The way to heaven is on horseback

Well its time for an update on everything that has been going on in my world.  First of being my loan with tubby, that is no longer happening unfortunately things were starting to get too complicated and after the fall that Elaine had with him at that point he was not sound. And no one could guarentee when he was going to be sound and we decided that there was no point starting the loan on wrong footing so unfortunately that did not happen. However I have come up with a new plan of things that I want to do I am currently saving up for a foal while a lot of people might not think that this is the worlds best idea because of the fact that it is my first ever horse however I feel that with the support and knowledge I have surrounding me that this is something that I would be able to do. Feel free to let Me know your thoughts. Another thing you have all missed is the fact that I am having problems with my stomach again at the minute. For the last few weeks I have been being sick all...

Well Yesterday I jumped Gatsby it wasn't initially planned put I just needed to do something different and Gatsby and I haven't jumped for a while. We started off warming up and getting him nice and lose. when we moved on to getting ready for jumping we did trotting poles first we started off going over five trotting poles before we moved up to doing 7 trot poles. We tried 6 but Gatsby didn't like 6 he couldn't get his striding quite right.When we moved on to jumping we started off on my better rein which is to the right. We had trot poles going up to the jump and then a X jump. It felt good we managed to jump it really well but then we couldn't manage to get the right canter lead when landing eventually we got it right. Then we jumped to the left now this has always been my worst rein. But we got some good jumps I ride better to the left I just have a mental block on it that I really need to get past and sooner or later I will do it's jus taking a while. We di...

Hiya Guys,  well my hand is no longer in a cast! I went in to hospital on Wednesday to find out whether it was definitely broken or not. I had to get two opinions on it the first doctor wanted to tell me that it wasn't swollen (which it clearly was) and that it was perfectly fine. I wasn't happy with this because I knew that something wasn't right. The second doctor told me that it was a damaged ligament that was catching on my joints and that was what was causing the pain. So he gave me an injection in to my hand and told me that it would start working in three days. Todays the first day that my hand hasn't been as bad, and has been more managable.  Yesterday I got to ride Gatsby for the first time in two weeks and I loved it! It's some of the best work that we have done in a long time and I loved it.  We had a bit of an arguement to start with because Gatsby didn't want to work in an outline so he tried every way possible to get out of working in an o...

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...

Yesterday I had a ride on Vettie. It went so much better than last week. I was still having major difficulties with my legs but I was able to move more with my seat and move up in to trot which felt amazing. He's got such a big trot that I find it really hard to stay still in my position but I know that slowly but surely I will get there and I'll be able to ride how I want to. We carried on working on keeping my seat swinging and keeping Vettie forwards. The whole time I was also trying to get/keep Vettie in an outline, I struggled with this because my core muscles weren't really working and also because I struggle to keep my hands still (something I need to work on more). I also need to remember that the key to getting Vettie working well is lots of circles and serpentines basically things that keep his mind working.  At the end of the lesson I came on to a circle and got some really nice work which proved to me that I Can ride him. I think what I need to remember...

Todays been a really good day for me, I was doubting my riding ability after the lesson that I had last week but I feel more confident that I can ride and I do know what I'm doing. I'm not going to go in to detail about my lesson in this post for two reasons one) I've not put the photo's on my camera two) I'm really tired at the minute.  This evening we had bonfire night in Duffield which I got free entry in to because I was marshalling for it which was really good. In another new's I've also get a new camera lens but I'm going to leave you all in suspicion as to what lens it is! So stay tuned.  Until Next Time  A Girl With A Dream 

Yesterday was my weekly riding lesson it was the week where there was going to be three of us so I didn't work on jumping instead doing a week of flat work! I was feeling pretty rough, I couldn't stop coughing, had ear ache and a really really bad throat. So I knew from the start that my riding was going to be off. I didn't do a lot of trot work and stayed mainly in walk because I was coughing that much I was short of breath but for the first part and majority I rode Gatsby. He wasn't the easiest to drop in to an outline but we got there slowly but surely! Then I switched on to riding Rango, Rango is a new horse that we have got at the stables, he's a cob and a complete sweet heart. The great thing about riding Rango was the fact that I was able to get him to drop in to an outline so easily. I have to work my left side more (which is my weak side) but in the end I think that it could do me a whole lot of good riding another horse. The fact I could get on him and wa...

