Walking in hand - slightly carrying quarters to the right
Trot in hand - less obvious deviation of the quarters
Trot on the lunge in school - intermittently hoppy in front esp on left rein LF
Trot on lunge in car park - left rein - intermittently lame LF. right rein - quite consistently lame RF. prob about 2-3/10 lame - definitely obvious.
Feet looking a bit short so wonder if farrier trying a bit hard to get his toes back. Also shoe on RF touching frog which must be a bit uncomfy.
He hasn't been hoppy to ride recently but I do remember him being occasionally hoppy in front on the right rein in trot back earlier this year when he was last in work.
He also has this splint on his RF which he threw when he was back in walk work but it doesn't seem painful on palpation and it's not hot and hasn't changed recently.
He was lame in front on a hard circle on his original vetting and it improved significantly by the 2nd vetting but he was still about 1/10 lame on the hard circle. Vet thought it was insignificant but seems like it might have got a bit worse again so will have a good chat with farrier next time he is out. Hopefully he is not developing anything horrific like navicular.
Physio was pleased with his neck mobility - carry on with his stretches, just need to hold his poll to make sure he doesn't cheat by tilting his head. Remember to do the one where he stretches between his front legs with nose up by his chest as well as down on the floor. She said she thought we might need to treat him under sedation again but after manipulating him thought he was ok.
There was lots of clicking and cracking going on as she manipulated his back and made him really flex it and he was tighter having to bend it to the left as meant he has to stretch his tight right side. Tight on his right gluteals as always.
Generally not too bad considering it's been just over 6mths since she last saw him.
Day off tomorrow, hack on Wed then back to normal and she'll see him again in 3mths.
Monday 26 November 2012
Sunday 25 November 2012
end of 2nd week of canter work
Bit of a washout of a week really. Schooled on Monday morning before farrier came. Got road nails in which has really helped with his slipping on the roads. Tuesday rained off. Wed and Thur it was blowing a gale so opted for lunging in draw reins. Thur he went really well in them - really stretching into them. When I lunged in them last week he kept going off disunited in right canter but this week he was fine. Friday finally got out for a hack at lunchtime and whizzed down the railway line but only time to do the main bit which is only 1.5mins cantering. Sat completely rained off. This morning nipped out for a hack before work in lovely sunshine and cantered the entire railway line and then halfway back which was about 4mins canter and topped that off with 16.5mins trot in a 55min hack - on a mission! On the way back had to trot through a flooded bit of road and for the first time ever he really rounded over his back and stepped up and under with his hindlegs - it felt amazing - I want trot like that all the time! We shall forget the bit after that where he decided to nap at the thought of going the long way back to the yard and try and nip round and dash down the footpath followed by a rearing tantrum when I said no - cheeky little sod.
He's feeling much fitter now, girth is going up an extra hole (still got one more to go to get him back to the weight he was in May but he is looking more like a competition horse again now all clipped and smart - gone is the furry pony of last week!)
He has physio tomorrow to make sure we stay on track after all this straight line work which has got him feeling so much more equal and straight.
Need to crack on with some schooling this week as we have our first dressage test on Sunday - woohoo!
He's feeling much fitter now, girth is going up an extra hole (still got one more to go to get him back to the weight he was in May but he is looking more like a competition horse again now all clipped and smart - gone is the furry pony of last week!)
He has physio tomorrow to make sure we stay on track after all this straight line work which has got him feeling so much more equal and straight.
Need to crack on with some schooling this week as we have our first dressage test on Sunday - woohoo!
Sunday 18 November 2012
End of first week of cantering
We're getting there now :)
Up to 2.5mins of cantering which is roughly what we'd do on our average hack anyway so it's really just the schoolwork that needs building up now.
Schooling this week has been good. He's been popping into canter nicely on both reins and sustaining it for a couple of circles. Doing some walk-sitting trot for a while then walk again transitions which are helping him connect from behind. Finding it much easier to get into canter nicely from a consistent sitting trot too. On Wed we ran through a basic prelim and it was perfectly acceptable so give us a couple more weeks and should be ready for our first show. He is much more accepting on the right rein so hoping the time off has done him some good. Friday I lunged him with the draw reins behind his elbows technique and he went really nicely.
Today we went for a trip in the horsebox with Llewi to Puttenham and had a great time round there. Disappointed to come across a lovely fallen tree and not be able to jump it though :(
Blanket clip this morning as now we're cantering he's been getting quite sweaty. Retrimmed his bridle patch and legs. Just his mane to tackle now and he'll look like a competition horse again instead of a hairy pony! Cant decide whether to re-pull his tail or leave it au naturel.
Up to 2.5mins of cantering which is roughly what we'd do on our average hack anyway so it's really just the schoolwork that needs building up now.
Schooling this week has been good. He's been popping into canter nicely on both reins and sustaining it for a couple of circles. Doing some walk-sitting trot for a while then walk again transitions which are helping him connect from behind. Finding it much easier to get into canter nicely from a consistent sitting trot too. On Wed we ran through a basic prelim and it was perfectly acceptable so give us a couple more weeks and should be ready for our first show. He is much more accepting on the right rein so hoping the time off has done him some good. Friday I lunged him with the draw reins behind his elbows technique and he went really nicely.
Today we went for a trip in the horsebox with Llewi to Puttenham and had a great time round there. Disappointed to come across a lovely fallen tree and not be able to jump it though :(
Blanket clip this morning as now we're cantering he's been getting quite sweaty. Retrimmed his bridle patch and legs. Just his mane to tackle now and he'll look like a competition horse again instead of a hairy pony! Cant decide whether to re-pull his tail or leave it au naturel.
Sunday 11 November 2012
Start of canter work
So, this weekend was the end of 6wks of trot work gradually building up to 15mins. All seems to be going well (cross fingers)
Yesterday I did a schooling session - first time back in his dressage saddle. Initial trot wasn't great due to me struggling with long stirrups, brand new riding boots and a dressage saddle. So then we did some walk, sitting trot, walk transitions which really helped get him connected. Then went on to do some really nice trot work and so we did a 20m circle in canter on each rein. Both reins he popped into canter really sweetly, staying nice and round, but clearly found it harder on the right rein so just concentrated on keeping him nice and forwards. Finished with nice stretchy trot on both reins. Actually finding him easier on the right rein at the moment - he feels more consistent in the contact and is equal in both reins. Never thought I'd say that but on the left he is not working into the contact but kind of sitting there roughly in the right place but I dont feel I've got him in my hands. He's got physio in 2wks time so will be good to get him checked over again now we're upping the workload again. 1st dressage lesson booked for early Dec.
Hacking today and let him canter for one minute down the railway line which he found a lot easier than a tiny bit of canter in the school.
Put him back on half rations TopSpec this week now Cool, Calm and Collected has all finished.
Farrier yet again tomorrow - going through shoes like they're going out of fashion!
Yesterday I did a schooling session - first time back in his dressage saddle. Initial trot wasn't great due to me struggling with long stirrups, brand new riding boots and a dressage saddle. So then we did some walk, sitting trot, walk transitions which really helped get him connected. Then went on to do some really nice trot work and so we did a 20m circle in canter on each rein. Both reins he popped into canter really sweetly, staying nice and round, but clearly found it harder on the right rein so just concentrated on keeping him nice and forwards. Finished with nice stretchy trot on both reins. Actually finding him easier on the right rein at the moment - he feels more consistent in the contact and is equal in both reins. Never thought I'd say that but on the left he is not working into the contact but kind of sitting there roughly in the right place but I dont feel I've got him in my hands. He's got physio in 2wks time so will be good to get him checked over again now we're upping the workload again. 1st dressage lesson booked for early Dec.
Hacking today and let him canter for one minute down the railway line which he found a lot easier than a tiny bit of canter in the school.
Put him back on half rations TopSpec this week now Cool, Calm and Collected has all finished.
Farrier yet again tomorrow - going through shoes like they're going out of fashion!
