Early July weekend plans!

[Chippers1]

Just riding at home for me this weekend. Spoke to my yard owner/saddle fitter about getting a new saddle soon so that's exciting, although Buzz needs to lose a little weight first.
She also said it was ok to get a behaviourist in to help me with loading Buzz on his own so I'm looking forward to getting that sorted.
Pic from Eland last weekend that arrived this morning, not an impressive jump or anything but I love how Buzz looks so happy to be out (and he is fat!!) My expression not so much ?

 

[Season’s Bleatings]

Just back from xc schooling. OH took the lead but I hopped on at the end to have a go. Jumping is not my strong point lol but big horse is fabulous once he is switched on and paying attention! It was quite a small venue but had a nice variety of fences up to about 90cm.

He can be a bit unsure jumping into water so spent a bit of time working on that, he picked up confidence well and was very happily jumping in and out by the time we finished.

 

[Red-1]

I already posted these in the 'what photo you took today' thread, but I am so happy we actually went somewhere.

Just a RC pole work clinic, 4 of us. She was Mrs Perfect.

I was sad on the way home as we haven't been to this venue since last year and this was the first time I have driven home without calling mum to share news of how it went. She is in a nursing home but not well enough to take a call.

Bittersweet but we did have a smiley time!

 

[Wheels]

I've been out and about looking for a new tow car. I love my land cruiser but I have been looking for something newer and a little more refined. I have found it! Went to look at one particular car at a dealers and ended up test driving something else entirely and it is perfect except for the price tag!

Just need to get a couple of quotes for insurance and for the fitting of a towbar and if that all works out a deposit is going down on monday! Super excited. Unfortunately will need to sell my land cruiser and my beautiful little S3 to help fund it but it's so worth it

 

[Season’s Bleatings]

Oooooh very exciting Wheels? What did you go for or are you not allowed to tell us yet ?

 

[Wheels]

I'm keeping it to myself until I have it in the driveway

 

[Season’s Bleatings]

Hope all goes smoothly!! Having just got a new car too, I know tis all v exciting. We are looking at around £500ish for towbar fitting, haven’t got round to it yet but will sort soonish.

 

[Wheels]

I'm hoping the dealer will get it done for me as they should be able to get a better price!

 

[rara007]

Ridden lesson and meeting GF yesterday! Then a dressage driven and then cones lesson today First night away since lockdown! XC tomorrow

 

[Roxylola]

Somehow swung a 67 in our dressage today. Its literally his 2nd ever straight dressage apart from what we've filmed at home so very pleased with that at novice although we are still unaffiliated

 

[humblepie]

Red1 lovely photo. We hacked to an arena for lesson yesterday. Not been there before and he was amazing. Lots going on, behaved perfectly and worked on lateral work and walk pirouettes. Then managed to twist shoe off last night. Was going to have today off anyway so he didn’t need to do that. Bless.

 

[SEL]

Sick note Appy had the physio on Friday and it was useful to chat through the navicular diagnosis with someone independent. Also got the Scoots fit kit through so had a play with her humongous feet - I wasn't sure how she'd feel about boots, but couldn't care less was the answer!

Arranged for physio to see the micro cob when she's next out in 4 weeks. I don't expect a pony who has barely done any ridden work in her 8 years to be particularly flexible, but she is very stiff to the left and the head bobbing kicks off if you ask too much. Saying that, she was ridden for 3 days in a row this weekend and felt a lot, lot better today. I think its going to be short, consistent bursts that help her get fitter and more supple.

 

[oldie48]

may as well start doing your research. Yard hunting is a pain, I've been looking for what seems like most of my life but am still finding new ones that just never advertise.

!
I'll probably have to ask for your help as we are thinking of moving more your way, junc 3 M50 if we can find the right place and sell here. I am not looking forward to finding somewhere!

 

[milliepops]

Good trip out today, very very windy so driving the box was a slightly white knuckle ride but all safe and sound, just a bit buffetted !

First time taking Darcy out with a friend. Fortunately the grills on the partition prevented them from playing bitey-face all the way there, so they both travelled well and arrived nice and relaxed, just as well as it was blowing a hooley and there was a hunter trial in progress

I'm really enjoying riding him at the moment, we are at the point where he knows the basics well enough, so we are just playing with more advanced ideas and seeing how he gets on with thinking about them. I find this bit really fun because there is no pressure and it's all just experimenting with each other. With no shows for us on the horizon it doesn't matter if things get broken.
Today we did a bit more in the way of half pass, right is getting there and got the idea to the left even if the execution isn't brilliant did lots of big canter shapes and then asked for a change each way to see what he did. Very pleased that he tried to figure out what I wanted even though his canter isn't good enough to do a correct change, one way he went hind feet first and the other way the fronts changed but I'm encouraged that he tried, which is all he needs to do right now. Finished with a bit more mediumish trotting and he found the suspension for a few steps this time which is good progress.

Back to the maternity wing time-hoover and lost an hour mucking about and starting some leading practice with Hera. Nice afternoon really, shame it was so bloody windy!

 

[nikkimariet]

Revoltingly busy week for me. Back in the office on a rota and the 4.30am start and commute beginning 7.30am was a shock and a half to the system. Absolutely shattered come Friday evening.

Quickly went on a hack with a friend after work to wind down. Then a good blast locally first thing Saturday morning!



Spent much of the day doing fence related stuff (Figs turnout pen is nearly complete!).



And then today we went competing! First time in over 3 months! I wasn’t sure what to expect. How green etc he would go.

Well. He was a STAR. So safe and sensible and just really cool.

First test wasn’t perfect but we won overall out of 8 on 68%. Prize money! Yay!

The second test he dropped off my leg so a series of errors (broke in CC, jogged in walk x 3 and also did an awful halt at C lol) resulted in 4 x 3’s and 3 x 2’s including one for submission lol!!! He wasn’t naughty just not concentrating at all. So we dropped to 64% and 5/8.





Still so chuffed with him he was by far the most sensible in the warm up. Love him! Can’t wait to get back out again.

 

[Roxylola]

Weekend planners, we only bloody went and won! I was significantly more on his case in the warm up. I find he can go a bit flat so I've been wary of burning him out in the working in. However he is plenty fit enough so I rattled him a bit today and revved him up a bit which seemed to work better for us. His canter is far from perfect but he just felt tons better today, I'd have been happy with a bobbins score on the basis that training wise it was better. A win is just icing on the cake

 

[milliepops]

Weekend planners, we only bloody went and won! I was significantly more on his case in the warm up. I find he can go a bit flat so I've been wary of burning him out in the working in. However he is plenty fit enough so I rattled him a bit today and revved him up a bit which seemed to work better for us. His canter is far from perfect but he just felt tons better today, I'd have been happy with a bobbins score on the basis that training wise it was better. A win is just icing on the cake

great stuff congratulations, whoo hoooo

 

[little_critter]

We had a good outing too. 70% (generous judge) in the prelim and 65% in the novice. The novice actually felt better than the prelim to me so I’ll be interested to see what the sheets say. Got a 4th and a 3rd (middle of the pack in both classes).

Very pleased with my boy, I don’t think we could have done anything better in the Novice. There were no bits where I went ’I know we could have done that better’ There are areas to improve (especially our mediums) but that’s the best we could have presented at the moment.

 

[Roxylola]

We had a good outing too. 70% (generous judge) in the prelim and 65% in the novice. The novice actually felt better than the prelim to me so I’ll be interested to see what the sheets say. Got a 4th and a 3rd (middle of the pack in both classes).

Very pleased with my boy, I don’t think we could have done anything better in the Novice. There were no bits where I went ’I know we could have done that better’ There are areas to improve (especially our mediums) but that’s the best we could have presented at the moment.

I think a lot is just that it just needs to be that bit better at novice, if I compare for instance 2 centre line videos, both can be near enough the same, at prelim I'd get an 8 whereas at novice I'd get a 6.5. It's not that it was wrong, it just wasnt good enough for an 8 at the higher level. Does that make sense? So the frame, the way of going etc all need to be better for the higher mark, rhythmic and straight won't cut it at novice etc.
I like the challenge, and find I can often pick up marks for being accurate on my letters etc which you cant do at prelim where it's mostly between letters for transitions etc

 

[Roxylola]

Also, photo of the champ in bed this morning

 

[little_critter]

I think a lot is just that it just needs to be that bit better at novice, if I compare for instance 2 centre line videos, both can be near enough the same, at prelim I'd get an 8 whereas at novice I'd get a 6.5. It's not that it was wrong, it just wasnt good enough for an 8 at the higher level. Does that make sense? So the frame, the way of going etc all need to be better for the higher mark, rhythmic and straight won't cut it at novice etc.
I like the challenge, and find I can often pick up marks for being accurate on my letters etc which you cant do at prelim where it's mostly between letters for transitions etc

Oh yes, there is a lot to develop. This was only our 2nd try at a novice so we are very new to it. I just mean that what we presented today was a good example of our best work at the moment. I wasn’t kicking myself that I’d messed anything up.

 

[TheHairyOne]

Took my sister and her super cob out jump schooling today. This was about the 4th time he has jumped away from home and he was a superstar! For such a chunk of a horse he is very, very neat and tidy and utterly adores jumping!

 

[TheSpottyCobby]

Had a productive weekend of ragwort pulling in the stupid wind, and then yesterday we had a great spin round the clear round afternoon at the yard - very small again but so much more confident than the other one we did a few weeks ago!

 

[j1ffy]

We had a good weekend of happy hacking! I was hacking with a friend who is agile enough to get off and do a non-horse friendly gate, so we headed over the hill towards the Lambourn gallops for a canter. First time Danny has been there and he was a very good boy! The 'hill' is a popular National Trust spot and I had hoped that the weather would discourage people, however there were plenty of families with kites and dogs around. Danny had one tense moment on the way over but coped well and was a perfect donkey the rest of the time, and completely chilled heading back again. One near blip at the end when some idiots had parked both sides of the gate by a cattle grid! Luckily the car in front of the gate spotted us and realised their error so moved, and we were able to squeeze through the 2 foot gap left by a BMW parked behind the gate. Bloomin' idiots...



