I've been busy over the last week or so.
I've had a lesson on the lunge, which really made me think about what my body was doing, and hopefully I'll be going back for more.
I've been working Remy on the lunge before riding, and he feels much looser when I get on. His lateral work at walk is improving and we're now getting decent walk/trot/walk transitions with more impulsion and softness. Today he offered me a lovely canter transition from trot, when I asked in the corner, and we did our first travers in-hand.
Bonbon is doing good things on the lunge. She still has her silly moments, but they're getting less and less. Her balance is improving all the time and she's really started to focus on me, and I feel like we're starting to get a good connection between us.

Canter transitions

A really hot day today, so a short session in the school with Remy working on canter transitions.
I found the best way was to ask from walk - start shoulder in 2/3rds of the way down the long side and then ask for the transition going into the corner. We had some nice clean transitions, and some where we didn't get canter at all, but, on these, we got a lovely active trot transition, with good energy.

I lunged Bonbon and, despite the heat and flies, she was really well behaved and focussed.

Day off with treats and massage...

.... for the horses, not me, unfortunately.
We've been busy today spraying ferns and bracken, so the horses had a day off from working. Instead, they had their usual exercise and relaxation routine whilst grooming, plus a massage. Of course, they love their carrot stretches, but they had a hay net too whilst I gave them their massage.

Here's a vid of Remy from last week, continuing to work on the trot.




The last few days I've started to ask for the canter transition, something that we've done very little of, and which highlights the fact that Remy certainly needs to be more active behind.  The transitions are hit and miss - some ok, some very lacklustre, but we've had a few very well balanced ones too, so I know he can do it if we get everything right.  The good thing is that it's helping to improve the trot.

Back to riding

The last time I posted about the horses, Remy had just had his osteo treatment. He had a tweak in his back which was affecting the way he used his pelvis, and also a tweak into the shoulder.
I have a little stretching routine that I give him during our grooming time and also been walking him up and down our hilly fields to exercise the stifle and psoas muscles.
I didn't ride him for weeks as I'd lost my mojo, but now that's returning and we've started again, hacking out and going in the school.
I've got a trainer now who's going to come over every couple of weeks or so, and that's going to give us some confidence and direction. She's very experienced and trained with Nuno Oliveira, so I have high hopes that it's going to make all the difference to us.

Today a friend came over, and we had our first hack out ever with a strange horse. Remy was brilliant, although he couldn't stop sniffing and nibbling at her (the horse, not my friend), but I'm sure he'll get over that soon enough as we're going to make it a regular event.
He's had some problems with his teeth - wolf teeth and a tush coming through on one side. It was certainly affecting him, and we were on the verge of taking out his wolf teeth, but I think it was soreness in the gum on the tush and since it's come through he's been much better. I'm trying him in a lozenge happy mouth and he seems ok, so we'll see how he goes.
This is a little vid that Jim did when we started back in the school. Just a few minutes of trot work to loosen and relax him. He did give me a canter transition that, I think, was as much a surprise to him as it was to me!



We've been working Bonbon on the lunge and walking her out a little on the tracks. She's slowly relaxing to it, with less and less squeally (not sure that's a word) behaviour, and we're getting nice transitions now with walk trot and canter - although we sometimes get a little eruption in the canter transition. I'm hoping to start riding her soon.

It's been a while...

......but I had to have a record of my beatiful wildflower garden. Is it 'wildflower' or 'wild flower'? Don't know.
It has all the colours of the rainbow, and just when I thought it was going to be a boring old bed of weeds, there it was!
 I'm pretty rubbish at taking pics, and mine, unfortunately, don't do it justice.  I admire greatly those that can duplicate with the camera, what we actually see.
There have been things going on here - some good, some not so good, I could pour it all out, but would probably regret it at a later stage when in a not so reflective mood.

rain = yoga, massage and baking

Well, despite a rosier forecast, the rain has returned, so they all had yoga exercises this morning.
Remy's improving, Bonbon is pretty good to start with, and Corky's a stiff old bird!
I gave  Remy a massage to finish and he was lovely and relaxed.
I took to baking - a good sign that I've nothing better to do - and made some mince tarts and an egg custard.
I threw some potatoes in once the others were cooked, so it's baked spuds for tea.

