The joys of spring!

After last week's success, I ended up having to give Echo a few days off at the beginning of this week, so when it came to riding her on Wednesday, I wasn't sure what she would do. She had felt so tense and exuberant last week, that I knew there was something of a storm brewing inside that 'butter wouldn't melt' expression!



I decided to wimp out and lunge her instead of riding. I am so glad that I did! As soon as she got out onto the circle, she absolutely exploded. She bucked and leaped and twisted and cantered, all in a jumble. She is not balanced enough to canter and buck, so she has to jump about on the spot. I pushed her forward and she thundered round for about five minutes, looking as if she was thoroughly enjoying herself! When she finally came back to a steady trot, I have never seen such a contented expression on her face. It was as if she were saying, 'Thanks Mum - I needed that!'



I rode her very briefly yesterday, but there was so much going on that I couldn't stay in the school for very long, so only wandered around for about ten minutes. Today, I wasn't taking any chances, so I lunged before riding her. I expected a repeat of Wednesday's performance, but on the left rein she seemed quite calm. I decided just to get on and not bother lunging on the right rein. I don't want her to get too much into the habit of being lunged before riding, as we both might become a little dependent on it. Once I was on board, she was very good. She has to be reminded to concentrate, but after lots of half halts, she was listening fairly attentively.



Her trot has improved so much since she had her back done. She is much less on her forehand and is lovely and soft in the contact. I worked on getting her to stretch, then changed the rein. The right has become a bit more difficult. I am finding it tough to control her outside shoulder, hence steering is a little erratic! Once she was feeling more under control, I asked for canter in the corner. Little madam leaped in the air, stopped dead and stood there bucking her little heart out! She is so funny when she does this! I am amazed by how confident I feel riding her through these little outbursts, but I don't feel unseated (touch wood!) - it just feels...funny!



I pushed her into trot again, and went back onto the left rein. Once the trot was established, I asked for the canter again - I had already cantered her on the lunge on the left rein, so thought this might be fine. She was perfect - the canter was steady and relaxed. Thinking that this might have improved the situation, I changed the rein again and asked for canter to the right. It wasn't exactly great, but it would do! She kept striking off on the wrong leg, but she didn't buck, which at that particular moment, was what I was most interested in! I decided not to persist with the transitions, as I had achieved what I wanted to!

It was such a beautiful day. She got very hot when I was riding, so I gave her a bath and shampooed her mane - it has been couped up under a neck rug all winter, so was quite greasy and horrid. Just as I was about to tie her in the yard to dry off, the horse that lives in her field in the day time came in and she was able to be turned out. I led her down to the field and she was behaving very strangely! I didn't put a rug on, as she was wet and it is supposed to be a warm night. We were about ten yards from the gate of her field and her knees wobbled and buckled, and she got down and rolled! Right in the middle of the path, in the sand. Lovely - wet horse rolling in sand... might take me a while to groom her! I love that though, seeing her having a good scratch. We don't give them enough chances to be completely natural.

My little coiled spring!

After a couple of days of walking (albeit not in the prescribed straight lines) I decided to ride Echo for a bit longer yesterday. She had been feeling quite tense when I was walking her. She didn't do anything silly, but it felt as if she were just humouring me really, and what she'd really like to do would be have a huge bug and race around. I'm quite glad she didn't!

It was very windy yesterday, so I rode her in the indoor school, which is great, but rattles a lot in the wind and she was already quite twitchy! I rode her in walk for a long time, trying to get her to take the contact forwards. The best way that I can describe the sensation she gave me, is like a coiled spring. She felt as if she had a lot of pent up energy. It was in danger of becoming a bit of a vicious circle: I didn't feel comfortable asking her to trot, because she hasn't trotted with a rider for a month and a half, but if I didn't trot, I was just prolonging the inevitable, and she would just have more energy!

I picked a calmer moment and asked her to trot. Needn't have worried (as usual!) as she was very good. The trot felt amazing. Her head carriage was good and she felt powerful and impressive. We had a couple of slight issues about speed, but she was obedient to my half-halts and I didn't feel unsafe. After a few torts on each rein, she still felt a little explosive and I knew that I was going to have the same mental issues about canter. I'm not technically supposed to be cantering yet, but I needed to just do a few strides, to reassure myself that she wouldn't do anything stupid. I asked her to canter and it was a messy transition (more out of Echo's surprise than anything, I think!) but successful. She did a funny leap in to canter and I think that if she had been a bit stronger she probably would have bucked!However, we kept the canter for a side of the arena, then she came obediently back to trot.

