XC Lesson with John 5th June

Had a XC lesson with John down at Woodhill - shared with Vanessa again.

He started us off trotting into a PT mobile thing which Cobs thought was fabulous as then he could jump like a goon & be naughty the other side. He got over that after the first few times so that was good.

Then we went out onto the XC course. John told us which ones he wanted us to do - Vanessa the big ones and me the middle ones LOL!

I went out and did the first jump okay & then pulled him off the second as I froze. I am SO SICK of doing this. I think it was because it was slippery or something - I don't know but its doing my head in. So represented him and felt better so off we went. Cobs got a bit excited by the whole thing and was trying to throw his legs round after the jumps but was too slippery for that LOL! We had to drop into the water & jump out. Again I froze on the jumping out bit so we did that a few more times and by the end of it I felt more comfortable. Was just not keeping the connection from landing through the water but once we got that sussed he was a really good boy.

I went out & did the xc course again & this time we stormed round it so that made me feel a little better about things :)

We then went and did some sj starting off with a single jump and practicing staying sitting up etc which is something I need to work on. We then went into related lines and roll backs etc. I was actually quite happy with how this went and Cobs jumped super. There was one time where I gunned it but knew I had done it straight away - one jump out of ten is good for me though LOL!

John then got us to rollback onto a white vertical - didn't realise how big it was until I was a few strides out & luckily didn't panic so Cobs leapt over it. Measured it later & it was a good 1.05-1.10 so pretty proud of that effort :)

The thing I like about John the most is the whole time he gives you suggestions on how to fix things. He said he doesn't say the word "don't" when he is teaching as its too negative a word and the brain fixates on this. All little things to think about which really cement into your brain & make you think about things.

Another great lesson - got a lot out of it again. Not sure when the next one will be but this has given us a lot to work on until then anyway.

Lesson with Liz 4th June

Had our first dressage lesson in what seems like ages - I was actually pleased with how things went.

I have found since I have been going to osteo/pilates that I must be sitting straighter as Cobs has definitely changed on the left rein. I am acutally finding it a bit difficult to be honest but at least I know things must be changing.

Today we got some super trot work out of him - really nice & forward and up in front. Our canter was a bit hairy as always but eventually came right.

All in all very pleased with how it went.

Lesson with John Twomey

With Jaime going overseas for the winter the hunt has been on to find a new jumping instructor. I heard that John was going to be teaching up at Jaimes so asked Vanessa if she would mind doing a shared lesson to see what he was like & if we both enjoyed it could mean we could afford regular lessons from him rather than paying for a private.

Well....pretty much stoked with the lesson! John is a great instructor & really explains things so well. VERY encouraging and I learnt a hell of a lot.

He had many helpful tips of which I am now struggling to remember: think about opening your knees rather than putting your heels down, if you knees are open then your legs will be tight against the horses side & your heels will come down; think about opening your chest which will make your body straighter over the fence (I tend to dive so this was a good thing for me); if things do go wrong just forget about them & concentrate on the next job at hand.

So yeah pretty awesome lesson. Cobs wasn't anywhere near as bad as I thought he would be as we haven't really jumped since Woodhill HT.

We started with a small cross so John could see what was happening etc then moved onto cantering in with a pole either side. The moved onto the barrels which Cobs jumped.....lively a few times LOL! It was more me though driving him the last few strides so John talked me through what I was doing etc so I concentrated on that. Then moved onto a two stride double - first time we went through Cobs backed off a bit so again my bad habits set in but the second time after John had put them up we did it really nicely. Was super happy & it felt like our jump had slowed down which was good.

Then we went onto related lines....my favourite...not. We had to go over the wall then six/seven strides over a vertical. The first few times we did seven as I was holding him back a bit as he normally jumps the wall stupidly. The last few lines we did we pushed & got the six which was great.

So all in all a great lesson. Was actually really good having a shared one as you can listen & learn on what the other person is doing etc. Hopefully we can keep getting lessons together :)

Woodhill Sands Winter Dressage 23rd May

I decided to do three tests at the Dressage - last weekend we had to retire in our test as I managed to completely stuff up a great warm up when I saw the judge was someone who has HATED me for a good 20 years. Yes I know I shouldn't have let it get to me however by the time I tried to talk myself out of it Cobs was completely wound up as I was hanging off his face. Poor horse - you can't turn the over-sensitive button off unfortunately!

So our warm up this time wasn't as good as last weekends. He decided he didn't like the spurs so they came off. He was a bit jumpy to start with but finally settled in quite nicely.

Our first test 1.4 was in an arena that was not anywhere near other horses which suits him down to the ground. He did quite a nice test - came out smiling so thats always a good sign! I think we ended up 6th (TBC) out of over 30 so stoked with that.

Our second test was 2.2 which unfortunately was in the arena that he always behaves badly in & he did just that. First half was shit but the second half was okay. The judge was more than generous with her scores.....

The third test was 2.4 & to say we were both absolutely shattered is an understatement. There is SO much canter in that damn test - by the middle of it we were just ambling along LOL! He was so behind the leg etc - however I was happy with him as he tried & thats all I can ask for. This judge was not quite so generous with her marks LOL!

So all in all a good day. I have no idea what I can do to try and stop him from panicking when a horse comes up behind him like that. The arenas are so close down there which is a shame. But he should be used to it by now so its no excuse.

Not many photos as it started to rain so they came out a little blurry.

