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.

Lazee bones

Exactly that, a lazy day today. Got up very late feeling like i'd not slept a wink. Horses were already in and it was raining, so had a leisurely morning. And a leisurely afternoon come to mention it.
It was a bit brighter this evening so I took Remy in the school. We had a short lungeing session and I think he'd taken a lazy pill too. With a bit of motivation though, we managed a relaxed session with lots of stretching down. I was really pleased that he kept the pace nicely until I asked for something else.
We finished with a short session in-hand, and that boy really can do sideways, unfortunately, today, mostly unasked for (not sure that's good grammar). I'm being a little unfair because his focus and attention is getting much better and I am pleased with his progress.

Smiles

I took Anky in the school and continued from where I left off yesterday. It was a session that makes it all worthwhile. We worked at walk and I had real communication with the mouth, real relaxation, flexion and flipping of the crest. It's just a few steps at a time, but it's amazing how important those few steps can be, and how good it can make you feel.
A short session with Remy in the barn, concentrating on focus and attention with some nice flexions.
A short bit session with Bonbon, asking for a release and baby flexions.
A good day.

On the lunge

I went over to a friend's this morning for my lesson on the lunge. She'd been kind enough to offer her lovely cob, Homer for the job. He's a very sweet, genuine chap and, unfortunately for me, very wide!!
Most of the lesson was without stirrups, first at walk and then trot and then moved on to rising trot. The lesson lasted for about 30 minutes and I really enjoyed it, but it did show up how rusty I am, and especially my dodgy right leg. I really need to get in more riding hours.

I took Anky up to the school this afternoon and we had a great session. I worked mainly at walk with a short trot session. Today, the softness finally clicked with good longitudinal stretch, genuine lateral flexion, and, more to the point, it finally clicked with me how to achieve it. I'm looking forward to the next session, hopefully today wasn't a one-off. :-)

All good today

I was a little stiff this morning after hitting the deck yesterday, but not so bad that I couldn't ride. ;-), so I took Remy into the school. We started off with a short lungeing session and then I got on. It was a little windy, but he was pretty calm.
I had the neckstrap, so we started with walk halt transitions using the neckstrap and he got the hang of it very quickly. I then moved him around the school asking for lots of transitions,changes of direction and a couple of reinbacks. He can do reinback very well in-hand, but hasn't grasped the concept under saddle, unless, of course, he decides to do it of his own accord, but today we got some nice fluid, regular steps. He jumped forward once, but made nothing of it and halted when asked. We finished the session by riding him back home down the lane. Our collie dog Jypp decided he would greet us by suddenly appearing over the wall, which really did make him jump, but apart from a bit of snorting, that's all he did and I was really pleased with him.

I was just in the mood for a nice relaxing hack, so decided to take Anky out for a ride   ( how's that for optimism). It's been many weeks since she's been out for a hack, but she went willingly enough, although with her usual caution. About half-way round she started to relax and we then got a bigger,more relaxed stride and she stretched down over her head and neck. We had a couple of trots coming home which felt much more regular and balanced than the last time we trotted on a hack, so all in all a successful ride.
I hope I'm less stiff tomorrow as I have a lunge lesson booked. Perhaps it'll help me loosen up (oooh, more optimism).

Spooks (not the spy kind)

It's been nearly a week since I last rode, so today I took Anky into the school and we worked on relaxation and bending. Slowly, slowly she's starting to release and give. We finished with a short trot on both reins and we got  some stretch down for a few strides, inconsistent but coming better.

I took Remy in the school and after a short in-hand session I got on. I was on for all of 30 seconds. I don't know what he spooked at, but he suddenly shot forwards and spun round, unbalanced me, which, I think frightened him more and he set off!
Where was my neck strap? I'd forgotten to put it on!
All I could think was,  'he's heading for the fence', which he was, and, 'I don't want to pull on his mouth', which, I don't know if I did or not!
Of course, before I could blink we were at the fence and I was wondering if he was going to try and jump it! He didn't, he just turned sharply and by this time my self self preservation/kamikaze/call it what you will instincts set in and I was looking for a way to get off.
I know, I wish I could overcome them, and , with Anky,who I know very well, I do,  but with an unknown quantity, my instinct is to get my feet back on the ground as quickly as possible. I don't know quite how I got off him, it all happened too fast, but it involved the fence, several splinters and a grazed leg. Both the fence and I are a little worse for wear,  but Remy seems ok. He trotted around the school as I hit the ground, and then came to me when I called him.
I got straight back on and he was fine so we continued with moving him around the school with walk/halt transitions and lots of changes of direction, then a couple of reinbacks and shoulder-in on the circle on both reins to finish.
Jim was up at the school, so he walked with me and  I rode him back down the lane home.
So, our first spook.  I'm glad it's over with and I'm really pleased at the way he calmed down so quickly after it. I'm sure that I could have dealt with it better, and I hope  that I deal with the next one a little better!
Next time I ride I will remember to put on the neckstrap and we'll work a little, using it for walk and halt transitions.

