Charlie and Kate

So poor old Kate has had a horrendous haircut, after I broke everyone of my clipping rules, she wasn't clean, my blades were dull and I was under time pressure. Awesome, she has the worlds hairiest armpits, its very Viva la France. She is only getting the chaser clip, with the workload ahead of her, she doesn't need to have her back and loins uncovered. She is actually fitter than I expected and a lot hotter to ride than I remember! Butch is so civilised and slow and I can dictate his every stride, Kate is a bit of a whirlwind. She has been looking at me approaching with the saddle with horror in her eyes, but the last two days we have done a little bit of jumping and holy cow happy horse! Such enthusiasm, she is all zooooooooooooooooooooooom, bounce bounce, fly over the fence, land head toss bound bound. Good times!

Kate is traditionally quite spooky but she was awesome. She gave the wavy planks the hairy eyeball once we finished jumping but she just bounded over them. Popped a few fences around three foot and she feels fantastic. 

Initially, I didn't think she would be any good not on her dicky knee, which doesn't appear to have troubled her, but on an injury she got on the inside of her hock once she was retired. She was very short striding on it and she still moves it somewhat stiffly but it has improved hugely with the work. And she is holding her leads and putting plenty of power down to the ground. Certainly, she is giving me no signals that she is anything but excited to be back in the swing of things. No stiffness after work, no back soreness, and she has retained so much of her schooling, as below with my little sister in the saddle when she was visiting from Australia. The thing with Kate is she is the most ladylike and dignified horse I have every had. It's an absolute pleasure to be working with her again, even if jumping her is a trip after all this time! Hard to imagine I ever jumped 1.20m classes on her. 

Charlie, the rising five yr old schooler I have in at the moment is improving really rapidly, though he is a bit sour to have to start earning his keep, he wants to be a big pet and be loved just for being around. Still he is quite cool, and so far even his very worst hasn't been that bad. Yesterday, I had my first little jump on him and he was super but it would have been the hardest I have worked him and so I wasn't surprised when the next day after being so perfect the day before, he was a little reluctant and didn't focus as well. He is very green, and he gets tired and loses focus relatively quickly. 

Charlie- small course (opens in a new tab)

The link should take you to a video of his course today. He is ready for more height, but I'm very very impressed with his bravery to fill, though I was too chicken to try the wall. It's 60cm but it looks massive! Next week! And even the way he is starting to take me to the fences and stay cantering.