Michen
Well-Known Member
Oh noooo! Sorry to read this and hope you aren’t too sore. X
Weekend plans
- Thread starter milliepops
- Start date
Oh noooo! Sorry to read this and hope you aren’t too sore. X
Season’s Bleatings
Well-Known Member
Lovely day out dressaging for us. Two novice tests, 7th in both classes out of 10/11 competitors so pleased with that, he felt really with me and punchy. Just outside the ribbons! It was a league final, v pleased with 3rd in both the novice & open classes.
My friend also had a super outing with her little turbo cob. She did the prelim class and her first ever long arena test. V happy with some lovely, consistent work from her boy to take 6th in her league. ?
My friend also had a super outing with her little turbo cob. She did the prelim class and her first ever long arena test. V happy with some lovely, consistent work from her boy to take 6th in her league. ?
HappyHollyDays
Slave to a house cat, 4 yard cats and 2 ponies
No we missed each other, it took me a while to get back to the tent as I had to collect all the items people had dropped or lost at my fence ? I think it was a bit of a one off though, you do see a few more rotund combinations in UA but I really think our hills catch a lot of people out. Some people walking the course commented at the steepness and were clearly puffing themselves so I think they were a bit surprised by it.
DabDab
Ah mud, splendid
September/October events can often be a bit like that - a lot of combinations taking a step up a level at this time of year, plus some who haven't managed to run much the rest of the season throwing in a hail Mary because the year is running out when they probably shouldn't.
We had fair chaos in one of the classes where I was at today too. I discovered on the fly that the scoring software doesn't actually have a facility for entering two holds on course for one competitor ?
HappyHollyDays
Slave to a house cat, 4 yard cats and 2 ponies
Roxyola, glad you are ok and not badly damaged. Were you team chasing?
Roxylola
Well-Known Member
Michen
Well-Known Member
That’s good to know. And I am very used to Boggle who keeps himself fit with zero effort and never finishes anything other than ready to do the whole thing again.
I guess what I couldn’t get my head around is people continuing, fair to be caught out but you’d think more would have gone eeeek my horse is tired and I haven’t prepped enough for this and I’m going to pull up before we have an accident or the horse injures itself.
Or at least have the humanity to sit quiet and nurse the horse rather than digging the Spurs in and whipping.
Ah well, just sad is all when people’s desire to be competitive makes them treat their animals like a machine rather than a partner.
HappyHollyDays
Slave to a house cat, 4 yard cats and 2 ponies
I think by the time they got to you they had had to get up the big hill and some of them were belting up it quite unnecessarily. I was also very surprised at the amount of young riders in spurs.
TPO
🤠🏴
@Lindylouanne @Michen
Were the riders fit?
Very generally speaking it's always been unfit riders on unfit horses. I wonder if the relationship is just hoping to wing it due to ignorance or arrogance or if its laziness all round.
I'm always surprised how many riders don't consider their fitness and are really pecking even doing dressage never mind jumping or xc.
I know a horse owners with FT jobs and everything else it's hard to factor in eating healthy and exercising as well as horse stuff but as someone (Michen?) said its not very fair on the horse
Were the riders fit?
Very generally speaking it's always been unfit riders on unfit horses. I wonder if the relationship is just hoping to wing it due to ignorance or arrogance or if its laziness all round.
I'm always surprised how many riders don't consider their fitness and are really pecking even doing dressage never mind jumping or xc.
I know a horse owners with FT jobs and everything else it's hard to factor in eating healthy and exercising as well as horse stuff but as someone (Michen?) said its not very fair on the horse
scats
Well-Known Member
Well Millie certainly isn’t feeling flat anymore. Arrived at farm ride this evening and the second I put the ramp down I could tell she was absolutely wired. Took me about 5 attempts to get on her and as soon as my bum touched the saddle she was off. Settled after a good canter but then threw a small tantrum in the jumping field because I wouldn’t let her gallop to my friends horse. She was being rude so I brought her back to walk and she promptly had a complete tantrum which involved one of her speciality rears, of which I’m not overly fond, particularly on slippy wet grass 
Thankfully once her feet hit the floor, she didn’t do it again and she mostly behaved to do some canter work and pop some jumps. Then had a good blast up the hill. She got herself so wound up that she was absolutely steaming.
Daft bat. At least she’s feeling well!
Thankfully once her feet hit the floor, she didn’t do it again and she mostly behaved to do some canter work and pop some jumps. Then had a good blast up the hill. She got herself so wound up that she was absolutely steaming.
Daft bat. At least she’s feeling well!
Michen
Well-Known Member
I would say a mixture. Plenty of unfit riders on unfit horses and plenty of fit looking riders on unfit horses. Just the former combos looked even worse than the latter.
Easy to make a mistake or misjudge fitness for both the horse and yourself but at least recognise it, treat the horse well and pull up or ride sympathetically and don't dig those spurs in.
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mavandkaz
Well-Known Member
Sounds like lots of fun weekends. Actually turned into a pretty fab weekend here.
