Things to do this year

I believe in making a list of things I need to improve on every now and then. It keeps me on track, gives me goals to work towards and makes my riding experience all that more enjoyable.
Here are mine:

• Ride a different horse.


• Get Nell standing quietly for mounting.


• Be able to open gates on Nell.


• Jump better. Nell cat leaps and I havn't jumped in a long time. We both need to improve our position/teqnique.


• Jump 3ft by the end of the year.


• Learn to lunge.


• Work on reinback and turn on the forehand. Not for competing; Just very useful on hacks!


• More riding without stirrups.


• Stop Nell walking ahead of me and get her to turn away from me better.

Ill add more if I can think of any and try to find a widget that I can put on the side bar. Then I can see them all year round.

Groundwork

Nell is an especially bargy mare. She is incredibly hard to turn away from you as she walks ahead of you. If you speed up to put her inside the circle she gets quicker as well. I don't know if it is a dominance issue or whether thats just what her past owners let her get away with but I need to get it under control at some point. I did a few basics like walking a straight line (very difficult when Nell is trying to pull you back to the gate), turning my back to her and changing direction when she walked ahead of me and trotting poles in hand which she was not very keen on at all. It's going to take alot of work this year and their are lots of bad habits that need breaking. We did manage a few jumps in hand though. I did have to turn the leadrope into an extra noseband to stop her shoving me around but once she did a couple of jumps she seemed to start enjoying herself and I didn't need to encourage her much after that. At the end of the seesion when Lucy came back from her ride I attempted a free jump. We have a gate that opens to the top field that consists of two wood planks that slot into metal resters(?) which can be simply slid out of the resters to open the gate or a piece of metal attached to the resters can be pushed down into grooves in the planks to lock it. I simply placed the lowest plank so it was sitting half on the rester and half on the ground. I then tempted Nell to follow me with an apple.
I ran towards the gate and she followed. I jumped over but at the last minute Nell ran out and decided it was safer in the top field than to jump that scary 1.5ft plank of wood! Not worth an apple! The second time she realised that she would have to jump it or stay up their so we tried again. I ran. she followed. I jumped and lo and behold! She followed! She ignored me and cantered straight down to Lucy, looking rather pleased with herself. I did give her the apple though. ;)

My mum has agreed to bring a fellow boarder at Kestel's horse in for her on days she can't. In return we asked if she could teach me to lunge. Its strange that in all the time I've seen people lunging down their I've never thought to ask about it. Its one of those skills that you should know but have never needed. If I can get Nell to follow me over jumps then I will but if not the lunging would be helpful. Especially as I don't think I can even get over 3 ft jumps anymore, I'm so unfit! As that is my goal for this year (ride Nell over 3ft jumps) I might just need to know how to lunge. I don't even know if Nell knows how to so that should be fun!

Vets Verdict

So the cough Nell had was thankfully not in her lungs but in her throat. The vet said she had a sore throat but gave her an atibiotic just to be on the safe side. I can still ride her which is a big relief and the next time the vet comes he said he'll check for a microchip.

I've got next week off college so I'll be getting out as much as I can but Emma will be up in Wales visiting her boyfriend so don't expect too much in the way of hacking tales or photos. I will try this week to get a photo of Nell in her purple gear as long as the weather holds out.

Cough! Cough! Cough!

Last week Nell broke into the mouldy haylage on the dung pile. Now the bloody mare has a cough. Its her own fault- we taped it off, electrified the fence, fed her in the evening and she still thought it neccesary to break in.

So now we've called the vet and he should be out to take a look tomorrow if all goes well. Lovely, another big bill to pay no doubt. Worst case scenario is mold spores in the lungs and possible irreparable damage. Best case scenario is that whatever it is can be cleared up with no further problems.

I'll let you all know tomorrow as soon as I hear.

Oh, and mum took Tralee hunting this year again. ;) He was good as gold and mum had a great time.

Winter blues

The girls enjoyed their break away from the paddock and on arrival their was frost. It might be bad for feet and legs but hard ground meant no mud. Unfortunately we didn't get snow and the weather warmed up bringing with it the thawing of the mud. On top of that it's been raining so now we're back to wading through mush.

