Mid ish May hot weekend plans

Cloball

Cloball

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I actually have plans! Big (for me) scary ones.
I've hired a box and we're going to a Joe Midgley clinic and I'm bricking it! Going to practice loading Saturday and have a lesson, then clinic Sunday. It's less than an hour away but we haven't been to a party before 😬
Just saying to myself if she doesn't load that is fine because it will be a useful lesson just to do that. If she doesn't settle on the box (she came here fine in one) I can turn around this is also fine. If we actually get there it will be fine as I'll have an expert to help 😅 I'm making myself a packing list tips welcome.
 
Yay, I'm sure you'll have a fab time! One good thing with Joe is that he isn't shy to take hold of your horse for you to demo, or even ride if you'd like him to. So, once there is nothing to stress about at all!

I seem to have entered a hunter trial on H! In preparation, he's been to a country park on Monday, the XC fences at a farm ride yesterday and a jumping lesson today.

He was fab today, bounded round, ears pricked. Sadly, I seem gripped back into worrying about 'stuff that could go wrong' after my health scare the past 2 weeks, and he was going so well I stopped after very little time
😂
. I have done this before: it's when I can't believe my luck and want to stop before anything spoils the moment. It happens when I've had bad stuff happen and it appears to be over and I just don't trust it.

TBH, I must give myself credit. I have been through an awful lot of bad stuff and am doing just fine.
 
Have a wonderful time Cloball.

Unfortunately mine was kicked while I was on holiday 3 weeks ago today. Puncture wound down to the bone. Vet re-xrayed today now swelling down and no fracture so feeling more positive and can start riding in walk. Need one more score for areas as I was out of the saddle for a couple of months earlier this year due to a fall so not been a great year for us so far!

Have a great time all of you out and about.
 
@Red-1 if there's an element of PTSD after everything you've been through it would be completely understandable. You're doing brilliantly - just keep having fun x

I'm up at Cholsey this afternoon with the hooligan. He's so fit now my hacking just isn't taking the edge off and my grass arena is concrete. He's got a polework clinic tomorrow in an arena that will be a sauna so I'm hoping he'll be on the tired side. It's poles to music and last time we showed off energetic disco moves....

Next week I'm trying to get our second trailblazers score. I didn't appreciate when I signed up how few second rounds there are near me. Its not the ideal run up and he's very hot to ride at the moment so ideally I'd have him out the day before but work has put paid to that.... So we'll be turning up with a hot pony that has been rested for 48 hours in a new venue. Nothing to go wrong there!

ETA Cholsey has some videos from the last bank holiday Chiltern ride - spot Turbo cob!!
 
Baggs my retired 20 year old has decided that he is thoroughly bored with retirement now and would like to come back into work, so I'm slowly starting that this weekend with him. I've had him for over 10 years and know him like the back of my hand, so I expect he'll only need a tiny refresher on things, but I actually think the long break since our fun ride last June has done him well. He came through winter looking fabulous, has a gorgeous shine on his coat currently (despite not seeing a grooming brush for several weeks!), he is moving freer and with more expression, and he is back to his cheeky ways. My poor Mum helped out Wednesday night and the little git took the opportunity to show Mum the value of always closing a gate behind her, and buggered off as soon as she took the headcollar off. He went all around the farm, said hi to the new piglets, stuck his head through the yard owner's kitchen window and ended up having to be corralled into one of the fields that we are currently resting. Once he saw the grass his head was down, all was fine and he was returned to where he should be, but I've made the decision to start lightly riding him again and see how things go. He has 3 monthly vet check ups and regular physio treatment so if anything does start going a bit pear shaped, it'll be caught right before it manifests into anything more sinister. I popped his bridle on him last night and he promptly trotted over to the mounting block and was standing there waiting for me as if to say "Come on woman where are we going?!" 🥹

Rabbit is going exploring on another new hacking route - he's so bold and confident when out and about, it's actually a challenge to find something to make him think and take a second - most stuff he looks at, sighs and then marches past, with the odd snort if he feels it necessary...…now I'm not complaining about having a bold horse for hacking - in fact it's great as we have to hack down a busy road for a bit to get to our bridleways, but at the same time, I do often wonder how he'll react if something really gets his back up and upsets him. I guess it's something I'll have to deal with when/ if that happens. The bonus is that he is quite easy to bring down to a calm state of mind if something does bother him, and he is a stop and look kind of horse, rather than a run for the hills, so again it's something that is very handy :)
 
Horse-wise - Hacking both days on one or other of my lovely share horses, they are both so gorgeous that I genuinely never mind which the owner asks me to exercise! At least one day will be with my teen daughter and the other their owner. One of them we may hack out to a local school for a short schooling session as I'm harbouring a secret plan to do a local intro test at some point in the next few months so we need some practice!
The lady who owns the land where Coblet is also goes on holiday today so daughter and I are looking after her 3 arabs as well as coblet for the next 9 days so we'll be busy at both ends of the days!
Non- horsey - Eurovision party at a friends house on saturday night which should be a giggle and booze fuelled and I need to do some housework desperately :(
 
It's been a torrid week. Mistakes have been made by me and stuff is bubbling under the surface which will hopefully resolve the issue. Meanwhile it's all about Robbie who has a viewing today and otherwise is off to combined training on Sunday for 90cm. I need to move him up to 1m so will try and do some clear round somewhere next week.
 
