Busy Day

Today was a very busy day. I was able to 'borrow' two small children (Kristina's niece and nephew) to start working on de-sensitising Brina to children as she is not really very 'good' at kids. I think that she just doesn't get the point of them so she tends to stand and shout at them. The kids were quite shy to start with which is fair enough so I got them to sit, one at a time, on the stepladder in the middle of the paddock and pat Brina 10 times each. So I would take Brina away, bring her back and get them to pat her and I would give her a treat. It was great as Brina really relaxed around them.

Next I harnessed up Sammie and walked her around in the cart for a bit on her own (helped by Brina of course) and then Kristrina's niece was put in the cart and had a wee ride. Sammie was great and not at all worried about having a child in the wagon. Helped by the fact that the child was fabulous and sat very quietly.

Then it was Brina's turn. Once again, she pulled the wagon by herself before giving Kristina's nephew a ride. Brina was FABULOUS!!!! She even trotted with her little load on board (who loved it :-)

Finally, we put both kids in the wagon. Brina found that too heavy to pull at this stage so I grabbed the shaft and pulled it for her and everyone was happy with that. It was a very successful morning (followed by an ice cream for all helpers :-).

In the afternoon Sarah and I took Spyke and Bert to the forest. We had a fabulous ride. We did a long ride with lots and lots of trotting on a long rein. The boys really seemed to enjoy it, they were certainly sweaty by the time we got back to the truck

Warm Fuzzies

I haven't ridden for the last two days as I have been feeling quite lousy with the cold that I caught just in time for the long weekend but the last two nights when I have gone up to the paddock Spyke has nickered at me and come over to me of his own accord. Bless, I feel all loved. :-)

Tonight I was able to practise carting with the dogs!! YAY!!!! The harness arrived from Barbera today so I had to have a go. Admittedly I was feeling so crappy after work that I actually planned on not going up to the paddock at all but when I got home Brina must have just had a teeny tiny siezure as she was very distressed and whiney. Tracy was home but she had not seen any evidence of a siezure until Brina got distressed so it must have been very short. Which is great news. I decided to head up to the paddock with the wagon after all as I have found it helps Brina to get over the 'post-ictal depression' if I give her something else to think about.

I fed the boys first before getting cart out. It was quite tricky on my own trying to hook up the girls. Sammie went first as she has the most experience. I lead her around for a bit next to the cart to get her used to the noise again and then hooked her up. As I said, it was really tricky, as Sammie didn't really want to sit straight and I also had 'help' from Brina and Lily who were leaping over the shafts. It was quite funny. I managed to get Sammie sorted and then took her for a walk around the flat part of the paddock. The instant we moved though the two boys shot off like a bat out of hell, snorting and cavorting, they were so funny. I think Spyke thought it was quite fun. Sammie did two circuits of the field and as we were finishing Steph came down to watch for which I was very grateful as an extra pair of hands made things much easier.

Sammie Carting

Brina was next and I have to say that she only just squeezed between the shafts but she managed and she was GREAT!!! Her tail was wagging as soon as we hooked her up and she was more than happy to wander around the field. It certainly took her mind off 'things'. Overall it was a successful inaugural outing for the wagon. Now I just need to work on the girls' fitness.

Brina and then Sammie carting and Brina 'helping'.

I am so lucky to have such lovely animals, :-)

Summer is here!!!

It is hot again today. It was 27 degrees at about 2 o'clock this afternoon. It's not humid though so it is not horrendous and the air con helps a LOT!!

I had another lesson this morning but the day didn't start well. I had a really bad night last night. I just couldn't sleep. When I finally did drop off I did something odd to my hip, I have no idea what but it hurt and I couldn't get comfortable. When I got up I couldn't walk on my left leg. I had to lean on the wall to be able to get to the door to let the dogs out, it was really, really painful. I wondered about cancelling my lesson but I just couldn't as I know that Laura has to go to quite a lot of trouble to fit me in on a Saturday morning.

Fortunately, by the time I got up to the paddock it had loosened up a bit so I could at least walk although it had to be carefully.

The lesson was great again. Spyke really enjoys the ground work (I suspect as he doesn't have to work very hard LOL). He is still very very stiff and not very giving with the flexing however, he is much better at it when I am riding so we aren't too worried about it. By the end of the lesson I was able to move him completely sideways!!! This is a bit of a breakthrough for us. Admittedly, it was a tiny step but it was a start.

After the lesson I popped up and fed Sari for Martina as she is away this weekend so I snuck in a snuggle with Bad Jelly. :-) Then I went to the pony club arena and took some photos of Kristina, Sarah and Rachael riding. It was very hot down there and horribly dusty. I had a wee ride on Oscar too and he went really well. He is starting to take contact now and has quite a rhythmic trot. However, once Bert finished and left the arena Oscar stopped listening, he was still nice but I couldn't get him to bend after that. He will get there though.

Next on my agenda was taking the girls to the forest for a swim. We didn't really have a walk as I was still sore (although much better). We went up to the swimming hole and I threw a pine cone for about 20 minutes so the girls had plenty of exercise. I can't wait until the harness that I am borrowing from Barbera arrives as I can get carting. I have arranged to borrow a toddler next weekend to start de-sensitising the girls to noisy children (although Brina is the only one that would worry about it really).

I am about to head up and lunge Spyke as he really didn't have to work very hard this morning and then I am going to park in front of a fan for the rest of the evening.

Update (Pics added)

I WILL have video soon. :-) Spyke is going really well now. On Saturday a friend of mine (Gill) came up and rode Spyke for me. Kristina and Sarah came down to my paddock and we had a TART session (Taupaki Adult Ride Team :-) Gill rode so that I could do stuff with poles. It was a great day. We did trot poles and small jumps and video-ed it all. Spyke was fabulous, he was so well behaved, I was very proud of him. I had a quick jump over half barrels at the end. I am really looking forward to jumping him bigger but unfortunately I only have barrels and I'm just not ready for the jump from half to full barrel.

Oscar and Bert were fabulous too. Gill had a ride on Oscar as well. It was such a relaxed and enjoyable afternoon.

I have entered Spyke into the WRC ribbon day next weekend (Feb 1st). I don't normally do ribbon days (hate 'em) but since there is no plaiting and jackets with WRC and their events are always relaxed and fun I thought I would do it. The only down side is that I can't do the jumping in the afternoon as Martina needs her truck after lunch but I am so lucky to be able to use the truck that I am not complaining. :-)

After riding we took the dogs (including Storm, Gill's lovely dalmation) to the forest for a run.

On Sunday I wrote at Waitemata dressage. I was writing for level 6 and had a lovely judge.

Another lovely weekend.

Back To Basics

Spyke and I had a lesson this morning with Laura, the instructor that we watched on Monday. It was a FABULOUS lesson. Laura takes the horse right back to absolute basics and makes sure that all the building blocks for soft self carriage are present. We started with a lot of ground work. First was bit of flexion and we worked on getting him to give to pressure; dropping his head, turning his head, moving backwards. We got him moving forward and then disengaging the hind quarters and moving his hind quarters without moving the forelegs (that was quite hard for us). We then did all of that from on board. It was fantastic and I could really see Spyke thinking and listening and could feel him softening already. I can't wait for our next lesson and I have lots of home work to do. On the down side Spyke has twisted one of his back shoes so I can't do much with him until I have that straightened out.

Back in the Good Books

Yay!!! Spyke is back in the good books!! We had adult ride tonight over at the pony club grounds where he has been EXTREMELY difficult the last two times we were there and he was really good. I was very nervous as his behaviour over there is the worst I have ever seen from him. I didn't give him any time to think tonight I just got on and joined the JUMPING.....yes JUMPING group straight away. In a lot of ways I really wanted to ease him in with a dressage evening before jumping but Lisa Coupe is only going to be at adult ride twice so I didn't want to miss out. Spyke was a bit on edge to start with and did tend to tank towards the gate home but he still listened to me (mostly) and we managed to complete the lesson. We even jumped a really "big" jump (read 90cm-ish but it was an ascending oxer) and he jumped it bee-oooo-tifully!!!! He really basculed over it. One day soon I will have pikkies again I hope. :-) I must I must I must work on getting my shoulders back!!!

I have taken his grazing muzzle off tonight as a) I made him a deal that if he behaved at club I would take it off and b) I don't think he has actually figured out how to eat with it so I think the poor boy is quite hungry. :-( I will see how he goes back on the grass and if he is a noddy then I will just have to strip graze them.

