Same Old...

Fly's lameness doesn't seem to be getting any worse, but nor does it seem to be getting better.
She is not terribly lame but it is noticeable.

So yet again we went walkies around the land and up the track. Silly Moo wanted to gallop along the track, she was so so desperate she kept turning round and giving me a look as if to say "please please, just a little gallop, have a bit of fun!" She even took the advantage of me bending down under a branch to zoom off. lol.

It was worming day today, so she stayed in and got to stuff her face with haylage all day and listen to the radio - back to old lazy habits!
I bandaged up her leggies and she was all set for the day and night. haha. Apart from her water as the taps were frozen and we had to wait until 3 before we could redo them...at this point she took the chance to escape from he stable and wonder off around the yard, she is a funny one. She was going back and forth wondering what she could eat I guess, then I attempted to lead her into her stable by her mane and she ran of and ended up in the big stable, which she was a rather happy to be in saying "Hi" to people with plastic bag noises (food?) out the window!
Eventually I managed to get her back into her own stable.

So I suppose we will have to see if her lameness is any better tomorrow, but will be just taking things slow as there is no need to rush her back into work.

Walky Walky

Mayfly seemed to be pretty good after yesterday's adventure, but still just kept today's exercising to a minimum. So we went for a relaxing (or not as Fly decided differently) walk around the land.

She started nice a easy but when I cleverly tried to stop her whilst I struggled to get my phone out of my pocket she got all fussy and begun to go backwards - sideways - forwards - any direction, apart from standing still so I got a little angry with her. Naughty Mare!

I spotted a interesting sight as I was gazing around us, a deer was lying down randomly next to a tree...wouldn't be surprised if it had been half traumatised by the pack of dogs. How pleasant. Ohh and a dead bird "sunbathing" on it's back. haha.

It was cold cold cold so rugged up Fly, bandages in all and gave her more bedding to keep her cosy for the night :o)

Someones Feeling Better!

ahh Mayfly is a funny one :o)

Went for a walky/trot hack today with Catherine on Benjamin, as she is looking basically non-lame now.
She started very slow, dawdling along poor Ben couldn't actaully walk any slower. lol. However as soon as we turn towards home she was off!
I don't think I have ever seen a horse walk so fast, we were having marching races. haha. Then came the jogging...I felt it coming, and god it does annoy me when she jogs (got us onto the topic of Bluebell Ride which we will have to go on again in April as it was somewhat of a laugh even though the jogging did drive us mental!)
As the hack drew to an end Mayfly spiritally decided every few strided she would swish her tail and "jump" into and energetic trot...couldn't work out her reasons for this. Guessing she wasn't to impressed about and hours hack in walk and trot, and she seemed to be blaming it on Ben by attempting to kick him, despite the fact that she was the lame one.

The bandages are doing wonders on Fly's legs, they are looking great. This annoyingly means that she is going to be bandaged every night, but it makes the difference for her soo guess I have no choice.

Fingers crossed she will not have suffered from messing around today, we will try to take it easy tomorrow.

Gentle Walk..or Not

Mayfly is looking a lot better, still a little lame but we decided that a walky stretch in as much as a straight line as possible would be good.

Just a gentle walk Fly...not some super speedy march. haha, she is such a dope.
The problem with her is she fails to realise that her body can't be coping with her wants to charge about the place. ah dear.
Wearing some new boots on her hind legs when riding, which have a nice fat hard protection to prevent her from brushing her windgalls, as there was evidence of that happening on the boots she went out in. I also popped the exercise sheet on as it was very chilly today and as we were suppose to be slowly tottering around I though she might get cold, we went around the fields and as we were going up the drive the lovely next door neighbours came out for a race around their track on their quad bikes screaming as they went, which was rather kind of them.

All I can say is a I dreading the moment after another week at least when we return to proper work!!
Give her tomorrow off as she may need it after today's naughtyness.

Fingers Crossed

Mayfly's on the mend.

