Arena Eventing - Field House

Sorry people, it's been a bit too wet this month to use the laptop from my field! It's snowing now so I'll sit down and type in the shelter.

We finished off our busy week after my last post with a jumping lesson. A nice lady called Nic came to visit us to give mum a few pointers. She got us jumping confidently, not getting too bogged down in the detail and managed to be encouraging when mum announced her somewhat ambitious plans for the start of the season.

A few days later we had a visit from the dentist, again someone new but highly recommended. Sophie was kind to us and knew what she was doing but unfortunately her visit coincided with the builders starting work on the barn foundations so even I needed a sniff of the happy drugs. Obviously the girls are not as brave as me and had to have rather a lot of sedation, to be fair poor Emy had a broken tooth which was a bit sore but Sophie soon had it sorted out.

We've been doing our usual boring hacking with Isla in tow, a bit of schooling on the flat and over jumps the last couple of weeks. Nic told mum to practice transitions which is hard work and mum has decided she needs to be braver so is putting the jumps up bigger then usual at home. All this and she still has me on a diet, life just isn't fair! I may have got my own back by pretending to be scared of a motor bike the other day, apparently I am not allowed to rear, spin, bolt or run into walls on a single track road whilst we're leading Isla but as mum didn't have a stick with her she couldn't do much about it.

On Friday we all got our manes and tails trimmed and washed. Whilst I was supervising Emy's tail wash Isla disappeared so I cantered up to and around the school desperately looking for her in the dark. Apparently this didn't help with auntie Paige's attempts to ride Isla who was already spectacularly hangry, oops.

Yesterday the horsebox came out despite the snow, I was not at all sure it was safe so legged it up to the field as soon as I'd eaten my tea then refused to be caught.

We set off with Paige and Isla but despite the forecast the weather got worse the further we went, we arrived at Field House to this...

Luckily, or otherwise the snow gave way to sleet which improved the going before we were on. Isla went first and despite Paige's nerves and Isla's temper they pulled it together in the ring to go clear and into the lead in a very large class. Unfortunately they were just beaten by a late entry but still very pleased with second place.

Then it was our turn. Mum spent a few minutes getting me to stretch and warm up after standing on the lorry for so long then she was straight after me to do my big boy canter. Once she was happy with that we did a few jumps, it was quite busy so mum had to shout where she was going to avoid running into anyone, she's damn scary when she's focused! In we went and there was Isla...must go say hello...oops not Isla, just another grey pony finishing its round, how embarrassing. I managed to jump the first few really well, got the distances and kept my canter good. We had a little leg stretch after six then turned into the start of the cross country section, that caught me out a bit but by number eight I'd got it sussed.

There were some fences I'd not seen before and a few questions but apart from trotting through the water (it was snowing ffs) and over the big house (mum said to slow down and look where I was going) I did a very professional and quick round to go into the lead! Again it was a big class but we ended up a very respectable 3rd.

Back on the lorry for a bit then I got dragged back out and tacked up again. One cross pole then polo lady put the jumps up huge but I jumped them well and headed into the ring again. I had a few words to say in the chute this time but mum was ready for me so I didn't get very far. Mum seemed very determined about this class and I soon saw why, the jumps were huge! The showjumps went well, we just had a slight moment at the first part of the double so mum let me put 2 strides in meaning I had the second part down, no biggie. Onto the cross country and I nearly fell over the first one, must remember to concentrate on the easy fences too. Straight up the steps and out of the arena, I cantered through the water this time and back in over an upright just a touch too quick so that hit the deck too. Lost my canter a bit so mum had to slow me down a bit to correct it which seemed to worry her but we got it back quickly and she placed me perfectly at the next, which was handy as it was rather large.

Out the arena again then down the steps, swing right, over the angled double, s**t I'm tired can we trot now? Apparently not! I got a smack down the shoulder so threw in a little buck before we turned into the final section, wishing well is easy now I've seen it in the first class as is the green house then quick turn into a triple brush arrowhead, mum saw a long one so just kicked and I flew by which time I was off and she couldn't stop me, yee ha over the big table and collapse in an exhausted heap.

I got a really quick time thanks to my enthusiastic galloping, mid air turning and getting the correct lead every time for once but with two down no rosette. I think I might like a challenge occasionally, I got so many pats and polos from my fan club it's almost worth the hard work.

Jumping, hacking and moving buildings

Hi folks, we've had a very busy week so far, after a few very quiet weeks it's a bit of a shock to the system.

On Sunday we went show-jumping at Speetley Equestrian Centre. We took Isla too and she jumped first, I was a bit cross about being left on the lorry but managed to contain my displeasure to talking to her across the show-ground between mouthfuls of hay. Apparently she was very good and jumped clear and fast but mum said her time would have been faster if she hadn't stopped to argue about which jump was next so I should beat her.

