Equestrian

Riding in a Winter Wonderland

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We have been having a proper wintry week.  The snow started for us on Tuesday, we had some heavy snow showers on Wednesday and a proper snowstorm on Thursday night.  Everything is very icy as well but I was pretty disappointed that the snow at home was mostly very wet and didn’t always settle properly.

However, I have been out and about this week as the ponies went away to my instructor’s yard for a few days.  The yard is high enough above us for the snow to have settled much more than it did at home.  In fact, I was worried they would be snowed in and the ponies wouldn’t be able to go at all.

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Luckily, the roads weren’t that bad and the ponies were duly collected on Wednesday.  I have had a fantastic few days playing in  the snow.  Thursday was the best day though – a heavy snowfall was forecast for the afternoon so I decided to ride nice and early.  Driving over to the yard the roads were pretty clear so I fully intended to take Galahad out for a hack.  First though, I had to school Cookster.

The school was excitingly snowy when we started and before long a few flakes of snow were falling, just to add interest.  Those few flakes increased and suddenly we were in a proper snowstorm.  It was really rather lovely.

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I’m not sure how much Cookster appreciated it but I certainly did – everything was so beautiful!  Even better, my riding skirt was getting a proper use too.

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Of course, I couldn’t very well take Galahad out on the roads in weather like that so we stuck to the school too, although – annoyingly – the snow had stopped by the time I got on him.  Not that the roads would have been safe anyway!

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I know the snow causes all sorts of problems but I can’t help enjoying it!

More Ingratitude

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After Galahad tore his rug last week, Cookster has been causing problems of his own.  I had left Galahad’s old rug and a stable rug hung on the wall between the two stables and Cookster pulled them off and trampled them into his dirty bed.

I picked them back up – several times – but he kept pulling them down again.  I should have known better – he is constantly taking stuff down.  I have to keep a very close eye on him if I want to put my saddle on the wall or door as he can be quick to knock that down too.

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The rugs were too disgusting to put in the machine so I had to wash them by hand.  It was actually a lot of fun, although I got very wet and it was freezing cold.  It should be more of a summer job really!

An Ungrateful Pony

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Just before Christmas I decided it really was time for Galahad to have a new rug.  His old one was reasonably sound but, even though it didn’t actually let the rain through, the water wasn’t really repelled either.  The outer layer of the rug stayed wet so effectively Galahad was constantly wearing a cold blanket.  That’s not really ideal so a new one was procured.

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I was rather pleased with it and for a few days Galahad really looked very smart.  Then, of course, he had to roll in the muddiest part of the field.

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Still, it could have been worse – this week he has decided to tear it.

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He probably caught it on the fence, although Cookster does like to play with fabrics so I’m not yet convinced of his innocence!  Either way – it looks like it’s time for me to get out the sewing kit.

Exciting Hacking

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This morning my sister and Cookster joined Galahad and I for a very exciting hack indeed.  Partway up the hill I got off to replace the lid on a pheasant feeder.

 

 

 

I found there was a mouse trapped inside it and although I’m sure it was very happy with all the food, I couldn’t just leave it there.  That meant I had to rescue it which was much easier said than done – it was not at all keen on being caught!

I had to stick my whip in the hole at the bottom to stop it hiding in the actual feeder part!

Further up the lane we stopped to look at the sheep when a pheasant ambushed us from the hollow tree right by Galahad’s head.  I was very impressed by how little he spooked but apparently Cookster’s heart rate noticeably increased.

We did have fun!

New Toys

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My riding since Christmas has been enlivened by a new toy – I was very lucky to receive an action camera and have been having great fun playing with it.

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The quality is not quite what it should be as I had managed to miss one of the protective films over the lens!

I have also been experimenting with the camera angle – I thought I had it more or less right, although perhaps it could do with being a little higher.  Then we tried cantering.

Some work to be done there I think!

I have had so much fun playing with it though and I am very much looking forward to using it on more of our rides.

In other news, the dog has also been enjoying her Christmas present.

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She is now much cosier when I am out riding!

Delivery Ponies

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This week it was time for our annual pony post delivery of Christmas cards.  We had to leave it quite late in the day so we almost – but not quite – ran out of light.  It was just an added bit of adventure for us!