Trotted her up again today, she is still lame but looking a lot lot better.

So Today was another pamper for her!

hehe The Lip >>

Gave her main a pull as it was getting rather long, now she looks very smart...apart from the belly that she has been acquiring whilst off work. lol.

Yet again she had some of my lunch (bullied it off me!) but I did make her do some stretches for it.

I had the joys of bandaging her legggies for the night.

She is also wearing support boots for turn out as her windgalls are so big she may be catching then, which wouldn't be a surprise as she brushes a lot.

I crazily decided to ride Delami today as I am being deprived from riding muchly. haha.

He was a very good boy considering it has been a good few months since he was ridden and about 1 - 2months he has just been living out! So I may have been mad just jumping aboard the little git, but ahh well he is good fun. :D

Hope to start the fun of walking on Fly in as straight lines as possible soon, could be fun as I know she will be wanting to go quite a few gears faster! haha.

Bad News..No Christmas Hack

Look At poor Mayfly's Windgalls!

Windgalls are caused by build of fluid in the fetlock joint, and also excess fluid in the sheath - so close to the tendons.
She has had them for many years, but they're bigger than usual, and we are thinking that maybe they are causing her lameness.
So Mayfly had yesturday to rest and when she is in her stable her legs are being bandaged up to help relieve the pressure off her legs.

Trotted her up again today and she is still lame... so that meant no christmas eve hack :o(
She will have another day of rest tomorrow and I will go and see her on boxing day. My fingers are crossed that rest will be all she needs, but we are not doing box rest as that is a nightmare and imagine the size that Mayfly will end up!!! haha.

Anyway today I gave her some love and attention.

She had a lovely long groom and massage with the rubber curry comb, which she loves.
Of course she also ate a lot, including my lunch..........
naughty mare. lol.

Then had the joys of leg bandaging, gets me some good practice I guess.
Ooo and I finally got round to cleaning my mud covered tack, well done me.

Some-one needs to brush their teeth>>> haha.

Merry Christmas from Fly and I.

Lame Hobbler :(

Poor Mrs. Fly!

Went down early this morning, helped muck out which I haven't done in a longggg time (was actually quite ok).
Mayfly's lip was wobbling as per usual!

Weather wasn't it's lovely self soo I had no excuse not to go in the arena and do some schooling...well to start with anyway.
Tacked The Fly up and started by letting her stretch on a long rein, then when we began to trot, and we discovered she was a little lame. :o(
She was dragging her near hind (the leg that she is usually stiff on).
So I continued to walk her on a long rein so she could stretch and losen it up a bit, and that was it for the day.

I checked her over and there is no heat on the leg or obvious injury, so hopefully she will be ok asap, otherwise there will be no christmas eve hack!!

Silly marey.

Don't need the Hunt to go Hunting!

Fabulous weather, perfect for some hacking...or should I call it hunting?!

Who needs the hunt..
For the hounds and fellow horses - I've got the squirrels and deer.
For the horn - the bird scarers.
For the jumps - the puddles/water filled dips.
And I definitely have the mud, but I can choose not to go gallivanting through it!
hehe

The hack started rather interestingly...
we came along some building work - loud noises and scary vehicles. The one thing that Mayfly can't cope with it clashy noisy vehicles, so this wasn't to fun to start. Luckily the kind men stopped work and turned off the engines once they realised I was there :o)
Next some dear sprung themselves upon us. lol. We were wandering along when a deer shot out about 1 metre in front of us, Fly wasn't too bothered until she and I realised that standing literally next to us in the bushes was yet another deer. After much shouting from me it shot across the track to join the other, then they both shot back again, then three of them shot across again! I trotted on assuming they were well and truely gone (singing as I went) and then up the track the three of them shot across again!!!

We found another new hack..Fly kept attempting to turn around as I think she though we were lost and she would do the honors of taking us both home. haha
Actually was a pleasant hack, discovered some lovely gallop tracks :D
Also raced a squirrel - something rather new and interesting!

There is one problemo which may mean my happy hacking might have to go on hold..Mayfly usually gets shod every 4 weeks, but for some reason she isn't booked to be shod for 6 weeks. Lets hope either the farrier can come soon or the shoes stay put. lol

Near Death...For a Squirrel

Woo, did some superb exploring today.
Discovered a whole new hack - took about 1 1/2 hours.

Mayfly loves finding new routes, she becomes all excited and "looky" does make me laugh! hehe
Found some beautiful canter tracks and went through a some what odd village and sort of farm.
I took some food with me as I did not know how long I was going to be gone for but it actually went successfully and I managed to not get lost :D

Yet again we came upon some cows, which shocked me with their MOO!

Towards the end of the hack is when the near "murder" happened, we were trotting along when suddenly out popped a squirrel it slid under Fly's legs and was just capable of scrambling up a near-by tree. Mine and Mayfly's poor hearts skipped a beat, I thought it was dead. haha. Then later, another one rustled around in the bushes making Fly all jumpy, and when doing a zooming trot that is rather uncomfortable. Gosh I do hate squirrels!
Also to add to the moaning, Quad bikes! One went buzzing past with no cares for anyone else who may be near...can't complain about them too much though as they are pretty fun...they could be a little more considerate though!

ahh well good hack overall, I am turning into a happy hacker. hehe

Poo, Moo, Boo, WooHoo!

I am back, and Mayfly seemed somewhat happy to see me :D
I was extremely happy to see her, and she has been clipped YAY.
She looks very smart, and hoping that will be her last clip...

Went for a good 2 hour hack as it was a beautiful day.
so to quickly explain the title:
Poo - Fly did 5 poos on the hack! lol
Moo - Said "Hi" to some surprise cows.
Boo - There were many unexpected moments along the way.
WooHoo - It was a good'un and I am happy to be back in the saddle. haha

Mayfly started reluctantly due to all the horrible sludgy mud on the first bridleway, and to add to it the nasty jack russel was waiting to attck us...but she was soon full of herself as per usual.
There seems to be many spooky bird scarers in the fields which scare not only the birds but Mayfly too. lol
I was unprepared for the jumping of the water crossing, and then the galloping off after it - naughty Fly! And we acquired some jogging, not to my surprise.
She also attempted to canter up the steep road, hmmm not a good idea. lol
ooo then came the cows, we were casually strolling along the road when suddenly Mayfly jumped in the air, I had no idea what it was over until I looked to me left and literally 2metres away were the henchest cows I think I have ever seen! haha
I must say, I could of been going on a XC course for some of the hack, we went cantering through a extremely big puddle - basically a river, and little "ditches" filled with water which Mayfly insisted on jumping, She was really enjoying herself, bless her!

She had a scrummy apple to finish on, I think she was happy enough anyway as she didn't get forced into her field. lol

The Last Day...

My last time seeing Fly for 8 days as I am going Skiing tomorrow...She had lots of love and "fun riding" today.

You know the days when you need to be reasonably quick, but everythign seems to be preventing that from happening?
Well today I had to be quick as I need to pack for skiing and going out for dinner soo ofcourse Mayfly was the filthiest she has been in a long time meaning it took me ages to groom her and then many other problems kept arising! lol

She was looney tunes again today, but that is just becoming normal now. haha.
its the same old jog, jog and she even gives of a feeling of a rear coming at time.. but she would never do that.

Well hopefully I will come back to a chilled, and lovely clipped Mayfly.
Fingers crossed! :o)

CRAZZYY Horsey!

I have now come to the decision that giving Mayfly a day off when she is only having like 1 hour turn-out a day and spending the rest of her day inhaling haylige and standing still is, well not a clever idea.

I was left with a very sweaty, jiggy mare and a hot tried me by the end of today's session!

