Smooth Sailing

Title should probably be "So Far So Good" - but why not tempt faith every now and then, ;)

Kika on Monday after her tiring weekend

 This week has been a very good week so far, work has been busy hence why I've been so quiet (well that and my discovery of the Divergent Trilogy - I read books 1 & 2 over two days...can't wait for Autumn now and the final installment), but I have gotten out to annoy both my girls most lunchtimes and every evening.

Monday Kika had her day off and spent the afternoon in the field with O, after the above photo was taken of Napping Beauty.
Nancy had her first experience of lunging in the pessoa on Monday evening, she took to it very well in what is now becoming her no-stress-stride. She is so cool compared to the other air-head - it's great to see the differences in their personalities and learn what works best for both of them...more balancing. :-D
When I think back to Kika's first experience of the pessoa and the fighting and bucking as she messed about trying to avoid what was being asked of her, Nancy just got on with it. She was a bit sticky on corners every now and then but there wasn't a peep out of her as regards bucking or refusing to cooperate. Warmed her up with some walk/trot transitions without the pessoa on, then only had the back-end so she could get used to that and then attached the front part for less then 5 minutes on each rein some walk & trot before detaching the front again and letting her stretch with just the back still on. She is so level-headed...long may it last!

Nancy & O went out together for Tuesday afternoon, Nancy even got to wear her namesakes waterproof rug for the occasion. Nancy I was a livery horse at my aunt's yard from the age of 3 (when bought by my aunt & trained then sold to life-long owner) to 19 or 20 years of age. Sadly she passed away shortly before my Nancy was born, hence how she was named by my aunt's kids. It just so happens that when Nancy I passed away her rug fit Kika perfectly and as her owner wasn't going to buy another horse I was able to buy it off her and it moved to Lux with us in 2010! Funny how things come around full circle - sort of...

L had asked to ride Kika on Tuesday evening to follow up on what they worked on together with the dressage instructor at the weekend. So I got to ride Nancy stress free (meaning without watching the clock so that I could fit Kika in also), L went to the main arena with the main woman while N and I settled on the oldest arena where there was no one to distract us. Tacked her up and led her around so she could settle, hopped up and worked mostly on walk, trot, circles and changes of rein - as there was no one watching us I was better able to relax and remember that I am capable of riding and actually applied myself - I felt it went really well. I was very proud of the pair of us, we survived our first spin without lunging first since she came to Lux!

Wenesday L had the day off and asked if she could jump Kika during the day when the course was set up before the classes started - how can i refuse when it'll give L pleasure as her mare is coming back from injury and educate Kika...Win-win scenario in my book.  *nod*
She very kindly put Nancy out with O in the morning and then after riding Kika she swapped N for K in the field - so both girls got to spend time chilling in the field and their stables.

I had an appointment with my saddle fitter last night to see if we could find something adjustable to fit what will become tank-horse (Nancy). He had two types of saddle with him a leather dressage saddle which fit well and a synthetic Wintec dressage saddle which didn't fit at all - but he said he has a Wintec GP in the shop which he reckoned would fit and said he could bring it for us to try next week. While he was there I had him check how Kika's saddles are fitting her as I wasn't sure they were as glove-like as i wanted and I was right. The Dressage saddle isn't perfect but he said the changes required are so minimal that they wouldn't really make that much of a difference. He agreed with me that the GP needs a bit more work so that is being sent back to Stubben in Switzerland for alterations. I had him check both saddles on N to see if I could use them on her and wouldn't you know that the GP fit her much better than Kika - and the dressage saddle also fits. As N is going to change shape considerably in the coming months and won't finish growing for years to come I settle don sending the GP away to be fixed for Kika as she is finished growing and will use the dressage on both for now. In a few months time I'll have the saddle fitter come back and we can see if Nancy changes shape drastically as to what saddle to get her then - I will still be aiming for an adjustable one as I don't see her finishing filling out for a few more years yet!

Nancy & O today

I then rode Nancy in the dressage saddle for the first time last night, without any trouble for her. We did the same as the day before, whereby I led her around the arena at a walk until she settled - it has been very blustery the last two days here so lots of noises to frighten a young horse in a new environment. Just before I was about to hop up, L arrived bareback on her mare to keep us company and get N used to sharing the arena - as with everything we've thrown at her so far...not a bother to her! We walked, trotted, circled, changed rein and even did some canter in 2 point as she is still quite unbalanced so I don't sit into her yet but we did well including some nice large circles aswell as using the whole arena.
I had a much better feel then what I've had previously - we are both relaxing more, actually lets be honest I am relaxing more and getting used to her and her reactions. I have to de-program Kika's over-reactions from my brain and queue in a new database for Nancy - we're getting there! :D
She is a very level headed sort, even when L and O left the arena as we were cooling down, she got a little flustered and wanted to go join them but i kept talking to her and we kept walking around until she settled back down again before finishing up.
To say I was proud of the pair of us would be an understatement! I'm planning on giving her this evening off and she's spent the afternoon in the turnout area (see pic above taken on my lunch break). I hope to ride Kika for the first time since last Friday and can't wait! Here's hoping I don't undo all the work she and L did at the weekend! But I'm looking forward to sitting back on a horse where I know all the buttons are and what the reactions are likely to be.
Don't get me wrong I am loving getting to know Nancy and her quirks, she has them trust me! She has her own ideas and opinions however I am hoping to keep on top of them and remind her that I am in charge in a cool, calm and collected way - isn't that the dream?!
I have gotten so used to Kika after not having ridden anything else since we moved out here in 2010 - I am thoroughly enjoying getting to know Nancy and the learning curve we are embarking on - however it is still nice to return to the armchair that is the horse I know better...who'd have thought when i started this blog that we'd get to the day where I'd consider Kika an armchair ride?! She is far from perfect but I guess it's all about what you are used to!

