Riding log - anyone interested?

[SupersonicDave]

Saw this on a horse forum and thought it would be a good idea.

Basically i need a bit of help with motivation (too much to do, not enough hours in the day etc) and can get a bit stuck in a rut wrt schooling/hacking/lunging.

So, today i am riding out my mare, a friend is riding my gelding, and we are going to ride through the village and back across some grassy tracks. Want to concentrate on keeping my mare calm, especially on the grass.

It was indeed fab :-)

Tonight was Prelim 14, 6th place and 66.67%

brighthair,well done,you must be a fabulous rider.
Pixel,I'm glad things are going smoothly for you on your hols.Perhaps your cow fearing pony could come and stay with ours-she loves the calves so much that they stand by the fence licking each other.

Dh bought a tent and made us go camping last night.We only went a mile away from home in one of my dad's fields.It hasn't changed my view that I hate camping-I was cold and uncomfortable all night and slept very badly.I'm trying to summon up the energy to go and tack pony up and attempt a ride up the bridle path.

ha, an utterly terrified rider!!!! I started a blog to keep a diary of my ups and downs and it's been very useful

Ooh a link to your blog please.

I'm picking up speed at tacking up,had a small battle with the bit,but nothing like yesterday.It is a new one and doesn't smell like her old chewed one yet.I managed catching and tacking up in 10 minutes.We had a lovely walk through the village and up the bridlepath through the cornfields,pony was very well behaved and it was just lovely despite the heat.We must have gone about 3 miles,swapping the dds over half way.It was very relaxing walking with new pony,not a test of nerves like with the last one,although she carefully skirts drain covers whilst eyeing them suspiciously,just like he did..

www.wannabeadressagedivaa.wordpress.com

:-)

No ride for us tomorrow - he's bruised his sole and is just a bit too tender although the farrier thought he'd probably be ok I don't want to risk it. He has this afternoon come up in little bumps all over his face, body and rump and I'm completely mystified. He's had no new feed and is in the same field - would it be insects or heat do you think? It isn't that hot here and not sunny so I doubt that, but something must have upset him. Just had a thought - I did use a different fly spray on Thursday, but surely it would have affected him before now?

I'll leave him another 24 hours and if there's no change I suppose I'll have to talk to the vet.

You all sound like you're having a good time, dead impressed by Brighthair, and I'm glad things are getting better Pixel. Mirage, your pony sounds like a star, re accepting the bit, could you put something nice tasting on your hand so that she's interested in it? I don't mean give her sweeties, but perhaps if you handled some nuts and then put them back might make her more agreeable.

gah the right blog is www.wannabeadressagediva.wordpress.com

no idea where the extra a came from!!

don't know if this link will work but some photos here (if it doesn't I am no 45)

www.aligrayphotography.co.uk/shop/viewcategory.php?groupid=25

Frosty - is your horse okay now? The mare has a bite under her tummy that has come up in a bump, so many though is odd. Sounds like an allergic reaction to something.

I lunged the mare with DD on her yesterday, she has been cantering quite nicely on the lunge, but (grr) cantering with small person on board and she did a silly half-buck/half leap to the side going into canter.

Some of you might remember me ranting about the bitch at my old yard (who also happens to live next door to my current yard). Well, she has built stables in her garden and has left my old yard (god knows how she moved her mare - she is on box rest with a broken leg ). Part of me immediately thought I want to move back there. But she wasn't the only reason I left - my best friend moved from the yard, and it was so weird having new people living in her (old) house. But still, I am absolutely undecided. I will make a spreadsheet and value-score the various elements of each yard I think!

Congratulations brighthair, you and your horse look fab! Mirage so glad all is working out with your new pony - awaiting the photos! Frosty sorry to hear you didn't get to your ride, hope your horse is better now, does sound like the bumps are some sort of allergy, I do know another horse with this - sometimes even his lips swell up, just difficult to find the trigger. Pixel have fun and enjoy your jumping. Manatee I think this is a blessing - you seem to have seen missing your old yard for ages, perhaps it is best to go back??

Following on from my last post...Vet came on Thursday and Dhorse does have a knee problem but nothing major, he therefore says it would be a shame to go down the pts option and I should try to re-home him!...problem is even if the knee problem doesn't appear too bad he is lame on and off most weeks and I don't want him falling into bad hands. He's one of so many horses wanting a home and the others don't have intermittent lameness! If the problem wasn't actually causing lameness I would be happy to persevere with him for longer but i'm still convinced so much of his difficult behaviour is pain related and not psychological, plus i can't ride him much because of the lameness. In the meantime i've been riding the 3yr old and he's a gem. It was chaos on Sunday morning some new horses arrived in the yard and at the same time others left (to return to there racing yard after their holidays!), other horses were galloping about in the paddock next to the menage and the farrier was hammering away on the yard - 3yr old horse just calmly walked and trotted around the arena without a care in the world!

