Pam Millar

I continue to be busy teaching all around the North East of Scotland giving private lessons and club and clinic bookings. I have already run a 2-day clinic at Ladyleys and joint clinics with Anni Stonebridge and Pauline Kidd in 2012 and look forward to more of these throughout the year, so please let me know if you are interested.

Havanna is very happily re-homed, back with Karen, and I have been lucky enough to find a new riding partner in Phoenix. He is a 10 year old Lipizzaner gelding with a tremendous character and a lot to learn. He is turning out to be great fun, and stunning when things all come together. My interest in his breed followed on from a visit to Vienna and riding lessons at Lipica, in Slovenia last year.

2011

June update.

Life is pretty busy at the moment with lots of riders wanting lessons to improve their work for their own satisfaction and for competing. Congratulations to Cecile on qualifying for the Summer Regional Championships and to numerous other riders for continuing to improve their own performances and personal bests – including Carlene, Rosalind, Shona, Jo, Viv, Nicola, Yolanda, Laura and Kerryn.

I have already run music and other clinics this year and more are to follow soon – see the diary page.

I am not competing at the moment due to waiting to hear about the future for Havanna, but did enjoy a couple of competitions on Izzy before she went home to Loretta – she was great fun and progressed well. I have continued to enjoy lessons with Albert and Debby on Izzy and other “borrowed” horses.

Earlier in the year Keith and I visited Vienna and I was inspired watching the training and performance at the Spanish Riding School –just fantastic!

February update.

As it is a while since the last update on the web site, there is quite a lot to report.

Sadly, Havanna’s development was not going as well as could be expected, after successfully mastering flying changes. She was still struggling to go sideways and started having problems with self carriage. After talking with Debby and Albert, after they had ridden her, consultations about her back and saddle, and a while of back to basics work, I decided to bring in the vet. He agreed there was something wrong but was not sure what. We ended up at Clyde Veterinary Group in Lanark, where, after a bone scan and various other tests, Havanna was diagnosed as having Spondylitis – inflammation between the vertebrae. She is now on 6 months rest, then she will be re-assessed by my vet. Not a happy situation. In the interim however, I have temporarily swapped Havanna for Izzy – a lovely Welsh Section D, so Havanna is having a holiday and Izzy is working for her keep!

Teaching was very busy last year including a variety of clinics and helping clients at competitions, resulting in lots of rosettes and happy riders. Things came to an abrupt slow-down when the snow arrived. Some clients are still not back up and running due to long lasting ice, but I have run several indoor video watching sessions which have been very popular; a chance to indulge yourself in watching videos and horsey talk!

I will be running more clinics, music sessions etc over the coming year, so if you are interested, please get in touch. Please note that I am now available for morning lessons, all week, in addition to the previous afternoon and evenings, as I have now given up other commitments to concentrate solely on teaching.

2010

Spring update.

Life is very busy again now that winter has (almost!) passed and everyone is back in action. Pam and Havanna are continuing to train regularly with Debby Lush and Albert Van Schie and Havanna is progressing. We are going through the exciting time at the moment of learning flying changes so we will probably give the competitions a miss for a while. Pam, Hazel and Lorretta all qualified for the Winter Regional Championships at Rowallan and luckily made it there, despite lots of concerns about the weather in the week before the competition. Hazel and Markie did very well and qualified for the National Music championships where they put in a very creditable performance, despite lameness issues in the weeks before the competition. Many other clients have been doing very well in local competitions and leagues including Amanda, Anna, Caroline, Denise and Yolanda.

Pam is still busy helping quite a lot of clients get a music freestyle test sorted out, and several clients are out and about, competing successfully.

Pam is considering another weekend clinic for clients over the summer, so if you are interested, please contact Pam.

2009

Havanna update

Pam, Keith and Havanna recently travelled down to Rowallan in Ayrshire for the Scottish Winter Regional Championships.

