Hallo2012
Well-Known Member
Well, 2023 seems to have been about 6478858477466363 weeks long already and I am SO ready for better.... brighter weather!
it was very nearly a write off month at midget HQ as Sprout had a foot abscess on NYD which took a good 10 days until i felt he was ready to get back on, we managed 2x light stretchy sessions and then the whole world froze over! My arena never normally freezes but a few hours of snow, then 10 min rain then 10 min hail left me with a soft surface, under an inch of ice
my road was also total sheet ice and not safe to take the lorry out until the 20th Jan! I kept turning out and hand walking but our arena hire 20/01 was like trying to guide a rocket round a bird cage and I firmly said to the OH that we would NOT be going to regionals........we hired the same arena 21/01 and life was much more zen so knowing full well that Feb could bring more snow, we set off for Arena UK regionals on the back of 4 rides all year so far!
All things considered he was GREAT.......fairly screamy and 5th leg swingy upon arrival but shut his chops and settled in a fair timescale in a busy warm up. The test its self started off very brittle and on edge for some 3's and 4's then settled to solid 7/7.5's for the trot and canter in the middle then finished up with a veeeeeery tense walk and final CL for some more 2's and 3's.
However he didn't even notice the huts/flowers/banners/music and was good about leaving the other horses and going it alone in a new arena
62.64% but many many positive considering the piss poor prep lol! (Yes i know he is BTV but it was all still a bit rocket in bird cage at this point believe me I do not try to ride him there)
AF prep was rather more solid which meant he came off the lorry like a meek little LR pony rather than a raging bull and the test its self was much more settle with just a few babyish errors (stopped for a poop before the first medium trot, steering malfunction in second canter and a sight seeing FWLR) but i was chuffed to bits with 65.28% in only his 4th Novice test
Again he didnt even notice the spooky Aintree arena.
He has had an easy week since, some polework and yesterday an epic adventure with his mate.....
And Raf.......slowly building up the trot work, and starting 4/5 steps of canter each way per ride. He is on a major weight loss campaign and is in a total arse with me as I have subbed some hay for straw aka horse celery.
All being well he will do some mediums later in the year and Sprout will do summer AF at novice again and 5yo classes........his reward for being a less screamy, less 5th leg swinging muppet is that he goes for dummy training in March and will cover a few mares this year, and Raf already has 4 booked in!
Hopefully plain sailing for a bit now (please!)
it was very nearly a write off month at midget HQ as Sprout had a foot abscess on NYD which took a good 10 days until i felt he was ready to get back on, we managed 2x light stretchy sessions and then the whole world froze over! My arena never normally freezes but a few hours of snow, then 10 min rain then 10 min hail left me with a soft surface, under an inch of ice
my road was also total sheet ice and not safe to take the lorry out until the 20th Jan! I kept turning out and hand walking but our arena hire 20/01 was like trying to guide a rocket round a bird cage and I firmly said to the OH that we would NOT be going to regionals........we hired the same arena 21/01 and life was much more zen so knowing full well that Feb could bring more snow, we set off for Arena UK regionals on the back of 4 rides all year so far!All things considered he was GREAT.......fairly screamy and 5th leg swingy upon arrival but shut his chops and settled in a fair timescale in a busy warm up. The test its self started off very brittle and on edge for some 3's and 4's then settled to solid 7/7.5's for the trot and canter in the middle then finished up with a veeeeeery tense walk and final CL for some more 2's and 3's.
However he didn't even notice the huts/flowers/banners/music and was good about leaving the other horses and going it alone in a new arena
62.64% but many many positive considering the piss poor prep lol! (Yes i know he is BTV but it was all still a bit rocket in bird cage at this point believe me I do not try to ride him there)
AF prep was rather more solid which meant he came off the lorry like a meek little LR pony rather than a raging bull and the test its self was much more settle with just a few babyish errors (stopped for a poop before the first medium trot, steering malfunction in second canter and a sight seeing FWLR) but i was chuffed to bits with 65.28% in only his 4th Novice test
Again he didnt even notice the spooky Aintree arena.
He has had an easy week since, some polework and yesterday an epic adventure with his mate.....
And Raf.......slowly building up the trot work, and starting 4/5 steps of canter each way per ride. He is on a major weight loss campaign and is in a total arse with me as I have subbed some hay for straw aka horse celery.
All being well he will do some mediums later in the year and Sprout will do summer AF at novice again and 5yo classes........his reward for being a less screamy, less 5th leg swinging muppet is that he goes for dummy training in March and will cover a few mares this year, and Raf already has 4 booked in!
Hopefully plain sailing for a bit now (please!)
What a great report x