Sorry going way off topic and undoubtedly waffling!
If you are still reading fair play! I hope the photos make up for all the nonsense waffle! I haven't forgotten about the promised stage videos, I just need to get a chance to get them uploaded/posted - have to admit to being pretty exhausted most evenings these days - but it was the same when Kika first arrived out here learning to balance her after work. I'll re-find an equilibrium in the coming weeks/months and very soon I'll be flying again energy-wise when i get used to the balancing act! :D

Weekend Round Up

I had a great weekend despite my backside not sitting in a saddle! 

Nancy & L's horse O saying Hello

 PS: In case it looks like we keep our horses with pallets etc, we don't the pallet is protecting our hay bales in separate area, there is fencing between the horses, trees & hay storage.

I had a lovely spin on Friday evening on Kika while L had her first spin on Nancy. Poor N was tired though so we then decided to give her the weekend off to chill out in the turnout area for the whole day on Saturday, then she got out again Sunday morning but the main woman (Kika) earned a spell in the field for the afternoon so N had some box time - followed by some human bonding time as I groomed her last night. 

Saturday & Sunday Kika got put through her paces as L rode her in the stage with a German dressage teacher, see warm up pictures from Saturday (yellow) and Sunday (blue) - all the lovely matchy-matchy gear does not belong to me unfortunately, but I have to admit that I think (in my completely unbiased opinion, of course!) that Kika looked lovely in both colours! 

 

Videos were made of both days of the training clinic, but shall be getting their own separate posts. This post is all about the few photographs I snapped of the warm up prior to the teaching at the weekend. 

I hope to get the videos sorted for posts in the coming days, for comparisons sake I also have the videos made at the previous stage back in early November. I hasten to add that Kika was very naughty on the first day of the stage in November and unfortunately that is the only day that got video'd - so please don't judge her too harshly off that evidence when I get it uploaded.

Relaxed warm up

She was an absolute star for both days this weekend, continuing nicely in the vein of good behaviour she has been in since her last "woopsy" back at the November stage. She did get a bit upset towards the end of Sundays session yesterday, however that was fatigue more so than boldness/naughtiness - so we can forgive her as she did try her socks off!

Kika has earned a day off today and shall spend the afternoon in the turnout area with her buddy O, thankfully temps are rising here and I shouldn't have a problem getting both girls out to the field at lunchtime. Nancy will be staying in today, and hopefully getting an introduction to some lunge work in the pessoa this evening before two days of ridden work as saddle fitter is coming for her on Wednesday evening.
L asked if she could ride Kika again Tuesday to go over the lessons they learned at the weekend and she asked if she could jump her on Wednesday as she has the day off and Weds are jumping days at the yard. I am only too happy to allow them work together as poor L has had a tough couple of months battling lameness in her mare and hasn't managed to log much saddle time on her between one thing and another - considering all she has done and continues to do to help me with Kika (and now Nancy) - I am only too happy to have her ride Kika whenever she wants!

That's it for today and our plans for the start of the week, videos to follow hopefully first installment will be ready this evening!

Sminky Shorts

I've been wanting to post the above video for a while now as I ADORE it - and thought other horsey people would also appreciate it!
I needed a blog update that hopefully wouldn't have too much other news; which hasn't really happened since Nancy's arrival as everything is new and exciting for us!
Before I go into what myself and the girls got up to last night and plans for the rest of the week, I feel it only fair to post a blow by blow of what is being said in the above-linked video as I'm not sure the regional accent of Cork (where Kika, Nancy and I lived in Ireland) is internationally understood! 
I'd recommend watching the video, then reading the transcript and re-watching the video if necessary!



