Equestrian

Back to Jumping

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Another result of the field drying out is that I can finally use my birthday present pole sleeve and filler.

Galahad was being a bit awkward steering wise as he wanted to go and talk to Cookster so he did run out once or twice.  We perservered though and eventually got some very nice jumps from him.

It is the first time he has jumped for several months and also the first time he has jumped a filler like this so I was actually quite pleased with him.  We also popped over a water tray and a log a few times – we had a rather productive session really.  It was great to be able to school again and we had a lot of fun.

Getting to Grips with Gates

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All this wonderful weather we have been having for the past couple of weeks has meant that the fields are drying out nicely.  That is good in itself but it also means that I am able to school again – hurrah!

The very first thing I wanted to work on was our gate opening. We have another trec competition coming up next week and I really want to have improved before that.  Plus, if I work on it then the chances are it won’t come up in the course!

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I wanted to take things slowly so we started by just walking past the gate.  Working on a circle so Galahad’s head was slightly turned away from it definitely helped.  That wasn’t a problem so we moved onto stopping and standing still but still not trying to actually touch the gate.  That took a bit more work as Galahad wanted to swing away from the gate so he was facing it and could see if it tried to attack him!

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From there we progressed to lifting the rope and putting it back again and before long we could open the gate and walk through it – from both directions of course.

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We still can’t close it again but we made huge strides in just one session and I am thrilled with that.

Galloping Galahad

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Last week I mentioned that that I was hoping to have some good hacks this week.  I was not disappointed!  We have had a glorious  week of sunshine and some wonderful rides.  We also managed to get into my neighbour’s fields for a canter for the first time this year which was excellent!

The first time we just stuck to a fairly steady circuit of the smaller field.  Both ponies were very well behaved and quite sedate really.

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A couple of days later we rode up again and also went into the larger field.  We had a lovely canter up one side and then walked past the pheasant farm which seems to have grown.  We stopped to have a better look – until Galahad decided it was far too scary and took off across the field.  He even threw in a few bucks for good measure which is something he hasn’t done for a long time.  I did manage to pull him up and we did walk down the hill but we did have to have to have a bit of an argument first.

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 Once we did get down the hill we had a lovely canter back up again and we did then have another nice canter back in the first field.  We even walked sensibly away from Cookster so my sister could take the photograph.

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Galahad does seem to have got into a bit of a habit of taking off sometimes when we go out for a canter.  I think it is more joie de vivre than anything else but it is still not a good thing.  It is definitely something we need to work on.

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We still had a lovely few days though and are so much enjoying ourselves.

Not Working Too Hard

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I have written several times about the relaxing rides I have had on Cookster but I don’t think I have ever done the same for Galahad.  In fact, sometimes I find that I am unconsciously nagging him when we are hacking.

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I don’t know if it is because I can’t school at the moment (although I think the field is very nearly dry enough) and I am trying to make up for that.  Obviously it is good to school out hacking but I don’t want to be nagging all the time.  Besides, it is such a wonderful feeling to be more relaxed when hacking.

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This week though, I was riding Galahad and suddenly realised that we were walking where normally we would be trotting.  Not only that, I was completely calm and relaxed.  We have now had a couple of hacks like it and they have been wonderfully peaceful.  It has been so great to finally get to ride Galahad in this way.

Enjoying The Sunshine

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We have had some wonderful weather over the past few days.  The sun has been shining and it has been really warm.

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Galahad has spent most of the days without his rug and he has definitely been making the most of the time – he is constantly covered in mud!

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Yesterday I was out for the evening so it was my Dad who had to put the rug back on.  Galahad did not want to cooperate.   He was apparently quite happy for my Mum to feed him apples but he kept one eye firmly on my Dad and whenever he moved the headcollar Galahad would jump away.

In the end, he had to catch Cookster and take him up to the stables.  Galahad then followed, walked straight into the stable and was quite happy to have his rug put on.  He  is usually fine to catch but he certainly likes to keep us on our toes!

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The forecast suggests that we should continue to have some good weather for the next few days so I am looking forward to some lovely hacking.

