Winning weekend!

What a brilliant weekend. I'd absolutely love to spend every weekend like that. I can dream eh?

I spent all of Friday getting her ready. I had a little ride in the morning just working on getting the right canter lead. She was tired and it was a bit shakey but she was a very good girl. God I love that pony. Anyway, after that I gave her a mini bath to get rid of the stains on her bum and neck. The weather wasn't too bad and the sun even came out at times. It took forever though! Once that was done I began the mammoth task of plaiting her. She was a very good girl and very patient. I wrapped her up in her lycra bodysuit and fleece to keep her clean overnight.

Saturday morning I got an early train to the farm and found her with a poo stain on her bum. I now know it was the rug that put it there, seeing as one appeared in exactly the same place on Sunday morning! Anyway, washed it off, got tacked up and set off with Donna and Pam to Hargate. I'm still quite nervous hacking but little Safmonkey was great. It took about 45mins to get there and it was a great looking yard. Very jealous of all the facilities they have there! All the kids milling about would piss me off though. Anyway had a warm-up and she was going nicely. Wasn't bothered about kids flying around jumping or scary looking WH fences in the warm up arena.

We went in for our walk trot test and she went in very nicely. We actually got a 7 for our trot down the centre line! The rest of the test went nicely. She was dropping down into an outline a lot but not consistantly. I mucked up the half 10m circles and she was falling out through her outside shoulder quite a lot but for her first ever dressage test I was very pleased with her. Her walk needs to be more forward going and obviously get her to work consistantly in an outline but she showed definite promise.

We went in for our prelim test and again she behaved very well. She needed to be more forward going and we need to work on our canter transitions to make sure she doesn't hollow and that she canters as soon as I ask rather than running into it.

I was thrilled with our placings! We came 3rd in both!! The first test was out of 12 and the second out of 6 but I was expecting to come 6th because the other tests I saw looked very good. Our placings mean we've qualified for UK Riders Challenge 2010 regional finals!!! We'll definitely be giving those a go! Hopefully by then (June) she'll be working consistantly in an outline and her canter will have improved. Very happy with her on Saturday!


Sunday morning and I was greeted with another poo stain. She hesitated a bit when loading, not helped by bloody kids being stood around the box saying her name. I told them to move and they didn't. I was hoping she'd spack out and kick them but hey ho, no such luck. I got the box man to poke her in the bum with my lunge whip and she walked straight on. She travelled fine and we got there in good time. She was such a good girl in the lead rein class. The kid rode like a prat and didn't remember to salute at the end so came last. Not arsed, Saf was an angel. My first class was straight after that. We came last at the last show! I was determined to do better this time. It was a different judge which I was a bit miffed about because I wanted to show the other judge she was wrong when she said it'd take her ages to learn to soften. Today's judge was very nice though. There was a bit of drama as we were all cantering round as a spooky horse got scared by something and set another one off, sending it one way and its rider the other. She got her arm tangled in her reins and got dragged a couple of metres. Poor thing. The horse then legged it around the arena a couple of times so we all had to stand and wait while that sorted itself out. She went nicely in out individual show. Struck off on the wrong canter lead once but sorted it out. We came 3rd in that so I was very pleased :) We also got a rosette for being the highest placed member in that class. Yey!!

Next was ridden showing. It was a tough class but she did well and came 5th. Ridden coloured was a very tough class too with some beautiful horses. We got 4th in that one so I was all smiles :) All in all, a very good day. She's so easy to take to places. Not stressful at all. She spent her down time sunbathing by the box!

Brilliant weekend!! Six rosettes to show for all her hard work. She's had a well deserved day off today. Jumping lesson tomorrow :)

Can you say outline?

Eeeeee she's amazing :D I took her in the school today to practice what we did yesterday and I wasn't expecting much really. She was brilliant! She felt tired, not sure what to do about that at the moment, but warmed up properly and did plenty of tight circles etc. Once she was warmed up I asked her to soften in halt. No problem. I asked in walk and she got it after a few strides. I then asked in trot and she did it after half a lap!! I was sooo pleased!! I was using firm but gentle aids so I wasn't getting too tense and she took to it like a duck to water. It's not consistent but she does drop down when I ask so it's just a case of being quick to react to her actions and she'll soon learn she needs to maintain it. She feels so light on my hands when she does it. I really hope I can get her to do it at the show seeing as the judge said it would take ages to get her in an outline because of her neck muscles. Pah. 3 weeks!! I know judges are unlikely to ever take her seriously as a show pony but that doesn't bother me. She's more special than any of the horses at that show and probably has more intelligence in her hoof than the majority! She's wonderful :)