Apologies in advance for the bad language in the vid and subsequently in the transcript! Unfortunately that is just how some people use the English language

 Horse 1: So you going to jump over it or what, like?
Horse 2: I can't do it, I can't do it...I just can't do it
H1: What're you talkin about, boy?
H2: I can't do it, I can't do it
H1: Just jump over it
H2: I just can't do it, I can't do it, I caaan't do it, I caaaaaaan't do it, I caaaaaaaaaan't do it
H1:  It's like a two foot puddle, like
H2: Ay Know it's about two foot, but I just can't do it, I can't dooo it, I can't doo it, I can't do it
H1: Like you do know you're a horse like...it's pretty much all we do is jump around the place
H2: aw no I know I'm a horse now, I know I'm a horse ... don't be like that with me now ok...iiiii just can't do it, i just can't do it. uh, what am I goin to to do? What'am gonna do? Brrrrr - brrrrr - I can't do it - I can't do it!
H1: Why don't you just walk through it so?
H2: And get all fuckin wet?! I'd get soooaaaakked! I'd get sooooooaaaaaaakked!I'd get fuckin dreeeeenched! I can't do it, I can't do it! *more whimpering snivels*
H1: I suppose you could always walk around it...
H2:  ho-yeah I forgot about dat! hahaha

That video and others like it are my go-to cheer me up clips. Sminky Shorts Animation was created by two young lads at university and perfectly capture some of the more regional accents in Ireland and indeed the mannerisms and sayings that we take for granted. I'm not sure how well the humour will translate, but I still just had to share. As an aside I also love the, Tommy the Turtle clip, Cock-a-doodle-doo and the Mice...Tough call as to what is my favourite, my sister loves the Spider and the fly!

Anyways this post was inspired by Carly over at Poor Woman Showing, who posted a link on her blog to the "excellent" Rubberbandits single released in Ireland a few Christmases ago - LINK for more giggles, but again be warned - language is far from clean! Words to that song for those who may not understand are included under the video in the link!

While on the subject of funnies - i must also link readers to a new blog I was shown yesterday. Lucy is a work from home horse breeder with lots of kids and a wonderful turn of phrase! I almost fell off my chair in work yesterday reading her Handy Housewife Tips of the Day post of her most viewed facebook status updates. I have yet to catch up on the rest of her blog, but of the posts I have read I can't help but laugh out loud - her posts should come with a health warning - so consider this yours!

Argh, as always my post is getting way longer then I had intended it to be, and I am only now getting to tell you about what the girlies and I got up to last night!
Well honestly not a whole pile! I lunged both of them, Nancy took an age to settle as there was a lot of noises going on outside the small arena (from yesterday's pictures) and she kept getting distracted and insisting on trotting when I wanted walk - but we'll get there as she gets more acquainted with voice commands on the lunge - she's not overly fond of walking on the lunge at the best of times and much prefers to trot anyway, so plenty of work to do on that front.
I had spent a bit of bonding time with N in the stable as another yard friend stopped for a chat and an introduction, Nancy was a sweetheart- lipping at her person & bag and generally being her sweet self. I think she has converted herself another fan already. She was then good as gold to have her mouth rinsed prior to leaving the stable and then stood like a good girl to have her feet cleaned while I groomed her. She then stayed lovely and quietly tied in the cross-ties as I hurriedly cleaned out her stable. It was very dirty & wet yesterday so I must check with YO that she is being done in the mornings also, as I am paying for her box to be cleaned every day.



Kika was also a sweetheart, yet still her Kika self on the lunge. I had her in side reins  while on the lunge and she resents being asked to work properly so can toss her head about and pretend to buck & plunge when I ask for more work from her - but she then settles when realises she's getting no sympathy from me and worked like a great girl when she put her mind to it.

Kika has been an absolute angel, I really cannot get over how interested she is in Nancy and indeed how welcoming she has been. I mean this is the mare that normally makes really grouchy faces at any horse (besides O) who dares to look at her - yet she'll happily stand tied beside Nancy (not something she has been good at in recent weeks alongside other horses ) and doesn't make too many mean faces when I lead Nancy passed her stable - still pretty dominant about her territory - but that is to be expected and why I asked that they be stabled near each other yet not neighbours! I didn't want them getting off on the wrong foot
I can't wait for the weekend and to be able to spend more time at the barn giving each girl plenty of attention so that (a) Kika doesn't feel left out and (b) to build a relationship with Nancy.

In a surprise move last night, there were sign up sheets up for a "stage" (external trainer coming to yard/clinic type thing) this weekend. The same teacher that L rode Kika for back in November, she had already asked me months back that if this guy came back could she ride Kika again for the training - so Kika is going to bootcamp this weekend - poor pet has no idea!
She may get an inkling though this evening as L is going to ride tonight in preparation, I'll ride her tomorrow for an easier session before the trials and tribulations of training on Saturday & Sunday Unfortunately L hasn't ridden K much since the last training weekend, but I have put in a lot of work on her - whether that will show or not I've no idea as my riding standard & what I work on with Kika is hugely different from what L does on her.
Heck 20 minutes under L would be the equivalent of an hours work with me - that girl can ride! jealous.com = me!
Don't get me wrong! I am so glad that she offered to help me back when K was being a drama diva and that she has continued to help me since, I really would have been lost with her!
I owe my horsey happiness to this girl, she is a godsend!


Argh sorry, getting all mushy!

My final piece of news is that the blacksmith couldn't make it last night, but will come today instead.  Shall try to fit in a spin on Nancy around his visit if possible. So shall hopefully have some more news and updates tomorrow - although hopefully not so long of a post!

Cake and cookies for anyone who has read this to the end!

