The neddies were lucky this week (well two of them) as for the first few days they had it easy as per the last instructions from their Chiropractor session. Aria had some ground work training which involved both in hand work and long reining. She’s really picking up the long reining well, and can turn properly when asked, we even managed to navigate the gate of the arena on to the drive and then up and down the drive a few times to do some hill work and also work her on a level surface. Despite being a bit distracted by the others in the field, she did really well, only one stop which lasted 30 seconds or so. Looking forward to getting some front shoes on her (as recommended) so we can do a bit more road work and get her up and down some local hills to work her back end more!
Bob enjoyed a chilled few days, and also a new experience for him – he too did some long reining which we haven’t tried before. He looked a bit confused at first but within a few laps of the arena did beautiful out line and manoeuvred over poles and in and out of them well. I had a sit on him, to do mainly walk work and he was a bit stiff at the start of the week (still getting used to the tweaks), by the end of the week though he was so supple and moving much better. His canter on his right rein was much more even and powerful, and no more leaning in! We’ve got a bit more schooling ahead and some jump practice before we head out at the weekend for a SJ competition which I am looking forward too. He’s also getting his saddle fitting and potentially a new saddle in two weeks which I am excited about (my other half however….well he’s dreading the next few weeks as it’s the saddle fitting followed 10 days later by Your Horse Live – oopsie!).
Autumn’s been a good girl this week doing her schooling focusing on her bending and circles. The wet weather at the weekend halted our idea of a nice long hack which was disappointing but they all enjoyed a duvet day away from the wind and rain. Hoping to get her out at the weekend either to the Le Trec training, or for a nice long hack followed by Le Trec training at home (my friend has done it before so can set up a mini course). I’m also getting the clippers ready as she’s being clipped in the not so distant future. Normally I have someone out, but last year I received some clippers for Christmas. The poor horse…. it will be my first time doing a full Irish clip (well that’s what I am aiming for it may well turn into a combination of different clips haha - although I did a bib clip on her last year and it turned out okay).
Bob will be done after this as he’s much bigger, hairier and a wimp (even with sedation); so sorry Autumn your my guinea pig…. if all else fails I may be calling in a friend to do a tidy up! Fingers crossed my lines are straight, although maybe we could set a new trend hmmm!
There a few shows coming up in November too including some qualifiers so will have to make sure the horses are ready ahead of those. I may even try and get Aria out to a showing one too, provided her coat doesn’t look too fluffy, as for a warm blood she’s a fluff ball in winter, so a tidy up is in order for her as well, which im sure she will love.
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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.