Schooling

Bright Lights

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The ponies are spending a couple of weeks with my riding instructor – partly so Galahad can have a bit of a trim and partly so we can get to our dressage competition in a fortnight.

Of course, I am taking full advantage of the facilities while they are there.  They were collected on Friday afternoon and I went over straight after work to school Galahad.  He hasn’t been ridden under lights for months – probably not since last winter – so he was a little tense at first and had to have a very good look at the darkness beyond the lights to make sure there were no hidden monsters.

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I just worked him quietly round the school and before long we could ride on a loose rein with no problem.

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We actually had a very good session.  Galahad was working nicely, although he did tire a bit.  He got pretty hot as well – definitely time for that clip.

Autumn Schooling

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I have written a lot recently about our hacks but I have been schooling Galahad as well.

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We had a great session on Thursday – Galahad really felt like he was listening to me, was nicely forward going and seemed very willing.  We did some work on turns on the forehand and they felt amazing.  I had no eyes on the ground so I don’t know how they looked!

When we moved onto canter work I was even more pleased as Galahad struck off with the correct lead every time – I’m not sure that’s ever happened on the right rein before.

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I finished up feeling very positive indeed and looking forward to more.  Hopefully the ground will hold up for a while yet before we have to stop for the winter.

A Gentle Week

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We have been having a pretty quiet week here.  After the excitement of a show it is good to have a bit of a rest.  Galahad and I have been out for some lovely hacks.

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We have been working too though and have had some successful schooling sessions.  It does however currently seem to be my fate to get absolutely soaked whenever we jump.  I don’t think it has rained any other time I’ve been riding this week but when we had a play over the jumps there was an absolute downpour.

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Galahad has been having fun too – he seems to permanently have a mane full of burrs and I have to spend ages working them out.  I then have fingers full of splinters for hours afterwards.  It is pretty painful!

Trying New Things

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On Thursday Galahad and I had a fantastic lesson.

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The eagle eyed among you may spot that these photographs were not taken during the actual lesson.  I didn’t have a tame photographer there so we had to recreate the scene afterwards!

We started off with flatwork and spent some time doing work without stirrups.  Galahad hasn’t really done much of that before and he definitely hasn’t done the exercises that go with it.  They can be a bit scary for a nervous pony like him so I wasn’t quite sure how he would react but he was as good as gold.  It may be time for me to stop assuming that everything will scare him because most of the time that isn’t true anymore.  In fact, when I think he will react badly I know I make it more likely – I tense up and that definitely affects him badly.

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We then moved on to some jumping.  Specifically – gridwork.  Galahad hasn’t even done a single bounce fence before, let alone a line of fences.  More than that, we started off without reins which was another new thing for him (and something I haven’t done for years).

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Galahad just pinged through them like a pro.  He never fails to amaze me and once again I was so proud of him.  I feel like I say that a lot but it is true!

 

Jumping Variations

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After the excitement of getting the jumps out, I finally got the chance to use some of my birthday presents (from March!).

First I had a wall jump for the first time.  It’s a great design and fits neatly over a straw bale.

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It might be meant for the ponies but the first jump belonged to the dog.

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When I did get to jump it with Galahad I was fully expecting him to try to run out so I set up some guide poles but he actually popped over it with no trouble at all.  I think my face shows how astonished I was.

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The wall is double sided so of course we had to jump it both ways.  This time Galahad did run out at our first attempt but as usual it was because I didn’t keep my eyes up.

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I also got some pole sleeves which just needed trimming and sliding on.  As always, my Dad came in very useful.

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Once again I looked down at the jump and Galahad ran out.  After that he jumped very well but I really must work on looking up!

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As you can see, there were enough trimmings to make an extra interestingly coloured pole.

We had a great time playing with the jumps and I am looking forward to using them more.  It is good to get Galahad jumping as many different things as possible but apart from that it is fun!

Jumping!

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Now we have finished the work on the field we can get the jumps out again.  It has been seven or eight months since we have been able to jump at home so this was a very exciting moment.

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We went out to jump as soon as we could but as it has been so hot recently we wanted to ride reasonably early.  We got out into the field by about eight but even so the sun was blazing and it was still very hot.

