lame

got up to the yard this afternoon (sooo hot today!!!) and apparantly he has been pulled out of lessons this morning cos he was lame. Turns out he was being a wuss, trod on a stone or something and was suddenly totally crippled. i think he's doing quite well-thats 2 sundays in a row that he has escaped being used in the school, crafty sod! My instructor told me to jump on him and see how he felt, that they had had him out an hour previous to trot up and he looked fine, so see how it went.

Anyway, he was totally fine, did lots of work trying to get him to stretch out-so long rein in walk, trot , canter-he really stretched his back out in canter and came under himself really nicely, then played about with leg yield and shoulder in in walk, down the 3/4 line on the long sides of the school-which he did really well. tried turn on the forehand and he just got totally stressed and wound up, so will leave that until my lesson next week, cos i must have been a bit off with how i was asking. Walked him down the lane to cool him off-and now i see why ive been warned not to hack him until ive been out with someone-he's a bit of a nutter! tried spinning back to the yard, and was a bit uphimself and ready to tank back. will have to make sure i always turn around at dofferent points on the lane to come back or he is gonna start bolting back in anticipation, which will not make me very happy. Its a shame, cos he has really made me much more confident, and was hoping that people had just hyped up that he was a bit daft out. i can handle it-and hopefully stay on, but it makes me nervous, and then a bit of a rubbish rider as a consequence.

I felt a bit mean when we finished-he was totally knackered, and was really hot, so spen ages washing him off and making sure he cooled down, didnt drink too much too fast etc, and got him some hay. He's got a bit of a skill of managing to poo in his automatic waterer, so drained it and scrubbed it out, and bedded him down. He couldnt have been too peeved with me though, as he got all clingy and super cuddly when i was about to leave.

Now ive got Rani worked out, i just need to find me some friends down there :) being the new girl at a yard totally sucks.

really wish id been able to have my lesson today! sucks being a pauper lol, hate being a student! was looking forward to doing some lateral work...still i can look forward to doing it next sat :) and can go play with him tomorrow :)

Got back ridiculously late (or early depending upon your view-2am!!) from KOL gig at hyde park last night, so woke up super late today. By the time i got down to the yard it was pretty busy, lots of kids exercising ponies so was pretty tricky to do anything much, and found myself riding around aimlessly trying to dodge kids charging about. was quite frustrating as wanted to have another bash at was i was doing on Tues, and try some schooling exercises i read about in a book, for straightness, to practice getting into corners properly, and to see if i could figure out my canter/20m circle issues. Guess will have to try and get down a bit earlier on fridays. Never mind, still was nice to be down there and had lots of cuddles, and he looked pretty pleased to see me! love that he is starting to gt to know me now :)

Piccies of Rani after he had a bath on tues (he was very not amused!) although this could have been more to do with the pink headcollar! :)

canter 20m circle issues

was soo good to see luran today :) was totally stressed out trying to sort out housing for the next year of uni this morning, so was good to get down the yard and chill out a bit. I think he is starting to recognise me when i show up, which makes me happy!:)

had a really good session in the school today, with lots of transitions and work to get him forward and off my leg. he started to come into an outline after half an hour of hard work, which was really satisfying, but hard to keep him there. I know it needs to come from your leg, into your hands, and he did come nice and light in my hand, and carry himself in a nice shape-but sometimes i feel like he is really pulling me down and forwards. It doesnt feel like he is just being strong, but more like he is leaning, and trying to get more rein. I dont really know what to do, although it did start to come together towards the end. I guess also, he is riden by lots of other people when he is used by the riding school (i only have him 3-4 days of the week), so he knows what he can get away with! still, i was really pleased with him today. Also having issues on 20m circles in canter-he falls out, and and all the bend seems to come from his neck, rather than his body-its like im trying to drag him around a circle when he is trying to go straight. Im pretty sure its an issue with me-but it only happens in canter.  we did hae a few nice circles at the end, with walk/canter transitions at x, the the next circle round, trot at c etc so he wasnt anticipating transitions at x. i think it must be to do with the way im sitting, but i cant figure it out, so im going to talk to cat about it in my next lesson.

gave him a bath after, he was so not impressed. totally like my first pony sam, when i washed him mane, he absolutely drenched me shaking. I love spending time doing jobs like that though. you get to miss the general faffing about that comes wih horses when you dont have one for a while. like the way you can spend whole days at the yard not really doing anything! i miss all that.

help with my canter issues please!!

gaaah silly pony lost a shoe! why do they always do it when you are really looking forward to riding! and i missioned it up in the pouring rain as well. never mind. walked him around the school for about 20 mins so he didnt stiffen up-old man, bless- which was fine minus a shoe, cos sandschool surface was ok, and thankfully not to much of a bog after all the rain.

so spent lots of time having cuddles and grooming, and had a chat with my instructor about him. he was awfully pleased with himself for getting a day off! proper smug he looked when i got there. hopefully the farrier will be up by tuesday, if not will spend the time giving him a bath and poshing him up a bit!

Lesson today :)

ugh im so unfit! did lots of work getting Luran to stop puddle dodging and go into the corners of the school. and trying to get him to bend and engage from behind properly. had a little jump, kept drifting to the left so need to work on straightness. he was better on the left rein than yesterday though. Absolutely belted down with rain today, not so fun. next week we are going to start doing some more lateral work, which im looking forward to. im def more of a flatwork than jumping person!

you can see the rain coming!!!

was soo happy to see my little dude today! was chucking it down with rain, so he was in a bit of grump. pottered around the school doing lots of transitions and bending exercises, but school so boggy couldnt do much. because he has had a lot of ligament issues with his forelegs, i have to be careful with him if the ground isnt to good. still, think he was glad to get out of his box for a bit, and was covered in mud when i got there, so obv had goodtimes in the field earlier!

lesson tomorow, which im looking forward to. hope it gets sunny again now i catually have time to spend hours at the yard!

hurray, exams done (for now!) so can go and see my boy again tomorow, FINALY hurray so excited!!

gutted! i dont get to see luran until tuesday :( and no lesson tomorrow. dislike. instead i shall be holed up in the library until monday when exams start. not happy.