Summer Solstice weekend plans

2 days back now. Yesterday, we both rode out on the boys. Had a trot and canter and my back held up. It seems worse if I bend forwards, but when upright I am OK.

Rigs has moved onto the lawn for his grazing. His field is bare and, while we were away, he wasn't being ridden so I cut his feed somewhat so we could reduce any risk of his lami returning while I was away. It meant it was easy for the horse sitter, as the boys could literally be let out of their back gate in the morning, left to roam inside and outside all day, and they would bring themselves in for tea at night.

H has moved to the furthest field now, his normal one has been treated for buttercups. Rigs is loving the lawn! Boyfriend is happy for him to be turned out with his car, but I have moved mine into the inner yard, just in case! I am also powering down the electric gate. A few people have access to it on their phones (my emergency cover, the muck collection man etc) and I don't want a pocket dial to release the beast!

As a separate benefit, I was supposed to cut the lawn and orchard this weekend and now Rigs is sorting it out for me. Win-win.

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I managed swimming today and have been to the pharmacist for some additional pain relief. They have given me Codeine and Ibuprofen in one. It doesn't seem to have made a deal of difference, but today I can pick things up off the floor and dress myself! Using a back brace to muck out.
 
YourValentine said:
I spent some time working on a QH stud and found 1 of 20+ saddles that didn't cripple me and was comfortable, and I made mine while I was there. The others were rock solid torture.

I've often wondered about this, because while I find some English saddles are more comfortable than others due to saddle & rider shape etc., I can generally ride in anything English. However in the uncomfortable western saddles at this stud, apart from leaving me bruised, I really struggled to ride in and not bounce around like a novice having their 1st trot.

Do western saddle seat shapes vary a lot? When you were buying yours was fit for you a key part?
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I paid an huge amount for someone to come out and fit one to Boggle. We must have tried about twenty. There was another that fitted great but it wasn’t a trail type saddle like mine (mine has a squishy comfy seat- see here). I was relieved one like this fit him but ultimately he would have got whatever was best for him and I’d have stuck a gel seat saver thing on it.

Though no one seems to fit the saddle to the horse really, it’s what saddle suits the person it seems. I didn’t expect to be able to use mine necessarily I just bought it “just in case”.


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Went to a dressage clinic. Working on flexing and softening him, improving my position in canter (by adopting what feels like a John Wayne seat actually has me sat straight) . Even popped him over a little jump in my dressage length stirrups from the John Wayne canter and he was relaxed and (surprisingly) my legs stayed where they were meant to be.

Had a little attempt at shoulder in to renvers to shoulder in and he was concentrating line mad working out where his legs were meant to go! Who says you can’t teach an old dog (horse / rider) new tricks?!
 
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H and I just had an interesting bit fitting session with a specialist.

It was interesting as, after the third bit, I think H really understood that we were trying bits. He is always great to mount but with two, he had to be dragged to the mounting block - it seemed he had already decided. He went not nice in them when ridden. Others, he was ambivalent. One he drew right back into, one he leaned terribly.

The one we have now hired, he tried twice to make sure it wasn't a fluke. Once early on and also the last one. H's favourite felt stable in his mouth and he didn't lean or yaw. He was more forward. Best of all, his canter transition was fluent, rather then drawing back. The second time, he was really offering forward in a way he hasn't done before.

We have H's choice of bit on hire for 30 days. As much as anything to make sure I like the new-found va va voom!!! 🤣 I am too creaky to be Voom'ed off with.

I haven't asked the relative prices of the bits but I'm guessing that the one he likes wasn't a £25 Shires! :cool: I will wait for the invoice to arrive in the post!
 
