I Will Jump Sweet Jumps- A Horse Blog

Langdale Horse Sports

2012-01-29T15:40:00.000-08:00

Some of the pictures are too large and I can't resize them but if you open them in another tab you will be able to see the whole picture and it will be worth it :)

So on Saturday I went out to Langdale horse sports with Connie, Bill and Kate. A horse sports is the most grass roots competition we have around here, just a small local event. Kate was only along for the ride to make sure that Bill had a good influence not just the hot headed Connie who would have thrown her toys about being left alone at the truck while I was riding Bill. And Bill did not need to have the shrieking Connie distracting her so Kate is a godsend in that regard. And yes Connie is very naughty but I give her some slack because she jumps good.

This was not Bills first show we did a small one ages ago and she was pretty good but got eliminated at the double and she was wearing the evil girth so it was going to be pretty different this time with her super special fleece girth. Now Bill is a bold wee horse, the biggest issue is she is pretty horse shy. She thinks that strange horses cantering and jumping are going to eat her. She makes up for her shyness by being aggressive and wanting to lunge at the other horse so I will red ribbon her tail next time. I suspect she would kick.

The warm up arena was pretty hairy with lots of people charging around so I did a lot of trotting and then went in for a practice round hoping to get away from the chaos. The chaos followed me into the practice round however and there were soon five people charging around the course sometimes nearly crashing into each other. Le sigh. Still apart from some hairy moments it was pretty good for her to be exposed to this kind of madness. The first practice round she had a good look at one picket and a stop at the picket further on around the course but then jumped it straight away the next time around.

Her first round was 60cm and she was awesome. She trotted around well and jumped everything quite confidently. Just getting a bit crooked to some of them but still jumping really happily and taking me to the fences and seemed to be enjoying herself which is excellent.

After that class I took her bridle off and let her rest for a while and then she went in the 75 cm. I only walked her around for her second warm up as it was such a hot day and for a while she even stood ringside with the other horses and rested a hindleg so I was very happy she was getting so relaxed. The 75cm looked huge to me I wont lie and she obvious thought it was worth some effort because man was she jumping.

She also decided she has figured out doubles so she jumped in from the trot took one or two strides depending which double and just launched out of them even though she was miles away. Bold as brass this horse. But I'm happy she was so confident to get so straight to them and canter through.

I then did the jump-off for that class but just trotted around quietly. She did have one little tiny buck but I think it was more a I'm tired and hot and a bit over this than anything else. certainly nothing concerning. I was going to let her canter the last half of the jump-off course but she broke to the trot and I was content to let her trot and finish strongly. I can start jumping her from the canter at home now because she feels so good. She also loves that long distance.

My friend who has Ginga had 4 horses in one class and was pretty flat out classes only being about 20 people so after 6 weeks apart Ging and I joined forces again for the 95cm class. He is such a goober and definitely we have lost a bit of the connection we were forming but he is a nice guy so it was nice to jump him again. Had one stupid stop at the brush because we both got sucked to the base. I needed to have been more attacking and got him more forward and confident to it and it would have been fine but there you are. It happens. Like I say I haven't even ridden him for 7 weeks so to get on and go basically straight into the ring was fairly tough. I still feel like I ride him pretty well which is good.

Connie was in the 1.10m class and felt really awesome. She is a great. Cruised around the course easy as. Rode up for the five strides down to the double and she did back off it a little but then jumped through really confidently.

It probably wasn't visible to spectators but I felt her be all hmm this is a double. But the doubles were really short at this show so she found it easy as. Saved my butt to the last fence when I was a long way off the take off but didn't have room for another stride and she just left the ground and jumped huge. The picture is quite dark and small but you can see how high her body is. Go pony.

Put in a good jump-off and she was awesome as usual and she ended up in second place. She really is a great little horse. she is starting to really enjoy her jump offs and she just was so smooth and easy to ride in both of her rounds. She makes me look good haha.

A huge thank you to my friend Fe who came out and took all the photos and was chief cheerleader and a huge help.

Sometimes its in the little details

2012-01-24T23:12:00.000-08:00

I used to ride a big grey horse who by nature was an ungenerous bastard who would give you nothing. If you weren't 100% he would try and destroy you. And I agonised over that horse. I tried a million different bits, saddles, girths, chiros, massage therapists, holistic blah blah blah and on and on looking for what ever was the cause of what made this horse so surly and difficult. And I could never find it. He was a product of his earlier training and in the end, I wasn't the rider for the horse and I sold him on.

I think though he has coloured my thinking, because I was ridiculed for looking for a pain issue and in both the Kate and Bill I have missed a pain issue. Kates stopping from her knee and I should have picked that up earlier. Though in my defense it was very mild arthritis, but enough to make Kate pack it in. And I feel terrible about Bill because I feel with my experience I shouldn't be missing things like this.

Bill was making really good progress at the start of the season and coming on but had a little bit of a buck when she was unbalanced and was easily managed. Then I changed her gear set up and without really putting it together we started to stagnate. I have been frustrated with the lack of progress and her attitude. She has been resistant and surly and the buck has gotten worse and worse until of course I ended up being ejected on my head. She was definitely telling me more and more emphatically that she wasn't happy. And I just didn't pick up on it. Even after the head injury I hadn't changed the girth, just her bridle.

Then one day the light hit her coat slightly differently and the shine gave away a tiny dip in her side. I was like say what and then realised it was from the buckles on my stupid girth- even through the saddle flaps. For the record the girth was a shaped wintec girth, brand spanking new. I ran my hand down her side and she was hugely girthy. Stink. I gave her plenty of time off and now she is in a fleece girth with elastic at either end. And it's like I have given her a brain transplant. She is so settled, forward and happy in herself. She still swishes her tail but has yet to feel like she would buck.

Today she happily trotted around jumps up to about 70cm, even over barrels on their sides and felt like the horse I had at the start of the year but actually better because she didn't love that girth either. Such a tiny tiny thing and it's made a huge difference and had I been smarter and given her the benefit of the doubt I could have saved myself a head injury. Sorry Bill.

Pictures from the Taupo Christmas classic

2012-01-22T15:10:00.000-08:00

Connie in the Amateur

With my friend watching the 6yo on my very good grandstand Ginga

Horowhenua IA&P Show

2012-01-21T22:11:00.000-08:00

So a great show to get back into the ring on. It was just a great show, the most fun I have had in ages. The knee wasn't painful internally but the breeches did rub it and make it weep and hurt at skin level so I was glad I was only riding for one day, it would have sucked to open it up a second day.

First class was a 1.10m class because I wanted to ease myself back into it. It was big enough though and a windy technical course. Certainly it caused a few problems but not too many. About 55 in the class and 24 in the jump-off. I started out a bit sticky. Didn't have enough canter and was getting a little deep and sticky to the fences but Connie is a good duck and helped me out even though it meant I added two strides in the double but in my defense it was quite long. After that I sorted my shit out and got a better ride to the rest of the course and she jumped really well and she was clear! Yay.

Now Connie is not fast, nor particularly nimble or catty, but she does have a ground covering stride, and she will jump where ever I put her. Jump-offs are not really her strength. Still I was going to give it a good crack. Good ride 1 and 2 nice and forward, tight turn back (She is good at these too) inside a couple of fences, jumped three on a steep angle, two strides in the double again but it meant I could turn back hard inside another fence. Jumped the swedish oxer nearly stand to stand the angle was so steep and then jumped the liverpool to the final fence in 5 big strides instead of 6 strides. It saves a second to leave out a stride. I ended up 5th which I was rapt with and only like 2 seconds behind the leader which I was impressed by. Good pony. Many kisses for her.

Then I had the amateur class. Had blown out the cobwebs by then, after a good talking to by a friend about my motives and enjoying myself I lightened up a bit and off we went. Had a much better ride. More forward and flowing and getting better distances and more in tune with the horse. Had a rail in the double when she hesitated in the middle and a rail somewhere else I don't actually know. I thought I had 1 rail. Still I was still sixth because I was the fastest with two rails which shows it was a tough enough track. Lester never builds easy, there is always a test or two. A great day. Very successful. I'm so lucky to have that horse, she tries her heart out for me and she may not be the most talented jumper but she is mine and I love her.

I have photos from Taupo I will scan in the next couple of days so you can look forward to that.

Back in the saddle 3

2012-01-17T00:16:00.000-08:00

The knee wound a couple of days after the stitches came out but before I stopped dressing it and let it dry.

It's terrible I have had to make three of these threads in the last two months. I need to take better care of myself! So like it says I am riding again. The knee woun has gaped a little more than I had hoped and the scar will be fairly large and it still hurts like a bitch. Overnight it gets stiff and then it hurts when I first start moving as I break up the adhesions and the nerve damaged areas just feel bizarre. I have always had a ticklish left knee, now I imagine I wont be able to stand anyone near it.

Still I'm back in the saddle again and feeling pretty good. Connie has maintained her fitness better than I hoped and has lost a lot of weight, so she is looking and feeling good. She has the most amazing dapples which is always a good sign. She is a bit tense and resistant on the flat but thats no surprise with the lack of recent schooling. Have had a light jumping session down a grid which ended up with the last oxer standing at 1.30m and she just skipped over so that was a nice feeling. She is a great little horse, she really is. I just wish she was a super star so she could be my first grand prix horse because we have such a good bond and she looks after to me.

Kim has been riding Bill while she is back in the country. I rode her for the first time today and she was really really good. A completely different horse to the horse that I got concussed coming off a while back. A new bridle set up and a fleecy girt and she is a happy pony apparently. Her canter has gone to the dogs a bit because she hasn't had the work to keep her balanced but given time I'm confident it will come. I'm getting more confident I'll be able to take her to a little show in the coming weeks. She popped over the cross no worries and stayed more relaxed about everything than she has for a long time.

Back into the show ring on Friday when I jump at the Levin A+P. I'm only doing the Friday though because I hate the set up and over night facilities for the horses, I'm feeling poor and I wasn't sure how my knee would be when I did the entries. Jumping the 1.10m class first out seeing as it has been 4 weeks since I last showed, and then the amateur class later in the day. If she places in the amateur I'll definitely go South for Nationals but otherwise I probably wont. It's a huge investment to take one horse down. If I was taking two good horses that would be different because you have a fall back if one gets sore or just isn't feeling like jumping. The prize money down there is unreal though. Still you have to actually win it and those south Islanders are fierce as are the visiting North Islanders of course. That and there are two reasonable relatively local shows on the same weekends.

So thats me really. Same old. Glad to be getting back to strength and mobile again after this knee injury. Still going super slow on the quad bike though!

Time keeps on ticking

2012-01-05T21:48:00.000-08:00

Kates ears

Well my stitches come out tomorrow and in a few days I'll be home again and able to start riding again. At this stage it looks like just Bill and Connie will be at home and it will be odd to only have two horses in work. So quiet! Ging is back with his owner and I suspect he wont be coming back to me. The next show is in two weeks and I have no idea if I'll go to be honest. It's 6 or 7 hours away and it's also North Island champs and I suspect I'll be far to rusty to justify that sort of travelling. It is double amateur points which would be good, but after a concussion and now my knee I have fallen a long way from 24th in the standings.

It's finally started to dry up and I'm going to be proactive about looking at shoeing options that will Keep Connie feeling good in her front legs and not jarring up on the harder ground. She has such a high and sort of pounding front action that every year as the ground gets harder I have to be very careful what ground I jump her on and to balance her work requirements with saving her legs.

What is also quite unfortunate is I was planning to use the Christmas season to get Connie really a lot fitter as she isn't jumping with the enthusiasm of the really fit Connie, only the ok fit Connie. The fitter and better she feels the better and higher and more athletically she jumps. But now she has sat in the paddock for the last 10 days doing nothing but losing fitness. Though her and Bill have both been on a strict diet and hopefully they will be a bit trimmer when I get back. I hope to be back in the saddle on Monday or Tuesday depending how I feel.

Hopefully everyone else is having an easier time than I am.

In which 2011 ends by kicking my ass

2011-12-28T16:28:00.000-08:00

Thankfully in life it's not that often I'm left pondering my vulnerability as a human, but here we are for the second time in a 6 week period with myself heading to the emergency room. Not horse related this time though, but possibly something I am pretty blase about, and that's using the quad bike. I was racing around a mob of calves trying to stop them crossing over the culvert and keep them heading for the gate, and apparently lost my orientation because all of a sudden I was much to close to the drain and about where the calves had been walking down to the water they had cut away a lot of ground.

My front right wheel dropped into where the ground was cut away and the bike started to flip. I'm not sure if I bailed or was thrown off, Dan reckons I might have bailed, but I do remember being at the top of drain, feeling the bike starting to kick over and thinking I was never going to get out of this without being killed. I hit the bottom of the drain before the bike did and I hustled to get out of the way but wasn't quick enough and the bike pinned my ankle and I was trapped in the bottom of the drain. As the quad settled the weight on my leg got worse and the pain was unreal. I was screaming for poor old Dan to save me. He thought he was running to find my corpse so to hear my hollering was a positive.

Dan lifted the bike up enough I could scoot my leg out and I was free. I was limping back across the paddock to the gate when I realised my pants were torn and looking through I had a wicked gash on my knee that was just fill of mud. Blerk. Off to the ER we go, wait for hours, get both knee and ankle to make sure of no broken bones and big pieces of gravel. You know it's bad when the nurses are quite impressed. Anyway, it took about 45 minutes to clean and cut away the dirty flesh in my knee which was bizarre to watch. It didn't hurt but you are cutting me bro. The local was the worst part, that almost made me vomit, especially as I was on an empty stomach in case I had to go to surgery for it to be cleaned.

Luckily there was no real joint involvement, thought there was a small hole that went through to my knee cap. Sick! So 6 internal stitches and 9 external stitches and I can't drive, ride or bend my knee for at least 10 days to make sure the stitches hold. It hurts like an absolute bitch, but I'm really grateful that I'm alive and not seriously injured, just the gash and a few scrapes and bruises on my lower legs, and that I was out with Dan who was able to lift the bike off me. Lucky me. Though I don't like the rate I'm losing my lives at ha.

Happy holidays!

2011-12-25T22:38:00.000-08:00

A bit of a time warp back to when I rolled as an eventer. That horse qualified for 1* but I never got the chance to compete in one on him. His name is Kruise and he was an unraced TB I brought of friends of the family, over weight and surly. Cool little horse with lots of ticker but a terrible jumper. Super safe cross country but unreliable as a showjumper.

Anyway, Happy holidays to all my readers. It's been an odd and confusing old year but the horses are great. Ging and Connie have both put in exceptional schooling sessions in the last couple of days and I'm making progress with Bill's issues and starting to pin point whats going on with her. I'm riding Ging in a rubber bit with hackamore combination and he loves it though is a touch strong which I never thought would happen. Normally he is ridiculously behind the bridle, but with the early warning from the hackamore, even when I need to back up my aid with the snaffle he isn't over reacting. He has put on a lot of condition as well, I wish I had taken pictures of when he first arrived but I have killed both my cameras. Figure that.

I don't show again for a long time really so there I have some time to really get Bill going and consolidate with Connie and get her a bit fitter and stronger. Ging goes back to his owner for the start of the next month for a while and might not come back as he is on the market but it's been a lot of fun to have him here. It would be totally weird to only have two horses here it would be our lowest numbers in a good decade haha! More than that even. Kate is looking really really well, fat and happy and shiny.

Good riding everyone, I hope you all had a lovely Christmas, and have a fabulous New Year.

Taupo Christmas Classic- Rain!

2011-12-19T20:13:00.000-08:00

I knew the forecast would be bad and very intelligently packed 4 raincoats and my heavy wet weather gear which pretty much saved my life this show. Uhh where I live the climate is really wet so I'm already over the rain when I'm away doing fun things like shows. The ground was ok on the first day though, and ging was on a surface so we were good to go ahead. I helped my friend with herself first and there was no gate steward so that ring was really dragging, finally got her organised, got on Ging was double clear in the first 1m. Jumped ok not amazing and ended up only a couple of seconds out of the placings which was good. I do like ging.

Then it was a mad rush to Get Connie up, because the Blake the best gate steward ever was on the gate for ring 1 and he had them flying through. So that was my first 1.20m in 6 weeks and it was ok but still a ring 1 track, plenty of filler and questions. Had a cheap rail at the first and I rode a little nervous but she jumped really well and that was the only rail to fall. I'm starting to get a bit backward again in my jumping and losing the forward flow. Something to work on. I don't show again until late Jan so it will be a nice chance to do some more training. I will be working on the flow thats for sure.

The next day Connie was first up in the amateur and I had even less flow. The issue was I didn't do enough to compensate for the now very sodden ground and she got even stickier. Actually that isn't fair I was good for the first half of the course but got into trouble at the double. Got a big jump in and it should have been fine but I think the ground grabbed her and killed her impulsion so we couldn't make the stride out. She added in and we had the rail. She finished with just the four faults and I can't be a hater, but it was just one of those rounds where even though the result is ok, you are disappointed with how you rode.

Had an awesome round on ging in the 1m class, started to feel like a real team with him now. It was very smooth. just had one brain explosion when I rode up and realised I had made a mistake and circled him off the fence. Not my horse to break eh! Still Ging adds strides in every line so I was happy to get the strides exactly as I walked in the last line and he finished super. So many four fault rounds!

At Taupo they have a practice ring set up that you can use for five dollars so I took Connie there and cantered down the combinations to make sure she stayed confident. She was better out there because the ground hadn't had the same thrashing.

Then more rain that evening. I scratched Connie from the 1.20m the next day (Saturday) after watching two horses out of the first five in the class before slip really badly. Connie is my only good horse now and I'm not going to risk her on bad ground. Then my friend who I had travelled with wanted to go home being sick of the weather and ground conditions so we packed up early and left. Not really the show I had planned for but I wasn't sorry to get out of the wet.

Now the pictures I don't have because the friend who was going to take them was coming on Sunday and I didn't ride Sunday obviously. Still there should be some pro photos I can get instead. Fingers crossed

Taupo Christmas Classic

2011-12-12T19:12:00.000-08:00

So just about all packed and ready to go to Taupo tomorrow for 4 days. All the horse stuff is done anyway and the horses have been worked and went relatively well. Connie was a good little bee and ging struggled to keep it together during the hill work and threw his toys a bit. Hills make him work and show up his weaknesses and made him cross. Still nothing I couldn't handle, he is mostly all bluster and very little actual action.

The weather forecast is really ugly, rain the whole time we are away and getting cold over the weekend, so I'm not looking forward to that with Connie the fair weather princess. I'll just have to play it by ear. I'd really like to have a crack at the 1.25m championship class if she jumps well during the week, but at the same time if the weather is going to affect her I wont. I need to keep her brave and happy. I have brought her a magnetic rug for Christmas and I'm quite keen to see if that has any effect.

900 horses entered for the show apparently. I guess with HoY getting so prohibitively expensive people are using this show as the "big" show for the season, because it seems like every other show entries have been down. 38 trade stalls so I guess my wallet might take a hammering. I want to get an old school drop noseband and egg-butt snaffle for Bill. I have a long break after Taupo so I plan to really focus on Bill. Then it's North Islands and some other shows. It actually all wraps up relatively soon.

ETA- I should get some pictures from this show of connie and the ginger ninja woo!

National Young Horse Show- Results

2011-12-10T13:58:00.000-08:00

It was a good show, I can't complain it's not quite the result I wanted, but it was still a very good show. Ging was first in the 1m class and just had a cheap rail but jumped pretty well. I didn't ride him that smoothly though, the ring was really huge so I had too long to canter down to the fences and that meant I had time to second guess myself and got him a bit deep a couple of times, but I'm still new on him and it was the most difficult course I have jumped on him so far. And I hadn't actually walked it, I tend to just wing it at that height which is a bit naughty.

Then I reacted something I ate and got really crook between my classes and it was a very poorly version of myself, having cold sweats and shakes, that climbed onto Connie for the 1.15m class. It was a technical track and there was only one clear in the first 15 horses. I was the second. Yay Connie jumped really awesome, felt amazing and tried really hard. Gave them heaps of height and was confident through both the combinations and cleared the very light white gate. Then I had to go lay down and rest while I waited for the jump-off. Unfortunately after me there were another 10 clear rounds haha so I knew it would be pressure on. She jumped well in the jump-off, just had one rail when I got her a little deep to the combination, but still laid down a competitive time but with a rail I wasn't able to secure a ribbon. Guts.

Sorted out the horses and spent the next three hours dozing and recovering. Thankfully it passed relatively quickly and I didn't feel too bad the next morning. Ging was first again and I jumped a clear round in the 1m and it was a much nicer round, a lot smoother and more forward so I was quite happy. Connie was then up in the amateur class. Probably the softest amateur I have seen all season and there were eight clears in the class. I really wanted to break my four fault hoodo. Anyway, she jumped well, just tipped the third fence with her back feet and the rail fell. It wasn't a bad distance or anything, it was just one of those things where she didn't jump high enough. She jumped all the tough parts no worries it was just the little plain upright that she took ha. Ah well. The trouble with series classes is it does build up the pressure on one class and it's so easy to be disappointed. I am not unhappy though because she jumped so well and as a present I have brought her a magnetic rug which should arrive soon.

I want to stop pushing the amateurs so intensely and look at moving up a little more, maybe jump some 1.25m classes. How good with that be!? Heading to Taupo with Ging and Connie on Wednesday for a four day long show so I'm definitely looking forward to that. Also Ging is no longer available for sale in my price bracket, and thats a shae, but it's not really a good time to buy a horse for me anyway.

National Young Horse Show

2011-12-07T22:24:00.000-08:00

Off to the National Young horse Show tomorrow. Everything is packed and ready, horses are washed and mostly still clean. Just have to pack for myself and do the horses feeds in the morning. Stopping in at the farrier on the way past to get Gings toes done at 7am and hoping I'm not early in the draw for his class because I probably wont make it haha! It's quite nice to be travelling up the morning of the show for a change, less time to spend cooling my heels and waiting for time to pass. Less time spent stewing. Connie had a good jump school this morning and Ging had a good flat workout. Poor little fella is a bit confused about all this going forward but his teeth grinding is lessening which is a good sign.

Been riding Bill and she has been going like a good little pony which is reassuring. So onward and upward. I'm glad she is back to her normal self

Dilemmas- Feel free to give input.

2011-12-05T15:06:00.000-08:00

Dilemma 1: I have been thinking about buying the orange horse. I have talked to his owner and she wants more money than I have for him, but is willing to come to an agreement about payment. But it's an awful lot of money, mote than I have ever spent before.

He is a lovely horse, I am really enjoying riding him, I feel very comfortable on him, like I have had him a long time. Obviously we still need to spend a lot of time together but if I take him slowly he could potentially go a long way. I have seen him free jump a 1.40 oxer from a trot and it cleared it easily. He has previously jumped up to 1.25m with placings so he is a good horse.

Connie is a super horse but I don't know how much further she will go, though I'd love for her to do 1.30m classes. It's hard to know how scopey she is, and if (heaven forbid) she should get injured I'm suddenly without a horse that is competing at NZEF level.

Still I don't know whats going to happen in the next couple of years, where I will be, what work I will have etc, but I do want to keep advancing in SJing. At the same time I don't want to financially cripple myself, but then I could always on sell him if I get into trouble. Tough one eh?

Dilemma 2: What do I do with Kate. I can't keep her really. I don't need foals as much as I'd like from her, the uncertainty of the next few years means I really shouldn't be breeding. It's one thing to sell competition horses, quite another to sell young stock. I don't feel like it's fair for her or me for her to be wandering around a field for the next 10 years. I wont have time to look after her. So I can sell her or put her down.

Now selling her appeals because then I don't put her down. She is a lovely breeding quality mare but I feel some people don't look after their broodmares well and I don't want Kate to end up in a bad position where she isn't looked after properly. She is a lovely mare and she deserves better than that. If I was staying her working on the farm I would keep her, but the time has come to move on and so things have to change.

If I do put her down I know that she will never suffer and that she will never end up in a bad position. There aren't many options for an unsound horse, and I have always been an advocate of euthanasia. I feel you never hear people say I wish I had waited to put him down, but you often here people say I should have done it much earlier. She is fat and happy at the moment so she would go out on a good note. So yea I'm torn about what to do in both situations really. Boo.

Feilding IA&P Show

2011-12-02T16:29:00.000-08:00

Another averagely run show at Feilding. Their organisation is terrible but the facility is so nice! The indoor is huge and though spooky, the footing is beautiful. Still it an indoor and there is no denying you have to be onto it because the fences come up a lot faster and you have less of a break between fences.

Anyways, so it's my first show back since my tumble and I was feeling a bit on riding and the progress I was making and the effort in for the reward ratio, sometimes I wonder if I would be better off not so involved and back off, maybe just one horse and a proper job. I got some good advice which was think about it after today. Ok that I can do. Gingles was up in the first class of the day and he was first ride in the 1m class in the outdoor arena. Warmed up ok, still just lack miles together obviously this being our third show- our 3rd class together ever, and the fifth time I ever jumped him. Still cantered around reasonably smoothly for a clear round and just had a rail in the jump-off. What I love about this horse is I always leave the ring grinning from ear to ear.

Then connie was up in the indoor for the amateur class. The very first line was tricky I thought. Forward five strides from fence one to fence two which was a very spooky oxer, away from the gate. In the first line you always find it harder to make your distance because you aren't travelling yet and away from the gate you also get less travel, so I went for the six strides, which is hard on Connie who doesn't collect well but it worked perfectly because she jumped in- canter canter for three strides, balk, and then I could kick on for the next two strides. Lost my stirrup in the balk and didn't land organised enough to flow around the corner to three so had the rail there. Then it was a related dog-leg line down to the double and because I didn't get a good jump in I needed to ride up, but I took a pull so got a fairly messy ride to the double, but she saved my butt and we left it up. I'm a bit ring rusty haha!

Sorted my life out and really rode for the rest of the class and finished with just the rail. At that stage there were no clears so I waited to see what would happen. There were only two clears in the whole class so I kept my fingers crossed and hppily I was the fastest four faulter. The thing with Connie is she is smooth and ground covering and I very rarely have to check or chase so she is pretty economical on the time. Still third is my highest result in an amateur class, so I am rapt. And obviously the course was hard enough for there to only be two clears. With the points from this placing I should move into the top 30 on the score board which is pretty bad ass. The points fall away pretty fast obviously haha!

