Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Lesson with Hayden 19th November

Today we worked on getting our canter more forward & getting the strides right in doubles etc. I have a habit of burying Cobs into the first fence in a double and we then put in too many strides. We started off with a pole & small cross - Cobs got a bit worried with what we were trying to achieve but once he got the hang of it we were away :)

We did lots of exercises to lengthen his canter stride etc. On our last round Hayden told me to jump a vertical which to me looked HUGE (ended up being 1.05m so I was right LOL). Cobs unfortunately knocked the rail down twice but on the third attempt we got it - great way to finish the lesson!

Photos!

Small Vertical:



First part of double:



And again:



Part B:

Oxer Line:

Vertical after Oxer:
1.05m :)

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Greenhithe Show-X Day

Off we went to Greenhithe Pony Club for their Show-X day reasonably early as I was told that they didn't have many entries in the classes before mine....well that was the wrong move & didn't end up riding until after 2...such a bloody long day and by the time I did go to ride Cobs was completely over it.

So how they ran the event was six show jumps then onto six cross-country jumps then back in the ring to do the show jumps again. The show jumping was quite twisty and the lines to the jumps wasn't the greatest which was a shame as we really need a nice flowing course to give us the confidence we need. We just ended up doing the 85cm round.

Anyway we had one stop in the first SJ round - wasn't a very nice jump and Cobs just stopped at it going WTF?? So back round we came & he cleared it by a million miles (photo below). Went out to do the x-country and Cobs was wiggling everywhere not understanding what the hell was going on LOL! Got a growling into the first fence and then stopped dead going through a gateway...almost got me off the little snot LOL! Rest of the course he did really well - so pleased with him. Did the SJ number four perfect this time so we had a great time. Shame the day took so long as he was really quite over the whole thing.

No idea if I got anywhere - I just wanted to get home & with one stop and us just taking it easy round the course I doubt we would have been in the running.
First part of double first SJ round:
Scary number 4 after our stop:



Last fence first round (love this photo):



XC fence Number 2:


XC Fence 3 - picnic table:



Drop into water:

Cantering towards finish:

SJ Number 4 not scary this time round:

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Lesson with Karley 15th November

This week has not been a successful week with riding...pulled shoes & chiro appointment hasn't given me anytime at all to get some work into him. Shame as now we are a week behind where I wanted to be but these things can't be helped.

This time around I had a jumping lesson with Karley as we are going jumping tomorrow so wanted to get a few more jumps under our belt. I was stoked that she thinks we have improved since we last jumped with her...I feel our canter is a lot better going into & between fences so it was great to get that confirmed. Thanks Karley :)

Photos:
Warming Up:
Small Vertical:



First part of double...swear he counts the poles LOL:



Getting more confident with the double:


Small Oxer:



95cm Vertical (not big to most people but is to me!)

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Lesson with Karley 8th November

Karley came down for lessons today so I booked a dressage one in with her...we haven't had one for ages so I was really looking forward to it. It was also my first lesson in the dressage saddle so I was keen to see how we were going to go in it.

Cobs was quite good - took a while to relax in his warm up which was annoying as he has been doing so well in schooling. I think because he has been going nicely I put too much pressure on ourselves to prove to Karley that we have been practicing etc.

Someone had set up an arena so we went & worked in there and worked on straightness and then did some leg yeilding in the trot & canter. Our trot work ended up quite nice & we even got some lengthened strides out of him which was good. Our right canter was great and then we just got started on the left canter & he pulled a shoe so that was the end of that! We had been going for more than an hour anyway & both quite shattered LOL!

Have now got lots to work on yet again & she is back next Saturday so fingers crossed there is a big improvement :)

Warming up:



Trot Work Right:



Trot work Left:



Lengthening Stride down 3/4 line:



And Again:

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Lesson with Hayden 4th November

Well it had been a few weeks since our last lesson & you could tell LOL! We worked a lot on straightness on the flat and he had me doing an exercise holding my whip with my thumbs so I could feel the pressure etc and make me more aware of what my hands were doing. Was a great thing to do & after we had done that for a while the difference in Cobs was really noticeable. Will definitely be something I will continue to practice.

Trotting with whip over thumbs:



Much straighter canter:



We then did some more jumping off the stride over small jumps. Then came the dreaded bounce exercise....I have a morbid fear of bounces so I was feeling quite ill about the whole thing to be honest. Didn't need to worry though as Cobs surprisingly didn't back off even though I am sure I rode into it the first time like a complete nana LOL! We then did related strides to & from the bounce & corners etc...again all simple stuff which we quite clearly need to work a lot on.

Have one next week so off jumping on Sunday to practice what we learnt so hopefully we will see an improvement on Tuesday evening.

God awful bounce:




White Jump:


Sunday, November 2, 2008

Weekend Schooling

Well after a bit of thinking I am hoping its the toxin stuff I am giving Cobs at the moment that has made him go a bit loopy...what I am giving him is not the stuff I normally do so will go back to the normal stuff next week & see how he goes.

Took him down to the showgrounds both days - wanted to see if he would be spooky down but he was awesome all weekend so that was nice.

Took my dressage saddle down today to try and get used to it...did some work without stirrups to lengthen my leg. That lasted all of five minutes as it hurt too much LOL!

Did some pacework both days as well - good to get both our fitness up as November is a busy month riding wise for us & I want to make sure we are both well prepared.

Now if I just had a crystal ball lying around to see if his issue is toxins or if he is just being a prat
LOL! :)