Ben goes home :-( and Max appears! (Oh, and Lola's STILL off work...)

Today was the sad day that Ben had to return home :-( All is sorted for his owners now so they came to collect him today. He will be missed-he's such a character and i've really enjoyed having him back, albeit briefly but i knew he wasn't here to stay so never mind. As per usual he was a beggar to load (i think it was his way of saying he wanted to stay! :-D ) but he went in the end.

On a more positive note, i've been asked by one of the other horse owners at the yard if i'll ride her youngster for her. He goes by the name of Max and is a 14.3hh, rising 5 year old tri-coloured cob. He did a bit of everything last year after he was backed but has had the winter off so needs bringing back into work and schooling. His owner only brought him a couple of months ago and he's her first horse in many years so she's asked me if i'll ride/school him a bit for her. He's a little bit shy and gets bullied by everyone in the field but he's such a poppet. He's a big, unbalanced lad so finds it hard to work in our indoor at the moment, but the huuuuge outdoor is very nearly finished so can't wait to ride him in there! He hacks out nicely though so we've been exploring the roads for the last week or so, and he loves to jump so we've done a bit of that too. Given some time to get fitter and to lay some scholing foundations down and i think he'll be lovely. I'm desperately hoping his owner will let me do a few little jumping classes or ODE's with him but shhhhhh because i haven't asked her yet! Hehehe

And now for photos....

Lola Update-

Well, she's been back out in the field almost 2 weeks now. Vet came out to re-check last wednesday and thought it needed re-scanning, so came back on thursday. Sadly, these scans show that there has been damage to the bone, and she's developed a sequestrum. Basically, there are little pieces of dead bone that have become infected. These need to be removed or are likely to cause some problem at some time during the future. She's still perfectly sound on it now but it's best they are removed and all the infected rubbish thats left in there is removed too. She's booked in for the op next wednesday and will be back on box rest for another 3 weeks following that. Fingers crossed all goes to plan (we know what Lola's like by now!!)

Lola comes back into work (for a WHOLE 2 days!)

Do you ever feel like your horse is trying to tell you something? Well, i'm convinced mine is trying to tell me she's quite happy living the life of riley out in her field with her friends and in no way, shape or form does she want to do any actual work! The first time i attempted to bring her into work she got kicked and colicked (see earlier posts...) leading to box rest & weeks off. This time, after a break of just over 3 months, i manage to ride her a grand total of twice before we find an unexplained puncture would on the near forearm, resulting in almost 2 weeks box rest so far and i don't know how many weeks off work by the time it's healed. Grrrrrr

However, on the bright side, the little madame hasn;t been lame on it at all, and *touches wood* can hopefully be turned out again on monday after the vet takes the dressing off (This is the plan anyway, with Lola most things tend not to go to plan!) So far we've had 5 dressing changes and have been a whole rainbow of colours (photos to follow) We've also had her leg scanned to make sure there was no damaged bone, which thankfully there isn't, so it's just a case of waiting for it to heal now. Hopefully, as she's not been lame, when the vet gives the go-ahead to turn out i can start riding again not long after. It has also been decided that she's being wrapped from head to toe in cotton wool and bubble wrap from now on!

We've also had purple & red, green & blue and today's blue & purple, but i havent managed to upload those photos yet :-)

A New Horse Joins the Ranks!

Soooo, last weekend saw the arrival of a (not so new) boy in the field. Ben, my old boy, is back with us on holiday for a few weeks. I sold him November 2009 to a lovely family in Oxford but they've had to move yards and struggled finding somewhere for Ben to go short term so he's back with us for now :-D

Ben is a 17hh, 11 year old chestnut IDxTB, sold as unfortunately he was just too big for me to do him justice at the time. Of all the horses i've been involved with he was certainly the hardest to let go so i'm very glad to have him home again for a few weeks. Anyone that's ever met Ben will know what i mean. He's such a sweet lad, huge but sweet!

