Sunny First weekend in April plans?

[dorsetladette]

Look at those lovely sunny photos! Ponies all looking very happy to be out and about.

Bit of a shock when there was frost on the ground this morning!!

Reggie went for an in hand walk into the forest yesterday. Plan is to get him out into the forest for next freelancer session so want to get him out there as much as possible so he's not over excited when I am onboard. He was a superstar - a little 'can you hold my hand mummy' moment going through a gateway but apart from that pretty much foot perfect - oh apart from deciding he didn't want to go back in our gate when we got back - clearly having to much fun out on adventures.

Bashed in about 90 fence posts in a new piece of grazing ready for the boys to move fields so my arms feel like jelly this morning. A little worried it's to much grass now but we'll see how we get on. Feel I may have to invest in a muzzle for Ben - or me and him will be doing a lot of jogging. This piece of land is on much quieter roads so will be nicer to ride out from with both the babies. The babies will see a lot more 'horse traffic' too which they don't really see any off currently. Will give our place a well earned rest for a few weeks too.

 

[AppyLover1996]

Well the tack sale was a partial success - I sold a ton of stuff which is great, but ended up buying a ton of stuff from my friend aha! On the upside I scored 2 new saddle cloths (one is a discontinued Le Mieux champagne that has never been near a horse!) and the base layer to match the champagne saddle cloth so I'm well chuffed!

Rabbit's training plan has been put into place, with lots of parts available for rescheduling/ going back over things as I'm well aware that it won't be a simple, straight process, and I'm now ready to crack on for the summer ahead.

Tackled one of the stables and ended up on the floor passed out (thanks to my body for not letting me know I have a kidney infection!) so got 3/4 of the stable done, but my wonderful Mum stepped in and helped with the last 1/4 (must buy her a box of choccies as she hates mucking out!) - so it's a kind of a win weekend x

 

[j1ffy]

I hope you're feeling better AppyLover!

A good weekend here too - starting with a lesson on Friday from a trainer who comes to the yard regularly (not my usual, long-term trainer). He was very complimentary about the progress Sammy and I are making and feels Sammy still has plenty to give at 18yo, always nice to hear.

Saturday I dragged a sleepy Chilli in from the field, removed a load of shedding hair, found a saddle to fit his current wide-barrel and hopped on him for the first time since September! Based on how fresh he felt I probably should have given him a run around the arena first, but I didn't think a horse living in a 20-acre field would need to burn off any energy . He kept a decent lid on it while we just walked around the arena for 25 mins, one bit of leg-on did result in pogo-stick canter but otherwise he was a good lad. I'll try to get him walking a few times a week while I decide what to do next with him...he needs a hacking home but is too much horse / not relaxing enough for what most look for in a happy hacker

Then Sunday was BD day with Sammy for a run through of our test for the Winter Champs. Training has been progressing well so I was hoping to better our usual 68% score at Medium, however Sammy now knows the test too well so I struggled with his anticipation at times and we ended up with 68.33%....exactly the same score as we had in the same test, at the same venue, in November. So a good score and Sammy felt great, but a little frustrating. Having said that I'd be delighted with that score at the Champs next week!

My mantra as I went around the edge was 'stop leaning back you knobhead' and also 'let your legs hang long' but as you can see, I failed . Sammy looks gorgeous so I had to buy the pic anyway...

 

[AppyLover1996]

I hope you're feeling better AppyLover!

A good weekend here too - starting with a lesson on Friday from a trainer who comes to the yard regularly (not my usual, long-term trainer). He was very complimentary about the progress Sammy and I are making and feels Sammy still has plenty to give at 18yo, always nice to hear.

