Pictures Producing 5/6yr olds

I continue to be besotted with my 5yr old, it feels like our partnership is developing very nicely. I took her to another venue yesterday for a polework clininc, and she didnt put a hair out of place, perfect to load, travel etc, stood like a rock for me to get on, and happy to work with other horses in our session. Some of the exercise were a bit challenging for her, but she tried her best and worked everything out well, so I couldnt be happier with her.

Picture is a screenshot, so please ignore the play symbol! If anyone is bored or nosy enough the video is on my Larkfield Dressage page on fb, but I dont do youtube, so thats where I put videos.
 

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daffy44 said:
I continue to be besotted with my 5yr old, it feels like our partnership is developing very nicely. I took her to another venue yesterday for a polework clininc, and she didnt put a hair out of place, perfect to load, travel etc, stood like a rock for me to get on, and happy to work with other horses in our session. Some of the exercise were a bit challenging for her, but she tried her best and worked everything out well, so I couldnt be happier with her.

Picture is a screenshot, so please ignore the play symbol! If anyone is bored or nosy enough the video is on my Larkfield Dressage page on fb, but I dont do youtube, so thats were I put videos.
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She looks very smart!
 
Nothing to see here. Just a pony casually wandering doon the Milngavie high street.

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And crossing the 'ford' on the reservoir (the alternative being a narrow, dodgy bridge).

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Thankfully, none of the photos show that the mecate reins were crossed for the entire ride. Oops. I only noticed a couple k from home, at which point I thought, oh well f*ck it, because untangling it would have involved getting off and untying knots and faff. So we did a 12k urban ride with less control than the bosal normally gives you (which,quite frankly, is all in the training anyways), and for most if it, I had no idea!
 
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Black princess has been busy being exposed to life away from home.

After her little sj arena hire she went back to the same venue the following week for an unaff dressage test. She was a good girl and whilst it was a bit of a manufactured clear round for 68% it was good to see she will in time likely produce a smart test, needs more balance & relaxation for now but she tries so very hard.

She then had her first xc school this weekend, I nearly wet myself giggling when jockey did a fairly graceful bail/dismount at attempt at first solid fence, it was the dizzy height of <50cm, Millie was caught by surprise and im afraid it was all rather amusing.

Can horses get embarrassed? If so, I think mine was. If not it made her concentrate on what she was doing anyway!

She then proceeded to trot and pop the array of diddy baby fences first time, pretty confidently. A little gawp at her first ditch and into water, but got it quickly and was then flying. Finished by stringing a few together.

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Planning another arena hire next week, probably Wicksted so she can see both coloured and xc stuff, and if she comes out there like I suspect/hope she will, we might think about finding her a quiet sj show/outing.
 
The anorexic giraffe, aka black princess, continues to impress and is decidedly less anorexic and giraffe like now!

She has had lots of little low key outings on the wagon and is now completely solid away from home. Loading herself with ears pricked. Relaxed at the other end and just generally super cool. Given she started out a quivering screaming jelly this is by far the most pleasing thing at this stage.

She is also now coming out and jumping what is in front of her confidently, without going ‘blah’.

Last week she went out to a brand new venue and did an 80cm combined training and was super. First time in indoor so was a little tight & looky that impacted the canter in particular but kept her 💩 together and hinted at what might be to come.
Then went outside and managed to coordinate herself to canter around the entire sj course. Very good girl.

Today she went for her second xc school at Oxtalls. They had the course from yesterday still flagged so she warmed up over practice fences and then in the start box and just did the whole course, a mix of the 80 and 90 options. Super chuffed with her.

She will now have 10 day holiday while her jockey is busy at Paris and then ….. entered for her first little unaff ODE 😱
 
ihatework said:
The anorexic giraffe, aka black princess, continues to impress and is decidedly less anorexic and giraffe like now!

She has had lots of little low key outings on the wagon and is now completely solid away from home. Loading herself with ears pricked. Relaxed at the other end and just generally super cool. Given she started out a quivering screaming jelly this is by far the most pleasing thing at this stage.

