Cashmore clinic- Connie- Day 2

Because Connie had only done a flat lesson earlier, Grant very kindly gave me a lesson over fences after everyone was done because we had time to spare. So we warmed up with the same exercises, and then jumped a small course. The course went up the right hand side, oxer to upright in 6 short strides, left hand turn to the other upright and then the 7 stride dogleg. If that went well I was to carry on up the left hand side, over the double and then 4 strides to the final upright.



Well i was on Connie so we went jump jump and it was all very nice and pretty easy so then they put them up. My other friend was delighted, having wanted to see me jump bigger fences all clinic. The added height meant I needed more accuracy and straight away my lack of organisation started to show in a big way. Te other thing was it was really hard to just maintain that collected canter all the way to the bigger fences when my head was just like 'we need more speed captain, she'll never make it!' but she did. Grant did try a few things to get Connie jumping rounder- rails on the landing side and V poles but she just jumped and ignored that sort of thing.



Again, with connie it's always just the bare minimum required to jump the fences and even over the bigger fences she didn't feel particularly scopey. Still I'm told she wasn't making any effort over them and that she would go higher so thats always reassuring.



Anyway, on the last attempt when I got organised, sat up after landing and collected the canter straight away and stayed focused on maintaining everything, we had a really nice jump around the course and of course I was stoked as with her. Go fat Spanish pony!

Cashmore clinic- Kate- Day 2

Ah I love The Kate. Whenever I ride her I feel like I'm riding my proper jumper horse. Not well by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm trying. It's safe to say that Kate is my most difficult ride. She is so sensitive it's like riding a sports car. Sometimes also I put leg on her and there is lag before she responds and she then over reacts and gets too forward. I feel like I'm starting to learn the balance, but it's a fine line between providing enough leg at the fence to make her confident versus too much leg which makes her hot, flat, and worries her.

The second day of the clinic she was definitely feeling her foot a little. Throwing in the odd short stride on it and just not jumping as round as she normally does. Still she was still keen to her fences and definitely by the end of the lesson I was getting a better ride than at the start. Now guys you have to remember to keep things the same and get the right canter and maintain it all the way to your fences. don't panic and chase spots! And don't panic and reduce your canter to bouncing on the spot in the search for your spot! Maintain maintain maintain! The same, guys always the same.



With Kate we did trot poles down in the top right corner and then cantered down to the oxer in the seven strides. Once she was warmed up I would do that exercise, turn right after the oxer and half circle back over the first upright vertical in the other direction. Then left hand turn back to the other upright before doing the 7 stride dogleg back to the oxer. I don't feel like I really mastered the dogleg. i had to pull up and circle away on both Kate and Connie because I wasn't getting organised early enough to get the seven strides in properly. I think sometimes I worry too much about counting and not enough about just riding. Anyway cool jump sequence pictures follow!











Then we worked on jumping the other line on the lefthand side- starting with the double and going up in the 4 strides to the other oxer. Do you think I could get this right on Kate?? AAhhh no. First time I turned too late and got too quiet on the corner and added a stride, the next time I came too quick and left out a stride. Once I maintained- rode through the corner and turned a little earlier the 3 strides out of the corner came up beautifully andthe whole line rode really well. I'm lucky Kate is quite forgiving.



Still I'm starting to get really excited about the coming season now! We are trying to get me ready for the amateur classes.

Cashmore Clinic- A big thank you

For the two weeks before the clinic I had a friend I had met through a horse forum staying with me while she was having her OE in NZ. She is from England and an eventer. Anyway, my partner recently left and my friend really filled the breach. She helped me with the horses and it's her you have to thank for all the awesome photos. It's going to be harder to get the photos in the future without Dan there, and it's weird to not have his support but at the same time it will be nice to really just focus on the horses.



Anyway, to thank my friend for helping me get the horses worked and for being a super groom for the two days (Really she was amazing- She would have the next horse saddled so I could have a break between lessons- I offered for us to have a Civil Union so she could stay and groom for me forever but it seems she wants to go home lol. The offer always stands though!)I let her have one of my lessons on Connie. thats her in the top picture. She said she got a lot out of it, but it stayed a flat lesson because she wasn't very riding fit after 8 months out of the saddle. Still she rode really well and had Connie going awesomely.

Cashmore clinic- Rascal- Day 2

Rascal was my first ride on the second day. I already had her warmed up so we got straight into it. Again we did the trot rails exercise cantering down to the oxer down the right hand side of the course (See diagram below). It walked as a tight 6 so with the trot fence we were cantering down in 7 to get a nice round jump. Rascal really surprised me today with how confidently she jumped and how she carried me to the fences without hesitation.