Super Schooling Session

Ready for work

I had a wonderful 40 minutes schooling session with Kika last night. I was able to give her more time as Nancy was being given a "day off" after her two good session under saddle Sunday & Monday.
Kika and I warmed up in walk and trot on the buckle and had a good look at everything as you know no matter how many times we have worked in this arena...this time might just have monsters lurking in the corners!

Happy ears forward for warm up

Some walk work once I gathered her up, which included circling and serpentines where I wanted correct bend and turns. We moved up to some trot work with large circles, small volts, serpentines with and without volts and of course lots of changes of rein with some walk/trot transitions just for good measure. I then worked on some more bending work with an exercise I hadn't done for a while (not since before her Christmas lameness i don't think) where we spiralled in and out larger/smaller circles on each rein to get her using herself and bending properly without over-bending and forcing me to use my outside hand and outside leg to stop her cheating and drifting out while maintaining the bend with my inside leg - tough work and far from perfect but much better then when we started using this exercise and considering we hadn't done it in what seems like ages I was very happy with the results.
Moved up to some canter work starting on a circle, then back to trot for a serpentine/circle or change of rein then back for another canter circle - I try not to do too much continuous canter so that she doesn't get all hett up and lose the run of herself - so far so good we are better able to maintain our form and even branch off our circles down the long side of the arena while not loosing our shape. Something she'd have struggled with a few months back - yay for baby steps!
I got some lovely canter work changing things up alternating trot & canter between circles and using the long side of the arena - another horse joined us shortly after we started our canter work and Kika didn't pay them a blind bit of notice she was good as gold and kept concentrated on the job at hand.

Cooled K out with a bit of walking, then had to navigate our way back to the barn she is stabled in as walkway to the arena we were using wasn't salted as so K found it quite slippy so I actually ended up walking in calf deep snow as she was beginning to frett over her feet slipping and sliding, bless her.

Let her loose in smallest arena for a bit of a roll as I collected Nancy from her stable to tie her in the grooming bay. She stood like a good girl to have her feet done (work in progress) and gave her a quick groom as she'd managed to lie in her poop in both sides...smelly sticky ponio!
She was an angel to stand tied in the cross ties as I ran around sorting the stables, carrots, hay & feed. I then turned her out with the main madam to let her stretch her legs a bit.

As with their last and only other outing together, Kika was more interested in Nancy then the other way around.

Yet when I tried to encourage them to move about a bit, Kika insisted on being in front yet played "tired" and slowed the whole show down by barely moving but not letting Nancy past - Gargh! She is such a drama queen!

Trying to convince that Butter wouldn't melt!

Farrier is due today for another livery so hoping he can have a look at Nancy's feet to tell me if she can go with only front shoes like Kika. She only got her first set ever before leaving Ireland in late November or early December so we'll see how their holding up. Kika will have her front shoes on 6 weeks at the start of February so I don't know if N's will hold that long...We shall see what blacksmith says this evening if he comes. I haven't heard from him so hopefully he does come after work and not during as obviously then I can't be there! He comes from Belgium so snow pending will make a difference to his travel schedule also!
Other than that plans for the girls this evening is lunging, Kika in surcingle & side-reins perhaps over poles, Nancy in just the surcingle and depending on who I lunge first might give her a try over trotting poles if Kika is done first. ;-) Although with blacksmith due I could end up doing Nancy first so that she can go back to her box once feet are done...decisions - decisions!

Double Trouble

"Double, double

Toil and trouble,

Fire burn and cauldron bubble!"

- Macbeth, William Shakespeare

Things are simmering nicely for me, I have such a huge smile on my face this evening it is ridiculous!
Apologies in advance as unfortunately I have no pictures from today - sorry! Also I'm not sure how the quote fits in, but it's just in my head so I wanted to write it down - goes with the post title and it is probably the only Shakespeare quote I remember from secondary school...again don't know why - guess I just like the intonation *shrug*

I am however over the moon as I managed to get both girls exercised this evening before lights out. The long and short of it is, I got to the yard and popped Kika on the walker (note to self must get back to work again on getting Nancy used to the walker) so that I could clean her stable. She is really messy and makes a huge hole in her bed so I HAVE to clean her stable every evening - even though she is cleaned same as Nancy in the mornings...Messy messy girl my Kika *le sigh*

Left Kika turning as I put N's headcollar on in the stable and used her water dispenser to fill the large dosing syringe I have to rinse out her mouth. She hated having this done at first, on one side more so than the other - but she is getting used to it through perseverance and a smidge of bribery. ;-)
She now doesn't back around the stable trying to keep her head out of my reach - baby steps...Brought her out and tied her in the cross-ties in the grooming area. She was good as gold to stand and have her feet picked out - another thing she wasn't so fond of on arrival. I'm sure we will still have our up and down days but as with everything we'll get there.
After a quick brush all over I threw the tack on her. Am using Kika's GP saddle until the saddler can come out to us, he is due to come see another livery on Wednesday - but I have to call him tomorrow to see if he might have the time to fit my girls in as I want him to check both my saddles on Kika as well as possibly fitting N for an adjustable one within budget preferably! *quibble*

L arrived just as I was going to get cracking on lunging and said she'd be along to help me out after she sorted her girl's stable. She told me off for not brushing out Nancy's tail and said that in future for every strand of straw in it I would have to buy her a cola. We'll see about that - if I'm riding two girls of an evening can't spend the necessary time preening them prior to hopping up!