Woodhill Sands HT

After our not so successful run at Greenhithe I put a late entry in for Woodhill Sands Horse Trial.

We were number one for dressage which is great as it always suits him to not have many horses warming up around him. He warmed in really nicely & did a nice test. He blew two movements by shooting forward for a few strides but on a whole I was stoked with it. It appears that the judge didn't like it much so we got what I consider quite a harsh mark. We were lying 14th out of 28 so not too bad I guess.

I got myself into a complete tizz for the SJ. I don't know what is going on but I really feel like I have lost heaps of confidence with it. Our warm up wasn't that great and included him slamming into the practice fence. I know its something I am doing so I really have to get on top of things before he starts to lose his confidence as well.

He went clear in the SJ. Wasn't the nicest round he has done but it was good. They penalised me with 13 time faults which I thought was insane but however. This later got changed to 10 which I still think is on the steep side as we cantered the whole way round the course etc. Never mind shit happens! Just made me more determined to have a good ride on the XC on the Sunday!

The XC course was nice - didn't think there were many hard fences but you just never know what they will take aversion too!

I didn't have to worry - Cobs just stormed round. Had such a wicked time on him. I was still hanging onto his face a little as the photos show - think it was more nerves than anything as I can't remember the last time we did a full on xc course. And jesus what the hang is going on with my legs! I need to tape them to his side or something. Poor pony.

We went clear with no time faults so ended up 13th overall. SUPER happy with this result. Shame about the SJ time faults but never mind - whats done is done. Kind of gutted that the season is all but over!

Sorry loads of photos!

Busy Weekend

Had a very busy weekend - had a jumping lesson with Jaime on Saturday then went to Greenhithe Show X day on Sunday. We are both pretty tired today!

Lesson with Jaime was good. We warmed up over trot poles making sure I kept him straight etc. Then just did a small x on a 20m circle and again correcting him when he started to drift.

I was pleased that Jaime saw a big difference from last week as we have been working really hard to get this habit knocked on the head so very happy with that.

We then did loads of grid work with me trying to keep my upper body super still. That was quite hard for me but the difference once I really concentrated was amazing. One thing I can say are my legs are HEAPS better. Yay.

Once we got the grid sussed we then worked on our canter down to an oxer. Pretty proud to say we got the right spot every time :) Super super happy with that.

No photos from the lesson as it was videoed for me to see the difference in my riding etc.

So off to Greenhithe we went on Sunday. I entered the 85cm and was thinking of doing the 95 if things went well.

When they were setting up the double they could not figure out the striding at all so I got myself into a complete tizz about it - it was either going to be a hugely long one or a short two so I thought I would go for the short two.

Did the first three jumps nicely and then came round to the double. I just didn't ride him & dropped him into it so he stopped. He came round the second time & did it nicely but the striding was way off so the second jump was not pretty. Then did the last & went out onto the XC course.

He absolutely stormed round that - I was a bit worried about the last fence as it was rather ugly but we got the right spot & he flew over it. Yay! Back into the SJ ring and we dropped the rail on the first fence.

Although we had a stop I was very happy with him as I know why it happened. I honestly believe that if the striding had been right I would have had no issues with it at all.

I decided to try the Training class. Our warm up was very unusual as he felt SO tired. I guess three lessons in 7 days has taken it out of him. First three jumps were fine - I came round to the double, he stopped and I just went past it then. I was not feeling confident enough and it was all just training to me & I don't care that we eliminated ourselves at all!

So the first xc jump was nice but Cobs was too busy paying attention to something far more interesting so did a hideous jump over that. I cantered past the second fence as it was HUGE & went to do the sunken road. Jumped in nicely, out great, lovely forward canter to do the jump out and then WHACK. He flew straight into the jump & I fell off and landed on my feet! I have no idea what happened - we have photos of us coming out of the sunken road & everything looked good? Who knows.

Anyway I jumped back on, went round and did the pre-training sunken road and then galloped over a little intro jump just to get our rhythm back. The last jump scared the beejesus out of me but I thought what the hell, already fallen off LOL! He absolutely FLEW it - I was so stoked with him!! I then stopped as I thought that was the best note to finish on. Definitely the biggest jump we have done XC and he did it absolutely super!

So yeah - mixed day. I have to remember that it was our first XC since December/January and not to loose too much confidence over things. I am gutted that I let myself get psyched out about the double but its too late now to do anything about it! I am pretty proud of myself for even giving Training a go. Although we only did a few jumps its still a start.

85 round

Training Round

Lesson with Liz 15th April

I booked a lesson in with Liz to see if we could possibly try to work on my straightness issues before I have another lesson with Jaime.

I have been doing a lot of work with him this week so I really hope there is a difference this weekend when we jump again.

Lesson with Liz was fantastic - started off on the lunge etc again to see what I was doing & the effect it had etc. Then once the lunge came off we did LOADS of squares in every pace. By the end of it we were doing pretty well. My left shoulder is the main issue - I keep bringing it forward which twists everything else out of place.

I am getting rather frustrated that I know what I am doing wrong & how to fix it however I need someone constantly reminding me to change it. GRRR. Fingers crossed it will become a GOOD habit soon and we can actually move onto other things LOL

Cobs was a freakin star tonight - first lesson with spurs and he was great with him. He was so tolerant of me changing things the whole lesson. Couldn't have asked for more from him.

Not many photos as my camera has died (sob).