Au revoir

Up early this morning to take Mum, Dad and Thomas to the airport.  I returned home with a heavy heart. The house is empty and I miss them already.
I feel I should return to doing something with the horses, but I'm very reluctant to do so. It's a worry - I can't seem to find any fun in it these days. When did it stop being fun?
Horses fill my life, I love them, but it has to be fun.  Perhaps it really is time to stop.

Chistmas day

Spent in the usual way, eating, drinking and playing games, but we also managed to get a little walk out with the dogs.

Knitting , X Box - what's that all about ?

We've got my parents and nephew here for christmas.It was a bit touch and go with the weather being so bad in the Uk,but the gods smiled on us and kept the airports open! It's great to have them here, but difficult to find things to keep them occupied, it's a little quiet here for townies. My mum's a little bored and has already knitted one scarf. She's started on another, doesn't like the wool so the job's now fallen to me to finish it. It's a very long time since I knitted anything, but I think I can manage a scarf!
Jim's decided he wants an X Box (Why?????)  so we're waiting for that to arrive along with several games. I suppose it'll keep his mind active. Thomas (nephew) is 'well pleased' and we're having to track it's every movement online.
The horses are taking a back seat, but they seem to be enjoying themselves out 24/7

New chooks

We went for some new chooks today. Our happy little band has been depleted and they're a little lost in their huge pen so we felt it was time to give them some playmates.
We thought we'd get 3 point of lay hens (3-4 months old) to start laying in the spring -  but, best laid plans and all that, we came away with 4 young hens and a young cockerel heading for the abattoir that we just couldn't leave!
So we have Jill, black and white Light Sussex, Brin, a beautiful brindle colour, Golden Wyandotte, Buffy, Buff Orpington, Sindy, a lovely cinnamon coloured Buff Orpington x Indian Game Bird and finally Ginger, a beautiful 6 month old pure bred Buff Orpington cockerel.
Here they are settling into their new home

 and our chooks keeping their distance

 They're all in the hut together tonight and I hope they're all intact tomorrow!!

Di and Rem, feeling the cold!!!

The weather here is grim at the moment. Over the last couple of days we've had glimpses of the sun, but it's lost its warmth and it's very COLD!!
Some pics  of our last session in the school continuing with the in-hand work. Notice Di sporting her snazzy winter wardrobe! LOL  We're just at the basics but we're making progress and I'm reliably informed :-) that we're at a good place to build from.

Be positive...

I was that person today. Our in-hand session was positive with lots of energy. Very simple work in the headcollar, moving first the shoulders and then the quarters, putting it together for a good giravolta on each rein, keeping the shoulders up, good crossing over. Jim called it 'taking charge', it felt a little bit like that too! LOL
Remy thanks his Aunty Trudi for providing the stimulus for some semblance of order!!!!

Venturing out from the gloom

We've been doing this over the last few days. The snow has gone, but we've had days of rain. Now we're getting drier, colder weather, with brief but very welcome sunny spells.
I had a short in-hand session with both Remy and Bonbon today, working with a cavesson on a small circle asking for relaxation, slight inside bend and lowering of the head and neck. They were both focussed and well behaved. After the in-hand with Remy, we had a mat session which he seemed to enjoy.

Wintry walks....

...with Obi.
Over the last week or so I've been taking Obi for walks around the tracks. I'm not much of a walker, but I thought it may help to get me fit and Obi needs controlled exercise to strengthen his back legs - he's a heavy dog and not getting any younger  (like the rest of us). It's lovely countryside around our place and I find that I really enjoy it (whatever happened to the girl who used to drive to the corner shop!). This is our walk today.
Down the track through our fields

 towards the lakes

 I don't think our neighbour is going to freeze this winter

 the largest of the three lakes

heading back towards home, a place to rest

 and another

 nearly home

 time for a hot brew

  A lovely morning, nice lunch with a couple of 'winter warmers' (hot cherry liqueur and red wine), just the way to tackle the weather.

In the bleak...

