Weekend plans!

Is the veto'ing due to no arena or is he worried about not enough space?

Super hard one, not sure I could be faffed with needing to box up to school (I'm lazy I just would do something else :P).
 
milliepops said:
Kira veers between grudging work and point blank refusal to move, with the odd dose of abject terror that takes weeks to resolve when it strikes. Tbh I'd rather not rag her legs round on a surface to not achieve anything really.
Darcy is easier because he is just a spooky wally rather than properly frightened. But he's very much a space-filler really, its kira that I want to train at this point. She's 15 this year... time is against us ?

I know it seems crazy, I really do. I feel that after 18 months I've had a bloody good stab at teaching her to cope with it. I can't keep her in a paddock close to a hedge because she just stresses herself into oblivion so I suppose I should have seen this coming but it was complete desperation that made me move there. I hate yards ?
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Not crazy at all - you really care for your horses and are listening to their needs. Sounds like you are between a rock and a hard place, and that the current school situation is doing neither of you any good. You and Kira have achieved so much that it totally makes sense to look for an arrangement that works for you both. Horses see/feel things that we no longer can, sometimes we can train them to accept a situation, other times the pragmatic approach is to find a way round the issue. Set you both up for success. Good luck with finding a solution - selfishly I love following your journey with Kira - it's inspiring - so I'd love to see you both back with full MoJo.
 
What do you currently do in winter MP? I'd be stuffed with nowhere to ride in winter cos I'm stuck working til long after dark. And finding time to do jobs, box off to ride etc would be totally unworkable.
That said, another option if you can find it cheap enough would be to livery somewhere without facilities, and spend winter doing hires - if that goes well, youd have a better argument for bringing them home
 
Pony had his jabs this morning, so we were riding at 7am - had planned on doing flatwork but it wasn't happening so played around with some jumps. Tomorrow I have a dressage lesson on one of the school horses as they are all coming back into full work now, so I am looking forward to that. Will be a shock going from my 13.1hh little cob to a leggy 16.2hh ISH! But I have missed my lessons so much, I like to ride a different horse every so often as it helps me with my confidence (I struggled for years), and keeps me in check as it's so easy to get into bad habits with my own one. I will take pony for a quiet hack tomorrow afternoon, then on Sunday we are playing around with a little socially distant clear round afternoon at the yard - will be our first course since last August (so much has happened between then and now :oops:) so jumps will be tiny, but hopefully I will enjoy it and won't turn into a ball of nerves!
 
milliepops said:
yeah this weekend I'm going to be driving around putting letters through doors of all the yards with arenas that I can see on google earth.:rolleyes: OH is vetoing bringing them home. I've had them home with no arena on site, I know what it's like but this time i have a lorry so that makes life a lot easier. Discussions will be on-going!
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I was going to suggest doing this. As much as a long shot as it may be, you may just appeal to someone who has the facilities and wants a low fuss livery. Good luck!
 
ihatework said:
Tricky conundrum MP. What are the reasons for the veto?

Might it be worth putting adverts out to see if there is a little private yard tucked away somewhere that might be rented?
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he says it's not a good idea to move them somewhere without a school. but he doesn't see that just because we have a school on site it is pretty much useless.
yeah as soon as I finish work today I'm going to start writing some ads and flyers and see if I can get something to come out of the woodwork.
Roxylola said:
What do you currently do in winter MP? I'd be stuffed with nowhere to ride in winter cos I'm stuck working til long after dark. And finding time to do jobs, box off to ride etc would be totally unworkable.
That said, another option if you can find it cheap enough would be to livery somewhere without facilities, and spend winter doing hires - if that goes well, youd have a better argument for bringing them home
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I'm fortunate that my job is super flexible on the hours and I also work from home. so I start super early and I usually knock off at 3pm to get some daylight but I could also take a long lunch and finish in the evening. livery somewhere without facilities would be a possibility but would eat into my hire budget significantly so a bit of a no win situation. before covid I was already boxing off a couple of times a week anyway, this level of faff is becoming normal.
 
milliepops said:
livery somewhere without facilities would be a possibility but would eat into my hire budget significantly so a bit of a no win situation. before covid I was already boxing off a couple of times a week anyway, this level of faff is becoming normal.
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But somewhere without facilities may be much cheaper than where you are now when you are paying for facilities and not using them - that was my logic
 
