The way to heaven is on horseback

So Magic is doing really well. About two weeks ago we had stumbled across an issue while lunging him, he seemed to lunge perfectly going clockwise (right lead) but seemed to struggle going anti-clockwise (left lead). I came up with the idea that maybe it would be easier to try and lunge him on his bad rein first so that he would see going on his good rein as a kind of reward as he seems to generally enjoy going that way, and so far it is safe to say that it has worked a treat! We are definitely two good lunge sessions at walk and trot in both directions. It might even be 3 or 4 sessions that we have had but I am not sure. I've also been doing bits of riding for Lynn at the moment, I rode Sonny once. I've rode Derry a few times who I do love, but she is a bit more wooden and stiff. She is still a lovely ride though and at the end of each of our rides we tend to go for a wonder down the road and back again. For the first time on Tuesday I got to ride Faze and I love her! She...

The past few days have been INTENSE to say the least. Both days have been filled with horsey madness and while I am aching now I feel good for managing to accomplish everything that I have done. There will be some video's soon but I honestly just haven't got around to uploading them and editing them so as soon as I do that I'll let you know and you can all see. Yesterday I went up to do Magic, after all the ponies nearly escaped from the field I eventually managed to convince him to come and do some work. He had a really nice groom and fuss, which he LOVED. Then I put his bridle with his new reins on, and his lunge cavesson (not sure if I have spelt that right), we lunged nicely for both ways doing walk, trot and canter. Then out of no where going to the right he exploded. I couldn't see anything that had happened so assumed he was just having one of his moments and that he would be fine and calm down, but that I might need to free school him first. So I did what I...

Hiya,  See guys I told you I was going to get back in to the habit of blogging again. It's taken me a while to get back in to the swing of things but I am glad to be back again. I'd forgotten how much writing a blog manages to keep me busy and keep me entertained when I'm having a bad day.  Today has been another day where I've not done a lot, I waited in for the post this morning hoping that something would come from Jack, I know i'm being overly optimistic but a girl can wish, right? Nothing came though, I then curled up with Angel and caught up on Jeremy Kyle and The Real House Wives of Miami. It was one of the reunions they do and I've got to say it bored the hell out of me this time which is unusual. Then I called in to see Jacks mum for a bit as she was home alone, so we kept each other company had a catch up and a chat and then some lunch as well so that was really nice. Came back home and went back to sleep. I've found that all I'm reall...

Sorry for not posting the past few days there's just not been a lot going on until today. This afternoon I went up at 1pm to my stables to see how the back person works with horses it fascinates me and I loved being able to watch it. Seeing how different things all move together, not the best description but I can't think of the right words! The original plan was that I would go home at 3, but instead I got more horse time! Fiona and Elaine said that I could go with them to look at a horse, so that was really fun because it's not something that I've ever really done before. It was an interesting experience, and Clyde was a sweet horse but wasn't the right horse for Elaine. But I really enjoyed the experience it helped me with kind of knowing where I need to go in the future.  When we got back to the yard, the bedding had been delivered so I helped Elaine to move some of the bags of bedding. Then Fiona said that while she was riding Vettie that I could ride Gats...

So for a while I've been wanting to do a post that is more for me than anyone else. This post is about the money I spend on riding and also things that I will need in the future.  Every year I spend £1080 on riding lessons (one lesson every week of the year). I then also do Pony Club on a Monday night a year's worth of Pony Club (one meeting a week, every week of the year) would be £520. So thats £1600, this doesn't include any of the own a pony day's or extra activities that I do. I am so lucky to have a family that supports my riding life style and definitely think that it is more a life style than a Hobby.  Now on to things that I would like or need in my riding future. The first thing on the list is a new riding Hat that I can then use for competition, I've decided that I would like a black velvet one, as blacks the colour that I prefer. When looking on the internet I found two that I like. The first one is a Gatehouse Hickstead Velvet Riding Hat this c...

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...

Yesterday I got in another ride on Gatsby, I went up earlier than Pony Club with the intention that I would get to ride Gatsby before Pony Club but when I got there it had just started raining heavily and there was extremely big bangs of thunder going on. We had a cup of tea and the thunder stopped leaving us with just a little bit of rain, so we decided that we would tack up and get on. The minute that I got on another bang of thunder happened and it was right over the top of us so I got off and we thought we would try lunging him well the rain and wind picked up again so we decided that wasn't a good idea and put him a way I spent some time grooming him and giving him some love and attention.  When Pony Club started we decided that as there was only four of us that we would do some riding, the sun came out and we got on. I am so glad that we did because it was the best ride that I have had so far. He'd got a snaffle bit in again and we worked on getting him in the outlin...

