Weekend Plans

[Lammy]

Love everyone’s pictures of the weekend! Seems like we were all enjoying the sunshine ?

We went to a little local cross country course and had a play, focusing more on our approach and our canter away from a fence than height as he tends to land in a bit of a heap after a jump in the arena. The xc certainly helped, he was like a spring lamb after most fences ? He also did his first ditch, which took a bit of convincing ? there were clearly horse eating monsters in that hole!




Gotta love the enthusiasm though ?

 

[ScampiBigMan]

Great to see so many lovely pictures and videos. HP - particularly pleased that you nailed it at Llany

We did the BE100 at Stafford yesterday. Reilee was a star, the ground and weather were amazing.

I, as usual, struggled to function consistently after a 4am start(!) Anyhow, need to move on from there and get myself back to normal. Reilee didn't seem bothered by my below par performance and kept smiling and being generous all the way through. Lovely horse, will try to do her justice next time out, which hopefully will be Kelsall.

Dressage, she tried and felt great, I needed to shorten my reins. SJ she was jumping wonderfully, I got in the way twice so 12 faults in total as one of those times unsettled her slightly for the double so she overjumped in and ran out of room coming out. Round actually watches back well, rhythym is good and she is focussed and obedient. XC, I got the pace a little fast so took more out of her than should have done and then I got in the way a few times on the way back in, which made things more difficult for (a slightly tiring) Reilee. She dug us out all the way home but had to try harder than if had kept more fuel in the tank. We jumped all the combinations great, think I was perhaps not applying myself to all the 'easy' fences as much as should have done. So clear XC with too fast penalties.

Reilee had her usual post XC expression of sheer joy at the end so will just do some basics next week to make sure all is good and then try to actually ride properly all the way through next time. She is v deceptive for pace as covers the ground so easily, so will have to keep more of an eye on that next time to make the whole round easier for her.

Frickley on Sunday with Nix, all being well.

 

[HufflyPuffly]

Great to see so many lovely pictures and videos. HP - particularly pleased that you nailed it at Llany

We did the BE100 at Stafford yesterday. Reilee was a star, the ground and weather were amazing.

I, as usual, struggled to function consistently after a 4am start(!) Anyhow, need to move on from there and get myself back to normal. Reilee didn't seem bothered by my below par performance and kept smiling and being generous all the way through. Lovely horse, will try to do her justice next time out, which hopefully will be Kelsall.

Dressage, she tried and felt great, I needed to shorten my reins. SJ she was jumping wonderfully, I got in the way twice so 12 faults in total as one of those times unsettled her slightly for the double so she overjumped in and ran out of room coming out. Round actually watches back well, rhythym is good and she is focussed and obedient. XC, I got the pace a little fast so took more out of her than should have done and then I got in the way a few times on the way back in, which made things more difficult for (a slightly tiring) Reilee. She dug us out all the way home but had to try harder than if had kept more fuel in the tank. We jumped all the combinations great, think I was perhaps not applying myself to all the 'easy' fences as much as should have done. So clear XC with too fast penalties.

Reilee had her usual post XC expression of sheer joy at the end so will just do some basics next week to make sure all is good and then try to actually ride properly all the way through next time. She is v deceptive for pace as covers the ground so easily, so will have to keep more of an eye on that next time to make the whole round easier for her.

Frickley on Sunday with Nix, all being well.

Sounds a good day overall, even with things to work on!

Both poles were mine at Llany, rode way too hard into them really but didn't want her to have a single second thought about jumping them, oops!

 

[j1ffy]

It sounds like there have been some good outings, good work everyone!! HP - huge congrats on having a confidence-building run at last. SBM - I'm sure you're being hard on yourself and rode better than you make out!!

After a good lesson on Thursday but a complete failure to film any of it on my new Pivo, I had another go yesterday and I'm really pleased with it (but less pleased with my spare tyre...I must do something about that!). I need to get a tripod as at the moment I've got it on the fence so I keep getting too close and it loses me, but other than that it capture everything. It's so helpful to have the feedback as I'm usually on my own and we don't have mirrors either.

Off to AMD tomorrow, yay!!

 

[Laafet]

Well done everyone who's got out so far, sounds some very solid results. Oldie sorry to hear your news but glad it's curable.

Laafet how were the horses you went to view?

I finally feel like I'm getting back in the jumping groove, another arena hire today and straight over all the fillers for the new boy and some small 90cm's thrown in too. Thrilled with him as two months ago he'd never even jumped before and he was only bought to be a glorified companion.

Well it was like the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The first horse was lovely, I have asked to be considered for him. Exactly what I want, just I was the first to view so I need to be patient while his owner works through other people.

The second nearly killed me and I am not being over dramatic! I hate trying horses, I am far too old for the lies/truth omissions that people tell you because they want you to take a horse. I won't go into too much detail at the moment, just felt so incredibly sorry for that horse and it's set my fragile confidence back a bit.

So if everyone could please send some good luck vibes for horse no.1 to come my way that would be fab!

 

[dorsetladette]

I'm a we bit jealous of all the fun outings in the sunshine. Looks so much fun. Hope everyone who is off games felt a little better in the warm weather.

The show yesterday was an interesting little outing. As I wasn't showing only grooming for a friend, I had time to watch and listen to what was going on in a couple of different rings. I was a bit disappointed to see that things won't judged as fairly as first perceived. My friends 2 yr old was very well behaved and held his own against maturer horses in very mixed classes. Numbers weren't great in ll classes but the date was changed last minute in order to avoid cancelling with the new covid rules.

 

[j1ffy]

Well it was like the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. The first horse was lovely, I have asked to be considered for him. Exactly what I want, just I was the first to view so I need to be patient while his owner works through other people.

The second nearly killed me and I am not being over dramatic! I hate trying horses, I am far too old for the lies/truth omissions that people tell you because they want you to take a horse. I won't go into too much detail at the moment, just felt so incredibly sorry for that horse and it's set my fragile confidence back a bit.

So if everyone could please send some good luck vibes for horse no.1 to come my way that would be fab!

Fingers crossed for you Laafet!

 

[J&S]

The big old horse and I at an arena Trec competition, control of paces, now called MA, slow canter. He usually gets the full score but we didn't get any score sheets that day so waiting on the good/bad news!!! It was very hot and I have to admit to feeling pretty knackered after two classes.

 

[milliepops]

Had a good weekend training at home then Kira had a bit of a gassy colic last night so that put a right downer on it! Sunday morning passaging, Sunday evening emergency vet but fortunately it was very mild and some meds cleared it up. she was her normal cheerful self today. Bloody horses!

 

[Wheels]

That sucks MP, hope shes back to full form soon

 

[j1ffy]

Had a good weekend training at home then Kira had a bit of a gassy colic last night so that put a right downer on it! Sunday morning passaging, Sunday evening emergency vet but fortunately it was very mild and some meds cleared it up. she was her normal cheerful self today. Bloody horses!

eek, I’m pleased to read that she’s ok now!

 

[milliepops]

That sucks MP, hope shes back to full form soon

thanks, was a worrying night but she seems absolutely fine today so hopefully just one of those things. it would probably have resolved itself but I'm a bit of a panicker when it comes to colic so didn't want to take the chance. plus she's a tremendous stoic when it comes to pain so if she looks miserable it's because she really is had a quiet day today so hopefully she will be OK for our lesson tomorrow afternoon, will play it by ear.

 

[blood_magik]

Another fab lesson with new trainer this morning - was so happy to come away feeling confident about what we’d done, even though he’d pushed us out of our comfort zone.

Nowhere near perfect but I think an improvement on last week ?

hope everyone had a good weekend

 

[Roxylola]

Gosh, your horse makes that look effortless!

 

[ScampiBigMan]

A photo of last night's sunset because it was rather wonderful, with Nix's ears bottom right. Can see Snowdonia in the distance beyond the wind turbines

 

[milliepops]

scraping into the end of the thread, had a couple of nice days off work and hiding out in the dressage bubble 2 good lessons with Kira who seems absolutely fine after her poorly night on Sunday. and then a slightly unplanned one for Darcy which was useful to take stock and just think about what we're doing together (short answer, not sure at the moment but we'll keep on trying for now!)

Lovely to see oldie and j1ffy for a catch up

long days but productive. Back to catch up with Hera and Salty as the sun was setting...someone has got the season-change sillies

 

[J&S]

The big old horse and I at an arena Trec competition, control of paces, now called MA, slow canter. He usually gets the full score but we didn't get any score sheets that day so waiting on the good/bad news!!! It was very hot and I have to admit to feeling pretty knackered after two classes.View attachment 55069

Just found out today we won the Open Intermediate class with pb score! Very pleased with this amazing old horse.

 

[Roxylola]

Oh they look lovely there MP, shame it's not quite coming together with Darcy its difficult when it's small niggly things sometimes more so than obvious issues.
Speaking of niggles, I'm finally back in the saddle, we have lost a bit of finesse and gained a bit of weight - hes better but not quite perfectly so with his niggle. I'm going to monitor for now and see if we go worse again with work. Rest has certainly improved it. At the moment theres nothing really to see so work ups are pointless

 

[HayleyUK]

Crispy finally has a saddle that fits and she likes - don’t ask!

just in time as we are going to a Samantha Wood dressage clinic up the road for a bit of a new arena and a laugh.
I don’t know what she’s like, anyone been taught by her?

 

[j1ffy]

Danny and I had a great time at AMD. He was an absolute pro on day one in the indoor, not at all bothered about people watching, horses coming and going and advanced horses bouncing around. He stayed in front of my leg and worked very hard, I couldn’t have asked for more.

He was a bit more sprightly on day two. We went outside and the racehorses were coming and going up the lane, resulting in a noisy Danny! Despite the neighing he still focused and worked hard, I’m so pleased with him and excited for our next competitions. Justine is the third trainer to suggest I keep him on alongside my youngster next year - if only there were more hours in the day!

It was great to meet Oldie and see MP (sorry for not saying goodbye, I didn’t want to disturb everyone watching!), and Rosie and sassy Kira.

Justine brought her big camera out and kindly took some photos of Danny and I on day two:

 

[milliepops]

Fab pics j1ffy! he looks like a really lovely horse.

Oh they look lovely there MP, shame it's not quite coming together with Darcy its difficult when it's small niggly things sometimes more so than obvious issues.

I think it's just not helped by the fact that I'm in a bit of a bad place with work at the moment, it sort of heightens the stress of other things more than I'd otherwise really notice. So Darcy isn't doing anything wrong, he is who he is, i'm just not really dealing with his neurotic nature that well at the mo! I can cope with Kira and her sassyness because I'm very well practiced with nutty mares so it's hard wired into me. Harder to do that with with Darcy, i still have to think so hard about what i'm doing with him. It was nice chatting it over with trainer because it helped put a bit of perspective back into it all. Onwards and upwards

 

[Reacher]

Late entry.... had good indoor flatwork lesson on Saturday. Have been working for ages on achieving changing canter lead without going back through trot - I’ve never done it before , and difficult to do consistent training due to lack of facilities - but it seems to have clicked - he is really anticipating the flying change now (and getting rather cross if he is asked for something else like leg yield instead !) so we are now going to completely back off in lessons while I continue to practice out hacking. Am so pleased with him when he gives me a change out hacking - i know it’s a small thing to you proper dressage and SJ people but it’s an ambition come true for me!
Had to miss my mid week jumping lesson but had a lesson on the beach (this is aimed at calming him down and overcoming my phobia about coming off on the beach due to an incident a few years ago with s different horse ). Actually RI did most of the riding and I got on at the end - but baby steps!
Photo of Mr H in the distance having his first paddle

 

[Laafet]

Fingers crossed for you Laafet!

She rejected me, said she thought he'd prefer to do more jumping than dressage. Who knows what the real reason was, that seemed a bit of a cop out when we had said that I do a bit of everything and had taken my jumping friend with me who did a good a job of bigging up that side of things.

So the search continues. It hit me quite hard the rejection as well as the trauma of the trying the other one. I thought I was ok but on Tuesday I just sat at home and cried which is pathetic. I am offering a top class experienced home but all I am being offered is ex-racers and I can get one of those for free in town at the moment that hasn't been messed up by a novice 'trying' to reschool them first. I used to work with racehorses and have retrained many with no problems. This time I am looking for a nice horse that I can take up to Medium and above. Ideally that has some competition experience.

I paid again for a timewaster on Right Horse Right Home, ad went up on Monday, perfect, near my home, owner then decided to share with a friend, so that was a waste of my join up money. I have paid that site so much money since May and not got to see one horse so far.

 

[scats]

Met a friend this morning for a quick hack around a local chaser course. Did a few little jumps and had a good gallop. Millie was traumatised by some cows in an adjoining field but managed to contain herself from any nonsense.