I feel like we are making a bit of progress now. She needs to build a lot of strength, as she has had a lot of time off. This doesn't seem to have done her any harm at all, other than a few issues in-hand. She has started being quite naughty to lead. Her field is very close to her stable, so she doesn't have to be led very far at all, in comparison to a few months ago, when she was a good ten minute walk from the yard. At the slightest distraction, she has started rearing and spinning around. It's funny - she doesn't pull on the lead rope at all - she doesn't seem to have any desire to get away from me, she is just full of herself. I think perhaps I need to do some ground work with her and re-establish a little respect. This is most unlike Echo, as she is normally so calm and well-behaved. Perhaps she is feeling like a true teenager!

About time!

After well over a month of not being able to ride my horse, including two weeks of not even being able to touch her, it was so nice to go down to the yard last night. Echo has somewhat forgotten her manners, as she hasn't been handled at all, other than to change her rugs and turn her out or bring her in. She has become a little more pushy in the stable, but nothing that can't be dealt with!

I had to brush her for over half an hour, as no grooming during the season where she sheds the most coat, is not particularly helpful! I could have knitted a jumper with the hair that came off. I wouldn't though, as that's gross (there was a random thing on the news about that recently - another story though!) She seemed genuinely happy that I was around again, which was really rewarding.

I tacked her up, thinking that I may well not ride; she's had a long time off and I would have ideally liked to lunge her first. However, the back lady said I wasn't allowed to lunge, so, I took her to the indoor school and just...got on! Back lady also said that I should walk her out in straight lines the first few days, but with a 3 year old who's had a month off, I wasn't going hacking!

She was beautifully behaved. Again, some of the manners have escaped her, but she was willing and forward going (I was a little worried, as she has been rearing in-hand recently). I walked her round the school for a few minutes on each rein, then called it a day. She did feel a bit different. She felt lovely on the right rein, but a little awkward on the left. I think that her stiffness has been making me compensate in my position, so I am sitting slightly crooked. I must correct this, as I don't want to make things worse. As soon as she is properly back in work, I will have another lesson with John.

So, fingers crossed that the back is sorted now - I will get Jan to come and check her in about a month's time, just to make sure that things are all as they should be. For now - it's just brilliant to be riding her again.

Look, but don't touch!

The Bowen back specialist came out to treat Echo yesterday and confirmed what the saddler had said. She is sore across her back, from the 'point' of the hip on each side, across the top. She said that this seems to be reasonably recent, as she has not started to compensate elsewhere in her body. She said that if this were the case, she would have problems in other muscle groups as well.

It was a strange session to watch; she worked her muscles with her hands for about a minute, then would leave about a two minute gap and then work them again. She didn't seem to be pressing very hard or manipulating as such, just carefully working up her back. Echo seemed to quite enjoy the treatment and particularly when it got to her neck, she looked as if she might fall asleep! Jan advises that the horse be turned out immediately after she ha treated them, but Echo couldn't go out at that point, so she told me to walk her in-hand for twenty minutes, to disperse any toxins that had been released. I don't think she and Echo had quite the same thing in mind!

She walked calmly for about five minutes, until something spooked her and she jumped a foot in the air, then reared. Great. She then proceeded to prance the whole of the rest of the walk, with such vigour at one stage, that I had to put the rope over her nose! I really hope that this has not undone the work on her back. Jan was very particular about how little I can do with her for the next two weeks. Yesterday, I was not allowed to touch her at all, except to put her rugs on. For the rest of the week, I can only touch her head and pick her feet out (as near to the ground as possible). She will then be treated again on Wednesday and will have another week of the same.

It is frustrating, as I have this time off but can't ride; however, I have so much to organise with moving house, that it is not the end of the world. I have also been able to go and visit friends around the country and not felt like I'm missing any riding! Ever cloud...and all that! The only really irritating thing is that the weather is beautiful today and I would love to go out for a long, relaxing hack. Never mind - we'll have the summer for that.

Great Timing!

Echo has had the last couple of weeks off for various reasons, and to be honest she hasn't worked consistently for a couple of months now. I'm not worried about this, as she is young and growing at a rate of knots, so the time off will not do her any harm. However, I lunged her last week and she didn't look quite right in her hind legs. She didn't look lame, but there was a definite 'not quite right' thing going on. I'm sure that phrase is becoming a technical term among horse owners! I couldn't really put my finger on it, so I trotted her up for the yard manager and he said she did look a bit stiff in her hind legs, possibly through her back a bit too. He suggested that it might be from having lots of time off and only sporadic work, so he suggested I should ride her and see. I didn't end up riding that week for various reasons, then was away all weekend.

