angietoots
3rd July 2012, 02:02 PM
Please excuse this self indulgent post, but I just want to say how much I'm loving riding and horse ownership again :) I had a bit of a difficult year and a bit with my accident, and lost confidence, then Milo's injury - it seemed never ending! But this year things are coming back together and I feel like I've got my riding mojo back again :D
Georgie has been instrumental in this I think - I :love: this mare to pieces - there is just a connection between us that I just don't think I ever had with Milo if I'm honest, I love him to bits, but there is just something different with Georgie? we have clicked totally and it's brought me out of my riding shell somewhat. I trust her that she is looking after me and trying to do what I'm asking her - the problem is half the time I'm probably not asking properly :lol: I trust that she isn't going to tank off with me at the drop of a hat - she is a planter and a dancer, and I am totally comfortable with this, and have sat out all her daft little moments, in fact positively laugh at things like when she side stepped after a butterfly flew out from some long grass :pmsl:
I marked out an area in my field with posts and tape (temporary for now, will make it electrified before the winter though) for riding in, and this has helped Georgie to understand what's going on - she knows this is where we go to work now, and she is responding well to the confines of it. She has stopped messing around trying to get back to the yard and calling for Milo and Dazzle all the time - she puts her work head on in there and listens to me. I changed her bit to a training french link loose ring and she is like a different horse now she doesn't have the hanging cheek. She is responsive and coming lightly into the contact now (she does try to lean on me sometimes though), we even have moments where we might look as if we know what we are doing - sadly I'm always on my own, so no photos as yet - maybe soon. The shocking weather though has meant that my fields are totally sodden, so we haven't really been doing much other than in walk with a little trotting - but it's allowing us time to practice getting positions right, good responsive direction changes (she is soooooo seat oriented, I just need to look around with my upper body where I want to go and we head off that way), we are perfecting nice walk/halt/walk transitions, nice figure of 8's, circles etc Her trot transition is nice and responsive as well. This morning we laid out some poles and walked and trotted over them - it was great, after clipping them to begin with she was elevating beautifully over them by the end - it was a great feeling :)
Down at the riding school last week my instructor gave me a choice of lessons - either jumping in the school, or going up the field to work on some speed confidence..... I was allowed to chose.... I can say that the confidence Georgie is giving me made me pick the speed work :scared: I know I must get passed this - just because I came a cropper at speed in the past doesn't mean it will happen again. So off we went - me with my midget school pony (it really was like riding Dazzle after being so used to riding Georgie!), instructor brought her mad arab with us, so we started with a couple of walk, trot then into canters to get me going, then RI went first with her speedy Arab and we did a few with flying starts :eek: RI said my face was a picture the first time we did it, but I was still there doing it, and by the end I was actually starting to enjoy myself (although RI says we need to work on getting rid of the scared face, :lol:), and it was the most amazing feeling of achievement considering everything that has happened and the best bit.... I didn't fall off :dance: :lol:
Milo continues to be his usual daft self - loving his retirement, one day I may have confidence to get back on him too, even if it is just a tour around my riding paddock from time to time - he's slowly getting some condition back, but he's still quite "angular" even for a TBx. He'll get there I'm sure, and he seems happy enough.
The only fly in the ointment is little Dazzle's feet (which are getting better now though) and the ******* weather........ if it would only dry up and let the fields dry up a bit life would be fab :)
Loads of cookies, wine and chocolate too all who got to the end of that :)
xx
p.s - sorry no photos folks - the **** weather just doesn't inspire to get out there with the camera when most of the time I'm just trying to stay dry :rolleyes:
Georgie has been instrumental in this I think - I :love: this mare to pieces - there is just a connection between us that I just don't think I ever had with Milo if I'm honest, I love him to bits, but there is just something different with Georgie? we have clicked totally and it's brought me out of my riding shell somewhat. I trust her that she is looking after me and trying to do what I'm asking her - the problem is half the time I'm probably not asking properly :lol: I trust that she isn't going to tank off with me at the drop of a hat - she is a planter and a dancer, and I am totally comfortable with this, and have sat out all her daft little moments, in fact positively laugh at things like when she side stepped after a butterfly flew out from some long grass :pmsl:
I marked out an area in my field with posts and tape (temporary for now, will make it electrified before the winter though) for riding in, and this has helped Georgie to understand what's going on - she knows this is where we go to work now, and she is responding well to the confines of it. She has stopped messing around trying to get back to the yard and calling for Milo and Dazzle all the time - she puts her work head on in there and listens to me. I changed her bit to a training french link loose ring and she is like a different horse now she doesn't have the hanging cheek. She is responsive and coming lightly into the contact now (she does try to lean on me sometimes though), we even have moments where we might look as if we know what we are doing - sadly I'm always on my own, so no photos as yet - maybe soon. The shocking weather though has meant that my fields are totally sodden, so we haven't really been doing much other than in walk with a little trotting - but it's allowing us time to practice getting positions right, good responsive direction changes (she is soooooo seat oriented, I just need to look around with my upper body where I want to go and we head off that way), we are perfecting nice walk/halt/walk transitions, nice figure of 8's, circles etc Her trot transition is nice and responsive as well. This morning we laid out some poles and walked and trotted over them - it was great, after clipping them to begin with she was elevating beautifully over them by the end - it was a great feeling :)
Down at the riding school last week my instructor gave me a choice of lessons - either jumping in the school, or going up the field to work on some speed confidence..... I was allowed to chose.... I can say that the confidence Georgie is giving me made me pick the speed work :scared: I know I must get passed this - just because I came a cropper at speed in the past doesn't mean it will happen again. So off we went - me with my midget school pony (it really was like riding Dazzle after being so used to riding Georgie!), instructor brought her mad arab with us, so we started with a couple of walk, trot then into canters to get me going, then RI went first with her speedy Arab and we did a few with flying starts :eek: RI said my face was a picture the first time we did it, but I was still there doing it, and by the end I was actually starting to enjoy myself (although RI says we need to work on getting rid of the scared face, :lol:), and it was the most amazing feeling of achievement considering everything that has happened and the best bit.... I didn't fall off :dance: :lol:
Milo continues to be his usual daft self - loving his retirement, one day I may have confidence to get back on him too, even if it is just a tour around my riding paddock from time to time - he's slowly getting some condition back, but he's still quite "angular" even for a TBx. He'll get there I'm sure, and he seems happy enough.
The only fly in the ointment is little Dazzle's feet (which are getting better now though) and the ******* weather........ if it would only dry up and let the fields dry up a bit life would be fab :)
Loads of cookies, wine and chocolate too all who got to the end of that :)
xx
p.s - sorry no photos folks - the **** weather just doesn't inspire to get out there with the camera when most of the time I'm just trying to stay dry :rolleyes: