Tuesday 23 June 2009

Jumping

On the 12th July I am hoping to take Nell for her first showjumping event down at Laura Jane's. Lisa has agreed to come and jump Tralee as Emma will not be able to ride for a few weeks after her knee op.

She said she would try jumping him this week and with a bit of luck we'll get a few ribbons! Fingers crossed everything goes well and the horses don't suddenly throw up lame.

Wednesday 17 June 2009

Just one mistake...

Sometimes people make big mistakes. Mum made one of those mistakes today by letting my sister ride Nell. To her credit, Mum honestly thought Sian would be careful on a horse she didn't know. I guess she was wrong.

Mum, Sian and Marion on Quids went for a ride today. It was mostly lots of roadwork as Quids is an old lad - the same age as Tralee - and also suffers quite badly with ringbone. Sian, being the defiant and contrary twat she is had a tantrum because they were only doing roadwork due to Quids being a bit lame. She threw a hissy fit and decided that she had had enough and was going home.

The stupid cow turned Nell around at Lucy's lane and made her canter off. Quids was spinning, Tralee was being arsey about being left behind and Sian was running Nell right towards Lucy. Great. So Mum hurriedly apologised to Marion that she had to get Sian before she got to the road and went after her. Thanfully Marion was fine and continued on her way, but Quids can be a funny character and is not 100% bombproof as our horses are.

Mum had called after Sian who had pulled Nell up right in front of Lucy who started screaming to Nell, and Nell back to Lucy. Then she booted her and made her canter the rest of the lane. Mum was absolutely shaking with both fear and anger when she caught hold of Nell at the end of the lane. She took poor old Nells reins and led Sian back to the vicarage where she immediately told her to get off the horse and that she was never riding any of our horses again.

Nell had only been doing what was asked of her and unfortunately it had been a stupid, selfish and dangerous act on behalf of a rider who knew better. That is why I refused to let her friend use Nell. That is why I worry about other people riding her. It's because I know no-one else will ride her the same way I do. I don't think I have ever hated Sian more than at this moment in time and it's going to take a bit of time for Nell to forget Lucy all over again thanks to her.

My sister will not be going near my horse again. I have made that quite clear, as has Mum, who I think has lost a lot of confidence in her. Marion as well was rather angry and ticked her off for doing what she had done.

Tomorrow I plan to do some quiet schooling and in hand work with her, getting her neck reining, stops and I might work on the rein back or turn on forehand. After today I think she just needs some time to chill out a little.

Friday 12 June 2009

Wet weather blues

The glorious summer is once more being clouded by the forecast for another spell of rain. Riding is, unfortunately, not on the top of my to do list and I'm in a bit of a slump at the moment.

On the positive side, I schooled Nell bareback last week. We practised neck reining which she did fantastically well in. Serpentines, circles, diagonally across the school; she did it like a pro. I woder if she was ridden western at some point in her life or whether she's just learnt from how I ride her. We did a little bit of free jumping as well. She jumped about 1 ft but wasn't overly excited about doing so. She prefers being ridden really and kept running out. We ended on a good note by making her do a small jump so that the last one she'd remember doing would not be getting away with a run out. I jumped up again and did a bit more turning and stopping then finished for the day. I'm hoping to do it again this week and possibly do some jumping in the sandschool.

Tuesday 2 June 2009

Summer is here!

Summer is here and boy does it feel like it. The weather is ecceptionally warm and its just too nice to be stuck in college all day. So tonight Emma and I are riding down to the beach after college.

I'm not totally into riding again, especially when its so hot you come back sticky with sweat, but I'm certainly going to make the most of it in case we end up with a crappy summer holiday like last year.

I should also be taking Lisa and Jade out again this week or next, so keep an eye out for photos.