However, she did not fail to make me happy...
Our Leg yielding is close to perfect, today instead of shoulders falling outwards there was actually bum driving outwards - WOW
me thinks she was too excited today to managed medium trot I just got canter, but I did get some very collected trot...passage next (or not).
Also managed counter counter quite well... it's just the change back that she struggles with. lol
And our half pirouette to canter is wonderful, and canter to halt...well, she is like one of those western horses when is comes to that, as she slams on the breaks. lol

Ended with some ground work, she has got the idea of following me around a circle and following me in general. I am now onto teaching her to go back easily.
And she makes me laugh when I run she throws her head around and comes trotting after me. hehe

Yet again dinner was awaiting her...silly me thought the stable door was bolted so took her bridle off and she rushed to it and pulled the door open, she is too clever for her own good! She does have to realise that her dinner is not going to grow legs and run away. haha

Angled Doubles..ooo :D

Haven't jumped it two weeks so I guessed it was time for another super cool jumping exercise!

It consisted of 3 angles jumps - two uprights and a spread - which were also jumpable as two different doubles.

She was jumping so well :D

It is aimed to help with accuracy, and straightness when Mayfly jumps...I think it worked. I was practicing not look at the jumps and keeping my bottom leg sturdy + toes tucked in! lol

At one point she got soo full of her self I had to turn her away from the jump as she was going back to her "run at the jump" ways, also she mucked up her striding at one point bless her and I thought I was going right over her head, luckily as she is so honest she jumped it which pushed me back into the saddle!

To finish off we went for a walk up the drive, and then she had a couple of carrots for a treat for being so good, and yes the lip was wiggling!

She only went out for 1/2 hour today as she got bored...hmmm spoilt mare. lol

Lalala..Bareback

I do Love my Fly!

Recently I have come to realise the bond that we have together, and since it has become even stronger.
She is one super mare...everyone deserves their own Mayfly.


Anyways today I rode bareback as I hope to jump tomorrow so I would like Mayfly to be a little "fresh".
Was good fun, she was being a good girl. We practice our half pirouettes as haven't done much on them lately. Also ended with some leg yield...she is really getting the hang of it now which makes me very smiley!
Managed to get her to stand still whilst I sat on her sideways and the slid off, to finish on a happy happy note I ran from the far end on the arena to the gate and Fly came trotting after then I stopped and she slammed on the brakes too :o) she is a sweetie.

Ohh and she now has a nice clean rug on, her yukky one has finally gone to be cleaned. lol.
But she is still is desperate need of clipping!!!

Another "Bum Lifting" Moment

With Mayfly staying in when the weather is horrible - like today, she is chilling out stuffing her face with scrummy haylige and listening to radio 2 all day.

We have run out of "Bedmax" so for now Mayfly is on a mixture of her left over "Bedmax" along with some "Megasorb", however that is running out too so we best get a delivery soon!
On the plus side, I have decided that I do quite like skiping out on "Megasorb". lol

When it came to riding Mayfly she was her normal self to start.
The arena was still slightly crispy from the cold night and day!
After cleverly asking for some medium trot across the diagonal Mayfly chirped up and went into her tight necked jolly ways! which is always some fun :D

we did some centre line finalés, consisting of turning down the centre line picking up the trot and halting a G - immobility...practicing for any Dressage tests if any are upcoming. To be fair they were rather EXCELLENT!
Then did some changing of canter lead, as I have decided that I really should get Mayfly doing flying changes correctly - without ending up disunited, as well to be quite honest we can do most other things so this is next in the list of things to learn.
This is what caused another slight bum lift (the closest she'll ever get to bucking) ahhh she does make me giggle.

Fly had a bit of a hissy fit when we returned to the barn as yet again her dinner was in her stable waiting for her but I restrained her from getting to it! Ha She is such a funny one!

uhoh, Close Call...

I really can't understand Mayfly at the moment, she is in good work sometime even twice a day so why oh why is she so raring to go...suppose I can't really complain though!

