Calm before the storm!!

After Sapey we both had an easy week as i was working at The Three Counties Equine Hospital ( http://www.tceh.co.uk/ )in preperation for my AH & A tests.

We then headed back off to Sapey last saturday to give the Intro course a go. He was a little star - the only scary thing being the Quary. Over time the drop off the step has got bigger and bigger so it was rather large for him - after a little look and a revist there after out "round" he was getting the hang of things. He went in the water first time from a walk (i did go to fast for him last time, but didnt end up with a stop. So without time pens we would have been 10th!) he ended up by happily doing the noive steps in and out and also the scary black pipe after wards!

All in all a very good trip to sapey and following this i have entered out 1st BE event ( www.bdwp.co.uk/sf2/ ) and also have a Unaffiliated BE90 at Howick (New to the BE calender this year) the day after the BE.

In the mean time Busters been hacking out most days to get to see different things and think we can tick most traffic off the list. Hes also now oblivious to blue grit barrels and small drain covers.

We have a lesson planned with Christine Hardinge Tomorrow evening to brush up on the flatwork and jumping and hopefully i can get a few sessions is with Sally Newcome before Barbury in just over 2 weeks!!

1st party!!

So Buster had his 1st party today and it was going to be a big ask for him - he had never seen dressage boards before - this was not intentional - we were booked in on a dressage rally last weekend when it tipped down and was cancelled and then went to bromyard EC as well to use there but there school was flooded so none there either Grrr. I should have worried thou he didnt bat an eye lid at them!He warmed up well enough but very green and shaking his head due to the huge about of flys and horseflys there today. He did a sweet enough test for what hes done and got a fair mark of 46.4. He got some lovely comments at the end which included "A striking horse with nice paces" and i got "Sympathetically ridden" with a 7 for my riding. Buster also got a 7 for his final halt! The test was mostly 5s and 6s with one 4 and one 5 so plenty to work on but a very good start i think.On to the SJing - was slightly worried when i saw the ring as it was on a side of a hill and 5 out of the 8 fences were down hill - not the best thing for a baby i thought. He warmed up nicely and went in to just have the 1st part of the double down, the double was a 1 stride with both parts having fillers.Then XC was a nice course that gradually built up to 80cm. he walked straight in to the start box and stood there quietly and off we went. Very wobbly to fence 1, 2 and 3 but jumped them well and after the drop at 4 got in to his stride. He has the loveliest canter XC (one bit he can do being and ex racer!) went through the quarry no problems and in and out of the wood over a skinnie - his 1st one!! Didnt have chance to look at the ditch, he flew it and then popped the next few to the water. I probably came in to fast for him to get a proper look as he just went "WHAT!" after a little look thought he walked in like "Easy Peasey!!" over the barrels and then on to the last!!Im over the moon with him - he was very grown up and showd real promise i think today, just need to get out and about a bit more! He was very happy with him self when he got home tonight and we turned him out with Zac (the pointer) for the 1st time tonight and there getting on great so fingers crossed they can now both go to our other field for a few days as it has more grass so they can get nice and fat!!

1st competition!!!

In prep for tomorrow we went to bromyard last Saturday to have a look at dressage boards and have a jump round. Unfortunately the outdoor arena was flooded so no dressage boards - so just did some jumping. He was great did two nice rounds at about 2ft3 and 2ft6/9.

Monday he had his 1st Riding Club rally with Emma Slater. She also picked up on needing to slow down his trot but did also say i was blocking his canter too much and to let him bowl on a little. With the jumping she said he has a good technique i just need to support his rib cage more round corners and shorten my reins so that my hands are a little further up his neck so i sit back more.

Tuesday was a day off and then Wednesday we had Emma Phillips out to have his back checked. He was very tight - especially on his right hand side and around his withers as my saddle dosnt fit him like it should. She suggested i pad it out using sponge either side of his withers where hes sorest and then also a prolite front raiser pad. He had Thursdays off to recover, went for a hack and a little school on Friday and then today had a good school and a little jump in preparation for tomorrow. Something i learned today is that i just need to relax on him - he goes a lot worse if you try and hold him together and pressure him but when i rode with a slightly longer rein and relaxed his head went down and he started to swing. Since his back being done he he feels a lot more even in his canter the right is getting better but the left is a little worse but im thinking this is because hes been compensating for the right!!

Fingers crossed for tomorrow and lets hope everything goes well!!

A quiet week!!

After Monday it was still full steam ahead for our 1st lesson together with my trainer Christine Hardinge. We warmed up for a short while and she picked up on us needing to slow the rhythm down on our trot, that we need to be forward in all our downward transitions and that the right rein is by far our weakest. After tweaking all the above we pooped round a few jumps. It nice taking him to Chris' as they have a lovely 60mx30m school with a sand and rubber surface and also a great selection of jumps along with arena XC jumps.

We started by popping a X pole and then continued to jump a few uprights. Once i had my SJ head on we were going well! We then moved on to a 2 stride, 1 stride grid which he jumped very happily a few time so we moved on to a 3 stride, 4 stride combo with the 1st two parts having fillers in - again easy peasy for the little man!! We finished by jumping a course at about 80cm with a gate as well - 1st time hes seen one of these and didn't really look at it. And not that he needs testing but we put it up a little and jumped round again with the final combo being 90cm with a oxer as the last part!

Im so pleased with how hes coming on!!

Gave him a day off on Tuesday, he had a hack out on Wednesday and on Thursday he had his 2nd Jab in the morning. Decided to give him a little school in the afternoon - he was going ok but not as well as he had been so i stopped and brought him in and that's when i saw he had been kicked by song on his N/H hock and he had also knocked himself on the N/F!! So called our vet out again - he said it was just superficial but im not taking any chances with Buster - he had a Jab and was on Bute and Antibiotics for 4 day!! With that visit went out ODE on Sunday but the Croome Pony Club were very good and ripped up our cheque - take note BE!!! So with the weekend out i decided to have a weekend off and went to the North Ledbury Hunt ball on Friday night and to Hereford on Saturday and spent Sunday recovering from two great nights out!

Buster was back in to work on Wednesday this week and felt fine - we took him on a nice relaxed have round the village which involves crossing the A49 twice and he did this very well standing whilst lorries went past him - so i guess hes OK in traffic!! He did the same hack again on Thursday and met some tractors - again all OK! Hes had Friday off as I rode Song and Today (Saturday) we were meant to have a Hereford and District Riding Club Beginners dressage session at Allensmore but because of the rain it have been postponed - so with out our dressage practise today we are off to Bromyard Equestrian Center tomorrow to hire there schools to have a run though our dressage we are doing on Sunday and also jump some proper showjumps. Our ODE on Sunday is at at Sapey XC and we are in the 80cm class.

Also this week i got 2 out of 3 BYEH schedules i sent off for - Think we are off to Barbury for our 1st - entries close on the 19th June so if everything goes OK we will be there!!