The way to heaven is on horseback

This has literally been me today, my mum did Magic this morning as she does him every morning when I have a riding lesson (So really just saturdays). My riding lessons have also now moved to 10am instead of being in the middle of the day. My ribs were killing me and I hadn't really been sleeping very well but I knew that I just needed to get on with it as the old saying goes no pain, no gain. I went up for my lesson with Magic and it was really really good. I enjoyed riding him. We did quite a bit of canter work and Fiona says that my dressage level is in between intermediate and medium. I could ride a prelim test with ease and she thinks that I will slowly be moving up. We did lots of work on getting Gatsby to actually work in a canter in the outline, which hasn't been easy but it was fun. Even though my ribs were killing me because they were in spasm it was a lot easier for me to keep my position in the right place so while I hated the pain it actually worked out really well...

Well the blog front is still being quiet because at the moment I haven't got a lot going on to do with horses. After losing my job at the stables due to ill health and working a part time delivery job with my boyfriend to make ends meet I'm back to being at the stables once a week and this week that didn't even happen, due to Fiona's ill health. So I've seen a few people commenting not knowing much about my ill health with my stomach so I thought I'd spend this time sharing with you some photographs taken by my amazing mum and boyfriend and explaining more about my stomach problems.  So for those of you that don't know I have struggled with my stomach on and off since 2006 (when I was in year 7, 11 years old I think). Everyone thought that I was just complaining about having stomach ache because I didn't want to go to school, teachers tried blaming it on 'being bullied' or that I didn't like the lessons. Doctors kept telling me that it w...

Today has been a good day but a long day at the stables, I got there for 9.30 this morning to help Fiona out and Suzanne came up to help out too. We had all the horses to muck out and the weather was horrible, it was chucking it down. I mucked out Little Rocky, Percy, Gatsby, Soly and Sam's stable. I then put in their stables Gatsby (the trouble maker), Sam, Vettie, Chloe, Fussy, Rosie and then Fiona did the others. We then started debating bedding, for the past few months the stables have had straw pellet bedding in, but it looks dirty all the time. Yes it's easier to muck out but it doesn't look good. Thursday Fiona decided to put in Bliss bedding, this looks amazing, and smells clean and fresh BUT is a nightmare to muck out, it takes forever, it clumps together and you end up taking to much of the bedding out. So we're going back to using Aqua max bedding at the minute. That looks clean and fresh and is easy to muck out but it's expensive!  After I'd f...

The title of this post says it all for me, for those of you that have been following my blog for a while you will know that when I first started riding Gatsby at West Hallam Riding Centre (29th September 2012) I was introduced in to the idea of riding in an outline, ever since then I have been trying to get the feel and some weeks I get it then I could go 2/3 weeks and not get it at all and feel really frustrated. Well the past four lessons that I have had I have been riding Gatsby in an outline the whole time, some of our transitions we loose it a little bit, but the majority of it we are in an outline in walk, trot and we are even starting to get it really well in canter. We have even started to get it in our jump lessons which before we never really bothered to do, we were more focused on getting over the jumps, now not only are we jumping but we are trying to get an outline in-between the jumps.  We started warming up long and low, normally I just stretch him out in the ...

I rode Gatsby yesterday (Saturday) and we had a really really good lesson! It would appear that last weeks riding wasn't just a fluke and that I can actually ride in an outline for an hour twice in a row! Can I make it three times though? It has taken me 3 years (roughly) riding at this stables that I am at now to get the feel of the outline and now that I have got the feeling it just makes so much more sense!  We started up warming up in the walk, making sure to move long and low, making sure that I rode off the track and making sure that I was riding straight. I had to make sure that Gatsby's neck was not overly bent to the inside because he was trying to pull on my right rein to block my contact with it. I have to give him credit that once I got him listening he was very good and very responsive. We moved up in to the walk work quite early as Gatsby felt really nice supple and loose through his back, he was responsive, forward and listening to what I wanted! Straight a...

hiya guys well it's been a few days and I was planning on updating you all today. Unfortunately I won't be able to go in to as much detail as I want to because I am having problems typing because it looks like for the third time I have broken my hand again!  In the exact same place, how rubbish is that? But they can't tell me because it will not show up for another two weeks on an X-ray so at the minute it's back in a splint and I've got to go back to hospital in two weeks.  Well Saturday I got to ride Gatsby again. We have been working on getting him in to an outline more consistantly but it took me seeing Fiona riding Pumpkin Pie for me to know what it was that I needed to do for Gatsby to work properly in to an outline. We got some really good work in the walk and trot (I have got pictures) and slowly we are starting to get it in the canter as well but by the time we move on to canter I tend to feel quite tired and weak on my left side. We did an exercise th...

I rode Gatsby today for my weekly lesson and it was amazing. With everything that was going on last week I'd needed a week just me and Gatsby to chill out and do what we do best, being us. This week I was straight back to working him an outline and trying to work him in an outline at the canter as well. We are slowly progressing to be able to do it but that is the operative word, slowly. We will get there in the end. We warmed up in walk making sure that he was nice and warm, that his muscles were working and also to give me a feel of him working in his new bit (can't remember what he's got now, but when I can remember I'll let you guys know). He was really responsive and listening in this bit even if he did try to hang off my right side at times but plenty of half halts and flexion to the right soon managed to sort this out. We then moved up to the trot work this was quite simple he was forward and listening and actually doing what I wanted him to do. I soon learnt th...