I lunged her again yesterday, thinking that a week off might have rested anything that was sore, and to begin with she did look slightly better, but she was doing something very odd in her walk-trot transitions. Rather than push off her left hind, she would do a strange sort of jump in front, then would use the left hind properly once she was trotting. I had a close look at this, by timing the transition just at the moment where she should have to use the left hind to propel her into trot, but she wouldn't use it. I trotted her up again afterwards, but no one could see anything conclusive.

Today I had the saddler check the fit of her saddle and was thinking that I would see how she felt with me on her, but when I mentioned to the saddler that I thought she had a sore back, he ran his hand down her back, behind the saddle. It was amazing - when I have done this, she hasn't flinched at all - I must not be pressing hard enough. When he did it, she nearly fell over! He said that she has a very sore back, but that it is too far back to have been caused by the saddle (and luckily for my bank balance, the saddle still fits fine!) and must be due to something she's done on her own. It has been so wet recently, that it is quite possible she's slipped in the field. Her front end is also rapidly shooting up to reach the height of her back end, so this could be tweaking something. What is good to know is that it is predominantly on the left side, which would explain the problem with the left hind.

I have contacted the Bowen back specialist and she is going to treat her on Wednesday. She will have to have two weeks off while she is treated over a five day period, and that is just typical, as I am on my school Easter holidays right now. How do horses manage to time things just perfectly? However, at least the clocks change this weekend, so it will be lighter after work and we won't always have to go in the school in the evenings. I will update once the back lady has seen her next week. Fingers crossed!

Sorry for the absence!

I am so sorry for my lack of posting over the last couple of weeks - I don't have access to the internet in the house I am temporarily staying in, and work is so busy that finding time there is tricky. However, I am moving house very soon, and so shyould have lots of time to blog! I will also be on my Easter holidays soon, which will mean lots of time for riding Echo. It's been a bit erratic up to the end of this term, but she is going well when I do get to ride. I will post more information VERY soon.

Bending!

Echo has been going really well this week. I have only been riding her for about half an hour each time I’ve ridden, but this is plenty, as she is still a bit lacking in strength through being young and having had a holiday. I have been feeling very emotional towards the end of the week (it’s up and down!) and felt that I needed something specific to work on with Echo, to keep me focussed and sane. My theme for this week has been working on getting her to work into the outside contact. I felt that I was using too much inside rein and decided to do something about it!

Working in walk a lot to begin with, I started by asking her to flex her neck dramatically to the inside, while still walking in a straight line. Once she worked out what to do, she immediately felt more flexible through her body. I then started to ask for leg yielding from the three-quarter line to the track. She knows what to do with this, but is sometimes keen to not take the outside contact. I find myself over-using the inside rein, which is not good.

I then started to ask her to leg yield along the track. When I came round the corner before the long side, I asked her to bring her hind-quarters in and leg-yield along the track. She finds this difficult, but I find it a more successful way of getting her to work into the outside rein (albeit the ‘wrong’ outside rein each time!) I then started to ask for these movements in trot, which she finds easier in some ways, but does then have a tendency to rush. I worked hard at using half-halts in the leg-yielding to control the pace, which in turn got her to work more into the outside rein.

We are making small steps with this, but I feel that she is starting to understand what I am asking her to do. The other interesting thing with all of this is that on Sunday I managed to get a walk to canter transition for the first time – and on the left rein, which is notoriously our worst for striking off on the correct leg. I was really pushing her into the corner in walk, asking her to really reach in to the outside rein and step under with her inside hind, and on a whim, I decided to ask for the canter transition, as she felt very connected. She just sort of popped up through the transition and the actual canter then felt amazing and balanced. What a result! John tried to get us to do walk to canter in our last lesson and we didn’t manage it, so I am really seeing progress now.

It isn’t that I want her to be able to do this all the time, but it is a great way of balancing the transitions and stopping her falling onto her forehand when going into canter. The other thing I felt able to do on Sunday was actually ask a bit more of her in the canter. I was able to sit up and really ride, using my inside leg to engage her. This is a good step forward, as previously I have been satisfied with just getting into canter in the first place. I now need to work on the downward transitions. She still really falls into trot and then runs along on her forehand, so I have decided not to trot after cantering at the moment. I bring her back to a walk straight from canter, which I am hoping will instil a desire to balance herself after the downward transition. I am not sure on this point though, so any ideas would be appreciated!

