Weekend plans, 2nd weekend in January

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Apart from unsuitable weather?❄?, covid shut downs etc, anyone got any plans?
(Can we live vicariously on reports from those overseas? Please? )

I shall be hacking most days unless weather (ice or fog) prevents. Currently working on straightness.
Should have been having my 1st lesson of the year on Saturday, but as I was going to box there, its cancelled.

Anyone doing anything? ?

 

[milliepops]

just work work and more work can't actually remember the last time I rode now! if it's not icy I will take Kira for walkies. otherwise.... hacking frozen droppings from the frozen ground!

 

[Michen]

Boggle is getting shod Saturday morning for the first time in a year! I have to say I’m looking forward to getting rid of hoof boots.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

just work work and more work can't actually remember the last time I rode now! if it's not icy I will take Kira for walkies. otherwise.... hacking frozen droppings from the frozen ground!

The *like* is for hoping that you get to go walkies x

 

[Reacher]

Probably nothing.... off-road tracks have been icy for couple of weeks so no hacking. No school or suitable field to ride in. No lessons. In theory I could ride to beach however I would not survive the experience (Mr H would burst with the unaccustomed excitement).

 

[Roxylola]

Nothing ?. Car is in the garage for being a non starter so I'll be cycling to the yard i expect.
Arena will be frozen or waterlogged. Saturday is to be epically cold so likely we won't even hack. Sunday has forecast rain so I might get a wet hack in

 

[Northern]

Apart from unsuitable weather?❄?, covid shut downs etc, anyone got any plans?
(Can we live vicariously on reports from those overseas? Please? )

I shall be hacking most days unless weather (ice or fog) prevents. Currently working on straightness.
Should have been having my 1st lesson of the year on Saturday, but as I was going to box there, its cancelled.

Anyone doing anything? ?

Ha! Not much exciting happening Downunder, lockdowns and border closures and lots of confusion and rushing home is happening here as well. No one bloody knows what's happening, with our country wide grand total of under 10 cases a day...

In better news, Miss Pony looks sound again after her splint fiasco and so she will come out with me tomorrow for a gentle ride to test said soundness. Hopefully she's good to go, she's looking rather rotund now she is out in the field a few hours a day!

I have been riding a friends horse (Australian Stock Horse) as well for her while she is away, after some epic arguments about bit contact over the last few weeks (including regularly attempting backward and almost up movements), we have come to a reluctant understanding that one can ride forward into the bridle and even bend without being a pillock. He's certainly a bit of a puzzle at the moment, certainly some physical issues to be addressed (very stiff laterally) and saddle as well. However he is generally a bit piggy so a lot of what he does are learned evasion tactics as well. Hopefully we can sort him out, his muscle tone (poor topline and underneck) and way of going are not great at the moment, sorting these issues out will help him in the long term physically.

Sending iceless thoughts for your weekends though

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

All lessons on yard cancelled which is a shame as Mum had one this weekend and I had my final pole clinic booked before I hang up my riding boots till baby arrives ?

Instead I am giving mum a lesson instead. I started teaching Rosie rein back last week in my lesson and haven’t had a chance to work on it what with morning sickness so might assist mum from the ground and see if we can cement it a bit more.

I’ve also been weirdly eyeing up one of those bareback pads which is ridiculous because I’m barely riding in a saddle so why on Earth would I ride bareback in freezing temps and 3 months pregnant. So I’m sitting on my hands but as I’m not spending money on lessons...

 

[Kat]

If I'm lucky a bit of hacking, otherwise I might have to join the husband for a local area walk or bake a cake.

I suspect that it will be too icy to get off the yard or to use the outdoor school. Plus L isn't quite right. I think it is just a touch of thrush making her sore, so I thought a hack in hoof boots and pads might be ok but I can't do that if it is icy.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

DP has been off the road for a month with back and saddle issues. All now resolved so weather permitting I am hoping to go for a gentle hack this weekend to get him and me back into our winter routine.

 

[oldie48]

It's been great having a lovely indoor arena but I think Rose would love to get out for a hack but it's still so icy on the lanes. I'm feeling so much better of late but am resisting getting back on board until Rose is having more turnout and variety. Actually, I think I just need it to be warmer as my old bones are just locked up ATM although I did my first Zoom pilates class today so hopefully I'll start to unlock a bit. S and Rose have a lesson with Peter tomorrow morning. I'm hoping they'll do some more half steps. I don't know why but I do find it quite exciting and S has been doing a bit with Rose since the last lesson. TBH I'm just hoping we don't have any snow as the lanes round here are still pretty icy and even walking the dog feels a bit dangerous!