He is currently living out with the other geldings and has settled right in. Being the biggest in the field by about 3 hands i think the others were slightly intimidated to begin with but they get along like they've known each other forever now. I arrived at his field this morning to find Ben and 2 of his friends lined up at the gate, in size order. As all 3 of them were chestnut it was quite comical looking at them. Ginger's about 13.2hh, Jake (in the middle) is about 14.2hh then Ben, the huge 17hh beast on the other end. Sadly i didnt have my camera with me as that would have been an excellent photo!

I did, however, have my camera with me yesterday. And so i give you Ben...

A Quick Hello... (with photos)

Not really much to report- just thought i'd drop by to put up some winter photos :) Have now been on my friends yard for 7 weeks and, although i've grown to love it there and i had forgotten how much i'd missed everyone, we're moving to another yard tomorrow. Mixed feelings but i know it's best for the girls and thats all that counts. It's a newly opened yard, and a little closer to home, but has an indoor school, an outdoor currently being built, it should be done within next few weeks- very exciting!! It's hugggge and i cant wait to ride in it! Along with the jumping paddock and XC course under progress i cant wait until the summer. Photos to come soon!

And now for the photos as promised (not very exciting but the snow's pretty!)

And some recent field photos...

More updates after the big yard move tomorrow!! See you soon!

Happy New Year!!!!

Well, we've made it to the 1 year mark. I have officially owned Lola and Gem 1 year today :-D and what a year it's been!

So much has happened over the past month or so, we've had to move yards meaning Lola has been turned away for the time being and Gem's re-backing has ground to a halt. After lots of problems and far too many injuries at the old yard we've moved back to my friends yard for now. It's a lovely, quaint little place with lovely old stables and lots of grazing but unfortunatley is right on a main duel carriageway and has no hacking bar the road. There's also no-where flat to school so the girls are having a holiday over the winter until something else comes up. No big deal really, Lola was schooling so well beforehand that she probably deserves a break before the real work begins in spring and after 12 months i figure another couple won't hurt Gem! They are both living out 24/7 now too which i've wanted for months, and are loving it!

Before the move Lola was doing so well. We had been hacking out 2/3 times per week, once in company and twice on our own and schooling another 2/3 times. She's been a real star out hacking on her own, not bothered by anything at all. She's cracked the leg yield in walk and trot now and is taking a much steadier contact on the bit. She still has her 'neck out like a giraffe' moments but with lots of transitions she's really learning to carry herself properly and work in an outline. I really do love my pony! (although i must stop calling her that as she's touching 15.3hh now!) I was hoping to start some jumping with her before we went but it wasn't to be and that shall have to wait a while.

There have been times over the last 12 months when i've thought we were getting nowhere fast and that nothing was coming together, but when i think back to this time last year when i brought her i realise how far we've come. I brought a scrawny, scruffy 3 year old, barely touching 14.1hh who'd hardly been handled, never worn a rug or had her feet picked up or loaded and 12 months on i have a 15.2/3hh almost 5 year old horse who's had her 1st shoes on, been backed, hacks out alone, started schooling and loads & travels like an old pro.
This time last year my confidence was pretty low and i never thought i'd hack out again, let alone on my own on an untested 4 year old! What posessed me to buy a unhandled 3 year old i'll never know, it's been years since i last backed & schooled a youngster and so much had happened since then but she was too special to resist. I cant remember who wrote this, but one of my favourite quotes is "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear". I really believe this is the case here, she turned up out of the blue on my friends yard when i was selling my old boy and the rest is history...

We survived our first hack! (Well, eventually...)