She is also now coming out and jumping what is in front of her confidently, without going ‘blah’.

Last week she went out to a brand new venue and did an 80cm combined training and was super. First time in indoor so was a little tight & looky that impacted the canter in particular but kept her 💩 together and hinted at what might be to come.
Then went outside and managed to coordinate herself to canter around the entire sj course. Very good girl.

Today she went for her second xc school at Oxtalls. They had the course from yesterday still flagged so she warmed up over practice fences and then in the start box and just did the whole course, a mix of the 80 and 90 options. Super chuffed with her.

She will now have 10 day holiday while her jockey is busy at Paris and then ….. entered for her first little unaff ODE 😱
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Sounds like she is a super star! Who is her jockey, then?!
 
ihatework said:
The anorexic giraffe, aka black princess, continues to impress and is decidedly less anorexic and giraffe like now!

She has had lots of little low key outings on the wagon and is now completely solid away from home. Loading herself with ears pricked. Relaxed at the other end and just generally super cool. Given she started out a quivering screaming jelly this is by far the most pleasing thing at this stage.

She is also now coming out and jumping what is in front of her confidently, without going ‘blah’.

Last week she went out to a brand new venue and did an 80cm combined training and was super. First time in indoor so was a little tight & looky that impacted the canter in particular but kept her 💩 together and hinted at what might be to come.
Then went outside and managed to coordinate herself to canter around the entire sj course. Very good girl.

Today she went for her second xc school at Oxtalls. They had the course from yesterday still flagged so she warmed up over practice fences and then in the start box and just did the whole course, a mix of the 80 and 90 options. Super chuffed with her.

She will now have 10 day holiday while her jockey is busy at Paris and then ….. entered for her first little unaff ODE 😱
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Sounds perfect!
 
First show time for my girl! I entered and then stupidly taught her walk to canter last week, and the trot canter transitions promptly fell apart, I'm fine with that, I know it wont last, but my timing was very stupid. So I decided to withdraw from the show, but then I thought the warm up would in itself be a good educational experience, so I took her with the plan to not compete, just warm up.

But she was such a good girl! I know from our arena hires, and first lesson a couple of weeks ago that shes brilliant with all the stuff, loading, traveling, tacking up etc, she stands quietly tied either on or off the lorry, but you cant replicate a show atmosphere. She was very brave, not bothered by other horses coming and going, so I changed my mind and did a couple of tests. The arena was still dressed from a recent Area Festival, and she looked, but didnt mind that either, but she was not impressed at being asked to trot head on towards a judges car! Her first test was a worried wobbly mess with lots of mistakes, and I repeated a movement because the training matters more to me than the mark, so we got 63%.

I was able to give her a little rest, (and walk her round cars in the car park) then a very brief warm up, as she was starting to tire, but she was so good, we went in again, and she told me she understood this game now. Only one mistake and a much more confident test for 71%. I'm so proud of her, and so impressed by how quickly she learnt and improved.

Photo is from on way to the field, she couldnt wait!
 

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daffy44 said:
First show time for my girl! I entered and then stupidly taught her walk to canter last week, and the trot canter transitions promptly fell apart, I'm fine with that, I know it wont last, but my timing was very stupid. So I decided to withdraw from the show, but then I thought the warm up would in itself be a good educational experience, so I took her with the plan to not compete, just warm up.

But she was such a good girl! I know from our arena hires, and first lesson a couple of weeks ago that shes brilliant with all the stuff, loading, traveling, tacking up etc, she stands quietly tied either on or off the lorry, but you cant replicate a show atmosphere. She was very brave, not bothered by other horses coming and going, so I changed my mind and did a couple of tests. The arena was still dressed from a recent Area Festival, and she looked, but didnt mind that either, but she was not impressed at being asked to trot head on towards a judges car! Her first test was a worried wobbly mess with lots of mistakes, and I repeated a movement because the training matters more to me than the mark, so we got 63%.

