Woodhill Sands Twilight Dressage

Well after a very, very bad week schooling I was a bit anxious at what I was going to get tonight at the twilight dressage...ended up being quite pleased with him.

Our warm up left a lot to be desired...seems like this is going to be our problem that is going to take some work. It took him a while to settle and didn't really relax going into our first test. It was very tense, had some nice movements but the marks reflected how it felt so that was good - 62.9%.

Had half an hour break for the next test so Mum ran to the car & got the camera. Cobs just hung out nice & calmly and then did a five minute warm up for the second test. We had one spook but that was it & it actually felt quite nice. I was really pleased with him - had our normal straightness issues but I know that is something we have to work on. We ended up getting 64% and a pretty green ribbon for 4th.

Enter at A

Turn right at C

Canter Right

Halt

Huapai Practice X-C Day

Well thought it would be a good idea to go out & take Cobs somewhere different & do some x-country jumps...thinking is one thing LOL!

He decided to throw his toys out the cot so instead we just did boring dressage - it was good for him to be out with the other horses etc again so I am pleased I took him out. He didn't take long to get back into listening to me etc and it was a good reminder to me on how to work him through the bad days.

Have a few more lessons coming up before our first proper competition so fingers crossed by then all tanties have been resolved LOL!

Lesson with Hayden

Today we had our first lesson with Hayden since June..was amazing how much I had forgotten and took a while to get back into the swing of things.

We started with trot poles to try and get Cobs to lift up and start to move properly - I have been having issues with our left rein so it was good to work on that.

We then just cantered round & over a fence to get our canter striding right. I tend to gun the last few strides so it was more about me sitting back & waiting for the fence rather than looking for the stride...very hard for me not to do LOL!

Cobs getting a sharp reminder that tanking off isn't acceptable!

We then went and did some lines and changing legs over the fence etc. Again was a good reminder on simple things.

To top it off we did some X-country fences to give Cobs something else to look at as he was being a spooky idiot.

Cooling down :)

So all in all a fabulous lesson and can't wait until the next one!

Cobs Weight

I just took a quick photo of him coming into Spring - I am stoked with how he is looking considering what a hard winter we all had.

Excuse the pretty blue bandage :)

So far so good

Well Cobs seems to be fine so took him out for a road ride today...no lameness & he enjoyed being out so will start to ride him again properly tomorrow. I have a lesson booked for next week but will just have to play it by ear incase his wound looks yucky again.

Its been bandaged for 36 hours & is looking much better already so I don't think it will be long before its all cleared up. Yay!

Have made cautions plans to take him out on Labour Weekend to our first show of the season...fingers crossed we get there!

Injury :(

Went to catch Cobs last night to get him all glammed up for the clinic and noticed he had blood on his paddock boots (yes he has them on...High Maintenance & all that LOL!). Anyway had a look and it appears that he no longer thought he needed the back of his fetlock & tried to take it off...nice one.

So got the vet up & he said that Cobs was very lucky it wasn't worse & didn't get his tendon so I guess the paddock boots come in handy after all!

Cobs is now out for at least five days and then have to start to slowly bring him back in. Being in such a dumb place it will probably take a while to heal properly. He is dead lame this morning on it and has an elephant ankle.

So lots of sping grass & no riding...interesting combination LOL!

This is what it looked like when I found him:

First day after washing it etc. He has got a magnetic boot on this leg now to try & help him out.

Update

Well not much to tell really....just been trying to get Cobs fit & ready for the season. Been doing pacework down at the showgrounds & it would appear we may need a stronger bit for this season...we shall see :)

Went down to Raider Lodge today with Rach Trott & her pony Jack. Cobs thought this was just fabulous & decided to test my patience...a lot LOL!

We are off on a clinic next week for three days so that will hopefully help sort us out. I know I am creating most of our jumping issues so its awesome timing really.

Here are a few photos from today:





Although this is too close I love his ears in this photo: