bobbysmum

Great to hear everyones news. Beach riding sounds great but I would worry about getting tanked off with. Do you have to worry about people digging holes and building sand castles or do you keep to the new stuff made by the tide? I hacked out today for the second time. Dexter was a bit put off by a man in a lorry tipping aggregate on the pavement. Later on he didnt like the look of a recovery lorry with a car on the back. Both times the nice drivers switched their engines off and then he was happy to walk by with another horse in front. Then on the way back he didnt like the piles of aggregate on both sides on the road. One being guarded by cones and the other by sticks with flapping tape. Afterall they werent there when we went out. Must say though so far he hasnt done anything drammatic. No leaping about. He just stops and stares and awaits instructions or takes a step to the side. We havent met a sheep yet. We hacked past all the polo ponies out in their post and rail paddocks enjoying a day off.

very cute but what does it all mean translation required

Downhill is def a walk only for me. Had a lesson today. My first offical one!!! As my lesson was lunch time it was very hot even though we were shaded in the indoor school. We worked on the mounting problem, as although I have cracked it in the school, when I used the block in the yard he wouldnt stand. So we used a portable block and every time he moved the block moved with him. After about 5 times he gave up and stood like a statue for me to get on. Well I only have to work on everything except my leg position. Lesson was fine until Dexter thought this was like a schooling session and he should be on a canter by now. At which point the trot got a bit fast and uncontrolled and he was fighting at the corners for a canter. So we did lot of walk to trot and trot to walk transitions although one of them was walk to canter. Having another lesson same time next week. Probably going for a hack tomorrow afternoon or evening. I now know where the horse walker and other school are and the new paddock. Apparently he is in this paddock as he decided there wasnt enough keep in his starvation paddock and he jumped the electric fence twice this week. Apparently his companion (also a cob) couldnt work it out and got very upset about being left behind

When I went to see Dexter with a view to sharing I asked all the questions that I would have asked if he was for sale. When it came to sharing I wanted to know his routine - doesnt have one!!! How flexible things were if I couldnt get there for any reason. I am lucky the owner lives just round the corner from his yard so she is happy to turn out or get in etc. What yard rules there are. What I am expected to pay/share cost wise. Have just had a phone call from owner to say she is going away next week and I can have all the extra riding I want for no extra cost. She has put him a different paddock and I dont know where it is. LOL She said up past the horse walker. (I didnt know there was one.) Up near the outdoor school. (did know there is an outdoor school but havent found it yetl. have only used the indoor school). So as I dont know where he is she is going to get him in and turn him out and I have to go and find the field in the meantime LOL Am having a lesson tomorrow she has written out our agreement and I have to bring it home to type up tomorrow. so I will probably be asking all your opinions to find out if its a standard one and reasonable.

I can find out for you. Have only just started to share Dexter and its made up in a plant spray.

Horse flies are really bad at the moment. They were plaguing the other horse when we hacked out last night even though the horses were sprayed before we left. Must admit my horse wasnt as bad as the other one. Mine was sprayed with diluted Dettol. Apparently its an insect repellent. Dont know what the other horse was sprayed with. I put on some insect repellent last night and I think I might be allergic to it as I came out in a rash.

I have some sort of gadget that goes around his neck and down to his girth and attaches to the saddle at each side. It has a leather floppy handle in the top. Dexters owner had it from when she used to teach riding for the disabled. She thought it would be a good idea for me to use as Dexters main was hogged so nothing to grab in a crisis. Pendlewitch. What is a cleg? Excuse my ignorance

Well done Jen and Rolo for doing a bit tonight. I am dead chuffed. Dexters owner phoned me and said you are hacking out tonight. Gulp. So I duly turned up at 5.45 and started to get Dexter ready. Was trying to pick out his feet and he would lift his foot and then walk off. So put a halter on him and tied him up. Picked out his feet. I am getting wise to his tricks and since starting reading Kelly Marks and watching Parelli video I dont think "hell what do I do now" but "right how do I get round this then". Was nervous about hacking out for first time. Well have only walked down the road with someone walking beside me. Went out with another girl from the yard and her horse. Dexter was a good boy. We negotiated the road works just down the road from the yard. Complete with scary trenches and traffic lights, bollards and diggers. Dexter had already met the road works earlier in the week with his owner. I wouldnt have gone otherwise LOL. It wasnt his first time with them. We walked past the scary motorbike. He was a bit worried about the tractor pulling the trailer but we were on a wide grass verge and he just stood and watched. We were out for an hour and a half. I had a lovely time although I did think about Rolo a couple of times. Hope all goes well with little lame foal and it isnt anything serious.