First full week back at work after summer hols (teacher) and in a bid to be a bit more active and sociable, joined in staff sport on Friday after work. First time I've played badminton in about 20yrs, was good fun and finished with a quick pint at the local.
Saturday was a quick hack for both horses, then did a bit of exploring of the local countryside with the OH, where we stumbled across an amazing pub for lunch. Then sat out in the sun for the evening before watching the tennis.
Lie in this morning, before a hack on Shambles with another livery. Just a nice quiet plod in the sun where you get back to the yard and realise the two of you have been talking the whole way round, and both horses were foot perfect.
I had booked belle in for SJ arena hire, and had resigned myself to the fact I would be going completely alone. Only to have two fellow liveries, and my junior sharer, plus a couple of others on foot, come and join us for a fun yard trip out.
Junior sharer rode for most of the session as she is taking Belle to an ODE next weekend and hasn't really jumped a full course with fillers etc. So spent some time walking courses, and practicing lines. I got on at the end and jumped her round some bigger fences. She was brilliant all afternoon.
She is one who last year got very flat with coat change. So started giving her some oats 10 days ago and so far seems to working - felt her usual jolly self today despite the muggy weather. She will have her second clip of the season end of the week.
And after a week of being out in the field together, belle and Shambles finally seem to be settling down - it has been getting rather x-rated ?
First full week back at work after summer hols (teacher) and in a bid to be a bit more active and sociable, joined in staff sport on Friday after work. First time I've played badminton in about 20yrs, was good fun and finished with a quick pint at the local.
Saturday was a quick hack for both horses, then did a bit of exploring of the local countryside with the OH, where we stumbled across an amazing pub for lunch. Then sat out in the sun for the evening before watching the tennis.
Lie in this morning, before a hack on Shambles with another livery. Just a nice quiet plod in the sun where you get back to the yard and realise the two of you have been talking the whole way round, and both horses were foot perfect.
I had booked belle in for SJ arena hire, and had resigned myself to the fact I would be going completely alone. Only to have two fellow liveries, and my junior sharer, plus a couple of others on foot, come and join us for a fun yard trip out.
Junior sharer rode for most of the session as she is taking Belle to an ODE next weekend and hasn't really jumped a full course with fillers etc. So spent some time walking courses, and practicing lines. I got on at the end and jumped her round some bigger fences. She was brilliant all afternoon.
She is one who last year got very flat with coat change. So started giving her some oats 10 days ago and so far seems to working - felt her usual jolly self today despite the muggy weather. She will have her second clip of the season end of the week.
And after a week of being out in the field together, belle and Shambles finally seem to be settling down - it has been getting rather x-rated ?
Bernster
Well-Known Member
I’m mid “good boy” here which is why I have such a silly face, but I bought it as a souvenir of our first outing, and because at least Bertie looks nice it it! Did the solo and then the pairs with finnegan.
I have some work to do in the warm up - started out with napping back to the lorry park and mini rears, relaxed a bit after 10 mins and when jumping. No problem leaving the collecting ring or round the course, then unsettled again when we’d finished. Fabulous round the course though, the solo and the pairs.
Finnegan also loved the pairs. I knew he would. Did the same solo with my friend as he does with me, ground to a halt at fence 3 away from the field but once he’d gotten into the swing of it, he did a lovely round too.
A lovely welcoming venue though. An informative day out, and stuff to think about. It’ll bug me a bit but I tend to turn it into a plan of what to work on so I’m feeling ok, and remembering how fab he felt jumping the course.
Pippity
Well-Known Member
Blue did a nice if uninspired individual show in our ridden class, but had been so nappy in the go-round that we were deservedly unplaced. To be fair to her, it had been a mad scramble to get her tacked up and me changed after our in-hand class, so I hadn't had a chance to warm her up and settle her, and she'd had a wee tank on the way to the ring when somebody shook out the cover of the gazebo they were putting up.
However, she did manage to score second in the in-hand cob, beating some really nice horses, and being deservedly beaten by a lovely bay gelding. (Whose owners were also lovely, and not just because they were complimentary about her!)
She then happily hacked part of the way home on her own (which is a huge achievement for her - she's not a fan of solo hacking) so I'm very proud of her.
However, she did manage to score second in the in-hand cob, beating some really nice horses, and being deservedly beaten by a lovely bay gelding. (Whose owners were also lovely, and not just because they were complimentary about her!)
She then happily hacked part of the way home on her own (which is a huge achievement for her - she's not a fan of solo hacking) so I'm very proud of her.
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Bernster
Well-Known Member
Have read the thread about napping in the warm up with extra interest now! But Bertie is 12 and has done lots of comps on his own and solo, so it’s not about him being green or inexperienced. It may be partly due to him and me still being a bit new together. I’ll chat to his previous owner, but would be glad of any other tips you have in the meantime please!
J&S
Well-Known Member
This was a comment a friend and I made when we fenced judged at our Area PC ODE. We were at the last but one fence and they had to come up a slight hill to get to our fence, so many were really tired.
