Joosie Does France

[joosie]

No, I'm not starring in a porno, in case you were misled by the title :giggle:

For those who don't know, I have been working abroad as a groom since I finished uni in 2006. I worked in Italy, the Channel Islands, Italy again for 2 years and then went to Portugal at the start of summer 2009. I left my job there after Christmas after 18 wonderful months, and moved on to a yard in Normandy in the New Year.

I live with my boss Izzy (it's funny calling someone my age "my boss" so I may not do it too often from now on) and her mum, and Izzy's French boyfriend who is conveniently the local vet. Izzy only set up the yard 3 years ago - she was studying architecture at uni in the UK but then decided she wanted her own training yard instead, so she came back to France.

There's 25 horses at the moment, 14 of them are stabled and the rest live out in two groups. Aaaannnd..... there are ponies!!! :wavespin: (for those who don't know me, this is a big deal!). Six of them in fact. Izzy's mum has two Shetlands who she uses for competitive pairs driving - they're fat and fluffy at the moment but in a few weeks I'll start getting them fit again, mostly by long-reining but I am hoping to find the time to back them as well as being able to ride-and-lead would also be most useful! There's also three 2-year-old New Forest ponies, and a retired driving pony. The ponies are babysat and kept in line by a retired riding horse who is built like a tank!

The actual yard is a few minutes' walk away, up the hill through the sheep's field behind the house. There's an impressive indoor barn which Izzy designed herself while she was at uni daydreaming about her future yard. Her boyfriend is building an apartment above the barn. There's also an outdoor stable block, a lunge pen, a big floodlit outdoor sand arena, and some paddocks. The stabled horses are Izzy's own showjumpers, the youngsters she is producing to sell, and some full liveries, a few of which she competes. There's also the four horses that live out up there.

Izzy hacks and schools the youngsters, I mostly hack and lunge but also do a bit of schooling with the older horses. Her mum does some day-to-day yard stuff and hacks out, but she had major back surgery a few years ago and what she can do is limited by that. She is a wonderful cook and has dinner on the table by 8pm every night - big quantities of delicious food that she cooks from scratch, she makes her own bread, pastry etc and would get on fantastically with my mum. Apparently they usually get grooms who aren't used to working long hours on yards every day, and they come with really tiny appetites - so they were over the moon to see the size of mine on the first night, apparently it was a sign that I'm a hard worker :giggle:

 

[joosie]

The horses are only worked lightly for 3 weeks over Christmas and New Year so they were just coming back into work when I arrived. On my first day we were just lunging, Izzy gave me several horses of increasing difficulty to check my skills and was pleased to see I know what I’m doing! She said she was also pleasantly surprised to see that I was confident and competent handling the horses, she originally seemed to have the idea that the horses I’ve worked with in the past have all been mindless plods! On my second day we hacked three times – again, I was given something quiet first, then something a bit more spooky, and the third time I got a nutcase "just to make sure you don’t crap yourself when horses go backwards down ditches and stuff like that" :giggle: There’s no off-road riding here as it’s all farmland so the hacking is just roadwork... I’ll miss my gallopy-gallopy but some of the horses are “animated” outside to say the least, so it’s still fun!

I also had a trial run in the arena that evening, the job doesn’t require me to be capable of schooling youngsters but Izzy wanted to make sure I was good enough to school the more mature horses. I rode her special chap Jamboree, a 17.1 chestnut gelding – he’s 14 now but she’s had him since he was a foal and he was the first horse she bred, backed and produced from scratch. I was totally blown away that first time! I’ve never ridden such a well-schooled horse, he was so responsive and it was like learning to ride all over again, you just twitch a finger or tilt your head or whatever and he responds to it. I have to admit I was extremely intimidated! It was dark and windy by then which didn’t help either. But then a branch snapped, he did a mahoosive spook and buckaroo and bombed off with me, and having survived that I then felt strangely more confident! Izzy was happy with me which was the main thing.

The day after that I was off to the doctor to get the medical checkup for my riding license – it’s compulsory to have a license here but it does mean that you are insured! I also had a lesson from Izzy on one of the liveries she competes – a 5-year-old bay mare called Riayade (pronounced like the city Riyadh) who is a big softie, reminds me of Surf personality-wise (who was my very favourite special horse in Portugal) and has quickly become my favourite character on the yard! Schooling her was fun, she takes ages to start working properly but when she does you really feel the difference. Afterwards Izzy hinted that I may be able to take Jam to a few small competitions if it fits into the schedule.

A few days later someone came to try out a livery that was for sale – a 4-year-old mare who Izzy backed, schooled and competed for the owner. Izzy rode her first and then the woman got on. I was in the lunge pen at the time, suddenly there was a shout from Izzy and moments later the horse came zooming past me and went straight into her stable. Basically the horse did a big jump and the woman got pinged right out the saddle. As Izzy came past me to collect the horse she pulled a face at me and said “That will be a No Sale, then...” :unsure:

A couple of days after that I had another lesson on Jam, and I used a double bridle for the first time (which luckily I didn’t find as fiddly as I expected.) Oh. My. God. It was amazing. Under her guidance I had him working well in walk and trot, then I did some canter work which transpired to be the first time I’ve kept a horse on the bit in canter. It felt wonderful. Then I played with adjusting his stride on circles and figures-of-eight, and he kept doing random flying changes when I didn’t want him to – I didn’t think I was telling him to do it, but Izzy assured me that I was. It seems I don’t sit as still as I think I am :happy: We finished up with some canter-to-halt then reinback-to-canter. The first few attempts were a complete mess because I didn’t realise just how subtle you need to be, but once I’d got it sussed it was just amazing. I’ve never done a clean canter-to-halt or reinback-to-canter in my LIFE, but I bet he could do it with his eyes closed and his legs tied together. The whole time, I swear he knew EXACTLY what I wanted but there was no chance in hell he was going to do it if I didn’t tell him properly. You twitch your little finger, or move a toe, or take a deeper breath than normal, and he feels it. Bleddy fantastic, but bleddy difficult as well, because he brings out all your tiniest faults and puts them out there for the world and his wife to see :redface:

Then Izzy and her boyfriend went away to Wales for a week. The night before, we sat down to discuss what would happen. It was the first time she had been away since she set up the yard and she was understandably nervous about leaving everything for a week. But she told me how relieved she was to find someone who knew what they were doing without needing to be instructed or supervised all the time. She was pleased with how I handled the horses, how I worked around the yard, and how quickly I got the hang of everything. :angel: So would I like to stay!

So, that was more or less my first week! A few random pics –

 

[joosie]

The week Izzy was away I was kept very busy exercising the horses – hacking several times with her mum in the mornings, lunging and schooling after lunch – but had help with the mucking out from a bloke Izzy borrowed from a nearby farm, and from her godmother who had come to stay. The week after Izzy got back I had two days off to make up for missing one while she was away, and on the Friday I got the bus to the nearest city, Caen, where the ferry comes in.

Caen has an interesting historical centre with some beautiful abbeys and churches. I walked there from the station via a scenic walk around the outside of the harness-racing track, and tried to take my photos surreptitiously so I didn’t look too much like a tourist! I had a look around the churches etc which kept me occupied for a couple of hours, then I went into the shopping area and pootled around for a while. Had a coffee and croissant (had to be done!), bought some bits and pieces, came across a few more churches – Saint-Sauveur du Marche, Saint-Michel de Vaucelles, Saint-Jean and Saint-Pierre – and had a fresh baguette for lunch. Splashed out on some fancy chocolates from a Chocolaterie and ate them while I wandered around the marina and back to the station.

Abbaye aux Hommes – the old monastery (now the Town Hall) which was built in 1066 and restored in the 18th century.

