30.08.2016- In which the pony was very good

I have three days worth of blogging to get through so, well, grab a cuppa. 

On Friday I did something I haven't done for a very long time... we had a jumping session! He does a lot of hacking and schooling so I think it's nice to mix things up sometimes and you can still work on flatwork and the general basis of your schooling whilst jumping I think. For example, our aim for that day was to keep an even, consistent rhythm in the canter to and after a fence and around the turns. The last time I had a proper jumping session with him must be what, two months ago at least now. He's always been good to jump really, but a bit of a handful with him going sideways everywhere, napping to fences and just basically being a lunatic if I'm honest. He's never been able to canter around a course in a flow, it's always been very unbalanced and disjointed with flying changes every five strides. Well, what a bloody difference two months of pure flatwork and hacking has made, he was like a completely different horse- starting with the fact that he was soooo lazy. 
 Bar the fact that he was the laziest horse to ever exist, he was absolutely perfect, his canter is a million times better, at no point did he rush or feel unbalanced and we did a few little 2ft courses spot on, landing on the right leg, letting the fences come to him and taking his time but still going forward (However, I will not be jumping without a whip again any time soon, my poor legs!!). 
 Then Monday, Emma came up and we plaited him up ready for the weekend to see if he'd act any differently under saddle plaited up (Sparkie tenses up a bit because he doesn't like them pulling his hair. Pussy). We just had a general mooch around the school and didn't produce anything spectacular but he was a good boy none the less. Emma had a little play as well and then took him down to the end of the road and back to cool him off and, despite walking slower than an elderly snail, he was super duper. He then had his weekly bath after (you've got another coming Saturday mate!) so now he's all shiny and clean. And then and then... he went out in the big field for the first time in 3 months! And he came to call still when I shouted him today, yay pony!

                                  

                            

                                 

                                                        

And then we have todays ride. Now recently, with the exception of my tootle round the school Monday, I have tried to make more of an effort when I school but I have to admit I do cut corners and probably don't always take it as seriously as I should. Well today I was determined that we were going to take it serious from start to finish. We started off in the sand school because someone was having a lesson in the rubber where we just worked mainly on bending and flexing in walk. Once the rubber was free, we swapped to there because it's easier for schooling with it being smaller and there being less distractions. I tried to work on riding him the best I possibly could- I find horses are very clever at getting us to ride the way they want us to, for example, I find myself 'falling out' on his worse rein and trying to hold him to heavy in the inside hand. Instead I tried to put myself in a text book position, shoulders level and straight, heels down, holding him with the outside hand and pushing him into this hand with the inside leg and then giving and taking with the inside rein. Since our lesson I've noticed that he moves off my leg so, so much better, especially in the walk and on the left rein, if he starts to drift in and fall in on a circle, I just give him a tap with the inside leg and he practically leg yields to the outside track again, especially using the schooling whip as a back up to keep his body straight. I also tried to slow his trot down a hell of a lot but keep the timing and rhythm consistent which made a huge difference especially with transitions- he even let me do some work in sitting trot which he usually hates! 
 Now I'm not saying he was suddenly bang on in an outline, but he felt so much rounder in general, for the most part he had some kind of inside flexion, his lines were straight and he was forward but not rushing. I knew he must have been working hard because as soon as I asked him to work long and low in the trot, something that usually takes a bit of persuasion, his chin hit the floor. Then when he picked the reins back up, all of a sudden there we go, we were able to work in a semi consistent outline in trot! Honestly, that's the best feeling he's ever given me under saddle, never, ever did I think we'd have a breakthrough like that when it came to our trot work, if he goes like that Sunday I will most definitely be smiling (although he'll probably have forgotten all this come tomorrow). We did a couple of canters, again working long and low and then when I shortened the reins and came back to trot, bam, straight into a lovely round outline and a nice, slow trot. 
 To finish off we had a nice amble to the fishery and back; he honestly was a bloody star today, he really made me smile!! 

