Following on from the previous blog, Diva and I were taking part in a clinic held by Lisa Dixon of Freelance Equine – Trick Training and Horsemanship at Truesdale Equestrian Centre.
Lisa had instructed us on which exercises and apparatus to use before we picked which ones to do.
The first exercise I asked Diva to do was walking over a pair of raised poles in a figure of eight pattern. She was careful and lowered her head and neck to concentrate on what was being asked of her. We then did some bending and spiralling exercises, again over poles to focus both the equines and handlers.
I then took Diva to a line of apparatus that she had to walk over. An arched bridge with AstroTurf was our first obstacle and she marched over it boldly. She was a little too bold on the next piece which was a narrow raised walkway. At the first attempt she got both front feet on but not the back ones. After a little guidance by Lisa in how to ask Diva to do it correctly, the pony got the hang of it and happily walked along it in both directions. The next was a seesaw which moved as the pony walked along it. She didn’t bat an eyelid at that and got it right from the start.
We then went up to the other end of the arena to have a go at the pedestal. In this exercise the pony puts their front feet on the plinth and stays there for a little while to stretch the back and shoulder muscles. The pedestal was over Diva’s knee height but again, under Lisa’s expert guidance, Diva soon stepped up on it. She made me chuckle when she realised the extra height it gave her meant she could see outside. She would have happily stayed on there for the rest of the lesson, I think.
We had such a good time that we are planning to book into the clinic in April. But the question is: do we do another PT session or try our hand at some trick-training? Which do you think we will opt for?
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.