Can we enter Badminton yet?

Had another lesson with Andrea on Monday. I had a very slow day at work today so spent a lot of time thinking of all the things that could go wrong in the lesson. Basically it boiled down to her refusing and me going over her head. As if that would signify the end of the world as we know it By the time I got to the yard I was nervous but very excited.

We started off with some canter poles in a line and a little cross pole. My main issue with Saffy jumping is that she has been stopping at 'new' jumps. Doesn't matter what they look like, if she hasn't been over it in that session she has generally been stopping. She doesn't do dirty stops as such, just stops and gawps at it waiting for the monster to pop out. Anyway today I trotted her up to the first jump and she went straight over it! Excellent!

RI then put the canter poles into a fan so I could stay on a circle, go over them (at 3 o'clock on a clock face) and then pop over the jump (at 9 o'clock..make sense?). We did that a few times and it felt great when I got the lines right. Saf has never done canter poles on a circle before but she handled them brilliantly.

I have been working on keeping my lower leg really far forward (I tend to bring it back) to work as an anchor and keep me upright. RI said it was a lot better than 2 weeks ago but still needed to be kept still. Will keep working on it! I did find having my ridiculously short stirrups helped a lot in terms of getting into a good jump position.

We did the canter poles (by now there was a jump at the end of the poles), round the cone to jump 1, back over 2 and then changed the rein over 3. We did that a few times on either rein, focussing on trying to get her to land on the correct lead. We managed fine over jump 1 but it all went a bit to pot over the poles She was still going over them and keeping the rhythm, which RI says is the most important thing at this stage.

To finish (it was an hour long lesson so we were both pretty tired by this point) we did a mini course, starting on the left rein. Saf was fantastic. I could tell she was tired, an hour jumping and cantering about is a lot for any horse, but she really went for it. She was stretching over jumps instead of the usual thing of chipping an extra stride in. It felt brilliant RI was really pleased with us and said we'd improved loads since our last lesson.

I was so chuffed I know we kept the jumps very small throughout but it really let us focus on getting the fundamentals down, which is only going to help us as the height builds. Perhaps most importantly, it's done my confidence the world of good. No refusals, no near falls, just a hell of a lot of fun

So, stuff to work on for the next fortnight:
- Keep lower legs forward and still, making sure knees are off saddle
- Introduce as wide a variety of jumps as possible - tyres, traffic cones, branches, water tray etc. Focus on keeping the rhythm and don't let her turn away from the jump if she stops.



Today (Saturday)

Saffy has had 3 days off this week so she was ready for a good ride this morning. I set up a course of 4 jumps in the outdoor, scattered about so I could ride some good combinations. It was raining so I had the massive arena to myself :) I had put some tyres under one of the jumps too, one of my aims for this fortnight.

We started off with a few nice playful spooks at...well nothing really. It's so nice to see her that lively. She wasn't being stupid, just kind of showing she feels well! I went over some canter poles I'd set out and she was great so I popped her over the first jump. This is where she usually either refuses or slows right down so she can check for lurking monsters. That didn't happen today, she just popped it! I took this as a good sign and turned her towards another. Pop! We managed the whole session without a single refusal. The did have a little look at the tyres but didn't stop.

She was just fantastic. I got off and put the jumps up so most were about 2ft-2ft6 and she bounded over them all. One big change today was that I didn't put any placing poles out, which is something I've been doing for a while to get her used to correct striding. The difference from a few weeks ago was amazing. She met more jumps on a good stride and those that she didn't she either stretched for it or put another small stride in. The thing I was most pleased with was that she altered her striding instead of coming back to trot, which is what she's always done until now. I've found counting her strides out loud really helps to drive her forward because I seem to ride more forward when I do that.

Next time I jump I'm going to try and get some bits and pieces to use as fillers etc. Now she's getting the rhythm under her belt I think it's time she got a bit braver and then we shouldn't have any problems in jumping classes this season. So excited :D

We've been hibernating...

