Getting Spud fit.

Honestly there's nothing that puts me in a better mood than having a good ride/rides on my horses. No matter how tired, upset or even when I'm just feeling neutral,  the cheeky, good natured antics of my horseys always put a smile on my face and leaves me feeling happier.
I was asked to be on the mounted games team at Regionals, which is in 4 weeks.
Which leaves me 4 weeks to have Spud in peak fitness. He's pretty fit already, but hes chubby and needs more work.
The thing with Spud though is his heart and his try. He will do anything I ask him to and he will run all day if I asked.
No doubt about it he would go till he dropped. So while building his fitness I have to be extra careful with him.
While he might feel like he's got the energy and fitness, it doesn't mean that he actually does, he's just so willing he will do it without tiring even if he is not physically capable of it.
I'm building him up slowly with lots of trotting on the roads with a few days of schooling thrown in. I'm always careful to watch his breathing and how long I've gone. I love this pony to bits and I'm being careful with him. He's such a little trooper.
Here's a few pictures from our ride/fitness trotting on the road and down the tracks today.

Goldrush has an adventure.

Since Goldrush has been doing so well lately, I wanted to get him out to do some training with some actual mounted games equipment. I have none myself so I had to take him on a 45 minute drive to have access to some gear. This also gave him experience in the float, having only been in one once before but also working in a new environment.

I took my little sister and her pony (Poppy - actually mine but I am leasing her to my sister). As company. Goldrush loaded into the float after a little bit of hesitation. My boyfriend who was driving them, drove extra careful with him on board and Goldrush handled it like an old pro.

A few bits of equipment Goldrush found quite scary like the litter (a carton picked up on the end of a stick and carried from your horses back) and the flags. He only had one minor freak out at a flag where he tried to bolt then jumped on the spot when I stopped him. Then he was scared and snorted but accepted and tried his best at everything I asked of him. We spent the afternoon weaving in and out of poles at a trot then canter, moving mugs from pole to pole at canter, moving flags around, leaning off him to pick things up and much more.

I couldnt be more happier with how he went.

We did a running vault....

And I even popped him over a small jump that was set up. 

Can't believe this pony was completely wild exactly one year ago. I'm so proud of my little man. 

Romeo's new home.

After saving Romeo, I had to find him a new home. My partner has been wanting to learn how to ride for ages. He mentioned having Romeo himself. After I told him how much of a commitment it was going to be etc he was still keen and we organised for him to go to his new grazing with my boyfriend. It was a 2 and 1/2 hr trip. Romeo loaded and travelled like a pro. He settled into his new place instantly, (which is also where my horses are going when I move but that's a story for another post.). Here are some pictures of his trip and Steven learning how to care for him. 

The awesome paddocks and yards at the grazing from a distance. 

Ride with pictures

It was really really windy today, but my boyfriend came with me when I went to ride and feed my horses. I only rode Goldrush today, and I was so proud of him, considering the crazy wind and the long as grass in our riding paddock at the moment.

He was pretty spooky and rushing through everything at the beginning of the ride.

Baby moment!!

But I did heaps of transitions and backing up, moving off my leg and just in general keeping his mind busy and focused on working. He soon calmed down and settled on his work and concentrated.

Poultices a trim and a ride.

Sophie's unfortunately got a bit of an abscess so I've been poulticing her for the last few days.
I've found one of the best ways to get the poultice on is by using baby nappies on the hoof before bandaging over top. Lasts a lot longer as well especially if your horses are in paddocks.

After a few days of being poulticed, its cleared up heaps and she's walking a lot better. 

I trimmed Spuds hooves today and will be bringing him back into work tomorrow or in the next few days. This means I will be riding 3 horses!!  After long work days it's crazy hard work but completely worth it.  

Spud is also getting a bit fat so he's being put in a paddock with no grass during the day and let out with the others at night. 

After having the weekend off Goldrush was pretty full of himself today, so we started off with lots of walk trot and trot/halt/trot transitions. Also lots of backing up and moving sideways off my leg which he's fully grasped the concept of now. Once he was settled I took it a step further and got him to move sideways off my leg at a walk. He tried but wasn't completely stepping over so I kept asking and rewarding him when he tried and he kept giving more. Once he had completely stepped in both directions while we were moving I stopped and moved onto some canter work. I'm building up to walk/canter and canter/walk transitions and after about 10 minutes we were doing with 1-2 strides of trot. This pony honestly tries his heart out!!  

Romeo!!

I am going to make this post as simple and as less complicated as I can.
For those of you that followed my blog a year and a half ago before my break from blogging will remember my horse Romeo. He's a 16.2 hh Thoroughbred and the sweetest most honest horse you could ever ask for. He also had so much talent. A massive jump and beautiful fancy movement. We won several grand champion classes, jumped 1m45 and competed in showjumping and a bit of dressage for my local pony club.

