Let's go Jumping!

Hello!

For frequent readers of my blog, you will know that I very rarely jump pea nowadays! For some reason, I have just fallen out of my previous love for jumping and have ignited a new love for dressage (despite not being very good at it!). When I first bought Pea, nearly 6 years ago, it was with the aim of possibly affiliating show-jumping, however, with his lack of experience and my lack of riding we soon lost a lot of confidence with one another and I fell off many a time. We then focused more on dressage and eventually rarely jumped. So today, I had my dad and niece coming down so persuaded dad to bring the camera and for some reason I decided I really want to give Pea a slightly more decent jump than just the one-off cross pole occasionally done after a schooling session. 

We had a quick warm-up session and then started popping a few fences. They were just kept small as it's been a while and I didn't want to get too carried away and risk losing my confidence again. Also, I'm still not 100% sure if he's fine behind or not. He seemed eager enough jumping and is alright cantering so I don't know if I'm just getting slightly paranoid or what...however, if over the next few weeks he doesn't feel truly right, I'm contemplating getting my vet to look at him when he comes out to do his jabs. Pea's been having the chiro every two months and it has been two months since she last came out, however, he should be going at least 3 months before needing a check-up so I'm tempted to have the vet look to make sure there's not any underlying problems causing him to go off every two months! 

We just stuck to simple cross-poles and a couple of straights, around 70-75cm, just to see how he was as, like I mentioned, I didn't want to do too much and risk him being really stiff and off tomorrow. Unfortunately, Dad really isn't the greatest of photographers so I think I might need to recruit a friend who's more handy with a camera than Dad! My niece also had a little sit on him and helped me sort his stable out as I've unfortunately had to give it up due to needing to save up for a place of my own potentially happening this summer. 

Thanks for reading, 
Laura xx

[Monthly Review] March 2014

Hello!

I have been rather bad again and forgotten half of what happened during March! As it was the month that my dissertation was due in, Pea unfortunately had to take a bit of a back seat and didn't get worked for as long or as many days as normal. 

March meant that Peas routine changed and he started to go out full time again. With this, his work suffered a little bit as he went a bit lethargic and wasn't working great as well as the odd naughtiness, but that soon seemed to ease off again once he got used to being out again. There were also many warm days which meant he got to go out without a rug for a few hours, though I regretted it the first time when I went back and saw how mucky he was! Oh the joys of owning a grey! However, I do like to give him a few hours without a rug on at this time of the year as he just moults and moults so it's good for him to have a good roll to try and get rid of some hair! 

His schooling has been going well and now that he's happier cantering we are able to focus on bringing it all together to aim for a smoother image and get him more round. As I mentioned from the competition report, he is now more active in his paces and now just needs to work on his bend. He does occasionally seem to get it right but I think he finds it hard to stay correct for long due to using muscles he normally doesn't so I am hoping that doing little bits of asking for a true bend will enable him to feel more comfortable offering the bend as he builds up more muscle. He has a tendency at the moment that when he's on the left rein especially (at least, I notice it a lot more) he looks off to the right...At first I thought it was nosiness but now I think he's just doing it to try and get out of bending to the left and he doesn't seem to have yet realised that looking to the right means he has to work harder as I ask for left bend! 

I have also started to introduce a bit more jumping by popping over the odd cross-pole or upright after schooling so I am hoping in the next few months to start more proper jumping sessions as I find it rather hard using a schooling whip and just a snaffle! 

April is being spent working on his bend and hopefully getting him out again towards the end of the month as he's just had a week off due to Belton so he needs to do some schooling first! (however, he might be needing the chiro again so I shall keep you posted!)

Thanks for reading, 
Laura xx

Working at Belton Horse Trials 2014

Picture from Belton-Horse.co.uk

Hello everyone! 

I am finally free after a busy week working at Belton Horse Trials as part of their site crew. I started Sunday 30th March and finished today (7th April). I have had such a long week, working days between 9 and 12 hours but I have enjoyed every minute and learnt so much! 

I have done various things over the week such as putting out dressage boards, cleaning them (all 7!!), helping trade stands find their spots, stringing the cross country course and many many other jobs! I have worked with some fantastic people which always helps make working so much easier and more enjoyable! I have met some of the nicest traders and if anyone wants some good food to eat at an event there are a couple that I would strongly suggest visiting if they happen to be there! 

Overall I have learnt so much from this past week and it has been so valuable to me learning about what goes on behind the scenes at events! Some of you may be aware that I am hoping to have a career in events management - obviously particularly equestrian events - and therefore working as part of the site crew team has been so helpful! 

I am now busy finishing university and also looking for jobs when I finish but I am keen to work at more events and I am hoping to branch out to other disciplines although I do love working in eventing! 

Sorry for the lack of photos, I really need to learn to take more for my blog posts so I shall try and make it my mission to take more photos! I will also have my March update coming shortly! 

Thanks for reading, 
Laura xx