What a day!

[madhector]

Well my trainer came out to me today and I had a lesson, I opted to ride on the field instead of the manege

(I did have a long chat with her about it though and she thinks the surface may be at the root of all my problems, me and dad are having serious talks about trying to improve it in the spring.) Anyways, had a fantastic lesson, he was a pain the the a**e at times but I worked him though it with the help of my trainer. We started introducing some lateral work (he has done a bit of leg yield in walk so far but has always found it a bit challenging) but today he really tried , and did some lovely leg yield in trot and some shoulder in in trot. I then attempted to ask for some lengthened strides and wow! He was super. She thinks he is going to really find this sort of thing easy as he just seems to do it naturally once the brain decides to listen. Worked on the canter too and it is getting there.

Came away feeling really pleased with him, he has improved so much

Then I went to jump a horse for a client and really wasn't expecting much as he is a very green Cobby type but turns out he has one hell of a jump

He gave me such a great feel, and was so quick to get the idea. I will get to compete him this summer so I have quite high hopes for this one.


She then said I can borrow her school once week and it is only a 10minute hack from mine so means I can really crack on with J

So had quite a productive day today, taking J to a jumping clinic tomorrow, and then new saddle being fitted on Friday, then jumping comp on Saturday (just a baby one to get him back into the swing of things after a week or two off)


Sorry, pointless post really but just in such a good mood thought I would share

 

[I_A_P]

yay sounds fantastic

and lucky you to borrow a school

sounds all very promising i need to find sumwhere to take digby

 

[Eccles]

Sounds like a good day!

You've got a woodchip surface haven't you? I had one a few years ago and it was really slippy. I had to roll it every single day or it was useless. Ironically, the wetter it got the better it behaved but was awful in the summer (however much rolling I did). As a consequence I lost confidence riding on it and rode in the fields (whatever the weather!!)

We since sold the farm but if I we were still there I would have thought about mixing some sand with it, don't know if that's worth a try?

 

[madhector]

It does make such a difference, she has been ok with me borrowing it occasionally but she is never there so it isnt easy, now I can come and go as I please

 

[madhector]

Yep its woodchip, and very slippy

We are thinking of putting some sand in to mix with it and improving the drainage at the same time.

 

[irishdraught]

That's interesting - I am looking to have an arena put in at home next year but can't afford rubber. Can you mix wood with sand?

 

[madhector]

Well it isnt advised as it causes it to break down quicker, but we dont have any other option really.

 

[lilpinkdonkey4]

We have a shingley surface... im not a fan of it, there is no spring to it... anway my mare was getting really confident jumping until i moved her here and im not sure if the surface is her problem, she just dives at the jumps... ive developed a fab hunting jump position though!

Is it only in flatwork that your horse isnt working as well on the surface?

 

[madhector]

I have never dared jump in there, would be awful

 

[Eccles]

No I never dared jump on mine, some of the liveries did though and it really stressed me out

We didn't know what else to do with ours either other than sand because you need something to add a bit of weight and stabilise it

Did you hire a sit-on vibrating roller to really pack it down, you can add water and it dampens and squashes it at the same time?

To be fair I don't think my arena was as bad as yours, but I had to keep it rolled all the time, and none of the liveries were as worried as me so I think a lot of it was in my head.

 

[madhector]

Nope, just used a standard roller, but will do next time, hopefully it will be more usable after a bit of tlc.

The ponies are fine on it, but they just run over the top, Spooks has loose jumped in there no problems but there is no way I would attemp to jump J.

 

[Eccles]

I think they advise that you use a vibrating roller before you use the arena, it helps it settle. We put ours down in the summer and it was so dry at the time, but it really helped. Our normal tractor and flat roller was okay afterwards but I had to go over and over the damn thing. Sounds awful, but lunging just digs it all up again too, so I had to ban that!

You can hire those vibrating rollers quite cheaply, they are easy to use but you need to be prepared to spend an entire day on it but it would work a treat in this weather. Might be worth a try. They are really heavy and as they vibrate it adds to the compaction. Might be worth a try.

 

[madhector]

Thanks will give it a go