27.07.2016- One step forward and three steps back

Firstly I don't really have a lot of relevant photos to stick on here from Wednesday so I'm going to add in the photos from Sunday that I never got to post because, well, you know #content and all that. 
 Well, I made this blog for a reason, to review our progress which means writing about the bad days, not just the good and Wednesday was definitely one of those. I could have written about it on the day, but coming back a few days later without a few of the additional stressers I had going on in my non equine life I feel like I'm able to reflect on things a little better and write a blog that will actually be helpful not just an angry post in the heat of the moment. 


                                                     

Originally he was meant to be having the phsyio at 12 but this got moved a week back again, so I headed up the yard nice and early with the (probably in hindsight far too ambitious) plans to head off on a nice morning hack. He was ever so good to tack up and groom, I just let him loose in the stable and we were fly sprayed and everything without any fuss! This is a major achievement considering a couple of years ago I couldn't even hold him whilst having a spray bottle in my hand. He stood lovely to be mounted and then off we went. To be honest, the first, what 20 minutes he was perfect, he left the yard without any arguments which is still a big improvement from this time last week and hacked half way to the local village as quiet as can be despite it being quite windy and wet on the roads. However he then decided that he'd done quite enough for one day and the tantrums began, bucking, rearing, spinning and trying to bolt the lot. So, I got off and rather than admitting defeat like I usually have to do, I frog marched him to the field 10 minutes down the road. 

                            

I got back on once we were in the field, where he could spit his dummy out to his hearts content without getting in the way of traffic. He tried it on again when asking him to go past a certain point so I decided that we were going to have to learn things the hard way. I made him canter round (in all fairness he did some lovely canter work I'll give him that) for a good 15/20 minutes until he was knackered and strangely enough he hacked the rest of the way home as quiet as a lamb so I think it did the trick. I did have to get off him at one other point but in all fairness to him he was genuinely scared that time of a large lorry but that I don't mind; with him not doing a lot of hacking, things like that are going to happen until he gets out and about and sees more. He did let me get straight back on after though and wasn't stressed out so I guess in hindsight it could have gone a lot worse. Yes it wasn't the best hack I've ever had but we've definitely done worse and it's definitely an improvement over our attempts from last month. 

                                           

I then came a cropper in the stable when some scissors offended him and unfortunately I was on the firing end of some very upset hooves; cheers for all the bruises and the swollen knee Jack! I rode him again in the afternoon, which, again, started off really well, I worked on getting him to settle down and canter nicely around jumps as he gets quite excited and worked up and he was really starting to school nicely... until my dad popped down to the school to say hello and then went back up to the yard. Cue 5 minutes of rearing vertical and being just a general arsehole. I got off him, walked him away from the offending gate and then literally just sat on him for 5 minutes before taking him back to the stables because it had just got to the point when he'd pressed far too many of my buttons and I was too worked up and, I'll admit, a bit nervous to do any more so I decided that we would make friends and then call it a day. 

                           

All in all, Wednesday was really not our finest hour, but then again, somehow not our worst. 

Beth & Jack x

24.07.2016- Show time!

Just FYI, riding my horse twice in one day does not make him tired as he was still very much full of beans today ("He's fiesty isn't he?" "He really loves his jumping doesn't he?"). Also sorry for the lack of photos, hopefully there's some nice professional ones I can stick on here later! 

 Today was show time which usually means panic time, 20 minutes trying to haul my horse onto the trailer and running a good 10 minutes late. However, today went relatively smooth as far as shows go, we had everything packed and the horse on the trailer within, what 15 minutes (of which loading was only the last five can I add!). We got there in plenty of time, he stood lovely and quiet whilst he was groomed and tacked up, was fly sprayed all over not a problem. I wish I'd got a photo because he looked sooooo shiny and nice after his bath yesterday but my mum stole my phone booo! 

 We only did the one class as my confidence is in absolute tatters, I did the smallest class, 60cm and I felt like I was going in to jump at the Olympics. The first round was probably a complete mess to watch as I was so, so nervous but he looked after me and took me round clear- it's a good job one of us had our head screwed on! By the time it came to the jump off I was feeling a little bit better and actually decided to sit up and ride and he went a lot better, we were a lot more in sync as a team, it was a really lovely round! And not too slow at 36 seconds either, I didn't push him as the ground was very greasy on top and a lot of horses were slipping but he did some nice little jump off turns to finish 2nd out of about 7 or 8 horses! We decided to leave it at the one class to end on a confident note with a smile on my face and next time I should feel okay to do the 70cm. Tiny little baby steps for a horse that can jump 1m20, but we're on the right track. 

                                                   

He was super chilled and well behaved the whole time he was there even though there was a lot of standing around and loading really well coming home too, so happy days all round this weekend! Think he's deserved a day off tomorrow :)

Beth & Jack x

23.07.2016- The most productive day of all!

