Schooling

Working Hard

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This week I had a long overdue riding lesson.

Eleanor and Magic

I like to have a lesson on a different horse every so often so that I’m not only able to ride one horse.  I grew up riding a huge number of different horses and ponies and it really stood me in good stead.  At inter-university riding competitions we had to ride horses we had never met before and I felt I had been well prepared for that!

It has been a few months since I had a lesson and even longer since I rode a different horse.  It is always a bit of a strange feeling riding an actual horse – their strides are so much longer than Galahad’s!  Even horses I thought of as quick striding now feel incredibly smooth.  The horse I rode this week is much more forward going than Galahad and likes to test new riders to see what they can do.  Once we got to know each other though we got on pretty well.  We popped over a few jumps at the end of the lesson which my instructor set very low to start with as I hadn’t ridden the horse before but she jumped about three feet high anyway.  I always have such a great time when I have a lesson and I really must make sure I don’t let it go so long before my next one.

Galahad has had a week of hacking only as our field is definitely too wet for schooling at the moment.  However, he did have some excitement on Friday as he dressed up to support Children in Need.

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He was surprisingly okay with it but not too pleased about being made to wait for his dinner!

Blustery November

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We have had a blustery few days here.  A lot of rain and pretty windy too.  Luckily the ponies do not seem to react to the wind very much and are quite happy being ridden in all weathers.  I am always more aware that we might have a problem though if it is windy!

The rain has had an interesting effect on the fallen leaves in the lane.  The water has formed into two streams down the road and neatly gathered all the leaves into the middle.

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I thought at first someone had been sweeping the leaves but it seemed rather unlikely.  Then my sister pointed out the streams and it all made sense!

Sadly though, all the rain has made our fields rather soggy.  Unless we have a reasonable dry spell I may have to curtail our schooling a bit.  At the moment I am being very careful in the field especially on the corners and I will keep a close eye on the ground conditions.

No Stirrups November

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No Stirrups November is something I heard of for the first time this week but apparently it has been around since 2010!

I have done a fair bit of riding without stirrups in my time – practically every lesson ever – and it really has been helpful.  Not least when I lost my stirrups in a jumping class and finished the round without them.

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I have never ridden Galahad without stirrups except for dropping them for a few minutes on quiet rides.  To start with he was always far too spooky and although he has improved incredibly I somehow have never got around to it.  No Stirrups November seems like the ideal time to start.

However, I will not be losing my stirrups for the whole month.  Firstly I have to ride on the roads when I hack out and it seems like a really bad idea to have no stirrups when a car might come hurtling round the corner at any moment.  Secondly, Galahad can still be spooky – usually when I am least expecting it.  If I can fall off with stirrups I certainly can without!  Also Galahad has barely been ridden without stirrups before and it is something that should be built up slowly.

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My plan is to use this as the impetus to introduce some work without stirrups in our schooling sessions.  I’ll warm up Galahad with them and lose them when he is properly settled.  I know it will be beneficial for me at least!

Early Morning Schooling

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Whilst a lot of my friends are complaining about the dark evenings now that the clocks have gone back, I am very much appreciating the lighter mornings!  I just have enough light and time to ride before I go off to work in the morning.

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I am not really a very good morning person but it is amazing how much easier it is to get up when I get to ride.  It is lovely riding in the early morning and I have had some very good schooling sessions.  It feels like Galahad is listening quicker when we start and his right bend is starting to improve too.  It is not at all consistent but it is there and with a bit of work it will improve.

It is beautiful at that time in the morning.  A bit misty at the moment and very peaceful.  Our resident kestrel has been flying over us and we have a trespassing lamb. In the spring he kept breaking into our field and every morning this week he has been between the hedge and the fence.  I thought he was stuck at first but it was easy enough for him to get back through the hedge when I approached!

Making the most of my time

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Since I had a day’s holiday to use up I tacked it onto my weekend off and so managed to ride three days in a row which is a luxury now.  Monday was a glorious day – so warm that I found myself riding in a t-shirt again.

Galahad was feeling the heat rather as well and needed a wash down when we had finished schooling.  We worked hard on our flatwork and then had a play with the jumps so Galahad was happy.  Recently he has started to get a bit overexcited when I turn him towards a fence and it is particularly noticeable if we haven’t jumped for a while so I am trying to do some little and often to keep it less exciting.

He did feel a bit strong on Monday but having watched the video I think a lot of it was in my head as it was what I was expecting.  I was very pleased with both the jumping and the flatwork although I have realised that our right flexion can be rather dodgy and needs quite a bit of work.  Does anyone have any tips for good exercises?

I also took my sister’s pony out on a hack he hadn’t done before.  Cookster can be a bit nappy when he’s out by himself but he only tried to go home once and that was when I had turned back to let a car pass so it wasn’t entirely his fault.

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We had a lovely ride and it was nice for him to be taken somewhere different – I think he can get bored pretty easily.  We also met my sister on her way home from work and walked down with her which was fun.  Cookster liked having someone to follow too!

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Schooling Successes

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Galahad and I have had two very profitable schooling sessions this week.  The first one was perhaps nothing spectacular but Galahad was very much listening to me and seemed to be trying hard.  It is always very satisfying to finish a session feeling that we both did our best.

We also managed to achieve some fairly good neck reining which is something we have been finding tricky.  I am hoping to have a go at trec this winter and neck reining is pretty important for that.  Ours is not perfect yet but we are definitely making progress.

