Curtain Call

The show is finished - Whew!!!

The girls were brilliant!!! And I have some pikkies. :-) We did three final shows, Friday night, Saturday Matinee and Saturday evening. The girls had it completely down pat and were great. At the final show the girls had to do a 'walk on' at the end. I was a bit worried about how they would manage going to the front of the stage with all the applause but they LOVED it and lapped up all the luuuuurve.

How we spend the evening:

What the.......??????

Costumes on, ready to go.


Sammie in a hat.

Brina's 'My Fair Lady' impression.

The Sleigh

After the show we were out with Mum and Dad and the girls were swamped by admirers, they coped really well but Brina got a bit stressed towards the end and unfortunately her little friend, who hugged her all week, came running out of the dark and grabbed her and she didn't react very well. It was a real shame as she had made FANTASTIC progress with dealing with children.

Spyke has had the week off since I had issues with the weather and with trying to keep the dogs clean. In fact he had Sunday off too as I went looking at horses with a friend. We looked at two. The first one was in shocking condition, it was seriously thin and sad. :-( The second one was a big TB off the track and he was very kind and sweet. We also took the dogs to the forest for a good run and a swim. I think my two were COMPLETELY delighted to be finally allowed to get dirty. Poor Brina was gimpy though as I have run out of glucosamine (am picking some up tomorrow) and she was also very worried about lecky fences.

I lunged Spyke today (once I got back from Wellington). He was soooooo funny. He did a big buck in the canter which started to pull the lunge line through my hands which burnt so I let go. He did a big circle and brought the rein back to me so I picked it up and carried on. Then I lunged him over a jump. He jumped it beeeeeeooooootifully!!!! He really basculed and picked his back feet right up.........then bucked, pulled the lead out of my hand and buggered off up the paddock. Then he buggered off back down the paddock and screeched to a halt next to Tai......so I got my gloves. :-) He jumped really nicely after that.

Proud "Mummy" Moments

I am such a lucky person. I have the best animals!!!!!

Saturday was my second ever Novice dressage outing with Spyke. The weather was very kind to us and the torrential rain stayed away until AFTER I had ridden (thank goodness). For some reason I was very nervous about the day but Spyke was just the best. He was completely relaxed and gave me everything I asked for. Unfortunately, I don't always ask for the right things. :-) I get all my signals mixed up and get all stiff and nervous.

Our first test was 2.5 (thank GOODNESS Kristina was there as I was going to do the other test first AND my mind went completely blank at a couple of points so having Kristina to call was fantastic!!!!). It went as well as I could have hoped really for our first ever attempt. We got lots of helpful comments from the judge for things we can work on and.........we got third!!!!!!! *Insert huge grin here* So proud of my boy. The final comment from the judge was 'He's a cutie!' :-)

What was MOST exciting though was that while I was warming up Spyke was listening so incredibly to me. To get him to rein back I just had to shift my weight a tiny little bit and to change up a pace I just had to touch him very, very lightly with my legs. What a fantastic horse he is.

The second test was 2.2 which has the dreaded leg yields in it. We don't really 'do' leg yields yet and we proved it. LOL. Our comment from the judge for our second leg yield (which turned into a 'bend like a banana and shoot to the left') was 'quite unusual'. Haha. We also got an incorrect lead on one canter so I definitely fall to pieces a bit when I get in the ring. We got 5th = for that test (out of 9 people).

Overall I was pretty happy with the day as Spyke went a LOT better than his first novice day and managed to improve his placings and scores.

That evening it was the girls' turn to have a moment in the spotlight, it was the opening night of the production. They were BRILLIANT!!!! They were a little startled by the clapping that their appearance brought on and The Rabble were much louder and more enthusiastic with a 'real' audience but the girls carried on pulling and doing their job. They were fantastic. They had another performance today and were just as professional. They are so relaxed abut the whole thing. While they are out back they have children patting them, hugging them, putting hats on them running around them and jumping over them and they don't flinch. I'm very proud. I WISH I had photos to share but I will work on it.

Proper Rehearsal

Wohoo!!! Tonight the girls had their first proper rehearsal. I got a second set of chains on the way home from work (yikes....expensive!!!) and the prop people had put the hooks onto the sleigh so tonight the girls were hooked up in tandem for the first time. They were brilliant!!!!

The children (Rabble) were pushing the sleigh as it is quite big and they did get a bit carried away and nearly pushed the girls off the other side. LOL So the girls ended up slightly behind the scenery. While they were lying on stage during the song Sammie rolled over and moved the sleigh and I realised that they could probably actually pull it themselves, without the Rabble pushing.