Back to the truck and swap onto Ging. Warmed up and then jumped a very smooth 1.05m double clear. Very happy. I enjoy this horse, I like that he is not super smart so he is dependable, you know exactly what he is thinking. And he really loves to jump, he thinks he is pretty bad ass. So yea good day, motivation revved back up again and shows the next two weekends. Good.

On the up

2011-11-28T22:12:00.000-08:00

This was the grey bastard Fred I had many moons ago, but I sold due to a total dislike of the horse, and his complete lack of try. It was always iffy if he would leave the ground or not. But man could he jump. Trainer said he would do grand prix, but he wouldn't, not with me, because he wouldn't give you anything. Still I learnt a lot from the great grey prick. This blog came about after this second version of my blog starting, this blog starting with the arrival of Kate whom I bought after selling Fred, whom by then I renamed Dread. It was because of this horse I started a blog really, and I sought out the help of Grant Cashmore who pretty much turned my riding around, well until I crashed and burned with depression. Life can be a kicker. Still without Grants help I would never have been able to produce Connie, who while a kind generous type, is not the most athletic and needed so much schooling to become a good (Well reasonable) jumper.

Anyways I'm just ticking along quite nicely. Back is doing ok but it really doesn't like me riding Connies canter, she has so much action in front and really gets the back jarring. She put in a good schooling session the other day and I think she might be getting this collection thing a little more. I'm definitely getting a lot less travel while maintaining jump in the canter if that makes sense.

Anyways I'll be back in the ring on Friday all going to plan and it feels like I haven't competed for bloody ages. I'm hoping to get a jump school in before Friday with both the gingernut and the C horse, but with the current weather and ground conditions it seems a little unlikely. I can't travel out because Truckie is in the shop getting the mystery wiring issue fixed. I guess it doesn't really matter both of them know there job, I'm mostly worried about how my eye is after this much time without jumping a fence. I know I have lost a little strength and fitness being out but I'm pretty happy in the saddle. I do wish I wasn't just travelling in for the day because I'm going straight into an amateur class with Connie in the indoor.

I'm well down in the amateur rankings, last time I looked I was rocking a solid 40th which is still pretty god and 10 places higher than I ever got last year. I was sort of hoping to be jumping 1.25m classes by now but it hasn't really come together. I feel a bit stalled almost and I'm not sure why that is. Though obviously retiring Kate who is my other good horse has set me back some. I hope it wont take too long to get Ging up to speed but he isn't the easiest ride. I'd love to 1.10m him before Christmas but realistically I gain nothing by rushing. I want to know him better on the flat first, and have figured out his buttons a little more. I don't know. Maybe Connie isn't going to go much higher but she certainly doesn't feel like she is struggling in the 1.20m classes. Now I must finish my wine and go to bed before I get up tomorrow and do it all again.

Changes be coming at the end of this season and I'm not sure exactly which way it will all I just know everything will be really really different and maybe thats why I'm stalled. Maybe I just need more ring time, maybe I need to think less and get it done. I cannot wait to compete again.

Back in the saddle 2

2011-11-26T21:57:00.000-08:00

The handsome face of the new kid in town Ginga. He i a 16.22 hh Stationbred (mongrel) x DWB by VDL Emillion. He looks chestnut but is actually a roan which is choice because I love roans. He is a big lanky gormless type chap who is a little simple but very sweet and I'm really enjoying him. Had a lovely ride today in which we really made some progress in the go forward/ contact issues we have. Finally my back is starting to settle down and I am more comfortable in the saddle. I'm also off the hard drugs and just taking paracetomol so that's all good news.

Even grew a pair and rode bill again for the first time. Just walk and trot and a very quiet and short canter in either direction in a smallish area and she was pretty good. I let my mind wander a little and she starts to take charge so I need to stay a bit more focused and get better control of her feet. I also like the way she feels in the bridle at the moment. I have ditched the caversson and flash with a d ring rubber mullen mouth for an old school heavy egg butt jointed snaffle with an old school drop noseband and she is actually more consistent in the contact and not falling behind my hand which is both excellent and re-assuring. She is also on a calming supplement a mycotoxin binder and a mare herbal supplement so no wonder she was a bit more rideable than the wild woman I rode the other day.

I have actually had a little bit of an epiphany with Bill. I have been putting a lot o pressure on her and myself to get her out and competing because she is seven, and I lost a lot of time while I was depressed and just not in a state to take on a relatively opinionated and very athletic young horse. The fact is I'm not that comfortable riding her at home, so how can I be ready to compete? There is more work to be don, so instead of looking at show dates and saying I'll have her ready for this class, I'm just going to train her, and when I feel more comfortable and confident in her then I will look for a show. Generally i do it the other way around to keep having goals to work towards and check points to assess my progress but Bill isn't going t work to my schedule I don't think. So I'll look at taking her to a show once I can canter a course of jumps easily at home and at a strange venue. Better plan. There is no rush, her age doesn't matter, I'll just more horse in her later years.

Back in the saddle

2011-11-23T14:37:00.000-08:00

First ride since hitting my head yesterday. Just went for a walk around the farm on Connie. It was really odd. It was the first time in a really long time- years and years and years- that it felt odd and awkward to be in the saddle. I think it's related to my back which I hurt coming of Connie a month ago which has now gotten quite stiff and sore with the lack of activity as I recover from the head. I have had a couple of big busters lately which has sort of hurt the confidence I'm not going to lie.

So with my back being sore I can walk and only walk. Trotting really hurts, cantering is agony, my back isn't absorbing any of the shock at all. I have a show in two weeks and it this rate I wont be going I would say. Big sigh.

Recovering Slowly

2011-11-21T20:19:00.001-08:00

I didn't realise concussions were so debilitating to be honest. Still haven't been back on a horse. Was going to try today but did some work instead and now my head is a bit sore so I might give it a miss. I Have cancelled all my show entries until the 4th when I do one day at the Feilding 3* show. I think my first class out is the amateur in the indoor arena so I'm not that optimistic it will go well. Always I hit some road bumps mid season and this is it.

I'm a bit lost really. Started the season with four horses going well and fit and looking good for the season coming and now I'm down to two and wondering how I can work through the issues of Bill. Though I think she was in season which added to her mareness the other day and that was a factor in her bucking. Connie of course is still my baby and I'm really starting to miss riding her. I feel I'm not having a lot of luck right now really. Either that or I'm making mistakes somewhere I don't know about. I'm still thinking pretty hard about sending Bill away and if she is really difficult again I will look into that. I would rather work through it myself though.

Now I'm going to go an take a nap. Hope you are all getting on better with your horses than I am with mine haha.

Young Farmers Show and a wee knock on the bean

2011-11-17T16:05:00.000-08:00

I am so freaking behind and I'm so sorry about that! Bill and Ging were entered at this smaller local level show. My Mum came and watched and said she didn't like watching anymore because most of the riding was so bad. So yea bill in the 65cm and she did pretty well only the double was set in a really bad place and she wouldn't jump it. But other than that she was pretty good with the crowds of horses and atmosphere and everything. On the way pout being cheeky I jumped 3 and 4. In hindsight I should have just skipped the double and I think they would have let me do that because it was obvious she was very green. I think if I had had more opportunities to jump her recently she would have been fine.

Ging jumped really well but I had a stop at the last fence. I thought we would get there but ging being so back behind the bridle just didn't get there and it was a bit of a curfuckle. Can't do that again I'll lose the ride if he keeps getting stops. After this I have done some pole work with poles set at 12 feet so he has to open his canter and stretch over them and poles set one stride to four strides and then made him get the distances and he seemed a little more forward to the small jumps I popped over afterwards.

So anyways was riding Bill and she was bucking and I tried pulling her up hard after she bucked to see if that would help- it works with some horses. Ahh no she got worse a lot worse. Sat at some incredible bucks if I do say so myself but eventually she got me and I landed on my head. Knew I had done myslef some real damage there. Called for help but no one could hear me so I got up caught the horse. got back on rode for a minute at he walk until my vision started blurring. Untacked the horse went inside, started losing the feeling in my hands. Over the next two hours had 2 tramadol, two pacacetomol with codiene and 2 ibuprofen and nothing even touched the agony I was in. Not cool! Off to hospital at midnight- threw up twice which meant I had to have a ct scan. That was clear and I am also a little surprised they didn't mention how beautiful my brain was it was still a relief to know it was intact- the prognosis being a grade 2 concussion. The intensity of the pain had me a little concerned. Finally got some good drugs and was dishcarged with my Mum - she is a nurse so I was in good hands- got home and could sleep and woke up feeling a lot better.

So that was two days ago and I'm still pretty dazed and confused. My head is very tender and I'm still movement and light sensitive and a little slow on the uptake. The meds that help most with the pain are also making me pretty dopey. And I need to replace my helmet after that one which means I'll have to go for a cheaper option because I'm pretty light on coin. Which is ok of course as long as its safe but I did love my beautiful IRH. I don't really know whats happening i have fallen off so much this season its unbelivable really. Morse falls than I have probably had in the last three years. I do wonder what I'm doing wrong.

And Bill I need a new plan of action here because really I have reached this point and stagnanted pretty badly. Mother thinks I'm probably too soft on her which is probably right, I tend to use work and pressure to punish a horse rather than hidings. In hindsight I should never have tried pulling her up and been more about going forward but you have to try things. So my options as I see them are- save some money and send her away for a month or so to someone who can sit her buck but is still a good rider- I did think about sending her to pig hunters on the coast but maybe they will be a bit rough. The other option I thought was maybe to add some valerian and raspberry leaf to her diet and see if I can bring her down a bit and get her a bit more rideable. I don't htink I'm scared of her really so thats good, but I'm getting frustrated that I'm not making any progress.

Also sad is missing the next two shows! The doctor said 10 days before riding again and while if I had a sprain or something I'd be right back in the saddle, my brain is quite importat to me so I'm ok to follow doctors orders. Horses eh! And life.

Thomas Fuchs clinic

2011-11-13T14:56:00.000-08:00

I had put my hand up to be part of a clinic with Thomas Fuchs who was brought over from Switzerland. To be honest I didn't think I would get in because it was very expensive and ended up being very elite. I was very much the least experienced in my group which meant I had to work very hard. It was an 8 hour drive up to the clinic which was hard on my poor old back. Then when we stopped for groceries Truckie who must have been exhausted refused to start. I tried all my techniques of kicking things and hoping hard but I couldn't fix it and we had to wait for a mechanic. Then I lost my side and rear lights so I got pulled over by TWO policemen but they let me carry on because the road only had light traffic on it. It was such a relief to pull up at Penny Stevenson Sport Horses and be able to unload, feed and go to bed.

The next day I was watching lessons all day and was pretty much freaking out watching the caliber of riders struggle with the exercises and he was very yelly. Not that it isn't a little nice to see a top GP rider a) get told off and b) struggle with small exercises. I think one of things I really picked up from this is that we don't push ourselves enough in exercises at home. This stuff shouldn't be hard- dog legs, angle4 fences, narrows and turning up tightly to the fences but you don't really practice it at home you know. Realistically I can only build like four jumps so that makes it hard as well.

My group was stronger than expected and Connies flatwork was only really average in the group and I run into trouble when it came to collecting. She just can't collect well. I have spent so long going forward I have only just started the collection training and I haven't been asking for anywhere enough. She just kept breaking. This also meant I couldn't get the right number of strides in the pole exercises and he basically gave up on me and let me canter down doing the wrong strides. Which is good really because it saved Connie and I getting frazzled trying to do exercises we weren't capable of.

Luckily I have done a lot of training with Grant Cashmore which meant I have a good regular canter and practice at jumping at an angle from nearly stand to stand. And the jumping actually wasn't very bad. I made my distances ok and the little horse jumped quite well.

The second day her flatwork was a lot better and still the polework was a right off but she jumped so well. She was the only horse in my group to not take a rail and to not need to repeat an exercise. The final course started with a double one stride of narrow fences about 1m- four strides down to a 1.20m triple bar. Right around the arena and then rollback off of the fence- two strides to an oxer about 1.05m then a bending 6 stride line to a double of planks and liverpools set about 1.15m. Then a right hand turn onto a 1.1m upright and four shorter strides to a 1.20m double. So yea tough enough course eh but Connie was well on form and my eye was on and so it was pretty easy and I got some very nice comments from the other riders. Thomas said "Very good Rebecca, good jumping, poles not so good. Do them at home. Many many times" So while it was made abundantly clear I have a lot of schooling work to do, it was nice to know my jumping is in the right place for the level I am competing at.

One thing that was quite funny is that he made us count our strides everywhere and so many people struggled with it. He asked me what my problem with 4 and 5 was, because I tend to count in my head to 1 2 3 and then 1 2 3 again in a 6 stride line, and 1 2 3 1 2 in a 5 stride, and when I was focusing on my canter and distance my voice just followed my head. Haha!

I tried to get pictures of the horse I am borrowing but my camera spat the dummy. Anyway, he is an 8yo 16.2hh called Ginga, half stationbred and half Dutch by VDL Emillion. He is a simple soul and needs to get going forward more and trust the hand and not react so strongly to the contact. He also needs lots of hill work for strength so thats why he is here, that and my friend is very kind.

Many many changes and Manawatu A+P

2011-11-09T21:57:00.000-08:00

The last week has been such an insane swirl of horse stuff and changes. Rascal went on the market at a price I would describe as cheap as chips and so I have gotten a lot of interest. She is currently under offer and waiting for the results of a final x-ray as to whether or not she is sold to what would be a very very good home so my fingers and toes are pretty tightly crossed.

Kate came to Manawatu to stand at the show so that no one got left alone at the truck while they were coming and going. She didn't leave with me however. A friend has traded me Kate for a horse she has had enough of and wants to have a break from who she wants jumped around 1m-1.10m tracks aiming eventually at amateurs so he can go on the market as an amateur horse. So yea a boy horse and he isn't bay. He is a very sensitive chap though and requires a really quiet ride so he will be very good for making me subtle and consistent and soft. Which is good because with Kates stopping I had gotten quite hard at the base of the fence. Kate has gone to my friends house to beat up her gang of horrible teenage fillies who all think very highly of themselves. Which is mission accomplished I'm told. The very next morning horrible teenage leader filly had been outted and Kate was large and in charge. This is a good job for a cranky mare with minor arthritis I think. She has forty acres of grass to her knees so she should be happy there.

Connie was first up in the amateur class and I don't really know what it was. I suspect I didn't get her woken up and in front of the leg enough but the mare didn't want to play ball at all and after a stop at fence 3 I was then eliminated at the combination at fence 4. Blerk I was pretty pissed. I don't know what her deal was really. And fair cop she isn't a bike or a robot but she was very adamant she wasn't doing her job that day. Later entered her into the 1.05m which was the last class of the day in the other ring.

Then I saddled up the new man in my life for the the 1m class. Now this was the third time I had ever ridden him and the second time I had ever jumped him, having gone down the night before to have a bit of a jump on him to get a feel for him. Warm-up went ok, but it was just odd to be on a horse so different to what I'm used too. He is able to collect really well and likes to canter really quietly to the fence. If you ride him up he sort of over reacts to the leg and is very light mouthed but I like him. Anyway so I went onto the 1m got a bad ride to the first fence for an awkward jump, survived around to the double got a nice ride in and he jumped in nicely and then I just let him canter down to the second obstacle, not remembering that he really needs to be ridden up his distances. He was a long way off the second obstacle but to his credit he still jumped when I dug my little heels in, though he nearly lost me in the air! I heard my friends laughing and apparently they had heard me go "not good not good" as I cantered away which I didn't even know I said.

Anyway, remarkably we had jumped a clear round. I had really jumped in at the deep in this class so I thought about retiring but then I was like man I really need to go through the double again. So I sucked it up and just jumped around quietly and got a much better ride in the double. Good shit, I was very stoked.

Then Connie came out for the 1.05m and while I was warming up a heavy rain shower came down and she threw her toys. She was doing her rearing and I got out of time with her bouncing and I just knew that I had screwed it up and that the next one we were going over. And we did, she went up and I had that sickening feeling on the horse beyond her balance, I feel and landed really heavily on the lumbar region of my back and lay there with my eyes closed in utter terror waiting for the impact of the horse hitting me. When I got brave enough to open them she hadn't actually fallen and was sitting like a dog thank jeebers. Very scary. So it was a shaky version of myself that got back onto Connie though she didn't offer to rear at all again and hopefully she has given herself a fright and will put it to rest. She warmed up really well though I was riding her very firmly. She then jumped super awesome in the ring for a double clear round and we won the class. So why she would not jump in the morning and then jump so well in the afternoon after having a fall is beyond me. Though probably it's me and the additional firmness and togetherness.

The drive home was agony and by the time I got home I was so stiff I could only walk like a little hunchback with the pain my back was in. It's just badly bruised with no major damage but still ow. Falling onto surfaces is not all that forgiving eh? I was really concerned about it because the next day I was supposed to drive halfway across the island to train with a top trainer from Switzerland. Yikes!

Wairarapa A and P show- Sat/Sun

2011-11-01T16:21:00.000-07:00

So Saturday was the day I decided to retire Kate and you guys already know how that paid out but both Connie and Rascal got a start on Saturday as well. Rascal was second in the welcome showhunter but as soon as it went up to 1m she started stopping and wouldn't make the distances. I think I have found her max height jumping. She is great up to 1m but at that height she starts to pack it in. The next day she wouldn't even jump the practice fence so obviously I had given her a fright. It's hard to deal with a horse who doesn't give you a break at all. If I could be 100% accurate all the time at 1m she would be all good and jump happily but I can't. I watch horse after horse tolerate misses much worse than I ever give Rascal and they keep happily jumping. I have dropped her price really drastically and hopefully she will sell soon. She is going to make someone a really nice horse but she needs to be somewhere where jumping is not the primary focus.

Connie had the 1.20m on Saturday. It was a smaller track than the day before but technical enough and I was pretty nervous. It still looks pretty big to me hey! She jumped really well had a bit of a hiccup when I got too deep to the fence five and then added all the way down the related line. Still she jumped clear and just had one rail in the jump-off when I got her a little close. I'm pretty accurate but I love that she will forgive me my mistakes. I still haven't got her rolling quite enough but it will come.

The amateur was on Sunday and it was a tough enough track and again with the treble! Last season I jumped maybe four trebles all year and I have jumped that many already this season. Started well, got a little pully to the third fence which she hit but didn't fall. Then landed and was like yup get going, got a good ride to the fifth fence and she took it out with her front legs from a good distance so go figure. Maybe the pony likes it more difficult. Turned to the treble and saw a great distance to it so that I was able to just ride up to it slightly and she jumped in perfect. A little hesitation on landing but I picked up my contact and she jumped through it so well. Only three clears so clearly it was a difficult enough track. Luckily for me I have a fat little horse I have to keep rolling on and so I was fifth overall being the 2nd fastest round on four faults. Yay more amateur series points. Love that pony. Had already put her away so collected my ribbon on a horse I may catch ride for a while all going well. Just have to clear it with the parentals.

A big and difficult decision

2011-10-29T21:26:00.000-07:00

Ah Katie-pie you beautiful mare. I have been thinking long and hard about this horse for a little while now. After her injections she needs a week off, she jumps awesome for 3 weeks, and then starts to deteriorate. All of a sudden I go from riding a happy confident horse to riding a horse who is hurting doing the job she loves and obviously her enthusiasm levels plummet. It's hard on her nerve and it's hard on mine.

Ultimately when I weigh it up I'm paying a LOT of money to run a horse who is probably never going jump higher than 1.15m, money that I could be putting into a sound horse that could do the same heights and then some. It seems heartless I guess but I hate not knowing what horse I get heading for the end of her injections efficacy period and I don't feel it's fair for her. The ground was really soft this weekend she shouldn't have been sore but she didn't want to do the job. I retired her from the 1.10m class and late entered the 1m class. I went in knowing it was her last round ever and I was surprisingly cut up afterwards. She was even hesitant off the ground on the 1m and she feels like she is jumping to save herself. I know her arthritis isn't that bad on the x-rays but obviously her tolerance for pain is low.

She was clear in the 1m for first equal with all the other clear grounds and my big hearted mare go to finish her jumping career with a red ribbon. For now she is retired with the possibility of being put in foal in 2012. I don't feel like she owes me anything because she helped me get my love of showjumping back and having a good mare to move up the grades on meant that Connie moved up faster as well.

Wairarapa A and P show- Friday

2011-10-27T22:51:00.000-07:00

A mixed bag sort of a day but mostly there is a lot of good to take away from it. I have to say having spent the rest of last weekend at the beach doing fun non horse related things and watching rugby and drinking and not wearing gumboots for three days, I was excited to be at a show again. Down time! You have to make sure you get it! Weather was shitbox though. Blerk I do not like riding in the rain. The secretary gave me a hard time about being a fair weather rider when I scratched Bill and I was like eh? I still have the other three!

A while ago I brought some waterproof overpants off the internet but they were too small. Having lost a shit ton of weight over the winter/spring meant they fit so yay no wet bum for me! I hate that feeling so passionately. The ground did cut up a bit but didn't get so heavy and sucky on the horses as last week. Anyway, Rascal was up first and jumped a very cute double clear in the 95cm. She was pretty adament that there was three strides in the double, but the next time through in the jump-off I got a more aggressive ride into it and made the two strides but she made it feel like a real stretch. Lol Silly mare. I was really unhappy last weekend because I picked at her so I really focused on keeping her forward and rhythmical and I changed her to the waterford snaffle so I was able to be very subtle in my rein aids. Worked a treat, and she was the most confident she has felt over the big square oxers.

Kate was up next. Warmed up well but she is very heavy in the rubber snaffle. Again focused on riding around the corners and keeping her flowing. Had great jumps over fence 1 and 2 was feeling pretty good about life and then she stopped at three and I fell off. It was a longer distance and it was a filler that was spooking a lot of horses and I'm thinking perhaps I didn't maintain enough contact and made her feel insecure so she stopped. Maybe though it's her knee again which isn't that good because she only got treated four weeks ago. I'm not sure I can wear the expense of monthly injections :( Still she is in the 1.10m tomorrow and the 1.15m on Sunday so I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and blame my riding for now and see how we go on the next two days. I landed on my feet and so while I felt a bit flustered I was not injured in any physical way. Even when you land on your feet a fall is still hard on the nerve eh.

Connie up last in the 1.20m class. She warmed up well and felt really good. Guess where I had the problem! Fence three the same fence Kate stopped at. I never properly committed to it and sort of ended up in it. Represented and she flew straight over and then jumped super for the rest of the round. Really getting in the air and jumping off her hocks and feeling good. The teble was the same set up as the treble I jumped at Foxton and we couldn't get down- oxer two strides to an upright one stride to an upright. So I was pretty conscious of not jumping her in too big. Of course I went a bit the other way and jumped into small. Nevermind she has obviously been hanging out with Rascal and jumped through in a very tidy collected 3 strides to 2 strides. Not ideal certainly, but I'm so happy she just wanted to keep jumping down the treble and was so confident. I just have to get a more moderate ride in lol. I'm so in love with this horse. So tomorrow Rascal showhunters, Kate 1.1ms and Connie has another 1.2m. Bring it on!

Wairarapa SJ and SH Championship

2011-10-26T23:33:00.000-07:00

Just one of those days really. To be honest I wasn't really feeling it at this show and I wasn't that keen which is a bit of a shame, but I think I'm a bit burnt out already. Certainly I have had more intensive starts to the season but this year I seem to have less time to do everything in. Normally I also get a break around now when we go away for a couple of shows in a row and I have the middle of the week to decompress but I haven't had this yet this year. Add in some personal stuff and I would say I was never really going to be in the exact right head space. Also starting to wonder if I should up my meds, but will see how I go. I felt a bit frozen with nerves in the ring and that hasn't happened for freaking ages. I'll see how it goes this weekend.

Rascal was first up and she actually jumped quite well. Another 1m class but I didn't ride brave enough on her and had two stops when I picked at her and interfered with her rhythm. She jumped really well otherwise. She isn't as comfortable at this height but given a few more rounds I think she will be happier. Certainly we didn't have the same flow as the weekend before. Did I mention that they had had like a boatload of rain the night before and the ground was very heavy. Not so much sloppy but quite grippy, the horses didn't jump out of it that well. Rascal is quite sensitive to footing so that will also have contributed.

Connie was first up in the amateur class. It was funny because the 1.10m previously was built tiny but the amateur was pretty decent eh. Right up there with the bigger ones I have jumped. She jumped really well though I didn't ride the greatest- Again I was a little picky and got a bit frozen and didn't ride fluildy. Still got a little deep to one fence for one rail and that's not all that bad really. I just want to do the little mare justice you know. Ha tomorrow I will be better- stay committed, ride all the way around my corner and the distance will be their waiting for me.

Kate was also in the amateur. Warmed up relatively well and started off jumping well but then slipped coming into the double and I found myself circling off of the fence. It wasn't a conscious decision I was like 'What am I doing?" I was far enough off of the fence I should have been fine but I guess I was chicken. I wasn't getting a flowing ride either and she didn't feel great on the ground so after a rail at fence 8 I retired. Easily my worst show of the season but a lot to take away with me. Mostly the whole ride around the corner and stay committed. Connie and Kate are both in happy mouths but can both go back into rubber snaffles so my picking wont have too much effect. I'm also going to work Kate in rubber mouth pelham and try that out as a bit. It is quite a strong bit obviously but she gets very heavy in the snaffle and I end up fighting with her, and the action of jointed bits she seems to find quite sharp. I will try her in my long cheek french link as well but it's definitely time to try a few more bits. I don't know if she will last the whole season with her knee and everything but even just cantering around some 1.10m-1.15m classes is great mileage for me and I don't feel she owes me anything.

South Wairarapa PC Spring Carnival

2011-10-18T20:41:00.001-07:00

So a smaller local show last weekend and a good place to give everything a bit of an easier run. Especially with Connie having that retirement, I was looking forward to jumping her down a combination in competition to make sure my treble training had worked. It was supposed to be bills début but yea that didn't happen lol. My neck and back were pretty stiff though and I had a fat knee.

