Adventurous April Weekend Plans

[racebuddy]

The baby eventer is off to Eland Lodge tomorrow for the 90! Fingers crossed he's as well behaved as his last time out!

I’m sure they posted they had cancelled

 

[little_critter]

I’ve not been on this thread for a loooong time. But the plan is to get my dressage online test filmed this weekend. I have a novice and an elementary to get in the can. Just focussing on the Novice this weekend.

And as a teaser, we are off to a WE beginners clinic next weekend. Never tried it before but it looks fun!

 

[Merry neddy man]

Penistone South Yorkshire tractor run on Sunday, 120 tractors passing through all the local villages, big charity run with prizes and big raffle, great fun.

 

[SEL]

Penistone South Yorkshire tractor run on Sunday, 120 tractors passing through all the local villages, big charity run with prizes and big raffle, great fun.

About the right weather for tractors - can't even hack down our bridlepaths the mud is so deep so I'm not surprised events are being cancelled.

I was thinking about recording my e riders intro test but there's not a section in it for paddling in lakes.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

About the right weather for tractors - can't even hack down our bridlepaths the mud is so deep so I'm not surprised events are being cancelled.

I was thinking about recording my e riders intro test but there's not a section in it for paddling in lakes.

It's the same here some of the woods opposite just looks like mini lakes everywhere, the dog nearly disappeared in one a few days ago it was that deep

 

[millitiger]

Well I've decided to scratch from the C/T BD champs

I took Dima on a little walk around the block today was feeling pretty flat. Also, not a cough as such, but he blew his nose 4 x on the way round too.
I know I could take him and he'd still put in a good performance and I don't think it would actually make him any worse.
However, I don't want to have to really ride and cajole a good test out of him, it doesn't sit well with me and also, this was never his season highlight, it was a bonus and surprise when he won the qualifier as I only entered for some practice!

A few days off and I'll pop some respirator in his feeds and see how he is mid-week, in case we need something stronger from the vets.

So a weekend of gardening and moving electric fencing for me instead!

 

[AandK]

Sorry to those having their plans cancelled, this weather is crazy. Can’t remember an April where my fields still looked so wet.. it’s usually verging on too hard where I am!

Nothing exciting as we’re still coming back into work. Went for a nice ride round the block this morning, had company too, which is rare for us! Had to walk a bit slower than usual, but Charlie is about 2hh taller than his friends!

 

[J_sarahd]

We had our first proper lesson. It was booked in when I lost my confidence a few weeks ago and to be fair, she came out a bit like a, well, a racehorse today. But after a couple of circles in walk, she calmed down and eventually produced some nice work. We worked on suppleness with spirals and circles and there were glimpses of her actually working into a nice contact - obviously this isn’t our main priority at this point by any means! Her brain was frazzled but lots of homework we can do in short sessions.

The only issue we’ve had with napping as mentioned before is her pulling faces at the horse in the mirror. Her transitions were spot on today.

We are going to hack tomorrow as something super easy after today’s mentally tiring session.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Really feeling for people trying to get their season underway!

Hack number one of the weekend done. I am very proud of myself for staying on the horse because there was a point, despite being on lead rein and planning to do the same ride as last time, I panicked and really, really wanted to get off. Instead I told the unhelpful thoughts to do one while I focused on breathing, not tensing up, and making a decision about what to do to de-escalate the situation.

I get a bit more nervous on the homeward journey but was feeling okay about it today, until we spotted another pony and rider heading along our homeward road. I'm not sure how share horse simultaneously does a giraffe impression whilst somehow making feel like his neck has disappeared, but that excitable feeling he had made me think following this pony home might end up with silliness/jogging and I'm not at a stage (mentally) to be able to manage that.

I'm not sure if it was the right/best decision but standing was going to just wind him up because he could still see/hear the pony, so I gave myself a moment to catch my breath and turned away from home along another road. Stopped in a gateway to calm down/state repeatedly how much I wanted to get off, then we made our homeward turn. I did feel like we were marching towards the start at Aintree (objectively funny, he is a cob!) but was able to keep calm and actually as we got to home, the lead rein came off again and I was back smiling.

Thoughts on my approach to that situation most welcome, I will also speak to owner for their take. I need to see it as a learning opportunity to know how to navigate things like that which can come up on a hack.

 

[little_critter]

Really feeling for people trying to get their season underway!

Hack number one of the weekend done. I am very proud of myself for staying on the horse because there was a point, despite being on lead rein and planning to do the same ride as last time, I panicked and really, really wanted to get off. Instead I told the unhelpful thoughts to do one while I focused on breathing, not tensing up, and making a decision about what to do to de-escalate the situation.

I get a bit more nervous on the homeward journey but was feeling okay about it today, until we spotted another pony and rider heading along our homeward road. I'm not sure how share horse simultaneously does a giraffe impression whilst somehow making feel like his neck has disappeared, but that excitable feeling he had made me think following this pony home might end up with silliness/jogging and I'm not at a stage (mentally) to be able to manage that.

I'm not sure if it was the right/best decision but standing was going to just wind him up because he could still see/hear the pony, so I gave myself a moment to catch my breath and turned away from home along another road. Stopped in a gateway to calm down/state repeatedly how much I wanted to get off, then we made our homeward turn. I did feel like we were marching towards the start at Aintree (objectively funny, he is a cob!) but was able to keep calm and actually as we got to home, the lead rein came off again and I was back smiling.

Thoughts on my approach to that situation most welcome, I will also speak to owner for their take. I need to see it as a learning opportunity to know how to navigate things like that which can come up on a hack.

I think you did a great job. You spotted something that would cause you / the horse stress and you found a good way to calm the situation. Big well done on keeping calm and staying on

 

[little_critter]

Well we got our dressage test filmed & submitted. Not our best work but as T wasn’t in a pingy mood today I felt it was an acceptable test. The mediums will be described as ‘modest’ at best but it was a clean take and I’ll be interested to see how it scores.
Now I need to pick a day when T is feeling more exuberant to try the elementary test.

 

[Jeni the dragon]

We were three quarters of the way down when we heard about the cancellation, hotel was paid for so decided just to keep on going and head over to the yard instead. No luck finding any other competition to go to so Paddy and Pretty had a bit of a jump at home, then lorry pulled out and we headed off to pick up an ex racer for Bob's rider to have fun on! He's home bred but a not a great race horse. Loaded and travelled well and looks like he settled in already so looking forward to following his progress.

 

[TheMule]

Well I've decided to scratch from the C/T BD champs

I took Dima on a little walk around the block today was feeling pretty flat. Also, not a cough as such, but he blew his nose 4 x on the way round too.
I know I could take him and he'd still put in a good performance and I don't think it would actually make him any worse.
However, I don't want to have to really ride and cajole a good test out of him, it doesn't sit well with me and also, this was never his season highlight, it was a bonus and surprise when he won the qualifier as I only entered for some practice!

A few days off and I'll pop some respirator in his feeds and see how he is mid-week, in case we need something stronger from the vets.

So a weekend of gardening and moving electric fencing for me instead!

That's rubbish, sorry

 

[TheMule]

We were three quarters of the way down when we heard about the cancellation, hotel was paid for so decided just to keep on going and head over to the yard instead. No luck finding any other competition to go to so Paddy and Pretty had a bit of a jump at home, then lorry pulled out and we headed off to pick up an ex racer for Bob's rider to have fun on! He's home bred but a not a great race horse. Loaded and travelled well and looks like he settled in already so looking forward to following his progress.

So unlucky, blooming weather!

 

[southerncomfort]

Penistone South Yorkshire tractor run on Sunday, 120 tractors passing through all the local villages, big charity run with prizes and big raffle, great fun.

I saw a sign up for this earlier this week. We must be quite close NM!

 

[lannerch]

And now back on! They've added an extra section on Monday and we're in! Phew

Me too , Layla has her first run this year Monday hope to see you mule I’m not in your section though layla is in the one with Mary King and Tom Mckeon

 

[HappyHollyDays]

For anyone in the vicinity of Swalcliffe near Banbury, Horse Events are running an UE event this weekend and have put an extra day on Monday at all heights from 70 to 100 to cater for those who have had events cancelled this weekend and need to run. The ground it excellent and holding up really well.

 

[scats]

Hacked yesterday and schooled today. The girls are having their first night out of the year. The last two years, Polly has suffered a sleep deprivation related accident in the first couple of days after switch over, so I’m a bit worried about that. Both times it’s happened in the stable when she’s come in for the day and she’s ended up head butting the wall and injuring herself quite badly. So the plan is to actually keep her out as much as possible for the first few days to week, in the hope that if she does go down, she’s not going to hit a wall. It seems to take her a few days to actually sleep in the field. Once she does, she’s absolutely fine.

 

[blood_magik]

We had a somewhat frustrating morning.

I always check to make sure things are running to time before I get on but somehow with less than 5 minutes to go before I was due up the centre line they were suddenly running 20-ish minutes behind.

Jack tried, bless him, but he felt tired and started overreacting to my leg so we had a few silly mistakes. He still finished in the top half of the class on 65.40% but I was disappointed with our score as he’s been up around the 68/69 mark the last few outings.

Raz had a good outing. We stepped down a level to elementary as he’s had an almost a year away from competing due to hock/suspensory issues so the plan was just to go and see what happened. His class also ended up running behind but thankfully it didn’t really affect him and he ended up with 68.44% and 2nd.

Early start tomorrow as Cas is on just after 9am. Hopefully they won’t run late

 

[TheMule]

Me too , Layla has her first run this year Monday hope to see you mule I’m not in your section though layla is in the one with Mary King and Tom Mckeon

Good luck! Unfortunately, as Monday was not the original plan and everyone is working I have no suitably qualified help, so it's going to be a bit of an 'interesting' day relying on my completely non-horsey parents who are in their 80s to 'help' with the very feisty little ginger grandchild

 

[Cherryblossom]

We were three quarters of the way down when we heard about the cancellation, hotel was paid for so decided just to keep on going and head over to the yard instead. No luck finding any other competition to go to so Paddy and Pretty had a bit of a jump at home, then lorry pulled out and we headed off to pick up an ex racer for Bob's rider to have fun on! He's home bred but a not a great race horse. Loaded and travelled well and looks like he settled in already so looking forward to following his progress.

He’s got a lovely face!

 

[Cherryblossom]

Poppy’s first working hunter went brilliantly. I’m constantly amazed by what a fantastic attitude she has. She’s just doesn’t even seem to notice the flower pots/ branches etc they put around the jumps to make them scary. I was pulled in 3rd on her in the 60cm, which I’m delighted at, as she’s only 15hh, and her conformation is far from perfect.
My friend, whose horse is off work then did the 70cm performance. Because of the quick turnaround time, she didn’t get to jump her beforehand, but went in, jumped a lovely clear and won her class!

 

[scats]

The girls were standing at the gate looking tragic in the rain, so I’ve brought them in for a few hours. Polly has a deep bed, banks and her flexible water bucket. Fingers crossed we don’t have a repeat of the last 2 years. My camera is on so if it happens, I can see exactly what occurred.

 

[millitiger]

That's rubbish, sorry

Thank you.
I think I'd convinced myself yesterday that it was no big deal but I'm actually feeling pretty glum about it today

 

[Kunoichi73]

Just my usual Sunday lesson this weekend. It went well. We worked on some poles and raised poles trying to get the horse to bend a little. The poor thing is very stiff. Got some nice bends towards the end of the lesson as she relaxed. She's a bit of a stress head but really tries.

 

[little_critter]

Well we got our dressage test filmed & submitted. Not our best work but as T wasn’t in a pingy mood today I felt it was an acceptable test. The mediums will be described as ‘modest’ at best but it was a clean take and I’ll be interested to see how it scores.
Now I need to pick a day when T is feeling more exuberant to try the elementary test.

Test is marked already. 65% which feels about right. It was a vanilla test, nothing bad but no sparkle either.

 

[MuddyMonster]

Saturday morning was a long hack. I wasn't sure if I'd ride today due to social plans so thought I'd make the most of it. Pony poitely but firmly told me that he'd stick to the gait I asked but the speed of the gait was all up to him

Surprisingly for all involved, despite getting in at 2am I was able to hack by 8.30am this morning, although much shorter. I think I might have still been mildly drunk as jumped some v. big logs for me and cantered the ditch I always trot over

I'm now supposed to be cleaning my saddle and boots after the weekend's mud but I'm actually in bed, giving into the hang over, watching TV and eating snacks whilst trying to put off poo picking as long as possible as nothing feels less inspiring right now then pushing a wheelbarrow through mud.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I think you did a great job. You spotted something that would cause you / the horse stress and you found a good way to calm the situation. Big well done on keeping calm and staying on

Thank you! I spoke with owner today and she agreed it was a sensible thing to do so that's good.

Not sure how I'm managing to go backwards again with riding. Logically I should take confidence from yesterday, I stayed on the horse, handled the situation, and ended on a good note. Today I was anxious to even get on. Walked round the arena in hand, got on, OH lead reining me round for a bit and then got off. A couple of weeks ago I did a pole clinic. Make it make sense?!?

 

[Kunoichi73]

Thank you! I spoke with owner today and she agreed it was a sensible thing to do so that's good.

Not sure how I'm managing to go backwards again with riding. Logically I should take confidence from yesterday, I stayed on the horse, handled the situation, and ended on a good note. Today I was anxious to even get on. Walked round the arena in hand, got on, OH lead reining me round for a bit and then got off. A couple of weeks ago I did a pole clinic. Make it make sense?!?

I can't remember if I've asked you this before, but have you considered getting your GP to prescribe beta blockers? I have perimenopausal anxiety and sometimes find I'm starting to get stressed before a lesson (usually a group lesson). If I take one, it just ramps the anxiety down to a minor level and I can get on with doing the stuff I love. I don't take them all the time, but on days when I'm feeling twitchy, they are great.

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

I can't remember if I've asked you this before, but have you considered getting your GP to prescribe beta blockers? I have perimenopausal anxiety and sometimes find I'm starting to get stressed before a lesson (usually a group lesson). If I take one, it just ramps the anxiety down to a minor level and I can get on with doing the stuff I love. I don't take them all the time, but on days when I'm feeling twitchy, they are great.

I could ask, I've not thought about it before but sounds worth finding out if it's possible.