Harry and I go to a new venue to do a bit of show jumping at the local Pony Club's annual show.
It's an early start, groan, but a lovely sunny day, the horses load well, and the course looks great. It's 2ft 3ins, so eminently jumpable, but solid and well-build, thank goodness - Harry has little respect for spindly jumps!
He is very calm and well behaved as we warm up - often, he has a bit of a squeak and a nap to start with. His friend Red is the naughty boy this time, bucking and shying - I wonder if they decide who's turn it is to embarass Mummy on the way to the show?
Harry does a lovely calm clear round, our first for a while, and I'm delighted. Red carries on being naugty, bucking before, after and during jumping, which looks horribly unseating. Sure enough, Jane is unseated as he swerves away from one jump. Undeterred she climbs back on, and finishes her round – respect.
Harry gets another clear in the jump off, but we are way down the placings, eighth I think - our round took about twice as long as the winner's! Pony Club kids - they're just too hard to beat!
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Embarrassing injuries no 3
I've already blogged about Harry's first two embarrassing injuries - to his willy and his bum! He recently had another one, in his armpit!!
The 'injuries' aren't glamorous performance ones. They always seem to happen when I'm just thinking 'hmmm, Harry's getting a bit smelly, time for a bath'. They're caused by scratching - on a post, his field shelter, with his hoof etc. I think he did this one with his teeth, just in front of the girth area and behind his right elbow, as I first noticed it when he kept swinging his head round out on a hack and hitting me on the boot.
It was nothing serious, just a few scabs that healed very quickly, so I Hibiscrubbed them and dressed them with aloe gel, which usually does the business.
Memo to myself: don't just listen to what Harry tells me, smell him, too!
The 'injuries' aren't glamorous performance ones. They always seem to happen when I'm just thinking 'hmmm, Harry's getting a bit smelly, time for a bath'. They're caused by scratching - on a post, his field shelter, with his hoof etc. I think he did this one with his teeth, just in front of the girth area and behind his right elbow, as I first noticed it when he kept swinging his head round out on a hack and hitting me on the boot.
It was nothing serious, just a few scabs that healed very quickly, so I Hibiscrubbed them and dressed them with aloe gel, which usually does the business.
Memo to myself: don't just listen to what Harry tells me, smell him, too!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Roll 'em, roll 'em, roll 'em!
Show jumping day is lovely, bright but not too hot. Harry climbs into the trailer without hesitation, then is surprised - I think he hardly noticed loading until he was in!
We enter the 2ft 3ins class and are quietly confident, thanks to our great schooling session two days earlier. Too confident, it seems...we have the second, third and fifth fences down! "I'll just follow you around, shall I?" says the ring steward, collecting our scattered poles. Having pushed and pulled too much in the past, now I think I'm trying too hard to not interfere, so Harry makes very little effort at all. We're getting too close to the jumps, then rolling the poles on the way up - guaranteed to bring 'em down.
Our partners in crime, Jane and Red, perform brilliantly! They are in the 2ft 6in class, which Jane is slightly apprehensive of, but they do a lovely clear, then a fast four faulter in the jump-off, and are second!
'Why don't you take some tips from Red?" I ask Harry as I give him a cuddle before we head for home. He just frisks me for mints!
We enter the 2ft 3ins class and are quietly confident, thanks to our great schooling session two days earlier. Too confident, it seems...we have the second, third and fifth fences down! "I'll just follow you around, shall I?" says the ring steward, collecting our scattered poles. Having pushed and pulled too much in the past, now I think I'm trying too hard to not interfere, so Harry makes very little effort at all. We're getting too close to the jumps, then rolling the poles on the way up - guaranteed to bring 'em down.
Our partners in crime, Jane and Red, perform brilliantly! They are in the 2ft 6in class, which Jane is slightly apprehensive of, but they do a lovely clear, then a fast four faulter in the jump-off, and are second!
'Why don't you take some tips from Red?" I ask Harry as I give him a cuddle before we head for home. He just frisks me for mints!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Jump to it
Harry's had a week off while I was on holiday, we're show jumping on Saturday - and haven't jumped for ages, eek! So today we have a jumping lesson with Fiona, our trainer. I always think 'trainer' sounds rather high powered for what we do, maximum 2ft 6in jumps, but hey, we can think big.
We do some poles and gridwork, which Harry loves, but he has a tendency to barrel over them like a steam roller, knocking poles flying. So Fiona changes the grid frequently – hard work for her, but it keeps Harry concentrating.
She builds some quite tricky sequences: three cross poles with placing poles and ground poles between the fences. They look quite daunting – all those poles glinting in the sunshine - but Harry tackles them with gusto. At one point he takes charge and meets the first completely wrong, I cling on for dear life and we jump through the grid with speed but a complete absence of style.