Oh Jen. Hope you dont feel too sore How frightening. I dont know if I will be able to get over the dizziness lungeing. I was concentrating on the horse and not the back ground and I was still swaying and feeling sick. I took Dexter in the indoor school yesterday and he followed me like a dream. Twisted and turned about and he followed. His owner says to lead him "like a donkey" ie from the end of the rope or reins. I also rode him yesterday. My friend went to Hickstead and enjoyed the experience. She didnt enjoy the mud though and the only way out was with a tractor. Her class finished at 3pm and they werent towed out the field by the tractor til 6.45pm and only then because she stood in front of a tractor and refused to move. Her horse had started to kick the box in frustration. She couldnt believe how badly organised it was and has vowed never to go there again. How are the twin foals doing? Havent heard about them recently

Well done Bradders and Rolo. phoenix21 hope the sharing comes together. Watched Kathy lungeing Dexter yesterday. He wasnt much interested in stopping Just wanted to run. Had a go though but it will be a while before I do that. It made me sooooo giddy

Jacky - Hopefully the sight of an RSPCA inspector will make Helen pull her finger out. As she is your friend though could you ask her to do you a favour and unofficially "interview" her about Indy's injuries. Phoenix21 I am in the process of sharing 3 days a week. Its not official yet as we are taking it slowly while I get to know the pony and we get to know each other. What would your 3 days be? Mine are Fri Sat Sun. £25 per week but that is everything (including vets bills) and I get use of indoor school. (lessons down here are £25 per hour) We have not yet drawn up an agreement but I have asked her to. The owner has been able to add me her insurance policy as a named rider at no extra cost but otherwise I would suggest riders insurance. Good luck to all competing this weekend. My friend is in a class at Hickstead.

My friend is riding in a class there. dont know which class or which horse either. Not alot of use am I Shame about the yard. Windsor Great Park must be a fab place to ride. The yard that Dexter is in doesnt allow people in the fields during the hours of darkness for health and safety reasons. This may be a problem for me in winter as I have to be at work for 7.50am. Someone lent me a Parelli video. Is Parelli any good? I asked a friend and she laughed and said it was games for people too scared to get on a horse. Kelly Marks book has arrived from Amazon. Its gonna take me weeks to read

At long last a picture of Dexter (I hope ) and looking like butter wouldnt melt

Ordered my Kelly Marks Perfect Manners from Amazon this morning Off to work out what a control head collar is. Trouble is its not my horse so not sure if owner would let me use one. Someone suggested lots of treats to bribe him but I am only allowed to give him treats added to his feed after working because he was getting mouthy. Hope the book doesnt take too long I need to have read it before my next share day which is Friday.

Good luck Apple. You look so sweet. Today was my first day with Dexter without owner or Kathy (will be my instructor) on hand to help. OH came along for moral support cos he isnt horsey. Dexter was in the big field. He wouldnt come to me like in the little field so I had to walk all the way across to him. He let me catch him but then wouldnt walk. Dug his feet in. Eventually got him out the field but then he kept putting the brakes on walking down the hill to the yard. So we only got there on his terms. How do I make him move? I know pulling wont work, he weighs a ton. Picked out his feet, groomed him and tacked him up. (think he has given up on the picking out feet problem I had) Then he wouldnt come out the stable. Eventually got him to the indoor school and then he wouldnt walk to the mounting block. By this time I was getting a bit peed off with him and just turned round and marched away from him nearly in tears. The little git followed me. I turned to my OH and said " I cant do this" I just dont know enough to manage. Rode him in the school for a bit. Everytime OH lifted the camera his ears shot forward. He loves having his picture taken. Then I walked him through the village and OH walked with me. When I got back I wasnt sure what to do with him. He has a huge array of rugs and didnt know what to put on him to turn him out. Luckily his owner turned up and said she wanted him to stay in cos he had been on the grass long enough. I am horrified by the pictures. In everyone of them my backside and bust is sticking out and I look like I am riding on my crotch. My hat looks too big (went for one with a big peak to keep the rain off my glasses or I cant see a thing) Its all bit of a mess really

aww foalies look well Didnt ride today. Had 90mm of rain here. Managed to get to the yard but instructor wasnt there. Water gushing off the sides of the indoor school as gutters couldnt cope and it was so noisy. So just mucked out and poo picked the field. Took me an hour to negotiate a 15 minute return journey.