I randomly got a nicker from her when I arrived today though..which is veryveryvery unlike her! lol

So to the riding, some general lateral work for 45mins in the arena.
Yet again she was doing some lovely medium trot maybe a little speedy but ahhh well can't be perfect (yet anyway :P)
The we moved on to doing some leg yield. To prepare you there were some jumps set up in the arena already. So Began to progress to doing some leg yield in trot and silly Fly locked onto the 3ft3 jump :O luckily managed to stop her as her front legs were literally about to lift! Her intention to jump anything and everything really can be dangerous! then she got worried so started cantering on the spot ready to shot off quickly. hehe
I felt sorry for her.
The rest of the session went successfully :o)

Once finished Mayfly shot of into the barn to attack Bonnie, but quickly realised that her dinner was waiting in her stable, so she spun around at high speed! Luckily I managed to grab her and she had to wait very impatiently to be un-tacked. lol Didn't even get a chance to rug her up, as soon and the tack was off she ran in her stable...greedy mare! and she inhaled her dinner super fast tooo!


Ohh and for anyone interested, Penny Pony goes on trial tomorrow.

Wet Wet Wet

Just one of those horrible days!

Although there was some excitement when I arrived at the yard - a mouse had attempted to fit through a whole about the size of a grape..hmmm not possible and so had died, eyes open ears pricked I SCREAMED, just to let you know I didn't realise it was dead at first.

On from that, went for a hack today along with Benjamin. Started off alright, but by the end I was cold, wet and fed up, and so was Mayfly as she marched her way home. I must say it was rather nice to be able to do a whole hack with out having to get off to open a gate and been barked at erratically by a dog as a horse style thing has been put in, so things can but improve!
She stayed in today as well, she would have been far from impressed about being put in the field. lol. Instead she was much happier inhaling her haylige!

She has this way of going for a wee as soon as she gets into her stable after being ridden and I am getting rather good at catching in it a bucket so it doesn't ruin her bed! haha how pleasant.

Lazy me should have cleaned my tack today after it being rained and mud splattered but I really wasn't up to it with the cold weather and all. lol

The Dangers of Ride and Lead!

Safety first...

The weather was so dull today I decide to do something different today so I rode Mayfly and led Penny pony, we went on a hack.
Now this isn't the most safest thing to do, but they are both pretty well behaved so there was no serious danger. lol

We set off down the track in trot, unaware of the fact that around the corner was a tree branch so both horses jumped it and then cantered off...I can tell you now that attempting to stay in control of this is far from easy!

Though Mayfly knew that she should not be doing this so she can to an abrupt halt leaving penny cantering on then she got to the end of the rope and went spinning round, quite a funny experience.

On a plus note we managed to get a lovely extended trot going together up the drive, however they got a little carried aways and attempted cantering..on tarmac hmmm I think not!
Also we maneged to be reasonably skilled at gate opening :D


Mayfly got rather angry that she didn't get fed first today, she threw a hissy fit!

- Take a look at the lip

Ha she is so spoilt!

Speedy and SUPER

Gosh I really hate traffic!
Arrived late to the yard today, so I had to be quick...well reasonably quick anyways.

Seeing as Fly was not ridden yesterday she was somewhat "full of herself!"
For the first time in about 7 months Mayfly literally wouldn't stand still in the arena, I thought that I had conquered that! ahhh she is silly. Suppose it just shows how well she is feeling at the moment.
I had to let her canter to relieve her from jogging. lol

However on a brighter note...today Mayfly did the most amazing leg yield, in trot! I was sooo pleased with her. I could really feel her powering her body across the arena from her hind, and she was straight and balanced. I wish I caught it on camera!
Also her sprightliness meant that we could do a beautiful medium trot as well :D

To show her how happy I was with her she got an apple, which went down very well. lol

Jog On! :D

Accomplished rather a lot in today's flat work session :o)
Apart from at the start we walked past the feed rooms and there was rustling of the feed bags which left Mayfly in a huff about missing a chance of food!