A real wintry day today, nothing doing with the horses. I dashed out with the camera as they were playing in the snow. As usual, I missed the best of it and they decided they'd had enough and wanted to come in!!

stumblin'

Another bleak day, cold and damp. I had two short sessions inside with Remy and Bonbon. Remy, practicing flexions and Bonbon a bridle session, more familiarisation with the bit and baby flexions.

I stumbled upon this guy, I wish I had his coordination.

Brrrrrrrr...........

We've got our first snow of the year. It's been snowing overnight and still is.
Yesterday was very frosty but dry so I had a (very) short in-hand session with Remy. I was concentrating on having a good feel on both reins trying to keep him soft and relaxed. I think we're starting to get a better connection in-hand, he's started to take responsibility for his own energy and becoming more responsive. We are getting a better feel but lots to work on keeping the balance between the outside and inside rein. We're tending to get too much inside neck bend.
I then hacked Anky out and despite a little wobble going into the wood she was great. We did the same exercises as last time, halt/walk, halt/reinback/walk transitions and she started to soften in the mouth and flex the poll, then she stretched and took the rein down with a lovely forward walk. Her feet seem to be strengthening up really well, there was no sign of sensitivity on the gravel tracks.
 I had a short session with Remy at halt today working on getting a soft contact on both reins, letting him lengthen his neck a little and then asking for a very light flexion, keeping his neck much straighter. He was flexed (not too much) at the throatlash but not too much inside neck bend. It felt like a nice relaxed connection, just need to take that into movement!

It's a confidence thing.........

The last few in-hand sessions with Remy we've been concentrating on halt/walk transitions  - starting and stopping, having a quicker reaction into the walk transition, more energy in the work and a cleaner, lighter halt. This is improving and he's becoming more self motivated and we're starting to get a more forward, consistent walk. He's a very patient horse and he's coping with everything really well considering that I'm a beginner at this in-hand stuff and we're both learning together. 
He's starting to listen and wait until I ask for something, his focus and attention are really improving and I'm beginning to be able to break things down into small pieces of information that we can both grasp and build on.
All this is an ongoing thing and it's still very early days, but I feel that now, I need, and, I think, am able to work on the flexion, keeping the flexion and softness from the halt into the movement, working step by step until we have more consistent softness, bend and fluidity with no resistance. I think that then, we can start to progress with the lateral work.
 Thanks to Trudi  and her ongoing help and support, I now have more confidence to continue, and I think that we can make good progress.
I rode Anky in the school today, we've not been in there for a while and I was pleasantly surprised at how relaxed, forward and receptive she was. We worked at walk, working on circles, halt/walk, halt/reinback/walk transitions  and a little leg yield and shoulder-in. It was a really enjoyable session.

Had a fun, musical afternoon at Rickys.

Tell me why.......

...... I don't like mondays.
That's not entirely true, what gets me really, is the announcement of a new week and the tic, tic ticking of the clock as another week is committed to memory. I'm not complaining, I'm a lucky girl and I don't have to get up and go spend all my day at work!! Instead I can dodge the rain and spend my time with my horses.

I don't think the weather was too bad on saturday, I'm not sure as I spent most of the day in bed with what seemed (at the time) like the worst headache in the world.  I was a bit worried as our trimmer, Gareth was due first thing sunday morning and  I like to be there to go over every last detail of my horses feet. LOL
I awoke, relieved, feeling pretty much ok and had a good morning discussing barefoot trimming, the KC La Pierre method and maintenance work between trimmings.

I wanted to do something with the horses in the afternoon, but the chasse were out, which rules out any hacking (if you value your life) and I couldn't use the school as they were in the wood at the far side of the school. I ended up doing some in-hand work on the land at the bottom of the garden, and, despite the distractions (moronic,mindless yelling, dogs barking and gunshots) Remy was a little star. He's so patient with me, I do love that horse!

I've just seen this post from a blogger friend at Barefoot Horse Blog about hind gut acidosis, I'm amazed that more isn't known about this problem, given the fragility of a horse's digestive system. I'm now treating Anky for this and (touch wood) she seems to be doing better.

