Weekend plans for 17th/18th Aug!!

The Connie and I survived the M&M class at our local show and came home with a third place. I watched a few classes as it was my first attempt at showing while he is an old pro having been shown as a colt and then in hand and ridden up to the age of 5. I was quite surprised as he was a complete pain, calling and trying to take chunks out of me at every opportunity and at one point he tried to lift me off my feet by my lapel while I was trying very discreetly to extricate my jacket from his mouth. It was fun but I'm not sure I would do in hand with him again as he didn't seem to enjoy it much.
 
Aw bless, he sounds like he found it quite stressful - the only way to get over that is to do more! You might find him better ridden but you might find he has other ways to show you he's stressed!

Keep going, he will get better.

Well done on the placing
 
Wheels said:
Aw bless, he sounds like he found it quite stressful - the only way to get over that is to do more! You might find him better ridden but you might find he has other ways to show you he's stressed!

Keep going, he will get better.

Well done on the placing
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Thank you, I will have a go at the ridden next year.
 
I made it to training and back with my OH without any sort of major domestic today which is an achievement in itself!

Training was eye opening to say the least. I have been making this up as I go along and it all seemed ok, quite hard but ok. I've had one lesson to practice a cones course and thats it, so I'm not quite sure where I got the idea it was all ok from!

Apparently charging about and spinning the pony round when I hit the turn is not how this is done! I stare at Bobbie the whole time, I dont look at the course, I dont plan my path, and I dont make use of the outside space. Once it was explained to me it all got much smoother and easier!

There was one hairy moment where I stupidly parked her at the side of the finishing flags and as a big pair of horses came towards her flat out she panicked, spun and shot off and for a second I thought we were going to have a run away situation. Shes a such a good girl. She was genuinely frightened and still came back to me thankfully.

Otherwise it was such a good day. We borrowed a carriage and its heavier than her normal one and a lot of it was uphill on soft ground so she worked really hard for me. Shes definitely getting quite buzzy and forward now she understands the job a bit more. She was making the open pony times today without any real effort, which seems crazy to me as I have been convinced since day one that she just wouldnt make the time with her stumpy little legs. They all think she will easily do open pony eventually, providing I can get my act together. We shall see. Life always likes to throw spanners in the works for me so we shall continue doing what we can and I'll see how it goes. Back next week for a one day event, and to hopefully put it all into practice!
 
JFTD-WS said:
32k is only about 20 miles after all. Unless you're belting round, you shouldn't have any issues - have fun!
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I'm not sure how long it will take, but there isn't any roadwork, so maybe 4 hours?

Well done Reacher , that pic is super...

Well done EKW, some silverware to polish 😊😊

You've been busy this weekend wheels, who's the new trainer?

I'm glad Millie is being a good pony sitter MP :)

Fiona
 
Fiona said:
I'm not sure how long it will take, but there isn't any roadwork, so maybe 4 hours?
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I did a 20 mile ride in about 4 hours, almost entirely in walk the other week, so I'd say that is reasonable, on the conservative side! (and it was not my choice to walk eternally, it was bloody dull!)
 
RC camp was splendiferous ❤❤

On Friday evening I had an SJ lesson on grass, which Fionn and I have done very little of, so we jumped the course first time quite small, then up a good bit the second time including a water tray...

Saturday was busy, with a flat lesson in the morning, then an unmounted fun obstacle course and lunch, then a derby course with a 4ft wide corner, and a dressage test.

We jumped first, just rolling one coloured pole, which was good enough for 3rd, then a reasonable prelim 12, even though he tired by the last canter for his first dressage rosette ever, a 5th.

This morning we went xc schooling and had a brilliant time. Fionn stopped at one jump, and a water tray, the other dozens we jumped he towed me into them :)

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Lastly, we had an amazing afternoon tea, with a sports psychology talk before we headed for home to put a tired little pony to bed.

I had to hack out with F on his pony though before I got to sit down lol...