The abbey’s church, on the right, is the church of St. Etienne, where hundreds of people sheltered during the Battle of Caen in 1944.

The walk around the racetrack

There was also a lot of water! A river, a small marina, random lakes etc. Very pretty.

When I got home Izzy told me that the woman who’d fallen off the horse for sale had put in an offer, 500 euros over the asking price... Apparently the horse was so nice that the woman wanted her anyway! :giggle: Two days later she went off to her new home. Her stable was filled with a new livery the very next day day – a 10-year-old Connemara mare called Nevada, who belongs to a 15-year-old girl. They had been competing up to 90cm and doing okay, but her old instructor had been trying to convince them that the pony wasn’t capable of going any higher – but apparently one of her own ponies was far more talented and she would do them a very good deal... Smelling oop: the girl’s parents brought her to Izzy for a second opinion. Izzy gave the girl a lesson and concluded that the pony would be more than capable of jumping bigger but only when she had had some serious reschooling. She also came right out and told the girl (and her parents) that her riding was just as much at fault as the pony’s schooling, but they seemed to appreciate the honesty, and asked if they could just not bother taking the pony home and just start their livery straight away. So the pony moved in!

Then, at the start of this current week, I had a jumping lesson on Jam. There’s a small unaffiliated show on Sunday that I would be able to compete in, but Izzy wanted to make sure I was good enough first! I did my usual thing of putting my stirrups up two holes for jumping – she walked into the arena, took one look at me, came over and hoicked them up four more!! We started with walk and trot circles to get Jam bending and flexing properly, then moved on to halt-to-trot and trot-to-halt transitions to sharpen him up to my leg, working up to halt-to-canter and canter-to-halt on circles and straight lines. By the time we were ready to jump I’d started to get used to the stirrups and they didn’t feel quite so short.

Our first few jumps were over an 80cm upright. Right rein first, starting with halt to canter to get a nice sharp reaction, working on getting a good turn – I thought I had this more or less sussed in Portugal, but my bad habit of giving away my outside rein proved to be a far bigger problem with such a big chap, so it took a few goes to get it right. Then left rein a few times. When the turn itself was sorted the focus moved to getting the right amount of energy in the canter – it took me a few goes before I got a feel for how much I needed, but I really felt the difference when I got the feel of it. Meanwhile the jump had gradually crept up to 1m. :unsure: We tested what I’d learned so far by doing the jump on the right rein, taking the left lead and coming round to another upright on the left rein. The first time I had the right energy but messed up the turn, the second time I had the right turn but messed up the energy, the third time it was bang on.

Then it became a course of 3 – the original upright (still at 1m) on the right rein, land in left canter, to a 90cm spread on the left rein and then a right-handed dogleg to a 90cm upright with barrels underneath. Jam had really sharpened up to my leg by then and I was getting a bit nervous, holding him back too much on the approach and paying for it by getting an extra tiny stride before the jump and very nearly getting pinged off! Izzy shouted at me, which helped snap me out of it, because I hate being shouted at... We came at the first again with much more impulsion, but then I got flustered for some reason, turned too sharply for the second, got jumped out of the saddle again, lost my left rein and missed the third jump entirely.

On the next attempt we got a nice first two jumps but I got left behind over the third and it really wasn’t pretty (although at least we got over it this time!) Basically what was coming out was that I have a tendency to ride through the turn okay but then back off and expect the horse to do it on autopilot. Once I got my act together and started riding the poor horse, Jam did it perfectly, bless him :biggrin: We did the course nicely twice, and then on the third time, Izzy called to me to keep going and do the first upright again which she had put up without me noticing. I only found out afterwards that she’d put it up to 1m10 :dance:

Ah yes, and when we’d finished that evening we drove to the village to use the internet at Izzy's boyfriend’s vet practise. I spoiled my nice day by agreeing to watch him and his partner cleaning out some really deep head wounds on a Husky that had been in a fight. I thought it was quite interesting, but I must be more squeamish than I thought because one minute I was standing there and the next I was coming round on the floor. I only bleddy fainted didn’t I :redface: Oh the shame. I know the warning signs when I have one of my medical-related faints coming on, but I didn’t get any of them this time so I can only assume it was the blood and gore that did it. Twit.