Feelin' good

 
A nice lunch out yesterday at our horse group meeting. We had a new venue which was very cosy and welcoming.The weather was glorious, so I hurried home to do some work with Remy only to find that it was damp and overcast at our place.  The horses were hanging around the gate though so I brought them in and set off with Remy up to the school. I usually work the horses in the morning so Remy was a little nonplussed at having to work when he expected to come in for his tea. He was very distracted, looking and stopping then setting off at trot at every noise so all I could do was to try and get him to relax and lower his head. After a while he started to calm a little and we managed a few minutes in-hand work. He was still a little tense, but he was listening and containing his worries. I asked him for a few halt and walk transitions and finished on a good note.

Today, another in-hand session and he was really calm and attentive. Nice clean halt transitions.  Halt/reinback/walk on transitions were more fluid, we did a few shoulder-in steps off the corner interspersed with a few circles. I love it when you get that 'right' feeling, it makes my day.

Took Anky out for another hack, started off sticky when she refused to go into the wood. She 'offered' me backwards and sideways, but not forward, so I asked for more backwards and sideways until, when asked. she offered forward. It was all very calm and took about five minutes and eventually she decided she could go into the wood. After this she was ok, still looking, but forward and we repeated the exercises from the other day of halt/walk on, halt/reinback/walk on and she progressively became softer in the hand. She gradually became calmer and stretched into a soft contact and we did a little leg yield and shoulder-in on the way home.

More of those good feelings - how wonderful!!

Starting and Stopping

It's been very cold today, a real feel of winter!
I took Remy up to the school to work on my halt and walk transitions in-hand. He was very attentive and although it was a little blustery he remained focussed.
I need to sharpen up the walk transition and to help this we worked on rein-back from the halt into walk on and he became more forward into the walk transition and it felt like he had good energy. The halt's been a bit muddy and he has a tendency to push his quarters to the side, so I asked for the halt only against the fence line to stop him doing this. After a few attempts he started to become much lighter and cleaner into the halt.It was a good session and I finished by walking him back home down the lane.
I then took Anky out for a hack, first time in a while and she was a star. We were out for about 40 minutes and we only walked, but it was a full session with lots of halt, reinback/walk on transitions. On the way home she was really nice and foward without rushing, and at times reaching for a contact, soft in my hand from a few feather like touches on the rein and I felt like I was riding the whole horse. A lot of it felt good today.
I must remember to wear my long boots when riding, my legs were freezing!!

A plan

I'm feeling guilty today for not doing anything with the horses! With one thing or another, life intervened to put the mockers on it. I was all fired up as well after a really good time yesterday with Remy and Trudi in the school. She gave me some much needed help and support, and today, a flowchart and a plan!! Thanks Trudi, you're a pal!
I busied myself this afternoon making cheesecake and steak pies, the cheesecake's in the fridge and the pies are in our stomachs - Yummy.

Je l'aime

Send it sistah ! from sébastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

Fantasy

I love fantasy art. It's all over the internet and I'd like to be able to do it, but I really haven't got the patience to learn how.  I used to read a lot when I was a kid, mainly fantasy books, the idea of escaping to another world was very appealling,  - actually, sometimes, still is.
It's raining again today!

Sun!!!

The sun came out today - hurray.  Unfortunately. so did the chasse - murdering, moronic bastards!!!!

It's been a horrible day again today, and the same forecast for the next few days too. The horses were ready to come in this morning and Remy gave me a little whinny when I popped my head over the shelter wall.
It's the 11th of the 11th today and there have been lots of reminders on the tv. It's heartbreaking to see all the suffering from the past and present. I guess it's going to be part of our future too. Now that's a sobering thought.
In remembrance.