Today I rode on my own again. We decided that with Gatsby and  I enjoying jumping so much that we would carry on doing jump work. We decided that we would do two jumps going down the long side of the school. We warmed up and I could fall how responsive Gatsby was it was almost like he knew what we were going to do before we had even said anything. I made sure that even as we were warming up he was listening to me and forward off my leg. Fiona first put out some trot poles that we went over first in rising trot and then in a jump seat. When I was ready Steph and Fiona put two poles down the long side set up with two non jump strides in the middle (I think that was right) the aim was to go over these in canter and get used to the strides in between, we then put the furthest away up to a cross and went over the poles then over the jump, this week we were working on starting to approach in canter, to start with it wasn't very pretty I kept freezing and not being able to get the right s...

 Todays plans had a few changes in them but they were all for the best. As you will know I had a great time jumping Gatsby yesterday but I was knackered by the time I got in bed, I got in bed at 8 and went to sleep within about 5 minutes and slept through until about 10ish. When I got up mum told me that there was going to be a change of plans, instead of getting to the stables for 12:30 I got to the stables for 11:30. Fiona said that she would explain when we got there and when she did explain it made a lot more sense. With only having Gatsby and Rocky that we can use I was going to ride Gatsby early on my own and do some jumping I was all for this. In stead of riding for an hour I rode for 45 minutes but it was more consistent work and I wasn't being as lazy as I tend to be, I was working harder and trying to build my stamina up.  I got Gatsby ready to get on him at 12:15, we started warming him up and making sure that from the beginning he is active. Fiona told me not ...

For a while when I've been reading some things recently I started playing with the idea that backwards to go forwards might make more sense than I initially thought so yesterday towards the end of my riding lesson we started playing with that. Not long after we did that I was able to get Gatsby in to an outline and forwards. I could really feel his hind quarters coming underneath him and there was power behind his trot.  When I first started working with him I got a really nice stretch and forward moving walk, from the beginning I wanted to make sure that he was responsive and listening to me. When I picked him up it took a bit more convincing but eventually I was able to move him up in to the outline, it wasn't as good as the lesson we had before but it was still there. The most important thing to me was that we were getting the outline more and more often. I remember a time when I got it once every few months now I'm getting it nearly every week and I love the feelin...

So you might have noticed that there is a new blinkie on my page, at the top in the left hand column. I can't wait to tell you guys more about it but you're all going to have to wait a little bit longer for that bit of information sorry guys! I'll give you a hint though it is to do with scrapbooking and computer software!  This morning I had my driving lesson, I've had 5 lessons with this new teacher and he has helped me to come on in leaps and bounds, it is just over a month until I'm going to be doing my driving test and from now on we are going to be working on test roots that the driving test people use. I've done all of the movements that you need to do, and feel really prepared for my exam, I've been able to practice in my car but only in small amounts as it's got to go up to my local garage tomorrow. I haven't really done much for the rest of today as I've not been feeling well but I think this is to do with the thunderstorm atmos...

Riding two horses in one day. This morning I got up to go riding, I turned up at my stables to find that for once it had cooled down a bit. There was lots of clouds and it looked like it was going to rain but it didn't. I spent half an hour grooming Gatsby, and giving him some love. Then at 1 I got on JaimieLeigh  wasn't there for the lesson today but Alice was. Before I got on we made sure that both of my stirrups were level. Then when I got on Fiona and my mum looked to see whether I was still level and I wasn't this proves that my hip is slightly out of place. I spent the first 15 minutes riding Gatsby making sure that he moved willingly and forward. I then got off and put the belt on it's job is to hold my hip in the correct position not the position that it is at the moment.  When we put the belt on and I got back on Gatsby we noticed an immediate difference, I was so much more level and Gatsby was a lot more responsive. He was amazing! He turned from me movin...

Today was my lesson on Gatsby I was buzzing when we got there, we spent a little while talking to Fiona asking if she had had a good holiday as she had been away to Norfolk and she said she did. She then said that we would sort out a day where I can go up and ride Gatsby from the work that I did this week. I started grooming Gatsby and he was so shiny! He glistened, was really cute. Then I started tacking him up and the funny thing was the minute that we got his tack the heavens opened and it chucked it down, the wind picked up and I was sure it was going to thunder again but luckily it didn't!  When it stopped we all jumped in to action and got in luckily for the rest of the lesson it didn't rain. We also have a new addition to our lesson every other week, her name's Alice and she's really sweet. We all worked on warming up it took some adjusting getting used to there being three of us in the lesson instead of just the two, but we got there in the end. We graduall...

Jumping Gatsby today was fun we had some really tough moments but with Fiona's help i ended on a really good note, I'm so happy.  When I got there  I spent some time grooming Gatsby and just giving him so love, he was really good and cuddly. I tacked him up and got on. Fiona asked me what I would like to do with Gatsby and I said jumping as I am really enjoying doing it as it's something I thought I wouldn't go back to doing but I did and I'm really happy with it. I'm starting to remember why I enjoyed doing it and had fun because I lost a lot of the fun that I used to have when I was at Broomfield, but I was happy because I was riding Gatsby.  We started off warming up the important thing was making sure that I didn't use all my energy to early, we worked over poles starting off going rising and then when I went down the long side moving in to my jump seat, I had to make sure though that I didn't over use my muscles to early and push my self to...

Today I have done absolutely nothing, I slept in this morning not getting up til lunch time because I was feeling rough, (my nephew had a stomach bug when I went over to stop last week and I think I've got some of that) and when I did get up I spent time doing last week's work on my Equine Nutrition course and tomorrow I will start this weeks, unfortunately this is the last week but then March 25th I'll be starting a photography course! My mum had to take my Brother to have some blood tests as they want to keep an eye on his white blood cells (I think) and she tried to take him to our local blood test clinic in the morning but they changed their starting times, so she was taking him to our main hospital in the afternoon and as my Dad was at work and my Uncle was away today I said that I would stay in and look after Nan. She slept the majority of the time other than when her phone rang and then she woke up. Just before my mum got in she asked me to make her a boiled egg...

Well today I decided that I would make a post during the day instead of my usual habit of waiting til 10 o'clock at night and then deciding that I want to start posting, because by that point I normally do not feel like posting anything.  So today my mum took me up to the Blue John mines jewellery shop at Castleton called 'Blue John Gem's' It's a really good shop and they sell all different stones these included, Amber, synthetic Opal, Blue John and Amethyst. With my name being Amber you can probably guess that I am always drawn to Amber, my mum's favourite tends to be Amethyst as her favourite colour is purple. I found myself a pair of not overly expensive dangly earrings (although it must have taken me over an hour to decide). My earrings are Silver and where they dangle it's a hoop and dangling inside the hoop is a piece of Amber. Also where the stud part of the earring is, it is a piece of Amber.  Close up of earrings :') Showing the ...

Today I have chosen to use my riding pictures that my mum has spent taking for me over the years, and tell you a bit about each photo, I'm not sure how many photo's I intend to do at the start of this post but I will warn you all in advance that this could possibly be a long post with plenty of pictures of all the horses that I have the pleasure to ride, this will very from horse's that I have rode when I was young to horses that I still ride to this day like Jake. Also to let you all know I will be posting pictures of some of my textiles work tomorrow so you can all let me know what you think and you can see what I have spent my time doing so far this summer holiday. Right on to the main part of my post PHOTOGRAPHS!   First off is Gatsby, Gatsby is a horse that I have been riding since the beginning of January but that I have instantly fallen in love with and have been riding him ever since, this was the week before my last lesson when we were working on jump...