Well today I was off work and I think I definitely earned my bed tonight... This morning I walked up the yard to have a quick ride before it got to warm as it was crazy hot yet again (after doing 3 barrows of poo picking may I add!!). We're off to a show tomorrow so I thought it was best to have a little last minute jump practice as XC was the last time I jumped and I'm still very nervous about jumping. He was a very good boy despite the heat, he was actually surprisingly calm as he can get a bit hot headed when it comes to jumping but he was very laid back and jumped everything I pointed him at no problem. I forgot to put my body protector on so I was a bit more nervous than I should have been but he looked after me and we had a good session :) I only did about 20 minutes as I didn't want to push him in the heat. 

 Then it was bath time! With it being show day tomorrow I decided he needed a right good scrub. He was absolutely perfect, he just stood munching his hay half asleep the whole time, even when I hosed his mane, neck and his face which he's usually super sensitive about- and I didn't even use calmer this time! He was honestly so well mannered and well behaved. Then, because the shower room was a bit of a mess, I tied him up on the yard while I cleaned out and left him tied up by himself for a good 15 minutes and he didn't fret or do anything stupid, so another brownie point to the fat boy there.

                               

Then after nipping home for some lunch, it was back up to the yard again! I've been waiting for a stable on the other side of the yard to come free for a while now as he just won't settle in his current stable, every time I put him he's a complete nightmare, digging up all his bed, throwing himself on the floor, trying to climb the door and just basically giving me a weak heart at the age of 20 shall we say. Well today, one of the other girls moved her horse and so I spent a couple of hours shifting all my stuff round to the other stable and arranging my tack room all neat and tidy. 

                                                    

Well he was like a different horse going into that stable! He walked straight in, no questions asked and just went and stood quietly at the back eating his hay while I sorted the last few bits and bobs out. 

                               

Much to my poor horses horror, it was time for ride number 2 of the day. Yes, I am a horrible person and in an attempt to get him more fit and resembling more of a Fatboy Slim than just Fatboy I've decided that on my weekends off I intend to school him in the morning and attempt (attempt being a key word) a quiet hack in the evening when the traffic has died down. Deciding to attempt a hack is always a brave mood and I was well prepared for a bit of a fight, I just wanted a little evening mooch to the bottom of the road and back in the sunset and I'd take that. Well clearly I must have brought the wrong horse out of the field because he tootled to the end of the drive, straight off the drive and then proceeded to go on a good 20 minute hack to the next village and back at the buckle end as if this was something he always decided to do. We even went for a little canter round the edge of the field and he was as good as gold, even when we ended up following a tractor pulling 50 bales on a massive trailer (why, why, why when I am riding the worst horse to hack ever!?). I couldn't have asked for a more perfect way to end such a busy day and I don't think it's quite sunk in yet that we managed to achieve that. He could go out and win every single class tomorrow and I don't think I'd be as proud of him as I was for that hack tonight. I am sure this is probably a fluke, but I will take it!!! Super, super boy today, he has been nothing but impeccably polite and 10/10 normal all day.

                                                  


Beth & Jack x

21.07.2016- The shortest hack of all time

The weather has been crazy warm this week so I've mainly been letting Jack just have some down time in the field because it wouldn't be fair to work him in this heat. I had a day off yesterday, so I waited until it cooled down later on to go have a little ride. We did about 25 minutes schooling which he went well for the most part, just working on canter work really as with the weather being so muggy I didn't want to push him with anything challenging and his canter is his best pace. Then afterwards, for some mad reason, I decided to try heading off the yard. This was all well and good until we got to the bottom of the drive. Now he's had much worse tantrums in the past I must admit and we didn't have rearing, he just kept turning back round to go home but after a few minutes of me just turning him back around, he finally decided that it was clearly more effort than it was worth and off we went. We only went to the end of the road and back so not even five minutes, but for us this is miracle! Usually we don't ever make it past the drive without me having to get off and lead him! I then gave him a quick shower down after and he was perfect, he stood still the whole time, even when I hosed his mane and his face, so I was really pleased with him for that :)

                                              

Today however was not quite so successful... with the weather being nice again and after the success of yesterday, I thought maybe we'd try another little hack. I'll give him the fact that he walked off down the drive the best he ever has (a few weeks ago, he'd rear and nap as soon as I got on off the mounting block and asked him to leave the stable block!) so that's an improvement, however as soon as we got to the bottom of the drive NUPE, no way, no thankyou. I think all it would have needed was for me to get off, lead him a little bit of the way and then ride, but luckily my timing was spot on and another livery was just getting back from hacking her horse, so she gave us a lead off the yard and then just took us out for a short 10 minute hack, down a different route to yesterday. Once we'd got over the whole drive fiasco, he hacked out like a Blackpool beach donkey and even gave Apple the other horse a lead past some scary road markings. Not quite how I'd wanted things to go, but I think in a way it actually did my confidence some good as I realised that actually, once the dramas are out of the way, he is actually quite good to hack and with another horse he'd go for miles so maybe that little mishap and good timing was what I needed. I want to try and hack him out with other horses a few more times to try and get my confidence back up so I can start trying to crack on and sort our issues again. On the plus side, I hosed him off again and he was perfect again; dare I say I'm actually not dreading bathing him this weekend!???