 

[joosie]

27th January

I fell off in front of my new boss :redface:

I was schooling Riayade, she was in a filthy stinking mood and stopping every 10 strides or so to have a paddy. We came level with the arena entrance just as Izzy led a horse past on the way out to the field, and Riayade decided she wanted to go with him - she stopped dead and tried to nap out of the arena, I kicked her on, she bronced on the spot and cat-leaped forwards and I lost a stirrup, but I didn't want to look like a wuss in front of the boss, so I kicked her on again without having the sense to get my stirrup back first, and she did a rather impressive rear and I plopped straight off the back :redface:

On the plus side, when I'd lunged her to get the kinks out and then got back on, we had a really lovely session :tongue:

After that I schooled the new livery, the Connemara, for the first time and she was great! She's about 14 hands (the owners said 14.2 but she's most definitely not!!) - it felt wonderful to be back on a pony again and we had a good old-fashioned zoom around the arena for a few minutes before getting down to business. You can tell that she's been well-schooled in the past, I just think she's picked up some bad habits in recent years but she's 10 so I think she's still young enough to change with a bit of proper work.

Oh and the farrier had a good laugh at my new jodhpurs. Two-tone ones, and, erm.... bright pink :unsure: Please don't judge me, they were in a sale and only cost me 7 euros brand new because I fit in a child's size :giggle:

 

[popularfurball]

#Im glad you posted this on here - I saw it on TO and thought you had givenup on NR!

It looks wonderful and I hope it works out well!!! Sounds promising! Lots of photos and updates required!¬

 

[joosie]

Haha, no I just forgot my NR password!

 

[No_Angel]

Lovely yard, I love the stables.

I keep dreaming of escaping to France myself/

 

[Joyscarer]

What a pleassure it was to read your update. You write really well and it comes across in your posts how happy you are. This is one diary I won't fail to read :biggrin:

 

[melmo1313]

Sounds great!! You write really well and it reminds me of the 2 summers I spent in the US having to 'relearn' some of my skills for Western riding!! Izzy sounds lovely and will definitely be watching this one for updates!

 

[joosie]

29 January

Had a day off today, but in the afternoon I went out to have a getting-to-know-you session with the Shetlands. They are called Pif and Paf and are very fat and fuzzy at the moment. I took some snaps of them hanging out with their fieldmates.

Pif is the one with the white, and Paf has the star and the blue eye.

The Shetties are very fuzzy and warm, like little bears!

Unity, this big beastie here, is a retired ride-and-drive in her early to mid 20s and is in charge of keeping the pony gang in line!

Here she is with two of the New Forest babies.

Does my arse look big in this?..... I’m not fat, I’m just big-boned.

The other Newfie is the one in the rug, we had to get her one as she’s developed rainscald. She was very brave about getting it put on though!

The handsome black beastie on the right here is Vidoc, a retired driving pony, he’s 25 but looking good for his age and still living out unrugged, tough old chap!

Pony gang!

Anyway, down to business with the Shetties! I managed to catch Pif straight away, but it took me a good 20 minutes to catch the other little sod! I just stalked him around the field, staying level with his shoulder but not making eye contact, until he started getting bored of running away. Then I got close enough to throw myself through the air and rugby-tackle him :giggle: - got my arms around his neck and then managed to get the leadrope over his withers and slip the headcollar on his head.