Hiya guys,  Saturday I got back on Gatsby. It was the first time that I had rode him since I fell off so even though it was Gatsby I was feeling nervous. Oh and to make matters worse Gatsby's owner Jenny was there and was watching, while I never mind her being there I was starting to feel really nervous that I had to ride Gatsby well to impress her. I know mad logic right?  We decided that we were going to do some work without Stirrups as Fiona said that we wouldn't be doing any jumping and while I was kind of gutted I was also relieved to have some time away form that and focus on what I know I CAN do well. For ages you've all heard me say I wouldn't do canter without stirrups, well I've got over that mind block and now really enjoy cantering without stirrups all though the transitions down are bouncy as hell. It does really help me to improve my position and balance and work on me keeping myself where I need to be. I got some really nice outline work in t...

Yesterday I had my weekly ride on Gatsby. The weather was horrible (really strong winds and chucking it down with rain) but I still enjoyed my ride. I was back riding Gatsby again which I always love doing. I wanted to work on getting him in an outline and was happy to say that I spent the majority of my lesson in an outline.  I also worked on doing some leg yield and shoulder in work. I had the best lateral cross over that I have ever got out of any horse and Fiona even said that it was the best cross over in leg-yield that she had seen out of Gatsby in a long time. Which made me feel really happy and proud of what I was doing. It also showed to me that even in the worst weather I've ever rode in that I can still ride! I feel like I accomplished quite a bit and I can't wait to ride him again. We didn't do any trot work because I wanted to focus on getting nice transitions in to the leg yield and shoulder in and also managing to maintain them both. It was more importan...

Well it's been a while since I've done a post so thought I'd start getting back in to the habit of posting again. Things have been a bit hectic recently.  Today I had a ride on Vettie, I've been riding Gatsby again more recently but I always enjoy being able to get on Vettie as well. I didn't have the worlds best ride today because I was getting pain all down my left side and I spent the majority of the lesson trying to get my left leg to actually work, as I was trying to move it and it just wasn't moving which was frustrating to say the least.  I got some really nice shoulder in  transitions though, I even managed to get Vettie on to four tracks instead of three tracks. We did some leg yield as well and where the was some times where he ignored me when I got him to do it he did manage to really cross over. Which felt great. We didn't do any trot work as I just hadn't got the strength in my left side to do it and the more that I rode the more th...

Well I've not got around to posting in a while as I've been quite busy but wanted to write about a couple of good rides I've had recently and tomorrow I will post Videos of one of my rides. On Saturday I got to ride Gatsby for the first time in a while, I was looking forward to it as it meant that I could work on some different things. We did some trot work and canter work. We did an exercise that we haven't done in a while where you trot over three trotting poles then ask for the canter as soon as you're over the poles and do a 20m circle. This is an exercise that I've always loved doing. We then moved on to doing some related distance canter work. We had two trot poles with three or four canter strides in between them the idea was we would go over it still being a dressage rider and alternate the type of stride meaning we would either extend it or collect it, altering the amount of strides. I really enjoyed doing this but found that I was getting quite tired ...

not got much to report guys! I've got two weeks off riding now as the school has shut for christmas but that doesn't mean that I'm not going to be at my stables at some point over the holidays. On saturday I got to ride Vettie, he was the last ride of my year and we had a fairly good ride.  I managed to get some really nice outline work out of him and we've become really consistent in the work that we do in the walk. I also attempted doing some leg yields, while they were no where near perfect I did get some leg crossing so I was really happy with that and the more I did it the easier it was to get Vettie to drop in to an outline. I also got a few nice bits in the trot with him. While my trot work still isn't very consistent it is slowly improving but I do need to work more on keeping my position still and holding my core muscles in place.  Sunday we had my uncle over for the family meal, it was nice but at the same time weird because it was the first chris...

For my lesson this week I got to ride Vettie, I had the choice between him and Gatsby. I chose Vettie because he is a lot easier to ride and also because he wouldn't hurt my hips because he is not as wide as Gatsby. Before I got on Vettie I explained what had happened and we decided that we were just going to take the lesson easy. We did a lot of walk work, working on getting him to an outline but I was having difficulty with my left shoulder so we put him on his bungees (not sure if i spelt that right). This was to help me get in the outline but I needed to remember that I needed to keep working not just let them do all of the work.  When we moved up to doing the trot work I was struggling to keep my position still but Fiona said that was to be expected after the accident earlier in the week. I still got some nice trot work but it's not as nice as the work that I had got out of him the week before. We also worked on doing some shoulder in and leg yields and it was so ...

