November 30, 2007

Shoes

Back shoes on Silvi (finally), and shoes all around on Neo (he was an absolute star about it) - and my cat attacked the farrier's dog... what an interesting day.

November 24, 2007

Riding pics

Doing some flatwork. He's got a nice walk & trot, but we still have some work to do with canter.

Being a brave boy heading over the bridge and into the water.


Into the water, jump out of the water & jump the baby log - mini 3 part XC :)

November 22, 2007

First ride on Neo

Had Neo out in the hill paddocks today so he could talk to the others over the fence (they were all showing off and trying to impress each other, very cute) - and when I went out a few hours later he came cantering to me from the other end of the paddock (off a drop, over a stream - he better not be getting too many XC ideas into his head!).

The others were all very curious as I took Neo away to go tack him up and have my first ride on him:


I didn't have anyone around to take photos while we were riding, but he was very well behaved. A little spooky/nervy - but as soon as he got his head focused he was really great. Even hopped through the creek and went up and down the driveway to see what was going on in the big wide world. After the ride it was time for cuddles and a feed:

November 21, 2007

Neo

Just got in from picking him up from the Otaki Majestic depot... he loaded perfect (trotted up the ramp in fact!) and travelled without putting a foot wrong. And is now having dinner and settling in.

Off the truck:


Tucking into his dinner:

November 14, 2007

Battle Hill ODE

Had a good day on Sunday at Battle Hill ODE, but very busy with 3 horses to ride.

Spice did a nice dressage (we were first to go), though the test was pretty uninteresting.

The XC course wasn't too bad, but the first jump was really solid - didn't pose any problems though. Spice did a fantastic round, just trucking along on a loose rein pretty much the whole way for a clear round nicely inside the time. We were both very tired for the showjumping, so hit a few wrong distances, but Spice got me out of trouble for another clear to finish on our dressage score and head home with the win (even prizemoney too, yay).


Silvi's dressage wasn't as lovely as usual, but she'd also managed to throw her front shoes 2 days before and wasn't 100% comfortable. Still - it was tidy enough. She was a real star on the XC, with our only problem being a look at the water (her first time seeing water out on the XC), but she popped through happily at our next approach and just cruised around the rest of the course.

Our cruising may have been a little too sedate, as we did come home with some time faults. Oops. Showjumping was another easy clear round, and Silvi was most happy to have a rest at the truck afterwards.


Dan had his first ever outing - doing intro! It was hilarious. Dressage was untidy, but I was stoked with him - he didn't spook at anything and tried very hard to keep his balance on the 20m circles (which he isn't really muscled for yet). He's such a kind boy.
Showjumping blew me out of the water. Okay, the jumps weren't big, but he'd never seen coloured poles before, and he just calmly went around hopping over whatever I put him at. We had a little rail at the last, but other than that clear (even with a double - what a brave horsey).
Nearing the end of the round he was starting to feel more confident and jumping with a bit more balance and bravery. The XC was good, though we trotted most of the way around. He spooked a bit at fence judges, and a lot at one grey horse while we were warming up - but other than that he was just a happy man tootling along with his ears pricked. He'll go off and have a month off now to let him process everything he's seen and done in such a short time.

November 06, 2007

Go Dan Go!

Headed out to a twilight XC practise tonight with Dan. I figure that seeing as I have entered an ODE this weekend I had better introduce him to the concept of jumping these funny looking obstacles that we like to put in front of horses at shows.

He was a real dude! We started with the water, as he goes through water (streams) all the time at home. It took a little while for him to feel comfy with the atmosphere and all the kids hooning past on ponies - but once he decided it was all safe then he plodded in.

After that we tried a bunch of other little fences (mostly just the solid ones so he can work out where his legs should be) but he was also great with the ditch, trakhener and mini-staircase. I'm so proud of him!!

Here are some pics that Swifty took: