Three monthly check up with the osteopath yesterday and everything is the same as ever. Fundamentally his right hip doesn’t work quite as well as his left one. I hope eventually the straightness training might help with that but it’s a slow burn thing. He was also a bit tight in the top of his neck, also quite normal and bit tight in his jaw. That’s not normal but obviously we had the vet out with the mouth gag on Wednesday so David thinks it might just be that. We’ll keep an eye on it but overall his not in bad shape. :db:

Had to clip *again* yesterday! That first clip grew out in no time. Very weird, Claudia says they’ve seen the same thing at her place though. Must be due to it being so warm? Anyway, he wasn’t massively impressed about being clipped but I managed not to terrify him by touching him unexpectedly with the cable this time so that’s something! Didn’t do quite such a good job on his tricky bits I don’t think but most of it’s off and that’s all that’s needed!! Here’s hoping I won’t need to do it again until January! :laugh:

I must say he’s looking pretty good right now. Wouldn’t break my heart if he were to lose 10-15kg but we’re just coming into winter so it’s not a big concern but he’s looking very *well*. :wub:

Happy day today! Vet came out to do his 6-monthly sticking of his head into Dino’s mouth and everything is looking great! Didn’t need to do any rasping this morning, we’ll take another look in February when his jabs are due. He’s very happy with the lump on the jaw which is getting ever smaller now.

Goncalo came into the box and his first words were ‘WoW! He looks amazing!!’ :db:

Took Dino out for a short hack afterwards and I have no idea why but he was flying. On the way up the bridlepath I asked for trot and he slipping into canter. On the way back I asked for trot and we set out at gallop. 😮 Not quite what I asked for but I’m glad he’s feeling happy! He was wonderfully forward in the school last night too :db: :party:

Jumping clinic was today and he was amazing!! :party: It was pouring with rain so I really didn’t think he was going to enjoy it much, but he was really enjoying it by the end. We jumped proper coloured poles, a plank, there were some filler sitting near the fences but nothing big enough for them to be under them. He refused a couple of things until he’d had a look but the instructor was excellent and just popped anything he was unsure about down really low. Probably did about 50 cm fences but did a full course of 9 fences twice!! Superstar!! My instructor was watching, as she works at that yard, and she was very impressed with us :db:

Petros (instructor) thinks he’s ready for some clear round. He pointed out that you can always do a clear round course more than once; Dino was a bit unsure at first and might have some stops in a strange venue over strange fences the first time round but would be likely to gain confidence from doing a course again once he’d had a look at it. I do think Dino enjoyed it in the end; he was volunteering to canter up to fences even though he was exhausted! :wub: No photos ‘cos of the rain. Did get another rosette though!!

Oh gosh! No update for a while!!! I did post some of this in The Bus but I should put it all here too so I can find it… October has been a bit mental really, I’m hoping it calms down soon!!

Beginning of the month I clipped! On my own, totally unsupervised for the first time (my instructor was watching last year) and I think it went ok. Mind you, it’s almost grown back in already so it’ll need doing again before December. He’s getting really hot when worked still – so mild this year!

The other exciting thing with did last month was our trip out to the Chilterns. A planned 3-3.5 hour ride turned into a 4-4.5 hour one and he was pretty knackered the following day, but it was awesome. Up hill and down dale. And his new hoof boots (Cavallo Trek) are amazing. They totally stayed put the whole time.

This past weekend I went out to see our friend Shona compete the wonderful Tally in the Chiltern & Thames Summer Dressage Championships at Bury Farm. It was a really nice day. I was brave and drove there up the motorway which was a bit of an achievement, but mostly it was amazing because she only WON THE INTRO!!! 😮 She and Tally are very clever and I was so happy for them!! Tally is owned by my friend Claire so here is pony, owner and rider looking super chuffed:

Dino has been pretty good this month. He’s much more forward in the school, and getting him out and about a lot helps I think. We had a consultation with an independent nutritionist which was very interesting and she’s recommended a change in feed. Her recommendation is Spiller’s Conditioning Fibre and Equivite. Now, I’m not mad keen on the fibre in many ways but overall starch levels are low and we were talking about it being good to give him some more energy so I’m giving it a go for a bit but need to keep a close eye on his weight and his feet. Watch this space.

Coming up:
– jumping clinic (just a baby one!!) this weekend. He’s never seen proper coloured poles or jumped away from home so this is another of those clinic & compete things at my instructors yard. It’s supposed to be 50-60cm, which he can jump, but the instructor is supposed to be amazing and sympathetic so if all we end up doing is trotting over tiny cross poles that’s totally cool. I’d love to get him jumping a bit more confidently and enjoying it as much ridden as he does loose.
– clip: round two! Probably sooner rather than later unless it actually bothers to get cold soon!!!

ION I still have the car…but the bloody windscreen is cracked!!! Autoglass due here any minute. If it’s not one thing it’s another…!! :wall: