Tag: horse

Mushu

I’ve had a bit of a frustrating day if I’m honest. One of those days where I feel I’ve gone round the houses and not really achieved much.

I picked up my new laptop on Monday. It’s super exciting. And super fast! My old laptop has served me well for 10 years so it owes me nothing. But I’ve been struggling recently so it was time to replace it.

I’ve started moving files over to my new laptop. It said it was going to take 4 days, so I closed the lid and went to ride.… I’ll have another crack tomorrow.

I’m hoping that my new laptop will mean I can work faster and more efficiently. As it’s Chinese, I’ve called it Mushu. Disney fans will get it.

Hoof soup

You know it’s been hot when your tub of hoof dressing looks more like soup! It’s a tad melted. Still works though, even if it was running down Buddy’s hooves.

He had the farrier tonight. Since he had to have his shoe off for a bit a few weeks back, he’s lost a big chunk out of his hoof. It looks a bit of a mess. But Buddy doesn’t seem bothered by it. And he’d kept the shoe on without issue.

Given the problems he’s had with that hoof, my farrier asked me to trot him up after he’d shod him. Poor Buddy was uncomfortable on that hoof again. So off the shoe came and after a few adjustments and nailed it was back on differently, Buddy was good again. So glad we checked.

Camp close

Well that’s another BHS Camp done! And another brilliant one. Buddy was an absolute superstar! He tried his hardest and did everything asked.

He was also a complete piggy and hoovered up food like it was going out of fashion. As a result, he had by far the most disgusting stable. Shame there wasn’t a prize for that as he’d definitely win!!

Still we did come home with more rosettes to add to our collection. A 7th place for show jumping. And 8th place in dressage.

The latter was quite a shock as I was the first one in and I went wrong. I’d never been the first rider in, ever, and didn’t realise how much I watch the rider in front. Totally brain fart. Still there was a lot to like apparently, so that’s good.

The frustrating thing is that I’d ran the test in my lesson this morning. That was just over an hour before. Doh!

Oh well, placings were the cherry on the cake after a brilliant camp! We will both sleep well tonight!!

Micromanagement

Third day of camp and another two lessons done. Started the day with grids. Now we all know, I bloody love grids! And so does Buddy. He was rather keen to get on with it. So the focus of the lesson was about getting his canter established and listening before we attempted the grid. He flew through it though!!

Then this afternoon, it was another flat work lesson. The focus of this was to try and micromanage Buddy less and help him be softer. Much harder than I seems as I‘m not always a ‘less is more’ kinda rider. Definitely making progress though. So that’s good.

The Spillers weight bridge was back for Buddy’s annual weight in. He scored a perfect body condition and has dropped weight from last year. He’s now 637kg.

Another successful camp day done. We’ll both sleep well tonight.

Bays and greys

Second day of camp done. Two lessons today. First lesson course jumping. Where I learnt that if I ride my horse and prepare him rather than throwing him into fences things go much nicer. Not that it was bad, but much smoother after I actually road Buddy.

Though he did come out a bit All Guns Blazing. He was very keen to get going.

After lunch, we had a flat lesson. Where I had huge lightbulb moment. The instructor told me to ‘cuddle my ribs’ with my upper arms. My goodness, it was completely different! Buddy was so soft in the contact.

So far we’re both loving camp!

Camp life again

After an early start to beat the rush, we arrived at Forest Edge for camp. Got Buddy all settled and then went for a hack in the forest.

A lovely slow start to camp. First lessons tomorrow.

Buddy is loving camp life again. He’s inhaling haylage and making friends. I’ve inhaled BBQ and catching up with friends.

All packed

The Buddymobile is all packed! I’ve probably taken too much as usual. My Dad was a Scout Leader when I was growing up. So I was raised with the motto ‘Be Prepared’.

This is the big camp. So away for 3 nights. Therefore I’ve taken triple what I probably need. 😝 Lots of stuff lives on the lorry so it does make packing slightly easier.

Had a near-miss as I forgot to pack any bras. That could have been interesting! Luckily for everyone, I remembered.

Looks like the weather is going to be good. And yes, the sun cream is on the lorry…

Frillies

Popped over to Blackwater to catch up with the campers at T&N Equestrian’s camp. It was great catching up with everyone. It really got me in the camp vibe. Two more sleeps till Buddy and I head off to camp ourselves.

There were Dressage RC Area Qualifiers over there too so I caught up with even more people. Ended up grooming for a friend.

And collected two of the three rosettes I won last weekend at the SJ RC Area Qualifiers. I’ve had time to reflect on it more. To go to our first SJ RC Area Qualifiers and come back with three rosettes is pretty good going.

And we’ve qualified for the Championship in September too. Maybe we’re not that bad after all.