Showjumping

It's been a busy few days with horsey stuff and here's the low-down: 

Saturday we went out hacking – more on that can be found in my previous post: Winter howling at my face

Sunday was a showjumping day at our stables. I entered Rainbow for 60cm class. I wasn't riding her as I wanted someone good, Annika, to take her around – also because Rainbow hasn't done a sj competition since spring – and, quite honestly, I am not ready to compete yet. I want to practise more before I will do it in front of people. But, in the meantime, I feel I need to let Rainbow have experiences and it will also make our jumping work easier in the future if she doesn't have a long break from it before I get my stuff together.

Anyhoo... The 60cm class she entered, and she went around alright, gaining 2nd place in her class! Fantabulous. So chuffed. This is the video of it... All the seasoned horsey people watching this will find the height of the jumps rather underwhelming and the style of Rainbow's jump not so consistent, but I am a proud owner. Besides, she won a 'major' money prize too: £7.50! I went home to my other half and said "Look, we won a prize – see, horses don't only consume our hard-earned cash but can actually make some!" However, I couldn't hide from him that the entry fee had been £10, so we were still £2.50 on the minus...What can I say, he's a bloody accountant!

Winning horse and proud owner

Today I decided to practise a bit of lunging with Rainbow. I am by no means an expert and I have only been shown a couple of times how it's done, but today I decided to give it a go myself. I took Rainbow out to the sand school and she started walking around me in a circle without any fight. Previously she had been playing up a bit and squaring up towards the lunger. Initially, I figured, the reason for this was probably the novelty of it, as I don't think anyone had been doing it with her for a long time. Probably last when she had been broken and trained for riding... But, as lunging is a good form of exercise for them, helping with muscle strength, etc., it's definitely something I want to master. We already have brushing boots and a lunge rein. Now I need to purchase a roller. Rainbow's winnings can go towards that.

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And just as a completely additional note, as I can't resist: My friend in Finland had some pictures taken of her and her horse, inspired by fantasy/tales, etc.  – this is just the taster picture, but all I can say is Wow! Check. it. out.

Once upon a time