Bank holiday Weekend plans

Had a lovely day with the Clyde at the town show, he loaded and travelled like a dream despite his last two trips being to horsepital, stood quietly in the middle of a mob of people plaiting - three on his mane, two on his tail - and enjoyed himself in the ring.

Given that I nearly lost him twice in the past six months, I just grinned like an idiot all the way through and didn't mind that we run into some of the 'interesting' judging sometimes seen in the heavy horse world. No further comment there, except I've noted their name!

Had a burger, drunk a cider and watched the Foxhunter class all with him standing alongside me just on his head collar rope and sent a pic off to his vet and farrier while he munched polos and posed for selfies with the little kids in the gymkhana ring.

Not something I thought we'd ever do again so very happy :-) Oh and he stole my apple turnover as I was loading him up and then spat pastry all over the lorry partition.
 
We’re just on our way home from Edinburgh so will be home late.

Much better today. I decided to aim for bendy-ness rather than uphill-ness so we did 20 minutes this morning to work out any kinks/arguments and then half an hour before our test.

Quite a few withdrew so we went in early. Raz has stopped his calmer so we had a moment in the H corner - unfortunately dad didn’t get it on video but needless to say Raz got a sharp dig in the ribs for rearing and then running backwards.

We had a bit of an argument in the second shoulder in but other than that I thought we didn’t do too badly - managed to keep the CC this time and really went for the extensions.

We were pipped to the post by one collective mark so had to settle for blue instead of red this time. Score was much better - 63.51% compared to 60.87 two weeks ago. M75 is now going in the bin. :D
 
Well done blood magik!

I got out to my dressage show yay - but missed my lesson on thurs.

Hope to go XC schooling or maybe the beach on monday
 
Snowfilly, so glad you’re having a better time now. Wheels, nicely done and glad you got your tyre fixed. And nice result BM!

Having a lovely weekend at Badders but sad it feels so short as we’re back home after the sj today. Off for breakfast in the sun then I’m hitting the shops there. Woohoo.
 
Snowfilly said:
Had a lovely day with the Clyde at the town show, he loaded and travelled like a dream despite his last two trips being to horsepital, stood quietly in the middle of a mob of people plaiting - three on his mane, two on his tail - and enjoyed himself in the ring.

Given that I nearly lost him twice in the past six months, I just grinned like an idiot all the way through and didn't mind that we run into some of the 'interesting' judging sometimes seen in the heavy horse world. No further comment there, except I've noted their name!

Had a burger, drunk a cider and watched the Foxhunter class all with him standing alongside me just on his head collar rope and sent a pic off to his vet and farrier while he munched polos and posed for selfies with the little kids in the gymkhana ring.

Not something I thought we'd ever do again so very happy :-) Oh and he stole my apple turnover as I was loading him up and then spat pastry all over the lorry partition.
Click to expand...

Love this! My 2 barely have 1 working leg between them right now, so out and about would mean more than anything!
 
Glad you got your wheel sorted Wheels! Happy birthday j1ffy! It sounds as though lots of people are having a good weekend so far, and isn't it lovely to have the sun back again? I'm so pleased you had such a special day Snowfilly. :)

On Thursday we had an in hand clinic with Diane Thurman-Baker. It is the first session we have had with Diane. We worked on moving Cassie around a circle laterally, some leg yield and shoulder in. One of the issues I have with ridden lateral work is leg yield on the left rein and now I know why. She crosses her left hind under well, but doesn't take the right hind over enough for the next step. It will be interesting to see how the in hand work improves this with practice.

Then on Friday we had a great lesson with Sara-Jane Lanning. We hadn't seen Sara for quite a few months and she was pleased with our progress, in particular the fact that Cassie is now much more in front of the leg both within paces and in transitions. The main theme of the lesson, in walk, trot and canter, was preventing Cassie carrying her haunches slightly in on the right rein. It isn't terribly noticeable, but keeping her slightly shoulder fore improves the engagement and suppleness. A couple of snaps from the video from Friday:

31964043_1074887569316936_6760814518642671616_o.jpg


31530460_1074887482650278_5004247562585112576_o.jpg


She had yesterday off and I think she will have today off as well as it's so lovely and warm and we have a BBQ planned. I'll try and ride early tomorrow before it warms up.

Hope everyone has a fab rest of weekend! xx
 
Nice pics niki :)

Well I have watched a lot of badminton and still done NOOOOO housework! For some reason I can't get my backside in gear :rolleyes: :D

Had a nice ride on Salty this morning though, dare I say it I think it's starting to come together...? I think the tension at the clinic has put a rocket up her, she was forward and cheerful today so we worked on her sideways a bit and she was an excellent pupil.