When the queen got back into the sleigh we had to convince Brina that nap time was over as she was quite happy to hog the stage for the rest of the evening (prima donna LOL). Once again the kids pushed a bit enthusiastically and A) nearly ran the girls into the wall and B) ran through the curtain and broke the front of the sleigh. But it was a pretty successful first attempt.

We stayed until after rehearsal and took the dogs up when there were no kids about and had a wee go at pulling without help. It was no problem for the girls at all!!!!! The only thing was that in such a tight space they will still need a couple of Rabble to steer and brake (so it doesn't run the girls over). Yay yay yay!!!!

Tomorrow we will attampt (weather permitting) to ride AND got to rehearsal, it will be a long day!!!!

Busy Busy Busy (Pic heavy and loooong)

We have been very busy!!!!! I have been sick, just with a minor touch of flu but it meant I ended up taking a total of six days off work as I didn't want to 'share' it so Spyke had a bit of a holiday. Then the weather turned to custard so he hasn't had much work this week either.

Last weekend was very busy. Saturday was actually fairly quiet, which was nice but Sunday was FULL ON!!!! In the morning I helped Martina to wean Badjelly. It went very well and everyone was pretty well behaved, which was great as I know that Martina was stressing a bit about it. Straight after The Great Weaning I took the girls to the forest for a walk and on the way back I helped Kristina to build her yards. The wood was really, really heavy and we did a fair bit of hammering. I came away with a couple of blisters. Just as we finished (at about 4pm) Martina turned up and asked if I could help her rug the horses. I was pretty tired by this time (having just had a week off work sick) and still needed to exercise Spyke so he would be sane for our lesson the next morning. So Martina said to go and ride first. I popped into Kristina's house and when I came back out Martina had gone. I had decided while in the house that I would rather help rug before riding as once I had ridden I knew that I would find it difficult to head back up to Martina's. I figured she must have gone back to her paddock so I went round there. She was nowhere to be seen and in my stupid tired state I stupidly decided to just rug the horses on my own.

Java was fine, I just threw her rug on (fully supervised by Jelly) then I caught Jelly and tied her up. I have rugged her several times before so I wasn't really worried. I put the rug over her but when I went to do up the leg strap she whipped around and booted me in knee. Wench!!!!! I found a stick (very light and breakable) on the ground and whacked her on the leg with it which gave her a bit of a surprise (it really was a stick that would not hurt her in ANY way). I took the rug off, let her go, got a standard (to make my arm a bit longer) and made her keep her distance from me. She whipped around and kicked out at me a couple of times but with my 'long arm' there was no way she was going to get me. Anyway, after that I was a bit sore and also couldn't face going all the way home to change into jods so I just lunged Spyke and then had a really good melt down!!! I was sooooo tired, it had been such a loong day and I was really nervous about the lesson, especially as I hadn't managed to work Spyke as well as I wanted and he was quite full of spring grass so I had a REALLY good cry. I also felt really bad but I had to tell Martina that I can't help her with Jelly any more as we just don't get on. :-(

Monday was another BIG day. I had a lesson with Tracy Page in the morning. It was GREAT!! Spyke was very good. We had one bogey jump that we had a lot of issues with but we got it right in the end. Tracy really liked him and told me that I definitely should do Show Hunter with him. After my lesson Kristina had a ride on Oscar who was just brilliant.

Next on our agenda was to take the horses up to Kumeu Grain so they could be guinea pigs for trainee vet nurses. The boys were sooooooo good. They were examined from head to foot by about 6 people each. They had their temp taken, their respiratory rate, their lungs were listened to, as were their gut sounds and, of course, their hearts. They were then used for bandaging and trotting out practice.

After being guinea pigs, they were sedated and had their teeth done and then their manes pulled. They were a bit gobsmacked I think but they were such good boys all day.

On the doggy front the girls have been invited to take part in a stage production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe so when I'm not working or riding I am with the girls at rehearsals. They are going to 'pull' in the White Witch's sleigh which should be a laugh.

This week Spyke has managed to get coverbound (tangled in his rugs 'cos he keeps breaking them) THREE times!!!! And has had to be rescued by strangers. Plonker!!!! He is now in a canvas so he had better not wreck that!!!!

Today it was really, really wet all morning which was an EXCELLENT excuse for a lie-in. :-) The boys had their feet done and then Kristina went and had a lovely walk in the forest. I was able to ride the entire ride on the buckle. Spyke is SUCH a nice horse. This weekend coming up we have our next novice dressage challenge and opening night of the play so this week is going to be INCREDIBLY busy with riding and rehearsals every night!!!! Wish us luck!!!! :-)

Durn it, pics are a bit big so bits are missing.

