I'm..............

50, fat, unfit and have no muscle tone whatsoever!
Well, I knew that, but it was confirmed in no uncertain terms the other day trying to do rising trot on Remy. He's a young horse and we've only just started the trot work, and I haven't done any trot work in yonks, but that's no excuse because Remy's got pretty good balance in the trot work and the fact that I'm all over the place is totally down to me. I've got to get fitter, so yesterday got out my exercise dvd which has lots of different programs to choose from - I've started with toning exercises, followed by a rather enjoyable boxing routine and finish with a session of stretches Zen style. LOL someone should video me, now that would be entertaining!
My session in the school with Remy today was pretty good. He started off not really paying attention, but once he'd tuned in he was very attentive. The walk and halt transitions were cleaner today, we did shoulder in on both reins, but mostly I was moving him forward with an active walk, soft in the hand before asking for a trot transition. One or two sloppy ones which I immediately brought back to walk  and tried again, but mostly he gave me nice fluid transitions into a nicely balanced trot which I could rise to and we both remained in balance.We finished with figure of eights on a long rein, bending and stretching nicely.
As I halted and started to dismount he gave a little whicker - not sure if he was saying 'thanks mum, that was ok' or 'thank god she's getting off'!
Our baled hay has been sitting in the field for the last couple of weeks as the farmer who cuts it hadn't been round to bring it in ( he'd left his out too) but this morning I noticed that he'd got all his in from his field adjoining ours and left ours in the field. He's had 3 good years out of us, taking whatever hay we don't need (30/40 big round bales on a good year) but  this year he's been very conspicous by his absence, avoiding us like the plague.  It's been such an horrendous year and we've only got 10 bales, half of what we need. He obviously doesn't think that the maize he's planted in our far field (which we stupidly allowed him to do) is enough. It all changes next year, it's not an official arrangement and he'll have nothing to do with our land. We've got a good horse pasture seed mix to completely reseed the fields and next year we won't cut for hay, we'll rest them and top them when necessary to thicken the grass. A horsey friend said to me that people will show their true colours this year because of all the problems, and it's very true.

(very nearly) Jumping

I thought it was about time Remy saw some jumps so we put out some trotting poles for him to go over and then added a little X pole at the end. We have some coloured poles that we've never used so he needed a quick look before deciding they were ok. He didn't know what to make of the little x pole the first time  and stopped, huffed and then walked over it, the second time he hopped over it and the third time he jumped it , but not particularly athletically. I brought him round again and he made quite a nice jump so we left it at that.  This was just on the left rein, so next time we need to show him he can do it on both reins (hopefully).
A short bridle session with Bonbon asking for relaxation of the jaw and baby flexion. It's coming along well.

Remy - ridden session

Because of the very dry weather, we've not got much grass and added to that very little hay left over from last year. For some reason the farmer hasn't brought this years hay off the field yet (we really must change our hay arrangements next year and take charge of what's happening with our land) so the barn's pretty much empty. Corky and Bonbon who both seem to live off fresh air are keeping their weight but Remy seems to have lost a little condition, although he seems to have grown a little and tends to go a bit rangy. Anyway, he's getting sugar beet and grass nuts added to his vit and min supplement and linseed. We're expecting quite a bit more rain so hopefully the grass will start to come through soon.
Here's a little vid from yesterdays ridden session

Backing Bonbon

A good session with Bonbon yesterday sitting on for the second time. She was a good girl, standing quietly as I mounted and then Jim led her around the school and after the first few sticky steps she was fine.

Cheese and piccalilli

Had a really enjoyable session with Remy in the school today. Started with figure of eights, reinback and shoulder in on each rein. Then a little trot work on both reins followed by a really forward walk on a long rein. Before finishing I asked him for the first time for quarters in, a bit unsure but on asking moved his quarters inside at halt. Finished by riding him back down the lane. It feels like his shoulders are starting to loosen up now and he's getting better balanced. The trot transitions were, on the whole quite nice too.

