I honestly cannot believe how fast this year is going! Already summer is on it's way out and winter is sneaking upon us with the nights getting darker a lot faster than I realised! This is posing the issue of when to get Pea clipped...normally I clip him in October and that's when he starts getting rugged up as September can be a mixed weather month in my eyes and him being a bit of a fatty means I don't like him getting rugged up too early (very hard to do though owning a grey!). However, his clip then grows back ridiculously fast so come December it's almost like he hasn't been clipped so I then get him re-clipped in January and then it lasts for ages! Even worse that he has to be sedated to be clipped which is a nightmare so I have to organise it for when the vet is visiting the yard and combine that with the person who clips him for me! Such a pain! However, this year I'm tempted to get him clipped earlier, but that would have meant next week and I'm away! Oh the troubles!
Anyway, back to the August round-up! We only went out competing the once in August, which can be read about here, and after his performance I decided to not plan any more competitions for a while to focus on getting his canter better, however, he hasn't done quite as much work as I hoped! The week after the competition he ended up not doing much work, I jumped him one day which he found very excited and decided to let in a few bucks two strides before the fence, though he soon settled down and jumped nicely. I started to introduce fillers to a fence, at the side but slightly in which he jumped nicely. He's starting to get more confident again and I just need to remember to carry on riding into the fences, even when something 'scary' is added and I think focusing on smaller fences has really helped me with this. He then had a couple of days off as I was injured and then I just lunged him a couple of times to focus on his canter without me on top. He's getting a lot better on the lunge with maintaining the circle and also cantering without falling in so much, though the first day he lunged he was a bit full of himself and thought it a great idea to charge off for a circle then stop dead and turn in to me, to then charge off again and repeat it all over a few times! Silly horse! I have now changed his bit back to his loose ring snaffle from the hanging cheek and for some reason he is so much more forward now! His trot is coming on nicely and he is starting to concentrate more whilst at home which is helpful, his canter is also really coming on and he is starting to canter on the correct lead more often on both reins so I am building it up carefully by cantering longer distances and also starting to incorporate circles so he gets stronger and more confident in himself. I am hoping to next take him out competing either at the end of September or in October and see if our marks improve!
September is a slightly busy month for me as I am off to Blenheim next week for the whole week volunteering and I also start Uni again at the end of the month but I hope to carry on strengthening Pea's canter so he's happier as he does like cantering, just needs to learn to listen to me slightly more than he likes to!
Thanks for reading,
Laura & Pea x
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