@Nicnac hope better soon.
@SEL good luck. I don’t know what the numbers are like now but trailblazers we were the only one in the second round elementary at the venue we went to.

We went to Royal Windsor yesterday. My horse is not really there yet this year for showing as holding onto his winter coat and a bit lacking in top line as we spend most of our time mooching around the countryside on a long rein going you really ought to be working on the bit but we’re having fun. Windsor is very full on but he behaved himself nicely and whilst wasn’t placed in the top 6 we did get a highly commended rosette so that was nice. He has won there a few years ago in a massive class and I knew we weren’t likely to repeat that this year but it was still lovely to be there and compete.

Have a lovely weekend all
 
LEC said:
It's been a torrid week. Mistakes have been made by me and stuff is bubbling under the surface which will hopefully resolve the issue. Meanwhile it's all about Robbie who has a viewing today and otherwise is off to combined training on Sunday for 90cm. I need to move him up to 1m so will try and do some clear round somewhere next week.
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Oh no - after your great outing I don't like reading this 😕

Hope you get everything resolved & hope it's a good viewing for Robbie
 
Another school hire session with Reggie tomorrow morning and then a Hack on Robin I think. Unfortunately Robin has decided the shape he needs to be is round so he's (and Ben) a fully fledged member of fat camp.

@Red-1 be kind to yourself! you've been strong for such a long time, let yourself have a wobble.

I'm thinking about getting a sharer for Robin. But I don't know whether that would work or if anyone would be interested. Hacking is lovely round us (from either location) and Robin is brilliant to hack, but he is only 12.2hh - but is as wide as he is tall (even when he isn't over weight) so takes up the leg. He's 5. Was backed and hacked last year and then turned away. He's not a kids pony so limits his audience. He has a massive personality and an opinion on everything (not always the same as mine) but I love the bones of him. He loads, stands to be groomed and for the farrier. He picks things up very quickly, like he's lived this life before - he just knows everything. Would a competent adult be interested in my midget pony as a share pony a couple of days a week do you think? I wouldn't ask for jobs to be done or any real contribution, he just needs exercising more than I can manage.
 
Thinking of everyone going through tough times at the moment.

Just had the most glorious hack, just me and my boy!

Weather is perfect - warm and sunny but not hot.

Bo is super fit...I think spring arriving early meant we got a head start on our spring fittening work, and he's just feeling fantastic right now. We were out for just shy of 2 hours with plenty of trotting and a couple of canters. We did lots of walk/trot/walk transitions, as advised by my instructor, to really engage his engine. His trot felt amazing!

As we started heading up the hill towards home, a tractor was coming down cutting the tall grass on the verge. We waited for him to pass, then had an absolute blast along the verge! The thickly grassed verges are the only place I'm happy to do faster work at the moment. All the tracks are baked hard.

Working tomorrow, and then Sunday I might take Bo over to the Trans Pennine Trail and buy him an ice cream at the little cafe.

Have a good weekend everyone 🙂
 
I was planning on going to an in-hand demo with a friend tomorrow, but I hear it’s had to be cancelled so that leaves my Saturday opened up to get some spring cleaning done… (As if.)

On a more exciting note, I also went to Windsor yesterday (as a spectator, not competitor).

My main motivation for going was the dressage masterclass, led by Richard Davidson. In the end, it wasn’t hugely useful for the level I’m training at - as I am most definitely not a GP rider trying to develop my freestyle - and I felt the discussions after each freestyle could have been a bit more technical and nit-picky. (Three total freestyles: Dinja Van Liere on her latest ride who was pretty unsettled in the mouth, which I find interesting given that DVL’s previously spoken about training with a reiner and getting her horses lighter in the hand, so I wonder if chompiness is a reflection of the previous rider and not DVL herself; BM on Jaegerbomb, whose freestyle included two tempis on a semi-circle which was nice to watch, but I’ll admit I felt like the music was too ‘loud’ for a horse like Jaegerbomb who’s not that flashy, compared to your average modern dressage horse; and CH and Fame, who seemed quite chilled in the atmosphere and did a nice test, but his frame, maybe as a result of conformation, continues to look horribly tight.)

