A genuine love for no stirrup work & Meet the newest member

Yesterday I had a really good ride on Gatsby. The weather has become really hot these past few days making it hotter than anything that Gatbsy or I am used to, so while I wanted to do something productive I also didn't want to over heat either one of us. Fiona said from the beginning that we wouldn't do canter work or jumping, out of the three horses (Rascal, Gatsby and Rosie) Gatsby is the worst colour for attracting heat and also the one who attracted flies the most. 

When I got there, I spent some time grooming him and giving him so love, he was so shiny! It was like looking in a mirror, I then tacked him up making sure to put his ear covers on, this was the hardest thing for me as he doesn't like having his ears touched but he is getting so much better at it! I then also made sure to put some fly repellant on him with the hope that it would help to keep the flies at bay, unfortunately they still kept attacking him. 

When we got on we spent some time walking around getting him to stretch long and low, as Alice was in the lesson yesterday we all had to get used to moving with three in the school instead of two of us. He was warming up well but you could tell that he was suffering with the flies. We moved on to trot making sure to do short burst of trot work and walking in-between. I decided that I would like to do some work without stirrups as it's something that I am really enjoying doing. The minute I took my saddle away I could feel that his saddle was tipping me one way, so I had to work on keeping my core muscles nice and strong and not letting him tip me, which was easier to do when I got him trotting. The amazing thing for me was the minute that I went in to trot without stirrups I got some lovely outline work. He was curved and looked so nice! He felt amazing and it made sitting his trot easier and also made me feel more comfortable allowing me to push for a more active trot with him. We then walked around to cool him down for a bit.

I can't believe how easy it is these days for me to get him in an outline. I remember first trying to get an outline out of him and it was something that I'd never done before I struggled with it so much. These days I find it so much easier to do and once I get him in it he stays in it, it takes just small tweaks of the rein to get him to stay in an outline and this is something that I never thought I was going to be able to do. My riding is really progressing with plenty of help from Fiona and Gatsby. I like how Gatsby and I are kind of progressing together slowly, we are both learning and trying new things that wouldn't be possible for me without West Hallam Riding Centre! 

Meet the newest member at West Hallam Riding Centre! This is Sam. He arrived last week and has a really sweet nature to him, he seems over so gentle and genuine and I can't wait to see how he progresses in the future.This isn't the best photo as he was obsessed with eating, so I will try and get a better photograph

Gatsby before my lesson, the photo is a bit blurred but I love it none the less, you can see how shiny he was before I got on him and also the fact that he was about ready to fall asleep! This heat is just to much.

Until Next Time 

A Girl With A Dream