Isla 85/95 video

After a bit of walking around in the cold it was my turn, I was a bit excited and did some shouting and bouncing in the collecting ring. Then there was a tractor in the chute which was suspiciously quiet so I stood on my back legs a couple of times to make sure it knew not to try any funny business! Eventually we went in the ring and waited for the bell then I was off, one went well, I got a bit enthusiastic into two and mum had to have a quick word about control and outline, three and four were great, I even managed the related distance correctly but five was a two stride double with a wide spread in. Mum was determined to get the correct striding so she rode forwards in the middle but I got confused and went through the second part, oops. That unsettled me a bit so I got an extra stride between six and seven then it was into the jump off section which was great fun until the monster next to fence ten, I tried to get us away from it but mum got very cross and said I had to jump it anyway, 11 was big but jumped well and 12 was a big one stride double but I got it perfect. Somehow I was 10 seconds slower then the Princess who only went and won the whole damn class but as I was tacked up I got to go in and get her rosette which was ok until I had to canter past that monster again.

Mango 85/95 video

I told mum and polo lady it was time to go back to the horsebox then but they said I had to jump a big class to practice for Badminton so we went back in again, one to four went really well and mum let me put three strides in the double at five which made it a lot easier. Six and seven were starting to get seriously big and I just ran on a touch to seven and knocked it off. No jump off turns this time but the wider turn into 10 meant I got an even better look at the monster and decided we definitely needed to escape from it, again mum was not impressed by my efforts and I even got a smack which was most uncalled for! Apart from a missed stride at the last though we got round with just the four faults and mum was really pleased how well I'd jumped the big ones and maintained my canter.

Mango 95/105 video

On Monday we had a delivery from the builder, it was great fun, I got to play with the lorry and the builders hat! Then chief pony holder came to visit with him indoors' father. There was a lot of huffing and puffing but eventually the man with the big tractor turned up and moved our field shelter! It's quite fun where it is now, there's a better view and mum's put some wood chip in so I spent all night digging holes in it and making a mess but at least there's finally somewhere to have a pee and a lie down in comfort....about bloody time mother.

Field shelter move video

Tuesday we got up early again, this time to let lots of men in hi viz with cars and vans and weird remote control noisy things into the field. I was very helpful and introduced myself to all of them as well as checking out the driver-less vehicles to make sure they were safe to be let in. Eventually after lots of flasks of tea they started cutting down the trees under the power lines which I guess is sensible so I left them to it. Then mum caught me and put me on the box with no haynet. Turns out we were meeting up with my mate Prince from the Rockley Reunions to go for a ride around the Peaks. We were both very brave for orange ponies, we went past lots of scary things and only took our feet off the floor in response to a man in hi viz building a wall with flappy plastic around it, which obviously is far more suspicious then anything else!

Can't wait to see what else mother has planned to try and shift my winter belly this week, I'll try to keep you all up to date.

Happy New Year

Happy 2017 everyone!

Guess it's time for an update, mum worked a lot of the festive period and Paige hasn't been very well so we've had a pretty easy time of it here the last couple of weeks. Mum has been trying to make up for it this week though!

Isla went hunting with the Burne Bloodhounds on Sunday, new pack for her and very welcoming, she came back filthy though which somewhat defeated the purpose of her bath the day before! She had a chat to our old friend Mark of emmelleff photography who was responsible for some lovely pictures of us back in Lincolnshire, he had his work cut out running through the mud and crouching in hedgerows trying to get flattering photos of princess in the rain though!

Today mum put me on the box and took me hacking somewhere different, she said the school was frozen and it was about time we did something about both our bellies. She'd worked out a route along part of the South Peak Loop and Pennine bridleways joined by a few quiet roads and permissive tracks. Unfortunately her carefully planned gallop spots had frozen solid and I had to pick my way along them so it took us 2.5 hours to do 11 miles in the freezing cold! I was very brave though and went past all sorts of scary things like quarries, a man with a gun and rocks.

It wouldn't be a new year blog without setting out some aims for the coming year.

The main objective for me is Badminton of course.

I need to work on getting my jumping confident at 1m so even if the inevitable rain tries to disrupt us I can get round the championship course on grass without disgracing myself, with that in mind we are going to practice a bit more at home and try to get a couple of shows in before our first event which if all goes to plan will be the East Midlands Dressage Group 95cm at Osberton at the end of February. Hopefully followed up with a BE100 or two before probably the BE90 at Eland for a bit of confidence before the big day.

We need to do something about the state of my feet before then too, mum has no problem taking me to Badminton with no shoes but apparently my frogs are so rotten the vet might not even let me on site. The ever helpful Steve Leigh of Natures Way Natural Hoofcare has been recruited as part of the team to help out on that front, he's also very kindly paying our entry fees for the main event.

