Wednesday 20th June
Got to horses in afternoon, my last day with them for a few days. Opened up the electric fencing and the horses came in to graze. Holly came up to me and wanted some scratches so I got my grooming brushes and gave her a thorough groom,she really enjoyed that ;) Solly was waiting his turn close by so went straight to grooming him after Holly ;) I then haltered him and with the 22' feather light we went to play in the jumping arena.
Lots of different games today, sideways away and towards great, backups great, circling w/t/c great. We also circled and squeezed over quite a few of the new jumps (different places and higher than before) and he did great with those.
Then I went and saddled him and did some liberty circling w/t/c to loosen him up and cinch the saddle up. Then I mounted and started on our warm up ridden work.
Ridden work went well, circles, serpentines, w/t/halt transitions, impulsion good, relaxation great and working from light aids ;) So on such a good note I go out of the arena's and to the bottom of the big hill. Mark just came into the field (to catch Holly, warm her up and ride a bit too) and Solly wanted to know what was going on so I turn him toward Mark and let him have a look. Then when Mark took Holly to be saddled Solly had trouble concentrating so I just asked him to fig 8 around the cone and tyre down where we were.
I then asked him to try to go up the big hill but he had sticky feet. We were there for a short while, he backed and I helped him go faster backwards, he kept turning hishead to theleft so I turned it for him and asked for tight circles but each time we kept coming back to the same spot and I just looked up the hill and kept waiting for him to make that one step forwards...he did it after a while and I rubbed him and told him he's a good boy ;)
Then asked him forward again, he hesitated a couple of times but as I was being quiety persistent and not badgering him he got the courage to let me lead him and once he started walking forward he was fine....trotted from the bottom to mid way up and then OFFERED CANTER and did abotu 8 hard strides of canter up the hardest part of the hill and I brought him down to a trot and we trotted up to Tara ;)) FAB, after the sticky feet bit he was calm, confident and eager to please. I was calm, confident and happy as a cat with the cream ;)
We then slowly but surely walked back down, me still riding him and he did great. Holly was being saddled at the end of the field so I took that opportunity to ride the outside rail of the electric fencing in a nice BIG trot with Solly to be near Holly and Mark...great forward trot there.
Then with Mark mounted we both went into the round pen (it's about 80' diameter) and did some nice leg yielding with both our horses from a small circle inside the pen to the outside rail...both horses did it fabulously and this really will help Holly get some more flexibility on both sides of her ribcage ;)
We then parted and I went into the dressage arena and Mark went cantering around the field a bit. Then I got off and took some pic's of Mark riding Holly.
After Mark let Holly go I remounted Solly and did some nice ridden work with him, first for softness, lightness, relaxation and connection and then some good jumping practice.
Lastly whilst doing the jumping Solly kept offering some lovely canter, usually picking it up just after a jump and it felt like some good cantering, I was smiling my head off it felt that good ;)) We ended on a very good note there and hope that we can pick this up again to progress it after I come back from working from tomorrow. It will do Sol good to have a small holiday and look forward to picking up where we left off ;)
Tuesday 19th June
Sun and rain today so waited for a dry spell and went down to the horses for a few hours. I didn't intend to do much with Solly as I wanted to give him a day off but went in and asked Tara if she wanted to do something today ;) She was having a snooze so took a while to connect with but then she did and I groomed her thoroughly...she really enjoyed her scratches on her belly with the dandy brush.
I haltered her and clipped on one end of the rope reins and walked with her out of the field and onto the track above the field. I let her graze for a second or two and mount her bareback off the gate. We then ride to the village, I make sure she gets to graze at some of the corners. Just before the village there is a nice playing field and we trotted and cantered around this, Tara was positively yeehaa'ing and it was lovely to be out riding her again.
We then moseyed back home and when back I let her graze in the main field with the herd to catch up on some personal horse-to-horsey time ;)
Before their dinner time I just moved the jumps around in the jumping arena as don't like letting obstacles stay in one play too long, change is good...like having the consistency of things to help with relaxation but need variety to keep it from getting boring and to help Solly with change more ;)
I haltered her and clipped on one end of the rope reins and walked with her out of the field and onto the track above the field. I let her graze for a second or two and mount her bareback off the gate. We then ride to the village, I make sure she gets to graze at some of the corners. Just before the village there is a nice playing field and we trotted and cantered around this, Tara was positively yeehaa'ing and it was lovely to be out riding her again.
We then moseyed back home and when back I let her graze in the main field with the herd to catch up on some personal horse-to-horsey time ;)
Before their dinner time I just moved the jumps around in the jumping arena as don't like letting obstacles stay in one play too long, change is good...like having the consistency of things to help with relaxation but need variety to keep it from getting boring and to help Solly with change more ;)
At dinner time I collect Tara and put her back into her paddock where she is happy. Was a good day, enjoyed the change of horse and liked giving Solly a day off, will hopefully play/ride Solly tomorrow before I go away for a while teaching in Aberdeenshire and the Borders.
Monday 18th June
My golly gosh we've got SUNSHINE today, and it's HOT ;) I go down to the horses about 1pm today and fist up I trim Solly's hooves. Didn't take too long and his feet look much better now. I then let him graze in a small paddock at the back of the dressage arena while I go and say hello to Stormy ;)
Stormy caught me nicely and I spend some nice time grooming him and he looks fab after his clean up.