Rascal was first up in the 90cm class and jumped a nice double clear though looked at the picket a bit. It was on a hell of a dogleg corner though and she can be a bit of a tool, but ultimately she jumped so it's all good. She put three strides down the double both times because it was quite long and she doesn't jump hugely and didn't make the distance. The next class was the mighty metre or 3'3". Now Rascal hasn't gotten around a class at this height on her since she was 5 and it was at this show and then the week after she injured herself and was out for ages. So I had a bit of a mental hoodoo about this height and honestly was quite extremely nervous.

As you can see there was really no issue, she has room to spare and she jumped really well. The only issue was that she was still adamant that there was three strides in the double. I should have adjusted for this and just sat up and collected for the three but I rode up a little but found myself still in no mans land at the end of the two strides. She chipped in (below) and took the rail. Still four faults at 1m is fine. I was rapt to break my hoodoo. Dad says I am imagining things because hoodoos aren't real and only in your head, but I say if it's in your head then it must be real.

Connie and Kate were both in the 1.10m class. Luckily my sister showed up in time to holds one for me so I could go directly from one to the next. It was an unbelievably strong field for a local 1.10m class but a local has brought a new grand prix horse and had that for it's first outing, an Australian import and a couple of 1.20-1.30 horses. Connie was a tool to warm up which generally means she will jump well and is full of beans and she impressed a friends non horsey boyfriend with her jumping around.

She went into the ring and jumped really nicely. She definitely knows her job now and when to turn it on because none of the grief she gives me in the warm-ups shows up in the ring. They said I looked special because I was grinning so hard but she is really fun to ride.

Got a great distance into the double, was able to just sit quietly and stay balanced and she jumped in super confidently. She locked hard onto the second element and took me to it and jumped out well so all was good in my world. Didn't get such a good ride to it in the jump- I had to ride up a bit because the jump off course was a tad ridiculous and the corner was literally a spin and go. Still C horse stormed back through the flags for a double clear.

Kate I wasn't even sure if I'd start because she is carrying a few nicks and bumps at the moment but she felt really sound, looked sound to bystanders and was really keen to jump. She jumped really well as well, I felt like I was getting a bit close but my friend who is much better than I says she looks more comfortable with the deeper distance. It's amazing how confidently she jumps now her knee is good. She had a good double clear as well. I'm still waiting for her jumping pictures.

So final results? Kate was first and Connie was second. I'm sure not many actually jumped off hard, but seeing as I need to practice my jump-off turns and staying cool as a cucumber against the clock it was good to practice. Still it felt totally mean to do that well and it was all in all a really good day even though I could hardly work the next day. 4 competition rounds on top of sore muscles from falling was pretty brutal.

Bad Ass Bill

2011-10-16T00:27:00.000-07:00

Bill is not really that young at 7 but she still comes in as very very green. But maybe in my head I'm treating her too green. I have known for a little while that I haven't been on the right track with the Billock for a little while because we haven't really been making progress and in fact I have managed to just about lose the right canter lead so figure that. It's a straightness and forward issue that is going to be addressed soon I promise.

Anyway she was supposed to compete at a local show this weekend and I had her at a friends place to see if she could still jump and we never really got that far to be honest. The main issue I have with Bill is that I haven't really feel in control for the last little while and I haven't really managed to figure out why not. I know it's because she tends to fall behind the bridle but she feels forward so it hadn't really clicked for me. These are the difficulties of doing it all yourself. Anyway going down trot poles to a small jump she stood on the last trot pole, threw herself at the jump, unbalanced me and then emphatically bucked me off. I was happy because I always thought she would kick me on the way past and she didn't so that was a blessing but I landed very not lightly. And there it is my first fall off of Bill and probably one of many. Then we just worked on trot poles and straightness and a few other things but didn't jump again. He pointed out how behind the bridle she was and how she didn't do any long and low. He said she was faking me out by holding a pretty frame, but not actually doing anything. Food for thought. Clearly I decided we weren't ready to show.

I spent a lot of time pondering this issue and how I was going to face it really, being not exactly sure what I needed to do. I sort of started to wonder if much like the great grey bastard I struggled with for years whether she was just too much horse for me. I hate not knowing what the issue is. Anyway I took her to the show to ride afterwards and when I got on she started out ok but a little looky and sensitive as she would be in a show environment. Anyway they were packing up some jumps and she started to get freaked out and at one point did like this huge leap in the air and a few bucks but stayed straight so I sat it all out all right. My sister was there and she was all you know she is taking the piss out of you right? Oh. After the jump packers left I got back to work and a thought that hasn't popped up since the great grey bastard which was You are a heel of a lot safer going forward' and so I rode her forward really forward and suddenly it all clicked. I thought she was going forward before but she wasn'. Her more powerful WB movement was just faking me out and I was letting her nonce around in a fake frame and take control when she wasn't really going forward at all. I'd like to point out that this horse is a hell of a mover.

Once I really rode her forward she took up the contact herself and started to swing and be through. It's so often a small simple change that is key eh. It's always going forward too I should know that by now. As soon as I got her forward I felt in control again. At the canter she bucked a little and protested but I got probably the nicest canter work I have ever had out of her and she never got close to unseating me. I have added a pad under the saddle to balance it a bit more level rather than downhill which actually made a huge difference to my balance. She is still very down hill even at seven so sometimes I feel I'm riding a slide. So much work to do and just maybe I'll be able to jump her at the A and P show in two weeks over the 85cm class, if not I'll aim her for the young farmers show and miss the NZEF show that weekend. Sacrifices to get the wee girl going. Still can't believe I missed this for as long as I did.

Foxton Debrief 2

2011-10-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

I would just like to offer my condolences to Andrea after the loss of her beloved Gogo. Truly that was a horse who never wanted for anything. It really makes you appreciate your horses.

Ok so to the Sunday of Foxton. Early start again because I elected to ride Rascal first up. She was in the 90cm showjumping and after yesterday I didn't know how it would go but the little mare warmed up feeling really really good, jumped super confidently and went into the ring and jumped double clear, though too slow in the jump-off to place. I don't quite trust her enough to really start slicing fences. So I don't know why she packed it in the day before but I'll give her the benefit of the doubt.

Then I basically jumped from her onto Kate for the 1.10m class. It was a lot bigger 1.10m class than the day before whith more fill, two roll backs and a treble. She jumped really well though. Nearly jumped me out over the first oxer with fill. I really need to improve my leg strength some more. not as smooth of a round as the day previously but still I was happy with how she went. She just had the last rail when I didn't let her travel down the 6 strides enough and had to over ride the last two strides to make my distance and flattened her out.

Then I kicked my heels for like 5 hours waiting for Kates next class. She was in the 1.15m championship and again she jumped really well, again having one rail. We have been having a lot of one rail rounds this season. Awesome down the treble though. She had the rail at the liverpool which isn't that surprising because she hates liverpools. Truly she really is quite afraid of them, so I was happy she even jumped it, because it's the first one we have seen this season. Though to be fair I gave her a strong committed ride to it.

Then Connie in the amateur class. Pony was jumping amazing, must have cleared the oxer at 2 by like a foot she just jumped huge as which was exciting and cool. Got a longish distance into the first double but got through ok and then came round to the treble. Honestly I thought we would have issues here. She jumped in big and landed unbalanced and then couldn't jump out of the next two fences so she stopped. I reapproached with the same result- a stop at the second element- so I retired and jumped fence 1 on the way out. I was gutted because she was jumping so well. I wasn't exactly sure what I needed to do to fix this either which I always find more stressful. She was pretty unamused when as soon as we got home from the show I saddled her back up to jump a smaller version of the treble at home. I don't like to leave issues to sit for too long, better just to face them as soon as you can. She did initially stop and was quite hesitant but by the end was jumping through happily with the jumps set at 1m ish.

So really I'm not exactly sure what is causing this issue. She does always land in a bit of a heap, she isn't the most natural of jumpers. With a double it's ok because she only has to jump out over one fence, but when faced with two she couldn't do it. I think I need to improve two things. I think I'm throwing her at the combinations too much to compensate for her backing off combinations and in an effort to help her down the distance, but I'm probably just contributing to the issue. Secondly I need to land and balance her more and be stronger with my body position. I wanted to jump a treble every day this week but the rain spoiled that idea. There is a local show this weekend I'll take her too because I want to jump her down another combination at a show before we face our next amateur class.

Honoured

2011-10-10T11:22:00.000-07:00

I was very pleased and honoured to be asked to do an interview for Katie from My Equine Life. You guys can find that here if you click on this link. Go read please ignore my spelling mistakes. My brain is faster than my two finger typing technique.

Foxton Debrief

2011-10-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

Ah horse shows. Sometimes they go well but just not as well as you hoped. I can't be unhappy with how they went but I would be lying if I said I hadn't hoped for more. The first day started with showhunter warm-ups at 7.30. Rascal cantered around nicely and came back and jumped a nice round for third in the welcome hunter. I then had to go back to walk the 1.20m class. I walked it and decided to change Kate into the 1.10m class as the 1.20m was full size and technical enough. Heathers courses are always built to size and always have some questions but they are always fair if you ride accurately.

Anyway I ended up riding Connie in that class before I went back to the showhunters. Connie was a bit of a tool to be honest. She reared up at the gate when I was trying to tell someone the course and went in pretty hot. The responsibility of any mistakes have to be put on the rider and i didn't get the uppity bitch to focus lol! She was like blah I'm a doofus- AAhh watch up a jump appeared out of nowhere! After I reapproached she actually jumped amazing and didn't have any further faults over a pretty big track. She did struggle through the double which was a sign of things to come.

Rascal was a bit stiff going back down to the showhunter but seemed to work out of it. Had a bit of a dodgy jump over one of the fences when I truly stuffed up the distance and maybe this pinged her confidence or her back fetlock because she adamently refused the next fence. Blah! I just scratched her out from the rest of the day because I had nothing to gain from continuing to jump her. I did of course pop back over the practice fence.

I had my favourite round for the season on the Kate. Didn't have to ride so much/manage the spook/ hold her together and managed a smooth confident round from Kate. She was clear in the first round but had a rail in the jump-off. Still I was rapt and when a man on the sideline complimented me on a beautiful round I was a happy wee clam. It was so cold in the evenings sleeping in the truck. I was in two sleeping bags inside each other with blankets on top and the hood pulled tight around my head. Got a hell of a fright when a drunk guy stumbled into truckie looking for a Kirsty at 1am but he sure looked sheepish when he realised he was in the wrong truck haha. So that was day one and it looked very promising for day 2 bar I had no idea what was up with Rascal.

Foxton Prep

2011-10-05T22:54:00.000-07:00

Here we go again! Travelling to another show tomorrow. Very exciting stuff. Had a wee jump on Rascal and Kate. Rascal was actually awesome if a bit strong. Jumped about 1m because thats the heights she is entered in. I got brave or something haha! Anyway she felt really good over the bigger fences, we actually got a fair bit of jump out of the wee girl. I wasn't expecting that at all! I lost my leg the first time! It doesn't matter so much if the finesse is lacking, as long as she is jumping confidently. The finesse will come.

Had a bit of a jump on Kate. I really wanted to jump her over some big fences but I didn't get a chance before the weather came in. Still had a good jump up to 1.10m and I really wanted get over some 1.20m because thats the first class on Saturday. I'm actually not that sure I'm ready for 1.20m with Kate yet. There is always the next show but I need to make a decision soon. If I'd jumped a few big ones I would know more eh. I wanted to do the same with Connie even though Connie should be all good really. She has been jumping well it's just a nerves thing, wanting to jump a bit bigger to make sure I can. I know Connie can do the height I just have to ride her well. I know Kate can do the height as well I just don't have the same faith in her right now. She was such a goose today too, so spooky. Curse the spring grass!

So tomorrow packing and cleaning and travelling. Might ride Bill and Connie in the morning if I have the time. Goodtimes. I'm so lucky to be able to do this. Fingers crossed for some more good rounds eh.

Quick Catch Up

2011-10-02T01:01:00.000-07:00

I wish I could say I had been super proactive but I would not be being that truthful. Rascal is still off unfortunately which is a crying shame with the run of form she was on. I'd love her to be right for next weekend which is our next showhunter show. Sneakily we are 2nd in the Amateur highpoints showhunter series after one show so I need to print that out and frame it before the real show hunters start competing. Still it gives me a ice set of goals to chase with my little horse.

Connie while unhappy with her diet and heavier workload is actually feeling pretty good and the windgalls have improved now I wrap her while I ride. I suspect a lot of the swelling was stocking up because she is so sedentary while yarded at shows but I'll continue to wrap for the next few shows until she feels really strong and starts taking rails behind. I have signed up for a Clinic with Thomas Fuchs who is a Swiss rider next month so Connie can do that which is very exciting. At first I was all I'm not good enough to do clinics with people that good, but shit why the hell not. My money is as green as anyone elses. I sometimes feel like I don't belong because I do it on a showstring budget and don't have all the gears and the right bred horses and flash truck, but all that matters is how they jump ultimately. It's harder to do it this way, training your horse while you learn yourself but I really can't afford the other option lol!

Kate had her knee done recently and I have yet to ride her since and I'm a bit dubious about jumping her in the 1.20m next weekend so I need to try get a training in this weekend and jump some big fences and see how she feels. Bill continues to tick along mostly nicely apart from some bucking. She gets upset when I let her get unbalanced at the canter and starts bucking which makes her more unbalanced and makes her buck worse in a vicious cycle. So it's important to try and keep her more balanced but at the same time I need to teach her to canter herself and keep her own shit together. Young horses.

Fielding Spring Show- The rest.

2011-09-26T17:36:00.000-07:00

Saturday my classes were all on in the morning. Kate was in the 1.10m class with no wins, Connie in the open 1.10m class and Rascal in the 1m class. Rascal after a short hack proved to be unsound which is about what I expected. Kate jumped more happily in the indoor but anytime I let her get behind my leg she took the rail and had 3 rails for 12 faults. Connie jumped well but a little sort of flat and dull and had 8 faults. I would like to point out that none of the indoor tracks were particularly easy, lots of rollbacks, bending lines and the such but fair technical not outrageous.

Then i got to have a big sleep that afternoon which was nice and the weather packed in which wasn't so nice but overall I was happy with the day. The next day Kate was up first in the 1.10m Championship class. Had a good warm up and she started beautifully and then I cantered straight past the gate which was fence 5 and got eliminated. Stupid, Stupid girl. The horse finally jumps well inside and I blew it. The amateur class was later that day and it was a big enough track. The 1.20m that followed didn't look much bigger. Connie as my nominated horse and so the horse I can get series points on went first and had a pretty disappointing three rails. They were only tiny touches and it just didn't go my way. Sometimes they stay up and this weekend they didn't. Possibly I overrode her to a couple of the fences. Her back fetlocks have blown a serious set of windgalls so obviously I put too much strain on her body and so am making a concentrated effort to a) Strip some weight off the tubby mare and b) get her fitter.

Kate was in the amateur as well and in hindsight I should probably not have started. I had a bad warm-up where I was struggling to see my distances and was under time pressure because by the time I got off of Connie and onto Kate and swapped spurs and rode back to the ring there was only 1 or 2 riders left. This is the difficulties of doing i all by myself. Anyway, the first fence in this class was off a 90 degree turn and while it was fine with Connie, Kate with her tendency to fall behind my leg inside was hopeless. I had two stops after some feeble indecisive riding. She would have gone if I had committed earlier and kept her in front of my leg. I cooked myself mentally in the warm-up though and so it was never going to happen. Connie ended up sixth and I get one series point which is excellent but still not that satisfying for a 3 rail round. I don't feel like I deserve it certainly. So much much work to do before Foxton in a fortnight.

Fielding Spring Show- Friday Night

2011-09-24T23:40:00.000-07:00

My first class was at 6pm but didn't start until like 6.3 which is pretty typical of the organisation of Fielding. It has to be by far the nicest facility in the lower North Island in terms of surfaced area available and the big indoor. But it is always poorly run in terms of organisation and class flow and other factors. So that part really sucks. If it wasn't so close I would probably drop it from the shows I go to. It was worse because the gorge is closed so instead of an hour it took me an hour and 45 to get there and the was this big hill I had to climb in third gear which is about 35 kms an hour because Truckie is a slightly gutless old lady so it was a fairly stressful trip.

Anyway they couldn't find the outdoor lights and the area for warm up indoors only had room for one horse. It would have barely been 20m wide. Have you noticed that indoors the fences look bigger?? Anyway we had to do the flat portion of our warm up outdoors in the dark which was ridiculous. They couldn't find the light switch. Coinnie was in the middle of a huge tantrum which was related to the fact it was dinner time and she hadn't been fed. At one point she reared so high I thought she would go over but she took some backwards steps and stabilised. It's silly but not being able to see seriously slowed my reactions down and I wasn't able to prevent her going up. Rearing is her new trick and seriously scares the shit out of me. The other thing was I couldn't really see the other horses warming up, only their outlines and white markings so it actually made for a pretty scary situation all round. There was also plenty of bucking but she got into the ring and jumped really nicely for a clear round. The class was 1.05m BTW.

Then back to the truck for Kate. Walking Connie back when the surface changed from lime track to grass she freaked out and I had to lead her back to the truck because she would go no further. So much for horses amazing night vision. Kate is a spooky old mare so by the time she made it to the warm-ups she was pretty beside herself. The other thing with warming up in the dark is it's really hard to gauge your speed and whether or not you have a good canter. So poor old Katie pie by the time she got into the actual indoor was fair freaking out. She was backing off even plain uprights and if I sat up at all she would fall behind my leg and start bouncing but somehow I managed to ride hard and give her enough confidence to jump around the spooky track with just one rail. Raced back to the truck and jumped back onto Connie and got back into the indoor just in time to go in for her jump off. She jumped awesome despite my hindrance and was clear again to snag third place. Lucky for me I had the fore thought to have everything set up during daylight and I was able to just wrap the horses and put them in their already prepared yards ready for the next day.

Nearly Showtime again.

2011-09-21T00:54:00.000-07:00

Holy moly, two days and I will jumping my first ever evening class in an indoor. To be honest I'm not that looking forward to it because it's dark by 7 oclock and I will have to be organised and have everything done so after the class I can just take the horses straight to the yards for the night. It's also supposed to rain on Sunday which is less good because Rascal is jumping outdoors. I don't know how Kate will cope with being indoors because she loves her job, but she is a very spooky mare. The first class is only 1.05m to give the two of them a chance to canter around the indoor and have a look see and for me to get an idea how they are going to go. Hopefully well. Connie is obviously feeling like a million bucks because she has been such a PITA lately. I wish she would quit this bucking and general full of herselfness. I lost Kate today when I was ponying her off Connie and Connie had a good play.

I jump my first 1m class on Rascal since she was a five year old and I feel like this will be difficult and have a bit of a mental block about this height on her but you know she is cantering around the 90s so nicely I have no excuse not to move her up. Riding is hard! So many things to think about *flail* Na it will be awesome and on the plus side jumping on a surface means I don't need to stud which is not my favourite job. Though they are all good to stud. I'm just lazy and kack handed with my thread tap. Then it's a fortnight to Foxton show, Kate needs to get her knee done again before then, and the following week is Spring show when Bill is meant to debut, Then the two Wairarapa shows- SJing Champs and A+P ahow. Plenty to do thats for sure. I really need to do a lot more jumping with Bill. I had a practice day last weekend but when I got into town it was raining so hard I just went home. I'll compete in the rain but I'm not enough of a fan of the wet to train in it.

Superstition and some photos.

2011-09-18T23:56:00.000-07:00

I was pondering today as I worked my four horses (Two in the wind/ two in the rain good times) the percentages of competing. I know that riding has to be a mental game for the majority so I came up with 80% mental, 19% training/practice/horse power/ horse care etc etc yada yada the million things that go into running a sport horse, and finally 1% luck. Now when I was at uni I learned to gain every percentage you can and I do have a few odd habits that I maintain out of superstition. The first is a little pin of a black horse with a white star that my Mum brought me at my first NZEF show a decade ago. That pin has been on the lapel of my show jacket ever since then. I recently got changed to the Pikeur that I got half price at horse of the year. I'm still not sold on the Pikeur jacket but I love having a zip instead of buttons. No more jacket gaping over my boobs and the constant popping of my top button off.

The other thing I'm fussy about is I don't like to feed the horses at shows out of buckets the same colours of the lesser placings. For example red and purple is good, blue yellow and green not so much. Obviously this is a completely ridiculous hang up but there you are. Black works quite well but at some shows black is fifth so figure that. At the moment all my buckets are yellow because the cows get these mineral licks that come in these perfectly sized and well constructed tubs so I use those. I have mental compromise by calling them gold. Actually that's all my superstitions which isn't that bad at all is it really? Not too insane.

Another point which is not a superstition but just a point to note. I do try to have good turn out at shows but I'm like Pigpen I'm a real dirt magnet. It's not entirely my fault. Though sometimes I'm lazy about brushing tails because Connies tail is so thick and ringletted. Bleh!

Finally to the photos. These are the two I have purchased and they are the second fence in the amateur class. I'm a little sad because while they are lovely photos I don't think Kates one does her justice. Maybe though it's because I see them with their personalities. Connies photo fair vibrates with flash and diva-attitude, while Kates is like Kate. Workmanlike and plain but good all the same- saving it for the big jumps.

Title

2011-09-16T21:05:00.000-07:00

Had a bad week with the black dog nipping at my ankles. The citalopram mostly masks my depression but the black dog is often there in the background, mostly just on the very edge of life. I have been doing so well but with life come ups and downs no doubt. Partly it is post show let down (PS Yes Sharon La Bella Vida is Connie- if you are at shows also keep an ear out for Kentucky Kate, Lynchberg SP and High Voltage. Thank you also for saying I don't ride like a monkey lol!)

Times like these I like to pick up my psychology for riders workbook and do some reading. I think I'm not too bad once I'm actually in the ring- I can stay in the moment and forget the fence previous and focus on only the fence a head and the quality of the horses canter, but I definitely can sabotage myself at the in gate, the course walk, the practice fence and other times. I'm certainly getting better, but having self belief seems almost arrogant and stuck up. It's scary to think would people would say if I did start being successful, but also entirely irrelevant because this is my dream and really it only matters what I think and do. What would they say anyway I have done it all nearly off of my own bat. Damn me for being successful on horses I produced myself is about the worst ammunition they would have. I'm better than feeling like this, i have no reason to feel like this, I know it will pass and the black dog will be reduced to a whimper. I had to say I was amused when someone said to me at the show it must be nice having money after I said I had nearly complete sets of gear for each horse competing. I was just like yea it works that way when you work 19 days without a day off.

Rascal has managed to get a tiny wee cut on her back leg and then got massively swollen. Gave her antibiotics today. It's no big deal but she may miss the next show and if she doesn't I need to get a drug dispensation I guess. It should be a smaller show with Rotorua show being on the same weekend but i'm excited/nervous to be jumping indoors. Lordy knows how Kate will cope with that sort of atmosphere but it's ok I'm a good enough rider to cope with it < positive affirmation :).

Pukahu Show- Day 2

2011-09-13T15:31:00.000-07:00

I had a fairly leisurely start to the day on the Sunday I didn't roll out of bed until 7 o'clock which would have been a nice sleep i, only there was this fecking rooster that thinks that it is appropriate to crow from 2 am until 3pm. WTF rooster! you are lucky you are still alive. I rolled over at one point in the night and realised that in my fall I had bruised all down my left side- mostly thigh and shoulder though- because rolling on to it really really hurt. Not to mention it had been cold the night before so I went to bed in a pair of long shorts, a long pair of socks, a blue camo print polar fleece nightie and a kermit green jersey to make sure I stayed warm so I was pretty much sex on wheels lol. There are downsides to sleeping in a truck especially in September.

I was in the second class up- the 1.10m on Connie and Kate. Connie was first up and
I went the other way compared to the day before and I was too forward. Still she jumped well, just took the first and possibly the second rails. I'm not sure to be honest. Still though not happy with how I rode- too forward and still not as accurate as I should be. Then came Kate and I can recall so vividly sitting at the gate on her thinking that I really didn't want to be here and to do this anymore. I have lost a lot of faith in Kate after the end of last season. Still i sucked it up and got into the ring and got going. As long as I don't let go of her head we are ok and she will generally jump (even scary fill)- providing I also get her the base of the fence. And she jumped quite well. i was a lot more accurate. I had to get about stuck into her around one corner because she was spooking outside the ring so i didn't get a good ride to the double, but seeing as it was a fairly spooky fence in, having got on her case a bit, meant she knew she had to jump in and so she did. she actually jumped well and I just had the last rail. It was a bit cheap I'm not sure exactly what I did but it doesn't really matter. At least I had completed a round I was almost happy with.

Spent the rest of the morning mucking out yards and having a bit of lunch. Went to the secretary to find that Rascal had won the open welcome hunter and was third in the amateur hunter the day before. Yay! Thats 9 showhunter points in one show. I think I need 11 more to qualify for HoY. If she can be a successful show hunter maybe I will not sell her and she can be my diesel donkey. That being said it may have just been a fluke. Then I was almost late for my 90cm showjumping class on her. Cantered down to the ring, went straight over two warm up fences and went into the ring. Got the jump off numbers as I walked into the ring and learned the course as I jumped around it. It's so handy they have the numbers next to the fences. Rascal was so foot perfect as well. It was a relatively spooky ring but she jumped around almost foot perfectly and I had a lovely ride on her. She was double clear and as it was an A1 class in which all double clears are first equal, she "won" the class. Bless her.

Finally it was amateur series class time- thats 1.10m- 1.15m. I was pretty exhausted by now. I had forgotten how physically and mentally exhausting shows are! I also was getting more and more stiff and sore from my fall and couldn't left my left arm over my head. Still this is the series I want to do well in this season. I nominated Kate as my points getting horse as she had been jumping better than Connie. She warmed up well and Jumped really nicely. I am definitely starting to get more confident on her. The only really hiccup was coming into the first double- an oxer with fill under it to a plain upright- she kind of stalled at the gate and really wasn't that keen to jump. I didn't panic though and kept my leg on and the contact and dug the spurs in and clicked her forward and she actually went. She took the rail though. The is a goofy picture of her jumping this fence and keeping a close eye on that first oxer. It's good to know that I can be proactive enough and get her to jump even with how quickly things tend to happen on Kate.