Or at least that's my excuse for not updating this since the summer :) A lot has happened since then! We finished our showing season winning both the novice working hunter and the upto 15.2hh WH. I was thrilled! We did some dressage the week after but it was a bit of a washout, literally! We tried our first novice but because of the abysmal weather and the fact her shoe was hanging off (only discovered this on leaving the arena!), we didn't do so well. Still, onwards and upwards!

We moved to the other side of Manchester and had a couple of lessons with a dressage rider. Unfortunately Saf didn't settle at the first yard as it was very small so we moved to a much bigger place. We both love it there so all is good! We've been doing some dressage competitions and getting lots of 2nd place rosettes. Would be great to finish the winter dressage series next weekend with a first place! We'll see. Our best score so far has been 68% so it would also be great to beat our personal best.

We've started having lessons with a brilliant eventer. We've only had one so far but it was great. I've got a couple of points to focus on:

- Do not let her refuse. Keep jumps small so if she stops she can do it from a standstill.
- Look up. Pick a point in the distance and focus on it instead of gawping at the jump.
- Shorten stirrups by 2 holes.
- Keep lower leg forward and heels down as an anchor.
- Keep arms loose at all times. Flap like a chicken if necessary :)

I had a jumping session on Saffy today in the rain. She was brilliant! I was trying to keep all those points in my mind. I was definitely looking up more and she jumped loads better when I did. I started off with them very small and the dozy pony stopped. I made her do it from a standstill and she did it but after a couple of goes we had demolished 2 of the 3 jumps :) I got off and told her she was taking the piss, put them back up and got back on again. We came around again and she went over them perfectly from trot :) We did the 'course' (only 3 jumps) in canter a couple of times then I got off and put them up. She was fine until we got to the jump on the diagonal when she stopped. It was too big to jump from a standstill (I think anyway..) so I turned her the opposite way to the way she wanted to go, gave her a sharp smack with my whip and turned her on quite a quick turn. She popped over it and got lots of praise :) She backed off coming upto the biggest jump but I kept my lower leg forward, sat back and wrapped my legs around her which resulted in a nice little pop. We did the mini course a couple of times, making it up to 6 jumps by repeating a couple. She was fantastic! A couple of times we even got all the striding right! Bless her she doesn't stop if she's on the wrong stride, just tends to chip one in, but she was really working hard today.

So overall, good session! Looking forward to our next lesson in a week's time. Possibly hacking out tomorrow if the weather's not too bad and then going to focus on dressage on Monday. She's having the back lady out on Tuesday so will probably need a couple of days off afterwards so will probably leave her until Friday and so a bit of dressage and pole work before the dressage competition on Saturday.

Roll on spring!

Solid Fences and Red Ribbons

I really should update this thing more. Aaaanyway, what have we done since the last update? August 1st was Urmston show again. I took her in the WH clear round (it took about half an hour to get her round last time!) and my god she was on form! She flew round the whole course, only slowing to look at the water tray, never once feeling like she might stop. I then had quite a wait until the novice WH class. I eventually went in and she flew round again like a pro :) We went in and did our individual show and she behaved very well. We haven't ever been able to practice our gallop because of lack of space but she still picked up quite well.

It was all I could do to stop myself from crying when we got pulled in 1st!!! Our first ridden first at a show! I knew WH would be a good class for her :) Going to do it again at the next show (22nd) and even going to attempt the 14hh-15hh class. The height shouldn't be an issue, she's definitely got a pop in her!