Beth & Jack x

24.08.2016- Hacking, schooling and the dentist drama...

Well we've had quite a busy week! On Monday we went for a hack (after a short 15 minute schooling session where he was a good boy) with the help of Emma. He was absolutely perfect the whole way and we saw some pretty challenging things such as bikes and a bus and a digger! He even went into the ford which I've never managed to persuade him to do before (he's a mahoosive pansy about water). He discovered that actually, you can drink water and it's quite funny to splash yourself with it so maybe it wasn't as awful as he thought all along. 


                                    

                                    

                                                

Then Tuesday we had another go in the school. He honestly went really well, he's starting to become a lot more willing in the school and to try a lot harder, he's no where near perfect but I'm generally quite happy with his way of going. He might not be a dressage pony as of yet, but there's no obvious faults or areas of concern where his flatwork is concerned and he could probably go out and do a dressage test to the same level Sparkie did when I evented him (and he was somehow coming back with 35s!). I decided to try playing with the contact a bit, giving and retaking my reins to see whereabouts he was happiest and I actually got some really nice work out of him; not perfect, but he was flexed to the inside and soft through the contact. We then braved it out on a little hack to cool down and he was foot/hoof perfect the whole way. We didn't go far, just a 10 minute amble to cool down but he was super :)
 Today he was meant to have the dentist out... well. Long story short, she was unable to do his teeth or well, really get near him in general. Very frustrating, but I can't hold it against him or be cross with him as he was genuinely terrified there was no nastiness or naughtiness about the whole situation, I think it's just going to be a long process before we try again. We did go out for a hack after wards and actually managed the longest hack (by ourselves can I just say!) we've ever done and he was super boy. He had a few napping moments, but nothing serious, mainly just turning round to go towards home but he went forwards again as soon as I turned him back round, so nothing unmanageable. In fact, if he does that out hacking the rest of his life, I'd still take that and count it as success because I had a really lovely, relaxing time out exploring with him- so that's three very successful hacks this week!  

                            

                                     


Beth & Jack x 

20.08.2016- A very rainy ride in which Jack was perfect

Well today has been well and truly miserable weather wise! Still, I am a dedicated rider these days and a bit of rain is not going to stop me from having a productive day. 
 It was both of the ponies turn to work today (side note; not sure if I've ever mentioned my other pony Sparkie on here, but he is on loan at the moment and for the foreseeable future due to finance and time issues. He's also probably THE best thing since sliced bread. Seriously he's awesome.), as Emma rode Sparkie and I rode Jack. I had no idea what he was going to be like as I haven't ridden him with another horse for a very long time, especially Sparkie who is his best friend in the whole world/field. Usually riding the two together means he finds completely impossible to concentrate on anything he's doing himself and we have at least one crazy napping, rearing session. But no, he was perfect! I am so surprised and so happy with him, he was so well behaved and sensible today; more so than Sparkie which is something I never ever thought I'd be saying!

                                                       

We just did a little bit of schooling, with a bit of work on bending- he did loads better than in our lesson the other day, so we'll just keep working on it until it finally clicks, but he was definitely a lot more willing today. We even did a bit of jumping (how brave of me!) and he looked after a very nervous me very well, he's so much calmer jumping now, he's like a different horse. I'm still not overly fussed about jumping still, but I'm starting to actual enjoy it now again and see the fun it which is good. I probably won't jump him again for a while now, until after his second physio appointment but it was still good fun and he jumped really nice :) We also practiced our dressage test, which, in my head was a complete disaster as I convinced myself he was lame and stressed myself back... actually watching it back, it was probably one of the best run throughs we've had and just a little bit of work on bending has made a difference in how it flows, I'm just super paranoid! I think it's because I've spent a long time getting things right I'm just really paranoid and worried his shoulder is going to flare up again but I need to relax a bit, he's really fine! 