Having said that, they navigated trying to share knowledge whilst putting on a spectacle for the non-dressagey audience well, and I did pick up a few tidbits of information.

Otherwise, I spent my day ogling horses and trying not to freeze (I dressed for 18C. It was most definitely not 18C) and noting down how people prep their horses before their class in preparation for doing a show with my boy in a few weeks. Managed to get some nice “behind the scenes” photos too, even though it feels horribly rude to take photos when people are warming up.

It was a very nice day out, but next year I think I’ll probably visit on a day when the driving’s on as there’s a limit to how many coloured horses you watch trot up before they all start looking the same.
 
stangs said:
I was planning on going to an in-hand demo with a friend tomorrow, but I hear it’s had to be cancelled so that leaves my Saturday opened up to get some spring cleaning done… (As if.)

On a more exciting note, I also went to Windsor yesterday (as a spectator, not competitor).

My main motivation for going was the dressage masterclass, led by Richard Davidson. In the end, it wasn’t hugely useful for the level I’m training at - as I am most definitely not a GP rider trying to develop my freestyle - and I felt the discussions after each freestyle could have been a bit more technical and nit-picky. (Three total freestyles: Dinja Van Liere on her latest ride who was pretty unsettled in the mouth, which I find interesting given that DVL’s previously spoken about training with a reiner and getting her horses lighter in the hand, so I wonder if chompiness is a reflection of the previous rider and not DVL herself; BM on Jaegerbomb, whose freestyle included two tempis on a semi-circle which was nice to watch, but I’ll admit I felt like the music was too ‘loud’ for a horse like Jaegerbomb who’s not that flashy, compared to your average modern dressage horse; and CH and Fame, who seemed quite chilled in the atmosphere and did a nice test, but his frame, maybe as a result of conformation, continues to look horribly tight.)

Having said that, they navigated trying to share knowledge whilst putting on a spectacle for the non-dressagey audience well, and I did pick up a few tidbits of information.

Otherwise, I spent my day ogling horses and trying not to freeze (I dressed for 18C. It was most definitely not 18C) and noting down how people prep their horses before their class in preparation for doing a show with my boy in a few weeks. Managed to get some nice “behind the scenes” photos too, even though it feels horribly rude to take photos when people are warming up.

It was a very nice day out, but next year I think I’ll probably visit on a day when the driving’s on as there’s a limit to how many coloured horses you watch trot up before they all start looking the same.
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It was so cold wasn’t it.
 
Babysitting the grandkids tomorrow morning and hosting my granddaughter's 1st birthday party (just a family BBQ) on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing the kids and family but equally frustrated at lack of time left for horse based activities. Plus kids will be here before 8 so I'll have to get up at normal time tomorrow to do the horses/dogs/cats before they arrive - no Saturday lie in for me!
 
I did a poles clinic today. Put on my brave pants (and my leopard print matchy-matchy) and actually managed to get on board for it. And then - it was great! Blue listened! She stopped when asked! She realised my leg doesn't always mean 'go faster' - sometimes it's to support her round a corner or encourage her to bend!

I felt like I was actually riding again, rather than just sitting on top of her with the handbrake on.

Having somebody hack her out and remind her of her schooling was definitely the right decision.
 
Quiet one for us.
Dentist for everyone this week and wolf teeth out for large ginger child.

Schooling on grass yesterday. Despite the drought, I'm trying to keep working on lots of different surfaces for our barefoot tootsies.
Really happy reviewing the videos to see how good his stride length is looking, even on firm ground, makes me hopeful for eventing sans shoes this summer! 🤞 Crappy grab from crappy video
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Today shopping for a dress for friend's wedding.

Tomorrow flying to Egypt for a few days with work.
 
We went to a spook busting clinic. Lots of different apparatus for the horses to look at and explore. We had an explosive start as someone helpfully walked over some blue mats right near us which made quite a noise & nearly sent us into orbit but then we chilled and did all the obstacles including a bridge & a water tray filled with balls, & were just a bit sticky with the overhead arch. Trainer is going to bring it here so we can have another go at it :)
 
Well my week carries on... poor old Robbie lost a front shoe on Wednesday and had it refitted yesterday and is now short in front from hard ground. He isn't very stoical and though has good feet he isn't great without a shoe, just brilliant timing. Will trot him up tomorrow as supposed to have been going to CT and someone was coming to view him. Hopefully my 3 things are done as passenger mirror decided to drop out as well this week from my car. Luckily rescued it as I was towing caravan back from Badminton at the time and always have duct tape.
 
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