Stillness

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The evening is one of my favourite times of the day.  When I go out to the stables everything is usually very still and the world seems very peaceful.  Unless there is a storm of course but that is different.

Last night I went out just as it was getting dark.  It was a lovely evening with a gentle breeze and only a faint hint of rain.  The church bells were ringing and made a wonderful musical backdrop to the yard chores.

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I tried to record the sound of the bells but all I could hear on the video was the absurdly loud stream.   I’m sure it was louder in the video than in real life.  Instead, here are the ponies cosily tucked up in bed (Cookster is invisible because he has his head in a bucket!).

Back to Square One

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Cookster always used to be incredibly nappy when I rode him out alone.  I have been working hard on sorting that and he has come a long way – it has been while since he has tried to turn for home and if I have needed to mount whilst out on a hack he has recently been very good about standing still.  All our arguments about that seemed a thing of the past.

After the incident with the alpacas last week though, he has regressed.  If he thinks we are going anywhere near their field he will try to go home instead.   Mounting whilst out has become problematical again as well.  I feel like I have undone months of hard work just by stopping to take a picture.  We will get back to where we were but it is disheartening.

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On the bright side, Galahad is now once again the easier ride of the two and we have had some lovely hacks this week.  In between the showers of pouring rain the weather has been rather nice and refreshing.

The ponies were wormed this week and so are now in a new field with more grass than they had.  It is very exciting!

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Intimidating Alpacas

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I mentioned on Sunday that I took all my photographs when riding Cookster because he was being far more sensible. Unfortunately,  that was only true up to a point.

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I was quite happily taking pictures of the alpacas when one came up very close to the fence.  That was rather nice and we stood there looking at it.  I could feel Cookster trembling a bit but didn’t think anything of it – after all, we have seen them many times before.

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Cookster suddenly whipped round and charged off back towards home.  At that point I was only wearing one glove and I was holding my phone so I didn’t have a great grip on the reins and our braking was not doing too well.  To make it worse, Cookster’s braking can be iffy at the best of times and hauling on the reins is not the way to stop him.

Luckily though we did manage to stop before we ran down the hill to the main road.  It is steeper than it looks in the photograph!

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I led him back past the alpacas and we carried on our way.  He was absolutely fine after that but I knew we would have to go back past them.  Cookster knew it too and was stopping dead a hundred yards before the alpacas’ field.  I could get him moving again but I ended up leading him past.  I didn’t really fancy charging down the hill to the main road.

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We have definitely got something to work on now!

A Blustery Ride

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Today’s hack was definitely interesting.   It has been very blustery here for the past few days and Galahad was suitably spooky.

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Disclaimer: All of the ears in this post actually belong to Cookster. I wasn’t getting my camera out on a spooking pony!

First he was determined to walk over to the far corner of the field instead of straight to the gate.  Cookster frequently does this but it is new for Galahad.  I have no idea what is so exciting over there!  We had a bit of an argument but I did manage to persuade him to go the right way.

Next we were just approaching the gate in the lane when a bird rustled in the hedge. Normally that barely registers with him any more but today it was terrifying and we had to canter back up the lane again.   I got him back to the gate but he would not go past it.  He was quite happy to stand still next to it but walking past was apparently very dangerous.   In the end I had to lead him through the gate.

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After that our ride went pretty well.  He was having a good look at everything but didn’t properly spook again.  He was very determined to eat the grass but then the verges are a lot lusher than the fields at the moment – nobody is eating them!

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We also renewed our acquaintance with the alpacas who have appeared in the field again.  They haven’t been around for a while so it was nice to see them.

Enjoying the Sunshine

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Today has been absolutely gorgeous.

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Galahad and I had a wonderful ride in the sunshine.  We met the postman (and had to backtrack out of his way) twice and stopped for a chat with my neighbour.  Galahad was very relaxed and stood beautifully still for a good twenty minutes.   He is so good at talking to people now.  Not so long ago he would have hated anyone patting him, especially with me in the saddle.

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It wasn’t only sunny  – it was lovely and warm too.  So much so that I rode out in a t-shirt and Galahad got to spend a few hours in the field without a rug which I’m sure he appreciated.

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