News and New Stuff!

Well I have some happier news to report - and an explanation on why Sarah is riding Rio in this picture! We are pregnant, and will be 26 weeks tomorrow! Rio has been off work since my last post, for my peace of mind but it also came at a good time over Winter whilst I'm trying to balance his digestive system. Sarah kindly agreed to brave the saddle for me a few weeks ago just to see how he is getting on, and he was a little angel. He had started pulling his head down when I mounted, because he was getting uncomfortable, and there was none of that on this day. He usually takes 5 - 10 minutes of being a little more alert, on his toes and joggy before he settles in our friend's manege. Not this time - he was lovely and relaxed from the get-go. This may have been down to the groundwork and long-lining I did with him before, but this was the first time he has been under saddle in 3 months+ so he could have done anything. It was lovely to see him looking a happy chappy again. 

I think he is looking well at the moment (and I think in this picture he does too!) He has had a follow-up visit with Donna since September and we saw great improvement. He has been less spooky, and thanks to the groundwork we even ventured out around the neighbouring field on long-lines on our own a few weeks back. It's been keeping me active having Rio - and although some days I've possibly done a little too much, it's great for keeping me going! 

In other news, I have an exciting new venture in the planning stages! I've decided to take my maternity leave as a perfect opportunity to really sink my teeth into my photography, and launch myself into business. Please do add me on Facebook and Instagram so you can keep up with my updates. I'm super excited to open a brand new chapter in my life - and not only that, a chapter that can tell other people's stories! There's plenty to plan, and lots to get sorted, but I can't wait to give this my best shot and see what's out there for me. Launching my business with my first child on the way is not complete madness, right? ... 

I'll try to be a little more active again now, it's been a bumpy few months, but we're back on track! 

Catch-up on fast forward!

Stubble fields.

Boy love.

Overcoming scary objects on wheelbarrows. At liberty :)

Sunset stubble field hacks. The world's longest stubble field, and Rio actually tired himself out completely. We had the best canter, after I was initially not convinced. Both boys came off the trailer and were very antsy at the start of the hack, but by half way across the first field my worries were gone, and by the third, I was up out of the saddle able to give his back the freedom he needed! Franks with his long legs and better fitness motored off whilst we slowed to a leisurely trot and then walked to catch up with them - what a good boy!

 Misty beautiful early mornings.

More boy love.

Observing at a Silke Vallentine Level 1-2 clinic on the weekend and taking away some interesting and useful hints and tips.

Not having my phone on the one day that Rio ends up brown and brown because he's caked himself in mud!

Treating us to new Le Mieux navy sports boots - to match the numnah of course.

Replacing the waterproof coat in the nick of time - today was a washout!

Blasting away the cobwebs

The cruise was fab. It was the perfect break that we needed at just the right time. If you ever get an opportunity to sail on a Clipper, absolutely go for it! 

Back to real life, and I'm getting back in the swing of things with Rio. His confidence has taken a bit of a hit under saddle, and he's been a bit spooky, but on the plus side he's much improved in hand. Yesterday we went for a ride around the village with Millie and Bailey and finished with a little canter up the field which was interesting. It's been a while since he's had a proper leg stretching canter out on a track. The first half was very much a rocking horse gone mad, with his head between his knees! There was nothing malicious, but he was certainly happy to be out and moving some. 

This evening we hit the track up the road for a proper blast to try and clear some cobwebs. The wind was pretty gusty, but I wasn't about to start down that "nervous in bad weather rider" road. We tacked up, mounted, and headed off. We were so busy chatting away that I barely even noticed the wind. The ride was pretty relaxed all the way, and we had a fantastic canter up the hill and across the fields including a little bit of a gallop across the top! He was very responsive, keen and I think we both had an absolutely fab time. He's a little star, and I'm so pleased to be enjoying him again. 

Then and now!

I've finally gotten around to having a look at comparing my photos of Rio from last April to this year's shoot! He's grown up so much in 12 months, and I couldn't be prouder of where we have come from and where we are going.

I've been feeling very tired recently, so there have been some questions raised over the lack of riding I've been doing - I've taken preference to developing our groundwork and riding for a shorter length of time. I'm sure that some people think this is crazy, but I'm happy. Let's face it - Rio is an opinionated young man when he wants to be, and he's a half ton of horse to take on when he's got his mind set on something. If taking a step back is what I need to do at the moment, then so be it, and we will work on getting to know each other better! 