 

[racebuddy]

Been awful wheather this week managed to get something done every day with him so he can have few days off , worked last weekend and right through this week with 4.30 am starts xxx still frozen arena so chill weekemd in the field for pony i am going do early am yard 6ish and then come home and have a pj day back in bed until finish off , very lazy i know and something i never ever do xx worked every single lockdown no shows no
Pony parties to
Go to xx why not
Xxx

 

[iknowmyvalue]

I’m hoping to hack if it’s not too icy/awful weather. Have yet to manage to ride this week. Was meant to be having a jumping lesson tonight but got stuck doing a sheep Caesarian (miles away from the yard) until 6:15pm (I supposedly finish work by 5:30pm and lesson was at 6:30pm). Bit of a bummer, but needs must I suppose...

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

A hack tomorrow, although I'm not sure what the roads near the yard will be like and whether it will be possible to head out. Maybe in the school on Sunday, falling off has got me in a bit of a habit of being nervous and I'd quite like to work through it a bit more but the cold weather really isn't helping the motivation for this!

 

[Accidental Eventer]

It's too hot here for very much! Hopefully I'll get at least one ride in, 41c today, 38c tomorrow but 30c on Sunday seems promising. Hopefully one day it will got a bit cooler for a few days running and I can book a lesson in!

 

[Chippers1]

Nothing for me! We've been told we can only go on to the actual yard 3 times a week (to keep social distancing etc, it's not a big yard) for tacking up and using the school and my slots are all during the week. We are allowed to tack up straight from the field like we were doing in summer but i don't like doing this at the winter fields as they lead onto a road instead of a private track.
I don't mind too much as it's winter and obviously no competitions or anything to get fit for but it makes for a boring weekend!
Counting down the days until lockdown is done...

 

[Ambers Echo]

We are so lucky having an indoor and an onsite trainer!! Focusing on flatwork at the moment and me and Katie both have lessons on Sunday. Plus spending a lot of time poring over the eventing fixtures, planning her season and dreaming of sunny summer days out competing.

 

[KEK]

As AE said, we have the opposite extreme in weather in Perth. But have lesson booked with new horse at neighbours Sun night (hopefully jumping for the 1st time in about 18m) and friend and I are taking Connie and new boy on a hack at the state equestrian grounds on monday. Working today and tomorrow. Anxiously watching border closures as my new puppy is supposed to be coming from a state that has just closed for 3 days and she comes in 4... :/

 

[Roxylola]

We are so lucky having an indoor and an onsite trainer!! Focusing on flatwork at the moment and me and Katie both have lessons on Sunday. Plus spending a lot of time poring over the eventing fixtures, planning her season and dreaming of sunny summer days out competing.

I'd started looking at fixtures with a view to getting a few 80 runs early and maybe moving up to 90s but the early ones have been cancelling so I'm just going to wait it out for now. Part of that was the theory that we'd be using the gallops at kelsall and maybe a farm ride monthly to get him really galloping fit and thats all off again so we might scale back and start in summer rather than spring.

 

[Ambers Echo]

I'd started looking at fixtures with a view to getting a few 80 runs early and maybe moving up to 90s but the early ones have been cancelling so I'm just going to wait it out for now. Part of that was the theory that we'd be using the gallops at kelsall and maybe a farm ride monthly to get him really galloping fit and thats all off again so we might scale back and start in summer rather than spring.

Yes it's hard to know when to hope for. Toby will wait till later in the year as I need t get him out XC schooling a few times first. Dolly is ready to go though so we will get her out as soon as we can.

 

[racebuddy]

happy friday everyone , finally managed to get mine lunged this am as outdoor defrosted thankfully will attach videos later , very hard to know what do in terms of planning and he season , i should have been away in wales competing but i very much doubt this will happen now , hopefully it will but he needs to have fitenning work at least from april to may and again they hardly jumped again with lockdown . looking forward to finishing jobs after work and home for 6pm with a gin after 6 days of 4.30 am starts and a weekend of working last week . xx

 

[FourLeafClover]

I have a lesson tonight, first for about 3 weeks as poor trainer has been poorly on and off. I'm sure we will have gone backwards and she will think we are a pair of eejits.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Hacking report...... in lieu of any comp or training outings.... ?

Brr, chilly start as ice on car, car then reading -1 on the way to yard. Water tanks with ice on, tho yard tap working (hurrah!)
Chores done, I quickly tacked up, donned my usual bright orange hi vis gear, winter gloves, hat etc, glancing down at my very disreputable thermal baggy breeches finished off with very elderly Grasmeres. No clashing today tho as put on orange saddle pad.... *thinks to self, will posh orange saddle pad cancel out grubby baggy breeches *

Potter down yard to my fixed mounting block and lever myself on, B stands still for me to get on and get both feet in plus check girth. So much better than the 2 seconds I used to have before she went crabbing off.

