1st weekend of November plans

Cloball

Cloball

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Lesson last night as I was working from home so managed to get there in the daylight still (no lights). Just hacking this weekend.

Feel like we're finally getting there with the canter transitions, plus as it's less frantic and exciting we don't forget how to trot in a straight line in between either. Did some nice shoulder in and travers on both reins she was really concentrating. Very cute.

On the way back to field bumped into YOs husband, who I consider a proper old school horseman, who helped me with D a lot in the early days told me I've done wonders with her ☺️🥲 Which was lovely to hear as I'm having a hell of a week at work.
 
Hi folks 👋

Taking one of my guys for another treadmill session this afternoon.

Then tomorrow, hopefully hopefully hopefully, my arena will be finished 🤞🏻 so all being well, I will ride/long rein on Sunday

We have half the fibre in and spread, so tomorrow’s tasks will be…
- add rest of the fibre & spread
- add sleepers to bottom of gateways
- stone up to sleepers so nobody falls over when entering / exiting
- roll & power harrow to get fibre mixed - run over with shiny new arena groomer quad attachment

Verrrrry excited

Hope the horses aren’t too excited though, I don’t fancy testing out how much I bounce on it..!
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I put this on Rigs' thread last night, because I dusted him off and rode him out with a friend yesterday. He's been ridden but a couple of times in 3 months, and was very excited to be out! In fact, he jogged all the way home after his little canter, bless!

https://www.tiktok.com/video/7567058008581278999

H had done an epically long ride on Wednesday
https://www.tiktok.com/video/7566657777330900246
followed by a hoof trim and us running
https://www.tiktok.com/video/7566747377156001046
and is boxing out to do another ride out today, so he had yesterday off.

I'm a bit disappointed TBH, as he's had time off/doing walk work while I've been away and his fitness isn't where I need it to be. There is a hunt XC ride on Sunday which would be right up his street, but he simply isn't fit enough. No matter, we will enjoy our ride out today, and there are ditches to pop.

Meanwhile, I'm swimming in the cold lake on Saturday, with a bonfire party in the evening. On Sunday, I'm having a pool diving lesson, followed by a Thai massage. Oh, and yesterday we carved pumpkins!

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Cloball said:
@smolmaus sounds ominous hope Sadie is ok 🤒
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She is 99% grand! I forget not everybody reads every thread 😂
j1ffy said:
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 :)
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We all have different definitions of disaster! 😂 still sending wishes for a calmer Sammy!
 
Arena envy sheep - my field is currently lovely to ride in but will hit muddy bog stage soon.

Having a sh1t week. OH's work has dried up just as his car has properly broken. PTS time probably. He loves his old porsche but it has run up its share of massive vet bills.

The microcob is going to riding club dressage on Sunday where she's allowed to do Intro tests in her hackamore. I could have taken the hooligan but he got very sluggish doing tests over the summer so I'll save him for Quest. Microcob hasn't been in an arena since she did the last RC test in April!! Hacked her this morning and she was full of herself.

@Cloball getting good feedback always makes the tough days worth it
 
So I had planned on starting teaching Rabbit to long rein as the next exciting step towards getting him ready for me to sit on him at some point next year.

I went into his stable this morning to find him, head down, looking at his tummy, ears to the side, stood at the back and not himself in the slightest. Panic stations begin as this is totally out of character for him - a friend saw my face drop, came over, gave me a hug, gave Rabbit a head scratch and talked some sense into me as all brain power had left the building at this point. We checked his bottom (as he's prone to an upset tummy cause he's a sensitive lad) and the poor boy has got a right upset tummy at the moment. Poops are semi solid but not like they usually are, so plenty of TLC and some gentle massage sessions for him are on the cards this weekend. Will pop a heavier rug on him to keep him warmer, pop some electrolytes in his feed to encourage drinking and keep an eye on him. I've phoned the vets and they're happy with my game plan, so that is one relief.

Baggs is getting fitted for new hoof boots on Sunday so we can resume hacking and exploring our local routes from the new yard, which is one thing to look forward to I suppose...
 
I hope Rabbit is feeling better soon!


Really happy with my lesson today! I wasn't feeling great when I got up as had my flu jab yesterday and just really tired from a busy week working. Plus it was pretty windy and that's not my favourite for riding. So my comfort zone was smaller than last time, but I think one of the Sports Psych lessons is that you just work with that and as long as you do go out of your comfort zone at least a bit then you will build confidence.

Did some nice bits of work in walk including with no stirrups and learning about weight aids for turn on forehand. Trying to really focus on not gripping when I used my leg aids. Progress on that feels slooooow but super satisfying when bits click into place.

We then had some pretty epic sideways rain and the wind got up. Mr ID went on strike (I don't blame him, it was grim!) and we ended up doing a sort of side pass/going backwards along one side because he wanted to get his face out of the rain.