The pole clinic went well. Speaking of attitude, Rio took some of that with him that day. After going to move him into a field away from the arena and him going to trot off around me, we took to playing on the ground. 40 minutes later, with lots of backing up, driving, playing with obstacles, and getting control of his feet over a pole on the ground, and we mounted up with a renewed understanding. 

The morning session resulted in a light, forward going and responsive ride. The fear of the end of the arena was almost gone, until his brain was a little overloaded by the end of it, but I was absolutely chuffed with his efforts. 

The afternoon wasn't quite the same story. Unfortunately I think he blew his mind and left his brain by the trailer for the most part. I ended up getting my instructor to ride him, and it was a pleasure to watch him in the end. He tried his little heart out, and although he totally lost it on a few occasions at the scary end of the school, he really made up for it in the end. 

Onwards and upwards!

Sluggish start

Having spent all Winter complaining about the ground being wet, the wind being cold, and not being able to ride, I am now in prime riding season and feeling so tired I'm really not making the most of it!

That said, the little bits that we have done have been positive. Trying, but positive. The third time of going to walk Rio out of his field after our first session, and he's walking up to it with no issues. I'm still leaving him to graze in order to close the gate a few yards away, but the panic is not as set in as it was before. I am hopeful that a few more sessions will crack that. 

I brought him up on Thursday evening and gave him a good brush down, before I hopped on and took him into the outdoor arena for some schooling. He was really not very attentive at all, and when my friend left the school with her horse, he was very tetchy. I decided to see if I could test his senses a little outside of our usual routine. Sylvia Loch has recently moved into the local area, and classical dressage is something that I would like to further explore with Rio. I think that with both done correctly, that CD and parelli will work nicely hand in hand. Both intend on creating a bond with the horse whereby a tiny movement or suggestion speaks volumes. 

So I decided that I would try simply dropping my inside leg weight slightly more into the stirrup, and see what happened. Now, Rio is still quite young (yes I know he's six now!) and is quite attuned to weight distribution. Something that I'm keen to utilise and not lose. I was pleasantly surprised that whilst keeping my line of sight straight through his ears, not moving my hands and reins to steer, that he started to turn. A little more weight in the stirrup, and he turned a little sharper. What magic this is. The basics are there for us, I just need to learn how to develop them.

For now, we will stick to small tweaks, and we need to do a lot of bending to ensure those corners aren't taking at a 45 degree angle to the ground when we make it up into canter. Moving forward, these little things are what give me the belief that my boy really can do anything, if only I can help him to learn!

Schooling success

We made a trip to Water Farm on Monday evening after work to do some schooling, with Sarah and Franks. It was a thank you for us helping out at the second dressage clinic last weekend. Can't ask for better payment than free use of a lovely indoor arena! It was made all the more interesting when Nancy joined us. This is Nancy:

She is very opinionated, and was not interested in the slightest in leaving us to it. Luckily Rio wasn't too worried about her, although he did avoid her for a couple of rounds. We did some lovely demi-volts along the opposite side of the school, and then set back to it, and he was fine. 

We had some fab movement and work in the trot, and he's really starting to work better from behind now - which followed through into tonight's session at the yard! I was a little disappointed with the canter work (or lack thereof!) at Water Farm, after we hacked out twice at the weekend and did none at all. I thought he'd be itching to get going. 

Tonight I was very pleased with everything he did, on the ground and in the saddle. He stretched down and forward beautifully by the end of the session, and we managed our longest canter in our grass arena yet - and he didn't drop out of it on his own, I asked him forward to trot! As a little bonus my friend was having her horse schooled by a mutual friend who teaches, and as we were trotting around at the end, he gave me some pointers on getting Rio working more effectively from behind and pushing down and forward. I was absolutely beaming by the end, but shattered! 

Absolutely brilliant discovery - take feet out of stirrups, and let them drop down, and Rio stops dead in a perfect square halt. 

Not so good when I eventually come to wanting to work without stirrups, but interesting nonetheless. I ride quite short, so it must feel very odd to him when my legs stretch down! 

After Franks had a bit of a meltdown on our casual walk out on Saturday, courtesy of the two practising trial bikes I inadvertently took us past, I decided to take Rio out for a casual walk up the road on Sunday morning. I was determined to clock up another solo ride, and this one was a bit of a challenge that I ended up being proud of. 