road trips, yoga and bitless options

My mum and dad are on a road trip through France. They arrived here 9 days ago and it's been great to see them. They went on their way this morning and, as usual, I feel sad and a little bit lost. They have another week and will be slowly making their way home. I hope the weather picks up a little for them. The forecast is good.
After they left, I gave Remy his exercises before a short lungeing session on our set aside area at the bottom of the garden.
I was really pleased with him, and he felt light and forward on the line. The trot looked and felt (on the line) easier, and there was a definite spring in his step. He really wanted to get to the grass, so was stretching down very well (sometimes a little bit too much), but managing to keep his shoulders up.
I'm investigating bitless options for the moment. I've ridden him on the training cavesson, but I think I'll just attach the reins to his noseband, it's well padded so shouldn't be a problem.I've also been offered the loan of a Dr Cooks , so will give that a try, although I'm not sure how we will get on with the head-hug effect.

Remy continues his yoga sessions

I had a good session with Bonbon today. I took her for a walk up the lane into the school for her lungeing session. She was really good, striding out well, and I lunged her at walk and trot around the school before getting on.
I haven't ridden her for a month or more, and it felt strange, she's big, quite wide and, after Remy, I felt perched a little on her back. It took a few minutes before she started to focus, and I walked her around the school on a long rein as she checked out the various corners, jump wings, poles etc.
As she started to pay more attention, I worked on walk/halt transitions and changes of rein on circles.
I decided to ride her back down the lane home, which I've never done before. Jim walked with us and she was great.
It felt good to be back riding her.
Remy had his yoga session before a short in-hand session on the yard. It seems to be helping him. He's relaxing into the leg lifts, and we're definitely seeing some progress with the pelvic tucks and belly lifts.

We planted 3 new trees this afternoon - a laburnum, a silver birch and a sycamore. I love trees, and I'm happy to say that our eucalyptus that we thought had died of the cold seems to have survived after all.

The clouds roll away

It's been a week since I rode Remy. He's been having a rest after his osteo treatment, and I've been massaging him and doing these daily exercises which I think are really going to help him.



I decided to ride him up the lane today, I didn't put the bridle on, just rode him on the cavesson, and while it felt a bit strange in the hand, he was fairly receptive, especially halts and reinback which I used on the way back to keep him focussed.  I wanted to test the waters as to how much control I had, so was pretty pleased, although I don't know how we'll go if I ask him to canter.

Bonbon always holds her weight, and she's come through the winter very well. With the flush of spring grass, she's holding quite a bit of weight, so now the weather's a bit better I've started lungeing her. I took her for a walk up the lane today before going into the school for her session, and she was really good.

"The biggest problem is that riders think they are supposed to NOT have problems with their horses ;). But remember, it's not happening TO you, but FOR you. You can't always get what you want, you get what you need... You better love problems with your horses ;) See them as gifts, as a challenge, as an opportunity to learn and grow. The goal is not being without problems, but getting 'better quality' problems so you can learn more ;)"

I like this, I just have to learn to embrace it! ;-)

Remy's osteo check up

The equine osteo came to see Remy today and found a sore spot around the lumbar vertebrae just in-front of the sacrum. It's a muscular problem, nothing out of the ordinary, a little niggle not helped by the fact that he doesn't use his left hind as well as his right.
I  can tell this from riding him, but now we must pay more attention to it and concentrate on encouraging him to offer more engagement on that side.
He also had a sore spot on his chest, into the shoulder, involving the pectoral and brachiocephalic muscles, a tweak that could have been caused by a slip in the field.
I described the odd lifting of the head and the osteo said that it would tie in, Remy wanting to stretch the brachiocephalic muscle, which runs up the underside of the neck, as his head came into that position.
I'm hoping that's the reason for it and it will clear up as he becomes more comfortable.
I can start riding him in 3 days.

I'm still going to liaise with the vet and dentist though, as I really need to sort out the problem with the wolf teeth.

bitless flexions

Had a good look in Remys mouth today and found that the blind wolf tooth looked much bigger than I remember, and he wasn't really happy in me touching it, so I'm going to have to speak to the dentist and vet with a view to getting it removed.
It was raining heavily ( I really wish it would stop now!!!!) so I gave him a good grooming, some leg circles, tail circles and a face massage.
He was very relaxed by the time I'd finished, so I tried some flexions in the cavesson. I've never really practiced flexions without a bit, but was reassured by how well he did, relaxing his jaw when I asked. I'm looking forward to trying it out under saddle.

Wolf tooth?