Stormy caught me nicely and I spend some nice time grooming him and he looks fab after his clean up.
We then go and play together. His Rolling Rock is fab today and we get some more speed in it too. His extreme friendly is fab and tossing the feather light 22' over his head from Z5 was cool. backing up from the tail was good, lighter as we went on but good. Then onto circles, going to the left is always easier for him but he does good w/t/c circle in both directions. We stop on a very good, light, responsive note.
Then we walk to the jumping arena and we play with fig 8's around the jumps and then a few single and then double jumps. He knocks down a few so I continue until he starts picking his feet up better (it's usually his back feet that are lazy!)
Then we walk to the jumping arena and we play with fig 8's around the jumps and then a few single and then double jumps. He knocks down a few so I continue until he starts picking his feet up better (it's usually his back feet that are lazy!)
Circling nicely
I then put him into the grazing paddock Solly was in and take Solly out saddled and ready to play. We have a lot of fun playing around the jumping are, Z5 driving, dhq and move fq's to Z5 drive the other side. Then onto some jumping, circling and fig 8's. Then we go out of the jumping area to do fig 8's around the cone and tyre this is a serious 22' distance and once Sol realised he could use the whole rope we got some nice w/t/canter flc's fig 8's ;)
He was very calm, collected and connected today so I walked him to the round pen and mounted. Checked our LF and our DHQ, move FQ's and then onto some walking freestyle to make sure our turns, circling left and right in place. Then onto some w/t transitions and halt/backups too ;) all going FAB...am loving this connection Solly and I have at the moment, this consistency is really doing us both good ;)
At this time Mark gets to the field, I groomed and played with Stormy so that he could ride him today...with that in mind I kept riding in the round pen whilst Mark saddled and played with Stormy and then he mounted and warmed Stormy up, checking his LF, dhq and moving fq's and then RtR with Stormy in walk.
He was very calm, collected and connected today so I walked him to the round pen and mounted. Checked our LF and our DHQ, move FQ's and then onto some walking freestyle to make sure our turns, circling left and right in place. Then onto some w/t transitions and halt/backups too ;) all going FAB...am loving this connection Solly and I have at the moment, this consistency is really doing us both good ;)
At this time Mark gets to the field, I groomed and played with Stormy so that he could ride him today...with that in mind I kept riding in the round pen whilst Mark saddled and played with Stormy and then he mounted and warmed Stormy up, checking his LF, dhq and moving fq's and then RtR with Stormy in walk.
Mark and Stormy RtR in the dressage arena ;)
They then progress to trot and get to go out of the arena's more and we move around each area without getting in each other's way. Solly behaves very well and Stormy lightens up more and more as Mark rides him.
Whilst Mark is asking Stormy to try fig 8's around the cone/tre at the bottom of the hill I take the opportnity to ask Solly to trot up the big hill today. He doesn't have a problem going up and I talk to Tara (who's in her paddock at the top) so Solly has a nice destination. Half way up the hill I ask for a bit more effort and he puts in FOUR CANTER STRIDES...yeehaa ;) Felt great.
In the meantime Mark was doing his last fig 8 and then he followed me up the hill on Stormy who did it mostly in walk but with a couple of trot and canter strides. He was also following Holly up which was cute.
In the meantime Mark was doing his last fig 8 and then he followed me up the hill on Stormy who did it mostly in walk but with a couple of trot and canter strides. He was also following Holly up which was cute.
at the top of the hill together
Mark dismounts and takes Stormy back down the hill and I ride Solly down the hill...Mark walks Stormy as we know Stormy tries to canter down hill, thiss is fine when he's on his own but don't want to encourage it when being ridden...not just yet anyway. lol
Down the bottom Mark remounts and does some nice weave around the 4 cones with Stormy, Solly and I do some nice leg yields and transitions and then we all ride to the car where Mark dismounts and treats Stormy and takes him to the jumping arena where I ride Solly to do some jumps.
Down the bottom Mark remounts and does some nice weave around the 4 cones with Stormy, Solly and I do some nice leg yields and transitions and then we all ride to the car where Mark dismounts and treats Stormy and takes him to the jumping arena where I ride Solly to do some jumps.
Looking good together
In fact Solly and I do multiple
jumps and really enjoy them. Solly is jumping great, my position feels
much better and Mark puts up one of my jumps a bit and we have fun
doing doubles and turns into other jumps, cantering out of the jumps
and doing a great round like a competition ;) So...here are some pic's of us jumping today....
A dry day and no wind either...off Mark and I go around lunch time to play with some horses. First up was Solly and I filming out June Liberty OLHA test....we have tried a few times to do this months test without ANY props (sticks, strings, halters in hand etc) BUT it just wasn't working SO, I put the short stick string in my hand doubled over so very very small and we did our liberty with that in my hand. I don't think we'll get eliminated, may get points off but it wasn't good and I either had to not do it or do it my way so decided to do it how Solly understands it and that's that ;)
Next up Mark went and got Holly haltered up and we had some husband/wife horsey challenges for each other....here's what we did:
Ask for one front foot over a pole w/Solly and Me...
