Who else has had to abandon aims and plans this winter?

Kokopelli

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So after having a fab lesson on Andy on Wednesday I haven't had a chance to ride him since but speaking with instructor and were thinking about taking him out of the single jointed snaffle as we think he doesn't like the nut cracker action. So I have a french link to try on him and a rubber snaffle and I can't try them :( I was really excited about it aswell.

He was also working SO nicely I was so impressed with him and my instructor adores him :D which is always a plus point. I had all these plans to get doing some polework with him get his muscle built up start lunging him, start hacking him and general fittening up.

Also booked in for a dressage comp this weekend which is cancelled! I am so gutted as I was really looking forward to it. Also had a couple of lessons booked with show jump instructor and these are cancelled as no way we can get to her!

To make it all worse if I passed my driving test then we would have moved to a yard with an indoor school but as I haven't passed yet we can't move so my plans would still be going :(

So I thought I'd make a thread for everyone to have a moan about all the plans they have had to cancell and aims which will not be achieved because of this bliming weather!!!

And breathe :D
 
I had a new horse about a month ago & havnt even ridden him yet, the grounds be so icy & hard it hasnt been safe to take him out, so frustrating!!
 
We've told our lorry maker to not rush (he was trying to finish it by New Year for us), my big lad was going hunting this season...he's now shoeless munching his way through a fortune of hay in the field everyday!! And my other boy is also shoeless and no where near ready for any of the Trec things I wanted to try next year or XC events we were going to have a go at!!

Nevermind they are happy and I'm not stressing about keeping them fit, I'll start working them again in Feb and worry about fitting in all the work then. :D
 
Glad I'm not the only one!

Navaho- I know how you feel I've had Andy 3 weeks now and only been able to ride a handful of times! Not great when you aim to get eventing fit by the spring! That is not going to happen


I wouldn't mind if he was happy but he just doesn't seem it I turn him out and he stands at the gate waiting to come in and I bring him in and he gets all stressed because he wants to be out!! I think he just wants a good blast but we cant' :(
 
I really wanted to spend a few month training at home, Lots of schooling, poles, jumping. Then spoil him for working hard with some long hacks to let off steam. I wanted to get him really fit and work off his excessive weight before spring. Him not being ridden is adding more weight on.
My sister had 2months off from an injury and got back on for a week before her horse having another break from the snow. She wanted to do lots of schooling this Christmas holidays to make up for the time off.

I might be going mad not riding but horses seem really happy with more time off.
 
I might be going mad not riding but horses seem really happy with more time off.

I know what you mean! I miss it but I think it may be doing him good. But he did have about 3 months off before we got him then he was in work for 5 weeks and now hes doing nothing again. I hate being so inconsistent with him.
 
Me too :( I was starting to get my old boy nicely muscled up and was hoping to really crack the schooling with my Welshie but I haven't been able to get them out of the field for the past week! They may be fairly low key aims but I'm still so disappointed. My old boy's neck has completely disappeared and all of a sudden he looks every year of 21 :( The Welshie will have forgotten everything we had been working on.
 
yep had a lesson and was making good progress with lots of things to work on and now I cant ride :( so will be further back again when we get riding. AND had only just finished the "I'm feeling fresh having been doing loads of fitening work with the good ground so I will buck if you even consider asking me to do anything or put your legs on or ask for a transition" so no doubt we will have that joy again when it thaws. Oh and we planned to go to his first sj at the end of jan so had loads of plans to get going with on that :(
 
yep I thought after my surgery I would be just starting to do some dressage tests and some small jumping. But everything is cancelled so haven't done any yet. I keep telling myself I still need to practice but can't get my butt into gear as it is so cold:rolleyes:
 
yep had a lesson and was making good progress with lots of things to work on and now I cant ride :( so will be further back again when we get riding. AND had only just finished the "I'm feeling fresh having been doing loads of fitening work with the good ground so I will buck if you even consider asking me to do anything or put your legs on or ask for a transition" so no doubt we will have that joy again when it thaws. Oh and we planned to go to his first sj at the end of jan so had loads of plans to get going with on that :(

And we can't get them fit for the Shetland Grand National ;)
 
Don't get me started! I haven't been able to get out hunting at all yet so far this season as I hack to the meets and before all of this bad weather, none of them were in within hacking distance... and now they are they are cancelled because of the weather! :mad: I was meant to be going today and today would have been one of the best ones of the season! Also, I've missed a Hunt Fun Ride because of the weather. :(

I am a self employed groom/rider and as a lot of the work includes hacking out people's horses for them I have had to cancel a lot of work because of this weather.

