04:18 +0000

Read Charlie’s exclusive blog

Charlie Hutton was born in 1989 and starting riding as an infant being brought up at The Talland School of Equitation. At first he was only interested in jumping and hunting and at the age of 9 he went off riding completely, becoming interested in farming instead.

When he turned 13, his mother — international dressage rider and H&H columnist Pammy Hutton — started paying him a pound each time he rode, just in case he changed his mind and wanted to make riding and teaching his career. This tactic worked, and since 14 he has moved up the ranks from prelim to young riders and is now riding at grand prix level.

He left school after taking his GCSEs to concentrate on riding and teaching exams — he is working towards a BHS fellowship.

Charlie was on the winning Pony Club championship dressage team for three consecutive years and in 2007 finished second individually on Amo — a seven-year-old Danish Warmblood mare.

He took Abira, a now nine-year-old gelding, to the 2006 junior European championships in Stadl Paura, Austria. They were the youngest combination to compete and the second-highest placed team member.

The following year, Charlie and Abira contested the junior championships in Nussloch, Germany, where they were placed 25th individually.

Charlie won team gold and individual silver at the Youth Olympics in Australia at the start of 2009. This was the first time that equestrian sports had been included in the games and the riders were competing on borrowed horses.

Major achievements

2009 Youth Olympics: team gold and individual silver
2008 young rider European championship team member
2007 European junior championship team member
2006 European junior championship team member

H&H exclusive blog: Charlie Hutton shares his highs and lows

Horse & Hound — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 11:24:50 +0000

Hi, I’m British dressage young rider, Charlie Hutton. Welcome to my first weekly blog for Horse&Hound.

I thought I’d start by letting you know a little about my day-to-day life. I’m generally on the yard at my family’s Talland School of Equitation in Gloucestershire by half seven, and try to get 8 horses ridden by half one. I’ll grab a bite to eat on the run and then teach through the afternoon. If I’ve time later I’ll generally muck in on the yard — grooming or cleaning tack — getting in around 6pm. So it’s pretty full on.

I ride by myself most of the time, but I’ll work with my Mum [international grand prix rider Pammy Hutton] on a daily basis, just stealing 10min of her time when I need her to look at something. Other than that I see Erik Theilgaard once a month for World class or young rider squad training.

As for getting out to shows, because Talland is the family business, the priority is making sure enough instructors are here on any one day. It’s easier to get out say on a BHS exam day since then the facilities are in use anyway. Because I’m aiming for young rider team selection, premier leagues and high profile shows take priority.

On Saturdays I’ll ride and teach a little, but if the horses aren’t competing on Sunday they’ll have an easy Saturday and Sunday off. If I’m not competing on Sunday, I’ll make the most of the chance to do absolutely nothing! I’ll go out on Saturday night, sleep till lunch, and then maybe go and rent a DVD and spend the afternoon on the sofa.

The horses I’m most excited about at the moment are my junior team partner Abira, who was seventh in the intermediaire I at the nationals last September — pretty good considering he’s only 9 this year. I’m thinking maybe 2012 for him, but who knows. Then there’s Merlin Nemorensis, also 9, who is not quite as established but has more potential, which makes him exciting.

So this past week, I did my first ever grand prix. It was on Thursday at Solihull and I rode Aljano, who belongs to Penny Manning. He’s 13 and went grand prix in Germany before he came to us. It’s taken a while for me to get his confidence, and he’s a big horse, nearly 18hh. He felt a little tired in the grand prix having done the inter II already — which we won with 67.5%.

Irritatingly, I then went wrong in the grand prix — in my defence I did have to remember four tests that day! Still, to come fifth in my first grand prix with nearly 65%, with no counting errors and no big mistakes, I was pretty pleased about that.

So, now you know what I’m about, I’ll be keeping you up to date with all my news and gossip each week, so check back each Tuesday for my latest installment.

Charlie

British riders to compete at the Australian Youth Olympic Festival

Amy Mathieson — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:12:33 +0000

Seven young British riders will be travelling to Sydney early next year to compete in the Australian Youth Olympic Festival.

It will be the first time that equestrianism has been included in the event, which runs from 14-18 January.

Show jumpers Daniel Neilson, Matthew Sampson, Louise Saywell and William Whitaker will take part, along with dressage riders Emily Cousins, Jessica Dunn and Charlie Hutton, who are coached by Di Lampard and Gareth Hughes respectively.

Mr Hughes told H&H: “It’s a fantastic opportunity for youth riders. There is the element of the unknown as they will be competing on borrowed horses — which makes it that bit more difficult.

“They are a good group of riders and it will be fun and interesting, but it is hard to say what our chances are until we are over there and can see the quality of horses they are given and begin the training.”

Caroline Griffith, equestrian team leader, said: “The riders were selected on their successful performances at both national and international level, as well as taking into account their ability to ride different horses.

“They’re all thrilled about this opportunity to compete on a world stage.”

The riders, who are all 19 or under, will be among more than 100 young British athletes competing in the event.

In total over 1,600 athletes from 25 nations will take part in the biennual festival, which was set up by the Australian Olympic Committee as part of the legacy of the 2000 Sydney Olympics.