Began by attempting to work on our medium trot (gradual lengthening of stride). I can never quite understand Mayfly as she can do a superb extended trot out on a hack but of course in the arena it is a different story...why must she make life so hard?
Then I was rather shocked by her unwilling clear transition to canter from trot! I think that I have been doing to much walk or halt to canter so I spent the rest of the time doing plenty of transitions around the arena which always ends up with Fly anticipating every next move therefore we were jogging around in trot and canter. lol crazy Mare!

She zoomed straight into her stable afterwards without me getting a look in as her food was waiting there for her...this meant she was incredibly unhappy to be dragged out of there for me to un-tack her! :P

Sweaty Bum. lol

The Joys of Bareback!

After taking ages to clean my tack yesterday, I decide that I would not use it today and ruin it. Suppose you could call that laziness but hohum. I haven't ridden bareback in agesss so why not?
I was quite pleased with my balance skills, I was expecting to be all over the place :P

I set up some trotting poles, we went over them so fast thought we were doing two at a time!
Also did some more leg yield as I took advantage of having "long legs" she is getting pretty good at it now...depending on what mood she is in. ha
Then I attempted to ride her sitting sideways with both legs on one side of her, I will tell you now that it is far from easy. lol

By the end of our joyess session I have a very sweaty bum as Mayfly had got rather hot...not nice.
So I got off and did some more ground work practice, getting her to learn respect for me but at the same time want to be with me. I must say she is understanding my madness a lot more now :o)

oooo and when I was taking her boots of she decided to try and fight with Bonnie and having a pulling faces competition, meaning her front legs went flying around. As you can guess I was far from a happy bunny, and there was a rather lot of shouting.
Goshh Moody Mares!

ICE, ahh soo Cold

The first proper Ice.

It brought many problems...
The taps were frozen so we had to wet the feeds from water from the annex - which wasn't too easy.
Couldn't fill waters.
The yard was like an ice rink so couldn't get Mayfly out of the barn!
On a plus we got a new hose today which is very swish and I enjoyed using it once the taps were working.
Due to these problems I spent the morning being rather bored...and it was raining hail just to make the day even better.
I decided to pull Mayfly's main as it was in desperate need, she was not a happy bunny about that :P

The sun eventually came out at about 11:30 so I took Penny in the arena for some fun.

Then the ice on the yard melted so then I took Mayfly into the arena just to stretch her legs as she had not been out (to be quite honest I am sure she didn't want to go out anyway!)

I messed around in the arena with her...bareback with her rugs on as it was still freezing. hehe

Eventually we went for a nice hack along with Benjamin and Bonnie. Was rather wet out so could only walk and trot but was still enjoyable, apart from Mayfly was not happen that she couldn't gallop everywhere, so she kept trying to shoot off...I was a bit stuck with a strong Fly, but I guess I am used to that by now! lol
Unfortunately had to clean my tack when we got back because it was covered in mud. Urg that was boring!

Ohh and discovered a tiny bit of mud fever developing on one of her front leggies so coated that in suda-cream.

Jumping Exercises!

Today we tackled an open cross :o)

I set up a combination of two doubles, with the middle jump an open cross, and the other two as 2ft6 uprights.

We came at each section of the double at angles, and also jumped it as a grid.
It got Mayfly having to use her brain as to begin with she was a little confused!

Kept the jumps small as we did jump twice last weekend, so aimed to just have some fun.
It went well and Fly seemed to be having a great time!

Went for a little hack around the land and up to inspect the new XC area (to be), to finish off.


She is in desperate need of her 3rd clip...looks like a fluff ball again. Grrr it is rather annoying. lol
However it is keeping her warm over these cold nights, tonight is the first night of this winter that she has had three rugs on!

Ouch.. The Pain

Rode Stirrupless today!

Ok it really isn't that painful...I am just being a drama queen. lol
Did my balance some good though.
It also got Mayfly really listening to me, and we were do leg yield beautifully as my legs were free and longer so I had better control, and a schooling whip for once which makes a big difference!

