The little cob Al had didn't have a proper gallop and did a similar shuffle stride to the one Fergs sometimes does. He was very competitive with my horse though, so a couple of horrendously unsafe gallops between us he turned into a fire-breathing beast and actually shifted properly It would have been better if my horse had had brakes, as once they were both going it was mental. I rconfess, I rather like him, too Does he have a horsey crush on anything? I'd go for a proper fun ride thing with them and go for a proper blast and hope he wants to keep up with them
and my friend on J, who doesn't seem to understand the application of leg - so we end up having to give her a lead He was have a wee race with Rob last weekend though, so that might work - I just need to rope dafthoss into it We were talking about taking them to the Newmarket ride round the gallops - which would be great, but it's not till the end of summer... I really would like him to learn to reach out and really go! (Though I'd also like to keep my brakes 
) can I please steal him?
How big is he? I love him
I quite like him really you lower leg could do with being a little more under you.
yep, it's the lower leg that bugs me every time
I like the fact that your shoulders are over your knees with your bum out behind, so many people don't get this and have their shoulders too far forward putting them out of balance and weighting their horse's forehand too much.
thanks, this is one of my pet hates - I always wonder how the poor horse gets itself "up" with their weight on its shoulder
To try and get your leg under you, I would try getting your stirrups a little shorter although I appreciate that this may not be great in a vsd saddle (I have a WH so feel your pain!).
duly noted. I can ride shorter in his VSD than I can in J's WH which he was wearing last Friday, so it's worth a shot...
Other than that try thinking about "the public toilet seat" to get the position.
pmsl
I think that secure lower leg is the hardest part to really get and so much of it is practice and strength.
yep, lots of riding in 2point / out of stirrups / bareback rising trot for me
In terms of Fergs he looks lovely and honest,
he really is very honest, he's very sweet like that
I would also try and give your fence a bit of width in an inviting way to encourage him to stretch himself a bit more. An ascending spread would be best rather than a parallel.
duly noted, he does need more work with spreads...
A good arrangement would be an ascending spread after a tiny cross pole with a placing pole before it.
added to list of exercises to work onexpect photos / spamming
Try to get him to learn how to place himself out of a nice balanced canter rather than you putting him where you want him, this is especially important for xc.
agreed, I'm far too lazy to have to determine a take off spot for every fence
Having two small cross poles of a circle and continually jumping round the circle can be good for this too.
also added
Hope some of that is useful, rather than just rambling drivel!
very useful, thanks very much!
It has acted as a further reminder that I really need to get going on the poles and jumping with mine too........ not looking forward to it in my very straight cut saddle....
I'd love to see their faces! Prove that highland ponies can do it too
Good luck with your lass - I hope we will see photos
On the other hand, I might just vomit at the thought of people urinating on my horse Isn't that what husbands are for?
You definitely need to! It will be light in the evenings soon, so no excuse!
He took half a dozen pictures of the yard cat, the pony two boxes down and the horse doing a moose impression though 
I've seen worse.............much worse!
And glad to see you have a neckstrap this time
My tip for improvement.......Go hunting!
I'm such a coward, I will probably die I can't wait Last time he brought his camera down when I was riding the only picture he got while I was on board was a lovely one of the horse posing but I was loosening off the girth and have many chins as a result.
Yes please bid on that lesson, they'd probably expect someone with a posh big warmblood to turn up...
I can just see their thoughts:
""..."
I love fergles so much!!! He's my fav HHO horse
Now that's the sort of advice I like - gives me a little kick up the backside to go out and hunt
Neckstrap is new addition to our gear... Having it there meant I didn't need it once
Legendary! Typical man - too easily distracted and not appreciating the importance of pretty pony pictures
It would almost be worth it for the look on their faces when I drag my highland bog pony out of the trailer and fling his tack on
"What the blazes
"Is it a yak? Is it a mammoth? No its... A Highland pony
...
"I'll just go put the jumps down
How can anyone not like him?Lol, JW face would be a picture.
Fergles is an awesome pony
No CC but Fab pics and videos. Wooweeeeee, he has a pop to him.
I find with mine, I can put her into trot or canter but I can't push her on. She'll only go faster IF she WANTS to go faster. Likewise, we can be on the beach and she's all gung ho and wanting to go and race her pony buddy but she'll also happily slow down and trot on, leaving her buddy to go miles ahead of her.
I found loose jumping gave her confidence She could jump without me interfering at all then. Once she loose jumped a couple of times, she was pinging over jumps.
in the snow It can't be a horse " It did make me laugh. They approached him so gingerly as though at any moment his legs were going to splay out in all directions and slide him out in front of their box However, I was going to run D down a chute, so it makes sense to do some more with Fergs when the ground is dry 
Fingers crossed Hi JFTD, I'm generally slack about downloading vids people post, it takes so long - I can make a cup of tea while the clip winds its way through the ether to Africa
But since I rather fancy your horse I made the requisite tea, and watched the jumping. Other than the fact that I fancy your horse even more now, I don't think there's much wrong with his jumping at all, and you have a nice secure seat. I'm not sure why you anticipated any criticism, really - nice pop over, none of the exaggerated stuff one sees so often . Rather neat, efficient and horsewomanlike IMHO. The suggestion of grids and bounces etc seems fairly unanimous, and I think you both look good, and will get even better as the summer approaches and more riding and jumping time is available.
As for the lesson with Whitaker - bid for it! Whyever not?!
Thanks AH! I'm flattered you took the time to watch, given the internet issues I'm starting to wonder if you're watching a different video to me - but I'm my own worst critic Thanks very much Sadly