Mid January Weekend Plans

[CanteringCarrot]

What's everyone up to this weekend?

I'm both excited and nervous for our clinic this weekend. It's with a dressage rider/trainer from Spain ? and she has a lot of experience with Spanish horses, so I'm really interested in this.

 

[Accidental Eventer]

Oh that sounds like fun CC!

Farrier tomorrow morning, might get a ride in after but that depends on baby naps.

Saturday morning Coolie has a jumping lesson and on Sunday Henry will have a flat ride before a very easy week because it’s going to be too hot again.

picture of the handsome boy. He will be 19 on Monday!

 

[milliepops]

Horse logistics for me this weekend.

Time for the precious first born to meet her aunties. Gulp!! I really hate mixing new horses after a few bad experiences. Though there is nothing to suggest there will be an issue, the oldies are easy going so long as everyone recognises Millie as the Glorious Leader, Salty is super easy and Hera has now been shown that she is not the centre of the universe. And this is a planned merge rather than being out of my control. But still a nervous time. Need to split the field in 2 on Saturday ready for the big move on Sunday. And remind Hera what it means to wear a rug, just in case (there's no chance of her getting admitted to the shelter once they are all one group).

I feel quite dizzy at the thought of this step though it had to happen eventually. and I'm glad to get over this step, because the next horse logistics stage is a biggy (Kira coming home, Salty moving to the yard and hopefully Frank restarting turnout without killing himself). I do wish it was all over already

Sunny pic of the lady in question with her mom

 

[J_sarahd]

Now that pony is feeling a bit more comfortable again, we are off to the gallops on Sunday. It will be good for some fitness training and to pop some cross country jumps again. I’ve been uhmming and ahhing about joining BE so probably should start some prep for the season.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Just pootling about hacking this weekend.
Then Bs routine chiro vet session on Tuesday.

MP, hope all goes well with herd x

Was aiming for a quiet month to give B a bit of down time, but somehow have got in to a posh sj clinic next weekend!

 

[SEL]

Horse logistics for me this weekend.

Time for the precious first born to meet her aunties. Gulp!! I really hate mixing new horses after a few bad experiences. Though there is nothing to suggest there will be an issue, the oldies are easy going so long as everyone recognises Millie as the Glorious Leader, Salty is super easy and Hera has now been shown that she is not the centre of the universe. And this is a planned merge rather than being out of my control. But still a nervous time. Need to split the field in 2 on Saturday ready for the big move on Sunday. And remind Hera what it means to wear a rug, just in case (there's no chance of her getting admitted to the shelter once they are all one group).

I feel quite dizzy at the thought of this step though it had to happen eventually. and I'm glad to get over this step, because the next horse logistics stage is a biggy (Kira coming home, Salty moving to the yard and hopefully Frank restarting turnout without killing himself). I do wish it was all over already

Sunny pic of the lady in question with her mom

Good luck! I completely get the nervousness - I thought I'd introduced the microcob slowly and gently to my original two. Then the first night they were all together she ran through mains electric because my gentle old 'never hurt a fly' one beat her up. They are now best friends. Is Salty going with her child back to the aunties to start with?

 

[milliepops]

Good luck! I completely get the nervousness - I thought I'd introduced the microcob slowly and gently to my original two. Then the first night they were all together she ran through mains electric because my gentle old 'never hurt a fly' one beat her up. They are now best friends. Is Salty going with her child back to the aunties to start with?

yes, i'm going to *attempt* to put H+S in one half and the old girls in the other half, and hope that a week or 2 chatting over the fence gives everyone a chance to gently assert the pecking order. but Millie is such a bloody rogue where electric fencing is concerned, i fully expect to arrive one day and find them all in together...

already had plenty of leg-breaking nightmares up to this point. Horses are no good for your blood pressure

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Just kidding about my plans. My towing car is broken. Not sure what exactly, but it's not drivable. Something is very broken. OH and I will investigate tonight, but I doubt it's something we can fix or get parts for and have together by Saturday morning. Going to see if anything is available for rental tomorrow (car or horsebox), but doubt it in this area. FFS ?‍ I mean I'm glad it broke when I wasn't towing a horse, but it's just bizarre. Was fine and now...really not.

I was soo looking forward to FINALLY riding with a "Spanish horse person" I knew it was too good to be true ??‍ there goes my chance and over 100€ (no refunds, I imagine).

Can't blame the horse this time, so at least there's that ?‍

 

[teddy_]

I am moving my young horse from full to DIY livery, and I am so nervous !

I have done DIY in the past, but silly as it sounds, after having the crutch of 24/7 professional help whenever I have needed it for 'x' amount of years has made me doubt myself . I am sure I am making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Anyway, I am lucky to have found a super friendly and local yard with excellent facilities. I am so looking forward to actually getting to know my horse (purchased in August 2021), which is hard to do when everything is done for you on full-livery.

 

[milliepops]

Just kidding about my plans. My towing car is broken. Not sure what exactly, but it's not drivable. Something is very broken. OH and I will investigate tonight, but I doubt it's something we can fix or get parts for and have together by Saturday morning. Going to see if anything is available for rental tomorrow (car or horsebox), but doubt it in this area. FFS ?‍ I mean I'm glad it broke when I wasn't towing a horse, but it's just bizarre. Was fine and now...really not.

I was soo looking forward to FINALLY riding with a "Spanish horse person" I knew it was too good to be true ??‍ there goes my chance and over 100€ (no refunds, I imagine).

Can't blame the horse this time, so at least there's that ?‍

what crap timing

 

[CanteringCarrot]

what crap timing

On the one hand, yes. On the other hand, at least it didn't break while driving or driving with the horse. So good and bad timing.

Looks like I may have an alternative vehicle lined up though ?

Best of luck with your horse logistics this weekend.

 

[scats]

No special plans. I’m working Saturday but I will squeeze in riding at some point.

 

[LEC]

My vet students are back, which makes me very happy as means I have other people to do the boring hacking work I loathe.

I love my vet students. I get new ones every 2 years and mostly hang onto the ones that come along. They are all really nice and decent riders. I am very flexible to ride out for, to fit around their studies and try and accommodate them with getting them lessons on my horses etc. I have a very decent Irish vet student at the moment so she can hunt. She will have a great time on the young horse as I loathe getting cold, wet and muddy while the horse loves it and needs it.

so if you are near a vet college and want people to ride out for free - I absolutely recommend vet students.

 

[rara007]

I’m shopping in Denmark for 4 leggeds.
We shall see….!

 

[teapot]

I'm mid job handover and prepping for something else, plus waiting for new job, so lessons have taken a back seat. Would have had two illusive privates this week had it not been for everything occuring in the same ten days

 

[little_critter]

I’m going to an Andy Thomas clinic on Monday. I’ve been trying to get on one of these for about a year, but full clinics / date clashes etc meant I couldn’t do them. I did get booked on one in Oct….then my horse went lame.
So this better be good!!

 

[Bernster]

cracking lesson this eve on Bertie bumpkin. I wanted to come out of the winter being able to canter a 20m circle - low expectations i know but, given where we started, I decided to set the bar to low but achievable! We‘re in a much better place now - straighter, more balanced, i don’t brace and lose my position so much, and we’re comfortably cantering - yay. Even the downward transitions are not far off and we didn’t wobble that much down the centre line. Yay again. Might even attempt a dressage test soon ish.

I was planning on going to attington this weekend, which has a lovely xc on a surface. It closed for a change of ownership. However, they start at 90 now so aren’t catering to lower levels, which is a shame. It was also more expensive, 30 per horse for an hour. I‘ll do a sj course hire locally instead.

The Hannah Francis ode got confirmed this week, larkhill in July. If they do a 70 I’m going to aim for that.

Have fun all and hope horse and car wrangling goes ok.

 

[Caol Ila]

Usual hacking with Foinavon.

We weaned Caso last weekend. Hermosa was losing weight, and we were feeding her twice per day, plus ad lib access to hay. I didn't write about it here, because I know you're an opinionated lot, and I thought I'd wait and see how it went. Opinions about what we ought to do were neither here nor there after we made the decision -- the mechanics of it were down to the YO and the layout of her barn. Anyway, Caso stayed with his auntie herd, and Hermosa moved in with the yard owner's herd. YO's horses are on a separate part of the yard, out of sight and hearing from the main yard. At first, she was in a small pen by herself so she could meet her new herd over the fence. She didn't like that very much and fencewalked. YO put her in with the horses the next day. She was soon sharing the round bale, so she's figured out how to integrate into new groups without jumping fences. Useful skill.

Caso hardly noticed. He's attached enough to his aunties that losing mum didn't phase him too much. He's been spending some time with friendly geldings, so he can bond to them. He will have to move to the boys' herd in the near future. The geldings play and the mares don't, so he's pretty happy about that too. One of the older geldings has appointed himself as a guardian and protects Caso from anyone looking at him funny.

I can't do much with Hermosa at the moment, since we have to avoid the main yard until her milk dries up and we are sure they won't call for one another. Her current accommodation consists of a paddock and field shelter, and a wee path going from the paddocks to the gate. She will stand on the path for grooming and feet (glad I taught her to ground tie), and we can go on walks on the road. I can't go at night because there are no lights in her section of the yard. Not ideal, but doing the best we can with the facilities available.

 

[j1ffy]

CC - I hope your replacement vehicle comes through! I look forward to the report
MP - good luck, I'm sure it will go ok after all the prep you've put in
CI - sounds like you've managed the weaning well

More hacking for us and I'll also do a bit of in-hand stuff too. Chilli naturally bananas to the left so I'd like to get him bending and moving to the right better before getting on him in the school. I am a complete novice with in-hand but can just about manage some shoulder-in on a circle (as per Diane Thurman-Baker's clinic last month), leg-yield and turn on the forehand so hopefully enough to make a small difference.

 

[RachelFerd]

Jumping lessons for both boys tomorrow - always fun!

 

[iknowmyvalue]

I steeled myself and entered some dressage for Sunday! Looking at the times I’ve only got 15-20mins between tests which is good in some ways but I must make sure I actually know both tests and don’t get them confused ? (I am not good at remembering one test let alone two!)

 

[scats]

Some stills of the girls having a good blast around the field yesterday morning. It’s so lovely to see Polly looking so well

 

[Mary3050]

I steeled myself and entered some dressage for Sunday! Looking at the times I’ve only got 15-20mins between tests which is good in some ways but I must make sure I actually know both tests and don’t get them confused ? (I am not good at remembering one test let alone two!)

Same for me I have 15 minutes. But then 1h 20 for my next horse ?

 

[Mary3050]

I am off to dressage with the two ridden ones . Feels like ages since we have been out . Then i am going to help my other horses loaner and a show jumping show . Which will be great to watch !

 

[Michen]

Rubbish pic but these have been my pony fix for the last month travelling around Tanzania! I am super excited to hopefully fly home tonight and go pick up my horses from their holiday home. I thought I’d dread going back but absolutely not, and feeling motivated to get Boggle strong and ready for some little events!

 

[Sheep]

I’m on the sidelines this weekend! OH has a flatwork lesson today, then possibly a jump lesson tomorrow - still waiting for confirmation on that though.
Arena eventing on locally too today, so we might nip over to watch a few rounds.
I did ride last night, that’s the height of my plans ? horse was very good. He’s feeling very jolly and buzzy at the moment which I love, demonstrating a lot of enthusiasm in med trot and WtC.

Nearly forgot the most exciting bit of our plans!! Getting a Chinese takeaway tonight, our first of the new year - we’d become v lazy with our eating habits and were getting takeaways sometimes 2 or 3 times a week - no more ?

 

[southerncomfort]

Lots of lovely plans for everyone this week! The weather here has been absolutely glorious for January.

Bo is now back in work and is so delighted to be hacking out again that he's been very hot to ride recently!

Yesterday I rode for 15 minutes in the school first to get his brain engaged, and when we did head out for a hack I put him straight in to trot for a bit to settle him. Any time I felt his enthusiasm building I put him straight in to trot before he lost his head. Worked surprisingly well.

Planning to work over poles today and a longer hack tomorrow. Plus need to start some loading and travelling practice as we're booked in to TREC clinic in a few weeks time.

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

 

[Reacher]

Had a mid week poles / cavaletti lesson (with RI 1). Mr H did his usual thing of starting off like a knackered old RS horse, with me over-working to wake him up, then the switch in his brain flipped and he went into tanking off mode with the odd rude buck ....As soon as he starts tanking I tense and start gripping which winds him up further....plus the killer sheep in the distance didn’t help!

He had a few weeks off in the back end of last year (saddle was away for adjusting) and didn’t get much done at Xmas so he is extra excited about jumping. I have not been to an arena event since about September and I don’t know when he will be fit enough and calmed down enough to go to a party.

Lesson today (with RI2). Am trying out my Equiseat aid which I purchase recently following recommendations- it is designed to sort out rider’s asymmetry. I think my left hip is the problem, the Equiseat people think I am stiff on the right rein, RI 2 agrees, RI 1 doesn’t think I’m particularly asymmetrical- (but identified that on the right rein he shifts me over to the left so I need to work on this.) I wish people could agree with what my problem is!

In breaking news I am booked into an Andy Thomas clinic in the spring!

 

[Jeni the dragon]

Hope you all have a lovely time and everyone behaves! I'm stuck self isolating as tested positive yesterday! So sitting in my room watching eventing videos. Bored out of my tiny mind already. How the heck am I going to manage, potentially, 10 days?
Thankfully I can still visit the gang as our yard is privately rented. Grateful for small mercies at the moment!

 

[rara007]

Been shopping…

Indoor 1 day event with the pony tomorrow