Plans of schooling this morning and hacking tomorrow scrapped, as Charlie managed to cut his leg yesterday! Just above bulb of heel on the back of his pastern, with a section deep enough for me to call the vet to check and for antibiotics etc. Very pleased to report he has not damaged any internal structures (vet had concerns re tendon sheath) and was walking out sound on it this morning. So just a minor set back, will hopefully be back on him next weekend.
 
milliepops said:
yeah this weekend I'm going to be driving around putting letters through doors of all the yards with arenas that I can see on google earth.:rolleyes: OH is vetoing bringing them home. I've had them home with no arena on site, I know what it's like but this time i have a lorry so that makes life a lot easier. Discussions will be on-going!
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So frustrating isn't it? Round here every 3rd person seems to have an arena (though most I know of are horrible in one way or another - usually due to not being used or looked after) but it would be hard to find a decent livery yard with an arena. I have tried a number of my neighbour's arenas (they are kindly) and nothing about their set up makes me want one!! However, some of the yards I have visited (in the distant past when we were allowed out lol) have a great setup but it's hard to know how the horses might respond to that particular environment. :( One of my friends has managed to rent a little yard with school and has another livery with her - it is fantastic for them and something like that might work if you could find it. Good luck hunting :) Something will turn up or you will find another solution :)
 
milliepops said:
he says it's not a good idea to move them somewhere without a school. but he doesn't see that just because we have a school on site it is pretty much useless.
yeah as soon as I finish work today I'm going to start writing some ads and flyers and see if I can get something to come out of the woodwork.
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Not having a decent school is a PITA - ours is like sand dunes right now and you really can't do any more than walk in it. The suspensory niggle the Appy has is from having a meltdown on a deep surface 2 years ago. We also have the footpath / hedge issue which luckily she's not too bad with (so long as dogs are on a lead...) - but one of the other liveries hasn't been in the school in years because her horse gets in such a tizz.

I was planning to take tiny toes the micro cob out for a hack but I rode her in her new girth this morning. It didn't stop the saddle coming forward and also seems to have rubbed her a bit. She was getting a bit tetchy and I thought we were having young horse tantrums, so feeling like a very bad pony mum now. Extra carrots for tea.
 
milliepops said:
he says it's not a good idea to move them somewhere without a school. but he doesn't see that just because we have a school on site it is pretty much useless.
yeah as soon as I finish work today I'm going to start writing some ads and flyers and see if I can get something to come out of the woodwork.


I'm fortunate that my job is super flexible on the hours and I also work from home. so I start super early and I usually knock off at 3pm to get some daylight but I could also take a long lunch and finish in the evening. livery somewhere without facilities would be a possibility but would eat into my hire budget significantly so a bit of a no win situation. before covid I was already boxing off a couple of times a week anyway, this level of faff is becoming normal.
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This is such a pain for you MP.

Can you not put an arena in at home? I know it's not cheap but your OH sounds like hes quite handy so could do some of the work plus think of the saved livery and arena hire costs
 
Wheels said:
This is such a pain for you MP.

Can you not put an arena in at home? I know it's not cheap but your OH sounds like hes quite handy so could do some of the work plus think of the saved livery and arena hire costs
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yeah the issue is planning. we are hoping to get planning for a house (and stables, and school eventually) but we are literally just on the wrong side of the edge of the development area (as in, over the road from it). I have just got a new lead for someone who is an expert in getting equestrian planning through so that's monday's job.
 
you go for it girl! but I would do stables and arena first as that's more urgent lol

my OH had to take the lead when we bought our house and did our subsequent refurbishment because he realised I would live quite happily in a run down shack as long as there was room for the horses. They would have a solarium and swimming pool and we would still be living in a shithole

yep, probably correct
 
MP, that all sounds very frustrating. Maybe keep chipping away at your OH over the weekend too! I did the 'letters through doors' / 'knock on strangers' doors and beg' approach when looking for a new yard and sadly it didn't work out for me, however I know two people who ended up in great situations through that approach so it's definitely worth a try!

Danny is feeling a bit less lumbering so we'll go in the arena tomorrow and hack Sunday. He's now in the bay boys' fat club alongside Pocholo (my PRE) and a NF pony - who'd have thought that a 16.3hh warmblood could live on fresh air?! He's not happy about it but it's less than a week and the girth has already gone up a hole.
 