We crossed the road, where he took offence to something (still no idea what!) and promptly spun to the right, and took off up the 3 foot grass bank. Onto the farmer's field. Not good! I used my recently learned trick of lifting my right rein to bend him and disengage his hind, and brought him back quickly, before too much damage could be done to the crop... I whisked him straight back off at the corner of the field, where he still put up an argument about proceeding up the road. After a moment of discussion, with a couple looking on from their car across the road, he eventually got on with it, and we marched on our way. 

The ride was made up of little victories; sitting the spook, not turning back and making him listen to me, not turning around at the top of the road because my nerves were shot, and having a great trot across the two fields. The trip back down the hill was relatively uneventful, which was lovely. 

Our first go at dressage!

As promised, here is the video footage of our first ever dressage test.

Even though it was amongst friends, and intended as a bit of fun, I was still SO nervous beforehand! Those four little letters are just terrifying - t.e.s.t ...

You will notice that my reins are a bit loopy - this was intentional, and intended to assist me keep them a consistent length. I have a habit of playing with my reins, letting them slip through my fingers, collecting them, and the circle continues. We weren't after collection here, just relaxation and a nice rhythm. I hope you'll agree that the rhythm side turned out pretty well. 

Comments on our sheet were as follows:

1. Nicely on centre line

2. Lovely fluid and free flowing trot

4. Good trot

7. Needs to show more stretch (he was supposed to walk out on free rein on the half 20m circle left rein, and I was quite surprised when he didn't stretch down as he's usually very good at it!)

9. Energetic transition (yep... we nearly took the judges out with us going into canter on that bottom corner haha)

10. A little forward (I was pleased he went up into the canter and maintained it, so I didn't try and tweak anything this time - that's something we will work on)

14. Broke early (didn't quite make the whole of the second shape, but again I was super pleased with his effort and he did drop into a lovely trot, so I decided to stick with it)

15. Good centre line

16. Lovely square halt

General comments:

Delightful youngster! Good paces, very forward. This could be controlled better going forward by better rein contact. Quietly ridden. When you both have more experience this looks promising!

63.2%

Happy mummy. Happy Rio - look at his little face, he's adorable!

Positively Spring

The pole clinic went well! This is our first time over the new poles at Wendy's. Having done coloured poles before, it never struck me to take him over them before we started working with them. His beautiful bascule was from a trot, as he tried to keep us both safe from the blue and black pole monster! (Hubby says the poles are white and gold...!) When I took him back around to walk over it, he didn't want to go anywhere near it, but after 5 or 6 small figures of eight over the poles, we were all good. 

I definitely need to take Rio out off the yard for a hack this weekend, as we schooled on Monday night and this morning before the farrier visited. He worked very well both times, and has started to settle more in our outdoor arena. Or maybe that's me. We are working more consistently together, and I have been trying to work more on my breathing to enhance my communication with him. Bringing him down from trot to walk with a sigh along with my aids has proved to work well, but walk to halt still takes a little more. 

Today we did some canter work, and although the left rein was a little touch and go, his balance on the right rein was much better. We had a lovely rhythmic 3 beat canter from A, doing a 20m circle, and back up the long side, where I asked him back to trot before the corner. It was the first time I've felt able to ask him to collect a little, as opposed to getting him into the canter and letting him settle into the pace he wants to keep him in the canter! He is also responding much better to my carrying a schooling whip. It is only there for when he pushes through his shoulder, as he's lovely and forward anyway. He's really getting the hang of it now, and as soon as I touch it to his shoulder, he instantly straightens up and moves over. We even managed a bit of leg yield on both reins today (and once in trot too!)

Last night (much to Rio's dismay) was bath time as the temperatures had shot up. He was a bit of a fidget bum, but once he realised that the hose stayed on him no matter where he moved to, he eventually gave in. Well, for a couple of minutes anyway. Then he had to test it again. I did feel a bit bad, as by the end he was shivering as the temperature did seem to dip off all of a sudden. 10 minutes with his waffle rug did the trick to warm him back up again though, and he's lovely and soft today! 

I now have a copy of our dressage test, which I will be editing and uploading soon - super excited, you can see our super speedy dressage cantering antics!

Turbulence!

Life has it's UPS and downs.

You will never fully appreciate the ups

unless you have some downs

It has been a turbulent few weeks since my last post, packed full of riding, not riding, and plenty of peaks and troughs. 

