cabbagepatch88

Poor Loki I would get the vet out to have a look at his stifle as its a really sensitive place and it may take a while for Loki to feel comfortable again so would get an.early diagnosis! Hope he's feeling better soon though, hopefully he will be Dressage Is 5pm tomorrow. Pooing my pants already

Dressage is nearly here, eeek! I have been.practicing bending/flexing, outline/contact, transitions...all that I can think of whilst we've been out hacking and minus one diva moment milo is doing well I havnt got anywhere to practice my test so I've been trotting around the living room instead Only disaster is that I washed my white saddlecloth to discover its got bizarre marks all over it so think I will have to buy a new one How's everyone else? Dark evenings here we come...boooooo.....

Ive been put off hunting (not that milo would manage anyway) after a horse keeling over and dying on my local hunt last weekend. Scary stuff Well I've been a big brave girl and have taken my entry form in for dressage. I was greeted at the yard by really friendly staff and they showed me around so I know where to go when I get there It's not til next Friday but thought I'd be prepared

Oh my goodness PW, that's a bit of a shock! Is there any medication for cushings or is it just a case of managing it? Can anyone advise me as to which clip I should do this year? The first year I clipped him he was living out, we did a full clip but it was march by the time we did it so it was a lot warmer. Last year he was in at night at I did 3 full clips over the winter! This year he's out again, yesterday we got back from a hack and he was dripping so its time to take action! I have limited clipping skills, do you think a full clip would be too harsh or could I justify it with the sheer amount of hair he grows?

Clare, at rycroft Thanks guys, keep the hints coming...

Towing is always a minefield and like Clare says, im sure most people who tow are illegal! Clare what a fantastic picture Milo's been busy for the last few weeks so now he's having some well deserved time off. He's been to a jumping clinic with the riding club again where we did some more grid work to get him into the swing of things, and then on Sunday we went for a lesson at Milo's old posh yard for a lesson on course jumping, as really thats where I struggle, actually keeping him together between the jumps. All I can say is that he is a totally different horse. Cool, calm, collected. No tanking me into jumps, no p*ssing off on the other side, bouncy and rhythmical between the fences, and most importantly, my arms are still in their sockets I honestly cannot believe he's been so calm. Having had a year off I thought he would go bananas. Maybe as he's feeling more comfortable now so he finds it easier. Who knows. But im very pleased with him No more jumping now for a while.... Had my physio out yesterday and she says hes looking better every time she sees him. He's getting the muscle back on his hindquaters and building more and more topline. She said his hind end and back is all even and pain free so she said I should have no reason to think that his hocks are hurting him, which is fantastic especially as we'd been jumping on sunday. The riding school down the road from me run a competition once a month (as im sure ive mentioned before) and the next one is dressage. I think I might bite the bullet and have a go. They are doing Intro A first so I think I might enter for that, I would hope I could manage (more or less) a walk and trot test. The sheer thought of it terrifies the life out of me but I think I ought to do it, will the the black and white thing busy anyway. Ive never 'officially' done dressage before so, to you dressage people: 1) What are the really obvious and easy things I can work on so we dont look like numpties? 2) Its being run under BD rules so is there anything obscure I should know? I know its white gloves, no martingales, snaffle bit... 3) How does the booking in/warming up process differ to that of a SJ show? 4) How early should I arrive before my time? It will be like the blind leading the blind

Thanks Clare. Grace, I havnt got loss of use on my policy so could only get the money if he was stolen or if he died through illness or injury.

Well done Clare you and Loki have done so well this year! Can I ask you all your opinion on my insurance renewal please? Got my renewal through from petplan today, amazed its only gone up £5 a month after all my claims this year but rang them anyway to put his activity group down a level. The lady on the phone said if I wanted to get ny premium down even further I could change my sum insured ( I can reduce by half) and that would take about £150 off my bill. Now, he is Insured for £2000 because that is what I paid for him, but now I'm thinking as he has his hock issues, Is it worth me keeping it that high or should i reduce it? I can't see his market value being much, an antisocial speedy cob with dodgy hocks! I can't see myself parting with him (nobody else will have him lol) so what would you all do? Well done Clare you and Loki have done so well this year! Can I ask you all your opinion on my insurance renewal please? Got my renewal through from petplan today, amazed its only gone up £5 a month after all my claims this year but rang them anyway to put his activity group down a level. The lady on the phone said if I wanted to get ny premium down even further I could change my sum insured ( I can reduce by half) and that would take about £150 off my bill. Now, he is Insured for £2000 because that is what I paid for him, but now I'm thinking as he has his hock issues, Is it worth me keeping it that high or should i reduce it? I can't see his market value being much, an antisocial speedy cob with dodgy hocks! I can't see myself parting with him (nobody else will have him lol) so what would you all do?

That's great Clare! Saves you time and money! Grace, poor horse like gooster says, maybe offer your help but for money so they don't take the pee! Milo fine, he felt a bit odd last week in his left canter, not lame but struggling to carry himself. But, there are a multitude of things it could've been and he feels much better now. He had the farrier last week which always makes him sore, I didn't get to ride much so he may well have just been stiff and I noticed today that my saddle is sitting way too low on his withers so need to get that seen to! I'm pannicing a bit about what to do with him over the winter in terms of riding. Ive been spoilt at all my past yards having floodlights in the school but now I'm going to be limited to daylight hours and i won't be able to do anything with him anyway if the ground is too hard. He needs to be kept busy otherwise those darned hocks seize up a bit so not sure what to do with him. I can book lessons etc at places with a surface but transport is limited and obviously that's going to end up very expensive. I guess i'll just have to do my best with what I've got!