                                    

                                   

                                 

We also had another session with the clippers and he was really good again! I got them onto him a lot quicker than last time and I'd almost feel confident enough to try a clip now... however we're going to keep up the good work we're doing for a few more weeks before we risk it. Very, very happy with my boy today, he was a very good pony :) 

Beth & Jack x

17.08.2016- We dared to brave a lesson...

Yes, you did read that correctly. For the first time in 4 years (and our second ever lesson together!) I went and booked a lesson. I'm finally happy enough with the way he's going that I didn't think we'd make a complete embarrassment of ourselves. I also think we'd got to the point where, don't get me wrong we're still progressing and I'm happy with him, but I kind of went into the school and ambled around on each rein and then called it a day so I needed someone to stand on the ground and give me a few new ideas. 

                                 

  For anyone who's read my last blog (why am I writing this when no one reads these?????), you may remember (again why???) I mentioned that I need to sort my washing line reins out... well this is one of the first things she picked up on! She told me to shorten my reins; and then shorten them again. I thought that I was doing the right thing by having him on the buckle end and asking him to move forward but turns out by not having a good, consistent contact and having shorter reins, I was just allowing any energy generated by his back end just trickle out the front end which is why I felt like I was kicking and kicking and going no where. When I shortened my reins I found that I didn't need to have him racing around at 100 miles an hour to feel forward. What I was doing was having a really long rein in the hope that he'd eventually start to stretch his neck but actually, when riding with a shorter rein, he's more likely to use his muscles so then when I did lengthen the rein he stretched so much better because he actually needed it!

                                   

I told her our main problems we needed to work on were getting him more forward off the leg and working on bending- he's like a cardboard box to turn. Well the whole issues with forwardness were sorted just by shortening my reins so then it was time to work on bending. Well, this is definitely a work in progress and we didn't necessarily achieve it in this lesson (without her taking over control of the reins anyway haha!) but I learnt that it's not impossible for him and that I need to be more persistent with him and start asking him for a bit more because he's ready to start learning. She agrees with me that it might be a long road to head but that we will get a dressage pony out of him yet and to still go and give it a try because she said he's got one of the best free walks she's seen from such a small horse and you get a double score for that! 

                               

All in all, I think I really benefited from it and it was a massive confidence boost that my riding isn't as terrible as I believed and I'm really looking forward to the next one :) 

Oh and my new clippers arrived the day before! I know it's going to be a very long process to get him clippable but we had our first session the other day. I only intended to run them over him turned off and perhaps turn them on next to him at the end but we got a lot further than that; we had them turned on, all over his back end and even up by his neck by the end, which is a massive achievement! Good pony that day all round :)

Beth & Jack x

14.08.2016- Feet above ground (just about)

After a day off yesterday where he just had a groom and a chill out time in his stable, it was back to work for the fat boy today. I was originally going to attempt a hack but with work I didn't really have the time (or the motivation!) to try and deal with the effort of that today. I still fancied doing something a bit different to mix things up a bit so we did a bit of pole work. 

                              
                       Someone actually came and asked what show he was going to.. no, I just like                                                          hoof oil and oil spray that's all.

                                                 
                                                              not helpful

I only set up a simple exercise of three trot and canter poles (not easy when he parked himself right in the middle of where I wanted to set them up) because we both haven't done any pole work for a really long time. I mainly just wanted to work on keeping a constant rhythm approaching, going over and leaving the poles, getting a good turn into the poles and keeping a nice straight line. He was very good, especially cantering over them, if perhaps a bit lazy at times but once he realised we were in the jumping arena he perked up a bit! I don't really want to do a lot of jumping with him until he has his follow up physio but he does love it (even if I don't anymore!) so I let him jump a little cross pole to finish on, again working on the same principles we had with the poles. He used to rush and get quite strong jumping, but he stayed very calm and balanced still, he might have got a little bit more forward but before it was cantering on the spot, bucking and rearing kind of forward, today it was just a bit of 'yay!' and that's in a snaffle, so he was very well behaved. Maybe one day in the very distant future when I'm happy with our flatwork I might be brave enough to start jumping again but I'm happy enough playing schooling ponies for now. He's getting a lot happier and relaxed in his trot every time and we even had some nice stretchy trot work after popping the jump a few times, something that would never, ever have happened with a jump in the school before and the most he's stretched since swapping back to the snaffle. My goal for myself riding wise now is to work on keeping a more consistent contact and not being afraid of letting him know I'm at the end of the reins; no more washing line reins! 

                          

Beth & Jack x

12.08.2016- A frustrating few days (or not?) ft the Vaseline saga

This blog is a very good reminder of exactly why I decided to start this project because if I hadn't wrote this I'd probably still be in one of my 'I hate my horse, I want to sell him' moods, however after having a bit of a think and reflecting on it, actually, he wasn't half that bad. 

 We'll start with Thursdays ride- he had a day off Wednesday, when he did stay in the stable all by himself for a good hour or so and behaved perfect- so it was back to work Thursday. Well for whatever reason he was in a horrible mood from the moment I brought him in, he was just being very impatient and doing little mini half rears in his stable half tacked up. So, I decided that enough was enough and sprayed a bit of his calmer on (which he was completely fine about!? Okay.). I chucked him out the stable so he just sulked out there until I'd got myself sorted and then off we headed for our ride. 

 Since he had the physio recently, the quality of his trot has come on SO much, obviously the issue with his shoulder has been ongoing for much longer than I released and I feel awful for not doing something earlier because the difference is so obvious. For the last couple of years even, his trot has been so rushed and tense all the time but I just put it down to him being un balanced but he's now reverted back to 5yo Jack who does not feel the need to rush anywhere. I forgot just how lazy he actually is, especially when you're used to riding a 13.2hh pocket rocket. Now, add to this the fact that I'd drowned him in calmer and you have a horse that trots slower than a snail (A slug perhaps. No. A deceased slug). So whilst he behaved perfectly and did some, stretchy trot work (not as well as he goes in his kimblewick, but I'm determined to keep him in a snaffle and get him to actually work properly, not just give the illusion of working nice because of the pressure from a curb chain) he was soooo slow and so dead to my leg! I think perhaps I need to purchase some spurs!

                              

So now onto yesterdays ride. Yesterday started as one of those days that I really strongly disliked my horse, however on my long walk home I kind of had a bit of think to myself and actually, I think I was the problem in this situation, not Jack. Because he's got a new bit, it's pinched him just a little bit round his mouth as he has a very sensitive, tiny little mouth so I just wanted to put some vaseline on to soften the corners of his mouth a bit. Well, I have known this horse for 5 years, I know him like the back of my hand, I am fully aware that he makes everything into a big deal and that you have to take things very slowly... so I went and did the complete opposite. Obviously this resulted in a whole tantrum occurring with a broken lead rope and lots of swearing. I realise now that I should have just taken things slowly (he was much better today!) and just seen how far I could have got and then left it on a good note. So, whilst, yes, he was being an arsehole, I definitely did not help and I am on the one more at fault here, so we're going to move on from that little fall out. I think I want things to be perfect straight away and because he's gotten so much better recently I've kind of forgotten what he can be like. So remember how I decided to scrap the get more confidence jumping goal? For the rest of the month learn to be more patient shall replace that! I am the first to admit that I need to slow down and not try to a 100 things at once, that's just my personality unfortunately. 