So I was out on my nominated horse and it was time to get Connie. I didn't think Connie would go that well because she tends to not jump that well in the second round on any given day. She is a one start wonder. Warming up I jumped the oxer and my friend goes "Egg you can get her closer to the base" so I organised my canter a little more and suddenly it all sort of clicked into place. I got the right jumping canter for her, all my distances started coming up and it was all good. Had a great round with another strong ride to the double and a clear round! Woo. Go little Spanish. Only five in the jump off andI ended up fifth after taking a rail. I need to start training jump-off turns at home now because it's everytime I have a spin up that I blow it. She needs to be able to spin because she just isn't fast enough across the ground to make time up there. Still for the first show up I was rapt with her and finally I was happy with how I rode. All and all it ended up awesome. Long may that last. Fielding Show in a week and a half. Just hope I can remember the canter.

Pukahu Show- Day 1

2011-09-12T23:31:00.000-07:00

So the first show is over and done with and I ran the full gambit at this show. Overall though my ladies were naturally fabulous and I was the major disappointment. I have purchased two photos I will put up when they arrive. So to the beginning of the tale I guess.

The first morning I was up early to get a warm up round in the showhunters on Rascal. I made a stuff up with her saddle blankets though which I found to my detriment. My fitted pad moves around a lot on her back and must have pulled because she was a little cranky and hot when I started riding her which I attributed to nerves at the show atmosphere. Cantered into the first cross rail of about 30cm, she hesitated, I popped her with the stick and unbalanced myself, she jumped and when she landed with me still unbalanced she chucked me off which is about what I deserved for being so casual and not riding properly. Still the ground was very hard and before classes had even started I had stained one pair of my two pairs of breeches. Le sigh. Got back on did my warm up round and she was excellent. When I got back to the truck and unsaddled I saw her hair was ruffled under the saddle so I stopped my frank discussion with her about her parentage and her close relationship to a goat. Once I added another pad she was happier and I had not further problems with her.

Her first class was the Open Welcome hunter over 90cm and she jumped well enough, got her leads on landing and was basically very good. She feels a little bit looky but it gives her jump a bit of spark and I think I can feel it but it can't be seen. She did rattle one rail quite hard so that would have lowered her score considerably I thought. Hung around to jump my Open 90cm class and she had a rail in this one but otherwise jumped really nicely again. I was happy with her especially after this mornings somewhat flattening start.

Cantered back to the truck just in time to walk the 1.10m track, saddled Connie and Kate up and rushed back to the showhunters and got first on the list for my amateur class. Put in another good trip on Rascal leads and jumping wise but got a couple of deeper distances and suspect she may have not got her knees up cleanly over one fence. Still she had earned her grain for the day and even though I didn't have the time to hang around for the placings I was hopeful for a few minor placings.

Connie was first up in the showjumping I made one big mistake before I even got on her. I didn't stud her front feet. Connie doesn't like the way studs grab on landing and can start jumping too straight up and down with them in, but I underestimated how slippery the long grass was making the ground which was hard. I rarely stud her as she is very balanced. So it was a pretty poo round all up. I got a couple of really nice fences, but with her scrabbling on the corners a bit she just wasn't going forward and we had lots of bad jumps too. I had to circle her out of the double once and I felt terrible for doing that to her, not giving her a secure grip on the ground.

I was absolutely shitting myself about jumping Kate. I haven't been in the ring on her since she was cannoning me over fences at horse of the year and after a bad ride on Connie when I couldn't see my distances and rode like a monkey I wasn't feeling all that confident. Kate however feels amazing after having her knee done and warmed up really well despite me. So in we went. I should have mentioned it was a big enough track for the first show and it had lots of fill and was a very busy ring, so yea I thought I was going to throw up. Kate was good though and I had a reasonable ride. Not the most accurate and had a stop when I rode up for a ridiculous distance. Kate stopped way out though and pointed out I was an idiot ad then we finished really well.

So to sum up Rascal jumped really well, Connie did the best she could in trying circumstances, Kate jumped well despite my stuff up and I was feeling pretty average. Not that confident and very disappointed with how I rode even with it being only the first show, and I was hardly the only rusty person there lol. Still I expect better of myself and I was really hoping I would be able to better the next day.

Practice Day

2011-09-06T01:43:00.000-07:00

So I was really nervous about this stupid practice day. It's sort of the first public event of the season and the first chance to see where everyone is at. It doesn't help that I come from a small pretty cliquey gossipy region. It's not too much of an issue for me because I'm too poor for most people to bother about but you know they are talking about you and how your horses went. That being said all of my horses greatly surprised me. I thought they would be ok but they were off the hook. they all jumped confidently, and well. Kate felt bold and keen again after her knee getting fixed. Connie was awesome. Rascal started a little looky but finished so strongly. When I lunged Bill she was a maniac- all arched neck and floaty trot and snorting but she actually rode really well.

I went out with the goal of jumping each horse the height of their first class. That meant a nice 1.10m oxer on Kate/ 90cm-1m on Rascal and 1.10m on Connie. I was surprised because my eye is still pretty good. Obviously everything is not as smooth as it was at the end of the last season but I haven't lost too much ground over winter and feel a lot happier about the show next weekend after this practice day. I love it. I love this sport. I love my mares. They were some of the nicest schooled horses there, they are fit shiny and blooming with health. Maybe finally some of the years of toil will pay off and this season I'll ride at the level I want to be riding at. Last year was a good season but my lead into the season was fraught with injuries and abscesses while this year so far, fingers crossed it stays this way, I have had a relatively smooth run in. I only want to be a grand prix rider, thats not such a big thing is it? Lol! I believe it will all pay off that the work I'm putting in will be of value. Anyway, on to many many pictures.

Rascal

Bill
Unfortunately there are no jumping pictures of Bill but I jumped over a few things and she was really good. Hopefully I'll fill this up next week. She is ready to start jumping higher and out of the canter. And some photos of her lunging like a mad arab with her tail all flagged up.

Kate

This is the 1.10m oxer so that I know I can jump her that high. She felt amazing, so rapt it feels like she is back in the game. Long may it last.

Connie

This is the second element of the double- somewhere in te 1.25m-1.30m range. Go Connie!

A lovely example of how if you get behind the movement you can't catch up. I'm behind the movement and have shut down her back end. I guess I didn't really trust she would leave the ground. I need to trust this horse.

Opening up behind- good back end again over a 1.20m upright

So I feel like I have basically done all I can and bring on the show this weekend. Fingers crossed and toes it goes my way. Really though I just need to focus and ride well and my girls will do it for me as long as I'm in the game.

Practice Jumping day

2011-09-03T15:23:00.001-07:00

I'm about to load up and head off to a practice jumping day in Masterton with all four of my ponies. Quite nervous because it's the first public outing. In the meantime here is a video of Connie at the same practice day 3 years ago.

Baby Daddy

2011-08-30T16:08:00.000-07:00

Seeing as it's the time of year when all the stallion ads are out I have been perusing for a stallion for Kate who I will breed this year if she doesn't stay sound or the following year if all is well. And I chose one! So here is a nice picture for you to enjoy.

ETA his name is Clearway by Capitol I out of a Lord mare

Goals for the 2011/2012 season

2011-08-27T23:45:00.000-07:00

Bills dam Bob with me in the 1.15m class about 9 years ago. Yikes!

I totally spent ages last night writing this post only for it to disappear in the great blue nowhere. That got me sulking and i just went to bed, but I'm not letting myself feed my horses and go to bed until this post is done. I actually hate writing these posts. not because I'm not good at setting goals, every time I ride I have a goal in mind and I finish when I attain it. Or if I have what I want instantly I move the goal posts and aim for something else, but yea goals aren't my problem. Telling other people what they are is my problem. What if they laugh at me? What if I fail? What if they think I'm crazy? It's a bit hard to set really long term goals yet because I'm not sure what comes next to be honest. This December I want to assess where I am and decide whether I sell up and go overseas at the end of the season, or go overseas for the winter and come back to my horses for next season. It's not fair for my very generous parents to keep footing part of my showjumping bill if I'm not going to justify it with a reasonable level of performance.

So then to the goals. I'm not sure quite how to format this really.

First Show- Complete every round I enter on Kate, Connie and Rascal. Assess where each horse is at to make decisions about class options- moving up or down for the next show- and what I need to work on.

Second Show- Complete every round in less than 12 faults. Cope with jumping an indoor ring 1.

Myself- Improve position- keep shoulders open and keep left hand soft when it's my inside hand. I'm unbalancing my horses with it's desire to grab. They all go less well to the left.
- Improve confidence. Trust my own ability to ride and my instincts
- Improve eye and accuracy
- Develop plan for the future

Kate- Keep her sound! Stay in tune to how her knee is feeling and when it needs to be done again
- Improve stillness and smoothness and let her canter more down the related distances so she makes the fence out.
- Get confident jumping 1.20m tracks- look at moving up when possible.

Connie- Get her show fit.
- Jump well in the amateurs and look at moving up to pro-am classes.
- Jump 1.30 track before the end of the season.

Rascal- Sell her! (Hard when no one has called. I suspect she will be here for a while longer but it's not a bad thin really. It's hard time wise but she is going really well so it just means more positive saddle time for me.
- Get her jumping confidently in the 90cm and 1m classes. Look at 1.10m classes before season end.
- Try qualify for Amateur Showhunter of the Year (This one depends on if I have enough time, the showjumpers come first for me.)

Bill- Get her out to some shows!
- finish season doing 1.10m classes.

I don't think there is anything there that isn't attainable providing everything sort of goes to plan and I'm not plagued by lameness and disaster. Connie Kate and Rascal are all feeling really amazing and giving me great rides both on the flat and over fences. It seems to good to be true almost and in a way I find it worrying because it never goes like this with horses! Until my first show is over and done I wont really know where I am at with the horses. It's all very well them going well at home, but can we all hold it together in the ring remains to be seen.

I feel like them going well maybe adds another layer of pressure, like there are no excuses for less than perfect rounds? This is not good thinking at all so I need t cut that out. I'm a capable rider with lots of lovely horses and I just need to go out and get it done. I'm not really sure whether to start Kate in the 1.10m or not, but I have done like 20 1.10ms on her now, we are more than capable, I need to just suck it up. 2 weeks now. I hope to get to Teilcey once more early next week and then there is a practice day next weekend and then the next weekend it's go time again. Already nervous!

Season looms

2011-08-23T22:23:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I have been away at a wedding in the South Island for a while. suffice to say I will never agree to be on the bridal party again, unless it's my sister. While it was nice to get away and the South Island was beautiful the event was so farcical and poorly managed it put me off for life. I guess a thank you would have been nice for leaving my horses while 2 and a half weeks out from the first show and during calving on the farm but there you go.

Regardless, like I say the season is bearing down on us at a rapid rate of knots. I don't feel ready at all. I'm especially torn about what classes I put the Kate in. I feel a bit chicken on her but you know, she can jump well so I shouldn't really worry. I rode her yesterday for the first time since her knee was done. I couldn't really gauge how sound she was because without work she isn't very lame anyway and the ground wasn't great. She felt very strong and keen and absolutely full of beans. A little bit lighter in condition than I would like but I have time to fix that.

So Connie, Rascal and Kate will do Pukahu in a few weeks and Fielding a fortnight later. Bill will start mid October because I don't have the time right now to get her show ready. Can you believe it's come around this quickly!! I want to run around flailing my arms going "I'm not ready I'm not ready I'm not ready" especially seeing as 90cm looks so freaking massive at the moment. 1.10m almost looks unjumpable again! Possibly worse to because last season I had like now expectations and now I have them. I still have time for everything to fall into place and a couple of jumping sessions and I'll remember what I'm doing I'm sure.

Kate goes to the Vet Again

2011-08-16T19:31:00.000-07:00

Well despite the snow- which has turned into an ugly hideous cold wind associated sleet which is horrible- Kate got bundled up to go back to the vet to get her knee sorted out. For the record the lowest temperatures we had without wind chill was about- 1-2 degrees Celsius. I know thats cold for a lot of the world but thats about the coldest it ever gets here (Normally in a short term frost situation) and we were suffering. The snow is mostly gone now, just the stupid freezing sleet.

It was 3 degrees when I loaded Kate up to go to Bulls with a very bitter wind so it was pretty unpleasant. With Truckie being at the garage I had borrowed a float (two horse straight load trailer for the Americans) and I'm not sure she had ever been in one before so she was pretty hesitant about loading, but once she was on she traveled really well. When we got to the clinic it was 8 degrees and the sun was out. I was like 30 minutes early so Kate and I definitely enjoyed catching some rays.

She was fine on the trot-ups but showed mild lameness on the small circle. I'm not surprised it wasn't that bad because she has been getting next to no work in the last week with the weather. You always kind of worry you are being the over-doing it Mum and I think the vet maybe think she isn't stopping because of the knee. However, I know Kate and she is pretty genuine and I am actually a pretty good rider so I know that everything was ok like canter quality and take-off spot wise, so I can only think of pain as being way she is stopping. The knee has been injected with a type of cortisone which has a 6 week action and we will see if that works. He also gave me some bute so when I do a couple of jumping sessions on her, I can see how brave she is, knowing that pain is not a factor. She has such lovely manners. I just held some neck skin while he did the injection and she hardly flinched and then it was back home to the sleet.

I'll keep her boxed for 2 days and then she can go out and will start riding her again when I get back from this wedding I'm a bridesmaid at. Blurk. I'm so not the bridesmaid type. Hopefully it will work and I'll have old bold Kate back.

Ok so I was wrong

2011-08-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

Ok so I may have been wrong about the storm. That person is me, surrounded by snow. Did you recognise me off of a horse? I bet you wouldn't know me in the street.Uhh anyway so yes there is a storm and all the denial in the world didn't change that fact. It hit yesterday just after dark and really was quite heavy. We had about 6 inches on the ground in a couple of hours. We have a completely pastoral dairy farm here, with no sheds for the cows so they are all stuck outside. Cows are tough though and as long as you keep food in front of them they are ok. It's the new born calves that really struggle. They weren't even getting up, the poor little chaps. I brought one in about 7 o'clock. Mum did the late check at 9.30 or so and then that was it.

I woke up just before 3 in the morning. And lay in bed with the eerie white snow glow coming through the window thinking about little freezing baby animals. I tried to go back to sleep but it wasn't happening. So I found myself outside in the snow checking the soon to calve cows and the sheep. I tried to be really sneaky but the squeaking of the snow under my boots woke up the dogs and they kicked up a good ruckus. I'm going it's me it's me shut up, while the parentals and Kim are laying in bed wondering what the hell I'm up too. Actually, they thought I was checking the horses but I knew the horses would be fine, they all have double covers and hay and feeds. Anyway, there were two new calves that were cold and sad, the bull calf more so than the little girl. The little girl was very brand new, so wasn't as chilled. They got tucked up under a heat lamp and then I could sleep. Two more were born after I went to bed unfortunately and neither of them made it. The guilt! Mother and I are going to check them at 9, 12, and 3 tonight. Well I'll do 12 and 3. Mum will take the easier shifts.

The horses were fine though they are feeling the weather. The unclipped hair on the front of their faces is all poofed up which amuses me. I'm keeping a lot of hay in front of them. Today it started out miserable but was clear through most of the middle of the day which meant we could get everything fed on some grass as well as the silage, hay, fodderbeet (sugarbeet crossed with radishes- the cows go crazy for them. It's like cow crack apparently) and palm kernel. A lot of the snow melted but it's falling again now, though not as heavily. Up to 25cm is predicted overnight so fingers crossed that isn't the case. It's so hard on the animals. Well and the people. I was wearing two hats, a thermal, a polar fleece t-shirt, a hooded sweatshirt,a polar vest, trackies and waterproof leggings, a oilskin vest and a rain coat and gloves and still felt cold- though as soon as you move you are sweating. Those people that have proper snow all winter must be tough buggers. I'm sorry this is a fairly average post but you get what I have to give and right now it's not a lot!

Team trip to Tielcey Park 2 Part 2

2011-08-13T00:47:00.000-07:00

Apparently there is another massive storm coming coming complete with snow, but I'm pretending it's not because it's going to suck, especially as when the weather turns bad the cows start shooting their babies out at a great rate. I have heard some arm flail reports that it may be the worst storm on record. Truckie also failed it's COF so I'm a bit stuck here what with Kate needing to be at the vet in Bulls next Wednesday to get her knee sorted so hoepfully I can get it fixed in time or I need to start ringing peeps with a float. I'm also on a de-tox for a week eating only fruit, nuts and vegetables in a bid to get my appetite for simple sugars and meat under control/ as an exercise in food discipline. For the reader who commented I must be fit from riding and farming, I am quite fit when I'm running as well, but mostly my lifestyle just means I'm very very strong. No lady like shoulders here.

Anyway back to Tielcey Park. After Connie it was on to Rascal to have a bit of a jump around and she was really really good. When I first brought her she was a really nice horse. Never going to be a super jumper but a really good straight forward horse. Then we had some rough times, with injuries and Kim knocking her confidence, and now after a season of hunting I have that nice straight forward horse back and I'm starting to enjoy her. She is currently on the market but so far no one has called or emailed :(. Still the shows are coming up and having her around will fill up my day and also all saddle time is good for me at this stage. Hopefully she will showhunter really well and be my diesel donkey. I guess there isn't actually much to say about it. Even from bad distances she was always locking to jump and she felt good. Not super powerful but she isn't super scopey. She was just good and easy and grown up.

Kate only went for a flatwork session and unlike last time when she wouldn't focus and relax because of the jumps, this time she actually worked really nicely. She was lovely and relaxed and happy to be out. I hate not knowing if she is going to be sound for the season, but I need to get her fit and lame to take her to treat it, even if that doesn't really make sense.

And then I let Kim canter around and jump some small stuff on her. They both love it, especially Kate. Please let her knee be fixable and let me have a good season on this lovely lovely horse. She owes me nothing at this point but I love jumping her. I paid a lot of money for her to only have two seasons, but she made me brave again, and got me showing, so really I owe her more than anything. Riding her is like riding a ferrari everything happens so quickly and lightly and she is so good for my riding. She is a plain jane, but she feels amazing. I wish I could send you the feeling of a big fence on that horse through the pc for you to enjoy.

Team Trip to Tielcey Park 2

2011-08-10T23:25:00.000-07:00

So last Wednesday (where has the week gone!) I was back at Tielcey Park with all of the ponies for some serious training. There were no calves born that day so I was free to go. It's actually pretty nice to line them all up and just ride them bang bang bang, instead of riding on over breakfast, two during lunch and one once I'm done sort of thing. It's really frustrating because I always feel time pressure and that's not good. I have even once gotten up in the dark and ridden in the dark before milking which is harder than you would think. You get to focus more on how the horse feels but it's odd how much you rely on your eyes when you are riding.

Anyways, I got on Bill first and the goal was to be in the outdoor and jump around lots of little jumps and put like little courses together. There is a bit of back story in that the day before I was ding fitness laps on the side of a hill and she was insanely difficult. She was fine at the trot but then I hit the big no once she started getting tired and there was some serious bucking and i actually nearly bought it twice. Twice she bucked so big I didn't think I was going to land anywhere the horse but somehow landed on her back and got her head up and sent her on. Mostly the canter was causing her to throw her toys. So I made her trot up and down that hill until she was tired and brought her home and cantered her for about 15 mins in my schooling paddock. Because her canter is so unbalanced I have just been letting her putter around, trying to get her to find her own balance. Well because she was bucking still, I had to take more contact and wrap more leg around her and I was quite hard on her. It actually helped though, and she was giving me some really nice canter work by the end even though she was a tired pony. Sometimes Bill starts trying to dictate how things are done but she needs to realise it's never do as Bill wants day and always do as I ask day.

In the picture above you can see why I have canter balance issues has so much energy coming from behind she doesn't seem to know what to do with it. Her back feet are so high off of the ground and it's always like this. She is a real power pony. Anyway, she worked really nicely at Tielcey on the flat and gave me some great canter work with no buck. After that on ride when I was tougher on her, she has really started to find her canter balance, and I'm able to help her more.

She is so freaking cute! I'm getting to be pretty in love with this horse, she is so exciting to train and see how she improves, and feel the potential. Anyway, she was good to all of the fences. Just small crosses from the trot and little uprights and a little picket. She went straight over the picket which was really cool. She jumped it pretty big and kept an eye on it all the way over but she jumped it first time.

What was really cool was feeling her start to get it and trot more forward to the fences and even start cantering that last stride and place herself and pop over. She did collect one fence. Kim put it up and she completely misjudged it (I can say it's her fault, because I never place them when they are starting I just sit quiet and let them figure it out. It's hard to do, but ultimately means they can save your butt later down the line) and skittled the fence but after that she was so careful not to touch anything at all.

The coolest part was when I went down this one line and she trotted in and jumped the first fence in the line and then carried on in the canter and popped over the next fence and cantered through the two stride double. A bit crooked, a bit wobbly but ultimately she would go over the fence and at this stage thats all I'm really worried about.

This red oxer felt humungous to me, but is actually pretty small. It would be lucky to be two feet. Still she went straight over and felt pretty good to be honest. Even from a slow trot and going crooked to a small she leaves the ground powerfully and wants to make the right shape- get up with her shoulder, low with her head and she wants to get the back end up.

Connie was next to ride and getting onto Connie is always like climbing onto an old friend. She is a hairy scruffy unfit friend but familiar all the same. Her flatwork is still there but she tires quickly. I didn't do too much and then had a bit of a gallop around for fun. She never got into a gallop I don't think, just a fast canter, but it sure looks like she is channeling her TB mother.

I popped around a few fences and Connie was good but lazy. At one point Kim put a fence up and even though I knew it was an easy 5 strides as soon as the fence went up I reverted to old habits and hustled her down the line and got her deep. Yuk! I'm better than that! It just went up and I felt I needed more speed and thats really not the case at all.

honestly, She felt bloody crap. She felt scopeless and not a jumper at all. for Connie to jump well she needs to be really fit and the fences need to be big. She doesn't waste any unnecessary energy over a fence, so at 1m or so she feels so average. It's almost disheartening only I know thats just how she is. I foresee plenty of hill work in her future though!

Clipping

2011-08-03T23:40:00.000-07:00

UUUhhhhhhhhhhhh. I have so many cure pictures to share with you and lots of good news, but I'm too tired right now. I went out today to clip Connie and Kate as their winter coats are starting to shift and I'm sick of taking them out and having them mistaken for a goat (Kate) and a yak (Connie). I don't love clipping now the novelty has worn off but it's not a job I hate and I can do a reasonable full clip in about 45 mins to an hour depending on equine co-operation.

Today was an absolute debacle though. My clippers would just not work that well. I got half a horse done before they stopped cutting well. I muddled on and got Kate finished, though it's not a very smooth even job. Ultimately though her hair is gone and thats the most important thing. She is going to be a lot less of a sweaty muddy mess now. So I started Connie hoping her coarser coat must cut better, and I had the same problems. It would cut for a sweep or two but then just stop cutting. I checked the brushes and then broke a brushes cap which is now replaced with one that sort of works that I stole from an ancient set of cow clippers.

They still wouldn't work that well and Dad had a play around for a while and then gave up. If he can't fix it, it's a problem because he is like Macgyver all he needs is gum and a bit of string and he can fix anything. In the end I would do a sweep and when they stopped cutting I'd tighten the blades a quarter turn and they would cut. Then that stopped working and then I don't know what happened but they just started working and I got Connie finished, legs and all. I don't know how good it will look because by this time I was clipping under a single light bulb and was struggling with the shadows. Thankfully, Connie is a real doll to clip and isn't phased by the clippers at all. She also gets these crazy dapples when she is clipped as well, that are tan circles with a darker inside which is rather odd. She has a lot of birdcatcher spots at the moment as well so she is looking pretty gorgeous now that her beard is gone.

Kate is harder to clip so I give her an oral sedative. Someone must have done a cut her armpits up pretty good though because even sleepy as she still wont let you clip her legs and is very touchy when you do under her chest and behind her elbows, she tries to lay down/collapse in front. I don't think it's worth the battle really just to have perfectly tidy armpits, so she looks like a french woman with her hair au natural. Poor old Kate. I will probably take her over to the vet in the next couple of weeks and get this knee sorted out. Now I just have three manes to pull and one to roach and everything will be show ready. Oh and yea today clipping took me 4 and a half hours to do two horses. Lame. My arm is tired.

Horses that stop

2011-08-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

I relatively often hear people say that they will never jump a horse that stops and in the many hours I spend driving slowly after a herd of cows, or milking, or shoveling feed for the cows I have had a lot of time to ponder this statement. It occurred to me that nearly every horse I have ridden has stopped at one stage or another for one reason or another. There have been a variety of reason, some have been forgivable and some haven't. Mostly when they stopped it was my fault. So then lets discuss why horses stop.

There are two types of refusal. The run out and the stop. The run out if always rider error. Always. A run out means you don't have control or have left the door open- either by throwing away the contact, or not having the leg on. Even not looking straight can cause a really sensitive horse to run out. You need to be locked on to the fence- Mentally I try to shut out everything and ride straight to the fence, with my eyes, my hands and my legs all working to get the horse straight to the jump. This also helps me see my distances. My very favourite kind of runout is when little kids on old wily ponies canter towards the fence and very gradually the pony circles away from the fence which to the riders dismay. Ponies, such heartless little bastards.

A stop however can be rider error, or a problem with the horse. There are also two kinds o stop though. The genuine stop or the dirty stop. Kate has a bit of a dirty stop because she stops at the fence and spins away wile dropping her shoulder, turning me into a cannonball. Dirty stoppers are those horses that feel like they start to leave the ground and set back down again, those horses that stop to get you off. I'm not a huge fan of those horses, I can see why people don't want to ride them.

So then reasons why a horse might stop/ start stopping:

-Horse doesn't understand its job
Horses are born knowing how to jump, but they aren't born knowing how to jump with a rider. It takes time for a horse to learn what is expected of it. After all why go over, when you can just go around? Teaching a horse to jump is a relatively basic process, but it takes some time and needs to follow logical steps so that the horse is happily carrying you around courses of jumps and through combinations. Personally I think you need to expose your horse to a variety of different jumps so that later on they know to just jump whats in front of them, regardless how scary it is. There is no rush to add height to the fences, even though it's so tempting when you are sitting on something talented. You always want to finish on a good note as well, so if you get one particularly nice jump just call it a day. You run into trouble later on, if you skip the lower boring confidence building steps.