So with great sadness i've decided to take the 3yr old and have given myself 1 week (no space or money to try for longer ) to try - probably in vain - to find an appropriate home for my current horse. Wish me luck!

Good luck Dappleton - try posting on some other horsey forums where there may be someone willing to take him on.

Horse is still lumpy and still sore on his foot so I think we'll go for a week off and hope for the best. There are no more lumps, and they have gone down a bit so I'll ditch the fly spray and go back to the old one as I think that must have been the cause.

I think his sole is still just bruised - any ideas how long it should take to clear, the farrier said it was only a bit of bruising and I can't see or feel anything else in the foot or leg so I'm assuming the bruising is why he's lame. The farrier iis in the area on Weds, but I'm not sure that taking the shoe off again is a good thing as he had trouble finding places to put the nails in on Sat - I might ask if he can pop over and check again without taking the shoe off if possible.

Dappleton, I don't envy you but I think you've no option, I hope you can sort it out.

dappleton don't beat yourself up,you are doing your absolute best for him,which is all anyone can do.

frostfingers I hope your horse's sole heals quickly.

brighthair You look so professional in those photos,amazing stuff.

We have ridden every day since Thursday,and on Sunday took the dds on their first hack around to the next village and around the block.DD1 rode on the l/r for the first 1.5 miles,then swapped with dd2,who wanted to ride without a l/r.We had a lovely hack back home,and just as we got to the bridge heading back into the village,the biggest combine I have ever seen came over the bridge towards us,followed by a massive tractor towing the combine blades.Dpony stood and watched it go by,then carried on completely unfazed.I was holding my breath,just in case she freaked-the last little chap would have turned himself inside out trying to bolt to the next county if he'd seen that.I was so impressed with dpony's reaction.

Today they had a private lesson at home,and came on in leaps and bounds.DD1 got the pony to listen to her and did some lovely jumping on her own.DD2 did some work weaving between cones,without Dpony giving up and coming to stand next to me-a major achievement.The instructor has agreed to come and give them a lesson each week,which will hopefully keep up the good work.

We are giving dpony the day off tomorrow-it is hot and she deserves a break.

Hello

This is SuperSonicDave btw, remember me?

Dappleton - i think you are being very sensible, shocked at the vet suggesting you rehome a lame horse with behaviour problems

Mirage - so pleased to hear about your new pony

Not much has been happening here recently as DH has been working a lot. My mare has got FAT, she has really let herself go

Anyway, managed to get a babysitter one afternoon this week so DH and i took the horses out for an hour. It was lovely. We had a couple of canters, picked some little plums (marbellas?) from the hedge on the track home. It was just so nice. Lunged both horses yesterday, Mare was lazy and Gelding was an idiot Schooled Mare today and hoping to jump both tomorrow.

I remember you SupersonicDave!
You've reminded me that we have some of those little plums growing nearby,must go and pick some.I bet our pony could give your mare a run for her money fatness wise.I got a phone call at 8.30am from the lady who overlooks the paddock,to say that dpony had worked out that the electric fence wasn't working and had walked over it to get at the grass on the other side..At least she didn't put up a fight when I went to catch her.We went for a 5 mile hack this afternoon to try and shift a bit of flab,with one dd riding and the other biking,swapping halfway.I walked alongside as dd2 doesn't want the lead rein now,and am knackered,as is dd2 who has fallen asleep next to me.

Rode the mare around the woods yesterday with kids in tow - a tractor has been in to top the grass in the fields there and has smashed all my jumps up! Jump re-building mission under-way...

Glad new pony is working out well Mirage.

Dpony was angelic last week and even managed to curb his natural enthusiasm for xc and do a nice steady round on Friday pm. He and DD did steps up a huge hill for the first time (for both of them) and a big drop into a water jump (more of a water puddle-but never mind). However he clearly felt he'd done his bit and was pretending to see pony-eating dragons in the hedge on when on the left rein yesterday evening.....

I've posted a few pics taken from his recent photoshoot (planned by the yard, DD was in heaven but the prices are eye-watering) if anyone's interested. Please excuse his summer tummy!

Lovely photos of the pony MariaLuisa!