Peak

The dressage clinic. Wonderful. Rio behaved impeccably, despite being absolutely shattered by the end of the lesson in the morning and refusing to go up into canter. He redeemed himself immensely when performing the test in the afternoon - 63.2% in our first test ever! Even though he dropped out a little early from the canter on the second rein. His trot was fab, he's got a lovely rhythmical trot which suits dressage very nicely it would seem. The day wasn't without it's drama however, as a friend's horse slipped whilst cantering a 20m circle, and went over, smashing her big toe. Luckily no broken ankle or leg, but it was horrifying to watch unfold (seemingly in slow-mo!)

I think he was pretty pleased with it.

Trough

Clipping was not such a fun experience. Despite having had a nice relaxed leg stretch after the fun at the clinic, and him practically falling asleep on the spot when we got back, those clippers still instil the fear in him. I may have to resort to him needing mild sedation to get this done moving forward, and save us all some stress. He is back to his handsome ways now though, and has undergone a full clip this time!

Peak

After a few days off, we had a lovely ride out in the countryside with a couple of friends. My gosh was it windy, but all four boys were very well behaved - even on the big hills where things might have gotten messy. Last Friday, after a few more days of doing nothing, Rio came in and we did some schooling. We are focussing not so much on a full contact, I am looking more for him to seek the bit out for himself, and working a little longer and a little lower. We will be working up and in from there. He did very well, and was wonderfully relaxed. As a treat, he had his whole field for the night, so he could enjoy some proper green grass!

Trough

Too much proper green grass!

The fun returned on Saturday morning, including (but not limited to) 

spooking at anything and everything possible

freaking out when I turned him around outside the gate to close it

running back into the field

twice

being on his toes walking up - cue him being sent out around me in a circle for a few minutes

fidgeting every time I went to pick up a foot

standing on my foot

being a spooky sweetheart on the way back down to the field, with freshly picked feet, and his rug changed

When we walked back down, I imposed some in hand schooling to keep him busy. We stopped, started, walked, jogged, stepped back, and he did it all foot perfect. He's so lucky I love him to pieces! 

Peak

Last night, with carrot stick in hand, I made my way to the field to retrieve the boy - "I'm taking no prisoners tonight" was my text to Sarah! Of course, he didn't bat an eyelid at the gate, didn't dance about, and barely fidgeted whilst I got him ready and tacked up. Just another day... He got lots of cuddles and strokes. We went for a windy wander with Sarah and Franks around the field next door, and after a silly spook from Rio in the corner, where I sat tight - I took us off around the village for a proper leg stretch. It was trying to drizzle, but it wasn't too bad, and I felt much better for having taken him out.

Even better - we are having a pole clinic with a friend on Easter Monday, and I'm really looking forward to it. Watch this space! 

Foto Friday!

Stop, drop and roll

It's been a perfect weekend. I had a play with this lovely boy yesterday, and a tumble after a trip followed by a flying stirrup leather meant saving my seat was an absolute no-no. You'd be forgiven for thinking this would be a crippling setback in my recent progress. In actual fact, it didn't phase me at all, and I got back on and schooled him a little more afterwards. He was very sweet and spun away from me when I was down, and it was actually one of the most gentle and graceful falls I've had yet. Just stop, drop and roll! Despite the ground seeming hard, I'm pleased to report that the only damage I seem to have sustained is a slight pull in my shoulder where I tried to hang on to his reins. I'm getting good at this falling malarky... It's more a shame that he had just started to relax when he stumbled! 

On Saturday, Rio and I braved the wind all on our own and went for a hack up the lane. We encountered tractors, got blown around a bit, and I still managed to get lots of sense from him. The ground was quite hard in places, and very pitted, so we mainly walked. We managed a trot and canter up the track, and he was beautifully relaxed and listening to me all the way. He got a bit antsy coming back down to cross the road outside the yard, but I turned him in a circle, and he waited better the second time. Such a fidget bum.

We are on countdown to the dressage clinic next Sunday, so I could really do with getting a session or two in between now and then. I'm hoping to get a quick one in tomorrow evening. I've been advised that the test we are riding is prelim 12, which is a little daunting, given that we've never done one before. However, we will take it all as good experience, and not worry if we can't maintain the canter throughout! If he takes the attitude he had on Wednesday with him, then I'll be happy whatever the outcome. If not, we could be in for a challenge! Haha.