I had to sell him because I couldnt keep up with 4 horses at the time. I didn't even have to advertise much because so many people wanted him. At that time I sold him to a friend of mine (no longer my friend). In the next year and a half he was pretty much wasting in the paddock, and I got excuse after excuse as to why she couldn't pay me.
Over the last couple of days i was told she has had horses taken off her by the SPCA because she would go for days without feeding or watering them. Then things progressed and i found out she had also been stealing gear from people and also from me.
Of course I was immediately worried for my horse and told her I would be taking him back.
Again things got worse and I was told she was planning to hide and steal him the day before I was due to pick him up. So that night my legend of a family helped me and we went and picked him up and got him back to me safe and happy. He's quite skinny but he will be well looked after and safe now.

I feel terrible that my horse was put in this situation,  but I keep reminding myself that I didn't know. I had no idea what was going on behind my back.
But the important thing is, he is safe and happy again!!

Of course this now leaves me with four horses (five if you include my pony my little sister has). Which is now where I get to the exciting part of my post!!
My boyfriend has been wanting to learn how to ride for awhile now and he has decided to take Romeo for himself.
I honestly couldn't think of a more perfect outcome. Romeo will be perfect for him to learn on and he will be grazing with my horses. I will still be able to ride and compete him.
My boyfriend has a lot to learn but is dedicated and excited and I can't wait to help them figure each other out and to teach him..

Goldrush yesterday

What can I say? I love this pony so much.  He's an absolute sweetheart, he learns fast, and tries his heart out for me. And the fact that I've done all the training and work with him since he came out of the wild just makes it that much more rewarding.

Yesterday he was a superstar. I didn't even have to tie him up to groom and tack him up. He just stood there like a lamb the whole time. 

It's back to the time of year again where they are all losing there winter coats and the amount of hair coming off them is unbelievable. So he got a really long grooming today. 

As for ridden work well we started off with circles and random halts followed by backing up. I don't really need rein contact with him because he moves so well off just my seat and legs. 

Then I started to teach him lateral (sideways)  movements and moving away from my leg. Starting at the halt I asked with my leg, till he moved sideways. After a few attempts at avoiding it by backing up he clicked on and after not a lot of time I had him stepping over both ways. It's almost like you can hear and see his brain thinking when I'm teaching him new things, and he picks up on it so quickly. 

After that I let him open up and have his first gallop!!  I get such a good feeling from this pony!!!!  

Then lastly i started working on teaching him a running vault. For those of you who don't know what a running vault is I'll post a photo. 

Running vault on Spud 

Basically in mounted games in some games you have to get on your pony as fast as you can do what better way to do it than vault on while your pony gallops besides you.

Since Goldrush has never done this before we only worked at a trot. I started by teaching him to trot along while I ran besides him, back by the saddle. This confused him a bit and he kept stopping to let me catch up or turning towards me but he got the gist of it and I got a decent vault in. This is a work in progress. 

Very happy with my boy :)

I was planning to ride Sophie as well but shes been quite lame for the last couple of days and I can't find anything wrong myself. I suspect it's an abcsses I can't find just yet but I'll get her looked at and poultice her hoof. 

Coming along.

Goldrush has been in work for awhile now and his fitness and training has improved heaps. He just wants to learn!!
We hack out quite a bit still but have introduced schooling a few times a week as well now. He would honestly make such good show pony. He has very fancy movement and has even started coming onto the but without me having to ask. With a really light rein contact, i work him forward and he lifts over his back and naturally comes onto the bit which is how it should be. Really happy with my little man at the moment.

Sophie's new start.

So Sophie's career as firstly a showjumper and secondary a show horse with me officially started!!  I've owned her for around a year now. When she came to me she had been a racehorse and had a two foals. I gave her a good few months break because it's good for them to be refreshed and to learn to be a normal horse after the racehorse lifestyle. She got lots of feed and grooming, cuddles and time with her pony friends. I then started her under saddle and she was very touchy about any contact from my legs. She's a sensitive thing so I took my time with her and taught her to move off my legs, and that rein contact didn't mean go faster. Then after moving grazing her weight dropped so I turned her out again. With recent changes to her diet, her coat, weight and overall attitude has changed for the better.

She had her first lunging and ride with me and is officially back in work.
I was very surprised how she handled it. She was like an old pro, still very green but she tries hard to please and all my work paid off and she accepts leg aids really well. We just walked with a little bit of trotting. Still heaps to work on but the progress will be good. Very excited to see how things go with my sweetheart.

Handgrazing after our ride.

She's such a beautiful kind mare. Very proud mumma here.