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Considering how little jumping the ponies have done recently, they both did really well.  Galahad and I had a few run outs to start with but once we got going he jumped really nicely.

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The run outs are mostly my fault.  I know very well that if I look down at a jump Galahad is almost certainly going to try and run out.  The trouble is that if I think Galahad will be worried about a jump I find it very difficult not to look at it.  At least I know what I need to do to get better!

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We had a lovely play in the sunshine and even the lambs next door seemed to enjoy it!

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It is wonderful to have the jumps out again and we are looking forward to using them over the summer.  Let’s just hope the ground doesn’t get too hard!

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Visiting

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As I mentioned in my last post, the ponies went away for a few days so they could see the dentist.  Before now I have always been at work when they have seen him but this year – although I didn’t see him with my ponies – I managed to get a look him working with the other horses.  The tools do look a little bit like instruments of torture but it was fascinating.

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While the ponies were there though I took full advantage of the facilities.  I managed to school one pony every day and I had a lesson almost every day.  I worked on quarters in with both ponies as they both need to use their hindquarters more.  The exercise definitely helped both of them and Cookster in particular was working better (and straighter!) than I ever remember him doing.

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As well as the school, I also had access to plenty of hacking.  It is always nice to have a change of scenery so every day I hacked out with whichever pony had not been schooled.  Most of the time that was with company too which was lovely.  We had a great time!20180621_122131

Sunday Schooling

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I very nearly didn’t ride Galahad this evening.  I had a busy day yesterday, I was at work all day today and had already ridden Cookster out so I was pretty tired and wanted to curl up with a book. However, I told myself that was not the right attitude and tacked him up.  It was too good an evening to waste anyway.

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We had a pretty decent schooling session.  The ground is a little rutted from the winter but is actually in surprisingly good condition considering how wet it has been.  I was pleased with Galahad too – we don’t manage a lot of schooling over the winter but he worked well and is even improving at picking up the correct canter lead on the right rein – he got it right nearly every time today!

I was hoping to get in a little jumping as well but I was more cautious with that.  We hadn’t jumped at all yet this year and in the past if Galahad has had a break from jumping he has had a tendency to get over excited when we pick it up again – he either rushes at the fences or gallops off after them.  I made sure he was calm and listening to me before I attempted a jump, then I introduced some very small fences, keeping strictly to a trot.

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I was very pleasantly surprised as he popped neatly over them and showed no sign of getting above himself.  Before long we were happily cantering over the bigger, scarier jumps.

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It was a very positive start to this year’s jumping.  We will hopefully manage to harrow the field this week and then I’ll be able to put out the rest of the jumps.  I was lucky enough to get some new fillers for my birthday this year and I am very excited about trying them out!

 

Exploring

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Galahad has had some time off this week as I am just back from a couple of days in Surrey.  I had a lovely time pottering about and found a simply wonderful bridlepath.

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I would love to have that a little nearer to home!

I came back home to some very good news.  Firstly, the grass is starting to grow.

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It’s a bit hard to see in the picture but I promise it is sprouting!

Secondly, the field is finally dry enough to school in.  It is still a little soggy down one end so we have to be careful but today I managed to school both ponies and Cookster and I even had a little jump.

I didn’t jump Galahad – instead we did some semi cross country training.  We went up and down pretty steep hills in a different field and splashed in and out of the stream.

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I had a thouroughly good time and I think Galahad enjoyed himself too.

Perhaps Not

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On Sunday I wrote a nice, positive post about the arrival of spring.  Then I went out for a ride with my sister.

As I mentioned in that post, I have been riding in short boots with no coat and I didn’t see any reason to change that on Sunday.  Naturally, within about five minutes it was pouring with rain.  We got so wet!

The sound in the video is mostly from the hundreds of tiny pebbles being washed down the hill.

On the bright side, Galahad wanted very much to turn away from the rain and we got some lovely lateral work out of it.  It was much better before we started filming of course.

Naturally I am sat writing this on Wednesday evening – after the springiest of spring days.  Perhaps this is the end of the rain!

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