We were in a different arena to yesterday, the oldest of the arenas on our yard which is attached to my girls stable block, faces the main road which connects to the motorway and has a large double door onto the parking lot (it was closed) so plenty of noises to distract Nancy as she couldn't see where they were coming from. So we worked our way around the arena on the lunge switching between walk and trot, took her a while to settle but we got there in the end.
L came back and I hopped up, like yesterday she walked around beside us one circuit of the arena in each direction then she let us loose. We worked again mostly in walk and trot, circles and rein changes. Nancy is inclined to drift in off the track on her bad side (unfortunately for her also my bad side) so we've plenty to work on in that regard. As with any young horse she can stick her nose out and fight me, but we'll get there too. :D
L had me try to canter her off a circle down the straight side of the arena and keep her going as best I could as we know she struggles with maintaining the canter. Started on her better side and got a bit of canter, then changed to our bad side as she understood what was coming she was slightly easier to ask for the canter but still ran on into it - far from pretty but baby steps and we'll get there. I think L just wanted to see under a rider what work needs to be done from the ground to help N balance and build strength.
Cooled her out after that and walked her around as L lunged her own mare, who has been lame to check if she was sound so that Nancy could get used to horses walking and trotting inside her and remain calm.

Brought her back to the crossties and tossed a cooler on her (clean - not worn by Kika this year) to see (a) what she made of a rug and (b) help wick away her sweat so that I wouldn't risk her getting a chill. Got Kika off the walker, quick brush and tossed the saddle on her. Popped Nancy back into her stable with the cooler on so that she could munch her hay while I rode Kika in the main arena.

I had a wonderful spin on K, I cannot stop the smile from splitting my face at the pleasure I get out of riding her these days. walk, trot & canter are all working well for us - admittedly I haven't had a flat lesson on her for a while. So if I do am sure I will have plenty things that I'm not doing right, ;)
But for the moment I'm going to revel in the pleasure and delude myself into thinking it doesn't look half bad. Plenty circles, serpentines, volts and changes of rein also for Kika to keep us both in the right mindset - worked a good bit in sitting trot so may have complaining legs tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be a saddle free day for Nancy as she worked hard and well today, I haven't yet decided if I'll loose lung her or lunge her in a surcingle. Shall ride Kika first in any case and hopefully we'll have another good workout on the flat. I want to focus more on getting her bending and using herself better - relaxing and extending her trot work. I was a bit rushed this evening so couldn't really give her the attention she deserves under saddle - something she's probably not too sorry about in all honesty as it means she didn't have to work that hard hahaha.

First of many Firsts - I hope!

Had a lovely Saturday, we had some fresh snowfall overnight from Friday to Saturday so I could get Nancy out to the turn out area for her first outing. She was such a sweetheart and led like an angel, slowing down by voice command when I was worried about slipping (either of us).
L's horse O had already been out for a while when I got N out and it was their first time meeting - so we let them loose and stood back.

Absolutely fine, both said hello and both went on about their business. So I clipped the leadrope back on N and took her for a walk around the field so that she could get a feel for the place and see the space she had to roam in. Then let her loose to mosy about as I prepared the haynets from our stores. O stayed near me as I made the preparations as she knows the score, N went for an old wander on her own. Little Miss Independent :-)

Settling in well and considerably less tucked up

Another friend E came to meet the new arrival and we had a catch up chat as Nancy got to grips with the swinging haynets - they have tiny wholes and we have them hanging so that it takes them longer to access the hay so that they don't scoff it all too quickly. I left them to it as they were getting on fine and L had offered to give myself and another yard friend (N) a jumping lesson.
Went back up to the yard, popped Kika on the walker,arena we wanted wasn't free yet so I cleaned my stables and then went to help set up the fences.
Tacked up, then (human - this could get confusing in the future) N and I warmed our horses while L sorted her stable. Won't make a paint layout of the fences from yesterday - but all went well despite Kika getting a little strong for me at times and our final course having to be divied up and we had to return to trot between fences to keep everything calm. If only I could concentrate on the course and remember to sit my @$$ back in the saddle and ride between fences I'd be doing much better.
But following from last weekend's polework session, this was our first time jumping in over a month I'd say - so all in all it went very well I think! :-D

"What am I supposed to do with this?!"

Today dawned with freezing rain bouncing off my bedroom window. So out said window went my plan to turn Kika out for the day as the route to get to the field was all icy and the snow even had a layer of ice on it which at least made for interesting walking as you crunched through it - thankfully not so thick that you slid on top of it. But I still didn't want to risk K slipping en route and either doing serious damage and/or not being able to get back up due to the ice. So I popped her on the walker as L & I walked her dogs - as an aside the walk was much more tiring than usual as we had to do more leg lifting through the snow hahaha!