Been over to the old dears to slosh on some factor 50, they are happy chappettes in the sunshine and *almost* in their summer coats.. I'm battling with myself about Millie's tufty heels :D :D

31957267_1836746499695880_4564387575116070912_n.jpg
 
Gosh, it looks like the UK had some fab weather for Badminton. Was a very exciting finish!

We had a weekend of training, and it was so helpful. Saturday we did 2 training dressage tests and I really feel we might be getting somewhere, and that i have a few more tools to help manage tension.

Sunday we had a SJ lesson with a 4* rider. I have had 2 lessons with him before and felt like I didn't get enough out of them, but realised that from a coaching perspective it's hard to meet a group of new riders and get the best out of them. So I decided to give it another go and it was incredible! I got so much out of it and wound up jumping some really big fences and feeling very confident about it. Sometimes I just need to be told to go jump the jump. Coolie really stepped up, we worked on keeping him soft and supple between fences and he listened and jumped better as a result.

We also worked on some of the finer details on my position and approach to the fences. It wasn't all perfect but progress never is.
31945897_10214603153285340_9006217953498103808_n.jpg
 
Sunday afternoon's jumping class was interesting. I rode Onyx, a 17hh gelding. I don't remember riding him before, but one of the girls in the class tells me I rode him once last year. I don't remember my memory being that good, even when I was 14. :rolleyes3:

Low jumps, concentrating on approach at the correct speed and maintaining the same speed in a series of three obstacles and two obstacles.

One part was two low bars about 20 metres apart; we had to announce before setting off how many strides we would have the horse take between the two.

Another was a "saut de puce": literally a "flea jump", two low bars about a metre and a half apart; the horse lands his front legs and then as his back legs land he immediately jumps the second bar. I suppose that if the bars are high, the horse will just try to jump long to clear both in a single bound.

And it was HOT. Easily 28°C and barely any shade. I found a little bit over to one side, just enough for the horse and for my legs, though my head and body were still in the sun. Long sleeved shirt was a good choice, I think.
 
Great pics Nikicb. And you look fab Accidental Eventer!

Mixed fortunes at the ODE at Eland for the ponies.

2 good dressage tests (good for where they are at not GOOD good...). Ginny clear SJ, Maz with an uncharacteristic run out for 4 faults. Then the wheels came off....

There were 2 warm up arenas which was a bit odd. You started in one by fence 5 then moved down to another one by the start. Fence 5 was on a bend curving left away from the 2nd warm up area and the straight on option was back to that area. And it was mowed with a gap in the ropes so it was an obvious run out risk. Max napped there - shot out to the right through his shoulder and was half way to the other horses, then reared when she tried to turn him back. Sadly she lost her nerve and retired. I wish I had stood there as she'd have carried on! She often has a brief wobble and says she wants to get off but her instructors and I never let her and she is then fine. I know that if she had got him past that point then he would have probably been fine the rest of the round. But never mind - they came home safe which is the main thing.

Then Ginny went on strike at fence 13 which went past the 2nd warm up area! She just planted. Poor Katie was trying her best to unstick her feet and move her forward but she was like 'nope I have finished now'. Then the rider behind overtook and Ginny took off after it. "Wait for meeeeeee" and flew round the rest of the course at a gallop as the horse in front was really shifting. I wondered whether there were rule against getting towed round and she'd be eliminated. But apparently not. She did keep her distance at least.

Pic of Ginny flying. This was shortly before she went on strike LOL. I am excited fort this pony's potential when she grows up a bit.

32077705_1757535300993210_5555316021557985280_n.jpg
 
Cheeris first proper HDT- Ashfields national. Finished strongly in the supporting position but competitive dressage, first 1/2 of marathon and cones so we know the bits to work on! Did all the moves- first water, first moving water (had a 'shower' in it!), first bridge etc. Took it well in his stride :)

31960280_10160214006005648_959687855058190336_n.jpg


31948313_10160214005635648_8222626368916029440_n.jpg


31961112_10160214005495648_4661482131250216960_n.jpg
 
Loving some of these reports and photos! Well done everyone on getting out and about.