-Horse isn't balanced or fit enough to jump
Jumping is hard work for a horse and the horse needs to arrive at the fence with enough impulsion to clear the fence. It sounds basic I know but it can be really quite difficult, especially if your horse is pone to fall behind the leg or ran at fences. there isn't really much point in doing a lot of jumping on a horse who hasn't got a developed canter. If it canter in a rhythm and carry itself then you are good to start doing more jumping, but until then stick to trot fences, because you are just making it really hard for both horse and rider. There is also no point jumping a horse who is unfit. by all means pop over a few fences, but if you jump the guts out of them and make them too tired, they will either start stopping or start taking lots of rails which my cause them to start stopping. I feel that ultimately you want your horse to really enjoy jumping, and so you need to be careful to not take the fun out of it.

-Horse is spooked by the fences/fillers
There is a conundrum in jumping in that a spooky horse will often be cleaner and try harder not to take rails than a bold horse, but the spooky horse may stop at the scarier fences. This is why it's good to expose them to lots of different things when the fences are small and the horses are green so that to just jump it becomes second nature. Kate will always be dodgy to liverpools because she hates them so it's something I need to be aware of, and always be ready to give her a strong ride to them.

-Horse has been previously cooked/soured
As I said earlier I think it's important to keep jumping fun for the horses. It's actually pretty easy to pressurize them or sour them to jumping so that they start stopping. Once they start doing this for these reasons it can be really hard to fix, and some cooked horses never jump well again. I know of one pony that refused to jump 1m high. 95cm was fine- but if it was a big 95cm then forget about it. This was a pony that jumped grand prix as a 6 yr old, and mentally wasn't able to cope with jumping that big and completely shutdown. You need to build a horses confidence so they feel confident and happy at the bigger heights. There is no point cantering down a big grid, clearing 1.30m and then showing your horse at that height the next day when previously hew has only jumped 1m. Even though he is physically capable, he needs to be mentally ready as well. For me I know I can move up when both myself and the horse cruise around the height comfortably and it feels easy. I know of one horse that is spooky at a new height until she gets comfortable at that height, and then she stops looking at scary fences and just jumps. In the meantime it can be difficult for her rider. You can easily over jump a horse as well, so that it becomes sheer tedium for them. Especially when conditions are less than ideal. A few cross rails or poles every ride if you are that way inclined, though I tend to not do that, is fine but horses, like people, need variety in their lives.

-Horse is being caused pain by jumping
This is a big one really. Horses can't tell us they are sore really and sometimes stopping can be indicative of this. Kate started stopping at the end of the season, and despite being told she was just being a dog, I took her to the vet and she has some arthritis in her knee, which explained lots of things for me really about he she was going and some sourness she showed under saddle. It's hard sometimes a horse stops because it is just stopping and doesn't want to play the game, and sometimes there is something wrong. I tend to think horses are mostly pretty genuine and so deserve the benefit of the doubt. but then I can remember Connie being naughty and not jumping combinations for one show until she had a towel up and then she jumped like a star so yea it's difficult. Though if you have a vet go over them and give them a clean bill of health then you know the problem lies else where.

Also important- saddle isn't pinching, bit isn't pinching, ground isn't too hard. Overjumping on hard ground will start a horse stopping like nothing else. you only get one set of front legs on your horse and they have only so many miles in them, so they are worth looking after. Sometimes horses can get a bit stiff and sore especially at shows and will need more loosening up, but mostly if your horse feels good, it will jump.

-Horse is scoped out
It can be really hard to face but sometimes you need to realise you have done what you can with one horse and if you want to move on you need a new horse. Not all horses are good jumpers and most of them have height ceiling above which they are no longer competitive. you can break a good horse with lots of heart but making him jump at the top of his scope all the time, and making it hard for him. Thats not fun for a pony. Judicious class selection may get a little more out of a real gutsy horse with a lot of try, by jumping a big class and then backing off for the rest of the show or so on, but sometimes your horse is stopping because he simply can't jump that high.

-Rider gets the horse to the fence on a bad distance
The majority of the time if you get your horse to the fence with a good quality canter a reasonable take-off point will be available. Though the higher the fences get the less you are able to be to far off or too close to the base of the fence. The margin of error shrinks as the fences get taller and wider. If you get to the base of the fence on a genuine half stride and the fence is over 1m, chances are your horse is going to stop. And if it doesn't, you may wish it did. I feel it's much better to have your horse stop and look after itself and you, than be bold and jump and potentially bring you both down. Thats not to say a horse shouldn't try from a reasonable difference thats a touch long or short, but horses have limits. Sometimes it's better to just thank them for saving your bacon.

-Rider is inhibiting the horses ability to jump
So the horse needs to get to the fence on a good canter, to a reasonable difference and you should be ok. However, if you are inhibiting the horse over the fence, it may start stopping when it anticipates the restriction. Mostly, it's riders really running horses at fences so they are too flat to jump up over the fences, or not allowing the horse to use it's head and neck over the fence. Most horses want to lower their head and neck over the fence, creating a nice round shape. If your reins are too short, or your hands don't release over the fence you can cause the horse to start stopping. If they don't start stopping, you may find they lose their form and start stag leaping, and dangling the front legs. Again you want jumping to be fun for the horse, and if you get in their way and make it hard you start creating problems.

-Rider isn't committed to the jump
Horses are like psychic ninjas. They know when you are scared. It's ok to be scared but if you are jumping you have to commit to the fence. Half assed approaches can lead to accidents and damaging a horses confidence. By all means if you are coming in and you can see that your distance is bad, quietly circle away, but otherwise you have to commit to the fence. If you canter in all lack lustre and scared the chances are that yes your horse will stop. They just know! Commit!

-Rider is unbalanced/not skilled enough
To be brutally honest if you aren't ready to be jumping, then just don't. Put some work in so that you are stable enough to jump and then start jumping. It keeps it more fun for horse and rider. A horse cannot be balanced if the rider is unbalanced, that's just they way it is. Carrying an uneven or unstable load is really hard work.

-Rider is not riding the horse the way the horse prefers
Some horses like to be ridden a certain way. Kate likes a buttload of contact coming into the fence. It feels like I'm pulling backwards almost, but it makes her more confident to the spooky stuff. Connie of the other hand likes to jump from a forward flowing stride with minimal contact (They don't make it easy for me) Rascal likes quite a lot of contact but likes the freedom to really lower her head on the last stride before take-off. And Bill? Well it's too early to tell yet, but I feel she will not like too much contact. If I don't ride them the way they prefer it can lead to stops. You need to jump a lot of small fences on a new horse, and learn what makes them tick, what makes them jump confidently in good form, and what makes them jump badly. Otherwise how else do you know? All horses are different and while it's good to have a system, it's important to ride and treat each one as the individual it is.

This is all for now I think, I have to go feed said beasties.

Team Trip to Tielcey Park

2011-07-30T14:36:00.000-07:00

After years of being uber expensive Tielcey park has finally lowered it's prices to $10 for the outdoor and $15 for the indoor which is very cheap really. It's now worth the hour drive over there to use the facilities and the jumps. So for the first time I loaded my entire team on the truck- Rascal, Kate, Bill and Connie. Kim took some really nice head shots while I was warming Rascal in which I'll now force you to look at.

Cute ponies eh! The colours haven't been altered it was actually that green. Strange eh. So anyway the goal was to get some flatwork footage of Rascal for a sales ad, to do some jumping with Bill and the just work Connie and Kate, over fences or on the flat. Rascal is starting to give me some really nice work but I see in the stills I'm riding her a bit deep and need to ease up on my hands and add some more leg. Still she felt really nice and elevated and through. I have a picture somewhere and the amount of elevation in her front end is really really good. She really is probably meant to be a little dressage horse. After the flatwork I had a jump around outside and despite the fact I'm pretty rusty she jumped confidently and cleared everything and felt mostly very very good.

Bill did some nice work. no as soft and relaxed as in the last photos but still was confident working around the indoor arena. She is picking up her right canter lead really well now but is very very unbalanced in that direction, though she did improve with more work. She did point out she was finding it hard though!

Then we did some jumping. At first poles on the ground where pretty scary which is funny really. Once she figured that out we put up a little jump that we fell over a few times. Then she figured that out and actually started to try clear it. We ended up making it about a foot and a half high in the middle I guess. She was reluctant going towards it, but despite arriving in a slow trot she felt so easy and strong off of the ground and up through the shoulder. A couple of times the back end jumped especially high and it was a bit scary to sit on. Next time we go over I will do a small course in the outdoor arena which she walked around quite happily when she cooled off. She is quite a brave little horse.

Connie wasn't sound on her foot she was missing a shoe on so got put away straight away and on the way home I stopped at the farriers and got a shoe put on her. Kim was warming up Kate and I tried to school her for 10 minutes but she was just so happy to be around jumps she wouldn't relax and work. She kept trying to lock onto the fences. So I chucked Kim back on and the two of them blasted around some small fences with grins from ear to ear on both faces. It looked so fun I couldn't resist having a little jump myself and jumping a few bigger fences- about 90cm I guess. Kate was really really good and felt really sound on her bung knee, no unlevelness at all. I guess the feed through joint supplement is helping. With more work on board, as her fitness training intensifies, it will be interesting to see what happens. She jumped really well but I was surprised how much confidence I have lost in her with the falls and stops we had at the end of last season. It's to be expected I guess but it seems like a shame. When we were done I was trotting her out and I patted her on the neck and she shook her head from side to side which is her happy signal. It was nice to feel her so happy again.

Snow Day

2011-07-25T00:09:00.002-07:00

See my grandads saying of as the days get longer the cold gets stronger is definitely standing. I didn't think it would snow this winter because it has been relatively mild for where I live anyway. Even the ancient Maori name of our area means "to eat bad weather". Cheers guys. Anyway, I have just worked a solid month without a break so when I eventually woke up and looked out the window and saw all the snow I had a pretty good laugh because I didn't have to go work in it.

This year my Mum isn't using one of the small sheds for calves so she said I could have it for the horses. Lucky for them I guess. I use one end for saddling up and that leaves two bays for the horses. It isn't that pretty but it's functional and it has to beat being outside. I felt a bit mean seeing as I could only bring two in, but Kate and Rascals paddock is getting really muddy and deep and as Rascal has a touch of mudfever, she and Kate lucked in. Connie and Bills paddock has a big shed they can stand in the lea of as well. Kate was a bit iffy at first because she is a suspicious old mare, but even though I had dropped Rascals rope she marched right in by herself and made herself at home. When I last saw them they actually looked pretty smug. Anyway pictures!

The really snowy sheep is Called Rustle, because we give Mum a hard time for "rustling" her when she saved her off of the side of the road during a snowstorm a long time ago as a new born. The other sheep had been moved away from the paddock and she was all alone. I gave these guys a lot of hay seeing as they looked pretty peckish. They were delighted.

Poor outside horses!

A bale of hay eases the cold eh. They were pretty rapt with that!

Bill makes progress

2011-07-21T23:35:00.000-07:00

I have been working on Bills canter. Her walk and trot is coming along really nicely but her canter is very average. It's not that it isn't a nice canter, because it is, it's just that once you add a riders weight, and with her natural tendency to fall on the forehand, and her long powerful stride, and you get a runny bulldozery type mess when we canter. Of course this is in the open down the farm tracks so it's all straight lines basically and I can't use corners to help balance her. The last ride I had on her the cantering started pretty well with some good rate, but once she got a bit tired we got some huge bucks and it fell apart a bit. I made a big effort to get my work done early and took her to a nearby indoor, where the surface would be good and I could practice some cantering.

She traveled really well on the truck and was remarkably settled on arrival. She is getting to be so grown up. A bit of walk and trot to get her used to the arena and then straight into the canter. Interestingly, being inside backed her up and she didn't run in the canter, in fact it was hard to get her into the canter. It took her a while to believe me that she could canter indoors, but she was actually pretty good, with a nice amount of speed control, though she tended to fall behind the leg. She even managed some 20 meter sort of circles. The right canter was a lot less balanced than the left, but this one sidedness it's normal for her. She falls in and out a lot at the canter but as her walk and trot gets stronger, and she gets more responsive to the leg I will have more control of her body. Her walk and trot work was fantastic, and overall I was very happy with how she went so now I will bombard you with Bill pictures. I did think it was interesting how in nearly all the photos I am in a quite light forward seat. It wasn't conscious. I wonder if she is better like this, or it just sort of happened. I'll have to play with this more consciously. I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up being a horse you sit on lightly, her dam was, and she was a similar short coupled horse.

In other news I have been back on Kate and Connie and it was bliss to be back on grown up trained jumping horses. Kates canter is so beautiful and easy to collect, it's effortless for her, and Connie is so phenomenally soft in the bridle and square to ride and responsive. I did a good job if I do say so myself, she is such an easy ride. My sister rode her at the indoor and raved about her which is hilarious, because she has never really been a fan. Connie and Kate are both so hairy though. It's unbelievable. Sent my clippers away yesterday so next week they will have to have makeovers to make them less goat like.

Yo yo

2011-07-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

I promise a new post will be coming. I'm writing one on horse that stop. For the moment I apologise for my lack of posting activity.my parents are away and just my sister and I are running the whole farm. Which is fine only be have had a few disasters. We had a week of a bad weather system that involved thunder, lightning, torrential rain, hail and gale force winds. After a week of that it was starting to get a bit hard to get out of bed. Add in that I haven't had a day off since the 27th of June and I'm getting a bit weary and things like blogging (and riding le gasp!) go by the wayside. That being said I have ridden The Kate again and it was nice to be on a real horse even if she dos look like she is half bear. What a coat for a TB. I think I have ridden maybe 6 or 7 times in the last 3 weeks. Thats lame!

Anyway here is the picture of when I was driving the tractor and it was so wet that I slid off a hill into this culvert, even though I had the brakes on.

You cant see it but the far front wheel is way off of the ground. A digger came and pulled it out. I'm told a good driver could have driven it out, but I don't believe that this is so. I just found some men who got it out and left me to the milking. Being a girl has a few advantages on the farm.

This is a good picture to show how much rain we had. I was like over 200ml in 3 days or something equally insane. The first day of heavy rain we were milking super fast as the water in the pit-(where you stand to milk the cows) starting climbing and we finished just in time to get out before our gumboots got filled. Thought Kims did when she was all "it's fine" And I was like until you move and she moved and I was right. The picture was taken in the afternoon after milking and despite the pump going all day it was still overflowing. That pit is about 3 foot deep so it was a lot of water.

We were not happy farmers.

Winter Riding

2011-07-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

A much much younger Connie at a winter clinic- her very first clinic as I recall.

I have actually managed to ride twice in the last fortnight or so. Ah winter. It's been a very warm mild winter so far, but it's starting to set in now. As my grandad used to say " As the days get longer, the cold gets stronger" and he has yet to have been proved wrong. I can expect to ride in the rain or the next three months or so. I really need to start travelling out to a local indoor. My parents are in Turkey at the moment so my sister and I are in charge of the farm and time is at a real premium what with all the cows I have to feed. So anyway, the horse I rode twice was dear old Bill sausage who appears to have grown considerably taller in the month since I last rode her. I wouldn't be surprised if she has added an inch of height in that time. Her neck hasn't gotten any longer unfortunately so it feels like I'm sitting on a giraffe. She is so different to ride to anything else here, on sheer power of hindquarters alone. Like Kate has a huge canter and plenty of power but not with the same effortlessness that Bill does. It's almost a bit intimidating, only she is so smooth it isn't.

I really think I'm not that good at training though. I'm always going back and filling in holes but I guess thats part of the process. She was so lazy under saddle I spent heaps of time getting her to carry me and go forward and now I really need to work on her rating because we currently have two speeds, resisting going forward and then full speed ahead without breaking gait. To be fair after a 20 minute session the other day she was starting to feel quite good and a bit more consistent in pace. I really don't want to ruin her by missing something in her training, because if she turns out to be brave enough she could be a really good horse, she is certainly athletic enough. I have always had pretty rubbish horses, that were nice horses because I worked so hard- Bob (Bills mum) being the exception, and perhaps Connie, so to have a nice one is a bit scary really, knowing someone else would be doing a much better job. And Connie is a funny one because she was so awful and even my trainer guy was like I really wanted you to sell that horse because she was so average but you have done a good job.

It's so so easy to get disheartened this time of year. When the only time I see the horses really is when I brave the now torrential rain to throw them some hay. It's a bit like exercising, when you do it every day you get really keen but as soon as you have a few days off it gets a bit harder to get motivated again. You want to do it, and you know you need to do, but you look at the rain and its easy to just say nah. After this weekend I really need to start cracking on and get everything going. In about 4 weeks time when everything is a bit fit and making progress it will be so much easier. Man I want it so bad I can almost taste it. The feeling of cantering down to a big fence, being a bit scared, getting that great distance, and just that power off of the ground. Love it can't wait to live it.

A Whole Week Since I Posted

2011-06-21T01:52:00.000-07:00

Poor poor form from me not to be posting more eh. There is honestly very little to say. I should probably do a couple of those posts where I pretend i know what I'm talking about and blather on for a while. I haven't been on a horse since the eye op. The eyes are doing amazingly I must say but I have my one week check up tomorrow and I'll know more then. I'll ride Thursday/Friday and maybe Saturday and be back hunting on Sunday. There are only three more hunts left on the calender and I want to get to them. Man I really need to start advertising Rascal but selling horses tends to be a long and painful process, especially in the winter.

I'm already so sick of the mud, but with only ten weeks until the season kicks off, I'm going to drag the old girls out of holiday mode and start getting them fit. Shoes on again tomorrow They have had over six weeks off. Connie needs time to get really really fit because she isn't a naturally forward horse. She needs to be fit so that she feels so good she just wants to go. I'm not feeling that positive about bringing Kately in. She looks sore in the paddock to me and while I think it's mostly baby TB feet with no shoes being sore, I'm concerned her knee may have worsened a lot. Still 3-4 weeks of easy fittening work- walking and trotting- and I'll know how sound she is and then take her back to the vet. I'd be rapt if we can get her sound again really really rapt because she is a hella fun horse when she is on form.

There is no training clinics organised this winter which is a bit average but hopefully something will come up soon because you just get sloppy without lessons. Then I'll need to start taking these guys to an arena once a week to really get them fit. I really really really want to get Bill going. How frustrating is a week without riding?? I think I'm just going stir crazy. I didn't even get to see them for a few days after the surgery to protect my eyes from dust and hay particles. It's madness, I missed them so much. I don't think they particularly missed me because their hay arrived on time and they seem to mostly care about that. Maybe they would love me more if I didn't make them compete haha. They do seem to quite enjoy it though. Connie who misses her flying changes pretty much constantly doesn't do that in the ring.

Do you think I could do it? Really do it. Jump a grand prix. Surely all you need is the right horse, that one horse you are bonded to that is a super talented animal. I wonder how long before I throw my leg over that animal if ever. It seems impossible almost like to big of a dream, but I'll keep working. I have to believe that the work is enough, that eventually it will fall into place and be worthwhile.

New Eyes

2011-06-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

yesterday I had a very scary but painless surgery in which they lasered my very shortsighted eyes into good eyes. It hurt for about 6 hours afterwards quite a lot but it seems totally worth it. Now I just have to avoid infection and damaging the surface of the eye and I'm sitting pretty. My vision is already better than normal in the right eye and that's after only 24hrs.

It really was quite scary lots of lasers and lights and you can smell your eye evaporating and feel them tugging at the eye surface even though there is no pain, but I feel like it's a small price to pay after so many years as a glasses wearer. Contacts are expensive so I just ride in my glasses which means in the rain I don't see well. Hunting last time I had a run in a shower and couldn't see any of the fences I was jumping properly but obviously Rascal had in under control because we lived. The other issue is that during hot shows I warm up and sweat a little and when I stand and wait at the in-gate my glasses fog up because the air isn't moving over them. And sometimes my glasses slide down my nose. But not anymore. Boom town. So very excited. (Also very very poor- no winter holiday for me this winter)

I have had glasses since I was a little tacker and I was truly that smart totes nerdy kid and then I had braces and really I lived the stereotype. I always felt pretty subconscious about my glasses. I didn't later in life but I still felt like people saw the glasses before me. Now I just need to dye the hair a new colour and get dating and I'll be sitting pretty haha. LOL!

Producing a hunter

2011-06-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

Fatty Rascal three hunts into the season

So I have only been hunting for two seasons but I feel like I could probably share enough to teach you guys how to produce a nice mannerly field hunter. I guess firstly you need to have your horse with a good covering of fat because they are going to burn it off. I'm a slacker because I nearly always leave the field early, but I honestly think that three and a half hours is long enough for any horse. so yea your horse needs to have plenty of condition going into the season, especially if it's a fussy eater. They need to be fit too but not galloping fit just long distance walking and trotting fit. You can't ever have a horse fit enough for hunting because you would just wear them out. You let the hunting fitten them as you go. You do need to be aware in those first few hunts though that they aren't fit and be careful to pull up and let your horse have a break and catch it's breathe. It's easy here because we hunt hare which tend to run in big circles, so if you lose the hunt you just have to climb to the top of a hill and see where the hunt is. I 8understand in England if you are on a stag you might have a run of 20 miles which is insane. I would definitely get left behind. Though Kim said in Ireland you tended to hunt from patch of bush to patch of bush because the fox would hide out and then get flushed again.

The first key point when you first take your hunter is to put a green ribbon in it's tail to indicate that the horse is new to the huntfield so that people will give you more space. The second thing you need to do is have a really really boring day. The worst hunters to ride are the ones that just ran with the field from day one. They hear the hounds giving tongue and just follow the field ignoring the flailing of their rider because this is what they know. You wont to go out and cruise around the back. Jump a few select easy fences if you feel up to it and spend most the day just talking to people and watching the hunt with the occasional gallop with the field.

It's nice if you have a friend on a greenie so they two of you can hang out for the hunt and teach your horses that their world doesn't end if the hunt gallops off and leaves you behind. You also need to be aware that if your horse is starting to have a melt down and this is true of hunts 1- forever, you need to let them get their equilibrium back and just chill for or a while, or they become hot and nervous hunters. What happens is that when a horse gets really really tired and runs out of energy, they start to run on pure adrenaline and they are really unpleasant at this stage because they tend to lose their heads. I normally go in once this happens.

It always works that around the third hunt is when your green hunter is going to be it's very worst. That seems to be enough hunts that they figure out just how fun hunting is and they just want to get going! This season Rascal and my friends horse were both on hunt three the same day and there was a little bucking on Rascals part and a lot on my friends horses part and we ended up having a very quiet day just chilling at the back with the very occasional gallop and no jumping. This was good for them because on hunt four they were both quite mannerly. Even doing this your horse will probably still be a bit naughty hunting. Horses love hunting and they soon learn that the hounds giving tongue mean it's galloping time and so there are very few horses on the hunt field that don't get a bit excited and act up now and then. Especially as by about 5 or 6 hunts they are starting to get really really fit.

Rascal- fit and hard after hunt 10 despite no work apart from hunting twice a week.

It's important to stay selective about what you jump until you are really confident of what your horse is capable off. When you are on a run you will just jump what comes up and really surprise yourself, but when you are just jumping paddock to paddock while the hounds are still sniffing something out, I find this particularly hard because i'm such a chicken and it's in cold blood. Mostly it's fine I just need to ride a but more confidently to the fences. Now at about hunt 10 Rascal is jumping pretty much everything, even tricky spars but not the bigger fullwires. She can still run as a bit deep to the fences when she is excited, though I think this is also related to me not getting a strong enough canter to start off with. She really enjoys her hunting even though it still tires her out. You tend to see more falls and mistakes at the start of the day and at the end of the day. The start when everything is in cold blood and not really going yet and the end when people and horses making tired mistakes.

You may have to vary your equipment while hunting. Rascal went from a french link snaffle to a waterford snaffle, did two hunts on the second ring of a three ring happymouth gag and now I'm back in a single joint loose ring snaffle. Not the bit I use for flat work because the action is a bit sharp but she was happy in it last time. No hunting for a week or so though, at least 10 days. I'll tell you why tomorrow or the day after.

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-06-10T12:48:00.001-07:00

I am 26! I don't know how I got so old considering I haven't grown up at all!

Title

2011-06-08T21:50:00.001-07:00

It wasn't really that long ago that I was looking forward to my birthdays. That changes quickly eh?? You start to get the feeling of time rushing away from you like sand through your fingers. It seems like there is never enough time, but at the same time there is too much time until the show season starts again! July I can start bringing in the big guns Kate and Connie back in. Everything needs to be fit before calving starts so I just have to maintain them through those horrible horrible weeks of 11-12 hour days looking after the cows and calves.

I guess now is as good as any other time to take a bit of a look back eh. This time last year I was three months into treatment for my depression and I honestly wasn't sure if I would ever compete again. I didn't know it but I'm about to get dumped too which will rock my world, but at the same time make me stronger and realise just how much I have grown up. Finally at nearly a year on I think i'm starting to be ok with being by myself. Though I do miss having someone to share my life with. Especially as Dan loved my riding and was my biggest fan and without his support I probably would have thrown it away, because he more than anyone pushed me to get help.

To recap the season before I had maxed out at 1.10m around December had a breakdown through January and started having panic attacks about going into the ring. Last show of the season I plinked around the 1m classes in a mild panic and it was a write-off really. Hunted that winter for the first time and created a slightly braver version of myself and a super improved version of Connie who was suddenly more forward and jumping across her fences. Terrible winter for abscesses last winter though and it was only with Connie that I stated the season at 1.10m so already I was ahead of last season. Some awesome clinics over the winter helped as well of course. Kate was soon on the team and I was not only completing the 1.10m classes but I was placing on both of them.

It was a dream season really. I had some setbacks of course. Connie jarred up on the hard ground and now Kate has this bumpkin knee but mostly it was a season of real successes and progress, even though we could be a little inconsistent. Highlights of course the clear round at HOY in the amateur class and placing in Connie's first 1.20m class. I feel bad that they are both Connie moments because Kate was awesome as well. Kate set the pace. I'd jump the higher height on her first get some nerve and Connie would follow her up.