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Our other notable schooling session came after I had ridden my sister’s pony and put him out in the other field.  Not surprisingly Galahad was rather distracted and very tense the whole time.  He did feel at times as though he might explode but the important point was that he didn’t.  We didn’t necessarily look particularly good but he did everything I asked him to do.  It was a good learning experience for both of us – I gained a lot of confidence for riding him when he feels so tense.

When we finished I left him loose in the yard as I thought he would stay by the gate nearest to the other field.  Instead he did this.

Which presumably is what he was wanting to do the whole time I was riding.  I’m very glad he didn’t!

Light Thickens

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I really need to get a move on in the evenings.  I mentioned that a week or two ago but it has suddenly got more urgent.  Term has just restarted which means that a) I have less evenings free when I can ride and b) If I am free my sister isn’t so I have two ponies to deal with.  I don’t get home until just after seven and if I let myself get distracted – as I did last night – it can be eight o’clock before I am in the saddle.  It doesn’t help when I bring Galahad in from the field looking like this.

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Horses always know when you are in a hurry!

I had to cut the riding a bit short but both ponies had a good session.  They were listening from the start which was most welcome given the time constraints.  It was pretty dark by the time we finished, although not as dark as the picture suggests – I only had my phone on me and it couldn’t cope with the bright sky and darker landscape.

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Today I did much better and was onto the second pony before eight.  The good news is that it is still light enough to hack out both of them.  In general I prefer to school one and hack the other which is better from a light point of view too – less light is needed for schooling than hacking!  Today though I had two lovely evening hacks which ended my day perfectly.

What a difference a day makes!

What a difference a day makes!

Galloping Galahad!

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It was finally dry enough for me to be able to get some schooling in over the weekend.  Galahad can still take a while to start listening properly but once he is listening he does try hard.  We even did a little jumping which excited him very much.  It is definitely his favourite thing to do.  I would love to take him cross country jumping so now he is happy jumping tyres laid flat I have started introducing upright ones as well.20150830_160415

We are just jumping the pole in the middle at the moment.  It took him by surprise the first time he saw it and he slid to a stop but after that he popped over it happily.  I will fill in the gap soon so we are actually jumping the tyres themselves.

I also schooled my sister’s pony on Saturday.  He is completely different to ride and is a pony of extremes.  It is either a struggle to get him moving forward or he is nice and forward but with dodgy brakes and steering. Saturday was a dodgy brakes day!  We still had quite a good session though and jumped a few jumps.  He is really good for my riding as he forces me to use my legs not my hands and I always feel I have learnt something when I finish riding him.

Yesterday Galahad and I rode out with my sister and we braved the hay bales in the field up the hill.  They are apparently safe enough to ride past now, although they still have to be closely watched.  We had a couple of proper gallops again but this time Galahad went where I was intending and stopped when I wanted.  He is clearly a lot fitter than he was a few months ago as he can now canter the whole way up hills where he couldn’t before.  It is something that seems to have happened all of a sudden without me noticing!  It’s rather gratifying – we must be doing something right!

Beautiful Fields!

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My schooling field is looking very pretty at the moment.  Just look at all the clover!20150720_210123

In all that sea of white there is a little patch of pink making me very happy.20150720_210311

Galahad is schooling very nicely at the moment.  He usually takes a while to settle before he starts really listening properly but this week he has been good right from the start.  Hopefully that is something which will continue.

Today though we went out for a hack.  When we got to the top of the hill we made a very exciting discovery:DSCN3412

Our neighbour’s fields are being cut for hay!  Hopefully it will mean that a) the flies will be less bothersome and b) we will soon be able to go in the fields for a gallop!  Both ponies saw the open gate and thought it looked very inviting.  They took some persuading that going into the field right now would not be an acceptable thing to do!

Small Steps and Giant Leaps

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Today has been very hot for us so my planned morning ride didn’t happen – it was too hot for me and it would have been unfair on the ponies too.  Especially as Galahad is still moulting.  Even when I did eventually ride at half past seven it was still pretty warm!DSCN3336

On the bright side though his summer coat is finally starting to show through in patches.  It’s about time!  My best friend at the moment is this rubber curry comb which is amazing at getting the hair off.  My sister got it years ago but until this year Galahad hasn’t been able to tolerate it.  This year I am loving it although it does mean I am covered in hair all the time.

We also have exciting news on the schooling front – he is really beginning to get the hang of clockwise turns on the forehand.  His off side has always been stiffer which we think may be because he used to favour his near side when he was branded and overcompensated so he damaged his off side as well.  This week for the first time he managed turns on the forehand both ways under saddle and it felt like a major achievement.

I have just sent off Galahad’s first real competition entry.  He has done mini training competitions at my instructor’s yard but never an outside show before.  I have only entered the walk and trot dressage test which seems like a good introduction for him.  I’ll see how he feels on the day and decide whether he can cope with a baby jumping class or some showing.  My main worry with that would be when the judge comes to look at him – he doesn’t like strange people approaching him.  Sometimes he isn’t even keen on people he knows!

Two days ago we had an interloper in the field.20150628_191742

This is one of our neighbour’s lambs come for a visit and not able to find his way home.  He started following us and asking for help when we rode through the field.  He wouldn’t let us near him when dismounted though!