Horse wise there's not much to report really. Ive not done a lot of schooling lately with Ali so lots of hacking out which is his favourite..other than eating obviously!
He did shoot out spooking across the road on Sunday because a sheep decided to stand up at the very moment we were passing a gateway,luckily he doesnt usually spin and is so well balanced it never feels particularly dangerous.
Yesterday Ali had his first outing for ages with the dogs,only took Ted and Buster due to Mouse being in season and Minx egging Buster on to hunt and go down badger sets etc.:)) The dogs were very good other than Ted getting infront of Ali a couple of times,Ali did bolt off up the field at one point when one of the dogs ran up behind him then jogged and cantered on the spot all the way back down the field but I think this was more the appearance of a new batch of cows in the ajoining fields. He still does not like cows,although settled down quickly and did the gates nicely,he's learnt the art of pushing them open with his chest or with a flick of the nose then does a lovely leg yield to close them.
Ive rode one of the horses the YO's have in to sell a couple of times this week. He's HUGE, about 17hands and a well built boy too,Vic took a picture of me riding him, i'll have to put it up its hilarious I look tiny on him.
Anyway he's a sweet,gentleman and I really enjoy riding him but I probably shouldnt keep riding him as he's so big and bouncy my back is hurting.
Been to two shows in the past couple of weeks. The first one I got nothing with any of them, Mouse did get shortlisted in a class of 19which was good going,its the first time for ages ive left a show with nothing at all so I suppose I was due one like that.
This weekend gone I was at another Champ show, Mouse didnt go due to her season so just took the boys. Ive seen this judge out and about quite a lot but have never had a conversation but had noticed her dogs are quite well built, top-end size Borders so thought we might stand a chance of getting in the placings.
However when the first couple of classes went through she seemed to be going for smaller,finer dogs so I didnt think we stood a chance,typical when Mouse wasnt there!
I was chuffed to bits with Ted as the tactic of just letting him stand himself and using treats seems to be a whole-hearted success and for the first time he really seemed to show himself. He was still bouncy but stood really nicely and focused on me. Anyway he got a 2nd in Junior and a 1st in Special Beginners,which is for dog and handler who havent won a Challenge Certificate,he won two lots of dog food,some money and a rather nice silver trophy. The judge seemed to like him a lot and was chatting away to him when writing his critique.
Buster was in a class of 19(!) and didnt get anything. Buster is in full coat at the minute and it does make him look much bigger but I dont want to strip him just yet as im trying to time all their stripping for Crufts.We still have a couple of more shows coming up so im going to attempt to have a tidy up tomorrow but his coat is finished so he's not going to look his best for the upcomming shows.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Sunday, 6 September 2009
Well weekly(ish) isnt bad going:)
Hey im finding time to update already!
Ive been at work most of the week on training 9to4,im back to work on my normal shifts this week but I was very good all week and rode most nights,usually if I dont ride early in the day I lose the inclination.
Ali has been on lots of hacks we've not done any schooling at all much to his delight. We are going on a 10 mile pleasure ride in a couple of weeks so I want to build his fitness up,he's fit and could do it no problem now but I want to fitten him up a bit more cardio wise so we can have lots of nice canters:)
Today we had a hour and a half hack,ive noticed he backs off the leg the further away he gets away from the yard which he'll have to get over as we plan on lots of longer rides as along with the pleasure ride im planing on taking him to a couple of hunt meets over the coming months.
The dog show last week was a bit odd,nobody could figure out what the judge was going for. Usually you start to get an idea after a few classes as you see quite often see a *type* they are going for..ie good heads,a certain size,coat type or movement but it was really ramdom. Having said that Buster got 3rd in a class of 10 which is not to be sniffed at as its another Crufts qualifier so it was worth the long drive and early morning. Ted got nothing he isnt showing himself well at all and the more I try to stand him the worse he stands so im having a change of tact next time and am just going to give him lots of treats and let him stand how he wants..see how that works? He doesnt do well under pressure:)
I met my friend who has Buster and Ted's brother at the beach on Thursday. After our walk we headed back to the car through the dunes where we heard squeaking, I thought it was a bird at first but then discovered Minx,Buster and Harvey (Busts brother) with a rabbit. Mouse and Ted then joined in when they spotted what was going on.
I felt horrible but I knew we would struggle to get them all off it and it would probably be so badly injured it would die so had to leave them to kill it, which they did very swiftly. They then proceeded to devour it which was rather gross, their terrier instincts were in full flow I can tell you they were a killer pack at that moment in time!
Ive been at work most of the week on training 9to4,im back to work on my normal shifts this week but I was very good all week and rode most nights,usually if I dont ride early in the day I lose the inclination.
Ali has been on lots of hacks we've not done any schooling at all much to his delight. We are going on a 10 mile pleasure ride in a couple of weeks so I want to build his fitness up,he's fit and could do it no problem now but I want to fitten him up a bit more cardio wise so we can have lots of nice canters:)
Today we had a hour and a half hack,ive noticed he backs off the leg the further away he gets away from the yard which he'll have to get over as we plan on lots of longer rides as along with the pleasure ride im planing on taking him to a couple of hunt meets over the coming months.
The dog show last week was a bit odd,nobody could figure out what the judge was going for. Usually you start to get an idea after a few classes as you see quite often see a *type* they are going for..ie good heads,a certain size,coat type or movement but it was really ramdom. Having said that Buster got 3rd in a class of 10 which is not to be sniffed at as its another Crufts qualifier so it was worth the long drive and early morning. Ted got nothing he isnt showing himself well at all and the more I try to stand him the worse he stands so im having a change of tact next time and am just going to give him lots of treats and let him stand how he wants..see how that works? He doesnt do well under pressure:)
I met my friend who has Buster and Ted's brother at the beach on Thursday. After our walk we headed back to the car through the dunes where we heard squeaking, I thought it was a bird at first but then discovered Minx,Buster and Harvey (Busts brother) with a rabbit. Mouse and Ted then joined in when they spotted what was going on.
I felt horrible but I knew we would struggle to get them all off it and it would probably be so badly injured it would die so had to leave them to kill it, which they did very swiftly. They then proceeded to devour it which was rather gross, their terrier instincts were in full flow I can tell you they were a killer pack at that moment in time!
Thursday, 27 August 2009
Sorry....hadnt intended on such a long break!
..well actually i'd not intended on any break it just kind of happened then I think I lost my blogger mojo:))
Anyway im not even going to attempt to go through the past month or two but will do a brief summary,you'll be relieved to know.
Firstly both boys are well. Ive been off work for the summer so have had a blissful time just pottering on taking my time instead off constantly running around,had lots of fun hacks and long walks with the dogs.
Ive started riding Polo again, Vic's trimmer/farrier had a look at his feet and im pleased to say reckons im doing a cracking job and I should be riding him to get more improvement which im doing,in boots and pads. He also had a very extensive physio session he was pretty sore particularly in his deep muscles around his back and bum, which is hardly suprising as due to his feet being an issue. He's been compensating by shortening his stride which has made him sore elsewhere in his body.
He felt dramatically better 7to 10days after the physio and although im keeping the hacks short and in walk his stride length seems to be improving and quite often he doesnt want to turn for home so he must be feeling more comfortable.
Ali has been thoroughly enjoying having lots of hacks particularly in the fields and woods near our yard, he absolutely loves cantering in the fields but never feels silly or like he's going to do anything daft. We've had a couple of good gallops and although he's not the fastest he is a little powerhouse, canter feels so easy for him he just pings in and forgets how to trot at times:)
Ive not had any lessons recently and to be honest Ali really doesnt want to go in the school as he's been enjoying the outings so much but im going to try and be more consistant.
At the beginning of this week we went for a hack and it really hit home what a sensible boy he is,in the space of 5mins a tractor passed us and at least 3large wagons and he didnt even lift his head,its a joy to be able to relax so completely as you simply cant when your riding Polo.
The big news is Ali had his first show at the weekend. I was hugely nervous as I had no idea how he'd react and ive had some horrendous times with *you know who* at shows etc but the boy did me proud again and was absolutely brilliant.
First we had the large foreign breeds inhand. Vic had spoken to the judge on the phone the week before to ask if we could trot them up the traditional Spanish way which involves a few circles on the lunge in canter then coming off and basically running as fast as possible with them with them in an extended trot. The judge had said yes so we'd been practicing this way, Ali was probably run up like this when he was graded and took to it easily, but in the class we weve told to trot them up the English way. I really thought i'd struggle to get Ali to trot up like this but after an initial donkey moment he trotted up well with me running as fast as my little legs would carry me.
Anyway he got 2nd in this class out of about 7(?)which I was really chuffed about, a Friesian won it, this also qualified him for The Royal London Show in September not that i'll be going as its a bit too far away.
Just before we'd expected to go in for the inhand everyone seemed to disappear which was obviously an unannounced lunch break. Now surely the sensible way to do things would have been to have the break after all the inhand classes so everyone had time to tack their horses up and warm up for the ridden...you'd *think*.
But obviously not which meant by the time we got back to the wagon and tacked up then got back to the ring they were calling our ridden class in so no time for a warm up.
Ali totally lulled me into a false sense of security bouncing down to the ring sideways for the ridden class then obviously thought that was way too much like hard work and went into donkey mode who could barely manage to canter!
Although infairness no warm up and me trying too hard didnt help but he can do halt to canter so a bit of sustained canter on the correct leg *should* have been do-able.Vic's mare was in the same class and was behind us which resulted in him hanging back and when it came to doing our individual show piece he was quite nappy for her.I admit to riding like a totally spanner too:0
This results in me hating the majority of the ridden pictures cos he's got his nose poking most of the time and are generally horrible. I could have taken a strong contact and gotten an "outline" but I usually warm him up with flexions and transitions so didnt think it was fair to suddenly pull his head in from the front.
The one thing I do like about the ridden pics is seeing how much his walk has improved. He had quite a choppy walk and i'd not realised how much it has improved until I saw the pictures so im very happy about that!
Anyway he got 3rd in that class but there were only four of us in there:)))
The judge was very nice about him and said she liked him a lot and could see we were having lots of fun together, she also gave me a bottle of Spanish sherry for most promising youngster.
Inhand
Ridden
.
Q and Vic behind us on this one
The dogs are well,sort of, Mouse jumped into the car last week and tweaked something in her back which resulted in a few seconds of not being able to stand up. She has some painkillers and anti inflammatories and is still a little stiff and sore but seems okay,im not ruling out contacting the horse physio if it continues to be a problem as she does dogs too.
We've been to a few shows, not sure where I reported up to but Buster has had another first recently then had nothing at the last two shows although was shortlisted in one huge class where I could tell the judge liked him but just thought he was too heavy. Ted continues to be a wally he seems to be getting placed quite consistantly, its usually a lower placing where as Buster seems to get higher placing or nothing, but im not complaining.
Mouse has had another couple of placings and recently got a Best Bitch at a local Terrier and Lurcher show which was excellent:)
Ive got a Champ show on Sunday just with the boys due to Mouse's back and the fact she is due in season soon.
Soooo I think thats about it for now,I shall be back to update more frequently:))
Anyway im not even going to attempt to go through the past month or two but will do a brief summary,you'll be relieved to know.
Firstly both boys are well. Ive been off work for the summer so have had a blissful time just pottering on taking my time instead off constantly running around,had lots of fun hacks and long walks with the dogs.
Ive started riding Polo again, Vic's trimmer/farrier had a look at his feet and im pleased to say reckons im doing a cracking job and I should be riding him to get more improvement which im doing,in boots and pads. He also had a very extensive physio session he was pretty sore particularly in his deep muscles around his back and bum, which is hardly suprising as due to his feet being an issue. He's been compensating by shortening his stride which has made him sore elsewhere in his body.
He felt dramatically better 7to 10days after the physio and although im keeping the hacks short and in walk his stride length seems to be improving and quite often he doesnt want to turn for home so he must be feeling more comfortable.