It was Havanna’s first trip away from home with Pam and she coped really well with the long journey and the 2 nights away. After the 5 hour journey, they did a test on the Friday night in an arena that spooked the vast majority of horses. She got 2nd place but was very tense. On the Saturday morning we had a working-in session with Albert van Shie (one of our trainers) and then did another test in the same arena, which was better. On the Sunday, after a little help again from Albert, they did the warm-up class and got 5th place with 68% then in the afternoon, with support from Debby, Havanna was placed 5th in the Elementary Open class with 65.3%, less than 3% behind the winner. So overall it was a very good weekend and Havanna (and Keith!) did very well.

Riding straight clinic

At the end of January, Pam ran a clinic with Pauline Kidd aimed at helping riders get straighter and more balanced in the saddle then carrying that through to the work they are currently doing with their horse. It was a very successful day with some “light bulb” moments and some good improvements in performance from both riders and horses. Riding is so much about “feeling” and this approach really enables the rider to experience a new balance or stretch or relaxation or way of moving and then experiment with how that impacts the responses they get from their horse. The response from the horse is usually “thank-you – I like that”!

2008 (2007)

Havanna had another good outing in the December Ladyleys competition. A 61% at Medium and 66% at Elementary level was achieved on a wet, cold winters day. Pam wasn't particularly happy so hopefully much better to come......

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Lots has been happening over the past weeks and months.

Results – lots of clients have been competing over the summer months and they have all been improving and getting some good results. The names are too many to mention here – and I might miss someone out! – but there have been successes in dressage, showing and eventing – well done to you all.

Havanna – after some more good results, Havanna is now affiliated and she did really well in her first competition. She won her Elem classes with 70 and 71%, qualifying for the Winter Regionals at her first attempt.

Articles – Pam is now writing a regular column for the local paper – watch out for her training tips.

Tuscany – Pam is just back from a week of classical riding in Tuscany, Italy. It was a lovely place, good weather, super food, good company and excellent trainers. If you want to see more about Il Paretaio, see the links page.

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Recent competition successes for clients include Erin, Elizabeth, Fiona and Nicola in dressage, Bev in showing and Rebecca in eventing – well done to all taking part in competitions this summer.

Pam was delighted with Havanna’s performance in a recent competition when she won both her Elementary classes in style with 69% and 70% - watch this space!

Pam was also very proud of the Drill Riding team who performed at the World Horse Welfare (formerly known as the ILPH) Open Day near Aboyne on 6 July. They put on a great display doing 2 different routines to different music with a quick change of costume in between. All 8 riders and horses did a great job which was well appreciated by the crowds and organisers – well done.

Riding Straight Clinic with Pauline Kidd.

The Riding Straight Clinic held recently with Pauline Kidd and Pam was very successful with all the riders gaining useful insights regarding the use of their bodies in becoming more effective riders. The most common areas for improvements were the hips. Looser hips led to a more even seat and better leg position hence straighter more forward horses when they moved on for the riding lesson part of the clinic with Pam. Other people were helped with shoulder and arm issues, which led to softer more harmonious and effective contact. This is an event we would be happy to run again for small groups of riders, so if you are interested – get in touch with Pam

20 April 2008

Well done to Sonya, Nick, Fiona, Vicky and Elizabeth for recent dressage successes and to Angela for her showing success.

7 March 2008

Pam thoroughly enjoyed meeting, watching and learning from Cristina & Giovanni De Marchi last weekend in their clinic on Classical Dressage. Pam had 2 lessons with Giovanni and got different insights into preparation for movements, contact and cadence which were all fascinating.

26 February 2008

Well done in recent dressage competitions to Rebecca and Patch, Nick and Becki, Elizabeth and Paddy and to Angela and Tilly for their showing successes.

Over the past few weeks Pam has been busy with lessons for clients and training for herself, despite the winter weather. Just after Christmas Debby was in the area doing a successful set of lessons. In January, Pam went on a Sport Science Seminar covering Sports Psychology and Exercise Physiology which was very interesting and encouraging. Later in the month Pam had another 2 lessons from Markus Bauer who was pleased with how Havanna is going. Pam has also recently run a test riding clinic for Strathisla Riding Club, training for Findon Riding Club and a Dressage to Music Clinic for Ladyleys Riding Club.