First Novice

Well we have completed our first novice test and I would have to say that we did NOT cover ourselves in glory!!! However, we did not come last and there were some good moments. We did manage to get two 8s in one test and one in the other. We won’t mention the 4s we got. LOL

Spyke warmed up beautifully for his tests. He was forward and listening but then it rained!!!! Torrentially!! Just as we were about to do our first test. Apparently Spyke doesn’t ‘do’ rain. I have to admit that it is the first time since I got him that we have ridden in serious rain so it was a learning curve. He was actually ok to start with but managed to trip over his own feet on the third movement and I lost my stirrup and then we never recovered our composure and did a pretty blinkin’ hideous test. Including striking off on the wrong leg which he NEVER does at home. The judge was very kind to us as she recognised that we really struck out with conditions.

Our second test was much better but he has started tossing his head a bit. I think it is and evasion as I asking a bit more of him these days. I want him to be more forward, off the forehand and in a slightly more advanced frame. I’m not sure that he is enjoying it yet. I will get his teeth etc checked before I start insisting that he not do it as I would hate to be causing him discomfort. We actually got a worse score for our second test as the judge was more demanding but that is fine. At least I know what we have to work on.

I had a cold on Thursday/ Friday and was feeling much better on Saturday but unfortunately, getting COMPLETELY drenched has set me back a bit (lot) and I am feeling pretty blinkin’ awful today. BUT I have booked a lesson with Tracey Page (Amateur Show Hunter of the Year) next Monday so I have GOT to be well by then. I can’t wait!!!!

A Sad Day

Changes are afoot!!! Unfortunately, I have lost my grazing. :-( I have been grazing at the property for nine years so to have to move is a bit of a shock!!! The people that are leasing the property are moving on and so must I. Fortunately, my good buddy Kristina, who lives just around the corner is silly…..cough cough….I mean kind enough to take on my boys. It will be really nice to have a riding buddy again, I haven’t had one for years. The big down side is that I can’t have the dogs up there (which is completely fair enough) but it will mean that I will have to be more time conscious of time when riding as I need to give the dogs time too. I will wait and see how it works out. I am a bit worried about Tai as at 28 it is quite a big thing to be moving. The current grazing has been so perfect for him but he has stayed at Kristina’s before so hopefully all will be well.

Apart from the grazing bombshell that I got on Sunday evening I had a FABULOUS weekend. The weather was stunning!!! On Saturday I picked up some drums to use as jump stands so I am finally set up to do some jumping. I had lunch out with Tina to thank her for providing the truck to pick up the drums which was really nice (haven’t had lunch out for aaaaaaaages). I took the dogs to the forest and then did some jumping with Spyke.

We did two exercises, both designed to encourage a good shape over the jumps. The first was trot poles, into a small cross pole and then one stride to an ascending oxer. I think I only managed trot poles once, the rest of the time Spyke seemed to think they were canter poles, the big noddy. LOL. The second exercise was an oxer with a placing pole on either side. He got that a bit wrong a couple of times (too enthusiastic) so I cantered him past it a few times and then popped him over and he was spot on.

Saturday night was a social night…. I know, I know…unheard of!!! I was invited out to dinner for a 40th and had a lovely evening at Molten in Mt Eden Rd. Yummy food and excellent company.

On Sunday I went to the forest with Martina. Kristina and Oscar were supposed to come too but poor Oscar has had a TERRIBLE tummy bug and was far too unwell to join us (he is on the mend now though). We rode down at the Muriwai end as it is flatter for Java who is just starting out for the season. I was really, really pleased with Spyke as he was forward, positive and very, very sensible. He even walked through puddles when I insisted. It was a really lovely ride.

Stressage

Since our FABULOUS jumping on Monday night I have been doing some flat work. Last night I was teensy bit sore so I figured Spyke would be too so we had a fairly easy ride. We just did lots of long and low and transitions within the pace (asking for longer and shorter strides) He was very, very good and even did lengthening and shortening in canter really nicely (in the past it proved very difficult to get him balanced again after a longer canter).

Tonight I made him work a bit harder and I really tried to get him forward and up off the forehand. It was quite a mixed evening as he did some fairly hideous stuff (including a good buck when I tapped with the dressage whip). However after the 'tap episode' he picked himself up and was much more forward which was great. I just need to learn to control the forward-ness now.

I wore a pair of baby spurs tonight and I was very excited to actually get, for the very first time, some movement off the leg. The best thing was it was just the back end that responded when asked so we are making some progress. :-) I finished with some halt-trot, trot- halt transitions and he did a couple of really, really fantastic halt - trot transitions. He really used his back end and back. It felt amazing so I stopped at that.