Then Fiona builds a double which looks nice and inviting, but tells us we'll be coming into the side of the double and jumping the second jump only, at an angle, then changing the rein and approaching the other, at an angle, before we can jump the complete double straight on. "Don't do the first jump at an angle and pass the second jump, or you'll teach him to run out," she says.
Well, guess what I do? Jump the first at an angle...really nicely, but wrong! We try again and Harry is an angel – he seems to love the challenge, popping over them all without attempting to run out.
Phew, thank goodness sometimes my horse is cleverer than me!
We do some poles and gridwork, which Harry loves, but he has a tendency to barrel over them like a steam roller, knocking poles flying. So Fiona changes the grid frequently – hard work for her, but it keeps Harry concentrating.
She builds some quite tricky sequences: three cross poles with placing poles and ground poles between the fences. They look quite daunting – all those poles glinting in the sunshine - but Harry tackles them with gusto. At one point he takes charge and meets the first completely wrong, I cling on for dear life and we jump through the grid with speed but a complete absence of style.
Then Fiona builds a double which looks nice and inviting, but tells us we'll be coming into the side of the double and jumping the second jump only, at an angle, then changing the rein and approaching the other, at an angle, before we can jump the complete double straight on. "Don't do the first jump at an angle and pass the second jump, or you'll teach him to run out," she says.
Well, guess what I do? Jump the first at an angle...really nicely, but wrong! We try again and Harry is an angel – he seems to love the challenge, popping over them all without attempting to run out.
Phew, thank goodness sometimes my horse is cleverer than me!
Monday, August 3, 2009
Tea for three
We're supposed to be going on a picnic ride with the Riding Club, but our hostess was, apparently, 'slightly struck' by lightening, poor thing! So Harry and I hack out with Jane and Red, our regular companions, plus Kelly, editor of www.horseandrideruk.com, and her Portuguese firecracker, Alvito.
The last time the three boys met was out hunting, which Red and Alvito found almost ubearably exciting. Considering this, they are very good and more or less contain themselves for a fabulous, long ride over Hankley and Frensham commons.
Red occasionally gets his head down and his heels in the air, but with a few 'Get ups' and Oh, no you don't's', Jane stays in the plate. Alvito prefers going sideways when things get hairy, at one point hiting a tree trunk with an audible 'thwack'. Harry of course considers this behaviour a ridiculous waste of effort, and stays up with his colleagues. Occasionally he employs his amazing, super-fast trot when the others are cantering quite quickly. His feet hardly touch the ground and you hardly have to rise to the movement – I swear he must be part Icelandic!
We bring our picnics - what's left of them. The dog ate most of Jane's, Kelly consumed hers before she started and my one ham sandwich doesn't go far. The horse's sniff but refuse delicious fruit salad - pineapple, yuk!
The last time the three boys met was out hunting, which Red and Alvito found almost ubearably exciting. Considering this, they are very good and more or less contain themselves for a fabulous, long ride over Hankley and Frensham commons.
Red occasionally gets his head down and his heels in the air, but with a few 'Get ups' and Oh, no you don't's', Jane stays in the plate. Alvito prefers going sideways when things get hairy, at one point hiting a tree trunk with an audible 'thwack'. Harry of course considers this behaviour a ridiculous waste of effort, and stays up with his colleagues. Occasionally he employs his amazing, super-fast trot when the others are cantering quite quickly. His feet hardly touch the ground and you hardly have to rise to the movement – I swear he must be part Icelandic!
We bring our picnics - what's left of them. The dog ate most of Jane's, Kelly consumed hers before she started and my one ham sandwich doesn't go far. The horse's sniff but refuse delicious fruit salad - pineapple, yuk!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Endurance excitement
For a bit of a change - an endurance training session. “This can’t be too difficult, like a hack in fast trot,” I tell Harry. How wrong can you be?
We arrive at the car park on top of the common and it’s windy, very windy. There have been two pupils before us, with very big horses. The trainer straps a heart rate monitor to each horse, and tells their riders to go off for a play.
Well, their heart rates must have gone sky high! One rider came back without her horse: he had spooked and she’d taken a tumble. The other horse and rider returned safely, but he kept backing rapidly around the car park. A bull terrier with a massive studded breastplate keep erupting from a camper van, making us all jump. And horror, the riderless horse had disappeared on goodness knows how many thousands of acres of common.
Harry and I, and Kelly and Alvito (Horse&Rider’s Website Editor and her horse) make a pathetic attempt at finding him, but he’s gone without trace. The trainer and owner finally track him down: he has crossed a really fast road and is halfway home when someone caught and stabled him. Phew, reprieve!
So Kelly and I have a go at endurance, both a bit spooked now, too. Harry stands like a rock while the monitor is strapped on, but his heart rate shoots up – interesting, perhaps he thinks it’s the vet! Alvito leaves the car park and Harry’s heart stays hammering away while we follow them at some distance at a brisk clip.
WHAM! Harry slams the brakes on as a red deer pops out in front of him. Thank goodness, he keeps his head up so I don’t fall of, and we proceed. EEK! Kelly appears at gallop behind us (she must have been on a parallel track) – she has seen a pervert in the bushes!
We proceed together, post haste, and meet up with the trainer, where she shows us how to use ‘slosh bottles’ to cool our horses – so that’s what fabric conditioner bottles are really for! Harry loves this, Alvito doesn’t.
We ride back together to the original car park, calming down quite a bit. We decide it’s not endurance riding that’s scary, just the circumstances that we encountered it in.
We’ll try a 12 endurance mile ride for starters: let’s hope the deer, bull terriers and perverts stay at home.
We arrive at the car park on top of the common and it’s windy, very windy. There have been two pupils before us, with very big horses. The trainer straps a heart rate monitor to each horse, and tells their riders to go off for a play.
Well, their heart rates must have gone sky high! One rider came back without her horse: he had spooked and she’d taken a tumble. The other horse and rider returned safely, but he kept backing rapidly around the car park. A bull terrier with a massive studded breastplate keep erupting from a camper van, making us all jump. And horror, the riderless horse had disappeared on goodness knows how many thousands of acres of common.
Harry and I, and Kelly and Alvito (Horse&Rider’s Website Editor and her horse) make a pathetic attempt at finding him, but he’s gone without trace. The trainer and owner finally track him down: he has crossed a really fast road and is halfway home when someone caught and stabled him. Phew, reprieve!
So Kelly and I have a go at endurance, both a bit spooked now, too. Harry stands like a rock while the monitor is strapped on, but his heart rate shoots up – interesting, perhaps he thinks it’s the vet! Alvito leaves the car park and Harry’s heart stays hammering away while we follow them at some distance at a brisk clip.
WHAM! Harry slams the brakes on as a red deer pops out in front of him. Thank goodness, he keeps his head up so I don’t fall of, and we proceed. EEK! Kelly appears at gallop behind us (she must have been on a parallel track) – she has seen a pervert in the bushes!
We proceed together, post haste, and meet up with the trainer, where she shows us how to use ‘slosh bottles’ to cool our horses – so that’s what fabric conditioner bottles are really for! Harry loves this, Alvito doesn’t.
We ride back together to the original car park, calming down quite a bit. We decide it’s not endurance riding that’s scary, just the circumstances that we encountered it in.
We’ll try a 12 endurance mile ride for starters: let’s hope the deer, bull terriers and perverts stay at home.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Harry and the sabre-toothed tiger
Harry is fantastic in traffic. Battered pick-up with rattling trailer spilling all sorts of junk, no problem. Long line of whirring bicycles, no problem. Massive tractor with claw-like attachment, no problem. However, when said claw-like attachment is left on the common, it’s a sabre-toothed tiger!!
Harry spots it from afar… “what the *%@$*!” His head is so high he could be a baby giraffe (he’s the right colour). His ears are so stiff they could have been starched. “Let’s just approach slowly,” I suggest. “No way, missus!” I persuade him forward. He offers the slowest possible mince, head swinging to give it one evil eye after the other, snorting like a grampus. We have a few pretty impressive full passes away from it – bet we couldn’t do them in a dressage test!
I turn Harry to face ‘the claw’, and he stamps his forefoot at it! Gives a deep, coughing stallion snort!! Harry is challenging the sabre-toothed tiger to a duel!!!
I take the safe option and give it a very wide berth. Unusually, it takes Harry some time to calm down. I offer him a mint, and he forces it down hurriedly whilst still keeping his body on Red Alert and his eyes out on stalks.
To this day, Harry is wary at the same place on the common : ‘Here Be Tygers!’
Harry spots it from afar… “what the *%@$*!” His head is so high he could be a baby giraffe (he’s the right colour). His ears are so stiff they could have been starched. “Let’s just approach slowly,” I suggest. “No way, missus!” I persuade him forward. He offers the slowest possible mince, head swinging to give it one evil eye after the other, snorting like a grampus. We have a few pretty impressive full passes away from it – bet we couldn’t do them in a dressage test!
I turn Harry to face ‘the claw’, and he stamps his forefoot at it! Gives a deep, coughing stallion snort!! Harry is challenging the sabre-toothed tiger to a duel!!!
I take the safe option and give it a very wide berth. Unusually, it takes Harry some time to calm down. I offer him a mint, and he forces it down hurriedly whilst still keeping his body on Red Alert and his eyes out on stalks.
To this day, Harry is wary at the same place on the common : ‘Here Be Tygers!’
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