The 8th August brought a clear round competition at the Etherow centre. It was very low-key but thought I'd take her anyway to give her more exposure. She was fine in the weird indoor arena they have (very dark with whacking great columns everywhere, right next to a train track) but was a naughty madam refusing the mini warmup jump. To be fair to her I think it was all just a bit confusing. Hacking down, being indoors, then suddenly a jump appears infront of her. Once we got in the outdoor with the course we were fine. Very tight turns were in order because of the size of the arena but she coped very well. We got a clear in the 2ft3 and 2ft6 :) The 2ft6 felt very easy which was great. Once she's used to scarier fillers etc we'll be able to start entering some decent size SJ competitions hopefully. I've been trying her with a new water tray, just getting her walking over it. She has jumped over it (after a long time working up to it) but I just want her to be 100% comfortable with it.

This week's lesson involved me and Donna hacking over to Happy Hooves to have a XC lesson. I was nervous but very excited. Saf has been jumping brilliantly recently and I wanted to see how she'd be over xc fences so hopefully we'll be able to start eventing next year. Well, I think I've found her forte!! We started with a small pile of tyres which she dragged me to and flew over with about 2ft to spare. We ended up doing a tyre jump (2ft3ish), the bank, the jump on top of the bank, a house type thing, a keg jump and a red plastic wall. I'm really pleased we did the wall because we had a bit of a daft time at Urmston the first time with their wall. I do need to try her with my bale covers, the weirder the better!

So Saffy is just being amazing at the moment! I couldn't find a better horse if I scoured the country! This Sunday we're doing beginners WH at Mottram show. Would be great to get round clear. Next Sunday is the last Urmston show I'll be able to make it to this year, sad :( But will hopefully go out with a bang!!

Dressage and Schooling

We entered a dressage competition on Saturday, Prelim 1 and 7. Did prelim 7 first (I'd wanted prelim 1 as a warmup..grrr) and she went beautifully. Got a lot to work on in canter but the rest seemed to go quite smoothly. We ended up with 64.5%!! Our best mark yet and we came 3rd :) Very pleased as it was a strong class.

Prelim 1 didn't feel as good. She wasn't as in front of the leg as I'd have liked but she still went fairly nicely. We got 60% for that (no improvement on our mark from March but she's completely different now so just shows different judges!) and won!! Very pleased with my little dressage pone :) I think once our canter improves and she's moving forward properly we should be getting much better marks, maybe even 70%! We'll see :)

I started her on Allen & Page Hacking Mix on Friday night to give her a bit more oomph. I've worked up gradually and she's now on a scoop a day so I'll see if that helps. I was schooling her today in a Derby House Samber saddle (want!) and she went beautifully. Much more forward going and was working in an outline for the vast majority of the time. I loved it :) Jumping lesson tomorrow! I'm going to ask if we can do some scary fences in preparation for working hunter on Sunday :)

Jumpy jumpy

Had another amazing jumping lesson today! I started with a 2ft warmup which, although small, makes me pleased we're now jumping bigger warm up jumps. Cara then put up a triple bounce, one stride then another jump. We bounced through them multiple times trying to get it right but she wasn't using her back legs enough and so was brushing the jumps and knocking them. She made me get a really bouncey canter instead of letting her go fast and flat. The best we did was a triple bounce (all about 2ft) then a straight of just under 3ft one stride after. It felt brilliant and she flew it!

Cara then made it into a double but put 2 poles meeting at the middle of each jump in a V shape to make her jump higher rather than flatter. She told me to be ready for her to stop because it was something new but I was determined to ride her through it and she popped through no problem! She really snapped her little legs up and again it felt great :) We were both melting by the end of it but she really seemed to be enjoying it bless her.

I've bought a new saddle off ebay this evening so hopefully it will arrive soon. It's the poshest saddle I'll have ever had, really hope it fits well!!

Out and about

I had such a good hack yesterday :) Unfortunately there's nowhere nearby to go offroad so we always have to do lots of road work on our hacks. She's fine with traffic and the drivers are generally very good so it's not much of an issue. She does like to gawp at peoples' gardens etc though which is quite embarrassing :)

We've hacked out about 4 times on our own and so far she's been pretty great. No unnecessary spooking (the crunchy leaf spook was entirely necessary). We went a different way to normal and went to a little park thing with a bridle path in it. It's tiny, takes about 5mins to walk around the whole thing. Anyway it was completely empty so we had a couple of good fast canters across the grass and she was loving it! It's the first time I've opened her up in ages and she really seemed to enjoy it. It made me realise how great her brakes are too. I didn't struggle to pull her up one bit.

