Back on Track

Finally, we're getting back to where we were =)

I took fly to a clinic a couple of weekends back with the riding club. He was brilliant, he did everything we asked, we jumped all the spreads first time (even the ones with scary fillers) and even did some of them with a bit of style as well! He's been doing really well at home, jumping spreads without hesitation and flying over everything else. He's also somehow learnt to go in an outline consistently, which he's never been able (or felt neccessary) to before; which I think is mostly down to a girl who works at the yard who's really worked with him and brought his dressage on.

With this in mind, I decided to take him to a show, and go right back to the basics. We entered a 2'3" class (we'd been jumping about 3'-3'6 at home). He went brilliantly, we jumped everything clear (a little fast though, he thinks small jumps are pointless and there to be galloped at!), really relaxed and just enjoyed it for once! We got eliminated though, not through any fault of fly's, I jumped the wrong course! But he doesn't know that, so we still achieved what we meant to; to build our comnfidence back up and enjoy it. After the class I schooled him in the warm up for the next class for a while, and he was great there as well. I was more relaxed than usual as I knew I wasn't competing, which meant that he relaxed as well and listened to me. I made a point of jumping the spread in there quite a few times, as we always have problems in the warm up, and he did it perfectly. We're just going to build it up slowly from here, we're going to a show next weekend and do a 2'6" and possibly a 2'9" as well.

I've finally got back on Blue again, I haven't had a lot of time for him recently (and I'll admit, I've been pretty scared of him since I fell). We've just been working on his flatwork, for some reason he acts like a totally different horse with me than with my instructor or the the girl I mentioned earlier, he just won't go forward for them. It's funny how horses are like that sometimes, I will never understand this one lol. I've been working on getting him settled and relaxed as quickly as possible in a session; he has a tendency to tense up and ride around with his head in the air for the first 10 minutes, before relaxing into an outline, but he's getting better. I'm aiming to get back jumping him soon (again, a combination of not having much time, and being a bit scared of him), just starting over poles and tiny jumps. We're definately making progress, and he's so sweet in his box, I still just have to go over and cuddle him as soon as I get to the yard! He's so affectionate, and reaches round to try and groom me back whenever I'm brushing him down. I really will miss this horse when he goes (but probably have a lot more carrots in my bag!)