Rascal had a pretty bad year but halfway through started to get her confidence back and jump with some more fluency. She then went out so I could focus on the big guns and found her niche hunting this winter. She has blown me away with her awesomness on the hunt field and that carried over to the winter showjumping so even if she doesn't sell this winter (fingers crossed) it looks good for the season to come.

Last June Bill was really green broke and now she is walk trot canter in the open and showing a bit of nice schooling when she is in consistent work. I really can't wait to have her going next season. Maybe for the August winter showjumping day she be competing as well. I get Lasik for my eyes next week and once that done and healed I'm going to get so stuck into Bill she wont know whats coming.

So the future I guess. I'd love to do some 1.30 classes with both Connie and Kate if I can fix her knee. I still have the goal to do a grand prix before I'm 30 and if (big IF) Connie has the scope potentially with two good seasons I could be doing that with her. Big big big IF! Ha dreams are free right. I'd love another season with Kate but realistically it may not happen. I feel like she owes me nothing though. I don't know what I'll do with a 12yr old TB if I can't get her sound again and if I can't free up the coin to put her in foal, but thats life I guess. I'll cross that bridge if I come to it. I'd love for Bill to be doing 1.10ms come season end, and Rascal too if she is still around but maybe in more of a showhunter rather than a jumper way.

Heres looking to the future I guess :)

Hunting 2.0

2011-05-30T00:34:00.001-07:00

Oh Man hunting is awesome. It's been a bit slow running wise but last Wednesday I came across what I had been waiting for. A small fullwire! It's funny how when you are on a run and in hot blood you just go. So yes the first fullwire of my life has been jumped. Excellent. I never thought it would be on Rascal but in Rascals favour she has never stopped hunting and she loves it. She is getting a bit strong though. She is actually really quite fast and is really starting to love having a good gallop.

The only downside is her mad love for my friends horse which means I need to follow her or her horse goes nuts, but that means that Rascal is running me to the fences and we get some deep distances. It's hard too because quite often you only get a few canter strides in front of the fence and you just have to make the best of it. I had a real life this Sunday when I made the cardinal sin of jumping ahead! Yikes! I was just like yup thats it I'm dead, but she was quick enough to chip in and sort herself out (Thanks Jeebers) and despite not having much of me in contact with the horse we both landed on the other side at the same time and in the same location.

We had the most phenomenal run on Sunday. The hounds picked up a hare and we must have chased it for like 8 kilometres or something crazy. Hare are kind enough to run in huge circles. It was a super sunny day with heaps of warmth still in the sun. It was over rolling country too so it was fun though fairly nerve wracking country to gallop over as the hills would drop away quite steeply. Must have jumped 8 or 9 fences and because I was at the front- only 6-7 horses behind the master- I didn't have to pull up and queue to every fence, I just got to keep going and jump more out of stride. I haven't ever hunted at the front but after that run I get why people love hunting. You can feel the blood rushing in your ears and you really want to get that bunny haha!

Jumped my first alkathene, which is just a thin plastic pipe that covers high tensile electric wire. There we jumped out of a flat paddock onto the side of a steep hill. Good stuff and then up the hill and a left hand sweep to a steep hill with a lowered wire at the top. My friend whose heels I was on, pulled out of the fence at the top, but I hit the top, saw the one stride to the fence, put my spurs in and went. Weee! Also fun was jumping through some smaller paddocks and jumping 6 tape gates in a row. Unfortunately, by the end of the hunt only one tape gate was left standing, one of which I had broken when Rascal ran us really deep and caught a back leg. After this huge run, the hunt just kept running all afternoon. We stopped once they set of for another lap and let our horses recover. Rascal was absolutely poked. Her whole body was heaving.

We stood around yarning and drinking for about 30mins and joined in for a few more runs. By now Rascal was so tired she was stumbling a bit at the walk it was such a hard hunt. She hit her fifth wind though, and we had two really nice jumps to finish the day over fences where we couldn't find a gate to get home through. Man I can see why people are such militant hunters, that was insanely fun. Everyone on the field was just ear to ear grins. i really want some photos of some of the stuff we are jumping because it would blow your mind. I'll probably put Rascal on the market after this weekend coming. There is a visitors hunt in the Manawatu next next week and I want to hunt her with a for sale on her butt and hopefully get down to three horses. Bliss!

Tielcey Park Winter Showjumping

2011-05-23T23:22:00.000-07:00

Rascal in the 80cm

So last Saturday, my friend and I headed over to the Tielcey Park Winter Showjumping day to get some exposure for our young horses, and also the horses were doing something that wasn't hunting. After all, I am a showjumper :) Anyways, we arrived at 9 because we were in the third class but we didn't ride until after 2pm. Ahh! All that time we could have been sleeping. The organisation of the show was just the pits. There really needed to be a gate steward to get people into the ring more efficiently. The classes just dragged on forever.

Bill

And oh my goodness, the standard of riding was terrifying. I don't expect the polished performances of the upper levels at a little local show, but this was dangerous and often borderline abusive. It's like there is no one out there who is teaching solid basics anymore, either that or no one is listening. One "clinician" I saw riding repeatedly rode his horse to a borderline dangerously long take off point, and over one fence, his horse actually paddled with it's front legs over the fence, which is really scary and a real danger of causing a horse fall. You know it's bad when all the spectators gasp- even when overhearing what they are saying, they really don't know what they are watching. I'm not trying to be stuck up or difficult- this is actually a serious safety issue. Some of the riders, it can only have been sheer luck keeping them in the saddle because it wasn't balance, technique or skill.

The other thing that bothered me was the amount of horses that are clearly getting their brains fried. If you are teaching your green bean to jump you need to A) Ride to the fence positively B) be going faster than a crawl C) not rip your horse in the face because you need to balance on your horses mouth when he does actually jump D) After you get eliminated- don't re-enter the class and make the same mistakes. You deserved to fall off, because you never gave that poor confused baby the chance to to his job. You punished him when he did jump and you hit him when he didn't. I know it's hard to ride really green horses, I really do, but if nothing else- even if you get left behind- you have to leave the horses face alone. It was awful honestly, people galloping into fences and then ripping on the horses mouths when they got hot from all the galloping. Uh. It was a really bad hands competition I think. Every time we thought we had seen the worst set of rough hands, another set, more terrible, would turn up. Still there was some good riding.

As an aside- Do you Americans find my riding from a deep seat all the time different and odd?

Anyway, Rascal hasn't jumped well all last season, she just had no confidence after a few stops with my little sister the season before. That and some issues with her foot and an injury to her hock as a 5yr old and she hasn't even been the confident balanced 4yr old I bought for quite a long time now. Around February I turned her out to focus on Connie and Kate as the season drew to a close. So I have been hunting her and it seems that hunting is actually a cure all for all problems. She feels stronger and more balanced and everything I have hunted seems to love it. It seems to be really good at teaching them to be confident over their jumps and really makes it fun again. So I pleasantly surprised when the horse I jumped on Saturday wasn't the chicken version I had been riding earlier in the year, but much more like the four yr old I brought. She really seems to be enjoying herself and is definitely much stronger. Godsh I have bitched and moaned about her constantly but I'm starting to enjoy her a lot more now.

so anyway- 1 rail in the 80cm at the smallest fence because I took it too casually, and then one rail in the 90cm at the wall when I gave her too cautious of a ride to it. She hesitated and I hit her causing her to flatten over the fence and punt out the rail. so all my fault really, but I was rapt to have my little horses back. So so nervous to be in the ring again though eh!

AHHGH! Who is that!

Bill came for the trip too. she called a bit while I was riding Bill but when I took her back after her classes she was busy grooming the strange horse in the next yard as happy as a clam. It had started raining when I went out to work her and the warm-up in the indoor was pretty quiet so I worked her in there. First time being worked with strange horses and first time in an indoor and first time at a show so she coped really well all things considered. I only did 15mins of walking and trotting and popped over some rails on the ground. I didn't want to ask too much especially as she was a little horse shy, and the warm-up was starting to get busy. I will turn her out for two weeks now to just think about things and then bring her back in. Luckily, with Rascal home now to act as buddy, I can start doing longer rides around the place. All and all it was a successful day for myself, my girls and my friend. But we are never going back. It was so expensive for what it was, and I can't bear watching that sort of riding.

Rascal in the 90cm class

2011-05-23T00:44:00.000-07:00

I'll explain more later (Waiting on some photos) but here is a nice video of Rascal in the 90cm class I did yesterday.

I have been avoiding you bloggy

2011-05-15T23:24:00.000-07:00

Little Bill

I think I hate this time of year, I really do- in a purely horse sense of course, I quite enjoy the whole hot fire cup of hot chocolate aspect-. Blerk! Nothing gets done really. you have plenty of time to dream up grandiose plans but no way of implementing them. I find dreams quite frustrating when I can't do much about working towards them. I need to start travelling Billo out to arenas to work her on a good surface but Truckie is getting a new ramp put on at the moment so we are grounded.

Talking of Billo, I have run into a real impasse with that horse. Because now it's time to work and she doesn't think thats a good Idea. She is an odd mix of sensitive and hot but very lazy. So she hates the leg and resents it but really doesn't want to listen to it. I'm spending so much time cruising the farm laneways at the moment because the paddocks are too wet. She has been really really laid back about this, but recently has gotten quite spooky. I nearly went over her shoulder not that long ago. Thankfully, the fence pulled her up before she could finish her spin. It just feels like we aren't making much progress. I'm mostly working on straightness, outside contact and going forward so it's basic stuff, but possibly my expectations are too high. She has given me some amazing rides, so I guess a rough patch was inevitable especially as the work level escalates and she gets a bit muscle sore. The cooler weather doesn't help with the spookiness. Still I'll keep chipping away and stay consistent and I'm sure we will start progressing again.

I worry about Kate as well, even though she seems to be a content woolly winter bear. I'm worried I'm not going to be able to afford her joint injections for next season and then what do I do? What do you do with a 12yr old lame horse? I do plan to breed her at some stage but if I can't afford some injections, I can't afford a foal. Especially as I hope to be running three horses all next season. I love riding Kate because she is such a dude and it's good for me to ride something hot and sensitive and likes the deeper spot.

On a less dismal note, Rascal had her third and fourth hunts last week. We didn't jump at the third hunt because there was nothing I felt brave enough to jump, but we enjoyed some phenomenal country to ride over and some really good gallops. We did spend a lot of the time just cruising at the back because both my friend and my horses needed to chill out a little bit. Even Rascal chucked in a few bucks, while my mates horse was a bit off of his face. I have changed her bit to a waterford snaffle and she is awesome in it, because she doesn't lean on it at all or argue with it, but I do need to remember to have a smoother hand to the fences. Still I gave myself a fright after watching a horse flip himself after getting his legs caught between the wires- horse and rider were fine, but that scared me.

Hunt four was nearly a miss because the weather was really awful but after about 15mins hiding under some trees the sun came out and apart from greasy conditions, the hunting was quite good. The wind did blow the scent around a bit but we still had plenty of running. It had been so long since I jumped Rascal so I was a bit afraid, bat eventually we came across a small lowered wire and I went for it. She didn't really lock onto it and she clobbered it, but she was very clean after that. When you hit wire it really sounds worse than it is. After we had done a few, she started to run me a bit deep, so I got some nice jumps by holding her off of the fence a bit. She is so much better over the fences on a run, but if we have done some walking switches off pretty well. Gave myself another fright after she hit another taller one that I was scared of, but it was my fault because I interfered too much. Jumped some decent size lowered wires, which was very brave for me, and she was in her happy place, her ears are forward all hunt. She did get tired and once they start to run on adrenaline alone they get a bit loopy so at three hours once we got to a huge uphill fence, with Rascal acting up, I called it a day and went in. Overall though it was a very very good hunt for her. Joint hunt this Wednesday and I hope to hunt closer to the front, get her seen and then hopefully get her sold.

Saddle snob

2011-05-05T23:32:00.000-07:00

I'm a lucky lucky girl in that last year I put myself in debt and brought a Prestige Event saddle and a County Innovation for Kate and Connie respectively. These saddles are delicious and the county is the closest I have ever gotten to getting a saddle to fit Connie who is pencil shaped. Round topped but not actually that broad.

Bill horse is by a Dutch Warmblood stallion who wasn't freaky big, out of a very petite TB mare, and somehow she has grown into a Quarter horsesque solid monster freak. She is only about 16hh tall but she is so broad and her shoulders are massive. So clearly saddle fit is a problem. She is not bad in Connies saddle but it actually still isn't broad enough because it wants to ride forward.

Anyway, in a blast of unparalleled smarts I realised I just needed to make a custom gullet for my long forgotten Bates, that has sat in the shed for a year. The farrier bent up the gullet for me and hurrah a gullet that fits Bill, though my saddle protested a little at the stretch. It needs a little padding at the front because she is downhill but she rode really nicely and freely and seemed a little more balanced in her canter, though she did just have her feet done so that could have helped as well.

The issue then I hear you ask? I don't like the Bates. It's all not calf skin and not luxurious. The Prestige is a beautiful balanced saddle to sit in and the county is a freaking dream. It feels like you couldn't fall out of it if you wanted too. You sit in the county and you sit ON the Bates. Bah I'm a saddle snob, and I really can't afford to be! Still as long as Bill is happy I will suck it up

Haircuts and hunting

2011-04-30T02:37:00.000-07:00

BILL

Bill and Rascal both got clipped. I'd say yay but I hate the job. I even washed them, but Rascals coat was so thick I didn't even touch her rump dirt apparently and my blades are pretty blunt now. I had to try and do bill as well because she was sedated and it's expensive. Her coat though is not freaky dense and filthy, rather it's downy and long so my blades happily cut through her hair and she was by far the easiest to clip. She would be the horse I worry most about kicking or striking but she seemed to actually quite enjoy the clipping. Only protested when I did her cheekbones. Rascal was an absolute donkey around her head but I get her done and while she looks super smart and huntery with her roached mane I instantly regretted it when I got on at the hunt.

RASCAL

still there is a bit of a before story. I went out to Palmy with my little sister and fully embraced the binge drinking culture. So I woke up at 7.40am, knowing that the night before I had bet lots of people that I would go to the olympics. I told my sister I had to go home to ride Bill before hunting. I leapt of of bed yelling " you don't get to the olympics by being a pussy" And then fell over. Oops. Still drunk. Has to sober up before going anywhere.

So I was feeling really poorly when I got to the hunt- though 2 McChickens and some Mizone isotonics helped! Rascal was excited having hunted before and remembering how fun it was. It wasas I went to grab a handful of mane as I swung up that i regretted removing said mane and it felt really odd to be jumping spars and to just see my lonely little hands pressed into her naked crest. Still she was awesome to hunt and I was rapt with her, well as rapt as I can be feeling that poorly. rascal is living with my friend so we can hunt until Tru.ckie is fixed

Rode Bill tonight and it seems I clipped off the warmblood and left only the TB because she was hot hot and bucky when I worked her today. Was rapt with a few nice kind circles of trot and left it at that. I have started exercising and ran pretty far tonight and I have to say i'm starting to love the running. Just the solitariness of it, it's only the sound of my feet and breath and then the beat of the music. It's really centering. It's also a really good time to just think about stuff. I really feel like I'm getting a really strong sense of myself and my own worth again and thats really exciting and nice. I feel strong and capable again for the first time in ages. Life is the bomb

Nothing is happening

2011-04-27T19:28:00.000-07:00

See title. Otherwise there would be lots and lots and lots of posts about all of the exciting things I had been doing with my horses. It's really not that time of year. Connie and Kate are paddocked away from the house in a paddock full of grass and hills and trees and have been running wild, without covers and they will soon have their shoes pulled. They called for the first few days but soon took to just ignoring me. On sunday, I knew a southerly was coming and that it would get very cold and wet so I went to cover the two wild ponies. They came when I called, bucking farting and neighing. And then they galloped away again and it took me about half an hour before they stopped running like loonies and let me rug them. Southerlies come from Antarctica so they freeze your very bones. They must be happy I persevered because it has been so wet and so cold for the last 5 days, they would have been very very miserable.

Truckie has also packed it in. I loaded Rascal to go to a hunt and then the hinges broke on the ramp so I unloaded her and had to shut the ramp with the tractor forks and lots of man power. That was a fortnight ago and I haven't been out since. I have had a few nice rides on her though and Bill has also been going really well though has had nearly a week off. So I can still hunt I'm going to board Rascal at a friends place, because hunting twice a week is fitness enough. Still it's an expense I could have done without. I have to get the horse going so I can sell her and she is bloody good fun to hunt.

I however have kicked off on an exercise program with the goal of getting both slimmer and fitter. It's been two weeks so far and I'm starting to get into the swing of things though my body thinks i'm totally nuts. I also tried coming off of my anti-depressants but after 3 weeks turning into a snarly grumpy crier and decided it wasn't really worth it and went back on and bam! functional human being again. It actually guts me that I need medication to feel normal but I guess what can you do. I'm really sad when I think of the years I wasted with a low grade depression before I went nuts and realised I needed help. Still life is a journey blah blah etc! I hope everyone is getting a lot more saddle time than I am! I'm really starting to miss it.

Hunting

2011-04-12T21:44:00.000-07:00

I have had two hunts so far this season, one with Connie about 2 weeks ago and last weekend I took Rascal out. It was her first hunt and i didn't know how she would go but she was really awesome. She chipped into the first spar and kept her eye on it going over and did the same over the second and then jumped everything straight away including the little post and rail. The only time she made me cross was when she wouldn't move off of my right spur so I could close the gate. In fact we even shared a moment when we almost liked each other when I scratched her chin with the toe of my boot.

Rascal and I- we get to hunt over beautiful country

We went out after the hunt proper had left because we were on a bunch of babies. I ended up hunting than I intended to but she was coping so well. She was happy (grateful!!) to stop and stand quietly. If I trusted her a little more over the fences I would much prefer her to Connie who just thinks hunting is so cool she has super ants in her pants.

Kim on Connie and my friend on her maiden hunter

I had a surreal moment riding yesterday. I was riding Rascal around the hills and a fert plane was working the neighbours property. He was flying around our hill and I ended up being eye level with the pilot and we had a wave to each other. It's just strange to have a plane pass within 30m at your on height when you are on a horse. And Rascal seriosly! You are scared of a really white rock off by itself but you are totally cool with the aeroplane? You are a strange pony. Though I think I may be getting to the bottom of what makes Rascal tick. And thats contact and plenty of it. She seems to really like the security of a firm hand even if I don't like riding that way. It's completely removed the spook. Now she looks but she doesn't jump away. Odd pony.

There is a little show this weekend with 30cm up to 80cm classes I should really take bill too. Maybe if the weather is good. She is probably ready but I want another month of preparation! I'm a bit chicken. I'll jump her this weekend anyway because I need to add a few doubles and things.

Kate goes to the Vet

2011-04-10T00:11:00.001-07:00

So this Friday I loaded Kately up and took her on an hour and 45 minute drive to Southern Rangitiki Vet Services where they have an excellent equine clinic. The lengths I got to eh! She was really such a saint of a horse. I couldn't have been happier with how she behaved. Everyone loved her because despite the fact there wasn't a single other horse around her, she was quiet and biddable and did everything asked of her. So we started with a normal walk and trot up the breezeway. (I was a little hungover and I have to say the running was doing me in) On a positive note at least the sun was out there. It was a beautiful sunny Autumn day while at home it was overcast but absolutely freezing.

Now to recap, Kate has been stopping at fences even when I get a good ride, cranky under saddle and uneven until she warms up and reluctant to go forward. She has been missing some flying changes and cross firing a bit so I suspected that the issue was in her hocks, though she does throw some short strides on her right fore, which I though was because the issue was in her opposite hind, or because she needed her back done. Can you see where this is going? Lunged her on concrete on an 8m circle walk/trot and then we lunged on a big circle trot/canter and while she wasn't really positively lame, she looked clearly uncomfortable. Then we flexioned her and she only flexioned positively on the right fore- about a 101.5/5 lameness. (More running!!!)

Then we I got on and rode her at the canter on the packed lime carpark at the canter and trotted some small figure 8s. The vet then said that he thought the issue was in the right fore which was pretty, obvious after all of this poking and prodding and not her hocks at all. I was just like yea well thats why I'm here, you know more than I do. The problem being in her foreleg could just as easily cause the same issues I'm seeing in her as she tries to avoid waiting that foreleg. I have never really dealt with a horse with a low grade constant lameness, so I guess there is no shame in being wrong but I do still feel a bit dumb!

Then it was time for palpated and Kate clearly reacted when he got to the knee. The Vet was very confident she had a case of DKS- Dicky knee syndrome. It's common in racehorses but not in jumpers so go figure. Then the next stage is to either take that information and think about it or get x-rays which would cost me about $250. It's a funny timing to take her to the vet because I always planned to just turn her out for the winter and start again next Spring, but I needed to take her to the vet while she was still in work and the problem was still aggravated and obvious, even though any treatment would probably wait until the next Spring. One of the major reasons I took Kate there was because of their good x-ray facilities so I always intended to get films done if they were neccessary. It's one thing to know that the issue is in her knee, and quite another to be able to see what it is.

Anyway, she does have arthritic changes in her knee. Some remodelling on the second carpal bone, and some pitting on the surface of the 3 carpal bone, though the joint margin itself looked really clean. I think the vet was worried I'd be freaked out, but even I could see the changes weren't too major, and he was very confident that we would be able to make her comfortable, probably with injections into the joint. Like he said though, it may only be one factor that is causing her stopping but it's nice to know that she is sound and that the issue is something else- be it my riding or her confidence. He did say it could definitely be the major factor depending on her pain thresholds, and Kate is a bit of a wimp. she is a TB after all.

Anyway, belkow is an x-ray of a normal right knee on a horse and I have somewhat drawn in the remodelling in white on the 2nd carpus and the dark grey arrow indicates where the joint surface damage is on the 3rd carpal bone. This diagram is probably actually very inaccurate because it's just from memory and while it was easy to see when pointed out at the clinic, when I went to replicate it I realised I had no idea what I was doing. Still close enough eh chaps!

Realistically, Kates career will be shortened by this and I probably wont be able to sell her because she is already 11 and people don't buy older horses with arthritis. That being said I really want to breed her one day so all is not lost. Her prognosis is good and in terms of bad news it's not really so bad (It does sound expensive though).

Bill goes out again

2011-04-04T23:39:00.000-07:00

The difficulty with getting a young horse out is finding a place to take her where there is some atmosphere but not so much that her mind is blown. I would be taking her around the road to the riding facility quite near us, but after a falling out over a thin horse everyone thought was mine (Including the SPCA) I don't want to use her facility anymore or be associated with it. The whole situation was pretty wrong. Anyway, I had an epiphany and that meant that despite being a bit hung over and tired, I took Bill down to a friends place. They have quite a few horses and are next to a small airport so it was a good option I thought.

Bill was actually pretty freaking awesome. she was only really a slightly more spooky and forward version of the horse I ride at home so that was very exciting. The day before I had ridden her out in a 5 acre paddock to see if she would cop with open spaces even though open spaces are the most risky on a young horse. She was awesome there though as well so I'm starting to get more and more confident in her ability to cop and behave. That being said she is very green and I'm sure the worst is yet to come :)

So she traveled really well and instead of sweat dripping off of her like her first trip, she was only a little bit sweated up on her flanks. Thats excellent! She also loaded and unloaded really well. I lunged her for about 4 minutes and then got on. My friend was working his horse at the same time so it was awesome for her to be worked around a strange horse. She really did behave so well, far beyond my expectations. The only time she got a bit upset was when the other horse cantered up behind her. They have lots of little logs as well so I took her over all of those and we are pretty much eventers now lol!

I did my first jumping from the canter as well and safe to say it's going to take her a while to get the timing of that sorted. Bill is a bit downhill and has this massively long powerful canter stride and she really isn't sure what to do with all of that power. It's a matter of flatwork and strength and over time it will improve and become more rideable. She loaded up to come home perfectly, and I was just so rapt with her that it's not even funny. I'll take her down there a few more times and then I need to start looking at a busier outing, a practice day or such thing.

Riding is all about keeping the horse between you and the ground

2011-03-29T23:24:00.000-07:00

Had a lovely days hunting today. Had a hell of a time getting Connie saddled up because clearly she hasn't forgotten what hunting is about and she was very very naughty. My friend said she really is a pig and it's true. I have tried and failed to teach her ground manners, but she is fairly selective about when she wants to be mannerly. She is that horse you tell of for pawing while tied at the truck, walk into the truck, hear her start pawing, grow her from inside the truck, pawing continues, walk out of the truck and she is standing there looking at you with innocent eyes in the hole she just dug. Too smart for her own good, and probably a lot smarter than me.

She was reluctant over the first few spars but once I had gotten over a few we both hit our straps and it was all pretty easy. I also enjoyed having a chuckle at my friend freaking out about the tiny spars on a borrowed horse until she got a feel for the horse and trusted her more.

Unfortunately, another friend of mine, whom lives to hunt, had a tumble and broke her arm, which effectively ends her hunting season. Which really sucks. She is in hospital and her horse is tucked up at my place. It got me to thinking though, so often the falls that don't look that bad cause injury and the ones that look like all parties should be killed in process cause no injury at all. When I fell off of Kate at Foxton, I literally stepped off and didn't knock the fence or anything but my thumb is still giving me a lot of trouble and pain after 5 weeks, while I flew off of her at HoY and didn't even get a bruise. I didn't see the fall my friend had but apparently it looked pretty soft until everyone heard the bone break (I was at the top of the hill with my other friend drinking port and catching up). One of the softest falls my friend I was drinking with, resulted in her broken back. The worst fall I have seen recently, when both horse and rider came down in a showjumper after a monumental miss by the rider, where both horse and rider ended up in a heap on the ground and they bot get up and walk away. There seems to be no real rhyme or reason to it. It's not actually how hard you fall, it's how you land. Riding is a really dangerous sport. It's best not to think about that though.

As an aside after I was in hospital last with my sprained ankle, I ended up doing an ACC questionnaire on horse accidents and most people get injured at home, rather than at sanctioned events and most of the injuries that cause hospitalisations are head and limb injuries. Wear your helmets!