Aww Rolo you are a handsome fella. Havent been about for a few days cos I have been spending time with Dexter. I have been doing the simple things that you all know how to do and I dont. I have managed to bring Dexter in on my own (got a poke from the electric fence though when I was putting it back on), pick out his feet, groom him and tack him up. Fill his hay net, muck out his stable, get his feed, sweep the yard and poo pick the field. I have ridden him twice in the indoor school this week. Today I managed to get on him without assistance. (cos he would not stand for me at the mounting block) I have been practising using inside leg to move him to the edge of the school as he was taking short cuts. Also trying to stop at the letters around the school where I want and not the following one. All very basic and nothing as exciting as you are all doing. Its me getting used to being in a saddle again and riding a totally different type of horse to what I have ever ridden in the past. I have also had a little canter to see what he was like. Lovely comfortable but he has a bouncy trot that I have to master. I am not officially sharing yet as we are taking things slowly.

I thought the dressage was fab. (although I freely admit to knowing nothing and I would be lost after the first couple of turns.) How do you remember it all?

Wow littlest foal. He is a plucky little thing. Hope everything comes together and he straightens out. (am having a restless anxious day today. Mum has her mastectomy today. She is last on the all day list so poor thing has to wait and watch everyone else going down. She is last cos she has this open wound in her breast that they have been packing for last 4 weeks since the lumpectomy went wrong)

Bradders. Hope you dont feel too sore and stiff. Gentle for you and Rolo. I went to a meal last night for the owners at the yard. Had a lovely time but one of the ladies (not knowing who I was, cursed Dexter for how he bucks when he gallops). My face must have been a picture cos everyone laughed. told them I wont be going that fast. Well not intentionally for a long time to come. Hanging on for twin foalie piccies. Glad mum is better

Poor mum. Hope she is feeling better soon It is such a worrying time. It must be such a worrying time for all those involved in her care too.

You have a new member of the nervous nellies club right here. Dexters owner phoned last night and asked if I would like to use the last 10 mins of his schooling to ride him with Kathy. Kathy has been schooling and hacking him for 3 yrs and will be my instructor if I do the share thing. He looked really lovely for her. Was doing that crossing the feet over thing to go sideways etc ( dont know what its called!!) He decided to play up again for me to mount. So we put him at the edge of the school with the mounting block on the near side and the side of the school on the off side so he couldnt move away sideways. So he decided to go backwards instead. So he was then put in a corner so he had sides of school at the rear and off side and the mounting block on the near side and he stood as sweet as anything. For everyone else he stands like a rock anyway. We did some walking and keeping him straight as he knows I am weak and hangs to the middle of the school. We did some short trots. Yea gods is he powerful. He has a bouncy free flowing trot but the instructor was telling me to return to walk at one dressage letter and it was taking me til the next letter to manage it. I didnt feel in control at all. I have never ever ridden anything other than a riding establishment horse/pony and never ridden a cob before Dexter. I coudlnt get over the power. Although he stopped for me I didnt feel I was in control. Glad I was in the indoor school. I know its early days. I have only ridden him for 3 short sessions. All I can see is a big hill to climb and I dont know if I can do it. On the up side (well I think it is) I groomed him on my own today. He started nibbling my hair while I was bent over. Is this mutual grooming? Is it a bonding thing? Is it allowed or is it a prelude to him taking a chunk out of me. He was nibbling my back later as well. Is this horse etiquette or another way of him taking the p*ss with me. How do I stop it if I need to? (hope you are still awake) Get well wishes to the mare. and hugs to the foalies.

at the twins. Hope that they both thrive and that mum is feeling better today. well done Bradders and Rolo for being stars in the pouring rain and for looking stunning for your instructor. I am meeting my instructor today as she is riding Dexter.

OMG twins. I cant wait for piccies. Owner of horse is happy to take it slowly so I am not officially sharing yet. She is going to ring me as she has a week off next week and we can hopefully get together again. She is housekeeper to someone famous who was involved with the Diana Concert last weekend so she was able to meet up last weekend as they were all in London. Thats how I get to have weekends as my share as she has to work most weekends. She is busy this week with work. Sorry no help with studs. Arent they little ear rings

OMG beautiful piccies and little helper is to die for too.