January has been a real quiet month for me an my horses. I have only managed to get to one show with Maisie which was the 27th at the working hunter series we have been attending. Unfortunately there not been much on locally to suit Dino this month but have some exciting things for February and the following months in the planning!

January 27th

Maisie was so amazing at the working hunter show. We dropped back down to the 60cm classes after the 75cm being a bit of a flop in December. The first class she Joe’s great until fence five where she just lacked concentration off the corner resulting in a refusal. She then jumped the rest of the course without a problem. I was really happy with how she jumped even though she was running a bit she was moving and responding quite well. The second class she jumped round clear, with a much better rhythm this time. She then done a brilliant show, the best show she’s done so far with no miscommunications when picking up canter leads, moving from my leg which really showed in her extension and coming back down easily when asked. As a result we managed to pick up a fifth rosette which was a great way to end the day.

February…

I had a few things planned for this month which unfortunately didn’t go a head due to some bad weather and the Equine Flu outbreak that happened earlier in the month.

Myself and Dino where really looking forward to having our first proper lesson together. We had booked on to a lesson with Fit2Ride who focus on rider posture and work with you to correct bad habits. So I had the day booked off work and was getting really excited the closer it got as I haven’t had a lesson since I left college and was interested to see what my weaknesses as a rider were and how the affected my rides. First of all the Equine Flu outbreak hit the headlines, leaving us with the thought of was it right to travel to the lesson or not and then we had amber weather warnings! The night before the event organiser emailed me to say that the lesson was cancelled due to these two factors, so no lesson for us😔

On a more positive note I decided to join one of the Riding Clubs in our area who run loads of lessons which me and Dino plan on getting involved with once the lighter nights come in.

I have also found a great training scheme that is ran on Instagram and is free! The account is run by @prohorseinternational who post weekly training videos which I have been finding really helpful for both Dino and Maisie.

As I mentioned before with the Equine Flu outbreak we haven’t been out at any show this month. All the horses were due their annual flu/tetanus vaccinations in March anyway so we got them vaccinated a bit earlier ready for upcoming shows in March, so we are all set now! Just need to have a look through the locks event calendars and decide who to take to what. Maisie has qualified for the championship working hunter show in March which is something to work towards with her. As for Dino there are a couple of Sundays with unaffiliated showjumping which I want to get him to so we can work our way up the heights since he hasn’t done a competition since December.

Enjoy some of my favourite photos of the horses taken over the last two months…