Great lesson

Cara came to give us our lesson today. Having weekly lessons has been the best thing I've ever done with Saffy. It's helped us no end. I was wondering whether she'd start to drop down into an outline like she was doing yesterday but needn't have worried. After warming up and a little bit of persuasion she dropped down nicely. She doesn't hold it for long at the moment but still the fact that she's dropping her head at all is a huge achievement for us. Cara even got us attempting it in trot! Oh my god I haven't had a work out that hard in years!!! It was such hard work. I need to be firmer with my legs whilst maintaining the contact so I'm constantly working her into the bridle. I managed to get it right a good few times which I was very pleased with but I did feel a bit like I was going to die :) She feels so lovely when she drops down. I can't wait until we're getting it more consistantly. She'll look amazing!

Managed to book Barry to take us to Urmston show too which is a relief. Should save us some money. Excited!

Wonderful pony :)

Yesterday I put up a double, a straight (2ft3) and a *scary* straight which comprised of traffic cones, red and green poles and a roadworks plank. Overall she did very well. She knocked more than last time but she did feel quite tired and it was a warm day. After a couple of run-outs she tackled the double successfully and the straight was no problem at all. She ran out of the scary one a few times but then popped it no problem. The majority of the knocks were down to striding but some were lazy. I'm going to start using harder poles so she doesn't think she can knock them as easily. She tried hard and I was pleased with her progress :)

Today I wasn't feeling great and was angry that she'd been left soaking wet in her stable but I felt better once I'd spend some time with her. I did about 25mins of schooling and she was great!! I warmed up and practised our intro dressage then I had a little canter (still wasn't taking off on the correct lead on the left rein..not sure why she's reverted to that..need to be clearer with my aids). I then started asking her to come down into an outline in walk but it wasn't working. I said to someone at the gate 'she's never going to want to go on the bit'. Cue Saffy dropping down into an outline and holding it for pretty much 4 complete laps of the school!!!! My voice was getting so high only dogs could hear it!! I was SO pleased with her. When she brought her head back up I'd open my hands again and she'd drop right down straight away! She's so so clever. It's like the break from schooling has given her time to mull over what I've been asking of her. She's not holding her head still yet when it's down but given it's only been a week since I started asking her to drop I'm more than happy with her!!

The kids had a practice on her then for the show. I felt sick at the way they ragged her mouth when they rose to her trot. I'm going to make sure they keep a long rein to avoid it as much as possible. Wish I'd never opened my big mouth now. Still, each one will only ride for 10mins at each show so she'll be a good girl and put up with it. After that, nobody else inexperienced is riding her ever. She's been so patient with me letting novices on her. Now she's growing up and schooling properly I'm not having anyone else ruin it. I love my little girl far too much for that.

This week..

Oops not updated as much as I would have liked. Got a lot of uni work on. Bleurgh.

Tuesday..
We had our lesson in the morning. It was the hardest lesson yet. Cara wants me to get her working in an outline in walk now. Little ponio doesn't understand what I want her to do and I feel a bit useless. I need to relax more through my shoulders and arms whilst getting her more balanced with my legs. As soon as she drops I need to release the strong contact and take my legs off. I'm finding it really difficult but I know it should come with time. Thing is, Cara got on and within a few mins she had her going in an outline. Ok so it wasn't a constant one and didn't look very comfortable but she had it and maintained it. I can't seem to get her to that stage at the moment. It was great seeing someone who can actually ride ride her though. She looked so beautiful in an outline :) A proper horsey.

After the lesson we walked down to Ben's farm on our own. It was a lovely day and Saffy was foot perfect. She seemed to really enjoy our little trip :)

Wednesday...
I tried to practice what we'd done in our lesson but she was having none of it. She dropped down once in walk but she was getting really frustrated after a while so I moved on to practise the dressage tests. She was a very good girl, just need to make sure I keep the impulsion all the way round. I was disappointed I couldn't get her in an outline more in walk but she'd done it once so better than not at all.

After that I took her down the road towards the main road. I was going to try her on the main road on our own but she started to tense up when we got there so decided not to risk it. Glad I did in the end when I realised the playground by the road was full of screaming kids! Instead I took her back up to the farm, went past it and then went down Gorsey (very steep road..30% gradient in parts!) and back up again. It was the furthest we've been on our own and she was very good. It's a massive workout for her so when we got back she was soaked with sweat bless her. Will be very good for getting her fit and working her back though.