Respite

I've just checked my work log, and apart from one or two sessions inside, I've done nothing with the horses for 5 or 6 days. A few different reasons, but the weather's been a major factor, it's been pretty horrible, especially the last 3 or 4 days.
This morning, it was such a relief to wake up to the sound of silence instead of the incessant tapping of rain on the skylight. In addition to it being fine it was also pretty calm as the horrible blustery wind had disappeared in the night.
I took Remy up to the school for a mixed lunge/in-hand session. I've been thinking a lot about his lack of relaxation on the lunge and wanted to change tack (no pun intended)  a little. I started by isolating the aids, so first asking him to move his shoulders and then to move his quarters. He knows this, so it's not a problem. Then asking him to move both together in a giravolta. Then an exercise of giravolta into shoulder- in and back to giravolta.  Then giravolta, halt into reinback. He was very relaxed and I was really pleased with him. I then asked for giravolta followed by walk onto the circle with an active walk and trying to get softness and stretch over the neck. After a few tries at this I repeated the exercise, but after a couple of strides of walk, I asked for a trot transition. We repeated this a few times and the trot transition became much cleaner and he started to really relax into the trot and stretch and lower his neck. A really good session.

It's been 10 days since I've done anything with Anky. She's starting to put on a bit of weight and has been generally much more relaxed and easy in herself over the last few weeks. I'm sure the Equishure is helping her.
I took her up to the school and did the same exercises with her that I'd done with Remy.  She was brilliant on the lunge, the transitions were good and her trot was the most relaxed I've seen from her,more active behind, loose over her back and stretching down over her neck.

I finished off a good morning with a short bridle session with Bonbon.

Now that I've got my winter head on, I find that I'm wanting to practice more (sax) so I'm off to do that now. I may even play the piano too :-)

Don't believe.......

......the weather forecast!  I woke up to a warm, overcast but dry day this morning.  Plans not taken up because it was supposed to be a horrible wet day and plans made to finish off the yard and tidy up the barn. So, apart from a short flexion session with Remy, nothing with the horses today.
Jim made a start on the yard and I made a start on the barn. It took us all morning, but between us we created a lot more space, found a lot of things we'd forgotten we had ( especially for me, a nice pair of winter boots) and made the place look a whole lot tidier!

Sunny

The day dawned sunny and warm, brilliant for this time of year. I took Remy up to the school, starting with a short lunge session. He had a bit of a hooley halfway through which was over as soon as it started and he returned to his usual calm self. We then had an in-hand session and I was really pleased with his focus so I sat on for a few minutes. It's been a while since I sat on him and it felt good!
I then took Bonbon to the school for some groundwork and although she had quite a spook at our neighbour tidying up his garden she soon calmed and was very attentive and focussed.
A good morning.

Settling in

Woke up to a damp, miserable day this morning. Just putting the horses in the field when Bev arrived out of the blue. What a lovely surprise, we talked most of the day!
The horses have got to grips with the shelter,been up and down and in and out all day. With that, taking up the old fencing and pulling up the old gate posts, it hasn't done the field any favours. No doubt it will recover.

Tired......

.......tonight after working all afternoon (hehe, I'm not used to it) finishing the horse shelter. The new fencing is in, the old fencing is out and the guttering is up.  We brought the horses in whilst we removed the old fencing and tidied it all up and it was just starting to go dark by the time we'd finished and put them back out. Lots of snorting and investigating before they headed off down the field. Hopefully I'll get some pics tomorrow.

I rode Anky in the school today and she was very good, but quite nervous with the toot tooting of the chasse getting closer. It's a while since I rode her and I was pleasantly surprised at how good she felt, forward, and soft in her mouth.  I got off mid session and we had ten minutes in-hand where I managed to get her to relax and stretch and lower her head and neck. When I got back on she was a little more relaxed and responsive.

I decided that discretion was the better part of valour so had a short in-hand session inside with Remy. He gave me some lovely flexions from a very light feel and was lovely and soft in his mouth.

Feeling chilled

It's been a crappy week, but it's looking up.

