Time to focus – Plan for 2013

I am not particularly ambitious horsewoman or sportsperson. I don't ride because I am aiming to compete in lots of levels of various disciplines. I ride because I love being around horses and I love my own little skewbald ray of sunshine. That's all. Perhaps that makes me a little boring and, I have noticed, that my posts here tend to scrape a bit of surface of 'training' but I am writing more about general life with my horse. I hope that interests some of you, but a hardcore training blog this ain't. 

However, that doesn't mean I don't have some targets that I would like to achieve with Rainbow and things that I strive towards. I thought I would list a few, also to help me put things in order 'on paper', so I can look back later this year and see if any of them have become a reality.

What we have done so far...

We spent from August until end of last year attending fortnightly private lessons with Claire and then also attended group lessons, mainly for their social aspect. I find that as I have developed in my riding – a little! – the group lessons are becoming less useful for me, because we tend to do simplistic exercises like trotting around the school, doing circles and raising canter. However, I am not a master of them! In fact, pure circles are our bugbear! Simply struggling with them. 

We have also done occasional pole work and jumped little jumps. I have taken R to group lessons so that, as a young horse, she gets exposed to many situations and I get to ride her for an hour without having to do all the thinking in terms of what exercises we should do. I also find that I am not yet quite good enough to always know if I am riding well or how to fix something without the help of a pair of eyes on the ground, i.e. an instructor. Without instructor, our riding sessions are more often than not a little haphazard and not quite trying hard enough. I am not quite structured enough in myself to produce planned and smooth 'training' sessions on our own. I think I lack vision. Or perhaps I am comparing myself too much to other people – on blogs and otherwise – who seem to be training their horses in a particular way and know every time what they are doing with them from the moment they jump on.

Plan for 2013

This year Rainbow is 6, so still a young horse. I haven't yet taken her anywhere outside the yard and never tried to box her, so I think that will be one of the plans for this year. On the basis of her exuberant performance, to my detriment, in the show-jumping field in last September, I am aware that she could get excitable if I take her somewhere in public. Before I know how she is going to behave, I am not sure I want to sit on her. Don't fancy doing some fun impromptu rodeo display... But an outing would be good, so I am thinking of showing her in hand! I am not too fussed about rankings in such competitions, but the experience of going somewhere would be good. However, quite often, when I have taken her out on a hack around the village, people have stopped to sigh and comment on how beautiful my horse is (really!). So she may possess some of that je ne sais quoi, which could bring some success in the ring... One can dream!  

I am not so into show-jumping at the moment, so I will ask Annika to compete with Rainbow and keep her jumping going. I don't mind little cross-poles, etc. but realistically I am not up for competing...yet. I much prefer concentrating on schooling Rainbow and developing my technique. 

I have started attending private lessons with a new lady (to us) who has performed miracles on many in our yard. Her speciality is dressage. Last week on our first lesson, she actually got us going in a straight line for the first time. Sounds simple, and I am sure we manage it sometimes, but R does like to wiggle about and bend her neck in places where she shouldn't. Anyway, I felt good and capable again after the lesson, so will be reporting on how we get on. She's also good at correcting my riding, especially as I said I am a little bored of instructors telling me "kick", or "give more leg" when I feel that I have given my all and can't squeeze anymore – and I don't like the way I have to 'kick' Rainbow and, as a result, I can see my riding becoming really ugly. I don't mean visually, but towards Rainbow. Through frustration. I become an ugly rider and my horse less and less responsive. I want to learn effective ways of waking R up and asking for things from her. My new instructor said that overall I need to become more black and white with her, so when I ask something it happens now, not in a while. I know... I know... 

But she also said that obviously must be taken into account that she is a mare, which means she has more of her own ideas and things take more negotiation sometimes. Great – two stubborn mares against each other ;)

I recently heard a great quote, which has tickled me: Tell a gelding, ask a mare, discuss it with a stallion. 

Will also try to give a bit more 'technical' reportages to satisfy those who may prefer to read on more rigorous 'training' (I still can't bring myself to write the word 'training' without quotes, as I am not sure we're quite there yet.)

And last but not least, I am looking forward to lovely hacks around the country and perhaps we can muster a few safe but satisfying canters too. 

The day when Mummy cut my fringe too short...!