Getting the "hang" of it ;-)

Plan was for today to be Kika's day off and I was going to have my first spin on Nancy. And that's just what we did, tacked her up and lunged her for about 10minutes walk and trot transitions moving up and down the arena. She was listening well once she settled - so I asked L to hold her while I mounted off a mounting block. we weren't sure if she'd be used to that or not, so better safe then sorry. I also asked L to walk alongside us with the lunge line still attached around the arena once on each rein.
Meanwhile I was yabbering away nonesense at the poor horse, mostly to keep myself calm - darn nerves that came from nowhere.
I guess my sense of self-preservation is slightly more active then I give it credit for!

"I'm not so sure about this thing..."

L detached and N and I continued on our way around the arena, all went very smoothly. We kept it simple and short, only walk & trot with lots of circles and changing the rein across the diagonals. There is lots to work on, unfortunately for both of us her weaker side is also my weaker side - but at least in this way we can both work towards the same end goal, ;-)
She feels like she has a longer stride then Kika and her trot is deff bouncier than Kika's so that'll be fun to learn to sit when she has the muscled to support sitting trot work.

We're going to stick to walk & trot work under saddle until we help her learn to be more balanced in canter through loose lunging and on the lunge line before adding a riders weight to the mix. She is a very quick learner so I'll have to be very careful not to teach her the wrong things! When she first arrived she wasn't too fond of lifting her legs to have her hooves cleaned or having her mouth rinsed before working (has to be done as her molars are too close together and food may get compacted between them) she is getting better every day at both of these tasks. She is such a sweet girl and very affectionate - I hope we have many happy years together!

Benginning Balancing

Last night was interesting and perhaps a glimpse into what the future holds for myself and my two girls.
Unusually I was late leaving work and missed my normal bus home, so was later getting to the barn than usual which could be a nuisance now that I have two to manage but on this occasion worked out quite well as it was relatively quiet so less distractions & chatting out of me. So I was able to roll up my sleeves and get down to work.

I started by popping Kika in the walker while I cleaned her stable, then L helped me as we introduced Nancy to the concept of the walker. We tried the walker last night and I mean WE - I walked around with her on the leadrope. 3 turns and out we came, went from there to walk around another arena that she hadn't been in yet to calm down after the excitement and introduce her to yet another place of work. Kika had been on the walker as well as one other horse, so she wasn't alone.
I think plan is to try again this evening and see if she takes to it any better - maybe leave her off for a circuit or two on her lonesome, we'll see how she handles the idea this evening.

I rode Kika for roughly 20 minutes, long enough for walk/trot/canter, some circles and serpentines, then finished up as she was going so well and I didn't want to do too much after vaccines earlier in the week.
Put her away and fed her, leaving Nancy's stuff prepared outside her stable, I then brought N back out for a loose lunge in the arena nearest her stable. Mostly walk and trot work to get her listening to voice commands and responding - she's good. Very reluctant to canter but I can't blame her there, lots of spooky noises going on and she wasn't really sure what I wanted from her - so I think we'll stick to working on the lunge in the bigger arenas to balance the canter. I was working under the assumption she may have found cantering easier without the pressure/pull of the lunge and the ability to make her own sized circle - but she had difficulty maintaining it around a bend so we'll work on all that to help her understand. I think confusion was overriding last night as she wasn't entirely sure what I wanted from her.
Shall implement the mantra of baby steps while we suss each other out and figure out what we can and can't do.

I need to do plenty of work with her about having her feet picked out she's ok to do the front ones but not at all happy for the back ones to be done. I had words with her last night for one side and she was much better then to have the other side done - we shall see what happens this evening. It's nice to have little things to work on as hopefully through grooming we can build up a relationship and hopefully she might start to trust me.
It has been such a dramatic change for her this week I am trying to keep things simple yet I don't want her to think life here will be all easy hand walking to get used to arenas and walkers - will take things easy though until the penny drops and she settles a bit more. It is all still so new for her, I don't want to rush things and make mistakes as they could take a whole lot longer to undo!


Managed to get both girls done, stables cleaned and fed before the 10pm lights out at the barn - the fact I finished at 9.55pm is beside the point! 

Wordy Wednesday

Apologies in advance that there are no pictures today. On the plus side there is also (hopefully) going to be less writing as not much to report from last night!
I gave the new girl a bit of a lunge in the smallest arena with a surcingle on. Canter needs a lot of work on the lunge and she's an awful habit of looking out when going on one rein over the other - but all things we can work to fix with some consistent lunge work. She was already doing better after a couple of rounds at walk & trot, her canter was way too imbalanced and rushed to do more than one circle on each rein to see what we had to work with - but the arena was possibly a bit on the small side anyway, particularly when she's not used to working on the lunge and rushed the canter...

Plenty to work on in any case. :)

I hope to ride Kika this evening after her couple of days break following her vaccines on Monday, just some easy work to get us both back into the swing of things. I'm really looking forward to it as she has been such a sweetheart under saddle and to handle of late.