All three....

A short lunge session with Anky today, we got real stretching down on both reins, followed by a short in-hand session.
Jim and I took Remy for a walk through the field, round our top field where he's never been, into the school for a short lunge session and then walked him back down the lane home. Lots of new things to look at and he was a very good boy.
We finished by taking Bonbon to the school for a baby lungeing session, starting on the circle on each rein, then moving her around the school. She's a very sweet horse, I do like her.

The builders are trying to get on with the shelter, but we've still not received the rest of our blocks from the suppliers. They really are useless, but what gets to me most is that instead of being honest with us,they keep fobbing us off. First they said they were due in last week, then monday, and now, not until wednesday.  Fortunately today, the builders have managed to find an alternative supplier, so we can now tell them where they can put their blocks. It could be painful!

Quand vient l'automne

It's been a quiet few days with the horses, all down to me, other things stopping me from working them.
Anky and Remy are moulting, Anky feels the cold and has had a light sheet on at night for the last week or so, but Remy came in this morning and he was cold too.
It's not my favourite time of year, it's with a tinge of sadness that I delve into the pile of rugs in preparation for the end of summer and the colder weather to come.
The shelter's taking shape - slowly - thanks to the poor standards and organisation of our local supply depot. Hopefully it won't take too long to finish.

A busy day

First thing at the hospital in Limoges for Jim to have his check-up. A bit of a waste of time as they should have arranged a dopler on the carotid artery to check that it was still open and working properly. They hadn't done this so what we got was a very brusque french doctor who gave him a quick once-over vascular wise and pronounced him 'pas de probleme'. We asked if they could do the dopler today and of course the answer was;
'c'est nécessaire d'arranger un rendez-vous et vous devez revenir un autre jour'!!

We were home just after lunch so brought the horses in as they were standing under the trees looking miserable. It was very hot, but I decided to take Remy into the school as he'd had a day off yesterday. We had a short session in-hand, moving him around the school, small circles, rein-back,working on the shoulder-in on the circle and also starting some steps along the side of the school. I then rode him for about 30 minutes, first of all asking for flexions at halt, moving on to shoulder-in on the circle, which he seemed to manage fairly easily, presumably because he knows it from the ground.  We worked for a short time on a rectangle in the top third of the school. Asking for walk on along the side of the school towards the corner, trying to keep him straight into the corner, not letting him anticipate and fall in before asking for the turn.
He moves off from my leg, but in usual Remy style it's not as sharp as I'd like. I finished by working on a large circle, I wanted a more forward walk and re-inforced my leg aid with a little tap of the whip and he popped into trot. Not the reaction I wanted, but welcome nevertheless and it did improve the walk afterwards.

I rode Anky at 6.30, it was a beautiful evening, pleasantly warm with very few flies. It was lovely in the school and I enjoyed the session. Anky's attitude has definitely changed, she's giving me more, both in attention and relaxation. The contact is better, still hit and miss, but much more consistent than it has been. She's trusting it much more, giving me genuine bend, and at times I'm getting a really nice, soft fullness in the rein. I'm not sure how to describe it, but that's how it feels to me. We finished with a short session of  trot work on both reins. The trot is very unbalanced ( 3 legged stool comes to mind), but she's not throwing her head and is starting to think about stretching and lowering her head and neck. We then get a few balanced strides and the trot becomes more rhythmic and more manageable. I hope that I'm finally getting into her head and managing to reassure her that she's nothing to fear from this riding lark.  I really do hope so!!

Sur commande!!!

Nous avons commencé à construire un abri pour les chevaux contre le mur de la grange et il y a deux semaines nous avons arrangé que les constructeurs viennent. Nous avons dégagé le site et nous avons commandé tous les matériaux.  Nous avons commandé les matériaux pour arriver en même temps que les constructeurs et nous leur avons donné assez de temps pour la livraison.
Bien sur, comme d'habitude, la commande n'est pas arrivé, personne ne nous a appelés, donc, nous les avons appelés pour demander pourquoi.
Leur camion était en panne ! !  Ils ont seulement 1 camion ?
Finalement, une semaine en retard, les matériaux sont arrivés aujourd'hui et oui,  le camion était en retard ! !

