Today Pam and I decided to do myself and Jay’s lesson together as they fed Flag late (or actually normal time instead of 30 minutes earlier) which made my lesson start late, and Jay in a very un-Jayly fashion, was tacked up 15 minutes early! So off we went with Tristan in the center taking photos.

This week we’ve been working on transitions and getting them to TROT over the smaller jumps and not JUMP and start cantering – which both Flag and Skye did really well! Although we did have a little jump every now and again… We are all entering the show on the 12th of February, so we’re super excited and preparing our little brats for that.

After the lesson I took over and took some pictures of Tristan, Susan, Kelly, Angelique and whoever else may have walked past – oh and of course Scampy, Bibi and some chickens. There’s a hen with 3 little chicks that’s probably about 3/4 days old, who’ve kind of moved into Flag’s stable – see the pictures of the little one peeking out from underneath mommy’s wing, too cute!!!

I know I’ve said it before but it is absolutely amazing how far all the horses have come!!! Look at Skye now and the Skye that Jay bought a couple of months ago – no way you would have been able to canter him in a circle, jump little jumps or even get close to him with a crop in your hand! He doesn’t have that terrified look in his eyes anymore and obviously loves his dad to bits! Well done Jay, Skye could not have asked for a better human!

Flag and Lily still amazes us every day – dressage ponies deluxe! Let’s hope they keep that frame for the next show and the ADD doesn’t kick in when the time comes for them to do the prelim tests!

We finished off with a very informative theory lesson about basic course building – which will definitely come in handy the next time Pam instructs us to go build a course for the group lesson! At least now we know what to look out for and what to consider when building a basic course.

Some photos taken by Grant Mansfield

One of the first things that comes to mind when you think of a Group lesson is “How am I going to do this, if it is difficult enough when it is just me in the arena”… I’ve been there and wondered how the heck I was going to cope, and all that fear, wonder etc translated into my horse and made these lessons the way I anticipated them to be… “Scary, Difficult, hectic”.
Those who knew my old mare and watched the group lessons I had on her (or even the rides on our own) would understand why I was in this space. It also followed me onto Lily but it was a bit different.

I am not 1o0% sure when I finally got over this fear, but I think it happened a few months ago. I guess it is all dependent on Confidence, your trust in your horse and most importantly – the trust in your own ability. But yeah getting back to the point. I now THOROUGHLY enjoy the group lessons. I know what Lily can chuck at me and I know what to do when she does it (It makes a BIG difference).

This past weekend we had a LOVELY Group lesson which Consisted out of: Anel on Flag, Natalie on Discreet, Me on Lily, Jay on Sky and Susan on DeeDee. Pam gave us all a run for our money, we had loads of exercises that challenged us, especially seeing that it was Blistering hot. Everyone coped really well and had fantastic rides. I think the exercises Pam threw our way were done really nicely by all and everyone tried their hearts out (horses included)

What I love about these lessons are that we learn a lot, not just by riding, but by watching the others. It pushes you as an individual to ride it well too Best of all, it prepares us for the shows and for our private lessons as well. It’s just so awesome

Anyways before I waffle on too much, let me end this
Happy Riding everyone!

Well…. what can i say!

Today i CANTERED.

It was totally awesome and unexpected.  After a few rocky starts, Mickey needed to go into canter from walk, we got going.  All the time I spent watching other riders posture in the seat whilst they cantered esp. Tristan and Anel – definitely paid off.

Mickey is also very responsive.  The trotting went well and I managed to get him to move a little faster with my rise.  He had me panting more than himself.  I think I shall have to find myself a hat with a fan and automatic watering system  LOL.

When pam asked if we should canter it was almost too good to be true.  And all it took was to lift the outside leg back and squeeze.  The first couple of rounds I forgot to bring my leg back down and as a result nearly lost the stirrup. heels down and knees in and relax was all that was going thru my mind. Of course all the co-ordination too incl. turning my shoulder in and keeping head up.  The most important thing I did keep forgetting – was to breathe!  it took a few rounds to get going and not trot but when the canter came – bloody hell! I was riding a horse finally.

There were a few times where I forgot to ‘ride’ the saddle and landed up bouncing up and down.  It was so funny and all I was thinking is that I hope the earth tremors were minor   (LMAO!!!)   but then I just relaxed and let the horse do the work.

Mickey survived and I live to canter another day…

For my saturday lesson I chose the Teddy over Mickey – whether this was a good decision at that time or not – was something yet to be determined.  Teddy is still such a comfy ride but my! has he gotten lazy!  The last time I rode him I got so frustrated with myself as I could not get him to move how I wanted him to no matter what I did.  Eventually i gave up.  However this time I managed to move him with my legs, moving in, moving out and getting him to just move.  I hardly used the crop.  When I untacked him, he was so sweaty  he must have really worked hard (oh ok then it was still a little hot too  )

In the last two bootcamp days of december, Diago and I spent lots of time trotting right and doing circles.  I miss that gorgeous beauty.  At least I had the privilege of giving him a bath after my Saturday lesson.  Each time I walked past his stable this weekend I could just not bring myself to look in it for fear of bursting into tears.

Awesome pics of the Patrick Kaye boxing clinic in January 2012