The weather has been glorious the past few weeks and I never thought I would say it after the winter we had….but pllleeaaassseee an we have some rain?! The grass seed is struggling and the fields are not as green or growing as quickly as I would like! I’m supplementing the horses with hay still which has gone on longer than I originally planned and due to the odd cold temperatures and frosts they are still living in at night. Grrr I want them to live out the novelty of mucking out has truly worn off!
The schooling is still going well with Autumn and Bob, Autumns been very good and has even started to bend a lot more than she has before so I’m hoping we may achieve a small bit of consistent outline soon, although I’m not hedging my bets! She also had her 23rd birthday this week not that you would know it looking at her. Bobs becoming a bit better, I found he felt a bit awkward in the dressage saddle and I think it was because of me not being fully used to it and also his huge strides when he got excited in trot bounced me around like a water balloon at times (very inelegant!).
I’ve gone back to his jump saddle and we are both so much happier, he’s been doing well up until the last week or so where we have begun to do a bit more canter work – and in his mind this means we canter – Everywhere! The slightest shift in my seat or the rein and we were off! He wasn’t playing up or bolting just very forward and wanting to do it. I stupidly made the mistake of picking up his other bridle the other night with a weaker bit and lets just say we were pretty much without any brakes – I had to sit and wait until he tired out lol! Its nice that he’s enjoying his work and wanting to do it but I think I’ll have to take him back to doing a bit more transition work before we even contemplate jump work – although he stops beautifully in walk and trot just by voice.
I’ve booked me and Autumn in for another ride on the May bank holiday with the lady from the last ride, and we both cannot wait, Autumn’s a lot fitter now so I’m looking forward to a good gallop or two. Its not too far from our yard either which is another plus….especially as the horse box has its MOT this week – the day everyone dreads, wish me luck! Its getting on a bit now but still works well and is in great condition for 21 years old, but I fear even if it passes we will be looking for a replacement within the next 12 months…my partner is not overjoyed lol! I have to keep him sweet though as he currently building me some jumps at the moment from wood left over from the arena build - now we just have to paint them.
Once again I threw Arlo in at the deep end, affiliating him purely for the Arena UK second round show, and once again he pulled it out the bag. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful little horse? We haven’t really competed this year. I don’t really compete over the winter, and also my horsebox was away for repairs up until the beginning of June, so I had no transport even if I’d wanted to.
With the dry ground we don’t seem to be having much luck with shoes, as little madam managed to pull both her front shoes off within 12 hours the other day! We entered the arena with two shoes on for a schooling session and left it with one missing (took about an hour to find it). Then that afternoon, as I went to put some hoof ointment on, I looked down and had to double take, thinking I was looking at the wrong hoof. But, no, the other shoe was missing too.
After having a long wait and some lunch at the onsite café, it was time to get ready for the Joan Wolfe Overall Supreme Shetland Pony Championship. I got changed out of my usual showing outfit into black trousers and a maroon top with white spots, as you are expected to be a bit more “bling” in the evening.
We were all set to go for our next outing, and were super excited. That was until I heard the dreaded clunk of a loose shoe! I checked it over, praying it wasn’t too loose, but, nope, it was going to need a refit.