Bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrr! It’s baltic! but even the threat of snow and -10 temps wasn’t enough to deter me from our lesson today. It takes approx 50min to box to my instructor and the last thing I wanted to do was get stranded by the snow somewhere en route, but with my lesson being around midday and the snow not forecast to come down until later in the evening I decided it was worth the risk. This week the weather has been so cold that Thursday and Friday after work it has been too cold to ride in the arena as the surface has been frozen solid, so it was a very fresh and lively Dustry I got on today!

After a few ‘exciting moments’ he started to settle and as always once he gets focussed he’s 100% ‘in the zone’. We worked on ‘transitions within the pace’ on a 20m circle and across the long diagonal. I need now to bring him on to the next level of his training, which includes more collection and extension within the pace , more ’sit’, and more ‘lift’ to his shoulders. Initially asking for more in the trot he just said ‘canter?…’ but after a little while he caught on that I was asking for more trot, and started to extend into a bigger trot. Once he has managed a few strides (approx half to all of a 20m circle) of bigger trot, I then needed to bring him back for approx 5 really short bouncy strides (almost walk) then on again to the working trot then from that another clear transition to medium. We did the same for the canter, and all the time trying hard to hit our circle points and be accurate (harder than it sounds!)

This movement within the pace really helps to get him off the leg, and also is having a good knock on effect with his trot to canter transitions which are really very nice now, even if I do say so on his behalf!

We JUST managed to get home and up the hill to the yard as the white stuff was covering the road, so it was a slow creep back down the steep hill from the stables to avoid slipping (well, just about!)

Sorry no video today, far too chilly for candid camera antics!

Tomorrow looks like it’s going to be a white out!

…until the clocks change and the nights draw out, not that I’m counting or anything!
Thought I would quickly share this snap because although it’s minus temps and I feel like I’m a nocturnal rider these days, having this little face greet you when you get to the yard makes it ALL worthwhile

I’m very excited and pleased to report that GHE has an additional sponsor for 2012, the lovely rug brand Konabo. Kate from Konabo has very generously provided me (well Dustry) with a Konabo Total PRO turnout rug. The unique feature of Konabo rugs is that they have an internal liner which you can zip in and out in order to wash. This means that you can keep the inside of the rug which is in contact with the horse’s coat clean without having to send the whole rug away to be professionally cleaned. This is a genius idea!

The clever design features don’t stop there though and putting the rug on Dustry it became apparent to me that a lot of thought and equestrian insight has gone into the design of Konabo rugs. The front chest clips are HUGE, really heavy duty, horse proof clips which is ideal if you own a serial rug wrecker like me!

 The clips also niftily open towards you so that at no point whilst wearing the rug can the horse push the clips by accident and undo them (this is the case for ALL my other rugs except T-bar fastening ones) These clever clips are also on the back leg cross straps. The belly surcingles also have a built in elastic back up strap attachment to allow for stretch and movement.

I often have issues with how rugs fit round the neck on Dustry as he has a bit of a long slim neck (topline as always is a work in progress) but this rug comes up nice and high round the shoulders and doesn’t gape or slip back at the neck.

If you get a chance to look at a Konabo rug first hand I think it will be clear to you too then that they really are a cut above lots of other mainstream brands on the market today. Dustry is very lucky!

Konabo Twitter          Konabo Facebook

Yesterday after a week of mad weather ruining our schooling plans we set off for our lesson in glorious sunshine. My instructor decided to teach me how to teach Dustry a really useful exercise which will help supple him up (esp on his stiffer right rein) and improve his paces. The right way to do it (not how we are muddling along in the video!) is to ride the long side of the arena in leg yield to the outside, then when you reach the end do a turn on the forehand so you are facing in the opposite direction and then either repeat straight away on the same long side but opposite leg yield, or ride straight that long side and repeat when you get to the next. The idea of this is to then be able to ride a turn on the forehand away from the edge of the arena in the middle without the fence for support.