Ali has been thoroughly enjoying having lots of hacks particularly in the fields and woods near our yard, he absolutely loves cantering in the fields but never feels silly or like he's going to do anything daft. We've had a couple of good gallops and although he's not the fastest he is a little powerhouse, canter feels so easy for him he just pings in and forgets how to trot at times:)
Ive not had any lessons recently and to be honest Ali really doesnt want to go in the school as he's been enjoying the outings so much but im going to try and be more consistant.
At the beginning of this week we went for a hack and it really hit home what a sensible boy he is,in the space of 5mins a tractor passed us and at least 3large wagons and he didnt even lift his head,its a joy to be able to relax so completely as you simply cant when your riding Polo.
The big news is Ali had his first show at the weekend. I was hugely nervous as I had no idea how he'd react and ive had some horrendous times with *you know who* at shows etc but the boy did me proud again and was absolutely brilliant.
First we had the large foreign breeds inhand. Vic had spoken to the judge on the phone the week before to ask if we could trot them up the traditional Spanish way which involves a few circles on the lunge in canter then coming off and basically running as fast as possible with them with them in an extended trot. The judge had said yes so we'd been practicing this way, Ali was probably run up like this when he was graded and took to it easily, but in the class we weve told to trot them up the English way. I really thought i'd struggle to get Ali to trot up like this but after an initial donkey moment he trotted up well with me running as fast as my little legs would carry me.
Anyway he got 2nd in this class out of about 7(?)which I was really chuffed about, a Friesian won it, this also qualified him for The Royal London Show in September not that i'll be going as its a bit too far away.
Just before we'd expected to go in for the inhand everyone seemed to disappear which was obviously an unannounced lunch break. Now surely the sensible way to do things would have been to have the break after all the inhand classes so everyone had time to tack their horses up and warm up for the ridden...you'd *think*.
But obviously not which meant by the time we got back to the wagon and tacked up then got back to the ring they were calling our ridden class in so no time for a warm up.
Ali totally lulled me into a false sense of security bouncing down to the ring sideways for the ridden class then obviously thought that was way too much like hard work and went into donkey mode who could barely manage to canter!
Although infairness no warm up and me trying too hard didnt help but he can do halt to canter so a bit of sustained canter on the correct leg *should* have been do-able.Vic's mare was in the same class and was behind us which resulted in him hanging back and when it came to doing our individual show piece he was quite nappy for her.I admit to riding like a totally spanner too:0
This results in me hating the majority of the ridden pictures cos he's got his nose poking most of the time and are generally horrible. I could have taken a strong contact and gotten an "outline" but I usually warm him up with flexions and transitions so didnt think it was fair to suddenly pull his head in from the front.
The one thing I do like about the ridden pics is seeing how much his walk has improved. He had quite a choppy walk and i'd not realised how much it has improved until I saw the pictures so im very happy about that!
Anyway he got 3rd in that class but there were only four of us in there:)))
The judge was very nice about him and said she liked him a lot and could see we were having lots of fun together, she also gave me a bottle of Spanish sherry for most promising youngster.
Inhand
Ridden
.
Q and Vic behind us on this one
The dogs are well,sort of, Mouse jumped into the car last week and tweaked something in her back which resulted in a few seconds of not being able to stand up. She has some painkillers and anti inflammatories and is still a little stiff and sore but seems okay,im not ruling out contacting the horse physio if it continues to be a problem as she does dogs too.
We've been to a few shows, not sure where I reported up to but Buster has had another first recently then had nothing at the last two shows although was shortlisted in one huge class where I could tell the judge liked him but just thought he was too heavy. Ted continues to be a wally he seems to be getting placed quite consistantly, its usually a lower placing where as Buster seems to get higher placing or nothing, but im not complaining.
Mouse has had another couple of placings and recently got a Best Bitch at a local Terrier and Lurcher show which was excellent:)
Ive got a Champ show on Sunday just with the boys due to Mouse's back and the fact she is due in season soon.
