I was really proud of Cady on Sunday. We had a lesson with Sam Brown and she tried so hard. It was windy and rainy but she was relaxed and working in a lovely trot. I really enjoyed the lesson because Sam makes me think for myself instead of spoon-feeding me. I am definitely over reliant on direction from my instructor, see more below.
Things to work on:
Having a plan - this is a big weakness for me. Many instructors have told me to have a lesson plan when I school and this is the year I'm going to crack it. Transitions are the way forward for both my horses. As soon as my focus improves, Cady's does too, so this is going to be key.
Elastic contact - another big challenge for me! I let my hands get too high when Cady's head goes up and need to work on softening my wrists, lowering and relaxing my arms and not joining in when she has a bit of a fuss about.
There are lots of other things to work on - staying forward, canter transitions, rhythm and timing! I can't wait to ride again ...
Poor Rodney, he's in the wars at the moment. All the hair is coming out of his face. I think this could be one of a few things: sweatiness (when he's bad to catch we're just tiring him out and he's pretty hot and bothered after a bit) some kind of fungal infection, lice? Seems unlikely but I'm going to work through each one. It may also be the crazy up and down weather, a quick search on the internet showed a few people having similar issues this time last year.
I did get to ride him over the weekend but he's pretty tired by the time we catch him so I've kept it quite gentle. A wise woman told me once that you don't know a horse until you've owned him/her through four seasons - spring is definitely a bit harder for Rodney as he has to overcome his greedy, cheeky Welshy streak! That said, it's not getting me down which seems to suggest I'm getting a bit more resilient to the ups and downs. At one time there might have been weeping, not so much these days!
Tonight I'm going to give his head a really good clean down with hibiscrub and anti dandruff shampoo. I've also swapped his fieldsafe headcollar for an improvised leather slip which I've made really soft with lots of leather feed.
If there's no improvement soon or it gets dramatically worse I'll call the vet. If anyone has encountered anything similar please feel free to comment - all suggestions welcome!
Happy horsing everyone x
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