Reacher said:
Went to a dressage clinic. Working on flexing and softening him, improving my position in canter (by adopting what feels like a John Wayne seat actually has me sat straight) . Even popped him over a little jump in my dressage length
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Same 😂

Just had a lesson today where I had to actually sit back. What a concept. Only I wasn't sitting back, just straight 🤣
 
iknowmyvalue said:
We jumped our first Discovery and we didn’t die! In fact we were DC in both classes (BN and Disco) and would have been 4th and 2nd if we hadn’t been on a ticket! Plus a compliment from someone watching about how nice he was and what a nice ride I’d given him 😍

Going to have to put my big girl pants on and buy a 6mo BS membership for over the winter I think!

Can confirm that at 1m he still makes the jumps look about 30% smaller than they actually were

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Are you a RC member? You can get 2 year discounted membership which is much better value.
 
I took both Enormosaurus and Green TB show jumping with th riding school. It was a long day: we left the riding school at 6am and got back there at 9.30pm! At least it meant the horses got to travel in comfort at the coolest parts of the day.

Green TB did the 65cm class where we knocked the 2 first poles before getting in gear. But more importantly, she behaved really well. She contained herself in the chaos of the warm up - one instructor set her rider on a circle in front of the jumps and basically started giving her a lesson there and to hell with anyone else trying to warm up. Green TB is not ready yet for this with younger riders - I could really feel she needed a zen rider to not boil over - but I think she'll get there with time, patience and experience.

Enormosaurus and I did the 95cm class. One pole down again. She still needs to be a bit trimer and I need to get my position and timing just right all the way round. But I'm proud of both of us, she held up brilliantly after a long day's wait, and I felt I was actually riding, instead of being the clumsy passenger I can sometimes be.

I have two happy horse owners as well.

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Reacher said:
Remember, channel your inner John Wayne!
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I think I need to try this! I’m forever being told I need to lean back when I could absolutely swear that I’m already doing that.

I’m not sure why I bother making plans for the weekend, because they always seem to change, but at least this weekend it was in a good way.

Firstly, the weather on Saturday was much cooler than forecast, so I managed to ride and had a really good session in the school. Then on Sunday, I continued in my quest to beat my hacking demons, and went for a brilliant hack with my YO. We went to all kinds of new places, including a busy farm yard where we met three tractors, and she gave me lots of great advice on how to manage his potential for spooks. The only thing that caused any problems was a drain cover.

I’m now feeling so much more confident than I was. We’ve come a long way in our hacking in just a couple of weeks. Today is the first day I’ve had any time to ride since Sunday, as I’m off work, and my blooming husband arranged for something to be delivered. So I’m currently waiting in and hoping it hurries up and arrives so I can get out to the yard.
 
I just try to think of leading with my hips or "hips in front" and making the front of my body large/open/wide. I try to think "open thoughts" with my hips. So this engages my core better and naturally puts my upper body where it should be. If my shoulders are getting somewhere before my hips/front my my mid section, I'm doing it wrong. That's how I have to think in order to keep myself from riding too far forward.

I also imagine riding my horse forward and upward. I have to be open in front to allow him out infront of me.

It's taken a lot of core work, hip strengthening and stretching. My legs just naturally come out of my body at a forward angle and my pelvis is just tipped a certain way, so I've had to combat that too. Some people are naturally built in such a way that some of this comes more natural.

I spent yearssss riding exclusively in jump saddles in a more forward seat, so there was just a lot to reconfigure.
 
LEC said:
Are you a RC member? You can get 2 year discounted membership which is much better value.
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Im not but it could be worth joining one just for the discount 😂

the ones round here don’t seem to be particularly active in terms of training I can actually make it to, so it’s never seemed that worth it…
 
iknowmyvalue said:
Im not but it could be worth joining one just for the discount 😂

the ones round here don’t seem to be particularly active in terms of training I can actually make it to, so it’s never seemed that worth it…
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It's £140 for you and horse for year and set for 2 years.


Normal costs:

DurationRider MemberHorseTotal
6 Months£89.00£62.00£151.00
12 Months£155.00£90.00£245

So probably worth joining a RC!
 
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