So..there were a crazy number of poles around the arena today, I decide to take advantage of this. We were doing some superb canter transitions from walk as we went over the pole. Mayfly was perfect at it, she amazed me :o)

Got a surprise of my life at one point, nearly went over here head.
We were cantering along and I slightly mentioned the word "woaa" thinking it would take a good few strides and some half halts to return her to walk, but I was wrong. She came to a complete, dead, halt immediately! Was a big shock. ha.

Also did some ground work again at the end of the session, she is getting pretty good at the whole thing now. Hopefully I am not some crazy freak to her anymore. lol.

Overall she was in a very "cute" mood today, which is what I like! hehe

Lateral Work...

I realised that I haven't done any proper lateral work in the arena for quite a while...So that is what I did with Fly today.

She was a good girl, worked at a good pace and was listening to me well today too.

I began by doing some balance work, which was mainly just fun!
I half dismounted while Mayfly was still walking so I had one foot in the stirrup and were hovering in the air to one side of her I then got her moving a little faster, lent forward, and swung myself back into the saddle. I will just say that it is harder than it sounds :P

We did some counter canter, which is a new thing for us. Mayfly found it quite hard to start with, but began to understand it after a while. I need to help her to keep and outside bend, as then she will find it a little easier...but it was only my first go at it.

We also practiced our leg yield. We have stepped back to doing it in walk now, and aiming on keeping he straight and balanced, instead of trotting and ending up with her running through her should.
I must say that she is improving, gets a little frustrated at herself at times though! lol
Silly Marey...

Synchronised Riding :D

A lovely friend of mine came today to ride Penny... So there were two of us.

What better to do on a dark cold evening than synchronised riding!

It was a great laugh :D

We made up a little routine and practiced it.

Was a tad hard, as obviously Mayfly is twice the size as Penny, so to every one of Mayfly's stride Penny had to do two! Bless.

Fly had great fun and she was anticipating the trasitions, she learnt the routine before I had (she is very skilled at that, it is the same for Dressage tests too which is a bonus!)

Overall it was a great success, and we maneged not to collide with each other and stayed pretty damn synchronised! hehe

Rode for a little longer today so Fly was a little later than the others to get dinner so she was NOT happy, just to take her anger and fustration out on me she pulled on her rope and managed to give me rope burn on my ear (don't ask how) which I can tell you is rather painfull. lol She is such a greedy guts!

The Best Yet!!

Things could not be better, Mayfly is feeling great a the moment, and it is really showing!

Due to Bonnie's leg flaring up this morning and be unable to go to the lesson they had planned, I went instead and had an amazing jumping lesson...taught by Sarah, a professional eventer.

I brought Fly in from the field, and I think she new what was coming even thought there was no sign of the lorry yet, she was all tall with her lip wobbling at 100miles per minute, and kept pooing! haha.
And treat lady (Phoebe) gave her some Smoothie just to give her some more sugar!

She started off a little lazy, silly mare only going at her pace! But by the end of it we were flying round a course giving some good height over a range of jumps from 2ft9-3ft3.
We did a grid/combo with the last jump a 3ft3ish spread :o)
Then we moved onto doing a complete course - I manage to remember it, and jump the jumps all correctly, which is a bonus compared to our last attempts of a course!

I learnt a lot to help me set Fly up to a jump well.
I got her into a powerful bouncy canter and kept the rhythm going all the way into and after the jump, as she tends to have a lot of power but lose it all a few strides before the jump and we end up jumping into the ground! lol
It was a great feeling and a successful day, I even jumped a rather large and scary arrowhead cross country jump for our "finalé". Get us! hehe

I will give Mayfly the day off tomorrow as she has had a rather busy weekend, and has done me very proud :D

Crazy Jumping Time!

Haven't jumped at home in quite a long time so today we did some rather interesting exercises.

It consisted of four separate jump joined on one block in the centre, so they were in the shape of a cross (if that makes any sense!)