I took them into the stable and spent the next hour just getting to know them. Pif is the more confident of the two but is quite aloof, whereas Paf is more timid but actually seemed keener to make friends when he wasn’t being put under pressure. I crouched in the corner for a while and let him have a good sniff and prod until he was happy that I wasn't going to do nasty things to him. Then he decided he liked me after all and tried to eat my hat. :giggle:

I gave them both a good groom - I don't think they've been brushed for months and it was like being in a giant dust cloud! They looked better for it though and were both really good with having their feet picked out. Then I dug their tack out of the wine cellar and tried it for size. As I thought, the bridles were a bit tight because of the extra fuzz on their faces (and their bridlepaths having grown out and multiplied in size!) but I did have some extra holes to play with. They don't have saddles but there's a bareback pad with a built-in girth, so I tried that on both of them and the girth didn't even meet! Fat little beasties!

To finish up I spent 10 minutes with each of them, tied up on a long rope, to see if I could get on board. Pif was quite cool about it while I jumped up and down beside him like a mounting rider, I managed to lean on him a few times without any fuss so I just bit the bullet and hopped on. He was cool as a cucumber so I vaulted on and off four or five times, from both sides, and that was Pif done.

Paf didn't like me jumping up and down at first and was pulling all sorts of faces, but Pif came and snuggled up beside him as if he was trying to reassure his friend, and after 5 minutes I was able to lie across Paf's back, he put his ears back the first time but when I did it a few more times, with cuddles in between of course, he accepted it quite quickly. The first time I got my leg over him and sat up, he swished his tail and moved around a bit, but I just sat there quietly and have him lots of pats and rubs, and let him chomp on the toe of my welly for a bit. He calmed down quite quickly, so I got off and gave him a big smooch! I got up again a few times after that and he seemed happy enough so I left it at that, gave them some carrots and chucked them back out.

So the first pony-taming session went rather well!

 

[tbaynancy]

What a great diary, Joosie. I'm envious of your travels and love the photos - please keep sharing!

 

[joosie]

30 January

I have done my first French competition, yay

We had a cold, dark, early start to get the horses fed and the liveries mucked out before we were due to leave at 7.30am. It was minus 4 when we got up to the yard, brrrrrrr! I got to see the wonderful sight of an entirely self-loading horse for the very first time Izzy opened Jam's door, draped the end of the rope over his withers and started walking down the aisle - he followed her along the aisle, out of the barn (through a very narrow gap between the green plastic curtains that try to keep the cold out) and up to the trailer - at which point she stepped aside and he trundled merrily up the ramp by himself :angel: He even knew that he was supposed to put himself on the left!

The venue was 45 minutes away at a small riding centre at Bernieres-sur-Mer, near Caen. It was an unaffiliated show with an extremely casual atmosphere - they didn't even ask for show clothes, you just had to be clean and tidy - and I was just entered in the first class, the 70-80cm. There were lots of kids whizzing around on fuzzy ponies and just a handful of adults, and at just over 17 hands Mr Jimmy Jim-Jams was quite clearly the biggest horse in the class :giggle: It was just like the atmosphere at Algarve Riding Club competitions so I felt right at home.

Penny went off to sign me in and Izzy walked the course with me. 10 jumps, starting at 70cm and gradually going up to 80cm, with one double and a couple of fairly simple doglegs, and very inviting. Jam brought himself out of the trailer as smoothly as he'd put himself in it - now if only he could learn how to tack himself up too, because my fingers were very cold and painful by then (damn you, Reynaud's!) and it would have been nice to keep my hands in my pockets! The warmup arena was quite small for a big-striding horse like Jam and it was rather tricky to manoeuvre him around the ponies zooming around, but we just about managed a short-but-sweet warmup without squishing anyone :giggle:

When you entered the arena you had to ride up to the judges' box and give your piece of paper to the poor freezing girls sitting outside, and I was so distracted by wondering what they'd done to get the short straw that I almost missed the bell! We popped over the first two cautiously - well, Jam didn't need to be cautious, but I was taking my time and sort of holding back a bit too much, but when he dropped back to trot on the turn to three I managed to get over myself and actually start riding him :happy: Took up a more forward seat, pushed him on and remembered to breathe again, and that was it, we were flyyyyyying! And we got a clear round, which was great, I don't really get many of those :biggrin:

