showpony
Well-Known Member
Really happy with the way everything has panned out this week for me & my mare...
@ Start of week we went out XC for our first time ( brave pants firmly on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ) - Ive had her since she was a youngster but we had a major confidence blip last yr & only back jumping recently & there was no way up until lately my instructor thought we were ready to go XC... My mare can be eh flighty at times but not helped by numpty rider who tenses up which my mare takes total advantage of lol but we had a good xc schooling session at start of week which I hope is first of many... normally more experienced rider rides her first but we changed that this week so had to deal with freshness & numptiness for first while & sort brakes out ... however we did loads for first time out xc... navigating logs, water, banks , steps, brush fences & the dredded Coffin which has monsters lurking ....
Pics below - dont be harsh it was my first time riding her XC...
Roll on today & went out for some Stressage... same venue we had been out at couple weeks ago.. unfortunatly my instructor is totally booked up on a sat so isn't able to make it out with us to any stressage to date however we have been working hard at home.... biggest issue is suppleness and accepting the contact... working on rear wheel drive & the rest will follow.... Was totally chuffed in I mean Mahoosive warm up - 45 mins of flexing etc and she was really soft in my hands... THIS was a breakthrough & first time I really got that self carriage feeling out & about ... whilst trying to keep out of an international event riders way lol
Onto test & probably the straightest we have been down the centre line ( we looked drunk in previous centre lin ! ) .... unfortunatly on turning up longside my mare spotted herself in the mirrors ( she has never seen them before ) & the song " dont you wish your girlfriend was hot like me " comes to mind - she kept admiring herself up the long side in that direction... we had suppleness in the walk & for some of trot but rome wasnt built in a day.... she was responsive & forward going & we actually got in main comments horse seems very willing,,,, which is a total shock!!! loads to improve on but managed to bag a 3rd place rosette with some very positive comments from the judge & we managed to beat past score by 2.5%... not massive but a tiny bit of progress...
No pics from test as no one there to take them... but token picture when we got back...
Loving how we are progressing... its small progress but but compared to this time last year I insisted on being lead in hand into a dressage arena... we are getting there - stupid to be excited by improvement of 2.5% but to me it is progress
@ Start of week we went out XC for our first time ( brave pants firmly on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ) - Ive had her since she was a youngster but we had a major confidence blip last yr & only back jumping recently & there was no way up until lately my instructor thought we were ready to go XC... My mare can be eh flighty at times but not helped by numpty rider who tenses up which my mare takes total advantage of lol but we had a good xc schooling session at start of week which I hope is first of many... normally more experienced rider rides her first but we changed that this week so had to deal with freshness & numptiness for first while & sort brakes out ... however we did loads for first time out xc... navigating logs, water, banks , steps, brush fences & the dredded Coffin which has monsters lurking ....
Pics below - dont be harsh it was my first time riding her XC...
Roll on today & went out for some Stressage... same venue we had been out at couple weeks ago.. unfortunatly my instructor is totally booked up on a sat so isn't able to make it out with us to any stressage to date however we have been working hard at home.... biggest issue is suppleness and accepting the contact... working on rear wheel drive & the rest will follow.... Was totally chuffed in I mean Mahoosive warm up - 45 mins of flexing etc and she was really soft in my hands... THIS was a breakthrough & first time I really got that self carriage feeling out & about ... whilst trying to keep out of an international event riders way lol
Onto test & probably the straightest we have been down the centre line ( we looked drunk in previous centre lin ! ) .... unfortunatly on turning up longside my mare spotted herself in the mirrors ( she has never seen them before ) & the song " dont you wish your girlfriend was hot like me " comes to mind - she kept admiring herself up the long side in that direction... we had suppleness in the walk & for some of trot but rome wasnt built in a day.... she was responsive & forward going & we actually got in main comments horse seems very willing,,,, which is a total shock!!! loads to improve on but managed to bag a 3rd place rosette with some very positive comments from the judge & we managed to beat past score by 2.5%... not massive but a tiny bit of progress...
No pics from test as no one there to take them... but token picture when we got back...
Loving how we are progressing... its small progress but but compared to this time last year I insisted on being lead in hand into a dressage arena... we are getting there - stupid to be excited by improvement of 2.5% but to me it is progress
