Weekend plans

[CanteringCarrot]

Who's doing what?


Me? Nothing, once again. There is a dressage clinic at the yard but the clinician is not my flavour. For this horse, anyway. So likely some hacking and schooling outdoors. We were supposed to do some cross country jumps this weekend, but trainer is still on the mend.

 

[blood_magik]

Off to a new venue with the big guy for another bash at E40 tomorrow. If it goes to plan then we’ll take a break from competing and start thinking about moving up to medium/advanced medium over the summer.

We had a fantastic lesson on Monday. first time we’ve had a proper look at halfpass (have played with the odd few steps here and there before) and he blew me away with how easy he found it… Shame the same can’t be said about simple changes ? but I’m sure we’ll get there eventually.

I also have a polework lesson booked for the 4yo Monday night and our regular bi-weekly lesson with our usual trainer Tuesday afternoon - was hoping to take Raz but he managed to twist a shoe and then stand on the clip so will probably take Blue again.

hope everyone has a good weekend ?

 

[J_sarahd]

We are off for a show jumping lesson on Saturday. Going to try an 85-90cm course just so I feel super prepared for Aston as I know they have a reputation for building big. Then going to take a chilled morning hack on Sunday as I’m going to support my OH’s best friend at a bodybuilding competition!

 

[humblepie]

We went out midweek dressage for first outing of year which was good. Breeches still fitted and horse super cool. Have fun all out and about.

 

[ihatework]

Watching the 6yo event.
Removing lots of hair from minging 3yos.
Then start the spring hacking back of the jungle (aka back garden)

 

[MuddyMonster]

Just quiet hacking for us this weekend - pony is still on quiet work orders until next week. But we've got some glorious weather for bimbling ?

Have a good weekend everyone Good luck for those competing or out and about!

 

[RachelFerd]

We are at Lincolnshire for the BE Novice on Sunday. The course photos are already published on the cross country app and the course looks great. I've got a big gap between DR and SJ, but will be filling that time with watching an incredible selection of top horses in the OI and AI - Allstar B, Vendredi Biats, JL Dublin, Brookfield Inocent, Ballaghmor Class and London 52 to name but a few!

 

[Bernster]

We went out midweek dressage for first outing of year which was good. Breeches still fitted and horse super cool. Have fun all out and about.

Lawks, that reminds me I must try on my jodhs and jacket ? but, assuming they fit, I’ve got our first dressage outing on Saturday. Prelim. We’re doing ok but things might unravel on the final section so I will be mainly testing how Bertie is in a more comp environment, seeing if we can limit the giraffe imitations, and then if all goes well, trying not to screech around the final turn onto the centre line!

 

[Petmurf]

Long hack on Saturday and probably just a groom and massage on Sunday as I’m working

 

[racebuddy]

i am taking both of mine to somerford farm ride sunday for a hack so the baby 6 year old can see a bit , on lates this week so not much sleep as up at 6am to ride after getting to bed at midnight , who needs sleep !!! horses get brought in for me and can keep an eye on them on the camera which makes life easier , and for once the sun is going to out on my weekend off xx hope everyone has a good weekend

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Usual hacking around tomorrow and Saturday, Sunday am off to low key unaff stressage as it appears we qualified for this centres autumn winter finals!
Must go and search out my jacket, shirt and breeches etc!

Good luck to those competing and have a good time whatever you are doing x

 

[j1ffy]

Nothing here - I’ve got the C-virus and I’m already bored out of my mind. On the plus side I’ve watched two days of Cheltenham for the first time in years! And two of my Owners Group horses are running on Saturday so I guess another day of watching racing will be in order…

Make sure you all post updates so I can ride vicariously!!

 

[milliepops]

sorry to hear you've got the dreaded plague, jiffy. hope it doesn't make you too ill. there's a lot of it about

Hoping Quiz will finally be over his abscess, it's been a bit of a long one. i have now forked out for a poultice boot to save the duct tape/feed bag faff and hope it will work like the massive bag of grit salt that i bought in the winter (yard didn't freeze again since i bought it) OH was not complementary about his trim so hoping a bit of hoofy TLC (and having now bought the boot) will stave off any more!!

Anyway. assuming he is sound tomorrow then out in the field, lunge a bit and then start again Send a seatbelt

 

[LEC]

I have vet students ride out for me, in return for doing this they learn my anal ways, usually get decked by nutters and I try and educate them on various veterinary ailments and horse knowledge. This year they have had ulcer videos, foot x rays, bone scans and AI/scans. I like to think I am doing my bit in educating the future when in reality they will probably just be knocking over hamsters and castrating cats.
Another of the valuable services I offer is borrowing nice horses from other people, who do behave themselves so they can improve their riding skill set. So, this is what I am doing tomorrow. Borrowing a nice horse to jump and the vet student get yelled at by yours truly in the process. They then get off nice horse, onto a horrible horse and get yelled at a bit longer on the flat as I have entered them for a dressage competition on Sunday.
Saturday, I am xc schooling one horse with a broken foot which now fits in a riding boot as swelling has gone down and hoping the horse is not an arse to stud up.

