nikkimariet
Well-Known Member
Busy bees as usual!
Firstly... Fig went to the Winter Regionals at Addington for the AM98 restricted. I'm desperately hoping we've had our 3 things of bad luck...
Bit drama
Ulcer drama
Saddle drama
Fig was, as ever, a totally genuine rock. Warmed up super. Felt fab. Not quite as on my seat as he can be, and there was a teeny bit of neck tension. Butttt he was listening and trying very hard.
Correctly stated by the judge when we collected our Rossette 'no spooking!' Lol! Yes!!!
We landed 10th place with 63.82%
The class was won on 68% and lowest score down to 59% so comfortably in the middle. Our sheets had everything from 4's to 8's!
We achieved our aims...
Nice day
Lovely pic
60%+ score
Super pleased!
Copy of test video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJGWP-RVra8
Next up was a visit back to see Mike Eilberg for a lesson...
Lots of gold stars for Goof: traveled like a pro and was easier again to tack up and reasonably patient at waiting around. There was a horse cooling down when we went in and aside from a couple of tiny hops he barely looked at them.
Mike asked if I wanted to lunge but I explained we don't want to fall into that habit as it makes shows hard work. He completely understood and explained that if they have something sharp/cold backed etc at a show they tack up, hand walk and then jog them up in hand a few times so they get their backs down and brain in gear... So that's what we did! Worked like a charm and he felt super relaxed from the word go!
Generally he didn't look at anything but being away from home highlighted that he still wobbles in a bit tracking right in trot and falls out a bit going left in canter so need to continue to work on the reaction to the right leg.
Carried a whip for the first time and worked on just rubbing him on the shoulder with it to encourage him to open up his back, show off the trot better and relax in to the idea of going forward. I also used it to reinforce that he wasn't to fall out in left canter.
Another horse joined us for the last 15 mins and we only had one Humpty Dumpty. Mike did say that I need to be less quick to shut him down when I feel him go off on one... At the moment I'm pretty good at stopping the mad moments escalating and keeping him straight but actually I need to give him an extra second or two and assess whether I could accelerate out of it. Again teaching him that forward=relax.
So with the other horse having created a bit of tension we worked on that, going large and really encouraging him to think big and active and every slight look at the other horse was met with a request to accelerate from me.
He worked so well bless him, over the moon doesn't cover it... AND he stood on the lorry like an angel whilst Fig had his lesson.
He has decided to chew through his nathe french link so the search is now on for a snaffle he feels happy with. We were recommended the Sprenger Novocontact bits as a starting point so I have the single joint and the lozenge on trial. He is quite contact shy and tends to curl up BTV so will be interesting to see what he thinks to these.
We have 2 arena hires with white boards and strange horses booked in and are starting to tentatively think about a prelim outing if all goes well....
And Figgy! He was really chilled. Finally growing up?! Stood like a good boy in the rain, with no person (!!!) whilst I darted about getting him ready.
In the trot I need to focus on the suppleness. He doesn't have natural swing, so I have to give him every chance to be 'through'. Don't let him grab onto the left rein, but I need to make sure I'm not hanging onto him either. Play around with angles and flexion and ride my corners like squares. Really use the short side.
The comment was made that the ground cover and swing is so much better, made me smile as that was our homework from the last lesson!
In the canter the tempo is a million times better though I didn't have quite as much energy or sit as I would have liked. Lots more adjustable though.
We looked at the changes... It is the canter afterwards that loses balance, so as soon as I ask for the change I must collect. Don't land and collect. Land in that canter already. If he grabs the left rein; circle, simple change... Just m do anything but the change. Good prep for working the tempis! Also, I was only told to sit on my arse once!!!
Over the moon to be told we have improved loads and that Fig looks a lot better. Showed Mike a pic of Fig when I first had him compared to the other month. Yes it's the same horse!
Mentioned how much work I had done with Fig and whip desensitising, and it did make me stop and think. Considering I couldn't even hold a whip on the ground and pat him a few years ago, to be able to ride with one now... Well... He must trust me a lot. It's a nice feeling that you give confidence to your horse.
Full album of pics here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1294332333927016.1073742018.618438661516390&type=3
In other news, they are both as completely daft as planks! They were forced to stay in for a day when the hunt were due to ride by our fields. They celebrated this news in their own special ways....