I know it sounds silly but this is the sort of thing that would have really got me panicked not that long ago. I did get worried but was able to slow myself down/breathe out and use the imagery stuff I've been learning in Sports Psych (my worried brain started offering me images of being carted around the arena, not helpful!) I also couldn't hear my instructor because of the weather so sort of had to deal with it myself for a minute. It was good that she let me work through it so I could build a bit of confidence in not relying on someone on the ground to make it okay. It's 'nothing' really but I am really proud of myself and pleased to turn it into a positive learning experience instead of beating myself up for getting worried over nothing.

So it didn't go to plan (i.e., didn't try any trotting this week) but it was a good learning experience for when things go a bit... sideways 😂
 
smolmaus said:
Oh Rabbit! Weekend being wrapped in cotton wool for you 😭
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He looked so sorry for himself this morning - it was taking everything in me not to burst out crying....he's such a special lad (my first youngster that I'm 100% training myself and doing all the firsts with), and we've got such a massive bond - I can't help but get emotional when my animals aren't right 😭 I gave him plenty of cuddles in the field, told him how special he was, how much I adore him and that I am going to get him better as soon as I can. Game plan is to head to the tack shop tomorrow, buy some of his all time fave treats, get a gut supplement to help his tummy, and how the whole weekend is going to be spent relaxing and doing nothing else x
 
smolmaus said:
Oh Rabbit! Weekend being wrapped in cotton wool for you 😭
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He looked so sorry for himself this morning - it was taking everything in me not to burst out crying....he's such a special lad (my first youngster that I'm 100% training myself and doing all the firsts with), and we've got such a massive bond - I can't help but get emotional when my animals aren't right 😭 I gave him plenty of cuddles in the field, told him how special he was, how much I adore him and that I am going to get him better as soon as I can. Game plan is to head to the tack shop tomorrow, buy some of his all time fave treats, get a gut supplement to help his tummy, and how the whole weekend is going to be spent relaxing and doing nothing else x

humblepie said:
Hope Rabbit feeling better
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Thank you - I've lucky to have lots of friends at the yard who will keep an eye on him for me x

SaddlePsych'D said:
I hope Rabbit is feeling better soon!
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Thank you - he's such a sweet lad and just wants to be loved and cuddled 🥺
 
smolmaus said:
Oh Rabbit! Weekend being wrapped in cotton wool for you 😭
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To bed and camomile tea worked for Peter Rabbit...
@AppyLover1996 I hope Rabbit is feeling more himself soon. I had to go and drag Dad away from dinner with the neighbour to hang on to Sassy while I checked out a puffy eye. Puffiness had already gone down somewhat when I got back with Dad, and I couldn't see anything in there, so I'll check again first thing in the morning and hope I don't have to call the vet out on a bank holiday.
 
Red-1 said:
He was never the bravest! He is kind and generous but not brave. I'm happy though as I can box up and go adventuring on my own to a new place, or a beach, or the XC course and, other then being naturally cautious, he is kind and generous.
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He is a good lad, I was agreeing with him it looked dodgy 😂
 
smolmaus said:
He is a good lad, I was agreeing with him it looked dodgy 😂
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He hates anything that looks out of place. Those rocks, the sculptures in the park, park benches... But we also met his first train, which he wasn't at all bothered about, and I think he would have crossed right in front of! We met barking dogs, a step up, a step down, all no bother. Ditches deserve a full inspection before stepping neatly over.

That particular rock was not only suspicious, it was also very tight with a gate/fence, especially for a horse with a currently HUUUuuuuuuge tummy to fit through the gap!
 
It was touch and go after truly biblical rain on Thursday and Friday, but we got the arena finished yesterday so my two lads were both ridden this morning in it 🙌 beyond delighted, it was so nice to be back riding at home. While the rain had made things a bit challenging yesterday, I think it has left the surface in better, more rideable condition so I am flipping thrilled!

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Well my little happy hacker in her hackamore stormed both Intro tests at our riding club today getting 70% and 72%. Good spread of marks too (I'm so used to riding her on the buckle we got deducted for not showing medium walk! )

I thought we might win a speed award for Intro 1 it was SO exciting but the novelty wore off for Intro 2 and we had a very nice test.

We'll never score well at big venues because she needs to carry her nose out to be able to breathe (& still roars a bit) but if anywhere local ever does a bitless class I don't think we'd embarrass ourselves 🥰
 
Titchy Pony said:
To bed and camomile tea worked for Peter Rabbit...
@AppyLover1996 I hope Rabbit is feeling more himself soon. I had to go and drag Dad away from dinner with the neighbour to hang on to Sassy while I checked out a puffy eye. Puffiness had already gone down somewhat when I got back with Dad, and I couldn't see anything in there, so I'll check again first thing in the morning and hope I don't have to call the vet out on a bank holiday.
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He's a bit perkier bless him, but still not got to the bottom of what is causing him to feel a bit meh - so I will be contacting my vets and going from there....the one blessing is that he is a people horse and loves all attention he can get bless him x
 
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