I went to the GG centre yesterday- and we had a brill time.
Solo was my horse of choice for yesterday, so we got his new girlfriend Frilly loaded up, and then the Sol-meister, and off we went. My friends mini- wagon (I *think* it's an Equi-Trek, not 100% sure though) has CCTV from the horse bit and Solo spent the whole journey looking out of his window! bless!
Got there, got unloaded, tacked up and off we went.
Walked/trotted around the grass gallops a couple of times, I was checking out the jumps and wondering if I'd be brave enough to jump them, and Pat was reassuring Frilly that the sheep wouldn't eat her! (she's only 4)
Next, we went onto the rubber track and had a short canter- and it was then that I discovered that we have found our BRAKES! We went into the middle and popped over a few showjumps- Solo tends to rush and hurdle his jumps so we kept them quite small. There's a mound in the middle of the middle, with a jump on top, and Solo lurved cantering up, popping the tiny cross pole and then s-l-o-w-l-y cantering down, to pop the cross at the bottom.
Then we decided that we'd go and pop a few logs- jumped most of the smaller logs and one of the bigger ones- Sol hit the fist one we jumped, whacked his coronet band, but he didn't do it again (he's ok) jumped the tyre jumps aswell.
At one point, as we jumped one log (there were 2 logs, about 9 strides apart) i forgot I was on him, and thought I was on something small, orange and not as keen, called Red, and kicked him on on landing and gave him his head- bless him, he just kept going, didn't race off, and just popped the last log!!
Had a canter around the rubber track then- Solo didn't race off, kept a reasonable pace all round, and pulled up when I asked, not when he wanted.
To finish off, we went in the indoor school- and popped a couple of showjumps, then cooled off. We then let them have some grass for an hour or so, whilst we had the pack-up mum had sent (she's great like that!) Then we came home- first thing Solo did was have a lay down and a nap!
I'm so pleased with Sol, and myself, to a certain extent- I'd forgotten what Sol's like to do XC on (not done it for a couple of years, due to a lack of transport) - although the jumps we did were a max of 3ft, he really makes them feel like they are nothing.
I think, due to the fact that Red is prone to putting in seriously nasty stops, that a bit of my nerve had gone- but yesterday, i felt it slowly coming back to me- Solo would never stop with me, and feels safe- whereas Red always makes me doubt myself and my riding.
I've found my brakes- a 3 three ring snaffle with a flash, and my trusty 'necky'- although I only grabbed it once!
thankyou for reading, i know i've babbled on, but im so pleased with my boy- we'll never be top class eventers/show-ers or anything, so this was my big acheivement.... til the next one!
cold pizza and a glass of orange for you if read it all!
Solo was my horse of choice for yesterday, so we got his new girlfriend Frilly loaded up, and then the Sol-meister, and off we went. My friends mini- wagon (I *think* it's an Equi-Trek, not 100% sure though) has CCTV from the horse bit and Solo spent the whole journey looking out of his window! bless!
Got there, got unloaded, tacked up and off we went.
Walked/trotted around the grass gallops a couple of times, I was checking out the jumps and wondering if I'd be brave enough to jump them, and Pat was reassuring Frilly that the sheep wouldn't eat her! (she's only 4)
Next, we went onto the rubber track and had a short canter- and it was then that I discovered that we have found our BRAKES! We went into the middle and popped over a few showjumps- Solo tends to rush and hurdle his jumps so we kept them quite small. There's a mound in the middle of the middle, with a jump on top, and Solo lurved cantering up, popping the tiny cross pole and then s-l-o-w-l-y cantering down, to pop the cross at the bottom.
Then we decided that we'd go and pop a few logs- jumped most of the smaller logs and one of the bigger ones- Sol hit the fist one we jumped, whacked his coronet band, but he didn't do it again (he's ok) jumped the tyre jumps aswell.
At one point, as we jumped one log (there were 2 logs, about 9 strides apart) i forgot I was on him, and thought I was on something small, orange and not as keen, called Red, and kicked him on on landing and gave him his head- bless him, he just kept going, didn't race off, and just popped the last log!!
Had a canter around the rubber track then- Solo didn't race off, kept a reasonable pace all round, and pulled up when I asked, not when he wanted.
To finish off, we went in the indoor school- and popped a couple of showjumps, then cooled off. We then let them have some grass for an hour or so, whilst we had the pack-up mum had sent (she's great like that!) Then we came home- first thing Solo did was have a lay down and a nap!
I'm so pleased with Sol, and myself, to a certain extent- I'd forgotten what Sol's like to do XC on (not done it for a couple of years, due to a lack of transport) - although the jumps we did were a max of 3ft, he really makes them feel like they are nothing.
I think, due to the fact that Red is prone to putting in seriously nasty stops, that a bit of my nerve had gone- but yesterday, i felt it slowly coming back to me- Solo would never stop with me, and feels safe- whereas Red always makes me doubt myself and my riding.
I've found my brakes- a 3 three ring snaffle with a flash, and my trusty 'necky'- although I only grabbed it once!
thankyou for reading, i know i've babbled on, but im so pleased with my boy- we'll never be top class eventers/show-ers or anything, so this was my big acheivement.... til the next one!
cold pizza and a glass of orange for you if read it all!