Subclinical Acidosis

Subclinical acidosis is thought to result from overconsumption of either high-starch concentrates (not applicable to Anky) or an intolerance to pasture grasses rich in fructans (highly likely applicable to Anky). All the info's in the link, but basically it boils down to a lowering of  ph in the hindgut which then becomes overwhelmed with acid and causes serious damage to the intestinal mucosa.
The intestinal lining becomes inflamed and irritated, causing the horse discomfort. The irritation may be severe enough to induce behavior characteristic of colic. Long-term exposure of the intestinal lining to a low-pH environment may negatively affect the absorptive capacities of these structures affecting the ability to absorb nutrients.
Because of the precarious nature of the hindgut of a horse afflicted with subclinical acidosis, it is less able to handle metabolic crises that healthy horses may be able to fend off. Hence, horses with subclinical acidosis are more susceptible to colic and laminitis.
Symptoms include;

• Decreased feed intake or complete inappetence in severe cases
• Mild to moderate colic signs of unexplained origin
• Poor feed conversion efficiency and subsequent weight loss
• Bloating
• Loose droppings and behavioural issues

 All these things apply to Anky, but no vet has ever mentioned this to me. Why?
I don't know why, but when I found the article it immediately seemed to me that this might be the missing piece in the jigsaw.  If this is Anky's problem then we can treat it. On verra -we'll see.

Working through the distractions.

Todays session with Remy was all about working through the distractions. He started off in his usual calm manner and then spied Joe (our farm cat) coming up the field. He's seen him plenty of times, but not in this setting and it set him off. Within seconds he was at the fence snorting. I went over to stand with him until Joe disappeared into the hedge and then we continued with our lungeing session. He was completely distracted and kept looking down the field so I moved him around the school until he started to calm a little.  Joe then appeared out of the hedge and jumped onto the school fence, which set him off again snorting and cantering around.  This time I brought him to a halt and we stood quietly for a few minutes asking him to relax his jaw and a lowering of his head and neck. This seemed to bring him back down to earth and we continued with some in-hand work of rein back, shoulder-in on the circle with a few strides down the long side.

I then took Anky to the school  and we had  a short lungeing session which helped to relax her and then a short  in-hand session. I'm really beginning to see improvement in-hand, she's much more mobile with more movement through her shoulder and less tension in her head and neck. I finished by riding her for about 10 minutes, working on small circles and shoulder-in on the circle. We finished on a long rein and she stretched and lowered her neck  so I moved her around in this position changing the rein through the circle. There's a long way to go with the ridden work, but she's definitely progressing.

Lungeing sessions.

After a very quiet few days I took Remy up to the school for a short lungeing session. Although it was early (well, for me - 9am) it was very hot with lots of flies. He was calm and relaxed though, and we got some nice moments on the lunge, with relaxation and stretching down. The transitions are starting to be much crisper now, the walk is becoming more forward, and he is maintaining the trot. I'm aiming for a soft, loose,easy trot with a lowering and stretch over his neck, and at times today we got that. We finished with a short in-hand session, shoulder- in on the circle to a few steps down the long side. He's becoming more mobile in-hand, with much less tension. I was really pleased with him.
A lunge session with Anky and, I think it was the best she's been. A very soft, albeit, underpowered trot, but with moments of genuine relaxation and reaching down, spirals in and out varying the size of the circle and staying soft and rhythmic. Again, we finished with some in-hand work, rein-back, shoulder-in on the circle and then moving on down the long side.

Lessons-in-Lightness/Mark-Russell

Another non-horsey day today :-(  so I started to read this book Lessons-in-Lightness by Mark-Russell
The guy is from a western background, but trains using classical principles. I've read a few chapters and pretty good so far.
Jim was making a fish pie for tea, so we decided to use some of our thousands of apples and make a tarte tatin - delicious!!

Educating the mouth

I've not been able to do anything with  the horses for a couple of days, and this morning it was heavy rain so we had a session inside.

Remy is becoming more and more focussed with the in-hand work and today he was concentrating and waiting for me to ask. He was very relaxed,  mouthing the bit and the flexions were very easy, leading to a lengthening and stretching over his neck into one or two strides of shoulder-in.