After a week of doing nothing with the horses, we returned to work today in the school.
I took Anky up there first for a short lunge session followed by a little in-hand work. She was pretty relaxed with the lungeing but tense in the in-hand. I'm finding that she relaxes really well when we're inside, but once we get outside in the school she's distracted very easily and the first thing she does then is tense and raise her head. We'll work on it.
The wind had got up a little by the time I took Remy in the school. He was a little distracted by the wind and the toot tooting of a distant chasse horn, but he's such a patient and willing boy and tried to focus. We started with a short lunge session and he was pretty responsive in the transitions. By walking around with him, I find he stays much softer and doesn't hang on the rein, I can try to bend him a little inside, help him relax and encourage a sharper transition. Today the trot was more relaxed and active than it's been and the transitions were better. We then had a short session in-hand including asking him to move individual legs from a light touch of the whip. He's getting better at this, giving me a quicker reaction.



So, after a week off, it all felt a little rusty, but glad to be back doing something.

Boots Randolph - oh boy

Hey, don't flick my leg!

No rain this morning, but it was really blustery so I had another session inside. Remy was great, good flexions, good transitions to walk and nice soft halts. I also worked on asking him to move his legs by a light touch of the whip and he gave me an immediate response, a nice surprise and  hopefully not a fluke.  I like these short sessions inside, no distractions and good practice for when we're in the school.
I worked with Bonbon for a few minutes starting on some baby flexions and she was calm and attentive, a good girl.
Jim spent the afternoon putting guttering up and I tidied the garden - it really needs it and still lots more to do!

Anky and Remy in-hand

Short sessions in-hand yesterday with Anky and Remy, working on release and relaxation of the jaw, and, in Remy's case concentrating on focus and attention. I was trying to keep him soft in the hand with slight inside flexion, without too much bend in the neck or twist at the poll. The in-hand work is relatively new to me and in order to work my way through it's complexities, I'm now trying to break it down and isolate the aids (  with some good advice from a friend , thanks Trudi ). Once I'd got his attention, I worked for a few minutes asking him to move his shoulder from a slight touch and he was very responsive . I've started  to ask him to move individual legs by a slight touch of the whip and after a very long and lazy response on friday, he was much better yesterday.
It was raining this morning so worked inside with both Anky and Remy, working on the same as yesterday. We put them out and opened up the gate to the winter field, it was great to see them cantering down and kicking their heels up, led by an exuberant Anky.
It was fine by the time we brought them in so I had a quick in-hand session on the yard with Remy. He was calm and attentive and I managed to get nice flexion to the inside with good contact on the outside rein preventing excess bend in his neck or twisting at the poll. I also worked on asking him to walk on, with me remaining perfectly still ( I have a tendency to get slightly ahead of him) and he responded well, also the halts were very soft, straight and positive.

Shelter

The builders have been busy the last couple of weeks building the horse shelter. We've had  a few delays because of the material suppliers, but yesterday they finally finished.
Before the horses can use it, we have to put the guttering on, finish the new fenceline and gates, take the old fencing out and concrete a small part of the yard - shouldn't take too long........... :-)

Inca

Jim took these the other day. This is Inca, she's an old lady, we've just worked out that she's about 18yrs old. She has a brilliant life here with mum (me) waiting on her hand and foot!!

Traditional Farriery and Barefoot trimming methods - poles apart?

After a recent discussion about my horse's feet and the stark realisation that traditional farriery and new trimming methods seem to be poles apart, I've started to look into K C La Pierre's method of barefoot trimming. This is the guy that my trimmer trained with.
I've borrowed his DVD set - The Chosen Road , so we'll see where it takes me.

Warm but blustery weather....

The horses have had a couple of days off so back to work today.
I took Remy in the school, it was blustery and he was spooky. I put him on the lunge and he calmed a little so we had a short in-hand session working on rein-back, halt/walk transitions, giravolta and circles, all the time trying to keep him focussed and attentive. He was very good so I sat on and we did the same exercises ridden. He kept his focus, waited patiently at halt, listening and waiting for me to ask. The rein-backs were better as was the following walk on as he relaxed and flexed a little at the poll. After a couple of repetitions I took him onto a circle and we did some figure of eights with a nice change of bend. To finish we returned to the rein-back/walk on exercise and added the turn on the forehand, repeat in the new direction. There were a lot of distractions today and I was really pleased with his behaviour. I rode him back down the lane and had a little (our first!!) trot towards home.
I then rode Anky up to the school and I felt like we'd taken a few steps backwards as by now the wind had really got up and she was quite distracted.
She started off by not wanting to release to the flexions at halt, but after a few minutes she started to relax and stretch down and I moved her around on small circles trying to keep the softness and bend. We had some nice steps,but she was still worried about other things and it was far from consistent.
I then tried the reinback-exercise against the fence which seemed to get her attention and I was really pleasantly surprised at how softly and fluidly she moved into the rein-back from a light request. The whole exercise was improved, the walk forward after the rein-back and the turn on forehand to change the direction. Still lots to work on, but definitely going in the right direction. We finished with figure of eights on a long rein, keeping a nice softness through the change of bend. Great.

No horses today. Sometimes I think I'm fighting a losing battle.

Proper grown up horsey....

I am sick to death of french incompetence!! I realise it's an inflammatory statement, but do I care???

I took Remy in the school again, same as yesterday, started with lungeing 5min each rein, then in-hand, followed by ridden, working on the same exercise as yesterday plus a few figure of eights with nice changes of rein. When we'd finished I rode him back home down the lane. A very good boy.
We then took Bonbon up to the school for a baby lungeing session, she looked like a proper grown up horsey with her cavesson and bridle on. :-)

Pas cet après-midi et pas même un "désolé"

It was my french lesson this morning so I didn't get to ride until this afternoon, and by then the chill had gone and it was pleasantly warm.
I took Remy into the school and started with lungeing, a short session, moving him about the school and finishing with work on the circle, lots of transitions, trying to get him to relax and stretch down. He did quite well on the left rein, not so good on the right where he has a habit of hanging on the rein and falling out through his shoulder. I varied the size of the circle and he did start to relax a little.
Before riding I did a little in-hand, working on the exercise that I did yesterday with Anky - Halt, rein-back, walk forward, turn on the forehand then repeat. He managed this well, so I then tried it onboard and I was really pleased at how well he responded and how well he listened.
I then rode Anky in the school, the same work as yesterday and finished with some trot transitions. She was very responsive in the walk with fluid changes of bend and the rein-back was a little better than yesterday.
Today, I prepared her for the trot transition on the circle, asking for flexion to the inside, allowing her to lengthen her neck a little and making sure that she was soft to my inside leg before asking for the transition. It worked really well on the right rein and she moved off nicely and stayed soft in the hand. On the left rein, although she gave me the flexion to the inside and was soft to my inside leg, when I asked for the transition she resisted on the outside rein and hollowed. I was really pleased with the session though, and overall an improvement on yesterday :-)
We ordered the tiles yesterday for our horse shelter and they actually had them in stock. They promised to deliver this afternoon so Jim's been hanging around waiting for them. At 5.45 they'd still not been, nor did they come. Now that's a surprise!!!

Chilly

I started off a decidedly chilly day in the school with Remy. A fifteen minute lungeing session, with Remy starting to relax and stretch down, followed by a short in-hand session including rein-back and shoulder-in on the circle. To finish, I sat on for a few minutes and we practiced halt/walk transitions and halt/ rein-back transitions. All in all a good session.
I then rode Anky in the school, continuing the work in walk trying to obtain more consistent softness and relaxation. There was improvement again today, she was as relaxed as I've seen her.  I started an exercise that Trudi showed me yesterday, Halt to rein-back, walk forward, turn on the forehand then repeat.
Anky struggles with the rein-back and wants to hollow, but today we had some good steps which improved the walk forward.
It was a really enjoyable session.

I started Anky on the Equishure yesterday and I'm hoping it will help her. She's not been too bad recently, but she is still a little gassy and bloated.