I've just borrowed a friends Pete Ramey DVD's and finding them really interesting, makes me want to be much more knowledgeable about my horses feet.
Our lovely neighbours who only come out for the summer have just brought us a goody bag of cheshire cheese, tea-bags, piccalilli and biscuits. Yummy.

Bonbon - first sit-on

Remy's been a little tense the last few days. They all came in from the field very jumpy the other morning and it's taken him a while to get over it. He's not been spooky when I've ridden him, just quietly tense. Today I went back to basics, worked a little in-hand on flexions at halt,reinback, giravolta and some shoulder-in. He remained relaxed so I got on and did the same thing onboard. A short ridden session but he listened and did all that I asked. I was pleased with the few steps of shoulder in down the long side on the left rein. Not as easy for him on the right rein, but he did give me some nice relaxed steps. We finished with a lovely relaxed straight reinback, probably the best he's offered me.
We took Bonbon to the school and she was a little unsettled going up there, unusually whinnying back to the others, but soon settled to some light lungeing and a little in-hand with reinback and moving quarters and shoulders. She was nice and relaxed at the end of the session so I decided to stand her up and lay over her back. I've not leaned over her with my full weight before, but we had the saddle on today so I placed my foot in the stirrup and let her take my weight on the near-side. She moved sideways a few steps but I just stayed there and went with her until she stopped and stood still. She was very calm so after a few moments I swung my leg over and sat in the saddle for the first time. What a good girl!! She looked back at me on either side just to see what was going on and then we walked her forwards a few steps before asking for a halt. I patted her all over,  she took a treat from me on either side and seemed quite happy with the whole process. I can't believe I've sat on my little girl for the first time.

Maiden flight - doing alright

We have a swallows nest in our barn, it's on one of the beams above Remys stable. There are 4 youngsters in it. It seems like it's been no time at all, but today the first one left the nest and made it's maiden flight. It was wonderful to watch. It flew around the barn, unsure of itself, mum (or dad) hovering nearby and then flying in and out of the barn trying to guide it. It wanted to get back into the nest, but couldn't work out the logistics. It was flying and hovering, flying and hovering, trying to work out how to do it. Isn't nature amazing - within a few short weeks those wings will be powerful enough to fly for hundreds of miles. Eventually it flew out of the dark, dusty barn into bright, glorious sunshine and circled high above. I wonder what it was thinking at that moment, how it felt leaving the dark safety of the nest and going into the bright open space of a whole new world .
I rode Remy up to the school for a short session. He wasn't paying much attention today, wanting to look around. He's been very jumpy the last couple of days and although he was calmer today he was still quite distracted. I walked him on a long rein for a few minutes, letting him stretch and relax and then worked on some halt/walk/halt transitions. He was sticky giving me right flexion so finished by asking for flexion left then right at halt for a few minutes until he was offering from a light feel on the rein.
As it's been a while, I thought it would be nice to take him up the track so thats what we did. We were out for about 30 minutes, went as far as the road and he gave me a lovely, long, forward stride on the way home.

Gareth came to trim them yesterday so they're fine for another few weeks and he's happy with how they're coping with the very hard ground.

Also, our hay was baled yesterday. In the words of our farmer - 'catastrophe!'
Over the last few years we've had between 35and 45 large round bales of our two main fields and this year we got 10. Unfortunately for us we let the farmer have our other field for maize so we're missing the hay off there too.
Thanks to good friends who've offered us some hay I think we'll be ok, but I can understand how farmers are worrying with large herds of cows to feed.
This spring we've had extremely dry weather and having so little hay is unusual, but our fields need some attention and we plan to reseed at the end of this year, so they'll be in much better condition next year.

Hot and Dusty

It was hot and dusty yesterday in the school with Remy, so another very short session.
He's starting to offer more genuine bend on the right rein, but is still a little reluctant. His wolf teeth are  definitely coming through now, more on that side and I wonder if it's bothering him a little. The equine dentist is due anytime so, hopefully we can sort it out.
I asked him for trot on the right rein for the first time and I was pleased at the way he coped. I can't say that about myself however, my balance and position is awful. It's a long time since I've done any trot work and it shows, I'm going to have to practice!! Jim did a vid.