Day 249 - 253: Dressaging, more horse viewing and more teaching ;)

Una

I really don't know where the days go at the moment hence weekly catch ups on the blog.

Sunday 6th September

Today we take Una and Jasper to a small dressage show about an hour drive away from the yard. They both settle well and it's a perfect sunny day which makes everything that much easier. I am quite curious how the little mare will feel when I get on. We finished on a super note the day before when I have finally discovered her go-through button and I am hoping she remembers it!
She does. She warms up beautifully and gives me the best ride to date. I couldn't be happier with her. She spooks in the test a little because of dragons and monsters obviously which possibly costs us the first place but I am so happy with how she feels that I couldn't care less if she came last. Very competitive of me I know ;)
We come 4th.

My young rider rides her first ever dressage test on her young horse and they do a great job. She comes 6th with some nice comments from the judges.

Caitlin and Jasper

Jasper remains his stoic self and I gives Caitlin a good first show education: he is just distracted enough to make her a little nervous but focused enough to allow her to test her skills in a fair way.

Great day all round.

Now off we go in pictures :) 

Where have you been!!??

7th September: Nigel testing the feel and understanding of riding from "back to front" and creating positive impulsion. We also had a conversation of the week which started with: Nigel: "You know that horse I am NOT buying next year..." ...wink emoticon and later me: "You know that budget that you don't need for the horse you won't be buying..." wink emoticon Didn't we all start somewhat like that?! 

Alicia and Basil - learning a lot with these guys! They keep me thinking ;) 

Mairi and Jasper in a short and sweet session tackling some baby jumps

Tuesday afternoon is another drive across the country to view potential horse for Mairi. After last week's disappointment I am really hoping for the right match and it certainly is! A really lovely, all rounder with superb genuine jump that gave Mairi what I can only describe a ride of a year ;) Some aspects of the viewing are not bloggable but yard vetting by the owner depending, the new boy will come to live with us shortly.

Wednesday is my Brackenhill Stud day - it's sunny and warm, Staffie girls welcome me by jumping their heavy bodies onto my lap.
Aimee and Fig have another event coming up on Sunday so we run through her dressage test and focus on details and marks catchers ;) They do well and I am feeling pretty emotional as I know Fig's sale ad is going to out the next morning. The life of horse producers is one I would struggle with, it's hard enough when I teach on them long term!

Emma rides one of her sales liveries, a lovely Thoroughbred mare and we work on more positive forward button with her to improve contact. Timely has had a few weeks off schooling due to rider's holidays and a little infection he picked up so we take it easy with a lot of stretching and light seat work.
Lou and Freddie get a challenging session to give them something a little harder to work on between now and the next lesson.

With Henley Show coming up, we practice accuracy and approaches on the course of jumps with Aisha and her new - ish mare. They are building a great partnership and improving each time I see them.
I finish the day with a short rehab session  for Roulette, her trot is becoming more and more rhythmical and she seems to be moving with more comfort throughout her body. Convalescence schooling is something I have personal interest in and really hope the mare goes on to great things.

Thursday 10th September 

...is my admin day so I'm spending the day bombarding everybody with my email replies ;) I decided to get the Aspire logo sorted this month and thought I would just ask if any of my Facebook friends knows someone into equestrian design. Well, I now have so many leads that I think I will just do a contest kind of project and let my readers and riders pick the design!

Until next time!
Wx