We lunged Remy this morning, fully tacked up with cavesson, bridle and saddle.
I walked him around for a few minutes on each rein to warm him up and then tried the trot on each rein, both around the school and on the circle.
There was no sign of any nodding and both Jim and I thought he looked completely sound.
I then mounted and we did the same with me onboard. The first time with no contact, the reins resting on his neck. He was fine and no sign of nodding after the transition to walk.
The second time, I took the reins and had a light contact and we noticed a slight raising of his head after the transition to walk. I was careful to give the rein immediately after the transition and although it was only slight, it was still there for a couple of strides.
So, we think (hope) that it may be discomfort in his mouth, perhaps with the unerupted wolf tooth, or even expecting pain. He's very soft and responsive in his mouth, but also, he's always been very sensitive and aware of the bit, so perhaps he's not really too comfortable with it.
I'm going to continue to ride him, with the bit in his mouth, but the reins attached to the cavesson to see how he goes, and perhaps look to changing to a light rubber/plastic bit, although I have very little knowledge of this type of bit.
I need to speak to peter, our equine dentist as it may be best to remove both the erupted and the blind wolf tooth.
We'll see!
On reflection, the thing that really surprised me yesterday, was how well he went when I rode him off the cavesson. The feel was different in my hand, but his response was the same. We did some trot and a shoulder-in on each rein and he coped fine.
I have no knowledge of riding bitless either, so this will be interesting.

Hmmmmm

We've had a few days off due to the weather. We're having typical april weather with some very heavy showers and trying to avoid them is quite difficult.
Managed to ride Remy today, but it was a bit of a strange session.
We started off in the field warming up in walk and then went into the school for a little trot work and hopefully a few walk to canter transitions.
The trot is becoming looser and better balanced, but I noticed after trotting on the left rein, that he started to nod (upwards) for a few strides on returning to walk. I don't mean throwing his head during the transitions, it was after the transition as we started to walk on, and it stopped if I straightened him or put him on the right rein.. He doesn't do it coming back to walk on the right rein.
I've noticed a reluctance to give me correct bend on the left rein, the last few sessions, preferring to keep slight outside bend, and put it down to a phase - natural stiffness/crookedness. We've had periods where he's been better on the left rein, the right rein being the more difficult.
When he lifts his head, it's like he's trying to take the rein away, and if I let him stretch right down he stops lifting his head, although we still have this slight reluctance to bend left.
It may be bit/teeth related - he does have a blind wolf tooth, which I didn't think was causing him a problem - or maybe he has tweaked a muscle and is reluctant to stretch the outside, or he has pain on the inside foreleg - he seems to lift his head up when the inside foreleg touches the ground?
Is it something I'm doing - with my hands - or perhaps just my extra weight in the saddle?
I didn't have a lunge line in the school, so couldn't actually try him on the lunge, but I did attach the reins to the noseband to take the bit out of the equation, and tried riding him that way. The nodding was still there when we returned to walk, but much less, and obviously the bit was still in his mouth, so it could still be having an effect on the left rein.

He's just had his teeth checked, so I've contacted the osteo to come give him the once over. Also, I'm going to lunge him tomorrow to see how he goes, firstly fully tacked up, and then without the saddle and then the bridle. I always lunge him off the training cavesson, but I will completely remove the bit to see if he's any better.
I'll see how he goes on the lunge, if he looks fully sound. He doesn't feel lame, but to me, head nodding, however slight or occasional, signals that he has an issue or pain somewhere.

Horse racing - a despicable sport

There's a lot of stuff out there at the moment about horse racing. I've seen posts on facebook, twitter, forums etc. Horses dying left, right and centre, with pics galore. I certainly don't go looking for it, it's just there and I can't avoid it.
I hate it!!!
There's nothing I can do about the plight of race horses, so I feel totally wretched. I'm sick of seeing the pics and I'm sick of reading all the gory details of how many horses died today!
Another two horses die in the Grand National.
About 40 horses died already in the UK this year, and god knows how many others have been pts due to injury, or shipped abroad for meat because they've not lived up to expectations or they've broken down. These poor horses discarded like yesterdays news!
In the racing industry, the horse is just a commodity, to be used and abused. It's all about the kudos, and it's all about the money.
It saddens me greatly.

Fly fringes

.....where do they go?
I know what happens to them - Remy pulls them off, but where they go is a complete mystery!
Corky usually manages to keep hers - she won't allow him to mess with it, but Bonbon loses hers frequently. I've seen him swinging them around in his mouth, so I think he chucks them over the fence or into the hedge just for fun!
Anyway, Bonbons brand new one disappeared after about 3 hours and I still haven't found it!

I had a great session with Remy today. I spent a good while getting him ready with a thorough grooming and some leg and tail circles, took him up to the school, and after a warm up in walk and a little trot, started on the walk/canter transitions.
There was a marked improvement from our first session, with 2 or 3 very clean transitions on each rein, with no trot steps. I finished straight away on a good note and I'm really looking forward to our next session.

Happy Birthday.........

....to me.

I didn't ride the horses yesterday, but had a lovely grooming/massage session with Remy. I think he enjoyed it, hard to tell as he was eating his hay throughout. ;-)
I gave him a face massage and he loved the mouth work, really seemed to like having his gums rubbed.
When I put them out, he was enjoying himself so much, playing around, and looked like he felt good in his body.
We spent the afternoon chopping up and loading a fallen tree in the top field. Unforutnately dead from the horses stripping the bark - they can be so destructive.
It's raining today, so no riding, we're off into town for lunch.

Starting walk to canter transitions

Yesterday, I continued the lateral work in walk and the trot transitions, concentrating on keeping him active behind. We got some nice shoulder-in on the long side, and the feeling of him really starting to open his shoulders. His reinback has become much more fluid and I really do think that we've got a handle on the trot, and a solid base to work from.
Today, I wanted to start walk to canter transitions. I know that if we can get him cantering, it will really improve the trot.
I started with some lateral work at walk - s/i, travers and counter s/i on each rein, then asking for the canter transition from a small loop in counter s'i back to the track. This has the effect of weighting the outside shoulder, freeing up the inside for the transition. It worked quite well, and he worked out fairly quickly what I wanted. A good start, I think.

I had a session with Bonbon and she was quite tense - unusual for her. Nevertheless, she lunged quite calmly. She was distracted in the ridden work, but settled a little and gave me some lovely walk/halt transitions.

A 'great' good friday

Bonbon's in season and the last couple of times i've worked her, she's been somewhat distracted! Not the slightest bit naughty, just had her mind elsewhere. Today was no different, but we had a good ridden session and once I'd got her attention, she was really focussed.
Her walk/halt transitions were quick and clean, we got some nice steps of reinback and, best of all, while staying soft in my hand, yielded to my inside leg and gave me good, even bend on the circle.
I've only been riding her a short time, but at one point, she felt so alive and receptive that I found myself wanting to ask for a trot transition. A little voice stopped, me, not wanting to lose the feeling, and thinking it was too soon. Not sure, but, I think it will be the right moment soon enough.

I had a short session with Remy on the yard, starting in-hand and then ridden.
I've realised two things this last few months (it's very slowly filtered through and not before time, too!!!) , firstly, when I think I've given him enough rein, he needs a little more, and, secondly, when I think I've got his back end, I really haven't!
Today, was a session that I'll remember for two reasons. Firstly, because he was soft, round and happy in my hand, and secondly, he really was using his back-end!
We were working on a small circle with shoulder-in and travers ,then just asking him to walk the circle, keeping light and engaged, and he offered me a lovely, soft but energetic trot transition as if it was the easiest thing in the world. Didn't feel like a fluke, it felt like it finally all clicked into place.
I've got to wait until tomorrow to see.

A new experience for Remy out hacking

A hack out today for me and Remy. A little bit hesitant on the way out, but willing to go and felt active and together, and good in the hand. We stopped for him to have a little munch of grass half way round and, as usual, he was more active on our return journey.
I very rarely see anyone else riding, but we spotted a horse and rider on the way back.
Remy's never seen another horse under saddle while we've been out, and he was a little bit excited. He grew about 3 hands and started calling out. I muttered a quick uh oh, and tried to sit as calmly and quietly as possible ;-o
They were on a track about 100 yds away, heading away from us, and Remy really wanted to get over to them. I asked him to halt, which he did, and then just stayed still until they'd moved further away.
When I asked him to walk on in the opposite direction, he was on his toes, but fine, although he could hear some noise round the next bend, and we tiptoed past some workmen unloading a van.
He continued to call out, and was a little bit restless on the way home, but was listening, and he walked out well and stayed soft in the hand.
I'm really pleased with the way he handled it!