                                

After we'd made friends again, I took him down for a bit of fitness training in the field. All we've done is go in the school recently and I think he just needed a bit of variation to make him slightly more forward thinking. It definitely worked and he seemed to really enjoy himself- I even got a good few gallops out of him! He's definitely not the fastest of horses bless him, but he does cover the ground as he has a really long gallop stride. He's my favourite horse to ride in the field because he's quite happy to move up a gear when you ask him to but he will do as much or as little as you ask of him, he can go from a gallop to trotting round on the buckle end. So in the end we actually had a very enjoyable ride :) 

Beth & Jack x

09.08.2016- Lots of schooling

Well we've been super busy over the last couple of days getting our schooling cap on! I schooled him Saturday and he was fantastic, he wasn't stiff or sore in his shoulder at any point and was just super duper, nice and stretchy and willing to work. He then had a bath... minus a hay net or any calmer and actually fell asleep! He was so chilled out and so perfectly behaved! 
 He had a quick lunge on the pessoa last night, again was very well behaved, if a bit lazy but 100 times better than how he lunged before the physio- he'd started bucking and refusing to move but clearly now I know he was just trying to say he was feeling a bit sore! 

                                   

Then today I schooled him not once, but twice! He was a very good boy for both and we're now back down to a snaffle again instead of the kimblewick! His trot work since having the physio is so, so much better, even my dad commented saying he was like a different horse. I really feel like we're starting to work a bit better as a team on the flat now and I've gone and booked my first riding lesson in four years for next week eeeeek. I think I just need an extra pair of eyes and outside mind to come and tell me how I need to be riding him and where to go to next in order for us to progress but I'm quite excited to see what a difference a few lessons will make! 

 I've decided to take 'improve my confidence jumping' off my goals list for this month, because jumping just isn't my priority anymore, I'm just not interested about it and I don't particularly miss it. Instead I'm just going to focus on getting a few lessons and cracking down on our schooling :)

Beth & Jack x

05.08.2016- Hacking, schooling and a guest appearance

First of all I'm going to rewind back two days to Wednesday as Jack had the physio out. I've been meaning to get him done since forever but recently he's been very stiff and uncomfortable through his left shoulder after having a kick in the field so it was kind of the kick up the arse I needed to try and organise something. He was a very good boy (after deciding she was terrifying for the first five minutes) and he's been given some stretches to do to loosen up his shoulder before she comes back to reassess it in four weeks time. 

 Fast forward to today again; I'm going to start today's blog off with a bit of a shock... it's about a pony other than Jack! Today I went to ride a friend's pony called Freddie who is super cute (despite having grumpy small man syndrome) and who's life I once saved (just saying, could be a vet me). I went for a hack with Emma & Sunny and they were both very good, chilled out boys and then I had a play schooling him in the field for a bit. Considering I rode like a sack of potatoes- and wasn't wearing any shoes may I add- he went very nicely and did some lovely trot work for me. I hadn't realise just how much confidence I've lost just around horses in general, so it was nice for me to ride a different pony for a change and realise that horses aren't that scary. I was pretty nervous (of a 13hh pony, woe is me) so my riding wasn't the best but it was a nice reminder that I can actually school ponies when they give me something to work with. I want to try and ride different ponies to improve my confidence, but, having no friends, this could be difficult. Still, keep your eyes peeled for more guest pony appearances!

                                

                         
                         
                         

Then it was Jacks turn to play at schooling. Like I mentioned earlier, he's been really tight and stiff in his shoulder which has meant that when schooling him his trot work has been very tense and hard to work with recently. For the first five minutes or so he was incredibly uptight and bit like 'ouch' through his shoulder but I think it's more out of habit because it's clearly been niggling him for a while and it's been playing on my mind for well over a month now; but I thought it was just me being paranoid. I was a bit nervous as well because there were a lot of people on the yard and someone else in the other school and well, I guess I am just a bit silly nerves wise at the moment. Once he warmed up though his trot felt so, so much better, it was nice to be about to work the trot for a change. He actually started to relax through his neck and use his whole body moving forwards nicely. It was nice to watch the videos back and see such a huge difference, however working on my riding is a must! I gave him a shower off after and he was perfect which I was so pleased with because it's been a week or so since I tried... have we cracked bathing?