Ooh the choices, do I turn left or right out of the yard gate on the un made lane? B Fuzzy decides we need to go right, so off we trundle. 100 yards and we can then turn left on a decent common track, but B decided we carry on up lane and merrily strides out. A bit further ahead, we pass a couple of houses, round a corner, then she wants to take a fork off to the left. Aha! Now I understand, she thinks we should be riding with C – our sometimes hacking chum - on her orange horse. Deflecting B from going up that long drive, I push on into trot along the lane, with B stomping her feet down in annoyance of having her plan thwarted.

We slow down to wave at the roofers on scaffolding on our left, then promptly sidestepped towards them as a fat pigeon flew off the fencing to our right, going almost up Bs nose!
Onwards...... settled into a good steady trot, past a couple more houses on the right , past the bridleway turn on our left, then on and past the dairy farm who were just finishing milking.
I’m v glad that our unmade lanes are pretty good for traction much of the time. We both decide to turn onto the common at the same time, so making a nice bend to the right we carried on trotting.
Ooh, sand track seems free of dog walkers, so I relax a millimetre on the reins and badoom, we are into a nice balanced canter, yay! 10 strides later, B slows to try and trot, I try to push on the canter, B wins. Aha! She had seen a dog walker to the right that I’d missed, good B! Exchanging morning greetings we passed safely and then resumed canter to the end of the track.

A couple more longish trots, another short canter and we hit the woods. We’ve had some good games there in recent days as a few fallen trees down (yes, I check both sides before popping them). Today we found another tree to add to our list, yippee! Carefully getting a balanced canter on the right lead as I requested, we pop the huge monstrous 65cm trunk and continue through the woods to the next 4 fallen trees and branches. Nothing is huge but I find they are so good for schooling an over keen Fuzzy as I will do lots of turns, up the pace but also decrease the pace on landing too. She is never sure if we are to bowl on, turn, or even halt. Approaching at a walk with maybe 2 or 3 strides of trot is also added in. Makes for an animal who needs to listen to rider very responsive.

Coming out of the woods to a wide common track we come back to a walk, march through the car park and then stroll the last half mile back. Quick brush off, outdoor anorak popped on B and off she goes into the fields.
No cold toes for me, hurrah! Only out for 50mins but well over 60% of that was trot (or a bit of canter), picking our way on the most suitable tracks.
Am very fortunate to have my little bit of hacking, especially at present- even if it does fill rapidly with runners, walkers, cyclists and dogs!
Back into car to come home and the temp is reading a steady zero degrees all the way home.

 

[racebuddy]

Our early am lunge

 

[monte1]

we are still fortunate enough to be able to attend yard as usual during latest lockdown and have been riding around 330 pm when the ground tends to have defrosted a bit, thankfully. also, just before Christmas we finally managed to get a "new" to us - dressage saddle which fits my boy perfectly and works for me --yaay - it has been such a struggle to find something that my stupidly long hip to knee length fits into and that suits him as well-. so i am enjoying lots short schooling sessions at the moment just before night falls and it is pitch black out.

no massive weekend plans, more hacking probably as not much else we can do at the moment - plus I get to see my foal in the daylight for a change, so can get his rug off for a nice brush and cuddles. he turned 8 months old today

stay safe everyone, roll on spring ...............

 

[Laafet]

I am hoping to have a lesson but that's a bit up in the air - otherwise Stormy will have a lunge session on Saturday and hacking on Sunday. I've only had her two weeks. She's settled in nicely, very keen on her work and I have exposed her to most new things. We have not hacked out on our own yet but that is mostly due to the weather, she's led on her first two accompanied hacks so I think she will be fine.
Reschooling an ex-racer is proving very rewarding, as she is young she is not too institutionalised and already happy to do baby leg yields and piris.

 

[oldie48]

Really good lesson with Peter this morning although it was very cold. Rose benefits from a longish warm up but she'd been on the walker and then out in the sand school so she'd been able to loosen up a bit and I think both horse and rider were glad to get going. Peter used the lunge whip to encourage half steps but unlike last week, Rose knew what was coming and had an immediate hissy fit but fortunately didn't score a direct hit, thank goodness. Once she'd decided that it was more effort to throw herself around she knuckled down and started to work nicely. There's definitely a passage/piaffe in there and it really does improve the trot work. They went on to using the tip of dressage whip lightly touching the top of the HQs to encourage lift and collection with transitions into a bigger trot and back again. Next week they are going to continue building on this and start changes. Rose has a very good expressive change when it's her idea (to avoid CC) but tends to be more explosive and unbalanced when it's a request. So no doubt there will be fun to be had (for an observer!)

 

[Bernster]

Had my lesson for this week on Wed and had a lovely session with finnegan. I feel like I’ve got my horse back, after an unsettled year last year, and it’s lovely.

And as you never really finish learning to ride, I’m now back to proper basics and working on my rising trot. I thought I was ok but apparently trainer has been waiting for other bits to fall into place, and my core strength to improve, before letting me know I’ve been doing it wrong! Argghghgh. Or more accurately, that it can be improved. It was flipping hard work and it was actually easier to do sitting trot. That’s a massive change as last year I couldn’t do a decent sitting trot for very long.

Am lucky as weather has been ok. Cold but no snow. And am able to use the yard as normal. It’s the only time I leave the house so it’s keeping me sane and saving me from being a complete lazy butt.

Oh, and in other news, I discovered Bridgerton on Netflix! ?

 

[SaddlePsych'D]

Hacking report...... in lieu of any comp or training outings.... ?

Brr, chilly start as ice on car, car then reading -1 on the way to yard. Water tanks with ice on, tho yard tap working (hurrah!)
Chores done, I quickly tacked up, donned my usual bright orange hi vis gear, winter gloves, hat etc, glancing down at my very disreputable thermal baggy breeches finished off with very elderly Grasmeres. No clashing today tho as put on orange saddle pad.... *thinks to self, will posh orange saddle pad cancel out grubby baggy breeches *

Potter down yard to my fixed mounting block and lever myself on, B stands still for me to get on and get both feet in plus check girth. So much better than the 2 seconds I used to have before she went crabbing off.

Ooh the choices, do I turn left or right out of the yard gate on the un made lane? B Fuzzy decides we need to go right, so off we trundle. 100 yards and we can then turn left on a decent common track, but B decided we carry on up lane and merrily strides out. A bit further ahead, we pass a couple of houses, round a corner, then she wants to take a fork off to the left. Aha! Now I understand, she thinks we should be riding with C – our sometimes hacking chum - on her orange horse. Deflecting B from going up that long drive, I push on into trot along the lane, with B stomping her feet down in annoyance of having her plan thwarted.

We slow down to wave at the roofers on scaffolding on our left, then promptly sidestepped towards them as a fat pigeon flew off the fencing to our right, going almost up Bs nose!
Onwards...... settled into a good steady trot, past a couple more houses on the right , past the bridleway turn on our left, then on and past the dairy farm who were just finishing milking.
I’m v glad that our unmade lanes are pretty good for traction much of the time. We both decide to turn onto the common at the same time, so making a nice bend to the right we carried on trotting.
Ooh, sand track seems free of dog walkers, so I relax a millimetre on the reins and badoom, we are into a nice balanced canter, yay! 10 strides later, B slows to try and trot, I try to push on the canter, B wins. Aha! She had seen a dog walker to the right that I’d missed, good B! Exchanging morning greetings we passed safely and then resumed canter to the end of the track.

A couple more longish trots, another short canter and we hit the woods. We’ve had some good games there in recent days as a few fallen trees down (yes, I check both sides before popping them). Today we found another tree to add to our list, yippee! Carefully getting a balanced canter on the right lead as I requested, we pop the huge monstrous 65cm trunk and continue through the woods to the next 4 fallen trees and branches. Nothing is huge but I find they are so good for schooling an over keen Fuzzy as I will do lots of turns, up the pace but also decrease the pace on landing too. She is never sure if we are to bowl on, turn, or even halt. Approaching at a walk with maybe 2 or 3 strides of trot is also added in. Makes for an animal who needs to listen to rider very responsive.

Coming out of the woods to a wide common track we come back to a walk, march through the car park and then stroll the last half mile back. Quick brush off, outdoor anorak popped on B and off she goes into the fields.
No cold toes for me, hurrah! Only out for 50mins but well over 60% of that was trot (or a bit of canter), picking our way on the most suitable tracks.
Am very fortunate to have my little bit of hacking, especially at present- even if it does fill rapidly with runners, walkers, cyclists and dogs!
Back into car to come home and the temp is reading a steady zero degrees all the way home.

What a lovely report, sounds like a great ride out.

I did get to go on a hack today with share horse today, which turned out to really turn around my low mood. He was good as gold and now I've cracked handling him on the ground its an all round more positive experience. I also went and got me some pony smooches from the dinky ones while I was poo picking - warmed my soul, if not my toes!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

What a lovely report, sounds like a great ride out.

I did get to go on a hack today with share horse today, which turned out to really turn around my low mood. He was good as gold and now I've cracked handling him on the ground its an all round more positive experience. I also went and got me some pony smooches from the dinky ones while I was poo picking - warmed my soul, if not my toes!

Thank you, just a usual pootle that we do most days ?

V pleased for you that your share fuzzy efforts are much improved xx