Soooo I think thats about it for now,I shall be back to update more frequently:))
Saturday, 27 June 2009
None the wiser!
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!
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!
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.
Saturday, 23 May 2009
Much much better.
Had another lesson Friday and it was a vast improvement. I did think my tiredness last time was the main issue, I felt much more on the ball yesterday and it went well.
I had a nice schooling session mid week so I had an inkling the lesson would be an improvement on last one.
Yesterday started with getting him flexing and stepping through with the inside hind.D said he's so thickset in the neck and can look pretty infront without working properly from behind so getting him flexing and activating the hind is really important.We then moved into trot and did some leg yielding, concentrating on getting him to flex and be straight as he is desperate to lead with his shoulders. I have a tendency to try and correct this purely by pushing his quarters over with my leg but D had me half halting then using the inside leg to straighten the shoulders up instead which worked well and we got some nice attempts towards the end.I must admit it feels really weird as he finds this such hard work yet Polo seems to find lateral work so easy.
Next we moved onto some travers coming off the circle with the bend then moving the front end on the track with the quarters in,it was a bit hit and miss at first. Sorry if im not explaining this properly or correctly, im better *doing* than talking or writing about this side of things!
I did giggle as D said im very interesting to teach as although im not a technical rider im very practical..Im not 100% sure it that was a compliment or not but I *think* she meant it in a nice way? :))))
Lastly we did some canter work for the first time in ages and it was actually quite good. Because Ali tries to use his backend as sparingly as possible I have found his canter hard to sit to as it sometimes feels like his back is as hard as a board and im bouncing higher and higher and he's boiinging without actually going very far.
Anyway he felt more forward,softer and supple so D asked me to again ask for the bend half halting and using my outside leg on the girth to stop him falling out. We got a decent canter on each rein so called it a day there.
We were both chuffed with him as he really seemed to tried hard to do everything that was asked of him,I feel we are both making huge progress at the minute.
Today Vic and I went to see some Border Terrier puppies as she is joining the Border owners club. They belong to a guy I got chatting to at the show last week so Vic is now the owner of a little bitch who she'll collect mid July when she gets back from her holidays.
I later went for a hack along the lane with our YO which was very pleasant as the sun was out.
I had a nice schooling session mid week so I had an inkling the lesson would be an improvement on last one.
Yesterday started with getting him flexing and stepping through with the inside hind.D said he's so thickset in the neck and can look pretty infront without working properly from behind so getting him flexing and activating the hind is really important.We then moved into trot and did some leg yielding, concentrating on getting him to flex and be straight as he is desperate to lead with his shoulders. I have a tendency to try and correct this purely by pushing his quarters over with my leg but D had me half halting then using the inside leg to straighten the shoulders up instead which worked well and we got some nice attempts towards the end.I must admit it feels really weird as he finds this such hard work yet Polo seems to find lateral work so easy.
Next we moved onto some travers coming off the circle with the bend then moving the front end on the track with the quarters in,it was a bit hit and miss at first. Sorry if im not explaining this properly or correctly, im better *doing* than talking or writing about this side of things!
I did giggle as D said im very interesting to teach as although im not a technical rider im very practical..Im not 100% sure it that was a compliment or not but I *think* she meant it in a nice way? :))))
Lastly we did some canter work for the first time in ages and it was actually quite good. Because Ali tries to use his backend as sparingly as possible I have found his canter hard to sit to as it sometimes feels like his back is as hard as a board and im bouncing higher and higher and he's boiinging without actually going very far.
Anyway he felt more forward,softer and supple so D asked me to again ask for the bend half halting and using my outside leg on the girth to stop him falling out. We got a decent canter on each rein so called it a day there.
We were both chuffed with him as he really seemed to tried hard to do everything that was asked of him,I feel we are both making huge progress at the minute.
Today Vic and I went to see some Border Terrier puppies as she is joining the Border owners club. They belong to a guy I got chatting to at the show last week so Vic is now the owner of a little bitch who she'll collect mid July when she gets back from her holidays.
I later went for a hack along the lane with our YO which was very pleasant as the sun was out.
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