I'm going to take advantage of the soft ground and go hacking on the hills with a couple of friends tomorrow. Sunday I will set a couple of grids up at home to do a bit of strength training with the ginger one and I may pop the babies through a jumping lane if they look keen
 
Milliepops. The farm on which the yard I was at few years back was sold and the school taken up just as horse had big championship coming up. Managed to find an arena about ten minutes hack away we could use for about five pounds and worked well. Person has this amazing facility with mirrors etc and kept her horse somewhere else as the flies were so bad. Fortunately they had mainly gone by the time of year it was. i don’t really get on with the school where we are now but that is me not horse so instructor rides him in it from time to time and I only go in there when I am in the zone!
 
B had her first big walk in hand today, behaved super well. Lots to look at, horses cantering up to the fences and walking through paddocks. Little bit of expected baby WB sass coming to the surface as she settles in, she has already learned not to barge me for her feed - after a toddler tantrum yesterday she stood politely and waited for me to tell her to eat today :) I'm sure there are plenty more lessons for her to come, but I am enjoying it so far!
 

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Had a fabulous lesson this morning, little cobby mare I was told could be quite strong just popped herself into a lovely soft outline after about 10 mins and just went like an absolute dream for me, made it so easy to do some proper work on my terrible grippy legs. Instructor seemed genuinely pleased and surprised she was going so nicely so that's the first sign that I haven't lost absolutely everything I've ever known from the old days ?

Also possible pony heard me gushing about how gorgeous she was and threw me a freebie lol Apparently she won't stand for clippers so she's lovely and feathery, exactly my type ?
 
Did I mention how much I love my connemara pony? OK so he's actually 15.1 and a bit but he is a pony in all of the ways that matter! And I just adore his little scrunchy pony face lol

Anyway - a quick update and some photos. When I got M just under 3 years ago at 4 yrs old he was very wary of taking a contact choosing to sit behind the bit as much as possible. It took me aaaaages to rectify this, a lot of patience and a lot of work in-hand and ridden. It has improved beyond belief and his schooling in the last year has come on so much, he's more than ready to go out at elementary and he's working well on the medium work too so I thought we would try a double. I am so proud of the little man, I was worried he would revert to over flexing all of the time and we have had a couple of moments of that but few and far between. He's actually gone really well in it, better than expectd. He's only been in the double now for about 3 sessions, I'm keeping it light and fun and teaching him that he can still go in all of the frames he is used to. We still have a bit of work to do to get him to really take the contact forward, down and out but we will concentrate on that in the next few sessions.

some pics below

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Today was just one of those days ?
Our yard has a field of xc jumps (it's Buzz's winter turnout field) and they've moved all the horses off it so we can ride in there during lockdown - normally it's once in a blue moon that we can actually go in! - so this morning thought I would take him in there, I was riding on my own and hadn't taken him in there on his own yet but figured as I normally do most things on my own he would be fine. Also baring in mind i haven't really jumped at all since March and I'm not the most confident anyway....
Tacked up in his field and rode him the 10 mins down to the other field, had to get off to open the gate and take his boots off (SO lucky that my old pony's Cavallo boots fit Buzz perfectly, perfect for getting him used to barefoot!) Took him to a jump to use as a mounting block and he just said "nope" and buggered off!! He did 5 laps of the field before I could catch him again ? finally managed to get on and we did a couple of tiny jumps but he was so full of himself when I put a string together he took off again! My nerves were pretty shot but when I got him back to me I popped a couple more small jumps for me and kept at a slow canter rather than xc pace and we ended up over one of the 80cm jumps which I was really pleased with considering how I felt when I got on, and he jumped it lovely and came straight back to me afterwards.

So no idea what he was thinking! Maybe just super excited to be doing some xc. I've also noticed he's feeling a lot more springy since having his shoes off. Poked around on his back a bit in case he was feeling sore but no reaction to anything so hopefully just excitement.

Tomorrow will be another early morning hack, a group of the liveries have been doing 8am 3 hour hacks, dubbed the weight watchers hacks as the horses are all podgy after all the time they've had off! Mostly walking so not too taxing but they're definitely working, and the early mornings mean less foot and road traffic.

Can't wait to get out and about again, I need to check my box will start but we're still not allowed on the yard as we please so it's just organising a time to go on, being a bit lazy about it though ?
 
Wheels, millie used to duck behind the contact in a snaffle and then when I tried her in a double she suddenly took the contact forward really securely so sometimes they surprise you. I'm sure once he's got the feel of it you'll be away :)

I decided to take Darcy out today, would have been a bit soon for Kira (who was back to her too-scared-to-work self in the school at home) and he was super duper. So pleased with him at the moment, he's really trying to figure out what it's all about.

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