I hope to try saddles on Nancy and see if we can possibly get some time in the saddle over the weekend - the longer we wait the more difficult it will be to get everything going again, plus the more time there will be for any nerves to raise their evil little heads within my brain ;)

Speaking of heads Nancy's is rather on the large side, I had to let Kika's bridle down 3 holes for it to fit the 'wee' baby...now Kika's head is possibly closer to cob size then full horse, but N has a pretty sizable head too - so going to coble together a bridle for her from bits of Kika's old bridle...must give it a polish first as haven't used it in over a year!
Plus I have another bridle that I picked up for peanuts at a car boot sale shortly after I moved out here, tried that one on Nancy last night and there weren't enough holes to let it down to be able to put a bit on it, nor space to add more holes to make it longer - woopsy, hahaha

The adventures begin! ;)

Fast Friends?

I'm not sure my girls will be fast friends - the jury is currently out on that count.

I was pleasantly surprised by Kika's reaction to Nancy, I actually think she may remember and/or recognise her from when they were in Ireland - although Nancy would have been a foal/yearling when Kika left so they wouldn't have actually been turned out together or come into direct contact with each other per se.
However Kika is very maternal and loves foals and animals smaller than herself in general - she will make a great mother some day - if I ever get her to that stage!

Kika actually got an eyeful of Nancy yesterday evening when the haflinger stabled between them was out of the stall and to see Kika stare ears pricked at Nancy was adorable for me. Maternal Kika may be making a reappearance!

I was apprehensive about turning them out together as I thought Kika might be aggressive and nasty towards Nancy, but I couldn't have been more wrong!
 She was an angel and really interested in saying hi and playing nice with Nancy, however N wanted none of it and wasn't too interested in befriending Kika!

"Why won't the new girl play with me?!"

Nancy def has a mind of her own and won't let herself be bullied or intimidated - I noticed this when I was in the stable with her earlier and the neighbour was making faces at her through the bars. Nancy gave as good as she got, so she won't be a push over which is reassuring as Miss Kika can also stand her ground and knows her own mind.


Prior to the "Grand Introduction", I had popped Kika on the walker for an hour while I sorted her stable and gave Nancy a bit of lunge on the line and loose so that she could stretch her legs a bit after the traveling and learn the lay of the land. I only asked her to walk and trot a little bit, so long as she wanted to trot, to let her work out the kinks.

"Mirror Mirror - on the wall who's the fairest of them all? " Nancy's first encounter with her own reflection

 She was very good, tends to look out when on the lunge so we'll work on correcting that sooner rather than later so that the wrong muscles don't develop. L has said she has quite a neck so we'll have to be careful that she muscles correctly as otherwise it'll be very difficult to  correct later.
She's still very young so we'll take things slowly and try not overwhelm or push too hard too fast but at the same time we want to set up a schedule/regularity to work so that she doesn't get used to the easy life and then get a shock to the system when we look to start working her more often - lesson #1 learned from Kika's younger days.

As always with young animals consistency is key - I may need to be reminded of this and "1 step forward can be followed by 3 steps back" in the future. ;-)

 She had a bit of a nosy around the arena loose, and I had her trot around a little bit more but no fireworks. Not once did she look to go for a canter or throw a buck. Shall wait and see how she adapts once she's had a bit more time to settle and get used to her new surroundings.

In all honesty Nancy was more interested in following me around as I filled in the wholes she attempted to dig yet she didn't seem that interested in rolling - am sure that will come once she feels more settled.

Already less tucked up than the day before - relaxing well

She's Here!

Helloooo?

Sorry pics are a bit dark, but I didn't want to overwhelm her with a flash or annoy her too much. Her neighbours were being prattish enough to make her feel unwelcome without my harassing her also. Shall nab some more photos tomorrow evening when hopefully Kika plays nice once we introduce them!

I was in work from 8am to 12pm, Daddy dearest was a superstar and came to get me in the car so that I could get to the yard faster and be sure I was there for when she arrived. I had been told by the transporters that it would take 4 hours to get to Lux and they hoped to leave about 8.45am. I was literally just taking O out to the field when I saw the truck pull in, so I tied her up and grabbed a leadrope to greet my new girl off the truck.

She was a teeny tiny bit tucked up getting off the lorry, but the transporter had warned me that she hadn't drunk much today. Apparently the horses didn't like the Calais water ;-)
Brought her into her stable where she met her neighbours (not Kika she's the other side of the haflinger in the background of the above picture), queue some squealing eyeballing. Poor Nancy was surrounded by hostility, she nibbled at the straw despite my having given her hay. So I split the hay into two piles, placing some along the back wall near the water dispenser where she was munching the straw and left the rest under the feed trough.
I then left her alone while I popped Kika on the walker, cleaned her stable and rode her for 25-30 minutes before the vet was due as if vaccinated Kika'd be out of work for 3 days. Again she was a star and we got some lovely walk, trot and canter work, I am so happy with her these days...long may it last! :D

Left Kika tied in the grooming area with her cooler on while waiting for the vet. Gave Nancy some TLC and a bit of a grooming session where L found me and came for her first proper look at Miss Nancy. My dad also popped up while we were nosying & brushing her.
Vet arrived and it was all about Kika again as she got her vaccines, had her teeth done (little bit of sedation to avoid drama) and had some blood taken to test how her liver is doing as we approach the end of the latest course of supplements. Tied Kika in her stable for 30 minutes while the sedation wore off so that she wouldn't do herself a mischief.