Today was great! I started off not feeling 100% but I knew that I had horse time today and that kept me motivated to keep moving and not just stay in bed because I feel ill and you know what? I had the best ride on Gatsby ever. I decided that I would like to work on riding without stirrups so I got him going but then fairly quickly got going without stirrups. I remember the time when I couldn't even think about riding without stirrups now I'm asking to do it more and more!  I worked on making my muscles work, yes I do try to do that every week but this week it was going to happen! I sat still in my position and decided that I could do it if I really wanted to and I did. I spent the majority of my lesson in trot work without stirrups and in an outline. I had some really really good moments and can see how much I'm improving in such a short space of time and it feels great! We had some extremely responsive leg yields. He was listening to my leg so much that when I asked ...

This morning I woke up just in time to go for my riding lesson, when I got there I got to work on grooming Gatsby and I was amazed to see how shiny he was. He looked so clean. When I went to tacking him up we decided that we were going to make a few changes. First of all we took away his martingale we might use it when jumping him but for now when doing flat work we aren't going to use it. We then changed the bit, I can't remember what bit he had got in before, I think it was a gag. But then we put him in a snaffle with a lozenge joint.  As soon as I got on him the difference was amazing. He was forward and responsive and I was still managing to almost get him in an outline so I was happy with the work that we were doing. As soon as I asked him to warm up and stretched he dropped straight in to working long and low and it felt great. He was really swinging in the walk and it felt so nice to not constantly be putting my leg on to get him more active. We all noticed the diff...

Anyone who lives in the UK will know that when the word 'summer' starts being used that we are going to get cold and wet weather! Well not this year for the past two weeks we have had really hot weather (well hot for here ranging from the mid 20's all the way unto 32degrees/89.6 Fahrenheit). Today was no change, when I first woke up this morning I as covered in sweat and I'd not even been under my covers all night. I got to riding for 12:30 like normal and instantly realised that it was going to be a hot uncomfortable ride, we were riding at what should have been the hottest time of the day. Immediately we said that we wouldn't do a lot of fast work (no canter and small amounts of trot) as we are not used to the height and more importantly the horses are not used to the heat. I rode Gatsby like normal and JaimieLeigh rode Rascal. I started grooming him making sure not to miss anywhere but to stay cool as well. I finished grooming him earlier so I looked at some...

Gatsby and I had a great ride this morning we have decided that until I feel confident riding without my stirrups. We started off doing about 25 minutes riding with stirrups the rest of the time was working without stirrups. We warmed up making sure to ride long and low. Gatsby was really stretching and it was nice to see. We then moved on to the trot work now for some reason my position was blocking me from getting Gatsby into an outline. But the minute that I took my stirrups away I could get Gatsby in an outline i was so surprised we then decided to move on to doing leg yielding and shoulder-in in the walk and trot without stirrups we finished my lesson with me riding without stirrups. I had a great lesson it was so much fun and something that I can't wait to keep working on. It really improved the position of my leg quite quickly.  Then it was time to go and fetch my car the drive up was long it just seemed to take forever. When we got there I got given the rest of the pap...

Well this morning my PlayBook came I was really excited and asked my mum to wake my up when it came even if that's at 8:30 this morning. I set it up even though my mum had to help me with setting up my Emails because it wanted to know all the advanced settings that I didn't know.  Then it was time to go and ride Gatsby he was abit of a pain when it came to grooming him as he has issues with people touching his ears so he kept putting his head really high. When he was eventually clean I tacked him up and it was time to get on him. When I got one him the sun was shining and it turned out to be the perfect weather it wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. It was just right. Only down side was that there were millions of flies, and they were driving Gatsby and Rosie mad. I quickly sorted my girth and stirrups nd moved on to warming him up. Fiona said that we were going to carry on working with the canter and then maybe move on to working on the sitting trot but doing i...

Today my Dad took me to ride Gatsby at West Hallam Riding Centre, he was fresh to start with, I groomed him inside because it was raining and cold outside. So I couldn't see whether I had got all of the mud out of his ears. I then tacked him up.  When I got on Gatsby he was really happy he wanted to move a lot more but I needed to sort my stirrups out as the last person that rode him had really long legs and I couldn't keep my feet in the stirrups at the length that they are. I had to do it while he was moving because it was raining so he decided that he didn't want to stand still so I did my stirrups with both feet out while he was walking around, I then made him stand still to do up his girth. He started off really stretching down getting a low and long frame, while having a 'swinging walk' it felt really good and my hips were less stiff and were willing to move with him. I then bough him up and while he was in the walk got him into an outline during this tim...

So this afternoon I went back up to ride Gatsby, I spent half an hour grooming him because before he decided to play he had a lovely rolling session in the field, so while I was doing this Fiona was lunging Romeo and Susan was lunging Fussy, so I had the whole yard to myself, then when they came back up I went down to ride Gatsby and Fiona held my stirrup while I got on because with him being so big I didn't want to get on him on my own because the mounting steps aren't that tall, so it can be quite a jump to get on him. The minute I got on him you could tell it was going to be interesting because he didn't want to stand still I had to do my stirrups while working round and attempt to do the girth while walking but that was pushing it too far so I told Gatsby to stand still and stop being a bugger while I did his girth up it took me three attempts but then he did eventually stand still, naughty pony. I did some warm up work but he was getting faster and being naughty so mo...