I am lucky that at the moment, we don't have any snow - just ice. The roads are quite well gritted around us so I can still take the sensible boy out and keep him as fit as possible for when we can eventually go hunting! I also have an Indoor school at my yard which I can use if it does get too icy (but spotty pony is much happier hacking if at all possible! :rolleyes:) With my young boy, I am not hacking him out as he isn't great with big traffic and is quite spooky so I don't want to risk him jumping onto patches of ice and slipping over so I can only school him at the moment. Had been planning on trying to hack him out 3-4 times a week as well to give him a bit of a break from schooling! Grrr! Stupid weather! :mad:
 
I have, I've been waiting years and years to get to the point and age where I can take my lad hunting in the New Year, before all this bad weather hit us (obviously you get worse weather in winter I know but this was something else!) so I was getting him fit and he was due to go out to some more dressage parties, all that ground to a sudden halt 4-5 weeks ago, now our school is iced up and I doubt it will be useable again for a long while now.

But at the end of the day, you can't help the weather and horses will always come back just as you left them if you put the work back in, it's not like it's not the end of the world and break does them good I say, so I'm over moaning about it now, just got crack on again when the sun comes back out. :)
 
Yep, I just got Ollie's weight up and he has done his check ligament in whilst in the field on Friday!! It's going to be a few months of slow recovery :( Also doesn't help that I haven't been able to him since he did it though!!!
So here is another praise for my amazing yard owner Brownmare and her brill husband who have both been amazing through all of this :D xx
 
I had soooooo many plans for Horrid. I wanted to take him hunting and had also pland to take him to some dressage after xmas. Just to do a walk trot test but it would be his first ridden party. :) But I've not ridden in a mounth due to a frozen school, snow, still frozen school and now more snow. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: Herbs is going to be....... well horrid horrid herbie when i'm able to get back on. I'm terrified we could well be back to squaire one if he has enjoyed his time off. :(:(:(

I HATE THIS WEATHER :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad: ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.





Ok and now breath :p :rolleyes: ;) :D :D :D
 
I'm hoping to ride on Thursday, rode once last week, and then twice in the 2 weeks before that! We are supposed to be doing the regionals in Feb for the first time for both of us so we'll be going regardless of preperations, but could be an interesting performance!
 
I was hoping to keep my 18 year old ticking over nicely through the winter, we only hack these days but I'd worked out that we could get out for two short (half hour) hacks during the week, and a longer one at the weekend, and I was planning a chaser clip... all now abandoned, he is getting massively fat in the field doing nothing in a foot of snow. As another poster has said, he is looking his age too. :-(

I've just rung my 73 year old parents and told them that they can't come to us for Christmas, I have the lurgy, MIL has the lurgy, father is going down with it, we have loads of snow and it would mean us collecting them halfway, then taking them back to that halfway point in enough time for them to drive home in daylight... simply not worth it, the snow and ice would terrify them. The turkey will go in the freezer, and we'll have a roast when all the snow has gone. So, abandoning Christmas, fairly extreme!
 
I'd planned to get out to some novice dressage in prep for doing it properly in the summer. My boy was going really well - we won our last prelim (1st win) - then 2 weeks later my other horse fractured his leg, and it started snowing, so riding is well and truly on hold!!
 
I got a new horse in September...he had so many issues we've sorted ( wouldnt be tied up, refused to be tacked up- never been taught to stand at a mounting block- never been hacked out alone......god, I pick 'em:rolleyes:)

....and he was doing so well - took him out for a ride alone and with a friend and I was so chuffed then... bam......ground to a halt again.:mad:

Can't be helped I spose, and as OH says- he's only a baby - roll on spring eh?
 
yes me!my foalies are not as handled as much as I would like them to be yet due to the dark and ice . I cannot take them walks down the lane or do much else TBH by the time I've carted water from home,as its frozen at the yard,mucked out,etc etc its time to go back home. Cant do much at lunch time then its dark at 4pm and we ave no lights.
 
I think if we get a winter like this next year the shoes will be coming off and he'll have a holiday until it thaws again! It will probably do him very good especially if he has a busy summer :)
 
Me!

Had just started proper ridden work in the school with my boy but thanks to this weather and the bout earlier have done no real schooling for over a month. Never mind will start again in the new year when i've dropped the stone i've gained from comfort eating :rolleyes:
 
Yep! Got a new horse in September and planned to do unaff dressage and showjumping this winter, got him out once and that's it, in this weather I'm not willing ot risk it. Wanted to start doing a bit more on the ground with my 2 year old, her fields quite far away and it's not safe to bring her up a lot etc. Someone was going to ride my mare for me as I don't have the time with work/uni and it's too bad for that!
Arggghh roll on summer! Or even spring! Or even no snow!
 
My jumping clinic was cancelled last Saturday, which I was really looking forward to. I've not been able to ride my new horse since last week :(
Also, We're supposed to be flying from Heathrow on Friday, but that looks like it might not happen (to be honest, I'd rather stay home over xmas anyway, so if my flight's cancelled, as long as I'm not stuck in the terminal I wont be upset - don't tell my OH that though!)
 
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