Both of us very pleased with this one as both horses used
to have trouble with this game
So, after our play session we both saddled up and spent about an hour riding in the field. We didn't do anything together, Mark was out and about in the big arena and main field and I was first of all in the dressage arena and then the jumping arena. It was good to be riding with another horse and energy in the field, this is the first time we've done this and it went very well. Mark started off in walk and trot going around all the fence lines and then into canter and some lovely gallop too. He looked like he was having a LOT of fun with Holly and they were both doing some nice transitions, circles, serpentines and really using the whole field.
Solly and I stayed in the dressage arena for quite a while to start with and I was working on his relaxation and concentration on what I was asking him to do no matter what Mark and Holly did. He did a smashing job, very connected, relaxed. He kept one ear now and then on Holly but even Tara and Stormy just grazed and didn't worry about them cantering around...they all seemed to know we were just here for some fun>
So, we worked on circles large and small, in walk and trot. Then serpentines in walk then trot. Then RtR and corners game working on transitions and a connection with seat and leg and not the reins so much. Then we did some very nice leg yields in trot L&R and then we went out of the large arena following the rail and near to where Holly and Mark were riding their own rail ;) We've never gone out of the arena this way before so it was a good new thing to do.
Solly's transitions (w/t/h/bk) really nice today and we venture back over into the jumping arena and do some nice fig 8's and serpentines around the jumps and then we venture out of that arena into the large field onto a cone/tyre set up for fig 8's. We do fig 8's here at walk and then trot and then Mark comes over and he starts to go up the large hill quietly in walk and we follow him in walk but then I ask Sol to trot about 3/4's of it to the top...yeehaa ;) I then jump off and start walking down the hill again. I ask Mark to stay at the top for a minute which he's happy to do and then when down the bottom again I re-mount Solly and trot him the WHOLE way up the hill. He's quite energetic and he gets to the top quickly and well, I just sit deep in the saddle, my upper body slightly forward and let him do his work.
Mark and I then quietly and very slowly ride DOWN the hill again...only done this once before as it's a pretty steep hill but again I just keep my weight in my butt and let him do his job but I keep a nicely quite connection in the reins so that he doesn't think of trying to go faster down it like he does when he's with the herd! lol. Solly does a nice job of the hill today and we enter the jumping arena, do a lovely jump and then back to the car to take tack off and give some treats to both of the horses for doing so well today...Mark and I had enormous fun today and the horses were fab ;)
After I'd put all the arena fencing back together to close most of it off from the herd when we're not there I ask Tara to catch me, halter her up, mount her and ride her bareback to the top of the hill in w/t/w with the herd for their dinner time. Tara was quite perky today and it was a lovely ride ;)
Solly and I stayed in the dressage arena for quite a while to start with and I was working on his relaxation and concentration on what I was asking him to do no matter what Mark and Holly did. He did a smashing job, very connected, relaxed. He kept one ear now and then on Holly but even Tara and Stormy just grazed and didn't worry about them cantering around...they all seemed to know we were just here for some fun>
So, we worked on circles large and small, in walk and trot. Then serpentines in walk then trot. Then RtR and corners game working on transitions and a connection with seat and leg and not the reins so much. Then we did some very nice leg yields in trot L&R and then we went out of the large arena following the rail and near to where Holly and Mark were riding their own rail ;) We've never gone out of the arena this way before so it was a good new thing to do.
Solly's transitions (w/t/h/bk) really nice today and we venture back over into the jumping arena and do some nice fig 8's and serpentines around the jumps and then we venture out of that arena into the large field onto a cone/tyre set up for fig 8's. We do fig 8's here at walk and then trot and then Mark comes over and he starts to go up the large hill quietly in walk and we follow him in walk but then I ask Sol to trot about 3/4's of it to the top...yeehaa ;) I then jump off and start walking down the hill again. I ask Mark to stay at the top for a minute which he's happy to do and then when down the bottom again I re-mount Solly and trot him the WHOLE way up the hill. He's quite energetic and he gets to the top quickly and well, I just sit deep in the saddle, my upper body slightly forward and let him do his work.
Mark and I then quietly and very slowly ride DOWN the hill again...only done this once before as it's a pretty steep hill but again I just keep my weight in my butt and let him do his job but I keep a nicely quite connection in the reins so that he doesn't think of trying to go faster down it like he does when he's with the herd! lol. Solly does a nice job of the hill today and we enter the jumping arena, do a lovely jump and then back to the car to take tack off and give some treats to both of the horses for doing so well today...Mark and I had enormous fun today and the horses were fab ;)
After I'd put all the arena fencing back together to close most of it off from the herd when we're not there I ask Tara to catch me, halter her up, mount her and ride her bareback to the top of the hill in w/t/w with the herd for their dinner time. Tara was quite perky today and it was a lovely ride ;)
Wednesday 13th June
A day of changing weather, chilly in the am, sunny and hot in the afternoon and then spots of rain later on in the afternoon but good enough to get out and play/ride with Solly ;)
First up Solly catches me and I halter him and put the 22' feather light rope on him. We walk along companionably with some S2M with w/h/bk along the way. Once in the jumping area we start doing more w/t S2M around the jumps, walking when he's on the inside, trotting when he's on the outside of me....ask him to keep his responsibility of staying close to me and keeping gait and after only a short time his impulsion is much much better.