I might have made an actual plan for eventing as well… been delaying it as it was too cold, wet and windy and I am too old for any of that shizzle.

 

[scats]

Day off for me today. Heaven!
Girls will work this weekend. Hopefully fitness work if the fencing gets taken. Sheep have now gone but sheep farmer has left his stupid invisible fencing which is a bit hairy to ride next to. I had a moan to YO and she contacted our farmer (who sublets to sheep farmer) so he’s going to chase them up.
I’m going shopping today. A bit of retail therapy and a coffee after a busy week.

 

[Xmasha]

As my mare is a bit broken at the minute I will have to enjoy reading everyone’s updates .
So this weekend is a non horsey but nice one . Staying at a local hotel with friends who we haven’t seen for many years, we will be in the bar watching the rugby for the entire afternoon / evening. Can’t wait !

jiffy .. hope you get over it quickly .

 

[Alibear]

Hack, hack, hackety hack is what's on the cards this weekend and I'm so looking forwards to it. Last weekend's clinic was awesome but it will be nice to have a relaxing one this weekend. We can then crack on from there. I'm already rather pleased as have managed to hack out the baby loop solo yesterday and today.
This may be the year I'm able to enjoy going out hacking with my horse solo and putting the world to rights as we do.

 

[blood_magik]

Not our day today… had a few mistakes as Blue got his knickers in a twist and went a bit tense. Just a bit disappointed that there wasn’t a single encouraging comment on his test sheet ?

But oh well… that’s horses for you, isn’t it? ?‍ Hopefully he’s just needing a bit more ring time

 

[scats]

First nude turnout of the year… and lots of rolling!

 

[Ample Prosecco]

2 weeks till I go eventing (eeeeek) so this weekend I’m focusing on test riding and having a jumping lesson. Super excited.

 

[TPO]

Hack, hack, hackety hack is what's on the cards this weekend and I'm so looking forwards to it. Last weekend's clinic was awesome but it will be nice to have a relaxing one this weekend. We can then crack on from there. I'm already rather pleased as have managed to hack out the baby loop solo yesterday and today.
This may be the year I'm able to enjoy going out hacking with my horse solo and putting the world to rights as we do.

Will there be a clinic report from last weekend? ?

 

[Season’s Bleatings]

I had lovely plans - lesson today with an Irish international rider, and OH planned xc schooling tomorrow. Weather to be fantastic blah blah blah.
Rode last night and horse didn’t feel quite right, so all out the window now - just a niggle hopefully! Will trot up later, if he’s ok then maybe a short hack tomorrow.

 

[iknowmyvalue]

Was supposed to go XC schooling today but instructor is unwell so can’t go (and the 3 people I could have asked to be ground crew are busy). Frustrating but oh well, these things happen.

We’ve got a hunter trial tomorrow instead, so will feel better if that goes well ??

 

[Peglo]

Went an ‘easy’ hack today and got chased by pigs! Thankfully I saw them coming and jumped off but they followed us down the road and kept going up behind Tali and I was scared they might try and bite her. I tried kicking at them to get them to turnaround and go away (we just had a thread about whips and people said they take one with them to shoo animals away, should’ve listened) but they kept coming up behind T. I came to a gate so opened it and closed us in so the pigs couldn’t get us and wondered around the field until the pigs were rounded up. Tali was actually a little star with it all and the wind had picked up a lot but she didn’t get half as huffy as me ? I walked her to the beach before getting back on and she was totally unfazed. Oh I just love this wee pony.
since I was unmounted may as well get a pic

crazy mane to show off the wind

 

[stangs]

Went an ‘easy’ hack today and got chased by pigs! Thankfully I saw them coming and jumped off but they followed us down the road and kept going up behind Tali and I was scared they might try and bite her. I tried kicking at them to get them to turnaround and go away (we just had a thread about whips and people said they take one with them to shoo animals away, should’ve listened) but they kept coming up behind T. I came to a gate so opened it and closed us in so the pigs couldn’t get us and wondered around the field until the pigs were rounded up. Tali was actually a little star with it all and the wind had picked up a lot but she didn’t get half as huffy as me ? I walked her to the beach before getting back on and she was totally unfazed. Oh I just love this wee pony. View attachment 89214
since I was unmounted may as well get a pic
View attachment 89215
crazy mane to show off the wind

Very jealous of both your stunning girl and your hacking! (Definitely don’t envy you the pigs though)

 

[scats]

Friend got a few clips of me and Polly this morning as I was working in to do a bit of polework.
Friend calls that jumper my Freddie Kruger top

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Today was not a good day for hacking ? Story time!

