Ponies.

The grass is still knee/chest length in my riding paddock/s. Really not ideal to be doing any proper schooling or training on. Fingers crossed its cut and baled up soon!! Otherwise I might need to ask a neighbour if I could borrow there paddock to ride in.

Meanwhile I've been exercising my ponies on the roads and down the tracks. Its doing good for Goldrush's baby brain, hes learning that things arent quite as scary as he thinks they are and most times will just trot past scary things with a snort in the general direction of the scary object.

Spud is as usual his cute, cheeky self, even though still a bit chubby!!  Yesterday I started with a warm up trot down the road then, toughed it up made him do canters up and down the hills and opened him up for a few gallops. He was really bouncy because of the long grass but he needs it and it was good fun for both of us. 

My first jumpout!!!

Today at work I rode in my first ever jumpout. For those of you that dont know im working my way to becoming a jockey, and today I took a massive step up and rode in my first two jumpouts. A jumpout is pretty much a mini race.
I was in the second heat riding my favourite horse that I work with/ride in the mornings Ondebut.
To be completely honest I wasnt sure if I was more scared or nervous, but as with all equestrian diciplines a lot of it is all mental.
I had to stay calm and give my horse confidence.
After instructions from my boss at the gates we were off.
I was told the hardest part was jumping out of the gates/barriers. The key is to stay with your horse and not be left behind, while keeping the power in my feet and not being pulled forward from the reins when the horse jumps. After the jump from the gates its pretty much go-like-fuck, but being careful not to clip heels or cut anyone off.
We aced it and came first!!
Boss must've thought we did good too because he put me on a second horse.

Honestly there is nothing better than the feeling off all that power underneath you!!!!!
Without further ado here are the video and pictures.

My second jumpout I was neck and neck for second place.
There is nothing better than the adrenalin / high from this!!

10 Questions!

Ten questions, used from L :)

How old was the youngest/ greenest horse that you have ridden?

- Two. The "babies" we ride at the track come in for there baby prep when they are two. 

How old was the oldest horse you’ve ridden? 
- A horse I was exercising for the local RDA back in the day. He was 25. 

Were you afraid of horses when you first started riding?
- Nope. I fell off the second time I ever rode a horse and broke my arm. Although I was hesitant to canter for awhile after that, I was still back on the very next day with my arm in a cast.

Would you say you're a more nervous or confident rider?
- Confident for sure. Riding track work doesnt leave much room for nerves.

Biggest pet peeve about non-horse people around horses?
- When people think all we do is sit there and that the horse does all the work.

A time when you've been scared for your life (horse related)?
- One evening when I was a lot younger I took my pony out for a ride down the road. As we were heading home a car took the corner ahead of us wrong, lost control of the car and came flying towards me and my pony, coming to a stop 2 meters in front of us when they went crashing into a paddock. Very scary but we were fine.

Have you ever fallen off at a show?  What happened?
- No I don't think so.

What is a breed of horse that you’ve never ridden but would like to?
- Probably a big ol' Clydesdale.

Discribe the worst behaved horse you’ve ridden?
- This is a hard one because I've always been put on the 'naughty' ones. The most recent was a horse at the track the other morning doing our gallop,  she threw her head down pulling me forwards and let out some massive bucks, then threw her head up and bolted when I growled her. Thankfully she came back to me and we carried on as normal. Monday mornings can be scary...  Lol

The most frustrating ride you've ever had?
- Probably at a show when I was 17, we were entered in 3 showjumping classes and got eliminated in every one!!

Meet Diesel

Welcome to my family of animals Diesel!!
Because I dont have enough pets already, I got a puppy. Diesel is 7 weeks old, a blue heeler x Labrador.

Isnt he adorable!!
I now have a life full of animals, at work and at home. The plus side is it's hard to be sad around animals especially ones as cute as mine. I now have 5 horses, 4 cats (one with kittens) and a puppy. 

Road riding.

The grass in the riding paddocks is so long at the moment!! It's up to my ponies chests, and they can't do any proper schooling which makes putting variety in there schedule a bit difficult.. 

I cant wait until the grass is cut for silage so I can have my riding space back. 

Until then my horses are being worked down the tracks and down the road. Normally I do 30-45 minutes of trot sometimes an hour to keep there fitness up. 

Im going to ask a few of the neighbours if I can ride in a paddock just to give my horses a break from the roads and to do some proper schooling. 

My job.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately but last week was the week from hell. I had a bad breakup with my boyfriend and a good friend of mine passed away tragically at the age of 21.

R.I.P Anthony 

Just want to say a big thank you to my family and friends and also my workmates and everyone that has helped and supported me, and got me back on track. 

Also to my horses who without them, I don't know where id be. 

Work is a good place for me to be at the moment. I love my job and the people I work with even with the crazy hours and long days. 

For those of you who dont know I ride track work and work at a busy racing stables. 

Theres nothing that compares to the gallop of a powerful racehorse!! Even though its strange going from the short jockey length stirrups to the regular length when I ride my own horses I wouldnt want it any other way. 

I ride a crazy amount of horses most days, but there's nothing better for a person than horses!!