Next we go to working on larger circles in trot with multiple jumps, go into canter for two jumps on a circle and then back down to trot, cod and then trot/jump towards me and halt...fab ;)
After a short rest and lots of scratches we start working on Z5 driving with the one 22' rope, in walk. I first ask him to move forwards at a nice pace and then put in some DHQ's and move FQ's whilst I stay in Z5. Really enjoy doing this as really working on energy and connection and the rope is really just there as a safety net, was fun changing sides and throwing the rope over his head in extreme friendly game...haven't practiced for a while but went realy well and Solly goes well and keeps in gait even when tossing the rope now ;)
We walk out of the arena's and go towards 4 cones where we do a few nice weaves, tossing rope regularly and the weave goes very well. That was FUN ;)
So after that lovely game we mosey together to the HA arena, just before we go in though we work on some circles to help that impulsion back up after doing walk/obedience play. Once our circles are good then we go into the HA arena and I take his halter/rope off straight away. Decide that it's good to just practice what we're going to film now..the OLHA Liberty. I take the thin string off my training arm/stick for some rhythmic energy and we go practice the test.
1) Onto/back off tarp: very nice, slow but steady and straight which is good.
2) Back through poles: very slow still but he stays inbetween the poles and does a nice job.
3) Horse front feet in hula hoop, me in another for 10 secs: fab, he has no trouble at all putting his feet into a hula hoop now.
4) Jump/stop: having put this obstacle by the corner it's really worked fabulously for teaching him to stop after the jump ;)
5) Narrow Gap: halt before, follow at trot when requested. Goes very well, he's a bit concerned about the sheep watching from the forest but I take no notice of them and he trots through nicely and straight onto the next obstacle.
6) Curtain: trot through/halt/backup/trot off....not bad at all today. I have to really keep my energy up to get through the curtain in trot but not too much so that he stops quickly after the obstacle and we can backup. With this obstacle I've found that I keep his confidence more by asking him to back up from a hand on the chest.
7) Weave trot: not bad, still hard to do it at liberty with me running in a straight line but getting better, I actually went up and down it three times to get it better.
8) 'S' bend: this has been a hard one at liberty as I have to stand in one place but he's really starting to understand my hand gestures now.
Am hoping by the weekend we'll be able to do a decent one to film for the OLHA competition. Today's wasn't bad at all but have to do this without the string in my hand so Thurs and Fri we will attempt to put that into practice before the weekend.
We take a break together and then I groom/saddle and re-halter. We then go out to the bigger arena's where I cinch him up and mount.
Our first bitt of riding is in the round pen, loose rein riding making sure we have a seat / leg connection, working on fig 8's, yin yang pattern and cod's. Then I take up some rein and work on bulls eye in trot, where we go slowly in towards the centre whilst circling, keeping a nice curve on the circle and then keeping that curve we leg yield back out to the edge of the round pen (L&R)...this was fun and he does it very well.
Next up we walk out of the round pen and into the DA where we work on 20m circles L&R and then fig 8's, serpentines and RtR in trot. Then we start working on RtR around the main arena's, this is a much larger area and we do it in w/t/w/t. His trot is pretty nice and so we do some more RtR around the inside of the jumping arena. Our trotting is going very well and only have a momentary thought about where Holly and Stormy are going...up the hill away from us for water. As soon as I see his concentration go on them I take him straight back to the DA and start 20m circles L&R. He comes back to me quickly and then we go back to the jumping arena and walk around the jumps in multiple circles.
As he relaxes we then go out of the arena to where I have a cone and tyre set up and we stop at X in the middle, rest, rub him and then circle in walk left/stop/rest, circle walk right/stop/rest, circle left trot/stop/rest, circle right trot/stop/rest. I did this to test his relaxation and connection and it went very well. And on that note I start walking him up the big hill. Stormy, Holly and Tara are up the top but he's listening to me and half way up I ask him to trot the last half. He trots very well and we stop just in front of Tara's paddock and we rest together for a minute. Then I get off and unsaddle him, rub him down and go and sort out the fencing before feeding them their dinner ;)
Another good day with Solly. Am enjoying the riding consistency with small amounts of variety that help me see our progress ;)
next to Tara's paddock ;)
a groom over the electric fencing ;)
laying between the two big beasties
at feeding time today ;)
Tuesday 12th June
Another dry day so out to Solly a little earlier today Open up the arena's so that the horses can graze a bit more and also I can play/ride Solly in a bigger area. Solly is happy to be haltered and when we get to the bottom of the field we start play around some cones. We play with fig 8's at walk and then try at trot, he's a bit under-impulsed so we get a bit more serious about impulsion and yeehaa he starts to get better at his responsiblities ;)
Now with the impulsion and relaxation in place we start to work on some moving circles, going into the opened up arena's playing with changes of direction, multiple jumps and different gaits. He does very well and we stop on a very good note and have a lot of rest before moving on.
We then play S2M at walk/trot/halt/backups to another set of cones half way down the field and then we played around with a game of 'touch it' from a distance in walk and then in trot too. I stood in the middle of two cones and asked him to go from one to the other in either walk or trot and stop at the cone and touch it. He then managed to sidepass over one of the cones L&R...fab stuff Solly. He did great and it was a fun interesting task ;)
Then we mosey on toward the Horse Agility arena. Once there we go around the course online and I make sure that I use as much 'energy/body cues' and not my stick string or wiggle rope so that when we do this at liberty it has the same feel to it. It all goes well and then we do the same thing at liberty with moderate success.