Sunday 4 November 2012
End of week 5 of trotting
More of the same this week really. Week was made by passing my HGV test on Wednesday - yay!
Last week on the Winning Edge Gold - dont feel it's made any difference to him at all. Full money back though so that's something. Started back on TopSpec this weekend - just half rations for now. Otherwise he is still on 1/3 scoop Bailey's Endurance Mix, big handful of Good Doer and 1.5scoops of Fast Fibre.
Schooling wise - he's finding it hard work. I'm finding it hard to get him between leg and hand in the jump saddle. Need to get my dressage saddle back and start riding in proper boots and spurs again. Start getting him a bit sharper off the leg again. Just booked first lesson for 5wks time. He seems to find it easy to go deep, not so easy to come up in front but then we're not doing much to activate the hindlegs yet - just started doing some trot-walk-trot transitions but he needs a lot more to get him working through from behind. He is being fairly soft in the hand though so that's something.
Hacking - made the mistake of going up the ranges with Jo yesterday. Unexploded bomb that very nearly exploded. Not so bad on the way across the top track, few little leaps and mini bucks but nothing major. The further we went the more I had the feeling that turning around wasn't going to go well. Couldn't take him off the main track as knew if his feet touched heather he'd loose the plot so we went through some woods and back onto the main track but Sox knew we were on the way home and started jogging which set Monty off snorting and prancing which wound Sox up even more. Monty started leaping and bucking and thank god Jo managed to keep hold of Sox and keep him back from me so we just walked the entire length of the long track back with occasional mini explosions. Wont be repeating that in a hurry!
Hunted a new horse today. Ex-NH racehorse. Generally controllable but just wasn't too happy about being held near the back and occasionally planted and refused to go forwards then ran backwards, span, leapt and tanked off - that bit wasn't so fun! Otherwise pretty good though and we did a bit of jumping on the last line which was great fun as not jumped for more than a month apart from one on Llewi at opening meet.
Last week of trotting this week - start canter after next weekend. Pick up my horsebox next Saturday and hunting another unknown horse next Sunday. All good fun!
Last week on the Winning Edge Gold - dont feel it's made any difference to him at all. Full money back though so that's something. Started back on TopSpec this weekend - just half rations for now. Otherwise he is still on 1/3 scoop Bailey's Endurance Mix, big handful of Good Doer and 1.5scoops of Fast Fibre.
Schooling wise - he's finding it hard work. I'm finding it hard to get him between leg and hand in the jump saddle. Need to get my dressage saddle back and start riding in proper boots and spurs again. Start getting him a bit sharper off the leg again. Just booked first lesson for 5wks time. He seems to find it easy to go deep, not so easy to come up in front but then we're not doing much to activate the hindlegs yet - just started doing some trot-walk-trot transitions but he needs a lot more to get him working through from behind. He is being fairly soft in the hand though so that's something.
Hacking - made the mistake of going up the ranges with Jo yesterday. Unexploded bomb that very nearly exploded. Not so bad on the way across the top track, few little leaps and mini bucks but nothing major. The further we went the more I had the feeling that turning around wasn't going to go well. Couldn't take him off the main track as knew if his feet touched heather he'd loose the plot so we went through some woods and back onto the main track but Sox knew we were on the way home and started jogging which set Monty off snorting and prancing which wound Sox up even more. Monty started leaping and bucking and thank god Jo managed to keep hold of Sox and keep him back from me so we just walked the entire length of the long track back with occasional mini explosions. Wont be repeating that in a hurry!
Hunted a new horse today. Ex-NH racehorse. Generally controllable but just wasn't too happy about being held near the back and occasionally planted and refused to go forwards then ran backwards, span, leapt and tanked off - that bit wasn't so fun! Otherwise pretty good though and we did a bit of jumping on the last line which was great fun as not jumped for more than a month apart from one on Llewi at opening meet.
Last week of trotting this week - start canter after next weekend. Pick up my horsebox next Saturday and hunting another unknown horse next Sunday. All good fun!
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