Last week one of my Clients, Kim, invited us to her yard to ride in her indoor school which was greatly appreciated. Both horses were very fresh but despite the distraction of the wind they worked very well. I was trying a new girthing system on Milli as she is continuing to change shape as she grows and develops. I put back balance straps on to her WOW Jump saddle so that I could use the new 'H Girth' (for more info. on this girthing please click on the following link: http://wowsaddles.com/accessories.html). The girth has improved the stability of her saddle without having to over tighten her girth. She felt a lot happier with this girth on too, much more forward and loose through her back :) Roxie jumped very well too and I was very pleased we managed to have a jump as we went to Felbridge on Thursday 13th for the combined training. we haven't jumped many times in the WOW jump saddle so we are still getting used to it and how we both feel in it as Roxie is so 'in-tune' with me on her the slightest change to my position effects her. So, despite the rain and winds Wednesday night, Kim and I were still very keen to go to Felbridge for the combined training so we decided to get ready and see what the weather was like Thursday morning. Guess what.....it was WET! No change there then, but there was no wind and the forecast was saying sun later so we set off believing 'IT WILL BE SUNNY' and remarkably it was!!!! Roxie was like a ticking time bomb from the moment I got on her, I honestly think she thought it was her first event of the season. We just about managed to contain her excitement in the dressage but I think to the judge she would have looked a bit tense. She didn't feel tense to me and she did some lovely work, especially her medium trots and canters. I'm still waiting to hear what my score was as we left before the scores were up but I wasn't expecting a winning score that's for sure! With a very quick change of tack due to some dark clouds heading over we went to do our SJ round. As I said earlier we are still in the process of getting used to the feel of the WOW jump saddle, I'm not trying to use that as an excuse though as we did have a couple of poles down which were just silly little mistakes. Roxie had the first fence down which isn't something she normally does so either she wasn't quite focused on the height of the fence or perhaps I hadn't got her attention on what was ahead. She had the first part of a double of up-rights which was completely Roxie's error......it was on a related distance of 4 strides from an oxer and being very keen and not listening to her rider she went to go on three strides so she couldn't quite get her front legs up in time! I am going to have a re-think about what bit to jump her in as she no longer rushes on the approach or landing with her new saddle but I still need something more than just a snaffle especially when she is this keen, so I think it will be a bit of trial and error unless anyone has any suggestions?? please check out Roxie's Gallery page to see more pictures and a video from our day at Felbridge. Also a well done to Kim and Maisey for a good result at Felbridge too. Roxie is feeling so great at the moment, much stronger behind after being fed the new Global Herbs product 'Hocks' and although very fresh and keen she isn't getting silly which I'm putting down to the feed she is being fed from Hickstead Horse Feeds. In fact our entire yard, which has various shapes and sizes of equines on, is remaining very calm and chilled about being stabled much more with a reduced amount of exercise and turn out! Plus they are all in great condition with a lovely shine to their coats :)
With this horrid weather a few BE events have already had to cancel so I am holding off entering my first events just yet as I don't want to rush either of them and run the risk of running them on deep ground which could end in injury ruling them out for the rest of the season! As soon as our first entry has been made I will let you all know but for now we are continuing to train hard and just keeping our heads down, or underwater as the case may be with this weather, until spring arrives.......hopefully we will have a great summer! SG Eventing X ***Keep Calm & Canter On*** ***Eventing2014***
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January 2020
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