There were tons of entries, and so many speedy ponies cutting corners etc that it was obvious we'd be too slow to place, but we picked up our clear-round rosette on the way out of the arena and by the way Jam arched his neck and pricked his ears you would have thought he'd won a championship or something - apparently he has always been the sort of horse that is dead proud of the rosette on his head regardless of how challenging the competition was :biggrin:

So there you go, my first competition out of the way and it went very well! I really enjoyed riding Jam, he is a super horse and looked after me so well :angel:

 

[joosie]

4th February

Day off. Decided to ride Pif and Paf outdoors, if they let me - and they were both very good

I managed to catch Paf straight away - in fact he came straight to me - but Pif took a bit longer as he was on the other side of the stream and led me on a merry little dance through it a few times before I managed to corner him against the hedge :lol: I spent ages grooming and faffing in the stable and then got the bridles on them and sat on them again. Paf seemed more confident than last time and Pif was cool as a cucumber.

I rode Pif around the stable for a bit and then pushed open the stable door and we went outside. He was quite happy to walk in circles in front of the stable, each one gradually increasing in speed :lol: but not quite so keen on going away from Paf. We gradually crept our way towards the gate, going a bit further each time before we turned around, and after about 5 minutes I managed to get him right up to the gate. We watched a few cars on the road, it was only when a massive silage tank was driven past that Pif got upset! He dropped his shoulder and spun round but luckily I had enough mane to grab to keep me on board.

Back in the stable I got on Paf and rode him in a few circles and he was fine, so I thought we were ready to venture outside. I decided to ride-and-lead so that he couldn't use leaving Pif as an excuse for silly behaviour He was reluctant to be ridden out through the stable doorway and would only go backwards, so I led them outside and got on him there instead. Repeated the process with getting to the gate. He took longer, about 10 minutes in the end because he didn't seem to realise he could walk with someone on top of him :lol: He was very carefully placing one foot in front of the other, and Pif kept nudging him in the bum, it was very cute He planted a few times and wouldn't respond when I used my legs, but then I worked out that if I used them once and then waited, he would wait a second or so and then move forwards. We did get to the gate eventually and the tractor that went past didn't bother him at all

So that was rather a success really! They are lovely boys, very willing. Hoping to ride them up to the yard on Sunday

 

[joosie]

9 Feb - treadmill fun!

My boss invested in a second-hand horse treadmill at the end of last year - it was delivered in early December, but the technicians only came back to set it up on Monday. This particular treadmill came straight from Paul Schokemohle's yard, so her horses are literally following in some very famous footsteps So first thing Tuesday morning the guy from the company came to show us how to use it.

When the horse has been led up onto the treadmill there is a bar fastened behind them (like the bum bar on a trailer) and a breast bar and elasticated crossties at the front. The first time a horse goes on it they are backed up into the bar so they know it's there, and are then led forwards a few steps and clipped on at the front, and someone also stands at their head holding them on a leadrope so they can encourage the horse forwards and keep it calm. Security-wise there's a laser on the side which automatically cuts out the treadmill if the horse drops below that level (ie. stumbles/falls over), and there's also an emergency stop button on the controls. The laser can be adjusted for the height of the horse.

To start with the person at the controls turns the treadmill on and off within a couple of seconds, which brings the horse back just enough to bring their bum up against the bar - most horses will automatically walk forwards when they feel it, but if they don't the person at the horse's head is also there to encourage them to move forwards. It's only a couple of steps to start with. If the horse's reaction wasn't automatic, you repeat the process until it is. Then the treadmill is started up again for about 10 seconds so the horse has to walk forwards for several full strides. By this time most horses have "got it" and you can then set the speed of the treadmill to the pace you want.

