A reasonably quiet week riding wise.
Hacked Ali on Monday then light lunge Thursday, lots of walk with some trot using poles.
I gave Ali a bute sachet Thursday then again Friday afternoon so that he would have it in his system ready for a schooling session which was planned for today.
Well im none the wiser as the title suggests he felt okay on the favorite right rein in addition to the flexions, leg yielding and shoulder in-walk and trot,I focused on halt to trot and reinback to trot etc. I still feel he's not quite 'off the leg' so thought this would be a good way to sharpen him up plus get him using his backend and off his shoulders.
I moved onto his left,stiff rein. The flexions and bend werent as good so lots of half halts and flexing but the shoulder in was better than the right?
He threatened to buck when he first struck off into canter but didnt then once again which I put a stop to by lifting my hands and sending him forward other than that he was fine.
So he still wanted to buck despite the bute...probably not pain?
He did a couple of fabby walk to canters on the right rein just as our the YO's hubby came into the arena which I was pleased about as last week he jokingly told me I was an idiot to have paid so much for Ali cos he "couldnt do anything". His *idea* of a good horse is a horse that bounces,rears and cant stand still so to him my sensible 5year old PRE aint quality!
Tomorrow Ali is going for a hack acting as nanny again to a mare who was recently imported from Holland. She had a rough time coming over and at the dealers yard so lost trust and went a bit wild for a while so the owner has gone back to scratch with her longreining and treating her as unbacked Ali is perfect for the first hack as nothing the other horses do fazes him and his calmness doesnt wind horses up.
She really is the most stunning WB mare you will ever see!
Saturday 27 June 2009
Monday 22 June 2009
Woohoo!!!!!!!!!
We had another good show on Saturday...can you tell?!?!:))
Im a bit despairing with Ted as he just doesnt seem to be getting the idea at all, he goes into the silly zone boinging around generally being mental.He is getting away with it at the moment because he's still in puppy class and he did get 2nd which is brill at champ show level but im sure its costing him because how can they see him move when he's bouncing around. He is quite good on the table having said that.
Buster was in next and I knew the judge liked him as he came back to see him several times but as I expected his coat was probably the issue as just before the judge did his placings he came and gripped Busters coat as if telling me why. BUT he still got 3rd which at this level is not to be sniffed at as it was another Crufts qualifying class.
We had a wander around the various dog shops as there was a good gap until Mouses classes then came back to watch Peter's star bitch,the one who got best pup at Crufts. I thought she was a mile ahead of all the others in the class but she is being a bit funny in the ring so wasnt showing herself to her best,she still got 3rd.
Mouse was in shortly after this. Now I wasnt expecting a thing with her as Post Grad is tough,usually big entries and a Crufts qualifier.I did feel she was looking well and her coat is tip-top but when we first went in I didnt think the judge looked at her and as it was a large class thought to myself 'well the boys did well I cant complain'.
She is tricky to show and a bit of a live wire in the ring so I have to really focus on her so obviously missed out of the fact he actually quite liked her until the final line up when I saw him really looking at her and the bitch next to us.
She ended up getting 2nd which is absolutely brilliant as the other bitch is a *good* dog and that has qualified her for Crufts too...so I will be taking the three show'ers to Crufts I cant believe it!:000
I honestly thought our last show was 'our show' of the year and although we didnt get any firsts to have them all very well placed again is unbelievable im totally chuffed.
Horsewise my pad hasnt come yet so hopefully tomorrow it will turn up,Claire ive just wanted one for ages and thought it would be nice for the neds no major concerns.
Ali had a bit of a quieter week as its wind-down time.I did school him once which wasnt good and he put in a couple of big bucks despite me totally giving him a loose rein to see if the contact was why he's had a couple of bucks recently.
Im swaying between he's a bit confused-the work is a bit more demanding now and he's protesting-and he's a bit uncomfortable sore somewhere?
He only does it on the one rein, this has always been the rein he's not wanted to bend on, anyway as soon I swapped to the other he worked nicely.
I gave him a light lunge the following day and he looked ok on both reins, yesterday he had a lovely hack and was walking and swinging along nicely.
Today I took him in the school. He was behind the leg intially but then improved, I started with his good rein flexing,leg yielding and shoulder in in walk and trot then moved onto his not so good rein. I kept it short half halting then flexing and he actually worked really nicely and was reaching into the contact,we then popped a tiny jump that was set up in the school twice and I called it a day.
Day off tomorrow on his 2nd wind down week so i'll probably do feet.
Im a bit despairing with Ted as he just doesnt seem to be getting the idea at all, he goes into the silly zone boinging around generally being mental.He is getting away with it at the moment because he's still in puppy class and he did get 2nd which is brill at champ show level but im sure its costing him because how can they see him move when he's bouncing around. He is quite good on the table having said that.
Buster was in next and I knew the judge liked him as he came back to see him several times but as I expected his coat was probably the issue as just before the judge did his placings he came and gripped Busters coat as if telling me why. BUT he still got 3rd which at this level is not to be sniffed at as it was another Crufts qualifying class.
We had a wander around the various dog shops as there was a good gap until Mouses classes then came back to watch Peter's star bitch,the one who got best pup at Crufts. I thought she was a mile ahead of all the others in the class but she is being a bit funny in the ring so wasnt showing herself to her best,she still got 3rd.
Mouse was in shortly after this. Now I wasnt expecting a thing with her as Post Grad is tough,usually big entries and a Crufts qualifier.I did feel she was looking well and her coat is tip-top but when we first went in I didnt think the judge looked at her and as it was a large class thought to myself 'well the boys did well I cant complain'.
She is tricky to show and a bit of a live wire in the ring so I have to really focus on her so obviously missed out of the fact he actually quite liked her until the final line up when I saw him really looking at her and the bitch next to us.
She ended up getting 2nd which is absolutely brilliant as the other bitch is a *good* dog and that has qualified her for Crufts too...so I will be taking the three show'ers to Crufts I cant believe it!:000
I honestly thought our last show was 'our show' of the year and although we didnt get any firsts to have them all very well placed again is unbelievable im totally chuffed.
Horsewise my pad hasnt come yet so hopefully tomorrow it will turn up,Claire ive just wanted one for ages and thought it would be nice for the neds no major concerns.
Ali had a bit of a quieter week as its wind-down time.I did school him once which wasnt good and he put in a couple of big bucks despite me totally giving him a loose rein to see if the contact was why he's had a couple of bucks recently.
Im swaying between he's a bit confused-the work is a bit more demanding now and he's protesting-and he's a bit uncomfortable sore somewhere?
He only does it on the one rein, this has always been the rein he's not wanted to bend on, anyway as soon I swapped to the other he worked nicely.
I gave him a light lunge the following day and he looked ok on both reins, yesterday he had a lovely hack and was walking and swinging along nicely.
Today I took him in the school. He was behind the leg intially but then improved, I started with his good rein flexing,leg yielding and shoulder in in walk and trot then moved onto his not so good rein. I kept it short half halting then flexing and he actually worked really nicely and was reaching into the contact,we then popped a tiny jump that was set up in the school twice and I called it a day.
Day off tomorrow on his 2nd wind down week so i'll probably do feet.
Wednesday 17 June 2009
and days turn into weeks!
Dear me ive got out of the blogging *habit* lately well ive had two weeks holiday from work so i'll say it was a blogging holiday too.
Sorry Claire I kept meaning to reply to your email after Corbridge but kept forgetting..we are both fine anyway.
Im not even going to try and remember in any detail what's been going on in the past few weeks so a brief round-up will have to surfice:)
Ali has been worked most days. I try to give him a good variety of hacking mixed with school work and lessons.
Hacking has been great he loves to go in the fields and will try and turn into any gateway that leads into a field, even if its a field we havent got permission to ride in! He is still scared of cows but tries to be brave although likes a bit of distance between him and the offending beasts.
We've had a couple of lessons since the last posts. Things are getting a bit more complicated now as intially it was just getting him to go forward with some flexions to get him more flexible and bending. He is now getting the hang of leg yielding and has a pretty decent shoulder in in walk and trot, his work is becoming more consistant although he still like to exit the arena when the opportunity arises.
One of the lessons was absolutely brilliant he worked really solidly and tried his heart out, the lesson last weekend was tough which is usually the case after a good one. D is quite an intense instructor so just when you think you have something cracked she ups the game and suddenly im pants again!
My big issue at the minute is im relying on the inside rein to turn and bend particularly on the left rein so im blocking him ...very frustrating!
Last week Vic and I did the fan with the raised poles, Ali is very good at this, towards the end we set up a couple of jumps for him, he's definitely got a decent pop!
He was a bit hampered by the school being small and wings getting in the way but he did make a couple of cracking attempts and seems really keen.
The weather this week has been pretty horrible so today I basically fed them, yesterday he had a 20min lunge.
My plan is to wind him down a bit over the remainder of this week and next have another lesson then give him a couple of weeks off. My reasons are i want him fresh for the show in August and because he's been in pretty much solid work since we moved to this yard (not counting the odd times of bad weather) I reckon a couple of weeks off will go down well.
Also im planning on taking him hunting a couple of times early in the season so he'll have to be pretty fit August and September so a short rest now seems the ideal time.
Plus ive got a fair few dog shows coming up so weekends will be busy over the next month or two.
Ive got a Champ show with the dogs on Saturday, Buster's been stripped and got no coat and Ted could do with being stripped so has too much coat..im not expecting anything:)
To be honest after the recent brilliant placings and the boys qualifying for Crufts anything more would be a bonus.
Sorry Claire I kept meaning to reply to your email after Corbridge but kept forgetting..we are both fine anyway.
Im not even going to try and remember in any detail what's been going on in the past few weeks so a brief round-up will have to surfice:)
Ali has been worked most days. I try to give him a good variety of hacking mixed with school work and lessons.
Hacking has been great he loves to go in the fields and will try and turn into any gateway that leads into a field, even if its a field we havent got permission to ride in! He is still scared of cows but tries to be brave although likes a bit of distance between him and the offending beasts.
We've had a couple of lessons since the last posts. Things are getting a bit more complicated now as intially it was just getting him to go forward with some flexions to get him more flexible and bending. He is now getting the hang of leg yielding and has a pretty decent shoulder in in walk and trot, his work is becoming more consistant although he still like to exit the arena when the opportunity arises.
One of the lessons was absolutely brilliant he worked really solidly and tried his heart out, the lesson last weekend was tough which is usually the case after a good one. D is quite an intense instructor so just when you think you have something cracked she ups the game and suddenly im pants again!
My big issue at the minute is im relying on the inside rein to turn and bend particularly on the left rein so im blocking him ...very frustrating!
Last week Vic and I did the fan with the raised poles, Ali is very good at this, towards the end we set up a couple of jumps for him, he's definitely got a decent pop!
He was a bit hampered by the school being small and wings getting in the way but he did make a couple of cracking attempts and seems really keen.
The weather this week has been pretty horrible so today I basically fed them, yesterday he had a 20min lunge.
My plan is to wind him down a bit over the remainder of this week and next have another lesson then give him a couple of weeks off. My reasons are i want him fresh for the show in August and because he's been in pretty much solid work since we moved to this yard (not counting the odd times of bad weather) I reckon a couple of weeks off will go down well.
Also im planning on taking him hunting a couple of times early in the season so he'll have to be pretty fit August and September so a short rest now seems the ideal time.
Plus ive got a fair few dog shows coming up so weekends will be busy over the next month or two.
Ive got a Champ show with the dogs on Saturday, Buster's been stripped and got no coat and Ted could do with being stripped so has too much coat..im not expecting anything:)
To be honest after the recent brilliant placings and the boys qualifying for Crufts anything more would be a bonus.
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