Sunday 25 April 2010

Jump up

Nell might be a bit fat at the moment but it has hardly hindered her jump. In fact we are jumping roughly 1 1/2 foot with no effort at all. I'm actually holding back more than she is because I haven't had the confidence to jump as big as I used to - but we are both gaining trust in each other and jumping bigger and better.


Got a bit close to me in an attempt to run out - but still jumped the stick we placed there to prevent her running out instead!


A real long shot here but such fabulous form! She did one of these jumps with me on top the other day and almost threw me out the seat. Thankfully a substantial neck with plenty of mane helped me stay aboard that one. With her jumping like this you I feel confident we can do a few small shows this year.



Due to a tendon strain last summer I'm wary about how high I jump her but she seems to be clearing them with plenty of room to spare and no signs of it playing up.


You can see here that she really is enjoying herself! Last years action photos had a lot of ear pinning and threats to kick - this year is so much different! I really think she has bonded better with me now and feels happier to work for me. There wasn't a single pinned ear in any photo. On the downside I think the camera on my phone is getting worse. Ah well, you can't win them all.


Saturday 17 April 2010

Spring has sprung

It seems like months since I last blogged... Oh wait, it has. Yes, my internet connection is an ass and yes my computer is as slow as an octogenarian tourist but yes! I have photos!


Backtracking to snow in January...





A bit of jumping in February...




And our first beach ride of the year in March...








So the current news is that the horses are FAT. Rocky isn't too bad but could lose a bit of fat and gain some muscle instead. Tralee is about 30Kg overweight and Nell is about 70Kg overweight. Fun. She was about 100Kg overweight a few weeks ago when we started so we are getting there slowly. We rode around Perran Downs yesterday at a steady trot almost all the way and completed our ride in just 45 mins. There is so much going on I'm going to have to do several posts to cover them all but right now my current target is to get Nell back down to a healthy 450Kg in time for summer.