Nell doesn't seem particularly bothered but now she's started slipping her coat. She'll be in a summer coat by February the way it's coming out. Hopefully It'll get cold again and she'll hang on to it a bit longer. They've been naughty girls though. The past two days I've found them standing, bloated in the field. Why? They keep breaking into the haylage. Nell is smarter than we give her credit for and has been knocking all the posts down now she's realised the battery for the fence has run down.

Hopefully she'll get a shock tonight though. We got new batteries. ;)

Numbers...

Useful things, numbers. We now know most of Nell's german registration number in fact. I haven't got a reply from the english letter I sent the westphalian registry so I'll have a go in german. This should be good; I haven't done german since yr 9 secondary school - thats 5 years ago!

I know enough to get the message across though and a german neighbour of mine can proof read. So far her registration number would be as follows.

either 41???9992 or 42???9992

The first two numbers represent the westphalian area. The next three numbers are her german registration number(currently unknown), the two numbers after that are her brand number and the last two is her (suspected) birth year.

Thanks to Kerstin Dreborg for the info! We are getting closer!

Have you hugged an old horse today?

It is well known that unlike antiques horses do not get more expensive with age. Many are simply put down when they can no longer cope with the things their owner wants them to do or are simply sold on. There is rarely a market for old horses, even here in the UK and it's a sad fact that many will never find that lifetime home.

Our horses will NEVER suffer that fate. Dear old Tralee turns 20 this year and is one of the few horses to pass through only a couple of homes. He was bought over from Ireland as a 4yr old and lived with the same owner for the next 14 yrs of his life. June will mark his 2nd year with us and we have no intention of ever selling him.

Although we lack much history from Nell, we suspect she has never really had a home for long. Born in Germany, she is a long way from her roots. She is a lifer though. Never again will she be hungry or unloved. Nell has many, many years of riding left in her and I intend to make the most of her lively and spirited nature for however long I have her for.

Lucy is my sister's loan pony. Being a Welsh c she is long lived and this year will turn 28. She is still ridden and although we only have her for one more year, we will miss her. Thankfully Lucy will never be far away and we will always be allowed to visit her.

We could never think of selling our older horses. They have given us so much, isn't it fair we give them a permanent home in return?

When the time comes that they are too sore to do their jobs, we will do the right thing and send them over rainbow bridge. As much as we would all like to hold onto them, it is only for our own selfishness. Once they are gone they do not hurt. Until that time we make their lives comfortable. We rug them when it's cold, give them supplements, feed them warm mashes in the winter and keep their bellies full. We stable them when the rain is too hard, and take them on walks in hand during the long summer days if they are no longer rideable.

But what in return? Friendship, trust, a safe and reliable mount. Older horses have a lot to give. They inspire confidence in us. When we take a fall, our elderlies are always there, waiting to help us feel safe again. They have funny moments like spooking at umbrella's or mobility scooters but never let us down on a busy motorway or when a massive truck rushes by. Not all veterans show their age either. Nell is 17 this year(as far as we know) and still loves to gallop and jump. If you are considering buying a horse this year, there are a lot of older horses out there, just waiting to give you their love and experience.

Happy New Year!

Yes, it's finally 2009! I hope everyone has had a good 2008; I know I did! It's hard to believe I didn't like Nell when we first bought her. But time and patience and a whole summer of riding can do a lot for a relationship and finally on the 27th October 2008, Nell was my horse. A pony I could call my own. Last year was also a big year for me in that I turned 18. Not a huge deal, as I haven't really changed but it's a milestone in my life. And of course, I got a second chance. I went back to college. I won't bore you with the details only that A-levels were not the way forwards for me. Now on an Animal course at Duchy, and finally happy, I'm hoping that this year I'll be successful. Who knows what this year will bring? For the moment I'm not looking much further than the day term starts again.

As for new years resolutions, I'm going to grab every opportunity I can and get into jumping again. I used to be quite good at it; 4ft was the biggest I'd ever done, but after a scare whilst out hacking, the maximum I do now is about 2ft. My resolution is that by the end of this year I'll be jumping at least 3ft. I would like to say more but I'd rather achieve it and change it than fail miserably!

So what's your horsey new years resolution?