Vet had a quick look at Nancy and agreed with me that she had travelled well and although not exactly 100% comfortable she wasn't overly stressed or worried either. She was eating her hay, so I checked if it would be ok that I give her some Mash that L had kindly prepared for me. She said to give her a little bit first to see if she'd like it and to limit the amount of hard feed she gets until she is more comfortable. That had already been planned for and I'd asked YO to only give her a handful of pellets for the moment.
She wasn't too interested in the mash, so Kika got to lap that up as an easy post-teeth meal as I'd also asked YO to skip feeding her this evening.
However Nancy tucked into the pellets and had a good few drinks of water before settling back down to hay eating.

I took the headcollar off her and left her to settle for the evening. I don't know if the Mammy is going to want to go for a quick visit when she gets in from work, might be no harm to see how she's doing after a few hours on her own.

Shall check in again tomorrow!

Airborn Again

Had a great day today, managed to get fencing sorted around turnout area and was able to get Kika back outside and keep her away from our hay supplies. Photos to follow of the inquisitive madam in all her glory (they'll be interspersed throughout this blog post).

Seeing if she can do anymore running around or if there is anything more interesting to see elsewhere...

 I got another battery operated fencer yesterday afternoon, specifically with Kika in mind. Bought a 12volt battery that should cater to up to 20kms of fencing!
Here's hoping that'll keep her out of mischief!

"I'm not looking at you so you can't see me"

L and I hooked it up today to the longer side of the fencing which goes around 3 sides of our turnout area with current on three strands. We then hooked up L's battery operated fencer to the front of the turnout area and the 3 strands with handles that act as a gate into the field - not connected to the other battery powered fencing...I'm nit sure I'm making sense - but we tested the charge around the whole field and we know have full power everywhere we have current, whereas before we only had max 2 bars (we're now up to 6) on our counter/measurer thing.
As you'll see from the photos Kika followed us around the perimeter as we tested the wire to make sure to snoop out any gaps if we left any.
Sorry Kiks! We're on to you and hope you cannot find a way around this set up!

L has lent me a breakaway headcollar for Kika when turned out as I don't want to leave her without a means of catching her...just in case she does Houdini her way around our fencing!

Left her there after filling up the water bucket with some hay, her buddy O (L's horse) and the two neighbouring ponies, one of which can be seen in the background of the above photo. When we came back 3 hours later she was still where we left her and not in with the Hay!
HAPPY DANCE!
I call this a victory for team Humans!

Sticking her tongue out at O hoping for another chance of a game of chase

When we brought them in and turned off the two fencers so as to save the batteries, we set up trotting poles and L gave myself and another yard friend (N) a lesson over poles with some cross poles thrown in as the lesson went on.
Kika was a star! I'm afraid I have no pics to share, but I have had another quick play in Paint and produced a poor replica of the layout of the poles.

We stared out on a circle over 4, 5 & 6 twice on each rein in turn. N then myself & Kika. We then did 4, 5 & 6 then up the diagonal over 3 to change rein. Followed by 4 & 5, up the four poles at 1 and straight on to the two poles at 2.
The four poles at 1 were then made into uneven cavaletti (I think is the best way I can describe it) with alternating ends of each pole being raised slightly on one side; which we rode through putting different combinations together - sorry afraid I can't remember which way we went through them!
3 was then changed into a pole leading to a cross pole, which we started with in the following combination. 4 then 5 up through the jagged cavaletti at 1, left handed over the cross pole back to trot rightanded down 2 back through the cavaletti at 1 and righthanded again over the trotting pole at 6.

We ended with a pole and cross pole being made at 5 & 1 and 6 being removed. Our final course was down 2, lefthanded turn over 4, left again to the cross pole at 5, up over the cross pole at 1 straight on to the two poles at 2 and left handed down over the cross pole at 3.
There were many more combinations of going through the poles that we also did, we ended up jumping every pole from each direction a couple of times - but we did so many variations that I can't remember what they all were now!
Apologies also for my poor artisitic skills with paint!

Kika checking out our handy work

In Nancy News, I heard from the Transporter she has arrived safely in Calais (France), has been drinking and was happily chowing down on some hay. He has a drop off to do at 8.45am in France (I think) and will be on the road 4 hours then to get Miss Nancy to me here in Luxembourg for around 1pm - which works out perfectly for me as I prefer to work the morning and then have the afternoon to make sure she gets well settled in.

I also have the vet coming for Miss Kika for a bloodtest to check how her liver is doing as we've almost reached the end of our current batch of supplements, to check her teeth and possibly do her annual vaccines although they might have to wait till Feb as that's when we did them last year...we shall see what the vet says. Might also have her give a quick once over to Nancy to make sure nothing went awry in transit and that she hasn't picked up any bugs or germs from other horses!

Kika followed L and I the length of the wire as we checked current voltage

That's all my news from today - hope to have another update for ye tomorrow full of Nancy pictures and of course more Kika pictures all going well with both of them!