Again the focus was straightness and strength. It's hard for Rascal to maintain her canter all the way to the base so often she runs me a bit deep. But she is a million miles improved from where she was, so to be honest I'm pretty happy. there is hope yet for my big plan to sell her to the States as a childrens hunter so I can have a holiday in Europe lol. (To be fair she would make a lovely childrens hunter, I schooled her bareback today and she was awesome). Then we did the righthand line as an upright to the oxer in the short 6 strides, which wasn't terribly short for her, but thats fine.



Then we went up the righthand line oxer to upright and rolled back over the upright and did the dogleg of 7 strides back to the first oxer backwards. Once she was doing this well, we tried the left hand line going down, the oxer- four strides to the one stride double.



She jumped in too small the first time and I really motored hr down to make the distance. Apparently Grant had told me to turn away but I never heard him so I kept going. GHe said I gave her a nice positive ride! LOL! She was better the second time with a better jump in.



One thing that is apparent, across all the second day lessons is that I need to be more organised when I'm jumping courses. Land, get the canter organised and collected to early to give me more room and time to ride up to the next fence.



Still a good lesson, Rascal is so much more confident and happy in her work and she is really starting to improve. I'm working really hard to fix my gimpy left hand which wants to hang on, so subsequently all my horses hang off of the left rein and as soon as I lighten it they all go better. I think maybe it's improving? I'm not that optimistic.

Cashmore clinic- Kate- Day 1

Ah Kate! What a mission it was even getting her to the clinic. I had done everything I could for her abscess, and when she was still off I took her to the farriers and had a pad put on her foot. This helped her immensely, and though she started a little short she felt really good throughout the lesson.



Grant was pleased with how much her flatwork had improved, though she is still a hot little number and always will be. Good old TBs eh. She is a lot stronger. Last clinic she couldn't canter down the arena without switching out behind and now she is doing it no worries.



It was the same exercises again. You would think it would get repetitive but with three such different horses, I have to ride so differently each time it's actually not repetitive at all! Kate was really good. Hot yes, but very eager to jump and really powering off of the ground.



When we jumped the other jumps after doing the trot pole to fence exercise she was a lot hotter. I struggled initially to see my stride to the oxer at the end of the trot pole exercise but I need to really stay soft and maintain the canter and then it's easy. Kate was really jumping over everything huge and I was grateful for the Prestige because I'm not sure I could have sat on her in the old Pessoa. Cantering down the final line (short 6 strides oxer to upright)v was probably the hardest because she doesn't trust the check and would bound through the hand so getting the six evenly and smoothly was quite the challenge. So much so I didn't actually manage it, but like Grant said I just have to ride the horse I have and she will always be a bit hot. That being said at home she tolerates the check better so it's only a matter of time until she does when she is out as well.

Cashmore clinic- Rascal- Day 1

Rascal was my next horse out. This is my first time jumping her for ages! I ride her in the Prestige now as well because I love it and she seems happy in it as well. Better than trying to cram my big butt in that little 17 inch Bates anyway. So I have been worried about Rascal because she has been improving not at all, and still feeling very weak and unable to carry herself well. However, there is some improvement so I just need to keep working.



So we started with the same exercise- trot poles to the fence and I was really happy when for the first time in ages, Rascal took me to the fence and I just had to sit and maintain. It was nice that she wasn't backing off like she was when I first started riding her. Again it was similar work and again I need to do more to keep her together and maintain the canter. I have gotten lazy without a trainer!



We did run into one issue. She had a stop at a fence and that was entirely my fault because I didn't keep her straight. She is a right hand drifter and I need to do more about getting my horses strong and straight. As soon as I kept her straight, I could see my spot and she jumped really confidently. Still I was rapt at just how she was taking me to the fences and jumping confidently and getting her forearm up and jumping really round. She is definitely feeling a lot better and stronger within herself.

Cashmore clinic- Connie- Day 1

I don't know why it has taken me so long to sit down and write this, but I have definitely been actively procrastinating it. Which is odd, because the weekend went really well. Connie came out first in the morning because I wanted to get my trusted one out of the way lol! Her flatwork has really come on, she just isn't the horse she used to be- she is better! I have worked so hard on her and it's nice that now I can just enjoy it a little.



We started with some trotting poles, and then trotting poles to a small fence then cantering down the line in 7 strides (it was a 6 stride line) to a small vertical. As always Connie was completely incapable of the trotting poles to jump exercise. Instead of getting both of her back legs between the fence and the trotting poles, she would touch down with one and through herself over the fence and land in an unbalanced heap. Grant had to move the poles to give her more room so she could do it like a normal horse.






The seven strides came up pretty easily though. He put in some angles rails to help keep her straight but she is pretty straight anyway. Good old Connie horse. Then the upright became a small oxer and then I think I did a little course over the other fences and it was really all very quiet and relaxed. It was interesting to note that the canter I have been jumping from is too fast and I need to slow down, collect up and get more organised.