Oh wow Clare, what a fantastic result! A huge well done to you and the Loki

Oh wow that shire is amazing!! Well done Clare you must be chuffed to have qualified Well we ended up going to a jumping clinic on Sunday! The lady from the riding club rang me on saturday and said she only had 1 person signed up for a mini back to basics class and wondered if I'd like to go. It was also just up the road so I could hack there so agreed to go. We were sh*t the following video shows all, can definitely tell we havnt jumped for a year! The video shows us going through the Ford too, what a brave pony. I think my boyfriend filmed that in hope I would fall off! so anyway my plan is only to jump once a month so the riding club lady said she'd let me know of any lessons I could go to on a nice surface next month

Hope all our Refugee horses are all Ok! Pleased to report that its been well over a week since Milo has had bute and it hasnt affected his soundness at all. I cantered him in all the usual places on our hack at the weekend and he feels exactly the same

Oh Loki, what are you like Hope he gets back to 'normal' soon! Have you got any more events coming up Clare? Im going to have a play around with a few joint supplements I think, see what happens! Got lost in the forest today, was out there for 2 and a half hours. Its just vast and every path I turned down looked the same! Milo enjoyed himself although we were both knackered by the time we got home!!

Poor horsey what a horrible thing to happen What joint supplements do you all use? I've been claiming for one from my vets but insurance runs out next month so now need to look for my own. It's such a minefield, they all have really good adverts but when you look at the levels they provide they are really low....

Well done Clare, glad you're getting over your unexplained fear of SJ Collies r best - I used paper for ages and loved it. It was cheap, didn't smell, was really absorbent and light to work with. The downside is that it goes everywhere! Just try and keep it clean and you should be alright How long do you reckon it will take the bute to get out of his system? I had a good blast up the forest today and he felt great, I even popped a few small logs on the way round (weehee) and he was very calm about it!

Poor ponies going underwater hope they can swim!! Thank you for all your good wishes, they paid off The vet was amazed with Milo. His bum muscles have previously been very asymmetric but have now levelled out, he flew through the flexion tests and being lunged in the car park. The vet says obviously living out has worked miracles for him and said milo looked better today than he ever thought he would! So the plan now is to get him off the bute (hes only on 1 a day anyway) and up his workload so we can return to 'normal'. He's already happy doing 1 hr plus up the forest so will increase the fast work and get him fit enough to get out to some lessons!

Milo's off to the vets tomorrow for his last assessment. Everything crossed for tomorrow at 1pm please!

Physio was really pleased with milo yesterday, she said he was much much softer and able to do loads more of the exercises this time round. She watched him walk and trot up and down the road and she thinks he's sound. Obviously no flexion tests (that's the bit he's always dodgy on) but still, pleased to hear he looks good to her!

Clare that is amazing!!! congratulations to both of you I've just booked Milo in for his vets trip next Friday...fingers crossed they will say he's sound. He has the physio tomorrow too

Another Gold in team dressage, amazing!! If milo wasn't broken it would inspire me to have some dressage lessons Well done with your jumping Clare must be very satisfying after all the trouble you've had!

It was great fun, so lovely to have a lesson again! Well the vet isn't due to see milo re his hocks until the middle of next month so I will have to wait until I get back from holiday towards the end of august to get the thumbs up/down regarding doing any more with him. Fingers crossed I will be able to do small abouts of small jumps, just enough to keep his brain ticking over would be wonderful. The ODE course was wonderful, the jumps were amazing. Unfortunately none of the horses liked my fence and I had lots of refusals and a few people come off! But yes really enjoyed it. I remember having a jumping lesson on leading legs and working really hard to make sure we landed on the right one, the next time I went jumping and got to the end of the round I thought what a waste of time - I was concentrating so hard on even just remembering where I was going all technique went out of the window you're not allowed to jump in the school anymore?!?! Another bright idea from YO?

Here's my video from this morning

Aww Blue Lovely picture, glad he's behaving himself! Well we finally made it to a riding club clinic Hooray! We had a great time We did the poles and pre-jumping class, we did loads of really useful balance exercises, some speed control (haha) and spook busting. My boyfriend drove my friends lorry for me and he took loads of video so will get him to cut it all down and do a montage later so you can all see how we got on. I was extremely pleased with Milo, he wasn't sharp or strong at all and didn't react to the other horses, despite being on his own for a few weeks now. Bearing in mind the last time he had a trip out to a show was last September I was expecting him to be an excitable heap of energy but he was very chilled what a good boy! AND I took him in his snaffle

Wahoo glad blue enjoyed his freedom, is he ok today? Clare he always looks much bigger all tacked up and riding. He is actually only 15.2 and I never believed that but I measured him once with a stick and its true! I think because he's quite compact and upright he just looks big First riding club clinic on Saturday morning, so excited!! I never thought id be so looking forward to walking and trotting over poles

Well Milo is very much enjoying his new field. The man's daughter is besotted with him, most days I arrive at the field to discover her brushing him for the umpteenth time that day Ive been investigating the nearby Bramshill Forest and all I can say is WOW. As soon as you get in there its just big wide sandy tracks - I thought maybe id just found the really good ones to start with but no, they go on for miles and miles and miles. Milo been extremely well behaved, no hotting up or trying to tank off when we've trotted down the big tracks. My boyfriend came with us today and he thought it would be hilarious (obviously) to take this photo - his caption is "Now we just need to find a really big triangle" But doesnt the boy look handsome