Mylo & Myka

Finishing off the year with a nice hack round the farm ride while playing with a Christmas Pressie GoPro. Come ride with us! But excuse the very poor camera skills. First trial.....

Super pleased with how relaxed she was. Just one very minor silly spook at tractor tyres of all things. Especially happy with her polite half-passing to let me press the buzzer to open the gate at the end! I want her to be an easy horse to hack - which means good gate skills. I think this is a pretty encouraging start.

 
Mrs. Glittery Jingle Balls said:
I noticed the tractor tyre thing - didn't really bother her though did it, just a very elegant little half step to one side. I would settle for that any day from a youngster. 😊
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Oh no she was very restrained. I am delighted with her. I just thought it was funny that literally the only thing she reacted to at all was a tyre track. Not the squirrel that run in front of us, not the noisy pheasant in the bushes. Not even the tractor itself! She's fab.
 
Well our time at Somerford is coming to an end and I’m picking her up tomorrow.

It’s been brilliant but I wouldn’t be on livery there permanently. The turn out is all individual which is ok for short periods but she likes playing with others. The other liveries seem to decide to stay in quite easily too - she was meant to be out today but no other horses were going out (liveries choice not YOs) so she had to stay in too. After riding I walked away and she was neighing after me as if to say ‘hey you’ve forgotten to put me out!!!”

Bless her. I’m stupidly soft but I felt so sad and I can’t wait to turn her out with her old pals tomorrow.
 
Actually - correction: some horses are out together but that depends on friends agreeing, or 1 person having 2 or 3 horses. If I could afford to keep Mylo and Amber there in a herd of 3 with Myka, it could work. But that’s never gonna happen!!
 
What a fabulous six weeks Myka has had at Somerford! She has made so much progress. I wanted to keep a record of our time there all in one place, so this is an overview of her whole stay, even though I’ve shared snippets along the way on the forum.

When I picked her up from Alisha’s, I was really pleased with how she felt. She was noticeably calmer, more accepting of new experiences, and in a good headspace for learning. A big part of Joe and Alisha’s approach is learning how to learn: ensuring the horse always knows there’s an answer, rewarding the correct response with well-timed releases, rewarding the try, and communicating clearly and consistently.
Joe always said that although she was sensitive, one day it would click and she would be away. I didn’t expect that prediction to come true quite so quickly, but Myka hasn’t put a foot wrong at Somerford for six weeks.

When she left Alisha’s, she was only just beginning to canter. She hadn’t hacked out, as hacking directly from the farm involves roads, which didn’t feel sensible at that stage. The focus there had been on helping her relax, expanding her window of tolerance, and improving the quality and responsiveness of her schoolwork in walk and trot. A few 7.5s in a walk-trot dressage test on her final day, with lovely comments, showed just how well that work had paid off, as did her positive attitude.

She then went to Somerford, with its world-class facilities, and the focus shifted to learning new "stuff" in a busy, buzzy environment. And she has learned so much. I truly believe the reason she has progressed so quickly is because she was mentally ready to accept new experiences. That bit seemed to take a while! But it's paid off in how quickly we have been able to crack on since then.

Over the six weeks, she has walked, trotted, and cantered around the farm ride many times. Yesterday I took her the “scary” way past traffic hidden behind a hedge and she didn’t bat an eyelid. She has confidently popped logs and roll-tops out on the farm ride. She was introduced to cross-country fences in the all-weather XC arena, and in just four sessions she went from “er… there’s something in the way, I have to stop” to confidently linking fences up to 80cm, including skinnies, hanging logs, and combinations. We introduced poles and show jumps, first from trot and then canter, finishing with an oxer of around 70–75cm. She ended each session positive, confident, and taking me happily into the fences.

She’s coped brilliantly with awful weather, tractors harrowing arenas, other horses schooling and jumping around her, and horses leaving her behind on the farm ride. She’s also handled periods of restricted turnout and no riding without losing her mind when I got back on. In fact, after three days off and in, she felt no different at all, which is a massive change.

Everything the pro has done, I’ve also done (albeit smaller!). I’ve cantered on the farm ride, jumped XC and SJ fences, hacked in company and solo, and today I finished off our stay with a jumping lesson on the XC arena. No safety blanket of someone else riding first. I tacked up, hacked down, warmed up, started trotting and popping, and finished by jumping a mini course of eight linked fences. The feel she gives me is fantastic.

I feel safe on her and eventing this season no longer feels wildly ambitious, but actually feels achievable. Considering that before Somerford I was still wondering if I’d ever do more than grit my teeth, get on, walk around a bit, and get off with a sigh of relief, the turnaround has been astonishing. As my husband says, Myka is suddenly just a normal horse doing normal things!

I couldn’t be more pleased with her, or more grateful for the support I’ve had from everyone, from those who prepared her so well for Somerford, to the pro there who has done such a brilliant job with her during her stay.

She is home now, reunited with Mylo. They are peas in a pod. I’m so excited for the future with these 2 amazing horses.

Video of our adventures below. I’m sure you can tell which bits are the pro and which are me! But I do feature in both cantering and jumping clips!

 
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Don't forget to take some of the credit yourself. It was after all you that chose the people who have helped you along the way 🙂

Followed this thread from the start, don't often comment, an incredible difference in Myka?
Looking forward to seeing the next steps.
 
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