Tue - flatwork with Llewi. Worked on trying to keep him round in the downwards canter to trot - I need to ride him more forwards into the transition, use my seat more and use less hand - this is the one trans where he really resists me so I need to work around this and sort it as so many tests have canter to trot across the diagonal and if I'm not on a circle I just cant do it nicely on him! At least he was sound as when he came in from field he had a distinctly fat right fore just above his fetlock. Clipped hair away to find mud fever like lesion on the side of the leg - suspect he's been playing with the electric fence again and given himself rope/tape burn which has gone manky. Pesky pony. Cleaned with hibi and after some research discovered antibiotics allowed for comp horses so started him on 5day course as got RC Area Qualifiers on Sunday.
evening - jumping lesson with Monty and Rachel from HHO forum. Worked on trying to keep the rhythm whilst creating the bouncy SJ canter. Stop launching him at fences. When I put my leg on that last stride or 2 that I see a nice stride it just makes him flatten and launch at the fence hence knocking it down. Too late to alter things then and he doesn't alter anyway so better to just sit there and wait for the fence - count to the fence and dont fiddle and hook him either. We did a mini grid and he just got his feet in a right muddle - took a stride out and ended up jumping both final parts with one rein in a right hunting safety seat which then knocked his confidence big time and we had to take half the grid down and start again. And I think it's all my fault for firing him at fences and making him fling himself over them. Grrrrr. Other thing to remember is always to turn him to the line off my outside aids - helps to keep the rhythm and keep him from falling onto his inside shoulder on the turn.
Wed - Monty - nice short fast hack up the ranges - he felt a bit lethargic on the way out, had to use some leg which is a first on a hack with him but once we got to the bit he likes he was as up for it as usual and towed me up the gallops hill and all the way to the fenceline.
Thur - flatwork with Monty. Similar to last Thur - worked on lots of direct transitions, get him up in front of my leg, but boy was he hard work - being very lazy at the moment - thought grass was meant to make them wild, not dead! Daren't take him off the calmer though as he'll go all spooky again. Got my dressage sheet through from BCA and he only got one 8 for his FWLR, otherwise comments about lacking impulsion in canter and too much inside neck bend on the left rein (grrrrr as this is something I do on both of them as my left hand is so over-dominant - need to seriously work on this) So, anyway, I got my direct transitions and I got my right canter without head chucking again so this is definite progress. Changed the way I ask for the right canter slightly and really thought about lifting him into it with my inside leg whilst keeping the outside rein contact rather than using too much outside leg. Definitely seemed to help. A bit more impulsion would be nice though! Think the spurs might have to come out for schooling sessions to sharpen him up a bit as he really objects to the whip still.
Fri - flatwork on Llewi at lunchtime. Some more work on downwards transitions, ran through the riding test for Sunday and forgot the G&R in canter both times - doh! Mustn't do that on Sunday. Remember to sit up in trot, keep legs long in canter and look as pretty as possible! I do hate riding tests. Llewi was good though, only minor spooking which we kept under control and generally did everything ok.
Fri evening jump schooling with Monty - wanted to rebuild some confidence after Tue evening and work more on the rhythm. Put my little spurs on so could create some more energy. Built a 2ft9 upright with planks, oxer and some canter poles. Canter poles are great - need to use them more often. Used 3 of my strides between them which was about right then started raising the poles until we had an ascending bounce grid (did roll the poles out a few inches when I put the final part up to about 2ft3) Think he could do with doing more of this and can easily fit in 4 fences down the long side so definitely doable. Really tried to think about rhythm on the way in and just sit there with leg on and it seemed to work well. Then moved onto coming round to the planks after doing the grid and just waiting for it and he jumped it nicely both ways. Oxer was in the middle of the school so not an easy turn and wasn't getting the best line to it which affected my rhythm as did knowing how wide it was so was struggling with my tendency to fire him at it. When I did sit and wait I ended up far too close and he had to really leap it but he did still clear it so I need to trust his ability to clear a fence from a variety of take off points and stop firing him at them. When I got off to put the bounce grid up into fences also put my other fences up 2 holes so vertical was about 3ft3 and spread 3ft but also 3ft wide with groundlines about 4ft wide. Found it very difficult to stop myself firing him at the spread but we jumped the vertical nicely. Spurs helped to create some energy but he is still feeling a bit lethargic. He's never the most energetic to jump at home but still. I have poked his back and I still think he's got some muscle spasm at the back of the saddle so I need to sort the saddler to come and look at them asap. Dreading tomorrow a bit - last chance to qualify for Regionals at Rackham - perfectly capable of it all going well, but chances are something is gonna go wrong! At least ground wont be hard with all this rain!
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