Recent content by j1ffy

All of the above! I found that my horses all improved when we moved from a yard on clay soil to a yard on limestone. While they were fine on the clay, I had to be more careful with their diet in particular whereas it feels like we have a larger tolerance now. I suspect it's a combination of the...

I’m in love with her canter - she floats! She looks so happy trying new things there, what a change from her worried stages. Well done taking it slow and getting the foundations right, it looks like you’re reaping the rewards now!

Quikknots are ok but I’d recommend getting the XL ones for big plaits - I found the normal ones fine for the thinner parts of Chilli’s mane but they couldn’t handle the middle. Upholstery needles are essential for big plaits, with the added bonus that they have bigger holes for the thread. As...

I did the big Dutch dressage plaits in Chilli's thick mane (it didn't grow long enough for a running plait, also I find the running plait can discourage them from stretching forward especially in front of the withers), if you use quick knots they're very quick to do. Will try to find a photo...

It does sound fun! I'm going to have to brave the rain shortly to play the music and see if my horse can dance to it ;)

Thank you! I suspect I'll have a lot of learnings from our first few outings - I'll only make it to a 20x60 once in advance so it may be more 'freestyle' than originally planned 🤣 Does anyone know about Prestige or Sparsholt?

Joining in as I've just received my music - I've never done freestyle before so it's all quite exciting! OP - my brother (who helpfully is a musician and sound artist) has done mine, all based on one song but using different versions so there's some punk, dub reggae and a more jazzy version in...

Fairly quiet weekend for us. We've been working on getting more lift / cadence in trot and canter so carried on with that in our schooling sessions last week and lesson on Friday - it feels awesome when we get it right. I even managed to use my seat going from a medium to collected trot, instead...

I’ve found a video: The trainer on Tuesday recommended using the purple Franklin ball at the start in walk only - whereas the video includes the mini ball as well and all paces! Not sure I’d fancy trying it in trot and canter 😳

You should try the Franklin ball! I'm terrible at doing regular stretches and spend all day at a desk, so my hips get very tight. The Franklin ball feels very odd to sit on, I've not tried it on a real horse yet (but mine arrives today!), but it basically helps to stretch and release your hip...

The start of the week was a write-off horse wise thanks to work. BUT I did do something pretty cool on Tuesday evening - a lesson on a simulator with a dressage trainer. It was really enlightening - turns out I actually need to bounce more in trot, not less (!) by allowing my spine to move up...

I'm enjoying the mid-week motivation! We've been out competing and training quite a lot so we're mostly taking it easy during the week - Sammy is 18 and plenty fit enough for the work so I like to keep him fresh. He had Monday and Tuesday off after competing Sunday, then yesterday we did some...

Unfortunately our AM test was as shambolic as the previous week - we did manage the three R-L change but L-R were all late behind, and the rest of the test I felt like he and I were working against each other somewhat. The judge was generous enough to give us 63.75% so we have got our final...

We've got a lesson this afternoon, then I've got a late entry in for AM on Sunday at the same venue as last week - it was such a disaster that I feel I need to get straight back out there! My trainer will come along to help us in the warm up and see if I can work out what went wrong :)

I was told that I needed one when I moved a horse from UK to Spain earlier this year. There are so many challenges getting horses through the border that I just went online and got one - it really wasn't onerous!