Prelim12!!

Well as it was the final show of the season at our yard I decided to throw caution to the wind and do Prelim 12!! Amy said she would come and video us so I was really excited! But when I got my time, the class was so huge that we were not riding until 2.24pm which meant Amy couldnt make it :-( But luckily one of the girls at the yard videod my test for me which was so nice of her :-)

Well Antsje warmed up so beautifully and felt so relaxed but responsive I was really excited about doing the test lol!! As soon as we got in the arena though we lost that relaxation as Antsje was a bit 'gawky' especially at the camera man, and I got a bit of the nerves kicking in too!!
But despite this Antsje did listen to me and I tried hard not to fiddle and nag and trust her to relax into my hand - which she did at times :-) Canter was still a bit gung ho!! In these situations we are BOTH still a bit anxious of it and preparation and relaxation goes out of the window lol! In fact I think I suprised her with the right canter transition and she took off disunited! I suppose I should have stopped and restarted but I wasnt sure if this would upset her even more!
I was a bit dissapointed that we didnt go as well as in the warm up and felt the test was a bit lumpy in places - but I was mindful we hadnt done a test since June so in retrospect it wasnt awful as she had done everything I had asked :-)

When I went to find my test sheet I couldnt see my name anywhere! I looked through the pile twice, and then just happened to glance at the sheets with the rossettes attached and lo and behold they we were!!! in 5th place!! I couldnt bloody believe it hahahaha!!! we got 66% and some very nice comments. So although when looking at the video I can see lots of things to work on, I am absoloutely thrilled to have eneded the year on such a good note :-)


She has gone a bit fussy in the mouth again this last week or so, so she is having a visit by the dentist today. Im hoping all will go well and there wont be too much of an issue other than routine stuff ;-)

BOING BOING BOING!!!

My horse takes after me lol lol!

Amy wanted a horse fix last weekend so I took the opportunity of taking some video!! Amy hasnt rode for several months so I think she did well considering Antsje is bouncy and bionic lol!

Ever decreasing circles.........

Wait for it! You all think im going to moan and complain don’t you??? Hahahahah!
But nope! I am having a wonderful time at the moment – this year has focused my mind for the better so that’s something to be glad about J

I have been hopeless at blogging of late – the uncertainty makes it hard for me to get ‘lost’ in my riding as I was – it’s a protection thing I think. Just in case she has to go…………….

Anyway – getting back to the title! Its funny isn’t it (or not!) how we forget how far we have come and all the achievements we have made! Do you realize it is my 4th anniversary with Antsje!! And the other morning while schooling we were doing 10m trot circles a bit of shoulder in and back to 10m circles. She is working lovely at the moment and the inside rein was giving and she was off my inside leg J And it suddenly dawned on me! It wasn’t so very long ago that we couldn’t TROT a 10m circle! Not without it being really horrid and her hanging on the inside rein and rushing and bouncing me all over the place!!! Now I can SIT the trot! With giving hands! And influence her with my seat! MOST of the time lol!!

And I suddenly realized just how far BOTH of us had come and that we have improved. It might not have been the quickest transformation in the world hahaha! But! We are moving in the right direction and for once I am just loving the journey, even the bad days, funny what beautiful things can grow out of the shit of life!