Weekend plans

J_sarahd

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Our lesson went amazing and I am so much more confident for Saturday. I chose this particular arena because all of the fences are “spookier” than normal. I was focusing on staying back and in the saddle (difficult on a bouncy, downhill horse!). Also, I made sure to focus on keeping him straight and between hand and leg.

He refused the second, fourth and fifth fence but then we dropped the reins to the gag (dont come for me, people who are against gags!) and no more refusing of any fences after that, even ones he hadn’t yet seen including a double between two huge red bull wings! He did look at/try to stop at the final fence but I was able to effectively say “no, go” and he popped it.

Overall a fab lesson and I am so glad I had it!
 

Roxylola

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I jump in a universal- for training show jumps I generally use the snaffle ring, but xc where he can get a bit heavy and sort of tows me about I use the bottom ring. Gives me control without having to have a tug of war and means I can stop a run out easily where on the snaffle he'd just drag me out of the saddle and tootle off
 

nikicb

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On Thursday I spent 6 hours in a glass fronted shed in full sun writing at Wellington Area Festivals. Oh my goodness it was so hot, but we were well looked after and as always it's a great learning experience.

Then yesterday, just five weeks after our first competition together, Maddie and I attended our first Area Festival. This involved a long schlep round the M25 on a Friday afternoon in heavy traffic, an overnight stay in temporary stables, and a brand new venue for both of us. I am so proud of Maddie. She was the only horse in the overnight stabling area and was completely unfazed. I was the only person in the horsebox parking, and that didn't bother me either, but I am not a herd animal! She was very chilled in the 7.30 am arena walk, despite it raining pretty hard and a loud clap of thunder just before I got on. And she was generally lovely the whole time. Thank you to @ester for coming along yesterday morning to be that very welcome extra pair of hands, videographer, etc., and thank you to the lovely people at Brook Farm for putting on such a friendly and welcoming AF. Unfortunately a little tension crept in during the test, and Maddie did one rather exciting spook by the judge's car at E, so the final score wasn't great (62.7%), but we have our first plaque to put on the wall!! There's so much more to come in the future..... onwards..... :)

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I am going to spend the rest of the weekend taking advantage of husband and eldest son being away at the Steelhouse festival in Ebbw Vale to catch up on the Olympic dressage on Eurosport.

Hope everyone else is having a good weekend. x
 
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J_sarahd

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I jump in a universal- for training show jumps I generally use the snaffle ring, but xc where he can get a bit heavy and sort of tows me about I use the bottom ring. Gives me control without having to have a tug of war and means I can stop a run out easily where on the snaffle he'd just drag me out of the saddle and tootle off

This is what I tried to do - keep the bottom ring for xc. But after putting it down yesterday Ive realised that we probably need to use the bottom ring for any jumping away from home!! Trainer said to add a back strap for xc if I feel I need it
 

iknowmyvalue

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Hacked both my boys today! First time on Henry in over 10wks and first time on Pepsi since camp 2 weeks ago. Pepsi was hoof perfect despite being absolutely mobbed by flies.

Henry was exactly the same as if he’d never been out of work, aka two parts donkey one part dingbat ?one of many things I love about him. I’m going to be absolutely devastated when he is sold, even though I know it’s the right thing for both of us. Just wish I could afford two so he wouldn’t have to go anywhere!
 

Roxylola

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Please get me a decent jockey so I can stop mucking around at 80 ??View attachment 76403
Charlie feels your pain Bog, so much scope but the jocks got no hope ?
Hope you had a good day michen
We've had today off, I've been busy with stuff and it went super hot this afternoon. He was ace in his dressage lesson yesterday though - worked in his double like a good boy, doing lots of elementary work especially with the canter, also quite a bit of bogging round like a hooligan. I don't know where my brakes are at the moment but he feels very happy in his work so we'll take it for now. I so love that from canter being a hard thing he'd rather avoid he now offers canter as a way to avoid other hard things (shoulder in mainly). The quality is improving all the time though and he feels super buzzy.
 

milliepops

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had a couple of really good rides this weekend, not particularly stellar work (though her understanding of what passage is all about is coming on at last :D ) but pennies dropping for me about how to ride certain exercises properly, and also what is possible if i *just ride it better* ;) GP trot half passes are all there for the taking if I ride like a GP rider instead of like a PSG one. Upwards learning curve for us both then!

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southerncomfort

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Had a lovely day today!

No lesson this week so I did my homework in the school this afternoon.

The boy astounded me yet again by how quickly he learns! Last lesson he was quite sluggish so we worked on getting him more responsive to the leg.

I get on him today to find a new gear has been installed! He was really taking me forwards and I was able to use much quieter aids.

Afterwards youngest daughter rode middle daughters pony. Youngest lost interest a while a go but has recently said she'd like to start riding again, while middle daughter doesn't really ride at all any more. So it makes sense for youngest to take over the ride.

Was especially pleased as its youngest birthday today and she and pony had a lovely ride.

Then we all went to eat ice cream and play crazy golf! ? Perfect day. ?
 

rara007

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No photographer and GoPro wasn’t happy but we had a kind of shallow win. Only 1 other doing the same test as me and they deliberately missed the worst of the marathon to save the horse. We managed best marathon of the day, that completed, but there was 1/3 the day that didn’t run due to a nasty accident. It was a great round just doesn’t feel right being happy with the result…
 

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racebuddy

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Hacked both my boys today! First time on Henry in over 10wks and first time on Pepsi since camp 2 weeks ago. Pepsi was hoof perfect despite being absolutely mobbed by flies.

Henry was exactly the same as if he’d never been out of work, aka two parts donkey one part dingbat ?one of many things I love about him. I’m going to be absolutely devastated when he is sold, even though I know it’s the right thing for both of us. Just wish I could afford two so he wouldn’t have to go anywhere!

I feel u , especially when worked out if spent £500 on enteries on one horse in a month and soon to x2 ??
 

Sheep

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Had a lesson on Saturday morning which was lovely, we hadn’t schooled in a while so he definitely felt a bit more switched on, think being out doing the fun stuff has done him good!
Then had a bit of a jump last night, propped phone up on arena fence to get some evidence lol. My position is a bit OTT for the height of the fence but whatever! He has become so much more confident jumping, he used to really overjump everything and is now approaching things much more sensibly.
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J&S

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Does Monday count?? Since February I have had a lovely lady from our village come to ride my companion pony and we have been building up fitness and strength with a few little adventures in betwen regular road ex and today we had Mission Accomplished!! We started really early to avoid the flies and rode to a local bridle path round a big plantation, all good going, trots and canters all the way plus a couple of logs/branches to jump! This might not sound much to you but my mare is now 24 yrs and I am coming up to 75 ,so just off a century betwen us. Mare has been retired since she was 18 and only really gone round the block over the last year or so. I never thought I would do more than very local rides at the best so to march out for over 10kms and pop a jump happily has made my summer. As a bonus companion pony has lost all the extra weight she was carrying and looks fab.
 

MrsCentaur

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@Ambers Echo Details and photos please?!!

My weekend was lovely. LOVELY lesson where the boy was magnificent - engaged, responsive, and clever - and my instructors brimmed with compliments. He's come out of his shell totally and is beginning to show a wonderfully playful and inquisitive streak, which is delightful to observe and will bode well for his continued development. And then I had the chance to ride a new-to-me pony; I had forgotten what it feels like to ride horses other than my own and it felt both delightfully strange and quite familiar, all at once. I'm so glad to have had the opportunity to rediscover horses as an adult.
 
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