Thursday..
Day off for Saffy but not for mummy. Driving lesson, uni work, lecture, tutorial, work.

Friday..
I decided to lunge her because we hadn't had a lunging session for about 3 weeks now. I put elastic side reins on for the first time. I started with them very loose while she was warming up. Once she'd had a warm up in both directions I tightened them up a bit. They were attached low on the girth to encourage her to drop her head and they were loose enough so that she could drop her head as low as she wanted but not put it up too much. She walked on perfectly. Took her a minute to realise she was meant to be going forward and that the pressure on the bit didn't mean slow down. She then proceeded to walk around with her head in a lovely position :) I made sure she was working properly from behind and the whole picture was great. I'm going to do this more often now to get her used to working with her head in that position.

I got on her and did a little bit of canter. For some reason she was striking off on the wrong leg on the left rein. That hasn't been a problem of late so don't know what caused that. Hopefully it's just a one-off. I took her down the road to Ben's again to drop off my straw money and again she was great. She went past a tractor and roller making loads of noise without batting an eyelid but refused to go past a guy up some scaffolding. I got off and head her past no problem. She was fine on the way back. Daft pony.

Saturday..
I intended to jump but the weather's been miserable so I just did my jobs and gave her her tea. Will hopefully be able to jump tomorrow though. I'm going to set up a double to see how she is with those. Excited!

Update from the weekend

Friday:
It was really windy but I decided to try schooling. Because of the weather everything was far too interesting outside the arena so I got giraffe Saffy most of the time. She did drop down for a few strides in walk though after loads of effort so I guess I got somewhere at least. Did lots of canter transitions across the diagonal. Her canter is absolutely divine at the moment. Sooo nice to sit to.

Saturday:
Went on a looong hack with Harry :) She was so much happier with a sensible lead horse and didn't put a foot wrong. She had a tiny spook at a rattling van but literally just a jump. We rode for 2hrs, a lot of roadwork and some very steep hills so she was knackered when we got back but she seemed to really enjoy it all. It's boosted my hacking confidence loads. Can't wait to get out hacking more, especially in the summer. It seems a few shows are hacking distance away so it'll be great to get out and about loads and get some rosettes!

Sunday:
I was hungover so she had a day in the field :)

Monday:
Jumpies! I put a jump up on each long side and one across the diagonal. The diagonal was a x-pole and there was a spread (2ft) and a straight (2ft3 then 2ft6). I warmed her up and popped her over the x in trot. She usually refuses the first jump so I made sure I rode her positively upto it and she popped it quietly. Did that a couple more times then cantered over it no problem. I went to the straight in canter and she refused! I think it might have been me just being a bit unsure. We managed it after that. She even gave my friend's horse a lead over it! She was jumping so cleanly and quietly. It's like something's really clicked. The spread wasn't a problem for her either. She made such a good job of them all and really tried hard. She got so excited towards the end she put in a few little bucks! So cute. We did the full *course* a couple of times and she was great. It was her first try jumping more than one jump at once so I was soo proud of her.

I'm taking her to a jumping have-a-go fun day on 11th April and going to do the clear round, 1ft9 then 2ft3. That'll be her first time jumping away from home but it's a really relaxed environment so I think it'll be great for her. Very excited! If that goes well I'm going to enter her in some jumping classes at another local show as practise for the big local one in May!

Our first hack

Today we went on our first proper hack since moving to the yard. We went during rush hour and with only a young skittish horse for company so probably wasn't the best idea. Saffy was, as usual, pretty great. She spooked at a couple of things (drains, double decker bus hitting branches, grit container) but nothing too bad at all. She doesn't care about vehicles passing her it's just the sudden noises. I think she'd have been pretty foot-perfect if she'd have been with a more sensible horse. We stayed in walk barr 2mins of trot but because we spent half an hour walking up a huge hill she was soaked with sweat when we got back :)

I wasn't very comfortable riding on the main road but I think if I went during the day or at the weekend then it'd be loads quieter and I could relax more. If the weather holds out we'll be going out with Pam and Harry on Saturday so hopefully that'll give her more confidence. Overall I was very impressed with her considering it was a whole new experience with lots of potentially scary things :)

4th Lesson

Cara came today and we had our 4th lesson. Can't believe how quickly Saffy has come on since we started lessons! She felt quite tired today but she worked nicely. We started off doing a 20m circle around x and then turning off to do a 10m circle on the other rein at various points on the circle. It was very good for getting her to engage both her hind legs. I really need to make sure I'm sitting up straight and not leaning in on turns.