Today has been another good but long day, I still didn't sleep well but I've been busy all day today so I am hoping that I will sleep better (although I do have an early start tomorrow). This morning I woke up and just watched tv and did some reading as I hadn't got any plans for the morning.  This afternoon was busy but fun. I had my first driving lesson with my new driving teacher and it went really well! He asked me what I knew how to do and I told him the things that I knew. We then started driving and he said that he wanted to do assess my driving. We had been driving for a little while and he said that what we were doing was too easy for me so we moved on to doing hill starts and things like that. It went really well, and he said that I can do my test soon, and I should only need 10 lessons. Then I can drive by myself and tomorrow I will be hearing more about how my car is doing, hopefully I will get it back towards the end of the week!  After this I went up ...

Today was a long day my mum and I were up and out of the house  by 7am we arrived in Stoke qt just before 8 and the mechanic said that he was surprised how early we were but He was the one to tell my dad that we needed to be there as early as possible so we were. The first thing that he did was pop the bonnet up and try and open the water part well it bubbled over like mad none of us expected that. He told us that we were going to be there for a minimum of two to three hours so we might as well go up to the shopping part. He told us it was a quick 5 minute walk up a not to steep hill! Wrong! The hill was really steep so we did it in two parts we stopped at the bus station to sit for a but and then get a drink. Then we walked another 10 minutes to go to McDonalds were we had pancakes and sausage breakfast then we had to wait. It was cold and raining so we waited in McDonalds. Eventually we got a phone call to tell us that my car would have time stay over night because it needs a ne...

Well today I went to the wildlife leisure place to go painting, the only downside to this plan was that I had to be up and out the door by 8/8:10am now for those of you that know me I am not a morning person. But I'd told my best mate that I was going and that was that.  For an hour we had to stand around waiting for everyone to get organised because there were that many of us. But once we could get going the adrenaline started the first game that we played was capture the flag. We split in to two teams that we stayed in for the rest of the day unfortunately this meant that Evie and I were going to be against each other. This really bought out the competitive side in both of us which can be either really good or really bad. We drew on the first game and then we had time switch bases and a the way through til about 2 minutes off the end of the game we were going to draw again but at the last minute the other team did manage to capture our flag, we then just chilled out for about 15...

This morning I was dead excited because I thought that my playbook was going to come, so I wasn't very happy when the post came and it wasn't there. Because it hadn't come I went to help my mum do the shopping then when we got back I went to see my nan for a bit and thought that I would look online and see when it was going to be delivered, well when I looked there was no sign of it. So mum rang Royal mail and they hadn't got it, there wasn't a phone number to ring the company that I got it from so it was just going to be a waiting game. However just now (10pm) I thought that I would check online and see if it showed up on Royal Mail and it does! So hopefully it should be coming tomorrow, one of the first thing that I am going to do is put the Kindle app on it, and maybe instagram! I know that it comes with a word on the go programme and things like this, so it's going to be fun playing with it and getting to look at it and know it better.  My sister was al...

Today's been another day when I managed to accomplish doing some more art work. I decided that no matter how much I try and put off doing it I am still going to have to do it and I can't change that, so I'm  not going to complain (much) and just going to get on with it. Today I did an artist study that I'll be able to mount up Wednesday/Thursday time as I have run out of black A1 card, so that's two sheets down and just another four sheets to go! Then after I had done that I decided that I was going to do some English work too, before we broke up we got given a sheet that was split in to two columns, one column was filled in with important things to do with Paradise Lost and the other side was for us to fill in with links/comparisons/quotes from the White Devil.  I think to make it as thorough as possible for revision that it is going to take a couple of days for me to get it done. But once I've done it I think that it is going to be really helpful. Tomorro...

Happy Easter Everyone!  Last night the clocks went forward so we lost an hour of sleep, I kept looking at my watch this morning (I wear it 24/7) and it told me it was earlier than it was, so I just kept going back to sleep and then remembered that the clocks had changed. When I got up I did a bit of reading and then my uncle and his partner were coming round to visit my nan so I sat with them for a while.  I know that I have got a lot of art work that I need to get done over the next two weeks (6 sheets), so I decided that I was going to do some today and I was going to start of with working on Idea's and then tomorrow I am going to do an artist study. Today I did 6 Ideas and then mounted them so that was one sheet down, the ideas were based around a silhouette of a person but inside the silhouette's sunsets and trees. I'll try and remember to post some picture of it tomorrow!  Now I'm curled up watching Grease on T.V. I've always loved this film, and m...

Okay so I wanted to share with you all a couple of better pictures of my hair, the last picture wasn't the best of me or my hair and made it look a lot darker that it actually is! I originally have quite dark hair so getting a purple that will suit my hair colour and actually change to a vivid purple can be quite difficult and the last couple of times at the hair dressers its faded and not looked how I wanted it to look. This time I got my mum to do it and she will do it again before my sixth form ball. I'm so excited!  Today has been another fairly uneventful day, I wasn't in school this morning as there was no room in the conservatory and the art exam was still going on. So there was no point in me going in to sit and do nothing. So this morning I washed my hair and got it to shine and be all silky, I love it. (The pictures were taken in my Nan's room as me and my mum were helping her to do a job and then realised how bright it looked because the lighting in t...