The first few times a horse uses it you need someone at their head and someone doing the controls, but when they're used to it you can put it on a 5-, 15- or 30- minute timer and just leave the horse to it. That was why the company recommend the treadmill is placed somewhere where the horse has something to look at while it's on there. You can adjust the speed so that the horse has to be marching forwards at a consistent pace - obviously they don't gain anything by slopping along for 10 minutes, so it needs to be a speed that requires a bit more effort! When they're striding out you can see really clearly the way they move, how supple their back is etc. You can also set the treadmill on a gradient so that the horse is walking "uphill" or "downhill" and there are pre-set programmes that incorporate hillwork into the session and automatically adjust the gradient. The guy explained how the programmes can be used to develop different muscles and increase strength and suppleness in different areas. Fancy stuff

Dear old Jam was the guinea pig, being the sensible chap that he is He was a bit miffed about being made to exercise before breakfast, but he walked straight on and picked it up straight away. He had an anxious look on his face to start with but once he'd got into the swing of it he was fine. Picasso was next, and despite being blind in his left eye, he took to it like a duck to water and was totally unphased by the whole thing. We also did Trix, one of the three-year-olds, while the guy was there in case we had any trouble, but she was as relaxed about it as the other two - although to start with she needed someone to tap her on the bum with a schooling whip to encourage her to walk forwards.

The first time the horse is led off the treadmill they do a few strides of really stupid walk before they realise the ground isn't moving any more :giggle:

We've done the whole yard now and they have mostly picked it up straight away. There's just one exception - my boss's mum's horse Toscane. She's had two short sessions a day but still doesn't get that she's supposed to walk forwards! She's one of the 3-year-olds but is usually quite smart about other things - boss says she has found her very trainable as she picks things up really fast - so goodness knows why the concept of walking is proving such a struggle :giggle: She will step forwards with her front legs but not the back ones, and when her bum comes up against the bar she just sits on it and dangles her back legs in the air The funniest thing about it is that she's not actually bothered about being on the treadmill when it's stationary - you'd think after her first experience she'd have been tricky to get back onto it, but no, she just walks calmly back on....

The other horses have been teasing Toscane about being a doofus and have told her she has to wear a Dumbass Hat until she works out how to do it :giggle:

[/QUOTE]

 

[Mary Poppins]

What an interesting life you lead - I'm very jealous. Make sure you keep posting and keep us all updated on what you get upto next. I have really enjoyed reading your diary.

 

[joosie]

on the road with Pif and Paf

I have done two ride-and-lead sessions with Pif and Paf this week and they both went very well!

First one was on Sunday. I took them up to the yard, which is about 1km on the road - I was tempted to go up through the sheep's field to play it safe, but (a) it's a quiet road and (b) they are driven on these roads anyway so they aren't new to tractors or barking dogs, so I thought it would be safe enough. I rode Pif on the way up, he went through the gates very keenly but then hesitated on the road, apparently it looks different when you're being ridden instead of driven! He was very quiet though, and Paf was very good to lead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yvw0mc7Wxg0

We got up to the yard safely

and headed up towards the school, when Pif promptly shied at a flapping feed sack and I slid off the side :giggle: I led them into the school so they could have a look around - they've never been in there before as the sand isn't firm enough to run the carriage on it.

Then I spent a while leading them UNDER the jumps that Izzy was warming up over the other day! Pif went straight underneath but Paf took a bit more encouraging, but once they'd got the hang of going under side-by-side, I managed to get them to trot underneath.

Then I got back on Pif and rode around for a bit. We stood still for a while enjoying the silence, Izzy and her mum were busy in the barn with the electrician and they obviously hadn't heard us come up... why would they hear such little, unshod feet anyway!

I headed back down towards the barn to call Izzy's mum so she could see I was doing something productive with her little cherubs! She was really pleased to see them out!

