A good day, where things seem to work, and even the Husband rides!

Thursday was a good day, the weather was bright and sunny, we had been out for a cooked breakfast, the boy had his booster vaccinations, which although a bit rubbish, were over and done with very quickly.

Both my husband and I got to ride too! This was achieved by wearing the kids out, then putting them in the car which was parked next to the school, with a computer game each.

We put some poles out in the school (I like poles a lot at the minute) and both rode slightly bigger than 20m circles. Our school is flooded and boggy in some parts, and almost bare in other parts, so a 20m circle is about the best you can hope for!

My husband and the gelding don't like schooling, but they desperately need it. Much as I think you can learn a lot out hacking, the odd bit of schooling is still necessary. Besides, they barely hack either!

So, I told my husband to follow me and the mare, not too close, but copy the same movements. We tried to get the circle actually circle shaped, we did lots of transitions, we walked over the poles, we trotted over the poles, and then we stood in the middle of the circle. I then told my husband to make the gelding walk away from us, and walk and trot the circle by himself. Which they did, really quite well. My husband sits very well, but doesn't really 'ride' the horse (hence liking hacking more) and the gelding is very attached to the mare and can be spooky. But I was very impressed with them both, and the best bit is it actually cheered up my husband who had had some crappy news. 

The gelding was then put away, and my husband came back to put the poles up into a small x pole. This was on the centre line, so I could jump it while still on the circle.

I had hoped that by keeping the approach and landing side short, she would not rush into or away from the jump. We also approached at trot and only occasionally slipped one stride of canter in just before take off.

I was really, really pleased with this, as our jumping is out of control at best, and fucking terrifying at worst!

Now the horses will have a few days off due to atrocious weather (thunder, lightening and hailstones!) and the fact my husband is working all weekend and we have to get the kids ready to go back to school. Hopefully the gelding will get clipped this weekend though, as he is a woolly bear at the moment, rather than the sleek thoroughbred he is meant to be!