All set for a nice, quiet weekend! Have a good one guys
Firstly... Fig went to the Winter Regionals at Addington for the AM98 restricted. I'm desperately hoping we've had our 3 things of bad luck...
Bit drama
Ulcer drama
Saddle drama
Fig was, as ever, a totally genuine rock. Warmed up super. Felt fab. Not quite as on my seat as he can be, and there was a teeny bit of neck tension. Butttt he was listening and trying very hard.
Correctly stated by the judge when we collected our Rossette 'no spooking!' Lol! Yes!!!
We landed 10th place with 63.82%
The class was won on 68% and lowest score down to 59% so comfortably in the middle. Our sheets had everything from 4's to 8's!We achieved our aims...
Nice day
Lovely pic
60%+ score
Super pleased!
Copy of test video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJGWP-RVra8
Next up was a visit back to see Mike Eilberg for a lesson...
Lots of gold stars for Goof: traveled like a pro and was easier again to tack up and reasonably patient at waiting around. There was a horse cooling down when we went in and aside from a couple of tiny hops he barely looked at them.
Mike asked if I wanted to lunge but I explained we don't want to fall into that habit as it makes shows hard work. He completely understood and explained that if they have something sharp/cold backed etc at a show they tack up, hand walk and then jog them up in hand a few times so they get their backs down and brain in gear... So that's what we did! Worked like a charm and he felt super relaxed from the word go!
Generally he didn't look at anything but being away from home highlighted that he still wobbles in a bit tracking right in trot and falls out a bit going left in canter so need to continue to work on the reaction to the right leg.
Carried a whip for the first time and worked on just rubbing him on the shoulder with it to encourage him to open up his back, show off the trot better and relax in to the idea of going forward. I also used it to reinforce that he wasn't to fall out in left canter.
Another horse joined us for the last 15 mins and we only had one Humpty Dumpty. Mike did say that I need to be less quick to shut him down when I feel him go off on one... At the moment I'm pretty good at stopping the mad moments escalating and keeping him straight but actually I need to give him an extra second or two and assess whether I could accelerate out of it. Again teaching him that forward=relax.
So with the other horse having created a bit of tension we worked on that, going large and really encouraging him to think big and active and every slight look at the other horse was met with a request to accelerate from me.
He worked so well bless him, over the moon doesn't cover it... AND he stood on the lorry like an angel whilst Fig had his lesson.
He has decided to chew through his nathe french link so the search is now on for a snaffle he feels happy with. We were recommended the Sprenger Novocontact bits as a starting point so I have the single joint and the lozenge on trial. He is quite contact shy and tends to curl up BTV so will be interesting to see what he thinks to these.
We have 2 arena hires with white boards and strange horses booked in and are starting to tentatively think about a prelim outing if all goes well....
And Figgy! He was really chilled. Finally growing up?! Stood like a good boy in the rain, with no person (!!!) whilst I darted about getting him ready.
In the trot I need to focus on the suppleness. He doesn't have natural swing, so I have to give him every chance to be 'through'. Don't let him grab onto the left rein, but I need to make sure I'm not hanging onto him either. Play around with angles and flexion and ride my corners like squares. Really use the short side.
The comment was made that the ground cover and swing is so much better, made me smile as that was our homework from the last lesson!
In the canter the tempo is a million times better though I didn't have quite as much energy or sit as I would have liked. Lots more adjustable though.
We looked at the changes... It is the canter afterwards that loses balance, so as soon as I ask for the change I must collect. Don't land and collect. Land in that canter already. If he grabs the left rein; circle, simple change... Just m do anything but the change. Good prep for working the tempis! Also, I was only told to sit on my arse once!!!
Over the moon to be told we have improved loads and that Fig looks a lot better. Showed Mike a pic of Fig when I first had him compared to the other month. Yes it's the same horse!
Mentioned how much work I had done with Fig and whip desensitising, and it did make me stop and think. Considering I couldn't even hold a whip on the ground and pat him a few years ago, to be able to ride with one now... Well... He must trust me a lot. It's a nice feeling that you give confidence to your horse.
Full album of pics here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1294332333927016.1073742018.618438661516390&type=3
In other news, they are both as completely daft as planks! They were forced to stay in for a day when the hunt were due to ride by our fields. They celebrated this news in their own special ways....
All set for a nice, quiet weekend! Have a good one guys
Just don't tell the dog!