I just popped into Trotters on my way home to pick up Dustry’s new feed, and look what else I came out with! Trotters know me too well, but this lovely gift really isn’t helping my already unhealthy addiction to socks! 😉 They say the first stage to overcome your problem is to admit you have one……..*twiddles thumbs and whistles*………dumm dee dum…..
When I bought Dustry he was malnourished and lacking muscle mass, over the last few years he’s really filled out and put on condition but…..I just want him BIGGER! In particular I want this year to make a considerable improvement to his naturally long and slim neck, and additional top line elsewhere is always welcome on such a slinky tb. So on a mission to ‘super-size’ my pony I asked around about conditioning but non heating feed sutible for such a task, and the name that seemed to pop up over and over again was Equi-Jewel from Saracen Horse Feeds…
So after last weeks eureka moment I was very keen to get cracking on today’s lesson as I knew jumping would be involved! We started on the flat, and all week I have been working on his canter, and in all paces the need to ‘keep my hands active’ to encourage him to stay soft and supple in his jaw. On the flat he still needs to work in a more uphill shorter frame in the canter but it’s coming, and in the trot I need to remember to keep those hands active (not huge gestures just little and often to move the bit…
apparently fog is the new ‘high winds’ and caused much excitment in the field this morning. Dustry just couldn’t resist a few rolly leapy squeaky moments!
Dustry’s jumping education has been frustratingly slow due to a variety of irritating issues (bad weather missing lessons, Christmas, illness, work commitments, riding after dark etc) but primarily we have been delayed by his dental issues. These are well and truly sorted now, and it was with baited breath that yesterday we attempted his first ‘post wolf teeth jump’. We began the lesson working on all paces, making it my main priority to ‘get him in the neck’, every time he goes to slightly hollow or come up in his neck I need to be really proactive about stopping it before it…
WIN A FREE COPY OF COURSEWALK APP The very kind people at have given me 2 copies of their nifty xc course walk app, 1 for me, and 1 to give away to a lucky GHE fan! If you have a smart phone this could be a real life saver, you can record your course as you walk it, take pics, of the jumps, then watch it back to jog your memory/learn the course, and it even gives you km markers so you can gauge your speed and location. You can then share your course, and download new ones that have been shared by…
Well finally the weather has beaten us 🙁 The arena is under snow and the hill leading to and from the yard to the main road is too slippy to drive the lorry up and down atm so we are confined to barracks. I’m hoping it will be thawed by midday tomorrow as I have found a local indoor to hire and want to take Dustry for a schooling session. In the mean time I thought I would test out my new camera, and get some shots of his Lordship in the snowy wilderness that is his field atm. So here are…
Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrr! It’s baltic! but even the threat of snow and -10 temps wasn’t enough to deter me from our lesson today. It takes approx 50min to box to my instructor and the last thing I wanted to do was get stranded by the snow somewhere en route, but with my lesson being around midday and the snow not forecast to come down until later in the evening I decided it was worth the risk. This week the weather has been so cold that Thursday and Friday after work it has been too cold to ride in the arena as the surface has been frozen solid, so it was a very fresh…
…until the clocks change and the nights draw out, not that I’m counting or anything! Thought I would quickly share this snap because although it’s minus temps and I feel like I’m a nocturnal rider these days, having this little face greet you when you get to the yard makes it ALL worthwhile
I’m very excited and pleased to report that GHE has an additional sponsor for 2012, the lovely rug brand Konabo. Kate from Konabo has very generously provided me (well Dustry) with a Konabo Total PRO turnout rug. The unique feature of Konabo rugs is that they have an internal liner which you can zip in and out in order to wash. This means that you can keep the inside of the rug which is in contact with the horse’s coat clean without having to send the whole rug away to be professionally cleaned. This is a genius idea! The clever…