Niki I am jealous of your in hand lessons with Diane. I used to do a lot of in hand work with my part bred PRE, haven't done so much with M but think I will start as do enjoy it and it benefits them so much
 
Thanks AE. There are lots more pictures here if you are interested: https://www.facebook.com/CassieCamCo/posts/1074891599316533 :) I think you have a lot of positives to take away from your girls' outing, especially unintentionally getting Ginny a lead horse. I am sure that will help with her confidence in the future. She's got a good pop on her!

That looks an amazing set up Rara - I was watching your fb video earlier going through what looks like a permanent obstacle but with multiple permutations on how they can get you to go through it. Cheeri is such a handsome little chap and obviously totally up for it!

Wheels - it was really interesting. I saw her do a demo last year and she is now coming to my instructor's yard every couple of months so I will definitely do it again. I too love the in hand work. Other than giving variety to work, if I only have a short time available it means we can still have a proper useful session. :)
 
Yes, you've inspired me to have another go - I tried it with M when he first arrived but he found it a bit stressful, he was a little worried about the contact even in ridden work but we've worked on that now and he is no longer worried so we might try again.

Finally, I managed to get out XC schooling! It was great fun, I think Ms favourite! He certainly enjoyed splashing about in the water complex

31964284_10155631954292725_7299339401073524736_n.jpg
 
nickib they only built one of the permanent obstacles on the Tuesday before, 9 hours it took them apparently they were keen to let us know ;). They then set up gates A to E and up to you how you get there, sometimes there are two gates for each letter and you can choose which one you use- it gets very confusing!
 
Tramped round a cross country field with a livery and her naughty pony - who was very good indeed, once he'd thrown his toys out of the pram a few times!

[video=youtube_share;5tEu0Rv5Gpk]https://youtu.be/5tEu0Rv5Gpk[/video]
 
It looks like everyone has been enjoying the sun! Rara - it's great to see pics of Cheeri again, he's so handsome!

We had a good weekend too :D Dressage at Badminton on Friday was good fun, Rory Bremner was hilarious on Badminton Radio (I felt sorry for people who didn't have radios, they must have been wondering what half the audience was laughing at :D).

Had a good lesson on Saturday, including a good discussion with my trainer on what to do if Indio drops me in a test. Her advice was to forget about looking quiet and pretty and have the discussion with him there and then, even if it means sacrificing a test. As a judge she said she'd prefer a rider to do something about it if the horse drops off the leg rather than watching a horse dribbling around the test on the forehand.

With that in mind, I got after Indio in the warm-up and made sure he was sharp off my right leg. We did have a couple of chats about it in the warm-up, of the variety that means other riders quickly move out of the way ;) but he quickly came round and started to work evenly into the contact and felt very with me. First test he continued in that vein, it felt like a better test than our last couple at Novice (both of which scored 67%) so I was a little disappointed with 66.25% although it looked like the judge was scoring fairly low across the board. I was delighted with how Indio felt so looked forward to our second test!

I kept to a 10 minute warm-up due to the heat, making sure he was off both legs and into both reins again. Headed in and he felt fab, I could really ride the half-halts and quality of the paces instead of worrying about his straightness. Lots of big pats for the clever boy! I was absolutely over-the-moon to discover we'd broken the 70% barrier at Novice for the first time, I knew it was in there and so so chuffed to have made it happen! So a successful day with first place in both Silver sections :D

MtAevJY.jpg


We had a lovely sunny hack yesterday, I thought Indio may be a bit tired but he was very cheerful! He's having a day off today then back to work to prep for inter-regionals at the weekend :D
 
Fab result, jiffy, well done :D

I also felt bad for the non-radio listeners at Badminton, it was really funny at times and must have been a bit puzzling :p

Sad to be back at work today :( was a lovely weekend all round finishing yesterday afternoon by boxing over to the woods with a friend for a nice 2 hour hack in the sun with a change of scenery. Kira thought it was really fun to be somewhere new and marched off in front most of the way, which is unusual for her so I think she enjoyed herself quite a lot.
 
Well done Jiffy!

Oh the moaning that some were doing about rory! Apparently anyone listening to badminton radio is an expert and doesn't need it dumming down for a bit :rolleyes3:.
 
Some people really need to lighten up! His impression of Michael Jung had me in stitches :D "Crushed nuts? No I always talk like this" :D
 
We had an awesome weekend, I'm very proud of my little mare although I can't take any credit that's all her breeder and trainers work. She came out of the stabling happy and willing every time over the 3 days. On Friday we couldn't close the trail gate but by Sunday we'd cracked it and even managed a win. I also discovered she's pretty much unflappable and very up for quietly hand grazing whilst Mum sits in a camp chair with a diet coke in the sunshine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top