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We had a lovely time wending our way along the lanes with our tinsel and festive hats.

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It is such a joy to be able to do it – when I was a child I watched my instructor’s daughter deliver their cards on horseback and it is so wonderful to do the same myself.

Christmas Dressage

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It has been a busy day!

I found out yesterday evening that I was able to take Cookster to the Christmas dressage show today as well as Galahad.  I had a concert last night and I spent all the time I wasn’t playing frantically learning two extra tests for him.

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Cookster’s classes were up first and I was a little apprehensive – we hadn’t had a chance to practise and our steering was a bit questionable in the warm up.  However, although his tests were not perfect by any means I was very pleased with the progress he has made.  He even managed to score an eight for his final halt (the halt in the first test was not good at all).

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The last time Galahad did a dressage test with Cookster also at the show we had a disastrous round and I didn’t know quite what to expect this time.  What I got was an extremely noisy pony but thankfully one who was willing to actually listen and do what I asked him.  Sadly, I was back to having to ask a couple of times for the correct canter lead on the right rein but otherwise it felt really good.

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Galahad was a lot more forward going today – we usually get comments about needing more energy so this was good to feel.  I was also especially pleased that our halts went well as we had rather an argument about them yesterday.

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Cookster was unplaced in his first class but came seventh in his second while Galahad came away with a ninth and a seventh.  They were big classes as it was a championship event so I was thrilled with both of them.  Galahad’s first test was one we did a fortnight ago and we got a better score this time around.  It’s a definite sign of improvement which is always welcome.

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It might have been a long day but despite the rain and cold we had a fantastic time.

Dancing in the Rain

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Last weekend Galahad and I went to our first competition in several months.  It was a riding club dressage event and I was very happy to be out competing again.

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The warm up was slightly interesting – there were cross country jumps stacked around the arena which Galahad thought were pretty scary – I spent half my time trying to persuade him to go near them.  Then the rain started coming down in earnest.  I had forgotten my contact lenses and before long my glasses were covered with rain and I could barely see.

We got them cleaned up and ourselves into the indoor arena for our actual test.  Galahad settled down nicely and did what felt like a pretty good test.  I didn’t think it was amazing but he did everything I asked and – best of all – he picked up the correct canter lead on both reins.  As I said last week, that’s something on which we have really been working hard so I was especially pleased to get it right.

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Before long we were called for our second test and again it felt like a nice, safe clear round.  The canter leads were correct and this time our shapes felt a little more accurate.  I was so pleased with Galahad!

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Really, the canter leads made my day but it got better.  When the scores were posted I found I had scored 60.53% and 62.93%.  We got our usual comments about Galahad being, ‘Economical with the energy’ but the judge also made some nice comments about the trot which were good to see.  We placed second and fourth which was obviously great but even better the scores were good enough to qualify us for a local dressage championship next week.  So exciting!

Working on the Canter

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This week I have been focussing very much on our canter transitions.  Galahad particularly struggles picking up the correct lead on the right rein as the brand on his near hind makes it weaker.

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We have, however, been making progress.  This week we did some work on simple changes in a figure of eight.  We got the first one wrong but after that they went so well that I decided to try something a bit harder.

I trotted up the centre line, asked Galahad for a particular lead and he got every single one right.  That was unexpected!  The video isn’t perfect but it is proof.

I’m not expecting us to just get them all perfectly now – in fact it took us a couple of asks to get it right the very next day – but it is definite progress and it does show we are capable!

Autumn Rambles

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The ponies being away for a few days doesn’t just give me a chance to use the school.  We also get to explore some different hacking routes which is always a nice change.

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The other day I arrived a bit late but I had been looking forward to my hack and the sun was still a little way off setting so I decided I could get out as long as I was super quick getting ready.  I was soon on and we set off up the drive – me giving firm instructions that we would be walking nice and fast and trotting as much as possible.

At first Galahad was not impressed but before too long he decided it was quite fun after all.  In fact, I’d wound him up so much that he didn’t really want to walk at all and thought that canter would be much more fun than trotting.  He had a whale of a time!

I was not quite so convinced but it did the job – we got home before it was too dark!

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