nikkimariet
Well-Known Member
Epic post starting.... Now!
I have had lots of lovely presents arriving in the post! Firstly, this:
Which is the prize I won from a 'Tails of Fire' https://www.facebook.com/TailsOfFireHorseHair?fref=ts competition! I LOVE it!
And these....
New boots!!!!
Right. Horses.
Some of you may have seen, but I've had a bit of a drama with Figs saddle. It has been feeling ... 'off', for a few weeks. And then last week, really started throwing me sideways. Fig was refusing to bend to the right and over curling to the left. Our changes went TOTALLY to pot, he was just tanking off and started to really worry me. The final straw was when there was a creaking noise coming from it... Bearing in mind I had pulled it every which was and there was no movement, I just assumed he had changed shape/was pushing it in a daft direction OR there was a loose rivet.
Broken tree.
Felt unbelievably guilty. Poor Fig. Trying for weeks to tell me he was sore! So, always trust your gut! Sadly for me and my rubbish back, only 1 out of the 3 temporary saddles (Equipe is well within 5 year warranty) fitted Fig, but absolutely crippled me. So despite loads of lovely and much appreciated offers from here, the best solution was to pad out Frans saddle (MW rather than M). Which we decided, for the time being, would do.
Onto last weekend. Headed over to Weston Lawns, just for variety. Would do him good to get out somewhere with lots to look at. Wasn't disappointed - horses galloping round in field next to arena, someone jumping opposite us, farm machinery, building works etc... Fig was really chilled. Behaved like a proper grown up boy
Warmed up really really well. Had one 'moment' but we had a saddle jiffle and then he seemed fine.
Sadly, our tests were mixed. The nice bits were *really* nice. But there were a few wobbles... Short arena Medium tests = yuck. Walk/canter on the centre line = yuck. Rein back on centre line before final halt = yuck. But he coped.
I knew they weren't our best tests, so thought around 63 for the first, and 64 for the second. Now, the judge is well known for really liking a certain type of horse... Across both mediums there was one 65% (for a horse that usually scores WAY above that), and then the rest of us 55-61!!!! Poor Fig. 58% in M63 and 61% in M71! Needless to say the sheets are in the bin, because my feel of a test is not *that* off...
There were loads of positives to the day, and it's about experience for him now, not the points or the placings. He was really grown up and we had a good day, learnt a lot and have some homework to do. Everything is just practice for GP and all
I have had lots of lovely presents arriving in the post! Firstly, this:
Which is the prize I won from a 'Tails of Fire' https://www.facebook.com/TailsOfFireHorseHair?fref=ts competition! I LOVE it!
And these....
New boots!!!!
Right. Horses.
Some of you may have seen, but I've had a bit of a drama with Figs saddle. It has been feeling ... 'off', for a few weeks. And then last week, really started throwing me sideways. Fig was refusing to bend to the right and over curling to the left. Our changes went TOTALLY to pot, he was just tanking off and started to really worry me. The final straw was when there was a creaking noise coming from it... Bearing in mind I had pulled it every which was and there was no movement, I just assumed he had changed shape/was pushing it in a daft direction OR there was a loose rivet.
Broken tree.
Felt unbelievably guilty. Poor Fig. Trying for weeks to tell me he was sore! So, always trust your gut! Sadly for me and my rubbish back, only 1 out of the 3 temporary saddles (Equipe is well within 5 year warranty) fitted Fig, but absolutely crippled me. So despite loads of lovely and much appreciated offers from here, the best solution was to pad out Frans saddle (MW rather than M). Which we decided, for the time being, would do.
Onto last weekend. Headed over to Weston Lawns, just for variety. Would do him good to get out somewhere with lots to look at. Wasn't disappointed - horses galloping round in field next to arena, someone jumping opposite us, farm machinery, building works etc... Fig was really chilled. Behaved like a proper grown up boy
Warmed up really really well. Had one 'moment' but we had a saddle jiffle and then he seemed fine.Sadly, our tests were mixed. The nice bits were *really* nice. But there were a few wobbles... Short arena Medium tests = yuck. Walk/canter on the centre line = yuck. Rein back on centre line before final halt = yuck. But he coped.
I knew they weren't our best tests, so thought around 63 for the first, and 64 for the second. Now, the judge is well known for really liking a certain type of horse... Across both mediums there was one 65% (for a horse that usually scores WAY above that), and then the rest of us 55-61!!!! Poor Fig. 58% in M63 and 61% in M71! Needless to say the sheets are in the bin, because my feel of a test is not *that* off...
There were loads of positives to the day, and it's about experience for him now, not the points or the placings. He was really grown up and we had a good day, learnt a lot and have some homework to do. Everything is just practice for GP and all
