Posts Written On April 2010

Finally the weather has improved and Dustry’s summer coat is coming through, he’s starting to look really smart now and is turning a lovely bright bay all over. His hacking education is coming on well and the other day we went out for a 45min walk and trot hack round the farm with Jack as ‘sensible company’. Jack did not exactly live up to his role, but Dustry didn’t care and boldly strode on past all supposedly ‘spooky areas’  completely non-plussed by tractors, rollers, other horses, XC fences, 4x4s, signs, and pheasants. Yesterday we did some more schooling and he’s…

Jack is doing really well now he’s in full time work, he’s mainly being hacked with the odd schooling session craftily thrown in to prevent him from getting bored and going stuffy in the arena. He has recently had a few Bowen treatments which seem to have made a huge difference in softening him up, and showing him that it is possible to bend your neck, and not use it as a stiff plank-like rudder! Riding him is a constant learning curve, having been very heavily handled in the past and never having been taught the foundations of proper schooling…

After Munstead BE90 I called out my physio to see Soap as I was sure he wasn’t right, and she identified that he had put himself out behind, he was treated and my trainer Amanda Brewer and I monitored his movement very carefully in our next few lessons and were happy that he had made a full recovery, and Larkhill was a go go! We had day before dressage and Soap did a cracking test, it felt like his best yet, really consistent, no freak outs, and very accurate. I was really pleased with his performance, and even more so when…

Now that the clocks have changed and the days are longer I have time to juggle riding all 3 horses around work so Dustry is now stabled at night, and is very pleased to have haylage on tap and a big straw bed to snooze on. He is much more chilled after a winter off, and I think the break has done his brain, and body the world of good. I have been doing a little bit of lunging in preparation for getting on board, and he has been impeccably behaved. He responds very well to voice commands although he…