So much going on!

So exciting how busy I've been. It's my holidays but I'm more shattered then I was at university.
I've been teaching my brother to ride on Sundays when he's home from work and last week we took the camera and he took some cool pictures when I jumped on to show him a few things.




Then on Wednesday night I went with some friends to a local open schooling jumping course at a yard round the corner from us. It was mini week, so the courses I did were 1ft9 and 2ft. Olivia had never gone round a course though so I wasn't too bothered about heights. I was just so impressed with how she got on! In the 1ft9 she refused one jump once, but we still came third and in the 2ft we did a clear round and came 1st. So proud of my pony!! She was jumping the jumps HUGE though. After the grids I've been practising with Emma she has become a lot more careful about the jumps, and it shows in the photos a friend was taking. Here are some:




I've caught the showing bug now anyway, and on Sunday am planning to go to a local show and try out a 2ft3 course.

One thing that struck me was how excited Olivia was about the jumping. When I went in to do the laps of honour she was so on her toes about going into the ring. I think I've found the sport that makes her tick, and luckily for me it kinda suits me too :)

Love Jo xxx

Jumping

I had a jumping lesson yesterday with the fabulous Emma, it was possibly the hardest Olivia has worked in several years. Emma set a grid up for us to do: 3 uprights with a stride between and a canter pole. Olivia loves to jump, especially if she can run through at a million miles an hour (except for the one time I took her to a show and we got eliminated at the first jump). The grid stopped her though and made her (and me) really think. I haven't had ridding lessons on other horses since I got Olivia, so about 4 years, let alone jumped another horse who's more technical. I got a shock as she slowed right down and realised my position had gone to sh*t!!

Olivia often chucks her head up in the air and hollows her back after jumping Emma gave me some useful tactics to help stop her doing that. The lesson was great fun and I learnt a lot, especially that if she would only keep her tongue in her mouth and focus on the jumping then she would do much better. I've been thinking for a while about getting her a grackle as a jumping & just special occasion bridle. The bridle I've got at the moment is really horrible and casual looking so I'm adding grackle to my birthday list, fingers crossed!

Since it's been so long since I blogged let alone posted photos here are some to show you how she's been getting along the last couple of years.




Love Jo xxx

Try New Things

Always somewhere in my new years resolution list...

I've recently started a new bed with wood pellets (www.lancashirewoodpellets.co.uk). Got the stuff since I've gone onto DIY now I'm home for good, and shavings are just far too expensive, especially with my extra wet horse. It was getting beyond gross to muck out. For those that don't know, wood pellets are an alternative bedding which, apparently, are more popular in the states. They are cheaper than shavings, more environmentally friendly because they degrade quicker, and quicker to muck out (which is definately true). The wierd thing about them is that when you bed down for the first time you have to water them so that they expand. The glorious thing is, they soak up wet! So ideal for wet horses like Olivia. I put them down about 4 days ago, and mucking out has never been so quick. Where I used to get a full wheelbarrow of muck out a day, now I take out about a quater. Even though Olivia kicking and burying her poo, the way the pellets fall through the fork like a sieve means minimal bedding is removed. Hooray! Me likey, I'll let you know how she gets on. If you want any more specific info about the wood pellets just email me - jo.bialkowska@hotmail.co.uk.

That's not the only new thing - NEW BIT! It's great, she's still sticking her tongue out but she's a lot lighter on the bit a lot more of the time. Result.

I'm also going to go back to the level 3 booklets and work my way through them again so that everything's polished for France and we can learn new stuff. I'll write how she does and hopefully will soon have pictures and a new video. Can't wait for September!!
Love Jo xxx

New Found Motivation

Good morning all,
It's been a fair amount of time since I last blogged, but I thought I may as well get back into it as I've got a lot of time and writting down gives me a chance to process what goes on when I work with Olivia.
All is good in our world, I've been away for 3 weeks so Olivia has had a lovely break and, unsuprisingly, has got a bit full of herself. I got back to find out she has been beating up her field mate and hassling the staff when they bring her in. Woops! I worked her for the first time yesteday, only for about 15 minutes of groundwork. She cantered over to me in the field when I went to fetch her, normally she just plods over which goes to show how exuberant she was feeling. In just 15 minutes there was lots of rearing and defiant behaviour but by the end she was happy to just calmly stand by me. My always hungry horse also insisted on eating the grass every time she wasn't moving; she even tried to trot and graze which produced a lovely looking stretch but wasn't really what I was going for. Probably my mistake in working her in a field that has been rested during all this rainful and sunny weather and so is full of long, rich grass.

In other news, while I was away I was watching a video I had made of me and Olivia (http://www.youtube.com/user/princessjoxxx#p/a/u/0/3kjp6OaBIjI if you're interested) and I noticed that when I used the parelli/myler cradle bridle Olivia's tongue was much quieter. Of course there is the exception of when she was really heavy in the hand during the back-up and her tongue pops out, but when the contact was light she was light in the mouth. For reasons I can't remember, but I'm assuming it was to do with being a bit hungry for some money, I sold the bridle and bit a few years ago and have been using a simple snaffle since. Well yesteday I ordered a new myler bit with a high port and am hoping that it will help with the restless tongue syndrome. The myler version is slightly cheaper than the parelli, and I didn't want the whole cradle system because I want the connection to be with her mouth rather than all over her head. When it arrives I'll let you know how she gets on with it.

Anyway, now that I'm back for a solid two months until I go to France (with Olivia) for 3 weeks - more about that another time - I'm happy to be able to try and get some proper work done with her and accomplish some new goals. Ideally, a quieter mouth.

Over and out, love Jo xxx