Happy Sunday

I have been a little down since I have an eye infection which She says is because I keep throwing off my fly mask and then losing it.  Today I suffered the indignity of having the fly mask strapped to my head with duct tape.  I just hope She has a plan for getting it off again.
A trailer came into the yard and I was greatly cheered to find that I was to accompany a four year old to the riding club's western trail clinic.  I pranced my way there and I'm sure she was very impressed. 

I am keen to impress my new young friend

Less impressed was Maddy, a roan mare who squealed at me every time I so much as looked at her.
I bravely tested the home-made 'bridge' obstacle and it was agreed that since it had withstood my weight, it would be safe for the others.  Then I demonstrated some nimble footwork turning in a tiny pole square (Maddy squealed her approval).  In the end I gave a master class on how to tackle the 'pattern' - no-one else could match my turns at canter.  By this stage Maddy was squealing at me when I didn't look at her, so I think she had been trying to attract my attention all along.

Then I had to escort my young friend back and bid her farewell as she was loaded to go home.  I have to say that she was very brave standing in the trailer for some considerable time while her owner did multi-point turns in the yard.

Now it's back to the serious business of keeping the grass in the field tidy and under control...

Hanuman goes back to school

Following the long summer holidays, young Hanuman is now going round the yard learning the three Ss - Starting, Stopping and Steering. 
Posy and I have been sniggering from our stables as the little fellow has lessons.  Initially he sprinted about in random directions, but that didn't earn him any peppermints.  Then he tried going backwards but that didn't get rewarded either.  Now he has figured out that he is supposed to wander about, allowing himself to be directed and then stopping to receive peppermints at intervals.
This video just shows him ambling about, but we were impressed at the way he strolled up to the mounting block on his own and waited patiently for Her to get on.




Nonetheless, Posy and I were pretty put out at how easily he was earning peppermints.  We have to go sideways for ours these days.

I am the Main Man

Posy had been entered in a dressage contest but the weather was so wet and windy She decided that I would have to go  instead.  Considering that I was dripping wet on arrival I thought I put in a very creditable performance (2nd & 3rd).

I look through the doors to see if it is still raining (it was)

Now it seems that Posy is considered too delicate to go to any more dressage contests, so all the responsibility rests on my ample shoulders.

This weekend I went to an affiliated competition at Tall Trees Arena.  I am now collecting a fan club there as well and stand around looking handsome while people hug me.  I had to leave my admirers to perform some dressage for which I was awarded 65% in the Prelim.  She says this is a respectable score for a horse of my configuration, and She now feels confident to tackle a Novice level music class.  It has become clear that I am now the Main Man and must be the front runner for the Horse of the Month Award.

We are left Home Alone

Yes, we were left to fend for ourselves while She went out with Her chums to watch a Dressage to Music Demo.  We were a bit anxious about what it would mean for us if She came back with some wild ideas.  As it turned out, She was a bit underwhelmed and admitted that She shouldn't have watched the World Championship immediately before going to the local demo.

She says that She learned several important things -

1. Make sure that your music is clearly audible
2. If you use a radio mic make sure that it doesn't crackle and drown out any music that is playing
3. A hyperactive rider does not give a good impression
4. Freestyles are best done indoors where it doesn't rain

A fun pas de deux by local riders

She got to try sitting on a side saddle (and we are relieved the hear that She didn't feel as secure as all that and has decided not to make us all wear one).  She forgot all about Her damp knees though when She won first prize in the obligatory raffle and came back clutching a bottle of expensive champagne.

Posy goes backwards

She found a video of a talk given by Dr Andrew McLean on You Tube, during which he suggested that the way to reduce a horse's flight response was to slow it down, or better still, go backwards.  She thought She would try this on Posy at the riding club bash today. 
It was windy and there was some jumping going on next door, largely hidden by a Leylandii hedge.  All of this was guaranteed to upset a horse of Posy's sensibilities.  Remembering the words on the video, She only let Posy walk slowly and kept reining back as they went round the arena.  Posy said there were probably some scary things going on, but that it was hard to tell when she had to keep going backwards.

She said the whole experiment was very promising and Posy managed a decent test at the end. 

She has Rider Analysis Clinic

She has been looking forward to this for weeks - the nice man that did the computer analysis on my feet returned to analyse Her.  In Her wisdom She decided to do it on Posy since a) Posy was the right size for Her and b) Posy is the more difficult and more in need of help.

It was a windy day and a number of Her chums turned up to watch.  This guaranteed that Posy became thoroughly upset by the whole shebang and completely lost the plot.  Posy would barely venture to the end of the arena and was all over the place and, if truth be told, not completely in control.  She was mortified.  Eventually, enough trotting and cantering had been done to enable Posy to trot up the centre line for the camera.

The white dots show that the saddle is slipping to the right, the pink stripe across her shoulders show that She is dropping her right shoulder.  Otherwise Her position was regarded as generally good, but ineffective since Posy was prancing around with her head in the air.  The rest of the lesson was spent trying to convince Posy that her head should be in a nice outline and not stuck out gawping at everything around her.  

She had always hoped to obtain an outline by riding forward into a passive hand, since it works for me (but then I am super talented and pay attention and try to do the right thing).  She was forced to admit that this method doesn't work well for Posy who spends most of the time thinking of other things.  Russell's method was to hold the hands wide and vibrate the rein until she flexes at the poll and then release and repeat.  Posy wasn't really helping, but this did work better than doing nothing which is what She had been doing before.

She does feel uneasy about using the rein so much but something has to be done, and it was a lot better than draw reins, bungees or unrelenting bit pressure which She refuses to countenance.

Posy tries to charm Russell of Centaur Biomechanics

At the end of it, She felt that She'd got a lot out of it, but was really depressed that She had been unable to show any basic dressage at all on the day.

PS  She tried the vibrating reins idea the next day when Posy was calmer and was horrified to find that Posy just dropped the contact altogether.  This may explain why all the literature tells you not to try fiddling with the reins to place the head.  She quickly decided that calming Posy would be a better strategy than wiggling the reins.

Panic Stations

On Saturday we were all lined up ready to go out in the motorised cabin for a music party.  We waited, and we waited and waited and then we heard her making a panicky phone call during which She discovered that She had booked the lorry for Sunday by mistake.  She ran round and round in circles and then decided that, as it wasn't far away, She would ride up there.  I could not go because She said it would take me so long to get there that the party would be over by the time we arrived.  So, Posy was quickly tacked up and raced to Duchy College in record time, speeded on her way by the village Flower Festival marquees flapping in the breeze. 

Anyway, Posy ended up doing my 'Cowboy' themed dance.  Posy is the second one up in the video highlights of the party.  She was completely upstaged though by the 7 year old on her pony doing 'James Bond' who comes first.



On Sunday, since we unexpectedly had transport, I was carted off to do another dressage contest as it would be Good Experience for me.  I gather I did better and was braver at approaching the judge's end than last time.  I'm sorry I missed the musical party though as it sounded like fun.