Another hack yesterday with another friend, just a gentle mooch so we could have a proper post-lockdown catch-up on the way around! It felt odd to hack with someone whose horse is bigger than Danny, I've got used to looking down on people

 

[shortstuff99]

We had results from an online dressage. Only a novice and an elementary for the fatty potato as we get back into it (we were dipping our toe into medium before lockdown) and very pleased with a 68% novice and 65% elementary with a few big errors (did 2 strides of 1/4's leading the leg yield, jogged a lot in the medium walk which is always our downfall and the rein back was so so).

However I am so over the moon as this was a horse that did used to really struggle with tension and once scored a 38% (yes percent not penalties!) In a test. For everyone else struggling please don't give up it can never be as bad as we were ?

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Jumped some small fences, Skylla said I was making up her confidence wobble and Topaz hasn't run me over again, so a solid weekend all round (and I can sit down without flinching again!) ?.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=900980630402764

 

[Season’s Bleatings]

Is it still the weekend??

Just had a fab jump lesson. I am a total wuss when it comes to jumping (xc worries me less somehow) and really just want to learn to be a bit more confident and set C up for success. I feel like I should be doing one good quality jump session a week, with a clear focus and goal. Atm I tend to just mess about and pop the odd pole but it isn’t structured in any way.

Lesson was fab. Instructor was very kind and sympathetic, she got the measure of us both very quickly which was great ? she gave really clear feedback and was full of hints and tips which I really liked.

C is very chilled and likes to be given clear instructions, otherwise his thought process is “well if you aren’t bothered, neither am I”. Zero malice at all, he just likes to be told what to do ?

Anyway so our focus tonight was working towards a grid. So, started with poles on ground, and gradually built up to a grid with 5 jumps. He was such a star and it gave me a huge boost.

Booked another for 2 weeks time ??

 

[Alibear]

I had a lesson on Saturday and another one yesterday . Really at the momement its me learning how to collect Amber up using my legs and teeny tiny bit of hand, it's sort of like fishing. I just want that tiny increase of weight on the rein and then I have to relax it again when she responds. The relaxing it again is so different from English I've really struggled with it, and if I remeber I tend the throw it away not just relax. But one handed on Amber its coming, and oddly enjoyable to work on she's very happy to oblige generally but if there's something interesting going on I may have to increase pressure a bit to get that reply. I think I will be working on this for a very long time but I enjoy it so all good
Also working on extended jog transitions, transistions up are pretty good I just have to move my hand up her neck and away we go, but I do need to work on keeping my calves on a bit which is an old challange for me from English days. Downwards transition is harder for me, my core needs work! But we were playing around with it and I got it really nicely once yesterday and the others aren't bad. For her its best if I stand in extended so its staying in balance as I sit back down smootly , including my feet (push feet much in western and you stop!) and just lower my hand, I mustn't pull it back. We had a short go at sidepass which she does nicely for 4 years old but I instantly over rode it and skewed myself off in all sorts of contortions. As Pammy says its easy really , do less! Then yestrday we tried lope again, she was a bit tired & my old gremlins came back, I must stop pushing my outside leg so far back and I mustn't drop her! But she obliged, stayed willing depsite my odd attempts at queues, and we got there and once in lope it was nice and cotrolled and steering was maintained.
We had a little go at spins at the end, again a lot for me to learn but she's pivoting on the correct hind leg if I ride it correctly so its all there to be developed.
I do have to keep in mind that shes so young, I can't keep practising something until I get it right , its all about her development for now.
I'm loving being on my own horse again, yesterday it really started to sink in that she is mine I think we should have a fun summer ahead.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Not sure if to post here, or wait till tomorrow, as had a good session out this morning that was only planned in 2 days ago!
Toddled off to meet a friend at another friends place locally to have a play round their xc fences. Bit apprehensive as to date B and I have only attempted xc 5 times, the last was early October last year! This isn't a place open to public hire but her own fields with all sorts of fences in.
So damned pleased as apart from the 1st few fences where B ballooned them, she settled and tackled everything v well, v chuffed about popping a trio of suspended logs, 2 at 70 and the final one on the curve a 2m wide by 80 high, which she flew v nicely. Big gate, tiger trap, skinnies (yes shot past a 3rd element the 1st time as way too fast) and a number of other loggy things.
V glad to go, hopefully will set us up for weekend

 

[TheMule]

Bit late to the party, but horse was super on Sunday. 1 1/2 hours xc in the morning then another 1 1/2 hours SJ in the afternoon just about finished us both off but it was a really productive and useful day with 2 of my regular instructors.
I was pretty wimpy to be out xc again- especially given it was the 2 year anniversary of a pretty serious fall I had at the same venue which resulted in a little helicopter ride ? Luckily the instructor knows me well, we were in a good group with experienced horses and so just had to get on with it and my little horse was fab. We jumped much more serious angles and much skinnier skinnies than I would normally tackle in schooling but she answered every question