Hopefully we'll find time to get a bit of dressage in as well, we're going to aim at Area Festivals Novice Silver and Elementary Bronze, already got our qualification for the former, just one more outing needed for the later.

Not sure we'll have chance but some qualifying runs for BE regionals or the Yorkshire Challenge in the autumn wouldn't go amiss either but apparently after Badminton mum has to concentrate on "the wedding", no idea what this involves except no horses....wtf?

I'm a film star!

Just received this cool video from Meadow Productions. They put it on the internet already so I don't have to do battle with our broadband to show you all! They include a video of the training as well to watch back. This is really useful to pick up on any comments missed and replay bits to see what Mark was picking up on. Always interesting to watch yourself on camera, close up and better quality then we usually manage so can really see what is going right or wrong.

Arena Eventing Training

Sunday was an interesting day, first I learnt how to take the new partition bar out of the shelter, got into Isla's side, cornered and kicked her until she got let out and I got left in on my own so I learnt how to take the slip rails off and escape....mother was not impressed! When she finally managed to catch me again from the far end of the field she gave me a quick clean up and put me on the horsebox.

Paige had bought us a lesson with Mark Cramb at Eland Lodge for Christmas. Mum spent the warm up trying to rev me up and find my big canter but once I was in the main arena I was on fire and she quickly lost the spurs. We started with a big cross pole which isn't my favourite type of fence as I'm not really sure what to do with me legs. Mum rode it pretty strongly in case I backed off so we promptly got told off for being a bit over enthusiastic. 

We very quickly moved on to tricky turns, angled fences and awkward lines but the only thing that really phased me was leaving the arena and going between the trees. Apparently the lines would be a bit easier if I didn't land 2 feet to the right of where I take off, mum's threatening more poles in the grids at home to try to discourage this. We got up to 1m and it was easy peasy!

When we got home Paige had a quick play with Isla and looks like they're starting to get their mojo back as well. All in all going hacking again on Monday was totally boring, we're arena eventing superstars don't ya know!

Overworked pony

Well silly me thought I might get away with some time off whilst the van is at the horsebox hospital, how wrong could I be! Freya turned up bright and early on Tuesday morning and off we went on our own for a ride round the countryside. I'm not quite sure what happens when Freya rides me but somehow I find another gear and I managed to keep trotting most of the way round the long circuit. It's been a bit warm this week and I'm a bit fluffy again so got very sweaty. At least when I'm hairy I'm properly orange.

Managed to wrangle a couple of days off before mum crept upon me on Friday and made me jump grids at home. The bounce grid from last week was still up and quite fun but then mum changed it to 3 bigger jumps with canter poles in the middle, I was sure the first pole was going to eat me so just jumped the first part bigger and bigger to try and make it run away. The pole didn't get scared but mum sure did, she said I was a very good boy in between the swearing. Shame there's no video, think I was jumping the height of the wings by the time we finished!

Saturday we went for an early morning ride with Paige and Isla, we went a different way to normal which was a bit scary, especially when we got chased by a collie who tried to bite Isla. Isla doesn't kick dogs so me and mum had to chase it off then we sped off up the hill to get away from it....which set the cows off so we had a little race. We went across the short canter field towards home, I accelerated so fast I made mum scream which was funny because she still had her mouth open when she turned me in a circle behind Isla (to avoid running a walker down) and got a mouthful of mud. Isla and I decided not to jump the hedge we got turned at from gallop and returned to a bouncy jog for the rest of the "walk" home, not quite sure why all the cars we saw after that pulled over and turned their engines off?

https://www.facebook.com/566840920183051/videos/590920937775049/

Then yesterday Freya came again, mum said for once neither of us needed hacking so we had a bit of a play in the school. I was much happier about the size of the jumps so did some happy bouncing and bucking. Mum had set up an evil double of angled skinnies which was very confusing but I worked it out eventually, unlike Isla who kept jumping the wrong bit, hee hee, sometimes looking before you leap gives you time to think Isla!

https://www.facebook.com/566840920183051/videos/590921007775042/

Apparently I should be hacking again today but it's raining and mum has a big day at work tonight so she's retreated to the sofa. I meanwhile am working my way through my own body-weight in hay, apparently dressage horses are allowed to be a bit chubby and I'm not sure endurance or show-jumping are my thing after this week.

Four Shires Netherton Hall

Isla's been out playing with the Four Shires Bloodhounds again. Thanks to various people for the photos on facebook.

I spy HOUNDS!

off we go

 Quick breather to look at the view.

Give me my head mum I want to go faster!

that's better

 oh, we've finished, but I'm not tired mum! 

So apparently Isla is going onto reduced oats rations and a new set of brakes is being investigated, on the plus side Derbyshire's walls survived intact this time which is significant progress.