Oh so not motivated

2011-03-27T22:47:00.000-07:00

Uh it's terrible I know, but I'm actually a little sick of horses now the show season is over. I think that Connie and Kate are fairly horrified by the cutting down and withdrawal of their hard feed. Connie hunts Wednesday and Saturday and then I pull her back shoes and turn her out for at least 8 weeks. With the weather closing in and the days getting shorter I need to focus my time better, and right now that focus needs to be on Rascal and Bill. One sad thing about her not hunting is I'm going to have to get her fit for showjumping next season, instead of just carrying her hunting fitness through. Why hunt her at all? I hear you ask. Because she loves it. And it will be really nice for her to get on the truck and travel somewhere to just gallop around with a pack of other horses and be outside of the structure of showing. Hunting will freshen a horse up as well as a break will. That and after all the collect collect collect of showjumping she will just appreciate being able to jump out of a gallop I'm sure.

Opening hunt was last Saturday but it was raining so I passed. I'm a fair weather hunter only. I love the sport but I hate getting wet. At least in showjumping there is a chance of getting some money back :)

I have spent a lot of time pondering the delicious Kate and her recent lack of form. I have also come to a conclusion. I think she is sore. The first ride at HOY when she really ejected me, the ride was a forward five strides and I got there nicely to a good spot but off of a longer stride and she disappeared on me. She is only jumping when there is absolutely no out. The kicker is that one thinking about it I gave her the exact same ride at the start of the season to 1.20m combination (oxer in(I was very scared)) at Te Teko in the amateur and she just ate it up, while this time over a small single upright she didn't want to play ball. She has also been a bit stiff and cranky until she warms up. The other thing that got the old mental cogs whirring was that the stop in the last round we did at HoY, she stopped in a combination after a really good jump in, at a plain oxer. The double was quite long though and it seems she is quitting when she has to take the slightly longer distance- so when she has to jump bigger. Maybe she isn't and I'm just riding her badly but anyway I will take her over to the clinic next week and get her looked over. she is an 11yr old and she isn't exactly low mileage.

Bill is coming along. today I took her out and worked her in a strange paddock for the first time. It's hard by myself. I want to get her out and about more but it's better to take a young horse out with a grown up horse buddy and it's not that often I have someone to ride with. Still I try to have a little goal each ride that is something we haven't done before and we make progress. Rascal doesn't know it yet bu she is going to be my hunter/ possible dressage horse if I can overcome my lack of interest in dressage for the winter. She is pretty unfit and oh so dumb but at least she feels sound and good and she might be trying. On our ride today she freaked out a a road sign and then when I rode her up to the oh so scary sign she walked head first into it (That sort of intelligence puts you off jumping it over wire). Le sigh. Still must be done, she wont get fit by herself. Her first hunt will probably be next next Wednesday, though she wont be fit enough to do much, but it has some very small spars to start with.

Connie in the 1.20m

2011-03-23T00:36:00.000-07:00

This is the photo I have blown up, framed and on the wall. It's cropped a little tighter but one of my favourite pictures ever.

HOY- an Epic novella because it's raining and I don't want t go outside.

2011-03-21T17:46:00.000-07:00

Photos are too dark to shrink- but if you click on them they should come up full size and you can enjoy Connie and Kate in their full glory.

Ahh Horse of the Year. Finally, after 7 years, I once again came through your gates as a competitor and not a watcher. I bounced up the driveway to meet my friend when she stopped in to pick up me and the ladies. We arrived at HoY about 3.30pm on the Monday and being at a show for 7 days really does make for a long week. I really struggled in the heat but managed to ride either late in the day or early in the morning so I missed the worst of it. (The pictures are all from the Friday 1.15m class)

I had a fairly ambitious entry schedule, but I made it easier on my self to accommodate the fact that it was my first HoY in years and I might as well enjoy the end of my season. So anyway, monday it was a 1.10m class down in ring 3. Connie jumped well though a little half assed and I got her deep to an oxer in the jump-off and took a rail. also I stopped in the round because a rail was down but everyone yelled at me to keep going so I did. I think I would have had time faults and the judges were kind to let me continue. Kate started really well, jumped strongly, and I made the five strides down to the fifth fence and all of a sudden I was out of horse. I remember thinking that this was really going to hurt but I cleared the fence, albeit alone, and landed rolling so I got up no harm done. Must have looked good though because the judges looked horrified, but I assured them I had landed on my padded bits. I guess I had let my contact go a bit maybe, but mostly I have no idea what happened, she really stepped out on me in the last moment. I'm sure I used to be able to canter down a line to a fence even if it was a bit scary.

The Wednesday we started in the 1.20m class. Connie really prefers the bigger fences I think. She felt amazing. I just overrode into a 3 fence line and had the first rail. Still got an amazing photo of her jumping a 1.20m oxer, which is now on the wall nicely framed and blown up to A4 Size. I have been desperately wanting to get a really nice photo of her over the bigger fences and I'm delighted to have it. Kate was stopping at the oxer in the warm-up so I didn't start her after I ended up straddling the practice fence. She jumps if I have vice leg on and super amounts of contact but I'm starting to wonder if she is sore somewhere. I know as a TB she likes to be held together and that, but I need to be able to canter down a stupid normally strided line on her- i'm sure I used to be able to do this earlier in the season? I wish she would tell me i she is sore, or just sick of it, or whats going on. I might flexion her when Kim is back in the weekend and I even wonder if I might get hock x-rays because she does seem like she is lacking some power perhaps? She feels sound though and full or pep, but she isn't so keen to jump anymore.

Anyway, the cure for bad rounds is shopping! So I brought a new riding Coat. 50% off a Pikeur! I couldn't walk away! I didn't wear it for ages though because I felt like it was too flash for me. I also got a new saddle blanket, ordered new long boots and got two new show shirts. (I don't often buy things for myself and obviously I went a little mad) Though to be fair my current coat cost me $100 second hand and my boots are 8 years old and falling apart. And with HoY being so hot I was sweating through my show shirts really quickly. Oh and the fresh made juice stand under the grandstand did a roaring trade with me. MMMM juice! Thursday was a 1.15m class for Connie and again she four faulted but jumped well enough. Kate was in the 1.10m class and actually jumped clear when I really made sure I never let her contact go until she left the ground but she was sticky off of the ground and while I was rapt to complete with just 4 faults for a circle looking back it wasn't a great round.

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Yay for Friday. Though after 3 days I was starting to think home would actually be quite nice. Three day shows are the norm here so HoY is lots longer than I'm
used to. Anyway, my sister and a friend and my ex were all there to watch and stuff, so we went for a massive epic match of mini-putt while we waited for our classes. It was another 1.15m class and again Connie had another rail. It was my fault though, got a bad spot to the upright and sat up and waited for the 6 strides instead of really riding to get the 5 strides. That meant we didn't jump into the double big enough and she took the back rail of the oxer on the way out. Really it was very generous of her to even try make that huge leap. Kate warmed up super and started well. Though looking at the picture above with her over the first fence, she doesn't look that happy does she. Anyway she started ok, got a great ride to the double, definitely made the distance and she jumped the first and basically landed in a stop and had made no effort for the second element. I got chicken and retired, jumping the first fence on the way out. So I don't know. I have never known Kate to chicken out a normal no fill oxer, and she is normally really bold through her combinations. Luckily for me I got to spend the night in a friends motel and had a fabulous soak in the tub which help with my sore falling off muscles and meant I got some decent sleep. Apparently the showgrounds were really noisy.

Saturday was a rest day for them but I rode Connie bareback in a halter and led Kate over to the polo grounds so that they could graze for half an hour which they seemed to appreciate. Though I was regretting the bareback halter decision when they both came back jiggy and spooky and being stupid. Damn horses. That night the showgrounds were again super super noisy. It's because a lot of the classes are finished and people are celebrating the end of the show, but my big class was still to come and I was pretty annoyed that I was constantly being woken up by drunk talk outside the truck at 2.30m.

I woke up on sunday feeling like a Zombie but with plenty to do. I got my hot chocolate and walked the course in my PJs. Which was funny because the course builder was like I knew someone would walk my course in PJ's. It was a really good course. Lots of questions but not to big, so a great course for the amateur of the Year class. So Connie was groomed and had her studs put in and saddled up. I watched the first three go and then went to Bridle my horse. couldn't find my spurs or my helmet and was in a frantic flap especially when I could hear them announcing the horse four before me while I was still bridling up. Anxious canter to the warm-up , three warm up fences and I was in the ring. Over one and two I was definitely still a little cautious so I made myself ride up to the 9 strides to three. Good jump over the wall and down the next line. she wasn't as tired as she was on friday but was still a little flat. Then our boogy fence- The treble. She hit the first element hard but then jumped really well. I was delighted when I turned back to the next fence that the rail was still up. Over the planks and then the double and I refused to get chicken and still boldy took the last. I was so delighted I nearly cried having jumping my first clear round all season in an amateur class- especially as this one mattered most to me.

I was so nervous for the jump-off I really was. I was going to go inside the wall but sort of knew Connie wasn't capable of it. I had a super jump-off as well she was clean and and turning tightly and was bold to her fences. I changed my mind halfway round the turn to then go outside the wall. and the stride was there but
I didn't ride up enough and had a stop. She finished really well though. she jumped super it was only my fault. Still I was rapt to have jumped a clear and being right up in the competition.

And now? It's all over. After 7 months of working through the season and looking to HoY and working on being better and stronger, it's all over for the year. Connie and Kate will do a couple of hunts and then be turned out, though I need to investigate Kate a bit. Then I will focus on rascal and bill. Still I feel a little lost now it's all done. Still only 5 months and we start again.

Bills Third Jumping session

2011-03-20T23:13:00.000-07:00

This occurred before Horse of the Year so for my blog to appear in good chronological order you will have to wait to hear about HOY! Though I will let you know that it was very very hot and dusty.

So I got brave and bill had her third "jumping" session. She started poorly though when she took off over a little fence about two metres early and took a real flier. I was scared by this and she frightened herself a little bit too I think. But with a slower approach she learned that it's a lot easier to get right to the base and pop over.

I worked really hard on staying out of her way as much as possible and never catching her mouth and I feel like this was the most relaxed session she has had because I didn't get in her way. Every so often she would pop over a fence and I would be like yup there is a some real power here.

She was at all phased by the fences in whatever form they appeared, though they were all tiny. Soon she was trotting in, doing a tiny half canter stride and popping over the fence and cantering away really kindly and relaxed. I was pretty happy she was placing herself more at the base because she loves the long take-off and I want to knock that on the head quickly.

Still I couldn't have been happier with her. Now I really need to start getting her out and about more, have one jumping session a week and have her ready to stat next season :)

Squirt

2011-03-10T12:37:00.001-08:00

I found this picture of Squirt from the NZ Dominion Post. No one has been named yet, but most people know who it is I think. There are whispers that there is proof and this person will be caught. That would be great.

2011-03-09T23:31:00.001-08:00

I had actually forgotten how much work young horses are lol. I have been spoilt by Connie and Kate but now that Bill is really starting to get worked I have been reminded just how tricky it is. Especially as she is a rather witchy and opinionated little Girl. She has been going so well though. Yesterday she had her first solo ride down the road and apart from moving in slow motion so she could take it all in she was really good. Very bold and confident.

Today everything got schooled. With breaks in between of course it was very hot! Kate feels off in her right fore again but worked through it. I wonder if she is getting tight in her back again. I hope not because she felt solid as three days ago. Once she worked through the shortness she actually worked really well. Connie was as per usual fabulous and tried quite hard to stay collected in her canter which she finds really difficult. I do love her to pieces when she is really good.

Bill is just starting to work on proper grown up horse schooling. Straightness and forwardness and roundness. On the right rein she is really really good and gave me some really nice trot work, forward and light on the contact but soft. She wants to fall in a lot though, so she is also learning that now she has to bend her body around the corners rather than motorcycle. She is quite hinky to the left and it's also my weaker direction riding. I had forgotten how one sided young horses can be! But she had some really nice moments and we even did some cantering where she used her butt as opposed to the bury your head and go really fast to compensate for different rider weight balance. Which is good because with her head buried and her big old butt power cantering I feel like I'm riding a slide!

Humming and hawing what classes I do at HoY. At the moment my first class out for both of them is the 1.20m and I might have a crack at it and then go down in height if it doesn't go well for the next days. The only way to get better at the 1.20ms and get over my fear of them, is to do them. Shouldn't be as big on the first day anyway, or as technical. We will see hey.

Some people really really suck

2011-03-07T23:55:00.000-08:00

A horrifying incident took place in the weekend, of the like I have never heard of happening at any show I have been at. Someone actually harmed a horse overnight. Squirt, who is a palomino showhunter horse, had creosote smeared (dabbed, poured, rubbed?? I don't know) on the left side of his face near his left eye. This has caused the horse facial burns, and when I walked past him at the vets truck in the morning I noted the horse with a sore swollen weepy eye and face, but I didn't know what I was looking at until the rumour mill kicked in later that day.

What makes it even more sickening is that the horse had gotten a chemical burn the week earlier at Foxton, but the owner thought maybe he had come into contact with some sheep dip. Now, however, it looks like the horse may have been attacked earlier. Why you might ask. Apparently Squirt is currently third in the Showhunter High Points series and I guess someone else doesn't like that. The horse was treated and did compete that day though I think. It is going to get worse before it gets better I think.

The worse thing is that a crime like this is nearly impossible to find the guilty party, regardless of how much everyone thinks it's one individual. It's a tight knit community on the show circuit and definitely there are few people capable of this. Unfortunately, the chances are that there aren't any witnesses and without proof this person can never receive the life long ban that this person deserves. Even more maddening is that if there was a witness I doubt they would come forward because as someone said to me you then run the risk of your own horse being harmed. It's an ugly situation.

Series Finals in Hawera

2011-03-06T19:12:00.000-08:00

Oh Hawera I don't think I have ever had a good show here. I was feeling pretty confident after last weekend at Foxton and maybe that was my downfall. We arrived on Thursday night and settled in and woke in the morning to a grey day that turned into pretty heavy rain by about 9 in the morning. Kate started out in the 1.10m class and had a rail and a stop. The stop was my fault because I underestimated how much she would stall at the gate and so didn't ride up soon enough and didn't make the distance. Then Connie came out in the 1.20m class and was a complete egg. I don't think I rode her that badly and I think for once I'm going to say she didn't do her half of the job. She was good over the first fence, didn't lock onto the second and had a rail. I circled off of the third the first time because there was no spot. The second attempt she jumped in ok from a decent spot but landed and was never going to jump the second part of the double. I don't know if she was finding the going deep (it was starting to cut up) or what her deal was, though in thinking she probably needed a more aggressive ride to force her focus.

Kate was in the same 1.20m class and started pretty well but felt like she was struggling in the ground somewhat. I learnt a lot from this round though. 1. She can clear an oxer from a really deep spot if I stay committed. 2. She is chicken to Wavy planks. 3. I am chicken to plank oxers lol! She actually tried pretty hard but I did a good job of getting in her way. Finally I got a terrible ride into the treble and addedin the one stride distance and circled out for the big E. Guts. It was really nice to see and meet Sally who is a reader, I just wish she could have seen the girls (and me!) on form.

That night the rain came back so heavily the sound of it on the roof of the truck was deafening and we didn't sleep very well. The ground in the oval was getting really deep. A guy who trains racehorses said that ring 2 was grade 8 heavy which is really really heavy. Still Connie had been changed to the 1.05m class. When I tried to saddle her up she went ballistic and after 15mins hanging onto one front foot trying to put her studs in (She had keepers- it was only a matter of screwing the keepers out and the studs in). I wasn't going to let that foot go though. Still after that much hassle I gave up on her and didn't do her other feet. I certainly wasn't getting under her to do tha back ones. The joys of working with a fair weather horse eh. Anyway by the time I got her to the ring I was really wild with her, but she actually jumped really well. (More aggressive ride though) she was even committed as through the combinations and we did an awesome jump-off with super tight turns and a full on gallop to the last to jump it on an angle to win the class. For that I pocketed a cool $90, which is crazy prizemoney for a open 1.05m class. Connie. When she is good she is very very good but when she is bad she is horrid. The ground out in ring 3 was actually really good and Connie didn't slip despite having no studs in three feet.

Kate then had the amateur class in ring 2. Had a stop at the first (Why why why am I scared of triple bars, they are so easy to jump) because of a bunny ride but then she jumped quite well. She never felt happy or confident though and I was having to ride her really hard to the base and still wasn't sure she was going to leave the ground. In the first combination it felt like she really sunk into the ground and she took a stride and hurled herself at the next fence. I retired after that, because to me it just felt like she was finding the going too hard. No point killing her before HoY and it's not like I wasn't miles down in the series. Something seems to happen when I know the fences are 1.20m and I make silly mistakes. It's just like a mental block and I need to just get over it. So Hawera was really not my show. We didn't start on Saturday because it was raining again and actually hideously cold. With a 4 hour trip home it was actually nice to be on the road fairly early and get home before dark.

Wellington and Horowhenua SJ and SH Championships

2011-02-28T12:45:00.000-08:00

So this weekend I was at yet another show. I was there by myself though so not only was warming up interesting (A few times I went from a crossrail to a 1.15m fence depending on what was set up) but I don't have any photos. Sorry about that, I really wish I had some video because it was a good show.

Anyway the first class up was the 1.10m with Kate. We had a pretty good round and she was really not looky which was nice, because it proves that it was the oat chaff that was the issue. Had a tidy jump-off and was third in division 1. The class was 127 horses so they divide the class into two divisions. In either division I would have had the same placing based on my time. Well done Kate big pats for you.

The next class was Connie in her very first 1.20m class. I was very very very nervous and it was a reasonably sized track. I didn't have to worry though. I rode the best round of my life I think and gave her a fabulous ride and she just jumped super fabulous. Bold and confident, not over jumping but never even touching a rail. I had a clear round and went pretty quick in the jump-off to finish 6th in the second division. (98 horses in this class). I couldn't have been happier, I was so rapt.

Then Kate came out in the same class. There was deep pit on the landing side of the warm up fences and being alone I couldn't move them so I didn't get a very good warm-up. I jumped it once and we nearly fell on landing so that was it really. Now Kate and Connie are very different and I actually find it a little hard going from horse to horse. Connie is very laid back and quiet so I have to make the canter to get down the related lines. Then I get on Kate who can be a bit strong and who is quite forward and I always overestimate our canter. So in the five stride line to the double even though I had a good jump in I didn't make the distance because I sat up and held instead of just letting her canter down to the double. She stopped and I fell. So the day worked out as two ribbons and a fall.

The next day Kate was late entered into the 1.10m Championship class (Probably should have done the 1.20m but thats ok) She jumped really well and I didn't ride a good round in the jump-off and had a rail there. The Amateur was a fairly big track which is good. Connie jumped awesome, but after fence 2 I let my canter fall apart and circled off of fence three because I just didn't have the canter. On re-approach she jumped really well and apart from the four faults for the circle and a time fault she jumped clear. On Kate I made sure to ride more forward and consistently and to make all my related lines and despite having to ride up one of them, it was my best round on Kate, I just had just a rail. I am the master of four fault rounds in the amateur classes. Still as a show it was a good one. Next weekend it's Hawera for series finals and then 10days later it's Horse of the Year and then I get a break from Showjumping which I think I'm actually looking forward to a bit.

The Bill Day Out

2011-02-26T23:29:00.000-08:00

So Bill at the tender age of 6 and a half finally made it off the farm like a proper grown up broken in horse. No one can say I produce them too fast!! She loaded really well onto the truck and traveled to Teilcey Park. She arrived with massive sweat puddles under her and she was a little wild eyed but she had traveled really well and then quickly relaxed into standing in her yard and eating hay with her buddies Connie and Kate. She didn't even care when I took the others away one at a time to work them. Connie was more of a knob.

After I had worked the others, I worked Bill in the little 30x 20m lunging ring. I didn't want to work her in the big ring because it's huge spooky and the ground is hard! The lunging ring looked much softer. I lunged her for quite a while to let her shake of the nerves some. She was mostly upset by the sounds coming from the indoor arena and wanted to scoot away from them. I sucked it up and got on and had a walk and trot around for 10 minutes and pronounced it a successful first outing.

I did wonder if she would be naughty to ride after the stress of her first trip but she walked straight on which was awesome and though she arrived home in another sweaty mess, she again traveled well, so I was rapt with her.

Masterton A+P: A comedy of rider errors

2011-02-21T23:26:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you just have a show where you don't get it together as a rider. This was definitely that show. The horses jumped really well though so it wasn't all bad. The first class was a 1.15m class in ring two. It was a pretty kind track but I arrived to late (I was working in the morning) to walk the course. Connie jumped pretty well just a lazy rail but I really stuffed up when I cantered straight past the third fence. Stupid! Still first course error in ages. Kate was in the same class and also jumped well though spooky and then had a stop at the liverpool at the last fence. It was my fault because I held her too much, I should have ridden up a bit more. Still she was clear other than that and I was happy.

When I arrived the next day I found the amateur class had been moved forward and into ring 1 which is really unfair to do changes the morning of. It would have been the spookiest track I jumped for an amateur all year. You can see in the pictures there was quite a lot of fill in the combinations. Connie jumped so so well and I stuffed up eh. On the corner to the treble I took a pull instead of just riding around the corner and I didn't get there and had a super awkward jump over the first fence and had to pull out of the combination. On the second approach she jumped through it so well and I was much better to the double. She was clear though apart from the stop and there were only six clears. Hiss! Poor Connie she is very forgiving of my mistakes.

Kate was super spooky again and I had lots of rails. Well three, all in the combinations. I haven't yet jumped her through a double with fill in the first and second elements and I was so worried about her landing in a stop that I sat up to early. This killed her back end so she dropped onto the rails. Still I finished the round and I wasn't that confident that I could. Like my mate said better to sit up early and have a rail than to have a stop/fall. A lady on the sideline said I should take her off of the grass to be less spooky and I was like she isn't on any grass. I then had an epiphany. I think it's the really nice quality oat chaff that I have switched her onto because she can't have Lucerne without getting skin problems over the Summer. So at the moment she is getting really boring food until I can get some peavine and clover chaff, but already she is less spooky. A bit dumb to not figure this was the issue for weeks but there you go.

Nationals- home again

2011-02-20T08:51:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately when you travel far away for something you always have to come home. The next morning we packed up early and went to Goldengrove stud and watched some really flash horses free jumping. This was chewing into our time though so my friend and I went to pick up her broodmare while the others stayed watching. It took ages to catch the mare and while my friend was hobbling the mares back legs (She is a kicker) Connie pinned her ears and the mare lashed out with the other back leg catching my mate in the face. Not Cool! I had to hobble the mare and then drive her massive truck while the pain killers kicked in and she got the swelling under control. She was ok but has a hell of a shiner. With all this drama we were late for checking into the ferry and the horses never got a break. Still the horses were parked on the deck so would get plenty of airflow.

Drinking bubbles with Scooby to celebrate Scooby's wake and leaving the south Island

On the trip back we decided (well mostly my friend who hadn't had a great show) that Scooby was a bad luck mascot and that we couldn't take the bad luck back to us with to the North Island (Though I think I have bad karma from this based on this weekend!) And that we would throw him from the boat. We brought bubbles for valentines day/ leaving the south/ Scooby's wake and they were delicious. These were followed up with margaritas until the sea got rough and I just lolled over my chair being queasy. I get terrible motion sickness. The proof of the roughness of the trip was the number of little nicks off of the horses heads poor babies.

The truck parked on the deck of the Ferry

We arrived at my mates place the about 11pm and the horses were so grateful to be in the boxes and stuffing their faces and having a big drink. I went home for milking and came and got my girls the next day but I'm told they had a huge play when they were turned out at midday. It was really good to be home.

Scooby says goodbye before he gets hiffed overboard.

So the shows that remain- Masterton A+P was this weekend, then Foxton next weekend, followed by Hawera the weekend after and then two weeks until HoY, though I may skip Hawera if they jump well at Foxton. Also Sprinklerbandit I want to say that yes I don't have a trainer and sometimes I have to warm-up myself and that but often (Especially if it's an important class) my friend will warm me up and she is a guru so she helps me a lot with sage advice and when I'm feeling chicken she makes me. I feel it's important to agknowledge how much help she gives me.

Nationals- The Jumping

2011-02-18T22:52:00.000-08:00

I pinched this one of Connie in the amateur. I'm planning to buy it though. This is courtesy of Darren Moore Photography.

I don't have any pictures as of yet but I'm hoping I will be able to get some from the pro photographer once I find out who it was of course. (I found them and now will purchase them!) Haha some are quite hilarious with the whole liverpool/ Kate hates them thing. Connie looks beautiful of course.

Anyways the first class was the amateur and it was a big un and I froze up like a stupid head. Had an awesome warm up and she felt really good but I got out there and just had no canter. I ended up retiring after a few stops which were intermingled by some fantastic jumps when I actually got there and, you know, rode! He next class was the first round of the 3 day 1.1m horse championship class. She was heaps better because I really focused on getting her going, not taking a pull on the corners and just ridng around them, and I had good rides to all three of the doubles (Thats a lot of doubles for one round!) It was a Table C so rails added 4 seconds to your time. Connie and I aren't the quickest and with our rail we ended up 33rd of 56. Her knee was really swollen but she was sound as a bell and I was that angry with her behaviour and after travelling so far I thought it was worth the risk. She got a nice back on track knee boot now for it anyway.

Kate had the 1m that first day after our debacle at Levin where we didn't actually finish a round. She had one stop at a oxer with fill after a pretty poor ride to it from me, (Don't throw the reins and chase to a bad spot, maintain the rhythm and the contact to keep the horse relaxed and confident, trust me it's the better option) Then straight out to the 1.10m over the exact same course and I rode her much better and she jumped better and we ended up third. Woo!In the photos I have too much contact with her face in the air but by the last day I'm looking a lot more confident haha! Trust is so hard to build and so easy to lose.