Thank you-amazed I made it work

D horse is sound again so we went out for a pootle yesterday which turned into a bucking and prancing session as he was obviously feeling very well. Two passing bikes also turned into horse eating dragons and he was very naughty with them, so I got my 3 ds's to cycle round and past me while we walked up and down the lane. He was all snorty to start with, but settled down and I will get them to do it again next time I ride.

There was a bit of excitement here this morning though - it's very windy and a 15ft tree on the edge of the yard, which is long dead but used by the horses as a scratching post, and the cat as a climbing frame blew over. both dhorse and dpony found it amazingly exciting and have spent the last couple of hours galloping around with their tails in the air as the dc's chop the wood up! A big white builders bag for the bits to go in is also terribly exciting.

ML, your pony looks lovely, how big is he? I bet you have lots of fun cleaning him!

Right, this is me rejoining now I'm back riding on a regular basis, one year on from a riding accident which has left me with not much use of my left arm. But I'm back on board, not using any gadgets, just having to use a lot of leg and seat aids to back up the tiny amount my left hand can do.
Not cantering again yet as I just need to sort out all my control for a while, but its looking pretty good if I say so myself.

I need to work out how to put dponys bridle on now - I just run out of fingers !

MariaLuisa,your pony is gorgeous.Lovely photos.Your dd sounds a very accomplished rider.

CMOT,I hope everything carries on improving for you-I'm really impressed that you can ride without the full use of your arm,that is amazing.

frostyfingers,it sounds as though the rest has left your horse full of beans-it has been windy here too.

Manatee,how annoying for you-all that extra work.

We had a lovely riding session today.DD1 got dpony to trot,halt and jump without any input from me and the schooling whip,and announced that she'd like to try a canter over the jumps,which she did for the first time on dpony.Dpony seemed to enjoy a bit of a blast too,so later in the week we are hoping to take her over the fields for a longer canter.Now that dd1 can stop her,I don't mind her going on ahead.DD2 has progressed too,and did some lovely trotting up the road on our hack tonight.I'm so pleased with dpony,even if she firmly believes that drains in the road are hiding trolls and eyes them with suspicion as she ostentationally skirts them.

I have a very brave dhorse! I went for a long ride yesterday on my favourite bridlepath but we did meet a few monsters and he behaved very well. Our first was the Civil War Reenactment lot camping on the village cricket pitch - he was a bit snorty but generally fine with flapping tents and children running around, the next was the re-enacters dressed up - dhorse was slightly taken aback by men in funny clothes carrying long pikes and guns but still pretty good.

We then went into the park and what did we meet - a HELICOPTER parked (is that the right word) on the grass next to the bridlepath with a truck next to it and some people flitting about. He was absolutely fine with it, although a bit wary of it, but then the lovely people started the blasted thing up when we were about 100 yards away. It wasn't hugely noisy but the rotors went round and the lights flashed. Understandably he was a bit skittish, but all things considered behaved incredibly well. We trotted off smartly with him trying to look behind him in case it was coming to get us, and even when it took off was calm - amazing!

On our way home the Civil War lot were firing muskets but he didn't bat an eye or even flinch, but then when we crossed the road - OH MY GOD, there was a puddle which we had to give a very wide berth to!

A very "interesting" ride to say the least!

Thanks for all the nice comments about dpony , he is 12.2hh but believes he's about 16.2hh....

Anyway, went to a show today and think that,on balance,dpony is in disgrace! Was ok in flat showing classes (two seconds and a third) but was a brat in the nursery stakes-as in napped to the ring entrance at flat out gallop (number 1 was very near th entry and you jumped towards it) and then jumped the tape sending horses,people and buggies flying. Lovely judge thought it was funny and let DD back in to jump the course before trying to sell me a 14hh . DD very upset in a humiliated way and spent a lot of time telling dpony he's lucky she loves him....

LOL Frosty, so enjoyed reading about your adventure - sounds like some sort of extreme 'handy pony' class! - your horse is a star!
Oh dear Marialuisa, ponies can be little sods can't they! I hope your DD is OK now, it sounds like she took it in fairly good spirits if she's still reminding Dpony how much she loves him!

Not much news here, for those of you who may remember some of my previous posts I now have my new horse (the 3yr old) so it's the start of a new journey! It's rained every day for the last week so i've not ridden him much, just a couple of short schooling sessions which seem to be going OK. Have spent most of the week trying to justify to myself that my inability to be able to long-rein is not going to have a negative impact on his future anyway I aim to get him out for one or two hacks this week so i'll let you know how I get on.