Now with the impulsion and relaxation in place we start to work on some moving circles, going into the opened up arena's playing with changes of direction, multiple jumps and different gaits. He does very well and we stop on a very good note and have a lot of rest before moving on.
We then play S2M at walk/trot/halt/backups to another set of cones half way down the field and then we played around with a game of 'touch it' from a distance in walk and then in trot too. I stood in the middle of two cones and asked him to go from one to the other in either walk or trot and stop at the cone and touch it. He then managed to sidepass over one of the cones L&R...fab stuff Solly. He did great and it was a fun interesting task ;)
Solly after just going sideways over the cone L&R...
pretty impressive as he's had a phobia of things under his belly
for ages and the cone only just went underneath him without
touching....good boy ;)
pretty impressive as he's had a phobia of things under his belly
for ages and the cone only just went underneath him without
touching....good boy ;)
Then we mosey on toward the Horse Agility arena. Once there we go around the course online and I make sure that I use as much 'energy/body cues' and not my stick string or wiggle rope so that when we do this at liberty it has the same feel to it. It all goes well and then we do the same thing at liberty with moderate success.
Another long rest and big praise for his good tries with the liberty today and then I saddle him and put his bride/bit on. Then off we walk to the round pen in the middle of the field and I cinch and mount. It's been a while since we've done any bridle work so we take it slowly, just working with freestyle and a loose rein around the arena. He does nice turns and fig 8's in walk so I ask him to try this in trot and to take the reins up a bit but something just didn't feel right...I thought about it for another minute and then went back to the mounting block, dismounted, took the bridle off and put on his normal halter/reins and it felt SO much better.
...Solly in halter/reins ;)
It's a funny thing but I really feel happier riding him most of the time in just the halter/reins and have decided to only use the bridle/bit when we've totally warmed up and are going to do schooling in the DA with lateral work.
SO, back in the rope hackamore we have a nice ride out, going in and out of the round pen, into the DA, into the jumping arena and then out to the first cones we played with online and start doing some fig 8's in walk and then in trot. Everything goes well so we start riding the rail around the outside of the arena's, in walk and then trot. Fab...all going well and it's great to doing more and more trot.
It starts to rain so we stand with our backs to it for a while and it slowly goes away. We then start to play serpentining around the jumps in walk and trot and then we walk back out of the arena area and my mind is on just walking up the big hill to where Tara is in her paddock. Stormy and Holly follow us out and I keep circling and fig 8'ing to keep their energy down.
Slowly Sol and I start walking up the hill and he doesn't stop or have a tantrum at the bottom (probably because Holly is further up and Tara is at the top), everything goes great and we get right up to where Tara is....FABULOUS, we did it with relaxation and focus.
Solly next to Tara's paddock after we
rode up the hill together ;)
rode up the hill together ;)
Tomorrow I hope to do the same but half in walk and half in trot. Hopefully I will build on this until we can walk, trot OR canter the hill with relaxation and focus ;))
Monday 11th June
A cloudy overcast day but no rain (yeehaa) so off out to have a mosey/grazing walk with Solly outside the field for a change, and here's the piccie's:
First graze stop...Solly calm and connected
but he's still connected and calm.
We play with transitions w/t/h/bk along the track to stay connected too ;)
and we have some fun playing with it
...happy to drink and go in deeper...
but also backed over it..check his ears 'listening' to
both sides where the river goes under ;)
they're about 2 fields away
Solly happily munching away at grass still ;)
nicely sidepassed through ;)
great tight squeeze
A great walk out and the flat sections of pathway had Solly and I trotting for quite some time together, he was very calm and stayed next to me the whole way, no pulling, no rushing, no worries....fab ;)
Sunday 10th June
Not so dry or warm today, seem to be stuck in some Scotch-Mist here so getting damp/wet even though it's not actually raining. But we find a dry window in the day and pop out to have some horsey fun. First of all, again, I collect Tara from her paddock and take her to the round pen...she has a nice welcome from Solly whilst coming down.
Tara and Solly saying 'hello' ;)
Once she was in place the other three got invited to the grazing arena and then Mark trimmed Stormy's back feet. I then asked Solly to connect with me, which he did easily, and we went for a play session to see how he was today.
Is that what he really thinks about the circling game!! lol.
Play session wasn't bad BUT he did have some moments with his ears back quite a lot and I thought this was probably either pain or boredom so we stopped and went into the HA arena for some Liberty OLHA practice. We filmed one attempt and will use that if it doesn't get any better but would like it to be better. Solly was very underimpulsed (either boredom or uncertainty) and I had trouble getting him into a nice trot in the arena. He was also not wanting to back up and in this months OLHA test there are FOUR backup bits so I totally understand that he didn't want to keep doing it, especially at liberty as in the Liberty OLHA test you are not allowed sticks/strings or treats to help go around the course. He does it at liberty with me holding our usual stick/string as he see's the stick/string better, especially when backing up SO our connection needs to be even better.