The next day Connie had the second day of the 1.10 Championship. It was run in reverse order of place so I was a ways down the list. It was walking the course that I learned that it was actually the 1.10m-1.20m horse championship and the only really 1.20m oxer was the first element into the first treble Connie has ever jumped in Competition. I was absolutely packing myself. But Connie actually jumped super super awesome. She had two rails when she shut down behind over the liverpool oxer and the last element of the treble but she jumped in so well and confident and all round jumped well that I was just rapt with her. Then the whole lot went through again over a shortened round. Connie had one rail in that when I got her a shocking spot but she jumped so well I couldn't be cross with her.

Kate had a ring 3 1.10m class and she jumped well though quite strong. She just had a lazy rail and overall I was happy. There had been plenty of carnage in the 1.10m championship that day so I was hoping I might sneak into the top 20 but alas it was not to be I stayed in slot 33. Having not made the top 20 I decided to scratch Connie the next day and it was Kate whom came out on the Sunday in the non- champinoship 1.10m in ring 2. The reason I mention the rings- ring 3 not much fill and what there was wasn't that spooky/small for the height/ uncomplicated course. Ring 2 was the complete opposite. I wasn't actually convinced I would get Kate around it after our Levin debacle. Luckily I was wrong and despite being a bit hairy Kate was clear and jumped really well and after a different name being called, I was called in 5th.

Now when I went to pick up my prize money they said I hadn't been fifth. The sheets they showed me had her time 6 seconds slower than the rider who was fifth. This can't be true though because my jump-off was quick and I took hardly any pulls. Certainly not 6s slower. I would love to have seen the other set of sheets, because they wouldn't have called me in at all on that time. So i have my ribbon and I'm a bit sad that now I don't know what I was but hey she still jumped well. That being said I was glad my show was over and I could relax.

Nationals- here we come

2011-02-16T17:36:00.000-08:00

In the truck- Kate in the foreground and Connie next to her

At 11am on Wednesday night, we woke our horses and loaded up for the epic trip to the South Island. We ended up parked at the dock for quite a while but set sail at 2.25am on Thursday. I ended up sleeping for that crossing on the ground between a row of chairs. I can sleep anywhere so it wasn't so bad but I know the others battled a bit more. Still I woke up very cold and a bit stiff and I was glad to get back into the truck. McD's for breakfast- treating our bodies like the athletes we are-before heading on to Blenheim. Apparently getting straight on the road after being on the boat helps the horses recover from their sea legs. They all unloaded at the racecourse feeling hale and hearty, Connie especially was full of beans. Kate happily stuffed her face and the horses had a full hour of walking around and grazing before we continued on for Christchurch, a trip of about 4 hours I guess? I was very asleep for the prettiest part of the trip to be honest.

Restng at Blenhiem Racecourse at 6am.

So we got well lost in Christchurch but eventually found where we needed to be, though the tank on the truck was well below E so how we did, I actually have no idea. I had a very good elegant moment when I went to get out of the cab of the truck and caught my toe, falling all the way to the ground and landing on my hands and knees. Not cool! Unloading and setting up is one of the worst jobs of the show (Almost as bad as packing up) but it was soon done and I took Connie for a wee ride and she was very very hot to ride. I left her tied in her yard and rode Kate. I had a good ride on Kate, though Connie in this time had dug a pretty big hole. I wasn't until I was washing Kate that Connie really threw her toys out of the cot. She was digging frantically and trying to crawl out under the fence. Then she tried to jump and got her leg hung up. At this point I went and rescued her. She hadn't taken much skin off but in the morning she would have a fat knee. Suddenly the option of sending her to Gore for slaughter at $1.80 a pound was looking really appealing. She was like a little kid that gets over tired and just absolutely loses it.

Scooby Doo the trip mascot

Still I finally got everything done, my gear cleaned and my horses fed and feel into bed for a very very deep sleep before the days competing the next day. We really should have come down earlier but it was such a last minute adventure as it was. The weather in Christchurch was weird too, one minute your in a singlet and the next you are in a jacket. Very hard to keep up with.

D Day

2011-02-09T00:21:00.001-08:00

I'm so sorry to those people that read this blog. I had really good intentions of writing some interesting posts about various aspects of my beloved sport such as rider weight in showjumping and some other stuff, but life wont stop coming at me too fast lately and I'm slightly overwhelmed.

In two hours we are set off for the ferry and really the whole thing is ridiculous. It's going to work a lot more expensive than if I had just gone to taihape, but then what price do you put on a new adventure? I'm worried the horses wont sail well and that thetrip is going to take too much out of them. They were both absolute headcases to ride today which doesn't make me more positive, though Connie does jump cleaner when she is feeling a bit mad. Still copious amounts of mycotoxin binder went into teir feds tonight so that should make them a bit saner.

It's the final run down now to the end of the season. It's Nationals, Masterton A+P, Foxton, Series finals at Taranaki and then HoY. No time at all really and it's all over for another season. I have ambitiously entered 1.25m classes at HoY but in all liklihood I'll downgrade these. It's just a lot easier to pay the money now rather than later. I am basically flat broke. These last entries have wiped me ot. HoY was ridicuously expensive and was nearly a fortnights wages which had me weeping into my cornflakes, but it's HoY and I really want to go.

Better go try and grab a few hours sleep before we leave, because the seas is rough I will probably spend te next three hours throwing up. Wish me luck :)

Cruising on the Interislander

2011-02-05T23:48:00.000-08:00

Another adventure is planned! Next Thursday at 2.25am (Blerg!) Connie, Kate and I plus some other horses and two other people are going to cross to the mainland of New Zealand and head to Christchurch for Nationals. The boat we will be on is the Arahura which is pictured above. The horses travel across in the truck in the vehicle part of the ship. Still it's pretty exciting stuff. New crowd, new venue etc.

Kate does the mighty metre the first day and then 1.10ms. Connie is in the amateur first up (Worth double series points at nationals but thats dreaming really) and then does the three day 1.10m championship. It wasn't worth throwing her in the 1.20m champs with it costing $188. I'm quite nervous about the amount of preparation, but Kate is starting to feel stronger and doesn't have a very busy show so fingers crossed it works out.

Identifying Issues

2011-01-29T23:57:00.000-08:00

It always seems to happen that you improve for the first half of the season you improve and then halfway through you start to hit issues. They can be caused by upgrading too much, loss of fitness from injury and time off, sourness for the job, the ground hardening up and jarring the horses and a zillion other niggly little issues. Christmas/ New years is always bad because your horses get too much time off without you even realising it.

So Connie was jarred up earlier and Kate had the badly sprained fetlock and these two injuries are the cause of the issues I'm now having. I did a basic exercise with Connie the other day- trot poles to a trot fence, then canter down the short 5 stride distance in 6 strides. This showed up a glaring problem that I have with Connie. she struggles to collect. She is a big long mare and this is an issue she will always have so I have to stay on top of it. I have rather let it slip. With the time off while she was jarred up and then just not really getting focused on this issue Connie hasn't regained the strength she had earlier in the season, because she could do this exercise comfortably during the winter clinics. Still it's nice to know exactly what I need to do now. And thats lots of work on collection. So lots of extending the canter and slowing it back down, along with slowing my canter as much as possible before my downward transitions, just to practice the collection.

Kate feels sound but she is still niggly from the sprained fetlock, and it wasn't until today that I really hit on the root issue. Along with that and then being a bit locked up in her back in front of her pelvis, she has really lost the ability to work across herself. Funny how both of them have such basic issues that I haven't really locked onto until now. I found today when I ask her to move off of my leg and step under herself behind and round up she gives me one stride and softens, but if I ask for more than one crossed over step she is pinning her ears and moving back into my leg. So yes it's hard for her and she is clearly tight and weak after being out for 4 weeks. Still we worked on this, spending probably half an hour in the walk really getting her moving away from my leg, yielding her body, and crossing her hind legs under herself. The quality of her work really improved, her walk really freed up and she started to feel more connected across her whole back.

When I moved up to the trot and canter she was ok to the left, but weak to the right when she had to drive her injured leg under. Lots of spiralling in and out circles at the trot and in the canter, lots of straight lines to a circle and then straight again. The circle helps her re-balance and going straight then trains her to stay balanced and maintain her canter. To the left she wants to throw me off the inside diagonal by cantering and in the canter wen she gets unbalanced she changes out behind which is exactly what she did when she was weak and coming into work at the start of the season. This is going to be hard for Kate and it isn't going to thrill her, but I need to work through this issue and make her strong again. Part of being an athlete is unfortunately working through weakness which is hard, and she is going to be sore, but providing I'm careful to warm her up well with lots of bending, stretching and lateral work and then to cool her down and keep the work varied, we should be ok. Kate gets worried by being unbalanced and to keep her relaxed and happy I have to really concentrate on keeping her balanced and very very straight- as soon as she falls out her shoulder I lose the quality of the canter and the relaxation.

so two very basic things to work on, which should cause dramatic improvements to the way my horses work and compete, but both that are going to require time, and dedication and a lot of focus.

Horowhenau A & PI Show

2011-01-23T15:44:00.000-08:00

I hate this show. Never. Going. Back. They screwed me out of $50 on class changes, underpaid my prizemoney (Awesome- $17 dollars to enter, $20 back for 6th in a series class. A whole three dollars.) And then have the nerve to ask for another $4 dollars. Never mind that the yards were so small the horses could hardly turn around. Baa Humbug.

Uhh it's not even like I can say I rode well which always makes for a pretty average show. Connie was the first horse out into the 1.10m in ring 1 on Friday and about three strides out from the first fence she got a look in her eye (according to bystanders) and wasn't having a bar of it. She went on to jump well though, just having a lazy rail into the second double. It was a spooky reasonably hard track so I was pretty happy. Enter Kate. If Connie had been hot and spooky, Kate was completely off her face. Heading into the liverpool at fence 3, it was I'm stopping- no I'm going, not I'm definitely stopping and opps I'm in the liverpool. I hate falling in the ring. Sigh. Late enter Kate into the 1.05m and had a stop at a wall, but I didn't fall off and she got a towel up and actually jumped quite well. Then Connie came out in the Amateur and she actually jumped really well. Didn't get a great spot into the double because I turned too late and she took that rail, but she was second fastest four faulter for 6th place which was awesome. So she was back in the dog box despite it being impossible to get on and having spent a minute backing around the warm-up ring while I tried to get my leg over.

After Friday I rode poorly, and Connie jumped average. I don't think she takes the smaller tracks seriously enough. Might be time to upgrade *gulp*. So three rails in the 1.15m and a rail and a stop in the 1.10m on the last day. The stop was because I lost my stirrup at fence 7 and still didn't have it back by fence 10AB and so mucked up the related line. I really pulled her up more than anything.

Kate didn't start Saturday because she felt off in her right front, and a visit with the chiro showed an issue in her lumbar spine in the left side. Sunday she felt good, but again was ridiculously spooky, even backing off plain fences, and I retired at the 8th fence in the 1.10m. Sigh. Lots of homework to do.

Draw reins

2011-01-16T21:36:00.001-08:00

My sport loves draw reins, it's not often you ever go to a show and don't see a heap of horses in the warm-ups with draw reins. Many of the top riders do most of their warm-ups in them. I did notice at Danniverke, they aren't just using them but the are using them really short and riding the horses really deep.

I use draw reins fairly often but mostly they are very lose and certainly wouldn't hold a horse behind the vertical. So here-in lies my pondering. Maybe i'm doing it wrong and there is some advantage in using them to ride the horses in a deeper frame. You certainly can't say that Katie McVeans horses aren't beautifully schooled, but they are often out in draw reins and I was a little surprised at how short they were when I watching her working her 6yr old first thing in the morning. She definitely offered release but the draw reins were short.

Obviously, there is variations in the skill with which they are used. I hate seeing horses just leaning on them, but most of the upper level riders despite the short length of rein, have soft necked relaxed looking horses. My sister reckons that the upper level riders are doing it to get maximise the impact o their workouts while limiting the work duration and thus saving their joints, but I don't really know about that. Just a bunch of ponderings really.

I made a complaint against someone who had really made their horses mouth bleed after seeing him ripping on three of the individuals horses faces at various times of the day and what a horrible experience that was. It made me feel dirty and criminal and there was really not a lot of interest in my story. They never went to see the horse but I maintain with that much blood (not blood flecked froth) there should have been visible wounds even after the mouth was cleaned.

Mondo catch up

2011-01-14T13:54:00.000-08:00

Ok so from the 16th to the 20th of December I was in Taupo with C horse and we had a bit of a disaster. The first class was the 1.10m and she had two rails but felt unbelievably average and very flat, she just wouldn't/ couldn't hold her canter together. The problem being of course that she just doesn't hold her fitness at all, and even in a week off with lose fitness. So with the travelling and everything I guess she was actually just tired. The next day was the amateur and it was one of the bigger tracks. She was sticky through the first combination and then stopped at the combination at number 7. Rather than have a fight about it I opted to retire and accidently taught C-horse a new trick.

The next day I had in a 1.10m class and it was a nice small 1.10m and she was starting to feel fresh again but again she stopped at the double, because retiring her the day had taught her an out. I wish she was a bit dumber sometimes. So over to the practice ring they had running and lots and lots of jumping down the combination, with some use of the stick especially when she backed off it the first time round even though it was only 80cm. She was jumping really well otherwise and felt good and keen, just didn't want to jump the combination. Then the final day we were clear in the 1m class and I left it at that.

So after that we didn't have another show until 8th and 9th of Jan, when we went over to Danniverke. I was going to scratch and had only decided to go after a little jump around on the Wednesday because she felt so good. Again she was in the 1m and she jumped really super. Full of beans and confidence and wanting to do the job, which is great. Jumped a clear round and put the hammer down in the jump-off and was second in that class out of about 50. The next day we did the 1.10m and again she was clear and again I went for it in the jump-off and came in fifth out of around 50 again so I couldn't have been more rapt. Especially with how confident she was in and through the doubles. I did get a bit of a hard time for being a pot hunter in the mighty metre but it needed to be done to make sure the stopping issue was fixed and then once you are in the jump-off and there is money to be had, you should go. Second show this season when I won back my entries. Booyah.

Kate is recovered from her sprain and starting to work quite well. In my sadness at Taupo I had some retail therapy and brought her a gorgeous figure 8 bridle that really pretties her up. Bill is also coming a long really nicely. Rascal is improving but I might turn her out until hunting and focus on the other three because I really need to get Bill out and I do struggle getting them all worked.

Happy New Year everyone

2011-01-01T13:40:00.000-08:00

Thats me on the left at La De Da a NYE music festival. Seems my depression made me afraid of being crowded by people etc, because I was happy as a pig in a blanket up front in the middle. It's kind of interesting see what things were caused by that and what is actually my personality

2011. Thank God. It can only better better than last year, which despite a turn around in the later months, comfortably ranks as the worst year of my life. Therefore, 2011 can only be better right? I'm supposed to be showing next weekend in Danniverke, but I'm going to scratch from that and focus on getting everything a bit fitter and more finely tuned and then start again at Horowhenua in three weeks time.

Had another we jump around on bill and man the double barrel kick outs on landing are going to make things difficult. She gets tired and snotty, but I feel like she is definitely going to jump. Plenty of power, if I can survive the landing. She is starting to understand being soft to the bridle as well which is awesome. She is a smart little duck.

And yes they have all gotten very very fat over xmas break, but so have I, so I can't judge!

Oh Rascal, I really don't trust you over fences anymore, but she feels amazing when she gets there and gets her shoulder up and really jumps. I'm tempted to turn her out and focus on hunting and winter dressage with her, but I might give her another show and see how that goes.

And my beloved Connie who feels really average until the fences get big haha.

Stuff

2010-12-12T16:56:00.000-08:00

Ok so Kates swollen fetlock is a sprained ligament in the front of her back fetlock and so she is going to be out for a little while unfortunately. And she misses Taupo again. That's a real boo hiss. The swelling is starting to go down though, slowly but surely. She is a pretty unhappy mare though.

Bill has been getting plenty of work. I missed taking her to the little show because Truckie is in the garage getting some repairs on the exhaust. Still bill has been out on a road ride and a proper trek over the hills and I gave her a good ride the other day. First time I rode her in spurs but it helped her understand because it was my first day of teaching her to move off of the inside leg and into the outside hand. Once she figured out what I was asking she marched around nicely on the contact and then I did lots of trotting and cantering as well. It was the first time I ever felt the TB side of her ancestry, but she was super forward which was nice really. She is a lovely mover.

Connie feels ok. I'm not sure that she is 100%, but I'm sure she will let me know if she is happy jumping or not. And Rascal has been working quite nicely too so really bar Kates injury everything is on track.

Also Kippen, what I need know to get to the next level is mostly just ring time. Lots and lots of rounds.

Addressing a comment

2010-12-08T19:09:00.001-08:00

Here's a question for you. You want to make a life out of show jumping, but have you planned what sort of life you ultimately hope for if all goes well? I don't want to stomp on your feelings, but at the moment it all comes across as being a very nice young woman doing some show jumping with her nice horses. An expensive hobby and not a career. This is something that I really do want you to think about.

I want to address this comment and I meant to do it a while ago, and Kippen really doesn't have to apologise for it but I do realise I have never really addressed this. As I said in the post before I'm not looking beyond the end of this season really because I was so close to quitting last season I just need to get through and figure out what I'm capable of.

At the moment yes, showjumping is a very expensive hobby that I take part in, but it has been my choice to do it this way. I have several friends that ride of a similar level as e try and run horse businesses with lessons and training, and they all go under. The only one who isn't, rides World cup and Grand Prix level, and she is still struggling to keep her head above water. The Showjumping world is so small in NZ that everyone really already knows everyone. I don't have the reputation yet to get business sent my way.

So I work so that I can ride. This has given me the freedom to pay the $600 it costs me to run two horses through a two day Cashmore clinic, something I couldn't afford if I was doing horses as my sole income earner. I don't have the facilities to bring other peoples horses here either. Believe me I have looked at some properties for lease really seriously, but when my partner left, that became no longer a viable option.

Currently then, if I do decide to stay Showjumping and get more serious about it, I would like to wait until I'm consistent at the 1.25m-1.30m level and take on some schoolers and lessons and see how it goes, rather than just keeping straight in with out any thought for how I'm going to afford it all. For now though I'm making enough progress to keep myself happy, ticking along as I am.

Goals

2010-12-06T18:53:00.000-08:00

I was asked about goals because we all know that the key to success is having good goals. You know intelligent, attainable, measurable goals. I do always have goals. I normally go out and ride with a goal in mind for each horse. Mostly it's getting them fitter or getting them working softly and round, improving lightness to the aids or relaxation. Just something. Normally it's something pretty simple- I tend to school until I get the feeling I want and then call it a day.

On the slightly longer term, I would like to jump some clear rounds in the Amateur classes with Connie and Kate and compete in the Amateur class at the Horse of the Year show and perhaps jump some 1.25m classes on either of them providing the season continues to go well and I can get Connie really sound again. Bill, I want to get out to a few shows and then I will probably hunt her. Rascal I want to find a job she likes doing and then sell her to someone who wants a nice little horse for that job.

Normally I have longer term goals as well but this season I don't. It's for a specific reason- I don't know whats going to happen. It all comes down to this season really. Last year I went crazy and blew the whole season with the depression malarky, so I really set myself back a season. I'm 25 already and the longer I spend out of the proper workforce or furthering my education, the less likely it is that I'll get a good career and a house and that sort of thing. On the flip side, it's my dream and I love the showjumping. So this season is a litmus test. I'm not worrying about next year until after HOY is over and then I will sit down and think very hard about my life and the other aspects and then I'll decide where to from there. Though honestly if I can continue with the progress I have made so far it will be really hard to leave.

And to whom made the comment about the size of the fences, it comes down to the horse really. One day the look really impossibly huge and then you practice and have a good horse and suddenly it looks possible and you can just do it. Believe me on Bill 50cm looks humungous, as does 1m on Rascal, while on Connie and Kate 1.20m is doable.

Ticking along

2010-12-04T20:32:00.000-08:00

So I have been riding and ticking along. Desperately need some rain soon, but not much I can do about that. Connie I have worked twice since the clinic where we found she has jarred up and she feels pretty good so hopefully that continues. To help with the jarring up I want to work her in the river 2-3 times a week. Unfortunately my swimming hole has gotten very shallow but upstream I found a section with a sand base that's about 40m long and over chest deep so we wade up and down there. I don't know if it will even work but it's great resistance training and she loves splashing. I wore a face full of water once when she got very accurate with her splashing.

Bill had her first proper steep hill ride to the top of the farm and deported herself very well, especially as there were plenty of motorbikes on the road and the like. They are going really well, all things considered. Hopefully a show for Rascal and Bill next weekend. Then it's Taupo Christmas Classic with Connie and Kate. My health is slowly recovering and it's all sort of coming together.

North Island championships in Foxton

2010-11-29T21:50:00.000-08:00

So after the clinic I decided to have a somewhat cruisy show and just take Kate to the Champs in Foxton, which was a lovely idea because it really was cruisy, even though I did get a bit bored once I had finished my novel. The first class was a 1.10m class and there were lots of spooky things in it, so I was glad it was only 1.10 class. The whole maintaining the contact really made her bold to these spooky fences, so I didn't have to worry so much anymore. I had the the back rail of the oxer at the first fence, which was a bit of a shame because it was a very cheap rail.

The next day I was entered in the 1.15m speed class and I figured if I was going to donate at 1.15m I might as well donate in the 1.20m class so I changed into that class instead. She jumped really well, but i thought she had had the very first fence again. She jumps e around at this height a bit too so I felt unsteady in the saddle at times but apparently it looked fine so there you go. So then i had to go into the jump-off but I didn't know I had gotten through so the bell really surprised me and I got all flustered and stupid. Had a rail at the first because my canter was average and so I retired because we weren't going to improve from there to be honest. Still I was rapt to jump a clear at 1.20m.

The amateur track was actually smaller than I thought it would be seeing at is was a championship class and worth double points. That meant of the 40 starters there were 20 clears so the chances of me placing weren't all that great anyway. Still she jumped well over a relatively technical track, and I just jumped her too big into the second double and had my eighth four fault amateur round so far this season. Boo Hiss. Still I can't complain because I'm still so green at this level.

And now everything has caught up with me and I'm very sick. boo!

Cashmore clinic

2010-11-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

We picked p a clinic with Grant on the Tuesday and Wednesday of last week. It was a bit of a tough grind with Dad out. I had to be up at 4 the second morning and worked until 12 when I headed off to my mates to meet up with my horses who had stayed overnight and travel to Upper Hutt to ride at Thompsons for the clinic. The surface there isn't as good as it used to be. It shifts alot and after a few jumps you can end up landing on the base. I didn't get to bed until 10.40 :(

The first day was quite good. Grant rode Connie because she was incredibly fussy in the bridle and just not herself. He got some really nice work out of her because she was still very sensitive and very hot which is unlike her. The next day she was better but completely unable to collect and frustratingly not herself at all. Grant was saying that as my trainer sometimes you have to just a sack a horse. I pointed out that at the last of the winter clinics I basically had it and he had been very impressed. When I thought about it, the fussiness in the bridle started the second day at Central Hawkes Bay. So out came the hoof testers, and after testing and palpating and trotting on the lunge and flexioning we (Well Grant really, he has an incredible eye for a horse being off) decided she was jarred up from the hard ground. This happened a bit last season as well. So Connie missed the show this weekend and she gets her shoes re-fitted this coming week and the farrier and I are going to look at options to keep her more comfortable, and get her back in the ring for Taupo. I made Grant revoke his statement about sacking her!

Kate jumped really well. I learned something really key there. When I'm jumping a spooky fence of her I'm throwing my reins at her and in doing so I'm throwing away the connection and scaring her. This is a key point. something simple, but something I lost by trying to ride hard at spooky fences. When I maintain the connection, she isn't scared anymore anyway and jumps more confidently. Had a very hairy moment when my rubber snaffle snapped in half, which panicked Kate and we did a lap around the arena full tilt. I tried to pull her up from her noseband but she wasn't listening. Eventually she stopped and I just burst out adrenaline laughing. Phew it was a little scary though.

Gladstone Sports

2010-11-21T13:55:00.000-08:00

Every so often I get the idea that I should do flat classes. I hate flat classes, so I don't know why I get this idea or follow through with it. But anyway Rascal and I did the flat classes and she was actually quite good and I enjoyed riding her. She was second in the Maiden Hack and I was third in the rider class. I still hate dolly classes though.

Then Rascal had a practice round and I don't know what happened but she was so good. I have been collecting Es on her all season and last weekend had to hit her on take-off for nearly every fence. She never even hesitated, she wasn't slow off of the ground and she took the long distances and no chipping in. Weird! So she was clear in the 80cm and the 90cm.

Connie and Kate came out for the 1.10m class. This was Connies first 1.10m class and last year she won it, but I didn't defend my title. I went out on Kate first and was so casual and she ran out of the second fence. Lazy lazy lazy Becky. Poor old Kate being saddled with me. Connie felt really average and argumentative but was still double clear and we ended up second. I actually think we have all reached the point where 1.10m is too small, and we don't take it seriously enough. But I still don't know if I'm ready to stay committed to the bigger heights :(

A TMI issue but after a whole day of riding the old saddle sores are killing me again. They haven't really had a chance to heal properly with all these shows and riding. Boo hiss.

The day you have all been waiting for.

2010-11-18T22:23:00.000-08:00

This blog is quite old, if you add in the three years of blog I lost to spyware. In that time, like many aspiring showjumpers, I have often referred to my homebred hope for the future haha! My very own fancy warmblood. Well most people move faster than me, but finally at 6 years old, Bill jumped her first fences under saddle.

She was so good! She had little baby issues like leaving early, smashing down the little jumps. She got better when I clicked her off of the ground but thats not a habit I want to keep up. She has to figure it out for herself. The two fears I have jumping a baby are 1. landing in a buck or 2. freaking out when they knock rails. After a little canter I felt pretty confident she wouldn't buck and she really took it in her stride. Tomorrow she goes to a sports day the whole crew are going too for a look and a day spent at the truck. Maybe I'll even ride if I get brave. She was certainly very solid to ride and is really quite balanced. There is a real difference in the warmbloods, I can see why they are so popular. Already she has more collection in her canter than Connie had for 3 years, well we she turns anyway. Anyway, enjoy some pictures of a bumbling baby being jumped by a bumbling rider.