We then went down a bit of the road we've never been down before and she was great aside from oggling a poor defenseless gardener. Got home and I was buzzing from how good she had been and the fact that I now have a pony who hacks alone! It means we can spend a bit less time in the school now so she doesn't go stale.

I got home and got an email off someone about a hound exercise run with the north east cheshire drag hunt this saturday. The kennels are a 45min hack away on a route we've been multiple times (never alone but it can't be too different..right?). I called the hunt master's wife and she was really nice. Apparently it's a fairly slow-paced hack out for a couple of hours followed by lunch at the kennels. It should be good to get her used to riding in such a big group and with the hounds etc without having to worry about charging through the countryside :) Sooo excited!! Will hopefully refresh her in time for the show on sunday too. Eeeeee :D

May, June, part of July

Once again it's been far too long since I updated this but we've been having a brilliant time :) After my last update she went lame for about 10 days due to the hard ground. I bit the bullet and had shoes put on her and it's done her the world of good. She really steps out more now and she's a lot less on the forehand which feels great.

June 13th Urmston
Not bad but not great. I was knackered and she needs me to be excited and lively to pass it on to her. I didn't agree with a few of the placings but she behaved, was a real credit.

June 20th Hargate Charity Show
Was a very hot day and the ground was rock solid. She was good, got some ok placings.

June 27th Dressage Regional Finals
She was a star to hack over there. It was her first time leading a hack that far and she didn't put a foot wrong. She worked in well and rode a really nice test for the intro. I was really pleased. We then did the prelim and she did very well but the other horses were all old-hands and the majority were also entering the novice. Got my result for the intro - we won!!! I was over the moon. Our first ridden red rosette :D It definitely suited her!

July 4th Hargate Show
Really crappy day out. She was great to hack there but just wasn't playing ball for the showing. We had our worst ever show and disgraced ourselves in the riding club horse class by jumping the tiny jump 4 feet at once and losing all stirrups/sense of pride. I decided then that we'd have a break from showing classes and do some working hunter to spice things up a bit.

July 11th Urmston
Brilliant day out :) We both felt recharged and under less pressure because we didn't have to rush around fitting into loads of classes. Did the WH clear round first and it took ages :) It was a really challenging course with a couple of solid jumps. We then went into the novice class and had 3 refusals but I was so pleased with her for trying her hardest. Plenty to improve on for next time! We had time to go in the riding club horse class then too which went brilliantly. She did a gorgeous gallop and popped the jump beautifully. I knew who'd win but we got 2nd!! AND, the best bit, the judge said it was extremely close!!! I was so pleased I almost cried :)


In between those shows we did 2 clear round evenings which were great. A short hack over to the farm then a really relaxed atmosphere to practise our jumping. She loved both times and did the 2ft6 course brilliantly :)

We've started having proper jumping lessons and she's really improving. I'm absolutely loving jumping her, it's so exhilerating. She really gets into it too which is great to feel. She jumped 3ft the other day! The kids kept putting the jump higher and higher to see what she could do :) I used to idolise people with their own horses when I was a kid, especially ones that could jump. Feels very weird to be that person now (not that they idolise me!!), although I absolutely love my situation.

Today in my lesson she did her first triple and then her first bounce, ending on a triple bounce, stride, 2ft 6 fence :D She was great once she realised what she had to do. I just need to remember to stay sat up so I don't unbalance her. My instructor also said it would be worth trying eventing with her!! I never thought she'd say that but I'm so excited to try. There's a small xc course nearby that I'm going to have a lesson on. All very exciting!

That's all for now. Got another show this Sunday, more working hunter classes!!