Saturday I dragged a sleepy Chilli in from the field, removed a load of shedding hair, found a saddle to fit his current wide-barrel and hopped on him for the first time since September! Based on how fresh he felt I probably should have given him a run around the arena first, but I didn't think a horse living in a 20-acre field would need to burn off any energy . He kept a decent lid on it while we just walked around the arena for 25 mins, one bit of leg-on did result in pogo-stick canter but otherwise he was a good lad. I'll try to get him walking a few times a week while I decide what to do next with him...he needs a hacking home but is too much horse / not relaxing enough for what most look for in a happy hacker

Then Sunday was BD day with Sammy for a run through of our test for the Winter Champs. Training has been progressing well so I was hoping to better our usual 68% score at Medium, however Sammy now knows the test too well so I struggled with his anticipation at times and we ended up with 68.33%....exactly the same score as we had in the same test, at the same venue, in November. So a good score and Sammy felt great, but a little frustrating. Having said that I'd be delighted with that score at the Champs next week!

My mantra as I went around the edge was 'stop leaning back you knobhead' and also 'let your legs hang long' but as you can see, I failed . Sammy looks gorgeous so I had to buy the pic anyway...

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I'm a lot better thank you @j1ffy - my lower back feels like it's been run over by a truck but I'm on the mend which is the main thing. I was more annoyed that my body couldn't wait until I had finished the stable before deciding to knock me out for the count

With Chilli - could he possibly go on loan to someone who wants to do dressage but at a lower level as well as hack? That way it would be the best of both worlds - I do love me a horse that is hot to ride - sadly however I do fear my Mother may go absolutely spare if I ask if there is space for a third horse....I'm tempted to try, but even with a kidney infection she'd still tell me exactly where to go probably....

Sammy looks gorgeous - love the shine on his coat <3 And you look fab - all my riding photos I look absolutely dreadful (they always catch me at the WORST time possible....)

 

[j1ffy]

I'm a lot better thank you @j1ffy - my lower back feels like it's been run over by a truck but I'm on the mend which is the main thing. I was more annoyed that my body couldn't wait until I had finished the stable before deciding to knock me out for the count

With Chilli - could he possibly go on loan to someone who wants to do dressage but at a lower level as well as hack? That way it would be the best of both worlds - I do love me a horse that is hot to ride - sadly however I do fear my Mother may go absolutely spare if I ask if there is space for a third horse....I'm tempted to try, but even with a kidney infection she'd still tell me exactly where to go probably....

Good to hear you're on the mend!

While Chilli can happily do all the lateral work, we never cracked the right canter transition and he became increasingly tense and nappy in the school. I don't think the tension / napping will be resolved easily and I doubt he'll ever do a good right canter transition (either due to actual discomfort or remembered pain / tension). Having persevered to get him calm in the arena and eventually finding the issue, I don't think it's fair to try dressage at any level. If there was a medium-level walk-trot test he'd boss it!

He is a fab hack (or was before the hock issues got worse, he developed a bit of a plant / nap at that point but I think it was due to pain - he seems better now so hopefully the hocks have fused, vet suggested starting him hacking and we'll x-ray in the next couple of weeks), generally bold and forward but with big paces and a lot of power! He could probably make a decent endurance horse...or even go hunting with someone a lot braver than me!

 

[Titchy Pony]

I suppose I had better update. We didn't do very well at the championships, but nothing to do with Enormosaurus. She was perhaps a little behind the leg, but nothing drastic, however I turned too tight into the double, causing her to run out. She very honestly jumped it when represented but we also clipped the last pole, leaving us with 8 faults. Old Goat however won the class with her rider and another rider from the riding school came second, so the riding school came home with a haul of medals again (there were several others in jumping and dressage).

The venue that runs the championships has been going down hill since it's been under new direction. The sand school for the show jumping wasn't finished in time for the competition, so they fenced it with crowd barriers, not a problem in itself apart from they were spaced so far apart that even Enormosaurus could have gone through them if it had taken her fancy. The warm up was wedge shaped, with the jumping towards the narrow end, leading to several near collisions after the jumps and people were falling off left, right and center. They also decided to put the dressage warm up outdoors and the actual test indoors, meaning you couldn't watch both dressage and show jumping easily (there is a hill between the two arenas, and you can just turn around to see one or the other normally). Oh and we picked up a whole load of rubbish (planks, nails, broken jumps) that had just been dumped in the parking area when we arrived...