Happy Horse!

This is a little out of date, as I don't have internet access where I am living at the moment, and so am writing on my computer at home, then bringing it in to work to put on my blog. All a bit confusing!

I had such a lovely weekend of riding – this is what owning a horse is all about. On Saturday I went for a hack with my friend and her ex-racehorse. It’s such a shame – she has come to the end of her tether with the standard of care at the yard and is moving her horse at the end of this week. Just as I have come back! I totally sympathise with her though; you have to do what is right for you in terms of livery yards. It was a beautiful day yesterday: the sun was shining and it wasn’t too cold. It was a little windy while we were out, but Echo isn’t really affected by the wind thank goodness!

She felt really pleased to be out again – we haven’t hacked for about a month now, so she was alert and interested. My friend and I had a lot of catching up and gossiping to do, so we spent a good half an hour just in walk, but when we trotted Echo felt balanced and forward-going, which was fantastic. At one point we decided to have a canter and Mojo cantered off from walk. I should have thought about this, as Echo has had some time off and has lost some strength, so is finding her canter transitions a little tricky again. She seems to get worried when the horse in front canters off and she gets stuck in the transition. To combat this, she stands still, puts her head between her legs and bounces repeatedly on the spot!

In the past when this has happened, it worried me and I thought there was something wrong. However, I am starting to see a pattern and have realised that it tends to happen when we don’t trot for a period before going into canter. She gets stuck in a walk/canter transition and so just bucks! It’s as if she can’t get her legs in the right order and she gets in a tangle! My friend stopped and we decided to just trot up the hill. However, once Echo was trotting forward (and as we always get left behind because Mojo’s huge) I decided to ask for the canter transition – she was fine, so I called to my friend and we cantered the rest of the way up the hill!

On Sunday, I rode her in the school and she went really well. It was warm and sunny, which always makes me feel more positive, and it was a joy to be riding my beautiful horse. We worked a lot on the left rein, as she felt a little stiff to begin with. After some walk and trot, I asked her for a canter transition and she struck off on the wrong leg. This hasn’t happened for a while, and I knew exactly what the problem was: I didn’t have enough contact in my right rein, and was relying too much on the inside rein for the bend. Not good! We probably did about 8 incorrect transitions, with me really working on getting her into my right hand in between. In fact, although we kept getting the wrong canter lead, the trot in-between started to feel amazing. Finally, I got her properly working from my inside leg to outside rein, and we got the correct lead. I was exhausted! We did a little work on the right rein, but she was tired and so was I, so I called it a day.
It was such a nice day that I decided to graze her by the school for a while and watch some lessons going on. It was nice for her to get some sun on her back, and some grass, as there is none in her field. She gets a huge mound of hay each night, but she always loves to get some good old-fashioned grass! She seems so relaxed at the yard – I definitely made the right decision moving her back. I am able to go down there and ride, spend some time with her, then go home and get on with other things; it’s making a big difference to my state of mind. She is also loving being back in work again – I think she got bored when I wasn’t riding her – she just generally seems very content with life at the moment.

Horse/Life Balance

I have now moved Echo back to the yard she was at before and am so relieved. I just couldn't get my head around sorting the mess out in my life, as well as having her on DIY livery. The last few weeks have been very tough emotionally, but I am feeling much more philosophical about things now. I am still hurting a lot and I don't think that will go away for a long time, but I am able at least to think straight now, and I realised that the yard she is at now is where she should be. I liked the DIY place, but I just didn't have the emotional energy to devote to her there, and I realised very quickly that I definitely do not want Echo to rule my life.

I met several people at the yard who are all lovely and admirable, but their lives revolve entirely around their horses. They can't go on holiday, they can't go out for a whole day, they can't have a normal job, all because they have to be there at certain times of day to deal with their horse. If this is what makes them happy, then I admire them whole-heartedly for being able to do it. However, all of this has made me realise that I want Echo to be a part of my life, not the centre of it. She is my horse, who I love and enjoy riding and caring for, but I have a life away from her too. Having her on DIY livery was going to distort that unrecognisably.