We did lots of tight turns and changing legs over jumps to improve for our next showjumping outing.

Bless silly Fly couldn't quite understand when I asked her to jump over the middle point of all four jumps..so we ended up jumping the wider parts as a large spread instead. I think we need practice on jumping the centre of jumps! lol

She was a very good marey and mobbed me for an apple afterwards. hehe

oh and her back leg is stilled slightly more filled than usual, it isn't heated though and is causing her no problems so I think it will be fine.


Also have to add that Penny Pony is back from her loan home. I forgot how little she was, and I may have to ride the poor mare! I think she remembers me though as she was following me around the arena, trotting when I ran just like old days :o)

Happy Buzzing Mayfly :D

I didn't ride yesterday, so arrived today to a very buzzing, muddy Fly!
Arrgg I hate all this mud, especially wet mud! Spring can't come quick enough lol.

Her back leg was a little less filled today, but I am keeping as eye on it.

Started a little bad as she was not listening to my aids, and we were struggling to get a clear transition from trot to canter...she seems to think walk to canter is the only possible way!
But, the spooky moon was not being helpful as she was a little worried by it at first sight.

Eventually we moved onto doing rein-back to trot and canter as we need a little practice on going back just a few steps, not shooting back across the whole school, and doing it straight...Well as you may know by now this makes Mayfly somewhat hyper. hehe

She was randomly jogging here and there, and trying to canter. Silly Moo
I can say that this helped us to produce a lovely medium trot so not all bad.

She does make me laugh :D

Circles Circles and more Circles

As it says - did lots of bending and circles in the arena today as I am finding that Mayfly is becoming resistant on getting that "curve" sometimes when we circle so today I was determined to crack her habits...I think it went successfully as we managed to do walk, trot, canter circles with a nice bend. hehe

Noticed that one of her back legs was slightly more filled than usual today, so I took things a little easy, but after riding her is had gone down. Hopefully nothing bad :o)


Oh, and have to just say that the glorious Delami arrived back from trial today - they liked him, but not what they are looking for. However, they have agreed to buy him once holidays come and then they will work on him and sell him on. So I think the outcome is good for him :D

Oo was there a buck??

After my fall my arm has been in pain, think I pulled a tendon...but life must go on, and so I rode.

I expected Fly to be a little tierd from sunday I thought wrong. lol
She does make me laugh when she is a bouncy!
I even think I got the closest I will ever get to a buck from her today - the bum lifted!! :O

Anyway, I must say that our canter to halt is getting rather good now, just needs some polishing.

Attempted to do some lateral work, but came to the conclusion that I need to get of her back and have some fun on the ground with her so she really starts to listen and work with me more... that is what we did, I think she thought I was bonkers (yet again)!

First Fall...

It's got to happen sometime and today was the day..
Trailblazers at Manor Farm! Sunday 9th November 2008

We arrived super early, then to add to our waiting it was running one hour late! grrr
Mayfly was a little full of herself (I think it brought her back to her BSJA days).

We popped round the clear round, unfortunately had one pole as I didn't have enough leg on.

Then came more waiting..did Benjamin some good to chill out, unfortunately soon came wind and rain! Mayfly went all funny and attempting to turn her bum into it whilst warming up. hehe

Eventually came our turn for the 2ft6 class, it was two phase. To my surprise we made it clear round the first phase...hmm idiot me hadn't really learnt the second phase soo it ended up rather disastrously with Mayfly locking onto a jump and attempting to jump it backwards.
I tried to pull her away but when she wants to jump it there is no stopping her. lol. Luckily she just stopped in time.. to my surprise, so I went up her neck and off the side. Sort of looked just like a dismount but fast and well, less graceful. I got my foot stuck in the stirrup, but clever Mayfly stood still and looked at me as if to say, "What are you doing down there? This is no time to get off!"
ahh she does make me laugh.

Oh yeah and it was all caught on video, so you can all laugh. haha

So that is another event to go down in the history of The Fly and I! :D