Brilliant!

What at night im still recovering.

Started off with the usual going to the wrong place..getting lost....then not being able to find the other Holmside(there are two!)I flagged a bus down at one point after driving around for an hour getting more and more in a panic bus driver didnt know where it was neither did any of the passengers:) Anyway I went up a little lane as a last ditch attempt had all intentions off giving up and going home at that point but luckily it was along that lane so arrived an hour late but still in plently of time for the 7.30pm start.
Max came over had a chat about AliG any problems or issues I told him Ali was pretty issue free but he was difficult to trot up in hand and generally lazy and behind the leg particularly in the school.
He then sent me in a total flap as he said ok we'll start with you so if you tack him up.....GULP!I had brought my tack but didnt expect to ride thinking it would be all focused on groundwork. I manage to splutter that i'd not brought my hat I didnt realise i'd have to ride Max grinned and said you can borrow mine!:0

I was terrified his 2nd trip anywhere with me in in a new place infront of a full audience for us to make fools of ourselves,I had my short boots on which I hate riding in as they are slippy and I hadnt even cleaned my tack!!
My friend walked around to entrance of the arena with us to give us moral support then in we went.
I walked him around to let him have a good look there was a cafe along the side of the arena,lots of people obviously plus a horse in a trailer ready for the loading issue part.
He had a spook down the side as the cafe was a bit noisy and was very up (well up for him)but he took everything in, I could almost feel him thinking and assessing the situation they saying "oh okay then".
Max asked me to explain his history and what I was having problems with for the audience.He then asked me to just work AliG until he got to the point were he was switching off this didnt really take long :)))
I missed alot of what Max was saying as I was trying to forget the audience and just focus on Alig until he'd reached his ive had enough point.
Max then took over and worked AliG on the ground getting him to move his quarters then work on the circle.I realised where ive been going wrong with this as I was jumping in too quickly when AliG was slowing down where as I should have been letting him stop THEN get on his case so is entirely his responsibility to maintain the speed without me niggling on.
Max then did some work getting him to trot up in hand..it was quite funny as he did have Max blowing a fair bit but it was incredible how he achieved it.He did the total opposite to what your mind tells you to do instead of driving him from behind or flicking his side etc he spun the rope at the front while running backwards then Voila AliG was trotting inhand!

Max told me to get back on to do some work on getting AliG really going forwards off the leg.Max gave me a short rope to loop over my wrist then said squeeze with my legs and if he didnt respond flick to rope over three times left to right clipping him behind my leg.Well boy did this wake him up he was positively leaping forward into trot or a bouncy canter we did this several times until a slight touch and he was off...success!:)
That was our bit done so AliG was loaded into the horsebox where he stood like an angel munching his hay while I watched to rest of the demo.

Max did some work with a spooky over reactive horse and explained how he trains these types at home.He said the key is for them to be kidded into thinking they can chase the thing they are scared of away.He starts with a bottle full of stones rattling it then the horse follows it believing it can contol and get scary object to move away he said by the end he has them chasing quads and tractors.He believes repetitions is the key as an example he said the average horse is girthed up a couple of hundred times a year when he has a horse in for starting he will girth walk a circle loosen then girth walk a circle and so on so by the end of 10days the horse has been girthed 250times speeding up the whole learning curve.
He then had a horse which wouldnt load or standstill for mounting by the end the horse was walking over to the mounting block and positioning itself while he was leaning against the wall!

Now I knew Max was good but he's not just good he's absolutely amazing I would love to send Alig down for a couple of weeks I think it would give him the most fabulous education infact i'd love to send them both I would love to see him work with Polo.

Anyway got back to the farm at 12 then home at 1am and had to be back up this morning at 6.30am to return the box so im a tad tired now.
Im delighted with Ali he was totally amazing so sensible and clever he's is going to be a dream horse for sure:))

few pics the ridden ones werent great my phone camera doesnt pic up movement very well......


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Both off.

M put the boys in today to get them out of their muzzles early (I dont finish work till 9) only to find they werent wearing them.She thought I'd changed my mind and not put them on but no they were definitely on when I left yesterday!I found them lying in the field still fastened up so the must have worked them over their ears somehow..can just picture them helping each other out:))
Tightened them up a bit and they'll be back on tonight...for how long I dont know?