Later on we took the ponies for a little evening hack in the sunset after I'd finished work, me on Jack, Emma on Sparkie. Well, we've still got the hang of leaving the drive and he started out in the lead then decided that actually, it would be rude not to let Sparkie have a turn. They were both pretty faultless though really, I think hacking with another pony or a walker we're pretty much okay with. Took them for a nice canter over the meadows and the stubble field which Jack took at his usual backwards pace... I honestly think his life would have to be under threat to make him ever break into a gallop. Overall a very good first two rides of the month :)

Beth & Jack x

Month Uno; 1/6

Please bare with me on this post, my one of hopefully many, monthly review posts as it might be a bit ropey to began with before I decide on how I want to work it! 

So, in order to see how we're progressing and to keep moving forwards, I need to keep a track of how things are going and so each month I intend to do one of these posts to see whereabouts we're at and what we need to work on. Reviewing our goals from last month seems a good place to start, so here we go... 

Our goals for July were...

Improve our schooling

• I feel we had a bit of a set back with this with him having just over a week off due to being lame but I have to admit the quality of his walk and canter work seems to have come on a hell of a lot and we even very occasionally have a glimpse of some hope in trot! No, he doesn't work in a consistent outline, but now when asked to he will in both walk and canter, I just don't particularly go out of my way to ask him to at the minute as I'm trying to work more on my position than him. But, yes, this goal is going in the direction I want it to and I'm going to keep it on as an underlying goal for the rest of the year, however at the moment it's not a huge red area!

                           

                             

                                                            (June last year)

                           

                                                           (July this year)

Start work on hacking

• And when I say start work, I mean be able to walk to the end of the drive and possibly off it, so we well and truly smashed this goal. I don't think we're quite ready to go off on a 10 mile trek just yet, but we can actually leave the drive now and do a hack of some form. It's going to take a hell off a lot of work to turn him into a happy hacker so again this is going to be an ongoing goal but I never thought I'd manage a half an hour hack at any point last month!! 

To loose some weight

• Well I think some comparison pictures will explain this better... he looks incredible at the moment; so that's a 3/3 on the goal front. 

                        

                                                          (21st June)

                       

                                               (27th July, ooooooooh pony)

I'm pretty happy with how all of the above have gone down, so here is the part of the blog where we just do a quick overview because, let's be honest, writing about the whole month would take way too long and would bore people to death. 

What did we get up to? 4 hacks, XC schooling, Greenacres 

How many times did he make me want to cry/scream/gouge my eyes out/write his advert/call up tescos/etc? Surprisingly just the once!

Best parts? Evening hack to Derrington, Greenacres; he actually made me happy cry that weekend!

Worst parts? Kicking me 

And finally, time for Augusts goals... 

• Crack the canter work! Carrying on with improving our schooling, I'm going to focus on one pace at a time and as canter is his strongest pace and the easiest to work with, this seems like a good place to start.
• More confidence and consistency hacking.
• Be more patient;this one's for me!

Beth & Jack x 

31.07.2016- Back to basics

I would apologise for the fact that I'm about to do a spam of blogs but I only have one follower, so, well, I won't. 

 I will apologise for the fact that there will be no pictures for any of these as my phone has decided that after three short weeks of life, it no longer wants to be on this planet :(

So after our disastrous Wednesday, I went up after work last Sunday with my personal trainer (otherwise known as 'Dad'). He suggested I take things right back to basics again just so we can establish who is in charge as who as such and to keep things nice and simple, so I spent the first half an hour just doing walk and halt transitions. Now he can be a bit of a fidget arse when it comes to standing but I found that if I kept myself perfectly still, central and balanced he was much straighter and quieter when coming down to a stand. His walk is one of his better paces so I was happy with what we did. We finished off with a bit of canter schooling and some pole work, mainly working on my position and trying to keep myself straight and balanced; how can I ask my horse to go straight if I'm not!? His canter work is so close to how I want it to be, I think a few more pessoa sessions and we might crack it. 

 Overall he worked very well and we had a good session, much more positive :) 

Beth & Jack x