So, after another hectic month i finally return with progress reports. Sadly the plan to get out and about this month doesn't look like it's going to happen. Lola isn't quite ready and i'm stuck for transport :-( Aiming for just after Christmas now though so fingers crossed! On the plus side, she is coming along nicely. We've been for our 1st proper hack out alone this morning which was pretty much a success! The 1st hack was also attempted last weekend but we never actually managed to get off the yard so that doesn't count. The little madam decided that as soon as my bum touched the saddle she'd shoot off, tanking through the yard (which thankfully was very quiet as it was 8am on sunday morning) and only stopping when she spooked at the muck heap. After much growling on my part i got her past the muck heap only for her to spook again at the fence and start rapidly reversing up the drive towards the YO's house. At this point i lost my patience and gave up, jumped off and dragged her round to the school where we did just under an hour of solid schooling. By the end i bet she was wishing she'd behaved and gone out on a nice quick hack round the block! Anyway, she's redeemed herself today by being a little star and keeping me in one piece! We had a brief moment when the dogs jumped up the neighbours fence at her but she didnt run off or panic so it's all good. Awww i do love my little spotty beast sometimes! :-D

I've also started Gem again this last 2 weeks. We're only lunging at the moment because of the whole cold backed issue i need to get sorted, although the more i speak to my vet the more i'm convinced it's behavioural rather than physical. She definitley knows her job though. She's quite happy to walk, trot and canter from voice aids alone and knows exactly what i'm asking for. If anyone's read my 1st posts about them you'll know that i have no idea of what she's done in the past, i'm finding everything out as we go along so i'm very optimistic. We've also done a few sessions loose jumping and have so far cleared 1.20m with a 1.15m spread, and still have room to spare. After seeing the enthusiasm she has for jumping, and the scope she shows i'm highly doubtful there's a physical problem and it just makes me want to get on and ride even more.

At last i get to ride the baby pony!!

Well, kick is all healed, swelling has gone down and finally i get to ride Lola! We've had 2 lessons now, and lots of riding inbetween and so far so good, she's been a little superstar! Ok, so our 1st lesson didn't go all that well but sometimes i think i forget she's only 4 and expect too much of her. She was going really well, turning is much better now and basic figures were all coming together nicley- then we tried our first trot... We managed 4/5 nice strides before she realised trotting was far too much like hard work and rooted herself to the spot! After several minutes of persuasion i got her to go forward and tried again, queue more rooting! I finally managed to get the lazy little buggar to do a full lap of the school then we called it a day and went back to working in walk. Again, i think i probably expected too much of her, but she's so mature in everything she does i dont think thats such a bad thing? The trot we did was lovley, even my instructor commented on how balanced and free her trot was, especially considering it was only the 2nd time she'd been ridden under saddle. I think thats part of the problem, everything she does feels like you're riding a much older horse rather that a youngster.

Well, we practiced lots during the week and went on our 1st hack out (on the lead rein, after freaking out at horses galloping around the next field and attempting a mini rear by bottle flew out of the window and i insisted the lead rein went back on. Big wimp i know!) and she improved no end. No more rooting to the spot and trot work is coming along a treat. It's almost like the first time i ask her to do something she does it, then has to think about it, then comes back a few days later and goes 'it's ok, i know what to do now' and just does it from then on. She amazes me more and more every day :-D

Second lesson was much, much better! Bev (my wonderful instructor) was very impressed with how much she'd come on in a week and even let us attempt our first trotting poles. I've jumped her on the lunge so didnt expect many problems, and i was correct. She had a quick look the first time we walked over but went over perfectly 2nd time, and then in trot too. We shall be working on that in coming weeks and hopefully introducing crosspoles too. ( Pics to follow!)

After another week of schooling we are now trotting school figures, changes of rein etc... and her walk is improving no end. She's really beginning to take a contact now, and starting to work through her back properly. Transitions are much better too, sharp and (almost) precise. Lots of work long and low is paying off and she's becoming a really nice ride already. We're doing our first InterDressage test this month and hoping to get out to our first proper show in november. It's only a walk & trot test but it will be her first time at a show too so i'm hoping the party atmosphere doesn't go straight to her head!