Hot Hot Hot

It is very hot at the moment. It is actually really nice if you can get into the shade and there is a bit of a breeze but otherwise it is hot. :-)

I have had an interesting couple of days with the horses. Yesterday I watched Kristina's lesson with Oscar and I also watched her friend Sarah's lesson. It was very interesting as the instructor takes the horses right back to basics to ensure all the building blocks are in place for them to move on. I think it is exactly what Spyke needs so I am going to book a lesson. I tried a bit of what I had seen on Spyke in the afternoon and he was quite responsive. In fact I was thrilled when I rode him that I was actually able to get him to move his shoulders one step in each direction without moving his back feet. This sideways movement was a bit of a breakthrough for the Spyklet and I.

Today Kristina and I went to the forest and had a lovely, lovely ride. My friend Tina met us there with her lovely big clydie mare and did the first part of the ride with us but Bindi isn't up to much just yet so she turned back early. Kristina and I went exploring and found some lovely new tracks. Oscar and Spyke are great together in the forest and we even had a teeny tiny race (Spyke wasn't that into it though LOL). I love being on holiday. :-)

Tomorrow Spyke has adult ride. I am quite nervous about it as the last two times at that grounds did NOT go well. They seem to make Spyke very hyper. I am hoping all the work he has done since Christmas and the presence of the grazing muzzle will mean that he is sane and sensible. Fingers crossed!!!

On the doggy side of things Sammie had to go to the vet yesterday as she has a big haematoma on her ear. The vet drained it and injected some steroids into it. It is back up a bit today but her last one did that too so I am keeping everything crossed that it will resolve itsself soon as another major vet bill would be a bad thing!!

Other than that the girls are very well and happy. I think the heat pump makes their lives (and mine) ever so much nicer. I love air con!!!!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone. I have had a luverly week!!! :-) I have two FAB-U-LOUS rides in the forest. The first was with Kristina and Oscar. I soooo enjoyed it!! We 'happy hacked' which basically means that we walked, trotted and cantered as much as we liked. Spyke had to deal with a few 'challenges' though. The first was a very large mud puddle. Spyke is good at water but doesn't 'do' mud and refused to go through the puddle. That was fine as there was a track around it. It was covered in tree roots and small mud puddles and once Spyke saw that he got all anxious and worried and his little knees actually trembled as he tippy toed carefully, with his eyes almost shut across the tree roots and through the puddles. Funnily enough, after that, he was quite happy just to go through the puddles. The next challenge was a tree across the track. It was about knee height. He stood and looked at it for a bit while Kristina and I were working out what we were going to do and then the little sweetheart, once again with trembly knees, carefully stepped over it followed by Oscar (who never batted an eyelid). Challenge three was two deer. We had just settled into a lovely canter on one of our favourite tracks when two deer popped out to our right about 15 meters away. I just had time to shout 'Deer!!' and jam my heels down before Spyke spotted them. He slammed on the anchors and shot left over the bank and through the trees. Suddenly he realised that he was 'off-piste' which is not his thing at all. He scrambled back to the track and managed to stand looking sheepish while I tried to recompose myself for the next five minutes as riding while doubled over laughing is not easy. It was a great ride!!

The next day I had a bubbles ride with Martina and discovered that being slightly squiffy dramatically improves one's lower leg. :-) It was another fab ride.

Yesterday Martina, Tina and I went to the New Year races at Ellerslie. It was really, really hot but there was a nice breeze that was just enough to stop me from boiling. I took my usual $20 which lasted me till the second to last race. I picked two winners and had placings in most races so it was a great day.

This afternoon I took the girls for a walk in the forest. It was so hot and muggy. The dogs swam and swam and I ditched the sneakers and joined them in the stream for a paddle. I was really chuffed as last night I managed to REALLY get stuck into Brina's undercoat and knots so her coat was looking quite good today. I've still got a lot of grooming to do to get rid of the knots she collected while I was away.

I rode Spyke this evening as it was too hot in the afternoon. This evening I discovered his 'forward' button. We did some Rein-back to trot and some walk to canter. My word he has a fantastic canter when he is using himself properly. Trouble is, now that I have 'foward' I don't know how to get collected. Oh well, it gives me plenty to work on.