I was very priviledged to be asked by Henriette if she could practise taking horse photos and for Flight to be the subject.  She is really a good photographer and such a lovely person. She really captures the relationship between horse and owner and I really love the photos that she has taken of Flight!

As Flight had only been back in work for 3 weeks, I was not sure if I should even enter the show as the last few shows had been pretty disasterous – we didn’t achieve anything constructive except provide good spectator entertainment.  He just loses it in the Dressage – probably just letting me know that this is extremely boring and would prefer to be jumping, but jumping is just out of the question for him.

On Thursday night I decided to just go for it and entered but decided to down grade him to Prelim instead of Novice and just take it easy.  So I paid my entries – read through the test while I was still at the stables and sketched it out on a piece of paper with all the good intentions of learning it before the show – yeah right!?!?

Saturday afternoon came along and I quickly warmed Flight up and Debbie came to read the tests for me so I could try them out at least once before the show   We had such a laugh as Debbie hadn’t noticed that she had Page 1 of Test 4 and Page 2 of Test 3 together so when she turned the page I was on the wrong side of the arena and I couldn’t understand how I could have gone so wrong until she realized what had happened!  Even without the show atmosphere – Flight was already on his toes

Sunday morning came along and I was quite nervous – not because of Flight but because I just hadn’t looked at the tests again and felt very unprepared.  Even if I haven’t ridden the tests, I at least learn the tests on paper and this time I was totally unprepared.  He was looking really calm and really lives up to his name Magnificent Flyer – he’s looking fantastic!

I only warmed him up for about 15 minutes – just to warm his back up but not enough to let him get too excited and then went to wait our turn.  He was so excited!  Was standing on the spot – chomping his bit like he does on outrides when he wants to take off – ooops?  Pam came to read for me which always helps with the nerves as she has this fantastic way of calming horse and rider down just with her presence.  Flight was actually very well behaved, except that I couldn’t get him to move off my leg as he was so on the spot with excitement and only tried to take off once.  I was really pleased with Flight and will have more lessons with Pam so that by the next show we can be doing Novice again.

We got a 1st – 66 % and a 3rd – 57 % and I was very pleased with those marks as the last few tests our marks had just been on a downward spiral.  I was so proud of my “old man” (nearly 18 year old going on 5)

Flight and I were getting so bored going around in circles as he was not allowed to jump anymore.  When Debbie and Stanton decided to give a Western Clinic at the stables, I decided to give it a try.  I had been in Klerksdorp (of all places) and had driven past a Saddlery Shop and had found a really nice bridle for Flight!

Flight really enjoyed the clinic and what I enjoyed the most was the ground work that is done before you even get on your horse.  There are a lot of stretches and exercises and they really help build the trust between horse and rider!  For lazy people like me who need a mounting block to get on – NOT ALLOWED – you have to get on from the ground – which actually makes sense – when cowboys are out in the country there aren’t always strategically placed rocks to get on so that you can mount your horse!

Even though I seriously considered doing this instead of Dressage, in the end I didn’t carry on with it as after a few lessons Flight was unsound again and I was worried that all the sitting trot was not good for his back and the spins and sliding halts which were to come later, would not be good for his one hock which is quite arthritic.

I will keep his Western bridle as it’s really pretty and will use it on out-rides.  I really value some of the things that we learned and will use them as I am sure that they will just re-inforce the great relationship that we already have.

Cheryl is such a great rider and I had asked her to ride Flight in a few classes at the next Training Show.  Firstly in the Dressage – I wanted to see if it’s me that makes him burst out of his skin with excitement or if he’s just hot in the Dressage.  Secondly – I was not ready to jump 50cm/60cm classes as Flight hadn’t jumped in ages and was doing 30cm at 100 km/h, so I wanted Cheryl to jump him to see if he would slow down.

Cheryl asked to have a lesson before the show so on 21 May 2011, Debbie gave Cheryl a lesson on Flight and he went like an absolute superstar!  They were such a fantastic combination and it was so nice to watch.  You never get to see how your horse goes and I really enjoyed watching the lesson.  He didn’t rush and did all the exercises that Debbie gave him really well – he learns really quickly.

Charlene was there with her camera and took some really lovely photos which I am so grateful to have as the following week I had a jumping lesson on Flight and he was lame the next day.  It seems that the impact of landing after the jumps dislodges the bone chip, therefore, sadly – no more jumping.

Had such a nice afternoon with Flight today (24 July 2011)  He’s getting back into his work really quickly but will keep it to 30 minutes for the rest of this week too.  Had a bit of a spook at the chickens next to the arena and after doing the serpentines with the crosses he was extremely forward as he thought he was going to get to jump all the other jumps in the arena too!  We ended with quite an excited canter on both reins – he’s so funny!

I then untacked him in the arena so he could have a roll and then walked with him to his favourite green patch to eat some grass.  After I put everything away, I went to fetch him so that he could eat grass next to his stable while I worked on all the pot plants outside his stable.  He kept coming over to see what I was doing and would then go back to his grass.  When it was time to feed him, I put him back in his stable but left the door open.  It was really cute – he kept coming out (only halfway) to see what I was doing and then would go back into his stable to eat his teff.  This carried on until I was finished.  I actually expected him to run out once his food was finished but he was very happy to stay.  He loves his stable.

It’s not just about the riding, it’s so relaxing just spending time with him.  Left in a really good mood (gardening was also therapeutic) and ready to face the new week.