It turned out to be not quite the weekend I'd expected. Both myself and Phil were riddled with cold and felt pretty weak and grumpy...until Sunday evening when we started to pick up. Don't you just love the timing?!
I decided to ride Cady on Friday which probably wasn't the best idea as I was feeling pretty sorry for myself. She was on full mega alert and didn't really settle. I tried a few different things but eventually gave her a pat and called it a day. I was a bit dissapointed that it hadn't gone better as we'd had a brilliant time on Thursday night and I was starting to get that 'cracked it' feeling, but I was still pleased we'd given it a go.
In the evening I went to see my friend Emma and we called into the farm to see her mare, Tia. Emma decided to let her have a blast about in the school, which she loves - here are some of the pics. Even though it's a bit blurry I love this one of her jumping Beecher's Brook!
On Sunday I took Cady for her first ride around the farm in ages. It was the first time in about three weeks that the wind actually died down a bit and I felt like we were ready. Phil walked with us as this is good moral support for me. She was a very good girl and feels much straighter since her session with Emily and more naturally forward.
The only tricky bit was that she's in season and at one point four horses galloped over to see her and she froze. I kept asking her to go forward and felt like she wasn't so much scared as massively distracted so after a while I gave her a small clout and she walked forward and got rewarded. I feel like there must be a better way than this. That said, on our next circuit she went past them much more confidently and she didn't seem upset or rattled so despite the weakness in my riding I settled for giving her A LOT of praise and leaving it at that.
I plan to work hard on getting a better technique than this but also feel a bit torn as I think there are times when you have to get on with it. Thoughts welcome on this one. Would it have been better to lead her past? I was very reluctant to just let her settle in as planting is one thing that has got us into trouble in the past and her adrenalin tends to shoot through the roof the longer she's frozen.
With both of us under the weather the weekend wasn't as horsey as normal but the plus point was spending extra time with Phil. He is always a great help with the horses but sometimes it's nice when it's just the two of us!
Hope you all had a great weekend. Happy horsing x
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| We spotted this little dude and his spectacular mane while out for a drive and had to say hello |
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