Sunday 17th May Royal Windsor

Well Windsor was rather a mixed day.  The weather could scarcely have been more horrible.  I'm not sure I remember ever being so wet, even hunting cos at least you then have a decent coat on!). On the other hand Xaile behaved beautifully (most of the time).  

I set the alarm for 4 and managed to drag myself out of bed at about 10 past.  I had packed the car on Saturday night so all I had to do was dress and put my camera in the car and go.  Xaile eats incredibly slowly so eventually we gave up on waiting for him to eat it and took his breakfast with him to the wash box and started beautifying him.  Ali did her beautiful plaits again and I polished till he shone. He loaded fantastically and we were off, only half an hour late.  It was beautifully Sunny. As we got near to Windsor the wind got up and it started lashing down with rain.  At one point it was so noisy we could hear each other speak.  

When we got there I was really pleased to find we were parked very near our friends which is always a comfort.  We went to get our access wrist bands, and doing so we passed the most incredible boxes with names like Ben Maher etc on the side, which nearly gave me a nervous breakdown- what was a I doing at a real show with a baby horse that can't even do a prelim dressage test.  I got told not to be so silly lol.  

Ali got Xaile out and lunged him while I changed.  He was very good and quite and working really nicely.  But the rain got a lot worse so we put him back in the box and decided to wait till the last minute to tack up and make a dash for it. The hack from the box to the rings was decidedly hair raising.  The ground was terribly muddy and slippery and I don't think poor Xaile has ever seen a carriage before and found them terrifying.  Unfortunately there were rather a lot of them and every time I got him calm from passing one an other one would appear and off we'd go flying round backward in circles.  

When we eventually got to the warm up he went absolutely beautifully, as well as he ever has.  I really couldn't have been more pleased.  The only problem was that it was pouring with rain and the ring was really muddy and there were alot of people in it so by the time for our class came we were both plastered in mud (we really might as well have been hunting!!).  So off we went to the collecting ring to be told that the class was running half and hour late.   

We went off and walked round and round and round the stabling area and he got quite unsettled. 

When we eventually got into the ring about an hour late Xaile was much tenser and not going beautifully like in the warm up.  However he behaved beautifully and stood like a rock in the line up.  The one advantage of the wait was that the sun had temporarily come out!  The individual show was ok, but he struck off on the wrong leg and buck when I asked him to change and the judge stopped looking at us.  On that subject the steward had come round when we were in the line up and told us to be as quick as possible and actually had 2 going at a time.  Obviously we didn't get placed but I was very happy with his behaviour.  

Here's a video of the group bit:  

and the individual:  

and a pro photo that my parents had very kindly bought as a surprise for me (it was so sweet of them to come, they don't like horses very much, but they do seem to like Xaile):  

Then it was back to the box to change for the parade class which was running an hour and 40mins late!!!!!!!! (a relief I suppose as it gave us time to get ready). Firstly there was an awful lot of brushing to do to try to get some of the mud off. No chance of getting it all off but he looked a bit cleaner by the time we were done.  Then I put ribbons in his mane.  I thought it looked fantastic when I'd seen it at the Luso show last year, but when we got the the warm up I was told by someone it wasn't correct, never mind- it looked really brilliant!! I was very glad I'd taken my lovely riding coat I'd bought last year at Golgega as it was by then tipping down again, I think Edward took some pics of me on Xaile in it- I'll have to get him to send them to me.  

I didn't bother with very much warming up this time as the ring was terribly slippery and my hand was beginning to give up. In the ring we started off walking with a couple of friends which was great to settle the horses.  This time in the line up I didn't have a chance of getting Xaile to stand.  It was raining hard and very windy so we went in backwards circles again!!  My hand was getting sorer and sorer.  By the time it got to my individual show Xaile was very worked up and my left hand wasn't really working so I just managed to canter round a few times, I had had good things planned but it wasn't possible.  Oh and my hat blew off.  Again obviously no chance of a placing again, but given the circumstances he had behaved not too badly and I don't think I made a total fool of myself.  

Here's the general video:  

The individual:  

And another photo from my lovely parents, please do excuse the expression on my face - it's a grimace partly due to nerves and partly pain. 

Unfortunately leaving the ring I realised how badly my hand was hurting I couldn't really control him so was very glad to be able to walk back to the boxes with a good friend who's horse he adores (the grey with the woman in green in the video). Suddenly everything went all grey and fuzzy and I think I nearly fainted- luckily my friend's groom was walking with us and grabbed Xaile before anything happened and lead me back to my box.  The relief of not having to hold that rein any more was fantastic. We took a few photos of the ribbons before removing them - he did look so lovely.  

So on the whole I was really pleased with my lovely little horse but thought that the show was really poorly run- £40 a class and almost no time for an individual show.

Friday 15th May Saddles!!!

A friend is selling a Zaldi Platinum- pretty much exactly what I'm after, and in the right sizes for us too so today I picked it up to try it out.  It seemed to fit like a glove.  I didn't ride as it was tipping down with rain and rather late by the time I made it to the yard, but hopefully it will be an improvement for us!

Thursday 14th May A lesson with Freddie

Freddie has come over to England for Royal Windsor and came to my yard to teach me and a couple of others.  The others' lessons went brilliantly, and mine was going great when something really odd happened.  We were cantering on the left rein when suddenly his head snapped round to me to the right and his right ear went flat back.  He was really upset.  We think that a fly must have gone down it.  I rubbed it for him lots and that helped, but as soon as I stopped he started throwing his head around again.  

We tried to carry on and got some nice work out of him, but he wasn't concentrating or happy.  So I took him to one end of the arena to walk around and calm down while someone else had their lesson.  He still wasn't happy, and when ever a fly appeared he tried to keep and eye on it, poor boy.  

We gave it one last go and it was much better, he seemed happier to concetrate and did some lovely work.  

After having schooled Xaile myself for a couple of month, or had Edward's help it was really interesting to have Freddie's input again.  He was pleased with how much weight he'd put on and that he was stronger, I think he thought that he was going well, but it's always hard to tell with Freddie.  However, Freddie had us working much faster that I would have done.  I find it hard to say if this was a good or a bad thing but Xaile seemed to enjoy it more, but my instinct would say that it was too fast. But who am I to say. 

Jemma, a friend who was also having a lesson on her lovely OTTTB used my camera to take some pics and overall I'm quite pleased with them.  In one or two you can see my leg a bit further back!!

Wednesday 13th April More Plaiting

Given that I'll have to ride in Portuguese tack on Sunday at Windsor I thought I'd better give it a go today given I haven't ridden him in it since the last show almost a month ago. Well, yesterday I was complaining he was too boring, that certainly wasn't the case today. He was full of life and rather unruly, but terrible though it is to say I love him like that. He was so happy and enjoying it. We worked hard though, and contained the unruliness by the end!! 

Then Ali had a plaiting practice and I have to say that it was definitely the best yet, and really showed off his fabulous neck!

Tuesday 12th May Too good??????

My lovely Portuguese half chaps arrived today from Iberiana. It took me nearly an hour to put them on and I have blisters ( she did recommend the ones with velco but did I listen???).  However they do look very smart and are comfy.  They are a little big round the top (probably bad measuring on my behalf, but I think my saddler can take them in.

Xaile went extremely well today.  Almost too well... I don't really know how to decribe what I mean.  Edward has been doing a fantastic job of schooling him for me and his head carriage is much stiller and lower.  But he felt a little dull.  Not unwell or anything, just a little too good maybe.  Lacking fire in some way.  Very hard to describe.  Maybe a little on the fore hand?  I don't know.  Wish there was a video.  Tomorrow I'm going to ride him in his Portuguese tack and play bullfighting and lighten him up a little.  But he really was a good little boy. 

Also he felt more horse-like and pony-like- probably because he was using his back and not just doing the sewing maching thing.

Monday 11th May Physio

I went to a physiotherapist/osteopath today.  I have noticed in my lunge lessons that I find it much harder to twist left than right and this chap specialises in body alignment.  He was really impressed that my pelvis was tilted by 1 1/2inches.  He massaged my back and hips and then 'mobilised' the pelvis back into position.  He said that my hip on one side was very compressed and on the verge of getting arthritis.  I have had arthritis in my left big toe for a few years and it is remarkably painful.  He said that this was caused by the twisted way I've been walking.  He did acupuncture in it.  I have to say that I'm not a great believer in that sort of thing, but to my astonishment it's not hurt since.  When I stood up from it all I felt very strange- slightly drunk and as if one leg was longer than the other.  But apparently I'm now straight.  He also says that the treatment should be permanent.  I'm going back in July to get my shoulders sorted out.

I do however feel very sorry for all the horses I have ridden over the past 10 years (he thinks it was probably caused by a fall I had onto a cross country jump) and such uneven pressure must have been terribly uncomfortable.  Especially for poor little young Xaile.  Though his chiropractor said that he was in incredible condition, still I might have her check him again.

Went to the yard to ride, but it was so very windy and there was no one around that I decided to leave it.  I doubt we'd have got anything productive done anyway as he finds the wind terribly distracting.  We did however spend a quarter of an hour in the field together, with me scratching his neck and him with his head resting on my shoulder with his nose tucked under my hair.  It was rather special.

Sunday 10th May Jumping

Well the beastly little dogs (i love them really ...) knocked my hand rather hard this morning as I was getting them into the car to go to the yard so by the time I got there it was really sore, and as there was noone else on the yard I decided it probably wasn't an overly safe idea to ride!

So I lunged him over raised poles.  He really seems to enjoy this.  Variety and all that.  We started off with the poles a comfortable distance appart, maybe a little short.  And he found that so easy that after a few goes I pulled them appart a bit and made him stretch.  I love watching how he uses himself now doing this sort of thing.  He's so fluid.

I then put up a small jump.  Not really much higher than the raised poles, but it did have scary blocks on either side of it.   This meant that is required a HUGE leap to get over it.  So I sent him round a few times till it wasn't and issue and he was trotting over it like the raised poles.  So then it went up to the next side of the block, about 1 foot I think.  This of course was terrifying and lead to a couple more huge leaps.  But then he went back to trotting over it.  He seems to find trotting over them so easy that I just had to see what would happen if it went up to 2 foot.  Well it was no longer terrifying but definitely needed a jump.  I didn't want to over do it with the jumping as he's not done very much and was such a good boy so we left it at that and went back over the poles a little.  I wish there'd been someone to take photos as he looked great and was enjoying it so much.  

But I did take some pics before working him as I think he's finally begining to put on some weight. But I also think he's going upwards as well.  I tried to take simillar ones to ones I've done before.  It does have to be said he was a far from willing model.  He simply didn't see the point in being brought in from the field to do nothing.