I was able to give her a little rest, (and walk her round cars in the car park) then a very brief warm up, as she was starting to tire, but she was so good, we went in again, and she told me she understood this game now. Only one mistake and a much more confident test for 71%. I'm so proud of her, and so impressed by how quickly she learnt and improved.

Photo is from on way to the field, she couldnt wait!
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Love the fact you repeated a movement for training. Great experience for her!
 
GreyDot said:
Love the fact you repeated a movement for training. Great experience for her!
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Thank you, for me the early shows with a young horse are all about education and positive experiences, so I'm very happy to repeat things if necessary so the horse understands I wont stop riding just because we are in a test.
 
daffy44 said:
First show time for my girl! I entered and then stupidly taught her walk to canter last week, and the trot canter transitions promptly fell apart, I'm fine with that, I know it wont last, but my timing was very stupid. So I decided to withdraw from the show, but then I thought the warm up would in itself be a good educational experience, so I took her with the plan to not compete, just warm up.

But she was such a good girl! I know from our arena hires, and first lesson a couple of weeks ago that shes brilliant with all the stuff, loading, traveling, tacking up etc, she stands quietly tied either on or off the lorry, but you cant replicate a show atmosphere. She was very brave, not bothered by other horses coming and going, so I changed my mind and did a couple of tests. The arena was still dressed from a recent Area Festival, and she looked, but didnt mind that either, but she was not impressed at being asked to trot head on towards a judges car! Her first test was a worried wobbly mess with lots of mistakes, and I repeated a movement because the training matters more to me than the mark, so we got 63%.

I was able to give her a little rest, (and walk her round cars in the car park) then a very brief warm up, as she was starting to tire, but she was so good, we went in again, and she told me she understood this game now. Only one mistake and a much more confident test for 71%. I'm so proud of her, and so impressed by how quickly she learnt and improved.

Photo is from on way to the field, she couldnt wait!
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Brilliant job, well done- and what an improvement between the two tests!
 
TheMule said:
Brilliant job, well done- and what an improvement between the two tests!
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Thanks TM, yes, 8% in a half an hour isnt bad! Shes really a horse who can get high marks (I think), as long as she relaxes, and bless her, shes such a quick learner, 30mins was all it took for her to get the hang of it and start to chill.
 
thought i’d add Diva to this thread! 5 but only backed march this year, and i’ve done virtually nothing with her.

this week we went to her first showing clinic, and also her first ever ridden outing. oh my word i can’t sing this ponies praises enough!! i had faith in her but she blew me away, absolutely no bother at all, you’d think she’d been going for months. i just adore her attitude to life, she’s so curious and up for anything. i’ve not even ridden her with other horses and this was 7 others, not a problem! really made me very excited for her future, the lady doing the clinic really liked her too and said she’s going to be very smart🥰 (lily has never had those comments🤣)
 

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I am going to add my girl Candy to this thread as she is 6 now, bought from breeder as a untouched 3 yr old.
She is happily showjumping around 90/1m tracks, as well as having a few one day events done and some showing!
Turning out to be jack of all trades :D
She may not be a 120 horse like her sister but thats ok, at least shes pretty :)
 

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CastlelackSportHorses said:
I am going to add my girl Candy to this thread as she is 6 now, bought from breeder as a untouched 3 yr old.
She is happily showjumping around 90/1m tracks, as well as having a few one day events done and some showing!
Turning out to be jack of all trades :D
She may not be a 120 horse like her sister but thats ok, at least shes pretty :)
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What a nice looking girl.
 
diva had her first solo-hack-turned-picnic a couple of weeks ago! many teething problems, lucky she’s only little as i had to keep getting off and leading🤣 she’s a good girl though, stood and let me order and pay for the ice cream despite the big scary tractor on the field behind us - the one thing she’s terrified off, despite being on a working farm her whole life!🥲

she’s had an easy week ahead of our last show of the season, and the biggest she’s done this year, as her saddle is with the fitter to be reflocked!

we’ve got big plans over winter, im hoping to get her to the water treadmill fortnightly, lessons on the opposite weeks, plus some polework clinics and the showing clinics we’ve been doing! a summer of shows is going to feel like a holiday by comparison🤣
 

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Time for my lovely girl to do her second show, shes been brilliant at home and really lovely in our last lesson, so I'm very pleased with her general progress. I think at he moment shes a horse that needs two tests to give her time to get used to things and relax, but for various boring reasons we only did one test this time, which was not ideal. We went on friday in the most disgusting weather, (so glad to be indoors!) she was her ususal perfect self at all the stuff, loading, tacking up etc, she felt a little edgy in the warm up, but held it together and relaxed the more we did, she finished up relaxed and working very nicely. The warm up was quite busy with tense young horses, and she did her level best to ignore their antics, which makes me very grateful!

Sadly she did get a bit tense and distracted in the test, not scared of the judges car anymore, but not really with me as I would like, but she didnt make any real mistakes and she tried her best, which is all I ask for, we were 2nd on 69.5%, I think I could have improved that by about five % with second test, but I'm very pleased with the general improvement, the first test last time got 63, this time 69, so all heading in the right direction.
 

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daffy44 said:
Time for my lovely girl to do her second show, shes been brilliant at home and really lovely in our last lesson, so I'm very pleased with her general progress. I think at he moment shes a horse that needs two tests to give her time to get used to things and relax, but for various boring reasons we only did one test this time, which was not ideal. We went on friday in the most disgusting weather, (so glad to be indoors!) she was her ususal perfect self at all the stuff, loading, tacking up etc, she felt a little edgy in the warm up, but held it together and relaxed the more we did, she finished up relaxed and working very nicely. The warm up was quite busy with tense young horses, and she did her level best to ignore their antics, which makes me very grateful!

Sadly she did get a bit tense and distracted in the test, not scared of the judges car anymore, but not really with me as I would like, but she didnt make any real mistakes and she tried her best, which is all I ask for, we were 2nd on 69.5%, I think I could have improved that by about five % with second test, but I'm very pleased with the general improvement, the first test last time got 63, this time 69, so all heading in the right direction.
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She is such a lovely athletic model. Well done!
 
My black princess does not have a good update. The week before her first event she had a freaky accident. Thankfully have a vet based on the yard, who had the job of calling me to break the bad news - think rider was unable to speak at that time. At that point I was fearing PTS. We stabilised her and got her into the clinic. We have paid off the vets mortgage for them. She has had 3 months rest and all sorts of stuff thrown at her and have just received sign off to begin rehab.
I think we probably have 6 months of slowly slowly before we will know if she stands a chance of competing long term.

This is the sort of time when you realise how wonderful people are, the amount of support I’ve had from friends has been amazing.

Just got to stay positive.
 
ihatework said:
My black princess does not have a good update. The week before her first event she had a freaky accident. Thankfully have a vet based on the yard, who had the job of calling me to break the bad news - think rider was unable to speak at that time. At that point I was fearing PTS. We stabilised her and got her into the clinic. We have paid off the vets mortgage for them. She has had 3 months rest and all sorts of stuff thrown at her and have just received sign off to begin rehab.
I think we probably have 6 months of slowly slowly before we will know if she stands a chance of competing long term.

This is the sort of time when you realise how wonderful people are, the amount of support I’ve had from friends has been amazing.

Just got to stay positive.
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Brilliant news that Millie can start her rehab. Terrifying time for you, especially as she's so precious. 🤞for a smooth 6 months and a positive outcome
 
ihatework said:
My black princess does not have a good update. The week before her first event she had a freaky accident. Thankfully have a vet based on the yard, who had the job of calling me to break the bad news - think rider was unable to speak at that time. At that point I was fearing PTS. We stabilised her and got her into the clinic. We have paid off the vets mortgage for them. She has had 3 months rest and all sorts of stuff thrown at her and have just received sign off to begin rehab.
I think we probably have 6 months of slowly slowly before we will know if she stands a chance of competing long term.

This is the sort of time when you realise how wonderful people are, the amount of support I’ve had from friends has been amazing.

Just got to stay positive.
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So sorry.Hope everything goes well for you
 
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