I am delighted to report that I am now riding her again. While she was at the DIY yard I only rode her twice, as I didn't have the energy to do it. She was never very settled there, and the thought of her being on edge and shying constantly and it all being a battle was just too much to face. Back where we are now, I lunged her on Sunday, then rode her Tuesday and yesterday, and she was brilliant. She is a little rusty (as am I!) but we have not lost anything due to the time off, and this has been a huge relief.

I am being much stricter with myself now. On evenings when I don't plan to ride, I am not going to go down to the yard. I was going every evening before, which was unnecessary. I pay livery so that I don't have to do that. I am also making sure that I don't spend ridiculous amounts of time at the stables - I love being with Echo, but it is also important that I get my work done and that I have a social life too, so I am limiting myself time-wise as much as possible.

I'm going hacking this weekend, which I'm really looking forward to - I have missed it so much! She has lost a fair amount of strength and fitness, so it will only be short, but I so appreciate the facilities that I have now. I (almost) vow to never whinge about anything ever again.

Horses that have meant a lot to me.

Part 3



I had been working at Sheepcote for about a year by the time Joe came into my life. Serena had bought him for her daughter, as she had had a coloured cob on loan and been devastated when she had to go back. Joe was designed to soften the blow. However, as the child was only about 9 and Joe was nearly 14.2hh and VERY wide, he was a little too much for her to begin with. For the first few weeks he was ridden by a very novice working pupil in our daily lessons. He had been in a riding school for a couple of years and had probably come over from Ireland before that. He was opinionated and very strong, but he had a lovely eye and a very generous temperament. He couldn't canter in balance and used to poke his nose out in a typical riding school fashion.


When the girl who was riding him left, Joe was passed to me. The idea had apparently always been for me to school him, as a kind of project. The yard was amazing, but there weren't going to be many chances for me to compete, as the schoolmasters were too old and I wasn't really brave enough to ride and compete the youngsters. Joe was the perfect solution. The first time I rode him I couldn't believe how wide he was. I couldn't use my legs! However, I managed to ride him really forwards in trot, and by the end, we had managed an outline (of sorts!) At that point, I realised we were going to have a lot of fun!


I started riding Joe in September 2004 and in December, we went to our first show. He was beautifully behaved, but it was my first real experience of competing and I didn't have a great deal of 'ring-craft'. We came out of it with a 2nd and a 6th - I was absolutely thrilled. We competed through the winter, doing pretty well and qualified for a riding club championships held in August 05. I stopped working at Sheepcote in order to go and train to be a teacher, but David and Serena were very kind and allowed me to keep riding Joe, as they were quite short-staffed and didn't need him for the lessons. By the time of the championships, Joe and I were schooling at roughly medium level, perfecting our canter half-passes and starting to work on changes. I am absolutely convinced that if I had asked him to stand on his head, he would have tried. He put absolutely everything into his work and was desperate to please me. I will never forget our partnership.







When we went to the championships, I was confident that we could do well. I was doing a test before the championship one and this did not go terribly well. Joe was not very enthusiastic and I couldn't get him off my leg. However, we came out of it with a decent percentage and I realised that we could do so much better than that. Before the championship test, Serena helped me warm up, then told me to gallop him round the outside of the arena before going in. I was worried that this would blow his brains, but it was the perfect thing to do. He trotted down the centre line with determination and impulsion, and the rest of the test was brilliant. I came out of the arena knowing that we couldn't have done much better. It was agonaising watching the score board while the next 6 or 7 riders went. However, I won the class with 70% and I have never been so proud. The photos of the day do not show how smart he looked - I hadn't realised there was a mounted prize-giving and so had taken his plaits out. However, we got to do a lap of honour, and since all Joe had really done was an extended canter for the last year, the chance of a proper burn around the field was very exciting. He set off at a collected canter, then suddenly realised that he was allowed to go. With a buck and a squeal, we set off at top speed - it felt fantastic!


When I started my teacher training, Sheepcote got more staff and so they needed Joe for the lessons. I also then bought my yearling and so I stopped seeing so much of him. The following spring, Serena phoned me and told me Joe had suddenly gone down with acute laminitis. I was devastated and went to see him immediately. He was in a lot of pain and the vet didn't really know whether anything could be done. It seemed that the laminitis had probably been caused by something in his past - possibly ragwort poisoning or worm-damage. Either way, he was past help. He stopped eating and had lost the will to carry on. I will never forget the phone call when Serena told me that he had died. I missed him so much.


I have such fantastic memories of Joe. He was the most honest, hard-working and generous horse I have ever met in my life and he will always hold a special place in my heart.