We then went onto cantering more circles and her canter seemed so much more balanced and she was back on her hocks more than before. It felt really nice :) We did some leg yielding in canter and she really took to it easily. We came back to walk and attempted to get her to engage and soften to walk in an outline. Bless her she didn't have a clue what I was asking! It took about 10mins of walking with a consistent contact and random bursts of trot to get her thinking 'forward' and she dropped down! She did it!! It wasn't consistant but she did it for one long side of the arena and got lots and lots of praise. It felt wonderful!! I didn't expect to start working on her outline properly for ages yet, partially because of what the judge said about her neck being upside down, but my little star has shown she can do it!

Tomorrow I'm hoping to go on a hack then she'll have a day off on Thursday. Friday will be schooling and going over what we worked on today and Saturday another hack. She'll probably get a day off on Sunday. If I'm not hungover I'll go and either jump or lunge. In fact, I may as well plan out now what I intend to do leading upto the dressage and show.

Wed 10th Hack
Thur 11th Day off
Fri 12th School
Sat 13th Hack
Sun 14th Day off/jump/lunge
Mon 15th Jump/school
Tue 16th Lesson
Wed 17th Hack
Thur 18th Day off
Fri 19th School
Sat 20th Jump
Sun 21st Hack
Mon 22nd School
Tue 23rd Lesson (and chiropractor)
Wed 24th Day off
Thur 25th Day off
Fri 26th School

More jumpies

I wasn't intending to jump 2 days running but my friend wanted to try her horse over a few so decided to give it another go. Saffy was wicked :) Warmed up then went upto the cross in trot and she refused so I gave her a smack and came back round and she flew it. She always tries to get out of it at first then she realises she loves it bless her. I seem to have killed my 'cantering-upto-jump' demons and cantered upto every one from then on. She was brilliant. Really tried her little heart out. It wasn't a huge jump, about 2ft, but I was more concerned with starting to get her striding right. She makes such a lovely shape over jumps and really gets going, little ears about to pop off they're that far forward! She's going to be a great little jumping pony :D

I also had a go on another horse at the yard which was a first for me because I'm usually too chicken to get on random horses but I really enjoyed it. It was very nice to ride a horse who naturally goes in an outline. Can't wait til Saf is like that. Still wouldn't swap her for the world though :)

Bit of background info..

Saffy is the most wonderful horse in the world. She has just turned 6, is a part-bred appaloosa and stands at almost 14.1hh. I have owned her since 31st July 2008. She came from a dealer and had just been backed and ridden away. Unfortunately I had to put her out on loan 6 months after getting her but she came back to me 9 months later and now she's staying with mummy forever.

So far she has come on from a funny looking little baby who was scared of men/headcollars/saddles/rugs to an adventurous little madam who tries her brave little heart out. We just started lessons together a few weeks ago and since then she has come on in leaps and bounds. I am working on getting her to work in more of an outline at the moment now she is moving forward properly. I am also focussing on accurate transitions and getting her to soften in halt. Finally, she is learning to jump. I'm taking it slowly so she doesn't get bored with anything and she's coming on wonderfully.

In the last few months we have done some interdressage tests and she has had pleasing scores, our best so far being 64%. My next aim for interdressage is to get a score above 65%.

She had her first show last weekend which went brilliantly. She behaved excellently and didn't bat an eyelid at anything. Took everything in her stride. We got 4th (out of 4 but 6 started the class and had to leave because their ponies were playing up) in equitation, 4th (out of 8!! very pleased!) in ridden showing and 6th (out of 7) in ridden coloured (she was tired by this time but still behaved well). Now she's seen what it's like we can aim to perform better every time we go.

Today I jumped her properly for the first time in a while and she loved it. By the end she was popping 2ft6 quite easily and giving it plenty of air so again, very pleased with her. My aim as far as jumping is concerned is to get round a small clear round course by the end of May. I also have an irrational fear of cantering upto jumps (god knows why!) so I want to crack that.

Finally, I intend to do a lot more hacking to get her muscles built up and to get her used to being out of the school. My confidence isn't great in that area so building it up is another goal.

That's all for now! Here's to the summer...