                                   


Beth & Jack x

15.07.2016- Time to get the Tena lady out...

(....that is in case I am unable to control my bowel movements due to immense fear that occurred today.)

Well today we did something a bit different, we went off XC schooling! This was all well and good, he loaded relatively well, travelled well (putting up with us getting a tad bit lost, it's all good travelling experience though right?) and was pretty chilled when he got there. 
   He warmed up nice, actually schooling quite well considering we were at a place once he stopped being too excited to get his right canter lead. Then we came to the actual jumping part. As far as Jack goes, I cannot fault him one bit, he was incredibly patient and pretty much perfect in all honesty, he did not do one thing wrong, however it turns out that my nerves are 100% shot. 

Why ruin a nice photo Jack!??

I had a few falls off him at the start of the year when jumping, not particularly nasty but enough that my back is still suffering now from one and the fact that I've come off him 4 times in almost 5 years and 3 of them were in quick succession in the space of a month so it's fair to say, even though i didn't realise it at the time, it really did knock my confidence about. Since moving yards, I've done a little bit more jumping over some small fences and we've built back up to being able to manage about 2ft9 without me praying to the Lords above and we've done a few little jumping classes out and about but again its been about a month since I last jumped and it definitely showed. 

After spending about half an hour trotting round and clinging on for dear life over some teeny tiny logs accompanied with a very patient horse and friend, I got my arse into gear a bit and we did a few of the 70cm fences. We may not have jumped anything spectacular today, but he was perfectly behaved and it was a confidence boost I definitely needed, plus we ended on a much, much more positive note than we set out on! Oh, and we also went into the water first time, completely by ourselves... twice! I'm not sure who has possessed my horse as this is most definitely something he does not do but what a good boy!

Note to self; contrary to popular belief, you can actually ride and your horse is not as terrible as he may sometimes seem. 

Beth & Jack x

12.07.2016-Baths, more circles and new clothes!

Firstly, I do apologise for the slight lapse in blogs, not of to the best of starts but I shall explain why below! 

 So we started of July with a bit of a spring clean meaning Jack had a proper scrub and a bath. When I'm saying bath, i mean I went all out, shampoo-ed the mane, the tail, the works. He's never been a massive fan of having a wash, especially in the oh so scary shower room (which we can now walk straight into!) but I can honestly say he stood like a rock the entire time, bar the last five minutes where he was starting to get a bit cold and shivery so he stamped his feet a bit, but other than that he was perfect, even to have his mane washed and rinsed so I was very pleased! I'm not sure if this was anything to do with the fact I used his spray on calmer about 20 minutes before but even so, it was a surprisingly stress free experience. 

 The week after he had a couple of pessoa sessions- this is all started off great, on his good rein he went absolutely beautifully, the best he's ever gone. He started off resisting it a little, so a tried a new method of pushing him more forward then I usually do so he was doing a proper working trot not just mooching along and he was just floated round the school like an absolute pro, I mean he actually looked like a proper Welsh for once! Then, as soon as he went into his worse rein I knew something wasn't right, he was incredibly tense and didn't want to go any faster than just a shuffle really, as soon as he broke into trot he looked very severely lame. When I took him to investigate he seemed very sore and tense around his back and hind quarters so I booked the physio straight away (hence no blogs!). However since then, after having 3/4 days off, he's come in completely sound so I'm thinking perhaps he'd just pulled himself and been kicked in the field. Obviously the physio is still coming to see him next week, but he's trotted up sound for the past three days so today it was time to get back to work- oh and his new saddle arrived!

He finally has his own grown up saddle all of his own that fits both of us! His old saddle has gotten a little too tight and has always been too big for me, plus the forward cut flaps of a jump saddle just don't suit him as he is very narrow round the shoulders so he's now got a working hunter cut Black Country saddle and it could not fit him any better. It's surprising how just a slight change in the cut can play such a big difference, now he's able to move more freely through his shoulder he felt completely different, I can honestly say I have never had such a brilliant schooling session with him (even if it was a tad forward at times, note to self, no more time off for Jack!!). His canter work felt so, so nice, his trot as always left a lot to be desired but could have been worse and his walk is getting to where I'd like it to be, so if he carries in the direction he was showing he can today, I won't be complaining. The plan for tomorrow, English weather permitting off course, is to possibly pessoa him for 5 minutes each way in walk and trot to warm him up and then jump on and have half an hour schooling. 

Beth and Jack x