On the way home I rode Paf first, until we'd passed the cottages on the lane, and then when we got to the junction I changed the reins over (only have one set of pony reins) and it was Paf's turn to carry the load! Pif decided to be a pain in the neck and hang right back, and no amount of pulling would bring him closer - so Paf was a bit wary at first, because he doesn't see much through his wall eye and is used to having Pif on the outside between him and the traffic. He was a bit on his toes and looking around a lot, but was nevertheless very good.

 

[joosie]

Friday the 11th was a beautiful springlike afternoon so I took them out for a longer ride - half an hour out on Pif, half an hour back on Paf. We only had one sticky moment on the way out, where Pif spooked rather dramatically at a leafy branch on the ground - I stayed on this time though, haha - and Paf, completely unphased, decided to stop for a quick snack.

At the half way point I got off to let Pif have a breather and took the opportunity to take a few snaps in the sunshine.

Pif

Paf

Then I got on Paf for the ride back. He appeared to have forgotten what to do, and would only go backwards to start with :giggle: The harder I used my legs, the faster he went backwards - at one point I gave him a Pony Club kick, expecting him to shoot forwards or buck or something, but instead he just shot backwards at triple speed! We went backwards for about 50 yards along the road before Paf realised that home was in the other direction! Once we were homeward bound though he soon got into his stride.

I like these ponies more every time I do something with them. They are so genuine and willing, and really seem to be happy to be coming back into work after a long winter doing bog all!

 

[joosie]

13 Feb - more jumpies with Mr Jams

On Sunday morning Jam and I went out for a spot of clear-round jumping. We'd entered the 70-80cm class same as last time. That venue usually does the crosspoles in a different arena, run simultaneously with the other classes, and we'd arrived in time for 9am expecting that to be the start of my class - but we hadn't known that time they were only using one arena, and there were about 40 rounds of crosspoles before my class even started :unsure:

When I registered for my class the first available slot was 13th, but by the time we'd had a coffee and I'd got Jam tacked up and was ready to get on, the girl from the trailer next to ours came back and told her parents that the earliest slot she'd been able to get was 63rd - so our getting there too early was a blessing in disguise really

There were only a few other horses in the warmup when I went in, but by the time I'd walked the course and then got back on to do my practise jumps, it was swarming! The person that was supposed to be at the entrance to the warmup, limiting the number of horses to 15, had disappeared somewhere and there were probably more like 25 in there - way out of my comfort zone! Jam was getting very keen and strong with the excitement of all the action around him, and we had some bucking and braking issues after each practise jump, but since the main thing I've had to work on with jumping him is impulsion, his enthusiasm kind of worked in my favour :tongue:

We had a good round - nice and fluid, I remembered my turns and approaches and when to push his canter on and when to sit up and hold him, and although he was much keener than last time and got very strong in places I managed to "ride" him enough to keep it under control. We got a clear, not that it's a surprise as he's a fab horse but I really felt like I was using more technique and being less passengery than I've usually been in the past.

There were more than 100 entries in that class in the end, so no way we were staying for the next class, we had 16 stables to muck out at home!

I remembered to get footage this time I am, shamelessly, dead chuffed with the wobble between jumps 3 and 4, 'cos it was intentional... I knew I'd turned left too soon after number 3 and would come to 4 on a bad angle and stride, so I deliberately altered our course. Usually I would have arrived at 4, realised my mistake and gone "ah crap" - this time I noticed my mistake immediately and took action before it became a problem. Is like a proper rider innit :giggle:

Vid -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGKB9XUq-Lk

And a few stills if you can't see the video. Isn't he a handsome chap! I look like a midget on him though :giggle:

 

[popularfurball]

Love it - espe 2nd to last photo with girl arguing about going over the fence... coimnputer says noooooooo!

 

[joosie]

LOL, it does look like a point-blank refusal doesn't it! She's not trying to jump it though - she's cheating, and showing her horse the jumps before her round has even started