Lucinda & Ellie Fredericks Visit HUSK HQ!

How nervous were we!  Inviting an Olympian & prospective Olympian to our humble small holding on Exmoor!  We got the fire on, The Dark Horse Photography was at the ready, and of course tea and coffee – it was a cold night!  As soon as Cinda and Ellie dived through the door to get warm, they grabbed our Ethical Sweats & Snoods to warm up and fell in love!  Like kiddies in a sweet shop everyone was rummaging around and admiring all of the HUSK range!

We talked and laughed a lot, and then got down to some sensible conversation!

Louise:  Breeding…… Tell us about your breeding experience….

Lucinda: It’s always a surprise!  No horse ever pops out the same. For example Upsi and Daisy are siblings, but Upsi is compact, springy, & Daisy longer in body, and took alot longer to mature.  Each have their own incredible talents, but neither can be trained the same way.

Another tip is to send the mare away to stud, so many people try to keep their mares at home and through my experience there is more success in the mare taking and having a good pregnancy when she is at a stud.

Louise:  Training…… Can you explain how you would train Upsi vs Daisy…..

Lucinda: Upsi is very compact, and was pretty athletic from a young age.  Very fizzy!  So it was about training Upsi’s brain to be more specific and exact, to stretch, and fitness.  We use lots of interesting pole and grids to keep Upsi’s mind focussed, and lots of fun.  Daisy is taking more time, she’s got a longer body to grow into, but will cover a lot more ground when she’s fully fledged.  However we need to take things more slowly with her, to carefully develop her strength and flexibility.

Louise:  How do you see the future of eventing?

Lucinda:  It’s exciting!  British Eventing are now offering a pay as you go option for aspiring eventers!  It gives people much more flexibility financially and logistically.   Also did you see Ellie on the front cover of the BE Handbook?  So exciting!

If you are unaffiliated there are new opportunities such as at Pontispool where they host the Cotswold Cup.  And of course you can get involved if your school is part of the NSEA, as there are inter school competitions happening quite alot over the year too.

Louise:  How do you fund your eventing empire?

Lucinda:  There are many ways, of course through teaching is one.  Breeding is another income stream for us to support our business, as well as bringing on youngsters.  And finally having owners who kindly support us with fantastic horses, and supporting their keep.

Louise:  In a world of many eventers all doing similar things to earn a living, how do you and Ellie differentiate yourselves and stand out from the crowd?

Lucinda:  My career was based around “tricky” horses, I was a brave rider, maybe a little crazy!!  But I always worked with tricky horses, and that was what I became known for.

Ellie:  I love quirky horses, and ponies!  We are really good at bringing them on, helping them to realise their potential, be confident with that, and help them to manage their whizzy brains.  That’s what I would like to be known for too.

Louise:  What is your main tip for anyone out there with a tricky pony or horse?

Lucinda & Ellie:  Consistency, counting, count, count, count!  Put out poles and count strides up to the poles, over the poles, after the poles, grid work the same.  Make it fun and to keep the focus for both horse and rider, don’t forget to count!

1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3!!!!

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