I had a few days in France earlier this month whilst my parents are away to help my sister take care of the horses and my elderly Nan. It was very relaxed, and although I was sad we couldn't do any riding (my sisters horse Beanie was suffering with a bout of COPD) I made the most of the time to indulge in a bit of home cooking!
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| Coffee and walnut cake |
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| Til is huge! |
Training with Sue Edwards
Straight off the plane and I had two lessons with Sue Edwards last weekend. We reviewed my recent elementary tests and decided to work on clearer transitions into and out of the mediums. On day one we worked mostly on the trot, increasing engagement and lift of the shoulder in the collected trot and then 'releasing the belly button' to allow the energy out more directly into the medium. The medium should be 'allowed' not 'driven' as this will unbalance and cause the horse to fall on the forehand. The more we worked on it the better Guinness understood the aid from my core. The second day we did the same in the canter. Lots of square turns helped with engagement and collection and then we 'allowed' some mediums. I think it's fair to say these are the new highlights of my forthcoming tests! I had no idea how much power was really in there!
Mum finally gets to ride her new horse Hero!
My Mum finally got the chance to ride the horse I encouraged her to buy last year as she was over in the England for a holiday. Hero has been with me for training and hacking before he makes the move to France. My Mum suffers with a few health issues and hasn't ridden since she lost her horse Frosty last year to a fatal melanoma. Thursday was glorious sunshine and after a bit of bonding time grooming, we tacked up and headed off for a leisurely hack around the chess valley countryside. Hero was amazing as always! He is the perfect combination of safe but forward and fun! Mum lead the whole way with Guinness and I following along behind. It was so lovely to ride with my Mum after such a long time!
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| Mum and Hero! |
Blenheim Horse Trials
Saturday I was very lucky to go to Blenheim Horse Trials with my friends Toni and Poppy and we met up with my friends and clients Tammi, Sarah and Ryan there. I've been going to Blenheim since I was a small girl and I love watching the Cross country! Poppy who is just 9 years old wants to be an equestrian photographer when she's older and she took some amazing photo's! It was amazing to watch the high jump challenge and total credit to Laura Collett jumping 5'10 bareback!!!!
Dressage to music
Guinness and I have been busy working out our floorplan and editing our music ready for the freestyle at the Chiltern and Thames Dressage Championships at the end of October...watch this space!
Peroni & Shinty
Peroni had an exciting week this week - he got a new field buddy! 'Shinty' has moved in and already they are in love!
Lots of teaching
I had lots of great lessons this week. Too many to mention but was great teaching Kayleigh on Mr Darcy and having a bit of a jump! Mr D loves jumping but can get a bit over excited at times!
Next week sees the start on the next 'Take Back the Reins' courses at Moorwards which is a course especially designed for adults who want to get back in the saddle and maybe haven't ridden since they were young. If you want to find out about your nearest TBTR centre go to www.hoofride.co.uk for more information.
Gardening?!
I even managed to fit in a bit of gardening this weekend although I was more interested in saving all the earthwoms, spiders and snails from the strimmer! These are a few of the beautiful, multi-coloured friends I made today :-)
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