hooligans!

have just had a proper teenage hooligan hack, cantering up the verges giggling like mad.
baby pony was fab, no hint of wild leaping, ears pricked and keen but controllable :wub:

ken clinic report::

piccies here

fri-was really disappointed with this lesson, pony was a bit of a turd and decided that canter was no longer in his repetoire and took to violently kicking at my outside leg, managing to kick himself and a hole in HP's fence at the same time.git. i did give him the benefit of the doubt and a thorough check over but couldnt find anything, it was muggy and past tea time and he didnt want to play, but tough tits pony, you dont decide when we prance and when we dont!!!!!

sat i didnt have a lesson as i decided three in a row was too much in the end, so he went cantering the field and after one minor nap to the sheep(!!) went nicely forward, ears pricked etc.

today was our second and final lesson and he was a different pony. i had made a few minor changes, added a gel chin pad,and carried my short whip (pink glittery!!!) as opposed to a long whip, which he seems to get pissed off with, and he was swingy and forward and lovely, thank god.
worked on making him straight and even in the hand, being careful that i push him to whichever hand is lacking and not take the rein back to make it, which i can sometimes do with my erratic left hand
did a bit of stretching him down and pciking him up from the leg to a lower or higher hand, and making him engage the inside hind and be straighter in the canter, so a little leg yield and shallow shoulder fore to canter.

i think i have eaten several million greenfly this weekend, we are just infested, its gross!!!

was so pleased *the grey girls* were all good mares, am so pleased and proud of them and their riders :)

really sad day

today was the funeral of one of Ed's friends,who was killed in afgan last week.
over 500 people turned up,and it was incredibly moving.i just about held it together until his best friend came to the end of his speech and stumbled over "he wont be best man at my wedding anymore, but to me,and many others, he will always be the best man"and then broke off sobbing, and the last post was played.i just dont want this to be real. He and Ed were going to live together in Catterick and i was so looking forward to it, it was going to be so much fun.
RIP Merv, we will always love,remember and talk about you.

Badminton Young Dressage Horse report....

it was fine, it was good........and then there were loudspeakers...........and we leapt like a reindeer on LSD!
but after we got over the loudspeakers, he warmed up pretty well for Novice 22, much more settled than our last outing to vale view anyway.
the actual test was pure comedy-3 rings running side by side meant he just didnt know where to look, or what to gawp at first.this meant that approx every 10 steps we ground to a halt to have a good old nosy, until i pony clubbed kicked him in to action again.....i think we were technically eleminated about 5 times but kindly judge person let us bumble and bimble our way though.the good bits felt great and there was nothing he struggled with, but the grinding to a standstill kind of spoilt the overall effect-we actually got a 0 for something were i just gave up on a circle half way through! he got his first rosette-4th!(out of 4 i should add!)

he felt much much more relaxed when he came out for the young horse class, well until some tit leading a 17hh 4yo in a headcollar joined us and promptly lost control, then it all went a bit LSD reindeer again.......retreated to the indoor warm up and he felt amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing-so up, so light, really powering like a micro warmplod, canter was about 4 foot off the floor,so he's shown me just how much he can move when he's relaxed.
obviously lost that a bit in the actual test but still gave me a super nice ride round, felt really on the ball and much less baby wobbly, and no grinding to a halt, hurrah!!!
no scores up when we left so no idea how we scored, but im really pleased with him.
clever wubbly baby pony!
no idea what the plan is now.......area festivals at vale view are in october so half heartedly thinking i might try and get 2 novice sheets before then....hmmmm.....ken next weekend, will see what he thinks.

pic courtesy of the goth! piccies

its working.....

never let anyone tell you that nagging does not work.....slowly but surely HP is resigning himself to lorry shopping.........
back to school for star today, worked on square halts, and we now get the front legs square 99.99% of the time, but i do often still have to tap the left hind up, im sure its something to do with me as its ALWAYS the left hind.will have to get ken to scrutinise and bollock me!
did lots of half transitions in the trot-bringing it right back virtually to walk then sending it forward again, to really develop the pushing power, like a huge half halt. that got him a bit sharper of the leg and more up in front, which is what i need for sat so will utilise that in my show warm up.
riding some smaller(15m-10m) cirlces showed up that he isnt yet strong enough to keep the suppleness and rhythm through that size of circle, so need to do more spiralling in and out of slightly larger circles and really concentrate on keeping him active and even in the hand in the smaller ones.
canter was basically good, transitions are a ton better, more instant and barely any tightening in neck, but just need to keep the bend a bit better.
got after the inside hind and got him a bit more off the floor which lil complimented us on, so again will do a bit of that on sat.i dont want to force him before anyone gets worried, just want to get him to show himself off to the max of what he can give.
finished up with a bit of counter canter-taking it right round the school so he doesnt anticipate stopping in the corner etc, only broke once, so pleased with that, for a 4yo he's so bloody balanced!!!
lots of suppling and stretching tomorrow, nothing too strenuous, dont want him tired for sat.

fun in the sun @ Turner Towers.....

Decided to take a day off from prancing in circles and go for a whizz round the field, as HP hasnt been here to buzz cut the winter field, its like a wild flower meadow, and horses always do that hilarious boingy canter through long grass, so i spotted an opportunity for arty farty pics!
Star was initailly not too sure about this idea, and set off napping madly to the sheep in next doors field, not his chums in the house paddock, oh no, the bloody sheep!
Brain back between ears we then had a good boing around whilst the goth took pics, and was molested by many bees and flies, she loved it.....bless that goth, she is a genius with the camera.
Pony got more in to it too and seemed to enjoy it, he was so good yesteday i dont see the point in hammering him in the school.
pics are here- let me know if photo-bouqet link doesnt work!

I should hire out my grandfather....

If Star can cope with schooling whilst reckless eric the lawnmower maniac is about, he can cope with anything.
if anyone needs to spook proof their horse-eric is your man!!!!

so...new blog post saddle-up gate......!!!!

Hello everyone, saddle uppers and non saddler uppers!
As i have now been evicted from saddle up, a few people have asked if id be blogging anywhere else, so thanks to Cassie for pointing me in this direction.....

Not a huge amount has happened in the land of bling since my last blog on the *other place*!!!
Oh no hang on i lie (lets start this off on a controversial footing..), on thurs night i was practicing walk-trot-walk transitions and Star pony got a bit hot,and a bit bouncy and was basically offering semi-half steps.Being the evil person i am (rolleyes needed here, do we get emoticons over here?!),i just gave him a tiny tap on top of his croup and hey presto-actual half steps. much patting and then let him walk on a long rein.clever boy.I dont think thats really pushing him too fast?take what you're offered an all that?

I also sat for about 5minutes, before i remembered i wasnt meant to sit(and of course as soon as i remembered it all went to hell in a handbasket), and he stayed up under me and soft and swinging, which points to him getting much stronger over his back, hurrah!
College Badminton young horse next sat,cant wait, mainly because i get to wear new shiny boots.which, incidentally, have eaten half my right knee, ouch.

Feel free to pass this blog address on to any saddler uppers who ask :)