Things I need to work on are…

1/ Keeping it slow, so that he and I can process what is required, and not rush, be sensitive

2/ Do not ask for too much bend which will encourage him to fall out

3/ Make sure you soften the left rein when you are attempting right leg yield

4/ Only do the TOTF one step at a time, and DO NOT let him fall forwards out of the turn

5/ Make sure I am working him with a fat bouncy neck to help build top line, don’t let him get too long

We then did some trot poles to finish and both Amanda and I were so pleased with how well Dustry is stretching down and reaching for the contact over the poles, a big improvement from his ‘pre-dental work’ way of going. Soon he will be jumping like a ‘grown up event horse’

Today, enthused and with it fresh in my mind I practised the prep I was given from my lesson, and he was SO much better in the leg yield, we really cracked the ’sideways but not fast forwards’ and the TOTF is coming on nicely. I’m really pleased with how much this exercise improves the paces afterwards he really feels like he’s bounding into the trot and on extra springs after this simple but really effective movement. I must have been doing something right because he was totally pooped afterwards and had to have a bit of a kip whilst I brushed him off in the sun.

Today we went for our first lesson of 2012, and it felt great to be back in serious training again after the Christmas delays (with Dustry’s teeth and my instructor Amanda Brewer being away in her native home of Oz for the festive season). I haven’t been working him as ‘up and together’ as we were pre-xmas because I sort of ‘lost it’ a little due to the break in training, so it was great today to be coached back to (almost) where we were in November, and rediscover the feeling for how I should be riding/what I need to be asking for.

Today we worked on….

1/ Suppling up his neck, on a circle, ask him to work on the stretch, make sure you have enough inside bend. Pick him up from the stretch, re-balance, then ask him back down onto the stretch again

2/ Leg yielding, and then keeping this leg yield feel into our canter transitions, making sure he remains on the bit

3/ Keep my hands as a pair and ‘in a box’ – elbows, shoulders flexible

4/ When riding a corner, make sure to ask for inside bend well before to supple his neck, then give a soft inside rein through the corner as a reward

5/ To get him back on his hocks, and take more weight on his hind legs, do a little ‘Chloe half halt’ on every stride if needed

6/ Think RHYTHM, and BALANCE do not chase him

7/ Think rounder in the neck, and pick his shoulders up, don’t drop him on his head!

Canter and trot exercise to improve my accuracy and teach Dustry to take more weight on his inside hind, and encourage more suppleness through his whole body…

• Ride a 20m circle accurately hitting each circle point, and making sure that you are continually turning round the circle. Steadily reduce this circle to a 18/16/14/12/10m circle, and then leg yield back out to 20m and start again.
• During this exercise I need to make sure I imagine I am turning him on his hind legs, as if there is a fence to be jumped, because this image seemed to click for me
• Whilst doing this in the canter I need to make sure I don’t draw back, and remain flexible in the hand

It’s quite a lot of actions for one small brain (mine not Dustry’s!) to remember to do simultaneously so for 2012 I am starting a new tradition of writing lesson notes in a pad as soon as I get back from every lesson because this hopefully will help things ’stick’

After Dustry’s dental work he needed a few days off for his gums to heal and any swelling to disperse. 4-5 days R&R were prescribed so he was in for an easy time over xmas. Dustry however had other plans! He is a total workaholic and if you give him more than a few days off he seems to have a talent for getting into trouble. On Dec 23rd after just 2 days off he managed to knock his whole door (including weave grill) off its hinges! He must have done this in the early evening, and then once loose on the yard proceeded straight to the internal block to pester the horses in there all night and steal their haynets! For 3 days over xmas he had to camp out in one of these empty internal boxes until the shops were open again for me to go and buy super big bolts to fix his door! Whilst in his ‘holiday home’ the mischief continued as he managed to bite one neighbour and rip another’s stable rug – Naughty Dustry!

Finally back in his own box, time off was over and now back in work he feels better than ever. He just loves to work, and I swear when I tacked him up again after his mini break there was a little smile on his face! We are off for a lesson tomorrow, and hoping that now *fingers crossed* all his dental issues have been resolved we can really crack on with his jumping education and get out and about competing, with our new year’s aim being to be competing at BE by the end of this season.