Today has been a pretty long day with not a lot to do. It was comic relief which meant that it was a non uniform day in school which meant that I could just shove a pair of jeans on and a t-shirt. So that's exactly what I did. The only lessons that I'd got/was in was English and it was so tiring! The White Devil is such a good book but it is also so confusing, which wasn't good! I love reading it but there's so many characters with similar names that make you wonder who's who! Tonight I went to my local youth group again I played two games of pool and won both which made my day as it's been ages since I played pool frequently and properly. Then I spent sometime on the 2012 olympic xbox game and it was so funny we all got a good laugh out of it.  I'm now curled up at home with mum, watching create and craft. Now most of you will know that I love art but what you want know is that my mum is an amazing crafter and it was my mum that got me in to writin...

Yesterday my Riders Diary that I had ordered finally arrived and I love it, theres so many different things that you can use it for and I think this is what I love about it! When you open it up there's room for you to put your details, the date you got it, and also important phone numbers that you might need then you turn the page and there is room to put details about your riding school (phone number, address etc.) and also room to write down any memberships that you might have! The next session is horse details here you have room to write about three horses that you have/ride and also a section to put what tack and rugs you have for your horse but also what clothing you use. Then there is a health section this has got room for you to put about their feed, dental records and hoof care, I think this is the section that I will find the least useful because I don't own my own horse I ride Gatsby and will eventually be using him for competitions and I will also be using him for P...

Today I have done some more art work, I have got to have two A1 sheets of Art ready for tomorrow, I did an Artist study looking at a Manga Artist which I found was quite interesting. I then also did an A1 sheet with 6 different idea's on it, which I found was really fun to do, I got to use loads of bright colours and be different and that is something that I think is important in art. I think the main thing in art is to be different and be unique.  Last night I also ordered a Standard Rider's Diary and a Pony Club Refill. I had seen that quite a few people had been using this and I thought that it was something that I could do with using and I can't wait to use it! I ordered it at midnight last night and I am hoping that it will come tomorrow or Wednesday as I think that it is coming out using First Class Delivery! It has a section that you put about the horse that you own/ride and I think that it will be a great way to mark the changes in my riding and things like tha...

After the week I've had I can't wait to go riding tomorrow and just have time with Gatsby and building my riding up. He's such a wonderful horse and always makes me feel better when I've had a bad day. Today has been such a long day and I'm back to aching my dad and I did two uphill works which has sent the joint between my leg and my body back to hurting again which it had stopped doing. So I'm hoping it is going to stop again by tomorrow. Tomorrow my dad is taking me riding as my mum is taking my brother and his mate to a cycle race that he's doing. So there won't be any pictures of Gatsby and I (as my dad can't take pictures they end up either of people's feet or of the sky) it's the first time in a while that my dad's seen me ride (Canter) so will be interesting to hear what he thinks, and he has been told whether it's raining or sunny he has to be there, he can't say he's not feeling well because then I have no other...

On Sunday in the Early hours of the morning my nan took another fall, while she was trying to go to the toilet, (she has an en suite so it wasn't a long way for her to walk but she went all dizzy and then fell), and as she has a small compact bathroom she hit her head on the side of the bath. Today we had the Doctor out to see her and he was worried with the fact that her blood pressure drops so low when she stands up and when following the doctors finger when looking to the right her eye was jerking side ways but not to the left. So he said he wanted her to go in to a Day case unit and have a whole load of tests including a brain scan, blood tests and chest x-rays. He wrote a cover note/letter and my Uncle took my nan to the doctors. While she was there she had an ECG, blood tests and chest x-rays but no brain scan which was the most important one that she needed. They then told her that her blood pressure was fine but it was her heart that they were worried about. She never had ...

It seems to be that I am getting some good luck at the moment. As you all know I did an 'own a pony day' with Gatsby just after Christmas, then last Saturday I found out they were doing the pony club events but that there was also another 'own a pony day' over half term. Since Saturday I have been debating whether I wanted to do it or not, or more to the point, whether I could find a sensible reason for spending more money that I need to be saving up for my own horse! I eventually decided to ask my Nan if she will pay for part of the 'own a pony day' while I paid for the other part, this meant that I would pay the £10 deposit this Saturday to secure me a place, my Nan would then pay for the other £25 making it so that I could do the own a pony day! This means that my half term will be full of horse activities.  The first Saturday I have my grooming time and lesson with Gatsby, the plan is to build up working on my Canter work, so that slowly but surely I ha...