Warning: Long post alert

Today was very windy.

All was fine until we approached these two large houses in the forest (former mill/restaurant/guesthouse). There's often kids around making all sorts of noise or bouncing on a trampoline, but not today. Apparently they've decided to **dramatic instrumental noises** remodel one of the buildings. On top of the roof of said building was a giant flailing noisy tarp. So there's this giant flailing noisy monster in the sky (the house is quite tall), and my horse got quite nervous and veered down the wrong path, while friend was on the other path still.

My horse is not the confident type so the if the other horse he's with on a trail goes out of sight, he worries, or does a lavade in an attempt to impersonate a horse from the Spanish Riding School. If he's by himself or horses come and go from the school, he's fine. He's not what I'd call herdbound exactly, just finds it alarming when his hacking partner takes off without him. So we meet back at the fork of the two trails and friend's horse (in her mid 20's, but not in her own mind!) takes off. She sort of gets her back, then she takes off again. My horses worry basket is now overflowing. His worst nightmares are coming true.

We sort of keep her in our sights, but then she really takes off and is gone. Initially I was in a panic, but realized only one of us can panic here. So a sort of calm washed over me and I began whistling to him (he's a Spanish horse, so he knows this as a slow or stop command) and using some gentle half halts. I know I cannot fall off because 1. It'll hurt and 2. He'll be even more terrified

So I know I can't hold him back too much because he'll feel trapped and boil over, but I can't let him run home in a blind panic either, so we settle on a piaffe/Spanish shuffle of sorts. Got a few steps of walk mixed in there too. The key point was that he ultimately stayed with me and I didn't hit the deck. We eventually caught up with friend and her horse who thankfully decided to stop.

Oddly, I'm quite pleased with him. He was initially scared of me raising my voice, so when I went to speak a bit loudly again to my friend, he spooked a wee bit. He was quite shaken up by the ordeal and he's an incredibly sensitive soul. We went to the outdoor school and trotted around a bit, then walked for awhile and he felt ok on a mostly loose rein.

When I stopped to get off of him I could feel his heart beating again and he was still quite reactive (even to me jumping off), so it was possibly best that we just did some light trotting, keeping it as relaxed as possible, and called it a day. I knew that the slightest thing could overfill his worry basket.

But still, I would've been on the ground a few years ago, and he didn't enter blind panic mode (which, he has done in the past - mostly spinning us into a bush). Ultimately, he did nothing "wrong" (as I think many horses would find this situation alarming) and I was possibly lucky to be on him, in that he didn't buck, rear, or take off like a freight train. I really mean it when I say this horse will not run away with someone ? but he will try to impress you with his dance moves, mainly of the piaffe and pirouette variety. His version of "strong" in the mouth is (sadly) another horse's "normal"

Tomorrow I planned on handwalking with the dog and OH anyway, so we'll head back to the scene of the crime and also do some hand grazing in the area. Just going to stroll by the houses real casual and keep things normal and relaxed. Might not be as windy either. I don't want to over stress his sensitive self, but also think just going by everything like we would normally on our walks will be ok. He's a bit better with someone on the ground...but interestingly when you dismount him when he's in a panic, it's too much for him and it gets worse. Better to ride it out with this one. Not the "norm" I know, but it's just him.

 

[GinaGeo]

They’re all so different aren’t they CC ? Sounds like a positive, and very clever boy for staying with you ?

We had another fun explanatory hack today. Lots of splashing, lots of cantering ?

 

[Bernster]

Blimey, some exciting activities today!

The sun shone on our first attempt at dressage. I’m feeling amazingly non nervous at the moment, don’t quite know why, maybe I’m just so pleased to be out after lockdown etc that I’ve forgotten to be nervous! Anyway, I had very low expectations again, and was pleasantly surprised at how well it all went.

The slightly nappy nervous Bertie of last year (when he was new) seems to have been a settling in/new home thing, and he’s a delight to take out now. Long may that last ?.

We were both a wee bit tense so didn’t do our best work, but very happy with a creditable 66.5% and 3rd place for our first attempt. The good bits got 7s, the less good got 6 and 6.5 but it was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. The marking was perhaps a bit on the generous side (and it’s unaff) but pfft to that - we had a great day out and that’s what matters.

 

[J_sarahd]

Not sure if anyone remembers the massive confidence knock we had late last year/early this year but today has just given me my confidence back and then some. We did an 80-90cm course (so not huge but big enough) and he was incredible and got us out of some very bad strides and I am actually proud of how I rode!