Good luck to everyone with your horsey new year plans, here’s to a MEGA 2012! *raises a glass* *hic*

Today I took Dustry to have his dental work, and what was suspected additional bone spurs or wolf teeth turned out to be wolf teeth! A year and a half ago Dustry had bone spurs (probably caused during his racing days by harsh use of a chifney) removed from his upper jaw (click here to read that blog entry) and every 6 months he has his teeth checked and rasped, this time the EDT detected something where the bones spurs used to be which needed further investigation. Today we drove to renowned EDT and dental expert Bob Livock to have them removed. On inspection it seems that the initial bone spurs had prevented his wolf teeth from dropping down and through the gum, and it has taken all this time (a year and a half) for them to come out! After a sedative and painkiller from the vet Bob removed the wolf teeth and also 2 small baby teeth from his lower jaw which should have fallen out of their own accord by now, but hadn’t. I was surprised by how small the wolf teeth were (approx 0.5cm long) but also when I felt inside his mouth prior to them being removed how flexible they were when you touched them!

Because the treatment was less intrusive than his previous bone spur removal he will only need to have a few days off to recover, as the small holes should heal quickly. Hopefully this will be the end of the invasive dental treatment he will need and everything should just be routine rasping from now on. It’s so crucial to have regular dental check ups for your horse. For more info on wolf teeth and what they are click here

I can’t stress enough how important it is to have your horse’s teeth regularly checked. As a rule I have my horses’ teeth checked and treated every 6 months (every 12 months when they are older/retired) On Dustry’s first dentist check they discovered that he had bone spurs on his upper jaw, these were removed and once the gums were healed he was brought back into work. He had another 6 month check today and sadly it seems either the initial bone spurs were holding back wolf teeth which are now trying to come down, or there were more bones spurs behind the initial ones. So off to the dentist again asap to get his toothy pegs top notch.

On the bright side the weather is awful atm so the perfect time to give him a few weeks off to recover, and I’m sure he will be more comfortable after the treatment, although there has been no sign of any discomfort from him but I’m sure he will be happier, and I definitely will be knowing his teeth are perfect. If like me the inside of a horse’s mouth is a bit of a mystery to you I have added in this diagram.

As you know I’m a keen money saver and am always trawling the web to find the best deal, because you can save so much money if you do a little ’savvy shopping’. One of my online faves for good horsey deals and offers is the Equine.co.uk facebook page. Atm they have a great discount code GFE50 which gives you 50% OFF Turf Legends clothing. Turf Legends (as the name might give it away!) do racing inspired clothing and replica racing colours shirts. I love these 2, Rooster Booster and Red Rum coloured shirts!

These are a great gift idea for a racing enthusiast or equestrian fashion fanatic, and with 50% off a total bargain too!

In order to try and ‘correct’ Dustry’s thoroughbred conformation (thin neck, natural tendency to try and balance by hollowing his neck) I have to always keep in mind when working him ‘fat neck, bouncy neck’ when I look down, between my reins I need to be able to see a big fat bouncy muscle pumping in his neck, over time this will grow and grow until he has much more top line than at present. Today in my lesson after a week of working really hard in the dark evenings after work to get ‘fat neck, bouncy neck’ there was a marked improvement in his performance. My instructor Amanda Brewer is returning to her home coluntry of Australia for a Christmas break so until the new year ‘fat neck, bouncy neck’ is my mantra to follow, I’m hoping that when she gets back she will notice a difference in his shape….the challenge is on!

My recent Mountain Horse delivery arrived just in time as it seems the temperature has really dropped in the past few days. I was snug as a red bug on a brown horse today in my new red breeches, and red gilet, which looked very festive!

Other home work we have to work on is trot poles, and canter poles on a circle. Dustry gets very hyped about poles/jumps and so I plan to try and do a bit of pole work in every session because I think once it becomes familiar it won’t be quite as exciting! He seems to be finding life very exciting all round atm as when I go to catch him he seems to feel it’s necessary to do several laps of his field in gallop, culminating in a very dramatic sliding stop or theatrical rear at my feet, and then proffering his head towards the head collar, and leading in like a lamb…..he’s gone a little mad…I think maybe he’s overexcited about xmas!