Fiona
 
Afraid my pics are a bit boring, there wasn't a photographer at this fun ride so we had to make do with my OH at the start and end of the ride! OH was an absolute star, he has never towed a horse before and drove like he'd been doing it for years, even with me panicking at every tiny thing and being an annoying back seat driver. And he waited patiently while we took forever to get round the course, and didn't complain once (that I could hear anyway haha). LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

Shortly after the first bit of road work was a field with several jumps, a nice inviting cross pole and then some uprights and gates, all rustic. Bruce ran out at the bloody cross pole (!) realised he was getting left behind and started titting about, was trying to approach everything flat out, getting too close and having to cat-leap over - he nearly jumped me clean off him at one point, and the whole experience had my confidence in tatters. We got to the next jump field and I only managed two, he got his tongue over the bit just as we were 2 strides from a jump, I felt out of control and as my confidence plummeted, so did his. So we went round the jumps for a while instead, as my friend jumped them; we had some lovely canters across open countryside with stunning views. My usually super-spooky horse was very brave, he led most of the way - going past fruit-pickers (you could only see their heads above the bushes which he found slightly disconcerting), flappy plastic, killer cows, poly-tunnels, ATVs towing crop sprayers... He was solid! Very proud of him.

There was then quite a bit of road work, which slowed us down as I don't trot Bruce on the road due to his arthritis. We eventually got to a track in between two hedges, trotted along down it and - there was a small log down across the path, we jumped it absolutely no problem. Then at the end of the track were two small logs which I popped him over... our confidence was slowly building... Then, in the last (huge) field, my friend (who used to be a riding instructor and taught PC) gave us a bit of a mini lesson, confidence soared and off we went, jumped them all (except a giant log and some picnic tables). We had an absolute blast!

Fabulous fun ride with lovely friendly organisers, really enjoyed it. It was great to get to ride with my friend (she lives in Wales and I'm Birmingham so we don't usually!) and we ended it on a really positive note :)

Roll on camp in 2 weeks... Hope to get my jumping confidence up some more between now and then!
 

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Glad everyone's having fun :)
I decided Saturday evening I was going to take Buzz to a local show on Sunday, but only for some SJ so I didn't have to clean him! I just wanted to get round the course with no napping, particularly as his best field mate was there too and in the same class so standing by the gate. He was brilliant! Did a lovely forward CLEAR - no stops, no poles and no napping!! Admittedly the jumps were not very big, it was a max 70 class, and about 2 jumps were 70 and one big solid wall that was about 75 - I didn't think he'd jump it as it was against the hedge line to the road and a spooky pile of jumps and wings were near it but he flew over :). It's done wonders for mine and his confidence and we even got placed 2nd! Well done Buzz Screenshot_20190819-074715_Instagram.jpg
 
Sounds like everyone has been having a great time!
Sadly the Ford thing was cancelled and so was Somerford I had a very lazy day with lunch at one of the local pubs!
 
Well our weekend didn't go according to plan sadly. We travelled up to Euston seemingly ok, and vetted without any problems in a hugely busy environment with a heart rate of 40! Lovely and calm although I had to open her mouth for the vet.
We went off with the mass start cantering out without a care, although she was far more on it than usual!! We cruised round and at one point she may have slipped slightly going round a corner but I didn't think much of it. We saw our crew a couple of times, and got back to the venue with no crew in sight as there were huge amounts of cars so he got held up.
Washed off and heart rate down I went to vet, we got held between heart rate which was 58, and trot up due to a problem with another horse, and she stiffened up and we were out.
I'm pretty gutted, but she seems ok this morning although now seems to have banged a front leg in the stables so I might be getting the that scanned as well as her back done before starting again.
It has been a really interesting weekend, and we learnt lots about her, not least that we may need to fiddle with where the trailer bar is as she leans on it really badly. I will say she isn't the best travelling although she is improving so more work to do.
Onwards and upwards, and depending on how she is in a week will tell us where we go next, or if she is finished for the season.
 
Had a fab lesson on my new girl this morning. Last week she was leaping everything like there were horse-eating monsters hiding underneath and I very nearly decked it on multiple occasions, hence keeping everything nice and small. I’m now thinking that we can put that down to her saddle not being quite right as she was much better today having had it fitted properly.

Not the prettiest of rounds but I’m still trying to find the buttons and get a feel for our jumping canter. She’s a wee star for sorting us out when I get it wrong 😅

 
Any constructive criticism on my dressage test or jumping round from the weekend??

OH was nagging me to jump with my reins shorter, rather than into my tummy, so I'm hoping that I'm improving in this, he thought it was better than previous.

Fionn is slowly but surely making a split in his nathe loose ring snaffle, so any tips for an alternative for a very fussy mouthed pony??

I'm considering Beris and Trust Inno sense... but they come in ported too so I don'y know are these dressage legal??

Fiona
 
If the nathe is the best thing for him then I'd buy another. I tend to see them as consumables (lol) because they do get chewed up quite easily.

Re CC, I think it was a very sweet test, he looks confident in his work :) when he gets inconsistent in the contact i would just take extra care not to let your hands get any higher - occasionally they start to creep upwards when he is bobbing about and that will change the way the bit acts in his mouth potentially adding to his inconsistency. If you can keep your hands lower like they are in the canter and then make sure he stays in front of your leg I think you will find it easier to keep him out to the contact. It looks like it's when he gets a bit behind your leg that you start to lose the connection. He's such a cutie!
 
milliepops said:
If the nathe is the best thing for him then I'd buy another. I tend to see them as consumables (lol) because they do get chewed up quite easily.

Re CC, I think it was a very sweet test, he looks confident in his work :) when he gets inconsistent in the contact i would just take extra care not to let your hands get any higher - occasionally they start to creep upwards when he is bobbing about and that will change the way the bit acts in his mouth potentially adding to his inconsistency. If you can keep your hands lower like they are in the canter and then make sure he stays in front of your leg I think you will find it easier to keep him out to the contact. It looks like it's when he gets a bit behind your leg that you start to lose the connection. He's such a cutie!
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MP you're brilliant at summing up, he was getting tired by the end, and the connection started to go.....

Will rewatch test, and have a serious look at hands, thanks for the tip.

He's badly marked this nathe in 2-3 months :( :(

Fiona
 
Bummer. Can you use a bit of latex bandage to cover the chomped bits or would that make it too thick for him?

Don't get fixated on your hands, they aren't bad :) it's just now and then I thought that if you could keep your elbows a bit more elastic so that they stayed a bit closer to his neck then it wouldn't have the effect of moving the bit in the corners of his mouth if that makes sense? I think the infrontofthelegness bit is probably more important because that would stop him disconnecting in the first place.
Hard when they get tired, so just something to bear in mind for your general training really :)
 
Re. The bit Fiona - does it have to be a plastic type? I would have thought a nathe might be too thick for a small connie mouth. Is it a straight bar? He might be more comfortable with a jointed bit with a curve to the mouthpiece and a slightly thinner mouthpiece

When I got M he wouldn't accept the contact and as soon as I picked up the reins he dropped me and went behind the bit and was fussy in the mouth. It took me quite a few months to stop these habits. I put him in a full cheek with a curved mouthpiece (jp korsteel) which gave him a lot of confidence. I recently switched to the same mouthpiece in loose ring version as the previous issue was resolved. Might be worth trying a couple of different options
 
@Fiona camp looked fab, I believe everyone had great fun!

I did the 32k ride a few years ago, took us about 4 hours but we spent quite a lot of extra time on the beach in and out of the water and zooming about.
My mare was super fit (always!) but we had a couple of ponies with us who weren't particularly, and they were fine because we took it easy. Its very flat being beside the sea. I basically jogged for 17 of the 20 miles as Bella didn't appreciate being overtaken by the endurance people who were doing the actual long distance ride so I had sore knees by the end but it was a nice day.
 
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