A break from the rain earlier in January.
Have you seen my latest vlog 'A Cold Day in January' on my You Tube channel, Horse Life and Love? Please
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Until
next time!
Jo
I hope you all had a great break.
December
has been a good month for riding and the Christmas break brought some long
waited for dry weather. Tommy and Basil
have enjoyed not getting wet every day and I managed to wash their tails and
tidy them up a bit. Tommy is, I think, getting a bit more
confident in the field as he will let me give him a piece of apple before I
catch Basil - and he has stopped jumping away as soon as he takes it now
too!
I have definitely noticed some of Basil's naughty
habits returning when we are schooling.
He has now discovered he can get his tongue over the pelham just as he could
with the hanging snaffle. This means
that although in some ways I have more control once he gets his tongue over the
bit (generally when cantering) he stops listening to me much. I am not totally out of control but he has
started getting really nappy. I think
this is also partly because I did not school much in November.
So
we must get back into it.
This
is how December looked:
1st
- arena today, a little bit icy but we walked and trotted with some leg yield -
Basil wasn't bad considering it is a while since we did any schooling.
3rd
– hack out, lovely sunny day and we had a really nice ride.
4th
- lunged and very good until right at the end when a squirrel made him bomb
off!
5th
- hack out again today, Basil was good but we got a bit damp.
7th
- hack again today, another lovely ride and Basil was really good.
8th
- arena today and it was quite windy so Basil was jumpy. Did lots of circles at the stables end with
spirals in walk and trot Pretty good.
11th
- hack out today, bit jumpy but generally good, we got very wet today :(
14th
- hack again, a bit windy but pretty good today.
15th
- arena today. Walk and trot serpentines
again, not bad because we have not done much schooling recently. Cantered on each rein, bit fast left rein
first and we managed correct lead. On
the right rein we got the wrong lead first time, bit fast and not listening but
I was generally pleased as it was still windy.
17th
- hack and it was a bit foggy today, wore our hi-viz. Not very enthusiastic to start with but got
better and we mostly enjoyed ourselves.
18th
- lunged and quite silly today.
21st
- arena and a disappointing day today.
Trots were too fast from the beginning as Basil just wanted to
canter. Walk leg yields and serpentines. Tried left canter first and really, really
nappy before then got wrong lead then went disunited just really bad. Finally got a fast but OK canter and we did
several circles. Right rein was a bit
nappy, wrong lead and then when we got correct lead Basil cantered very fast.
22nd
- hack today. Lots of puddles but
generally good today, less jogging home.
24th
- lunged and very good today.
25th
- Christmas Day hack. Nice, sunny and a
lovely ride but a bit fast walk/jog home.
27th
- lunged today, just one silly moment.
28th
- hack out, a bit of sunshine and was nice to get out but Basil wanted to chase
a cyclist back home and tried to canter after him instead of trotting -
naughty.
29th
- arena with some walk and trot serpentines and circles. Not too bad but canters much too fast and not
much control - got his tongue over the bit today.
30th
- a very good lunging session today.
31st
- arena today and I decided to put him back in his hanging snaffle so that I
could use my flash noseband. Quite good
walk and trot serpentines, a bit more control I think. Good walk and trot sprials. Cantered left first and pretty good but too
fast. Right canter was very nappy.
Have you seen my latest vlog 'One Wet December Day!' on my You Tube channel, Horse Life and Love? Please
check it out and SUBSCRIBE.
You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram
and Twitter for updates on Basil, Tommy and Daisy.
Until
next time!
Jo
I hope you all have a lovely Christmas break, I am really hoping to spend some extra time with my boys!
Have you seen my latest vlog 'One Wet December Day!' on my You Tube channel, Horse Life and Love? Please
check it out and SUBSCRIBE.
You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram
and Twitter for updates on Basil, Tommy and Daisy.
Until
next time!
Jo
November was a wet month but we still managed to get plenty of riding in. I am so relieved that Basil's vet visit is
done and we can relax for a bit. Basil
has lost some weight in the last month, he had some to spare but I will now be
watching him carefully so that he doesn't lose too much more. Tommy has lost very little and still has
plenty of padding to keep him warm over the next couple of months. I have lots
of grass left, although there won't be much goodness in it. It is always a balancing act between Basil
and Tommy to keep weight on Basil and off Tommy, I do really prefer it if they
can be out together :)
This
is how November looked:
1st
- lunged today and Basil was mostly good, bit of a mad moment in the
middle. Trailer practise again and he
put 2 feet further up the ramp :)
3rd
– hack out, weather was a bit gloomy but it was nice to get out and Basil was
very good.
4th
- lunged and very, very silly for 10 minutes at the beginning. We managed to get some sensible walk and trot
in then on each rein. 4 feet on the ramp
today.
8th
- short hack today. Very good until we
saw some people over the river waving big orange flags and then shooting (I
think trying to frighten pigeons), then Basil was loopy all the way home. He was upset when we got back so no trailer
practise today.
9th
- lunged today, in between rain showers.
Bit silly at the beginning but not for long, then he was very good. 2 feet on ramp today.
10th
- hack today, bit speedy but very good.
4 feet on the ramp today. Tommy
managed to get himself on the wrong side of the electric fence this afternoon -
with all the nice grass!!!!
13th
- hack again, lovely sunny day and so good to get out in the fresh air. Bit fast but good really.
15th
- lunged today. Started well, then got
silly and had a nosebleed, I have no idea how.
When he calmed down we walked a couple of circuits to make sure we
finished on a good note but didn't want to do much because of his nose
bleeding.
16th
- hack today once the fog lifted, really nice ride.
17th
- arena today, walk and trot leg yield and serpentines.
18th
– visit to the vets for his dental work.
20th
– lunged today, bit silly but not too bad. I will lunge a few times before I
ride to allow his mouth to settle down after his vet visit.
22nd
- lunged and we got wet today.
24th
- lunged and silly again.
27th
- hack today, we got very, very wet but Basil was very good.
28th
- lunged and a good session today.
29th
- hack out today in the sunshine, lovely.
30th
- another hack out - very good again.
Have you seen my latest vlog 'October Sunshine' on my You Tube channel, Horse Life and Love? Please
check it out and SUBSCRIBE.
You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram
and Twitter for updates on Basil, Tommy and Daisy.
Until
next time!
Jo