McFluff
Well-Known Member
Good weekend all in.
Lovely judge to write for on the Friday - really interesting and must try to do that more.
Competition on the Saturday was interesting. Apparently judges boxes do not belong on the side of the arena (it was a championship set up, the first he'd seen) - they are fine at C, and fine if outside the arena and being used to serve food, but not at B or E!!! So we had a rather expensive 'spooked then trotted' in our free walk section - that earned us a rather deserved low score (my lowest yet!). Improved for the championship class to land us mid-table in a huge class, so overall pleased. He was fun to be with, and is such a lovely horse, so I forgive him his welsh moments.
And if anyone is looking for a pick me up activity then I can highly recommend going for a walk with Alpacas. We went in memory of our lovely friend who we lost to cancer earlier this year, and we all ended up grinning and giggling as we walked with them. Lovely way to have our wee memorial.
Lovely judge to write for on the Friday - really interesting and must try to do that more.
Competition on the Saturday was interesting. Apparently judges boxes do not belong on the side of the arena (it was a championship set up, the first he'd seen) - they are fine at C, and fine if outside the arena and being used to serve food, but not at B or E!!! So we had a rather expensive 'spooked then trotted' in our free walk section - that earned us a rather deserved low score (my lowest yet!). Improved for the championship class to land us mid-table in a huge class, so overall pleased. He was fun to be with, and is such a lovely horse, so I forgive him his welsh moments.
And if anyone is looking for a pick me up activity then I can highly recommend going for a walk with Alpacas. We went in memory of our lovely friend who we lost to cancer earlier this year, and we all ended up grinning and giggling as we walked with them. Lovely way to have our wee memorial.
Alibear
Well-Known Member
Friday's hack was cut short due to a sudden downpour, and we both arrived home drenched. But she was good and stayed with me behaved as we did a 180 and turned home in the deluge. As nice as it would have been to trot home, we stayed in a walk as I didn't want to teach her a bad habit. She's smart, and it only takes 1 go to teach her things, especially the things you don't want to teach!
Saturdays lessons highlighted the fact that Amber has been pulling the wool over my eyes. She's perfectly fit and well but has been happily only offering me, say 50%, because she enjoys the easy life. So by actually riding and putting my leg on, we suddenly had plenty of energy and could do all the movements very nicely. I didn't get to run through my patterns as the yard was very busy, and I let it get to me. I have instructions to ride every day before the show, and we did that yesterday with a good session in the school and ran through the patterns then, and they're ok. I'll try and add some polish over the coming days.
Saturdays lessons highlighted the fact that Amber has been pulling the wool over my eyes. She's perfectly fit and well but has been happily only offering me, say 50%, because she enjoys the easy life. So by actually riding and putting my leg on, we suddenly had plenty of energy and could do all the movements very nicely. I didn't get to run through my patterns as the yard was very busy, and I let it get to me. I have instructions to ride every day before the show, and we did that yesterday with a good session in the school and ran through the patterns then, and they're ok. I'll try and add some polish over the coming days.
oldie48
Well-Known Member
Not sure if a Wednesday lesson counts as the weekend but I had a lovely lesson on Mr D this morning. It was cool, so it suited both of us well. I'm still getting to know him but the trot work is improving all the time as I'm learning to set him up better with his hocks more under him. Like a lot of horses he can use a change of direction as an excuse to lose impulsion, so we worked on that and ended up doing 10m circles, which he finds easier on the left rein, he'll go into the outside rein I just have to ensure he doesn't start to sit on it. Right rein is harder and leads to me having "wandering" hands because he'll give me too much bend and I struggle to get him into the outside rein, a work in progress! His walk to canter is just easy peasy and results in a lovely balanced collected canter, so we worked on getting more jump without me letting it get too free. His owner had also watched the Europeans and listened to Peter's comments about contact and holding the horse rather than letting him carry himself so we worked on that too. Great lesson, big smile on my face and great to work with his owner as she knows both of us so well!
Alibear
Well-Known Member
We ventured into the new indoor school for the 1st time last night. In the dark too! Amber was completely fine with it all, kept it easy with a little walk and jog work but it's nice to know we have somewhere dry to keep working over the winter.
mavandkaz
Well-Known Member
Will also do a last minute add on - had a lesson yesterday on Shambles. Our first proper schooling session since having his hocks done. He started off a bit lazy and stiff, so was rather disappointed. But loosened up and worked really well. Not due to go out competing for a while, so had a play with the flying changes, and spent some time asking for more expression in his paces. Been set the challenge of going out at advanced medium before Christmas. So excited!
Pippity
Well-Known Member
Another last minute add on. Lesson last night was supposed to be spent polishing our dressage test before videoing it for the online dressage. Instead, we spent it teaching Blue that she can't just head for the school gate, attempt to walk right through it, and then throw a stomping temper tantrum when prevented. I've never seen her so absolutely furious about anything! I'm giving her the next couple of days off, and hopefully her season will then be over and she'll be back to normal.