My friend from work came and helped me long rein AliG out this morning he was fab. We passed a huge bin wagon on the lane,I motioned the drive to stop but despite this he kept coming towards us,AliG didnt bat an eye(i didnt think he would but was just being carefull) infact he has a tendancy of trying to go right up to things and nearly touched the back of the wagon as it went past.We went around a big field then back onto the track which passes the riding school's mare's field they all came charging over to us AliG was a good boy and didnt for one minute get excited by it I reckon that would require far to much effort.
Headed home back a long the lane AliG had a look in a few car windows as they passed and played with a couple of wheelie bins..my friend is convinced he's actually just a large dog:))

More exciting news!

Had a bit of an unexpected phone call today.
Months ago I bought tickets for Richard Maxwell's demo evening this Friday, he's travelling around the country doing the demo's and this one is about 15miles from us.At the time on his website they were asking for horse's they could use at the demo for Richard to work with and i'd put AliG forward.I'd heard nothing so didnt think anymore of it until I got a call today asking if I could take him to be a demo horse.Nicki said she'd been trying to email me for a week but they kept bouncing(dont know whats happening with it!).I had a flap and panic as I dont have horse transport now but didnt want to miss out on the opportunity either after ringing around ive managed to organised a hire horsebox so we are going!!:)
I also get my ticket money refunded for taking AliG so that will help reduce the cost of the hire so its worked out pretty reasonable.
Im really excited as im a big fan of Richard's work cant wait to see how AliG does..no idea what he'll be doing with him yet..im fit to burst!

Back to 'normal' news now:)
Yesterday I rode both boys,Polo had a hack with the dogs in tow and he was the most settled he's been in ages.I did have a rude comment from the local eventing Doctor,she was trotting up behind me and asked if was ok to trot past,now thats a first (the last time she did it to AliG when he'd only just started hacking by himself and didnt ask!).As she was passing she asked how Polo was going and I said not very well that he'd been lame and I was slowly bringing him into work her parting shot was "try getting some weight off him then" oh I was mad.He's been strip grazed,muzzled,brought in off the grass,has soaked hay what else am I supposed to do I know he's fat but if you cant work a good doer it aint easy to keep the weight down!

I then had a schooling session with AliG he is getting really good at the neck flexions now as they really confused him at first and he kept falling in and trying to do little circles .At first he found the lower one's difficult because he has such a short thick neck but they are coming along great and he's so much more flexible and supple now.
We did some trot work which was good then a little canter towards the end im keeping this short as im still struggling to ride his bouncy canter and dont think its fair to do too much until he's fitter and im riding it better.He most definitely has an opinion on how much work is acceptable and was napping towards the gate near the end but after a few firm corrections he realised he wasnt getting his own way:)

I padded out the other muzzle today so they went back on..AliG was fine about this Polo was not a happy bunny and stood looking sorry for himself while I was about.

What is going on.

The weather is making progress impossible,yesterday it belted down with rain all day and today we've had gale force winds its ridiculous and im getting pretty fed up.An indoor school would be very helpful at the minute I dont mind rain but it was cold too and it was far too wild today.

Ive done nothing today or yesterday other than the usual jobs.They were a bit crackers today,when I get them in Polo took off galloping and chased my mums dogs so got screamed at then tonight he took off doing one of those silly squeals when I turned out. AliG was slightly calmer but still charged across the field.The wind must be sending them loopy needless to say im pleased I didnt risk trying to do any work with either of them!:)

Yesterday I did an impromptu dog show,it was a little country village show which was nearby so thought we'd have a trip up.Well I pretty much cleaned up Buster got first in his class,Mouse got first,Minx got second the Mouse and Minx won best brace and to top it off Buster got reserve overall terrier.Dont get me wrong it wasnt exactly top show level but the judges were hunt terrier men so know good dogs.
The guy pulled me over when he gave Buster reserve and said what a cracking dog he was but he was more a Jack Russel man and was a bit unsure if Bust was a little big for the breed.I had a good chat and told him how well Buster was doing and although yes he's a big dog he is within the size limit.Guy loved him and said if he'd been more certain of the size limit he'd have won which would have qualified him for a big 'hunt' type show called the Cock of the North..shame cos I believe it has quite good prize money :)))
We got soaked through but we'd paid to get in before the really heavy stuff started so stuck it out cos the rosettes were really nice.

What a star.

Had a lovely session in the school with AliG today.I thought I'd get in today as its really busy over the weekend,its usually empty mid-week cos everyone's at work or school.
I didnt have the energy to ride so I put him on the longlines which I havent done in the school for weeks and he was brilliant.His work is so much more consistant on the two reins than just being lunged and you can do so much more with them,i'll make sure I dont leave it so long next time..plus he enjoys it more than being lunged!
Started off doing walk with changes of rein then some trot work he was reaching for the bit and stretching down and through his back but not long and low to the point of going onto his forehand he did some beautiful balanced figures of eight in trot.
Moved up into canter he is definitely better on the left rein than the right but he was still pretty good,seems to find it easier to balance with the two reins than when he's lunged.
I finished off doing a little bit of the close inhand work that Rachel taught me.Its the first time Ive tried it with him but once he got the idea he was actually meant to walk when I was alongside him he was excellent:)
I was all fingers and thumbs as it wasnt ideal doing it was the longreins as I had too much in my hands but he did some lovely flexing and some leg yielding.

It started to rain so we finished I was suprised to see we'd been in the school for 40mins,AliG didnt seem keen to leave either so he must have enjoyed it too.
I was going to ride Polo but the sky went black so I fed them and turned them out..obviously the sun came out at this point:)

Ive customised one muzzle lining and padding it with lots of fleece still waiting for the other one to arrive (ebay seller didnt realise i'd paid for two grrr) im reluctant to spend an hour stabbing myself with a needle doing a borrowed one so even though I want them back on asap i'll wait till the other arrives:)

Sorted:)

Jill phone me today about the Vogue and said the saddle is most definitely all wrong,the girth straps had been put on too far back the left flap was an inch further forward than the right basically its all out a balance and is going in the bin!
Im going back to a standard Fhoenix as im not prepared to risk ordering another Vogue, with the various changes they've made im not convinced it will fit.

Ive had to take the muzzles off the past two nights they were rubbing and making their faces sore.Im going on the hunt for some cheap sheepskin to line and pad them out.Luckily YO had topped the field so there's less grass at least until I can get the muzzles sorted.
Ive done nothing with the boys this week other than trim feet,Monday seemed to wipe me out and ive not been able to catch up on sleep so ive just not had the energy to do very much i'd better get cracking this weekend!

Belated happy birthday Buster!

Was Buster's 1st birthday yesterday:)
Show was good he got second and apparently we were robbed for first as the dog that beat him wasnt a patch on him(not my opinion few people came and commented to me).The official photographer came over and said she loved him,reckon there'll be a good chance his photo will be in the Border Terrier book for next year:))
I'd moved him up to Junior even though he could have still done the puppy class, by one day, after his class we went back to the benches to give Mouse a brush when a woman came running over to say he should be in the ring challenging for best pup.Although he was in Junior because he was under one year he was still an unbeaten pup but I didnt know this and wasnt called by the steward time I got there it was too late!
Seemed to cause bit of an uproar as the lady who'd noticed we should have been back in had told the ring steward and he wasnt interested and still didnt call us,if he had Peter(breeder) was sitting ringside and he could have told him to wait while he came for me.This lady was causing uproar over it as she said its always the same if your not a well known face they arent interested I was disappointed as that was his last chance to go for best pup but was too late to do anything.
Peter reckons Buster's creating quite a stir and the 'right' people are noticing and talking about him, I do keep thinking its luck but I suppose two first,one second and one fourth at champ shows says different!:)

Anyway havent done much horsey stuff as last night my colleague phoned in sick I ended up covering her waking night so after an 17hour shift didnt have the energy to do anything today.Monday I took AliG in the school and had a crack at the pole work been a while since we've done that he was good although slightly distracted by the foal...what is it with that foal?!?!
The muzzles are still on and although im waiting to the weekend to weight tape then to see how much they've lost I can tell they've definitely lost weight.Its been a bit of a fight to get the muzzle in Polo the last two days as he's objecting now but cruel to be kind and all that!