Anky's becoming less and less wary of the bit and is starting to relax and savour it much more. She's beginning to realise that she can be relaxed in her jaw, mobile in her mouth and  that it's a good thing to stretch and lower her head and neck. The more she does this, the better the flexions are and the more she's staying  relaxed  through her body with genuine bend.

Bonbon had a short session too. She's happy with the bridle, and with a light upward movement of the rein on the corners of the lips, she relaxes her jaw and mouths the bit.

It's a great feeling, walking away knowing that they're all 'getting it', and even moreso that I'm 'getting it' too and that the pieces are starting to come together.

Starting out

Anky and Remy had a day off yesterday so we took Bonbon up to the school. It's been a while since she's been up there, but she was really calm and attentive.
It was our first real session and we did some basic groundwork, I was very pleased with her. Of course, Jim had to take vid of his little girl.



I took Anky into the school for a lungeing session this morning, we got caught in the showers, but she was very relaxed and we finally got some stretching down and nice bending on the lunge.  I asked for canter on both reins and even though it's untidy and inconsistent, it's better than we've had and also improved the trot.
I'm aiming to have a session with Remy this afternoon if the weather holds.

The mat

Happy Day

A good session with Remy. Starting with a short in-hand session, we tried the giravolta- not yet consistent, but getting there, I think. I then got on and for the first time, started to try and move him around on circles. He was a little hesitant at first (probably couldn't move with this heavy sod on his back), but settled into it. He was so calm and I was really pleased with him. Jim came up and took some vid for me.



I finished the session with a little try at mat work. this is all new to me and I'm not quite sure what I'm doing, but it was fun. Jim did a little vid of that- to follow once it's uploaded.

I took Anky up to the school this evening once it was cooler, and she was great, very relaxed. We did a little in-hand work first, working on the giravolta, and then I rode her at walk on small circles and tried the giravolta ridden. I was pleased with her, she was giving me some genuine softness and bend, so much so that we tried a little trot-work, large circles on a long rein, trying to encourage her to stretch down and relax and establish some rhythm. We both finished the session as happy bunnies.

Learning to listen...

I rode Anky in the school for the first time in a while, but before riding we had a short in-hand session to re-inforce the relaxation of the jaw and to encourage lowering and stretching her head and neck. She was pretty relaxed and I noticed immediately the difference in feel from the contact. I worked on small circles, trying to keep softness through the bend and encourage her to stretch out to my hand. It was inconsistent, but when she got it right there wasl no resistance in the movement and not once in the whole session did she throw her head up against the hand. Now that I've ridden her, I feel sure that the recent work from the ground is really helping.  I'm hopeful that she's going to continue to improve and her issues with the contact and relaxation will slowly get less and less.
I had a nice in-hand session with Remy, he was calm and attentive and he's learning to listen (I think that can be said about both of us) and to wait.

Monsters in the trees

Another windy morning up in the school with Remy. He was jumpy as hell and although I moved him around the school on the lunge and we managed a little in-hand work, he couldn't settle so I ended up letting him off the line and I wandered around weeding the edge of the school. He wandered over and stood with me several times and we managed a trot together back up the school. By this time he'd calmed down a little so I called it a day at that. His magnetic boots arrived today so he's had them on this afternoon in the field, I spied him nibbling at them so I hope they hold up.
A short session in-hand with Anky, I think I'll ride her in the school tomorrow and see how she is.

It's quite disconcerting.....

After a short in-hand session, I sat on Remy today. A short session, working on small circles asking for walk and halt transitions and I was pretty pleased with his responses. We had one unasked for reinback, so as he was stepping back I allowed myself to be moved back with him and reinforced the movement by saying 'back'. He turns very easily on the left circle, not so much on the right, so I must pay more attention to this and make sure that I work him equally and that he has the same flexibility on both reins.
I enjoyed today because he's a darling, but it's a long time since I've backed a horse and I have to admit to feeling a little hesitant as to where to go from here. I'm feeling the weight of responsibility for his education and it's quite disconcerting!!!

Another short in-hand session with Anky, continuing the relaxation work and trying to keep the mobility in her jaw. She's getting progressively more relaxed in her mouth, we've a long way to go, but definitely getting better. She's got a swelling on the front of her hock after spooking up a bank with me out on a ride. I'm a little worried about it, although it doesn't seem to be bothering her at all. I thought it may be a bog spavin, but the swelling  doesn't seem to affect or move around the rest of her hock joint and is isolated to the bottom edge just above the cannon bone. I've not ridden her for a few days not wanting to exacerbate it, but we were making progress with the relaxation and I'm missing it!