Anyway, I stopped on a good note, had one filmed and then took him back to the grazing arena for a reward. I've not been feeling on top form either so maybe I'm affecting him, or we're affecting each other!!! Will practice again next weekend but am not going to keep repeating the tasks as he and I both get bored...we're both basically LBint's! lol ;)
On a good note Mark decides to go around the OLHA test with his Holly and they both did a grand job of the tasks even though neither one has practiced it before.
Anyway, I stopped on a good note, had one filmed and then took him back to the grazing arena for a reward. I've not been feeling on top form either so maybe I'm affecting him, or we're affecting each other!!! Will practice again next weekend but am not going to keep repeating the tasks as he and I both get bored...we're both basically LBint's! lol ;)
On a good note Mark decides to go around the OLHA test with his Holly and they both did a grand job of the tasks even though neither one has practiced it before.
Front feet of horse in hula hoop
Jump and then halt....Holly decides walking over jump is enough for today ;)
Handler goes through narrow gap,
horse waits until asked through at a trot...
Then Mark asks Holly to try the curtain at liberty,
it's a hard one as being a RBext she can find things spooky...
and once again calmly before finishing for the day...good team
Mark and his beautiful Holly
Saturday 9th June
Lovely hot day today so Mark, me and the dogs go down to the horses field for a few hours of fun. First I got Tara out of her paddock and walked her down to the round pen where I let her off, brought Solly in too so they could say hello and enjoy each others company for a bit and then went and sat with them for a while ;)
Herd all close to the water and where Tara's paddock is ;)
Tara and Solly in round pen getting aquainted again
Holly nuzzling up to big Stormy...she wants grooming
Sitting around with Tara
Hanging out with in my herd of three ;)
Then I go and do some gentle play with Tara, see how her legs/feet are getting along. We've just started giving her some Devil's Claw supplement so it will be interesting to see if that helps her with what I think is joint problems...age I'm afraid, she's just turned 18yrs young ;)
and then sideways towards
Then I go and play with Solly (Tara's still in the pen, grazing ;)...he's in a bit of a slow-mode mood but we have a nice time together, here's some piccie's:
Getting connected
(he likes to use this to limber up before play)
...friendly game in Z3 ;)
DHQ's at liberty
Liberty close circles in walk
Liberty trot circles
Engaged draw to me ;))
Great liberty session with Solly, we had relaxation, willing obedience, impulsion and flexibility...also lightness, fun and some attitude which I love to see too ;)
Next up was to go and play with Solly in the Horse Agility Arena....we went around some of the harder obstacles and then Mark filmed our On line advanced horse OLHA test for June...went pretty well and it was hard as there were 4 backups in different places and backing up is fine but hard when so many in one test. We're going to submit our entry and fingers crossed it goes down well ;)
I decided I wasn't in the right mood to ride Solly today and Mark had to trim Stormy's big front feet next so I let Solly into some grazing and left him to it whilst I sang to Stormy while Mark trimmed away.
Next up was to go and play with Solly in the Horse Agility Arena....we went around some of the harder obstacles and then Mark filmed our On line advanced horse OLHA test for June...went pretty well and it was hard as there were 4 backups in different places and backing up is fine but hard when so many in one test. We're going to submit our entry and fingers crossed it goes down well ;)
I decided I wasn't in the right mood to ride Solly today and Mark had to trim Stormy's big front feet next so I let Solly into some grazing and left him to it whilst I sang to Stormy while Mark trimmed away.
Stormy happily grazing ;)
So, instead of me riding, Mark decided he wanted to do some passenger lessons whilst I play with first Stormy and then Holly. He did very well and was in good balance, doing it all bareback ;) I played gently with both horses, first asking them to be led by me then going onto circles in w/t and some sideways. Stormy actually did some very nice squeeze into sideways games together and Mark sat him well.
It was a good day and it was lovely to play with all FOUR horses and Mark ride TWO of them ;) At the end we let the herd back into the main grazing area and I got Tara and rode her back up to the top of the hill for her to go back into her paddock and for feeding time too ;)
following the herd for their dinner
Thursday 7th June
Grey day but dry and good enough to get out to Solly again ;)) Once there I get Tara out of her small paddock and walk her down to the round pen for a change of scene for her. The herd followed us down and once there I asked Solly to join me in the HA arena for some online practice. All went well and we just did once round the course and left it there.
I then saddled and cinched him up and mounted him outside the round pen. I then just went from DA to JA to large pen and back again just working on the relationship, keep our confidences and working on impulsion h/t and then w/c for a bit too. We also did some nice leg yields L&R today.
I then saddled and cinched him up and mounted him outside the round pen. I then just went from DA to JA to large pen and back again just working on the relationship, keep our confidences and working on impulsion h/t and then w/c for a bit too. We also did some nice leg yields L&R today.
I probably rode for just over an hour and ended on a good note back at the gate to dismount and de-saddle ;) There were quite a few sheep 'baa-ing' in the forest today and I was very proud of the way Solly did his best to ignore their bleeting and running around in there!
So, just for fun I took Solly back into the HA arena and we did most of the course at liberty which was great and then I took him back to Stormy and Holly who had been laying down snoring whilst we were riding. lol
So, just for fun I took Solly back into the HA arena and we did most of the course at liberty which was great and then I took him back to Stormy and Holly who had been laying down snoring whilst we were riding. lol
I then go back for Tara to the round pen and halter her up and take her to the gate and mount her. She is still having stiffness problems with her front legs but going straight is fine, w/t transitions okay and I ride her back to the top of the field with the herd around us...the last bit they all cantered up the hill and Tara and I sedately walked, put her back into her paddock then fed them and drove home for my dinner. Was a very nice day, play went fab, riding getting better and better and again I came home with a smile on my face having enjoyed the company of my herd...what could be better ;)
Stormy, Solly and Holly in front leading the way ;)
Tuesday 5th June
Solly doing his 'bow' ;)
Clear day today, dry and nothing else going on...yeehaa...so OFF out to horses around 1pm. Put up some electric fencing that was down (naughty Stormy) and made sure Tara was okay in her daytime paddock ;)
The boys were at the top of the field today, maybe keeping Tara company, so I halter Solly straight off and take him with me down the hill to the arena's. We go straight to the HA arena and I put up the two obstacles that come down at night that need to be up for the June course, the curtain and the flag. With those in place I then play with Solly for some relaxation, obedience, impulsion and flexibility.
We start with some sideways away, sideways towards, L&R and then onto some backup with lightness. Next we move to circles, moving circles, cod on circles, transitions w/t/c on circles and fig 8's then back to circles. All going nicely and he's got a nice feel to him today ;)
I then put his 12' line on, drop the stick/string and we go around the On line Advaned Horse HA course.
1) Tarp: went very well, on to and backing off with me off the tarp with a distance S2M worked very well.
2) Back through pole corridor: a little slow but worked on that and ended with a nice back up
3) Sol's front feet in hulahoop, me in another hulahoop 10' away, stand and wait: very well, he just plonks his feet in the hula hoop now and he parks nicely ;)
4) Sol's ff still in hh and I run around him L&R: he moved twice on the last run around him BUT I parked him back asap and did it until he stayed still. Remembered to not put any energy towards him which may have caused him to move before.
5) Jump/Halt: FAB....we put the jump just a couple of strides from a fence in a corner, his halt afte the jump is fab now ;) lol
6) Narrow gap of three upright barrels 3' away from fence: Halt him before it...fab. Walk through whilst he waits...fab. Ask Sol to trot through to me and stop just after barrels...not bad at all. Back up through gap and then walk towards me...pretty darn good ;)
7) Curtain: trot though together, halt, backup....all went pretty well but could do with lighter backup. Unfortunately with so many backups in one test Solly gets more and more sticky as he goes but will work on that attitude before we film it.
8) Weave/Canter: not going to happen this month, his back feet are totally unbalanced and even in riding we're sticking to w/t trans' SO we will trot this for June...all went well with that ;)
9) Flag: drap flag over horses head, ask to walk 12' then de-flag. Not bad, he's not worried by the flag but is a bit sticky walking on command when he can't see where he's going. Will work on this so that our walk transition is light and I don't have to put any pressure on the rope/halter to ask him to walk on.
10) 'S' Bend: He's got to walk this himself with me standing outside the pattern. It's taking some time for us to get the bends right but we ended on a good note and each time we do this I will just ask for it to be better each time and we'll get there.
So, it was a good practice session of HA today and afterwards I let Solly graze a bit before saddling him up for riding.
With riding today I decided to just do what feels good for us and not try to do stuff that I feel we 'should' be doing. My main mission today was impulsion in trot SO, we go into the main arena area and I open it all up so that it flows from big arena, round pen to dressage arena and large jumping arena. We do lots of transitions, freestyle work, halt/trot trans in the DA, RtR in the jumping arena with one jump that's on the rail, and generally have FUN. It was a very good riding session, no sticky points, me looking up where we're going with a plan and his trot was FABULOUS ;)
Monday 4th June
Cool weather but nice and dry and time to set up the June OLHA course ;) There's a couple of bits we need to practise with this but also somethings we know aren't attainable at the moment (ie. weave in a straight line in canter) so I've made the decision to keep it at Solly's level of competence and not over stretch him, especially as his back feet are unbalanced. So, here's what we got up to:
Walking onto the tarp and halt
(working with a fence infront of us really helped this task ;)
This was a short but fun practice session and I hope to practice a few more times to try to get it as smooth and refined as possible. I decided too that I didn't have enough time to put in a good riding session today so just jumped on him bareback for a small bit of riding.
He's such a good boy, hopefully tomorrow we'll get some proper riding in
After this bit of fun I took Solly around a couple of obstacles at liberty too but will only practice the whole session later on at liberty for the OLHA test...must get it good online first ;)
Liberty jump/halt...fab ;)
Staying with me even though there are scary sheep in the forest behind us. lol
and there's that cool connection I just LOVE with my boy
It was a nice day, too short but did a good session. Tara is now back in the field but in a very small paddock at the top of the hill where there is some water for her. She will probably stay in this as much as possible with sessions during the night with the herd when she's lost a bit of weight and her legs start to look a bit more at ease...am going to get some Devil's claw for her to see if that helps her.
This evening too was pretty special, with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee there are going to be Fire Beacon's going on all over the country (and other countries too) in her honour. Our landlord is a Sir and he is having a big beacon on the hill behind our house and all his tenants and workers have been specially invited to a drinks/dinner and then up the hill in 4x4's for the lighting of the beacon. It was a lovely dry evening and we managed to spot another 12 beacons on the hills surrounding us from Mount Blair to Pitlochry...very cool. Here is our Beacon...and lovely and hot it was too ;))
This evening too was pretty special, with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee there are going to be Fire Beacon's going on all over the country (and other countries too) in her honour. Our landlord is a Sir and he is having a big beacon on the hill behind our house and all his tenants and workers have been specially invited to a drinks/dinner and then up the hill in 4x4's for the lighting of the beacon. It was a lovely dry evening and we managed to spot another 12 beacons on the hills surrounding us from Mount Blair to Pitlochry...very cool. Here is our Beacon...and lovely and hot it was too ;))
Sunday 3rd June
Dry, slightly chilly day and good enough for Mark and I to actually get a ride out together today ;) I took Tara, who was up at the house from this morning when I fetched her back, and Mark took Holly. We played with them first and then saddled, cinched and brought them up from the field through the forest at the back of the field. The boys caught us up at the fence line by the track and they seemed quite content for us to go out for a change and weren't running around like loopy-loos ;) lol
So, mounted up we ride mostly in a nice sedate walk with some trot to the village for apples, carrots and an ice cream each for Mark and me ;) Lovely ride out, both of us were happy just to mosey there and back and the horses seemed to enjoy themselves too.
Me and Tara enjoying our ride out together
Mark and Holly just before the village
Taking a short grazing break at the beginning of going home ;)
On the way back, bit chilly but enjoyable
Last straight before home...
Two white 'dots' on Mark's left are
Stormy and Solly in the field ;)
Mark and Holly on the last hill to the field
When we got back to the field the boys were calm and pretty chilled out (a first for them that's for sure). Holly got let of as soon as we untacked her but Tara got untacked but brought me bareback up the top of the field where I then built her a small paddock with the top part of the burn enclosed in for her to get water and she can either stay here over the day (when sugar fructans are higher) or come to the home paddock to give her a rest off grazing. We'll just have to see if she's okay in the small field paddock during the day, there is some grazing in it and I feel much better with her enclosed in a small patch where I can control her grass intake during the day now ;) Fingers crossed it works.
the other herd members by my side ;)
Tara in her hilltop paddock
Saturday 2nd June
Bit tired today after teaching 3 students out near Dundee yesterday, actually out for 10hrs so understandably tired BUT weather here not bad and after doing some paperwork in the office Mark and I drive out to see the herd.
I first put back up some electric fencing that Stormy took down and close off half of the field again as the grass is growing BIG time at the moment...don't want any bad feet. I then go and ask Tara to be with me which she does nicely and I pop her into the round pen. Mark takes Holly to the HA arena to trim her hooves as they've grown a lot in the last month now that the grass is growing more.
I play with Tara online to see how her legs/feet are doing today. Not bad at all, no lameness but some stiffness moving her forehand over....I'm going to try to find a supplement to help her with this. I then put on her bareback pad and take her for a short ride in the main field. She does some nice weaves and big fig 8's...she has trouble with small circles so we don't do those and I concentrate on helping her circles be big and relaxed. Then I pop her into the HA arena to graze and rest before I ask her to carry me home for some more exercise ;)
SO, onto Solly, who I had popped into the round pen before taking Tara out. He caught me nicely and we played online with the 22' feather light rope. Again checking to see if he's connected to me today we start with some very very light backups. Then we go to sideways with me in Z1 but at least 15' away, L&R...great. Next we play with some squeeze/sideways patterns put together to have a nice arrangment of moving all his feet in all directions with a nice change of bend between the squeeze and sideways ;)
We then go onto working circles, moving circles, COD's, w/t/c and although not actually lame his back feet (mainly the back right one) is not balanced and slips underneath him SO I know not to ride him too much today. On that note I saddle and cinch him up,,,,today I've changed the shims again, last time I used just one so lift the front of the saddle but hopefully the rest of the saddle still sitting nicely on his back...but it gave me lower backache the next day so it wasn't balanced enough for me. Today I decide to shim as I used to (two at the front overlapping) but to put a third in the middle of the saddle to make sure there's not the 'gap' that occurs when I shim at the front. I don't want his saddle only resting on the front and back parts, I need it to be safely sitting on his back at all points to be balanced for him and me...hopefully the extra one at the front will help to get me more on my HQ's and therefore not on his FQ's ;) This is what I did with the shims:
Shim arrangement before saddle...
....Shims with saddle on ;)
Hopefully going to ride a few times with them like this to see if any pressure points show up. Today it felt pretty good, I was more on my balance point and my lower back doesn't hurt tonight ;).
So, riding with Solly wasn't anything big, we rode outside the round pen doing fig 8's in w/t but he wasn't totally connected with me so we didn't do too much. I had a bit of a headache/neck ache too so he probably realised I wasn't as focussed as normal. We left it on a good note and I set him back with the herd.
I then collected Tara up, walked her out of the field up into the forest onto the track and rode her home in w/t for an hour from grazing in the home paddock. Then when we walked the dogs to the horses field to feed them their dinner I rode her back so at least she's had 2 miles of exercise today. Hopefully if I get up in time when Mark walks the dogs tomorrow morning I will collect madam Tara then and bring her back to the house for some more 'away from the grazing' time ;)
