David our osteopath was out to see Dino today. It’s been six months as we missed a visit due to the Strangles epidemic so this was a long overdue untwangling for the pony! Good news is: neck, shoulders, chest, thorassic spine are all fine. Bad news: pelvis and lumbar spine are not great. This is a continuation of his usual issues but it’s a bit worse than usual due to the break and him having been stuck in with no movement basically for six weeks. His left pelvis is tipped up a bit, and that’s causing the lumbar spine to be stiff (or the right pelvis is dropped – it’s hard to say for sure) but David did some loosening work. We need to get moving more! Start and finish on the right rein, lots of serpentines starting on the right bend and don’t worry too much about canter for the moment is the plan. Overall though he just needs to move more.

He’s had a bit of a quiet week. Work has been difficult and an accident on the A406 meant I couldn’t even get to the yard on Monday evening! And it’s been raining. Hopefully this next week will clear up a bit. Good news though – our hacking buddy, Jake, is back in work so we should be able to go for a mooch tomorrow! YAY!

ION: Looks like Tony has a new flock of chicks for the summer –

As we were wandering down to the school the other day we noticed that Karen’s 7.5T ‘proper’ horsebox had the ramp down because people were using it to practice loading. Dino has never been in a large box before so we took the opportunity to have a go! He wasn’t hugely impressed with the idea but a bit of targeting and clicking and we got up the ramp!

We did it twice. He was reasonably content to stand whilst I was faffing with the phone to take a photo but you can see he’s not completely relaxed. There was no force needed though, I gave him lots of time to think and just let him come to the target so I’m really pleased he felt able to trust me enough to do what I was asking even though he was unsure about it. Clever pony <3

Other than that this week has been pretty quiet. He had three nights off in the end, one scheduled, one due to bad weather and one due to me being an idiot and writing him down to be turned out even though I didn’t want him to be! I feel like he’s improving though. His in hand ST work is improving and his ridden lateral work is beginning to come. We did a bit of cantering in the field on Sunday which gives a bit of a more forward canter down a longer straight line which I think is helpful to build some stamina so I think it’s all going the right way. Still not managed to get our hacking as my schedule has been nuts though! Hopefully soon.

Plan for this week:
Monday – didn’t happen as a traffic accident stopped me getting to the yard
Tuesday – ST/CT tonight I think. We did a brief session learning to stand on a mat on Sunday which I’d like to do more with.
Wednesday – day off
Thursday – ridden schooling
Friday – day off
Saturday – field/hack ride
Sunday – pole/jump work. We really need to do some jumping again!

I really wish things would calm down a bit but I have to say it’s not really looking very likely. Another warm week, not totally scorching but a bit warmer than Dino really likes. And randomly yesterday RJ (another horse at the yard) gave himself heatstroke! Silly poppet.

This is what Dino thinks of the warm:

So this week we have:
– done one ST session, working a bit more on the HI and SI and trying to get rid of that push
– had a couple of schooling sessions: transitions, building up some canter and doing a little lateral work.
– had a ride in the field yesterday which got a bit more forward canter from him.

Seems to be going ok. We can get a complete circuit of canter on both reins and walk-canter is ok. Rein back isn’t very straight though, so we need to do more of that between some poles I think. But he’s getting some fitness back.

This week I think the plan is:
Monday: CT/ST kinda session
Tuesday: Schooling – maybe in the field
Wednesday: day off
Thursday: Polework – want to start jumping again!
Friday: ?CT/ST
Saturday: Schooling
Sunday: Hack if I can

Really need to get some hacking buddies. We miss going out and Jake has been off work so our usual partner hasn’t been about. Would be great to get up to the Forest again soon!

The weather has been a bit cooler again this week which suits us much better! We did one good straightness training session; he’s beginning to get a bit nippy again but the pushing is beginning to recede so I think that’s good. We also did a connection training session practising sending to and waiting at a cone and coming away when asked. He’s getting pretty good at this!

Our big achievement was a few steps of haunches in under saddle!! Only on the left rein, but this is good progress. We’re also getting a bit of shoulder-fore both ways which is also good. I had a private pilates session on Saturday (as no-one else turned up for my class) which was fascinating. We found I don’t really have much movement in my left hip. The muscles round it are very tight and so it’s quite restricted. This will not be helping the riding!!

Yesterday I had a bit of a schooling session in the field. It was nice to have a change of scenery and get a bit more momentum in the canter, hopefully we’ll get out hacking again soon. Lovely to be riding regularly again though and Dino seems to be comfortable in his saddle.

This week’s plan:
Monday – Straightness training
Tuesday – Ridden schooling: poles
Wednesday – DAY OFF (I’m going to York)
Thursday – Connection training
Friday – ? Might get an extra day off
Saturday – Ridden schooling
Sunday – Hack