Galloping this two super stars today, Big Little Rocky and Penny Jar! 🐎💨
This is Reilly.
Reilly is a 7 year old 17.2hh Irish sport horse with a very sensitive attitude. He is here to improve his self carriage and strengthen his back.
When he arrived he was tense in his work, lacking suppleness through his body and unable to concentrate on what I was asking. Without tackling his underlying tension and trust issues we would continue to create a cycle of tension, pain and ‘behavioural issues’.
The first step was to build trust and get him to engage mentally with me. I spent most of the last 8 weeks working with him on the ground and this allowed me to improve his body posture, suppleness and relaxation, without the added pressure and tension of having a rider on his back.
After teaching him some lateral movement from the ground, today I felt he was ready to learn it under saddle. When I first asked him to move side ways he was tense, but then quickly realised that he knew the answer and took some lovely relaxed lateral steps.
Eight weeks might sound like a lot of ground work, but his reaction today highlights how important it is to build the right foundation. Rilley has a history of bucking (and even dumping the rider). Rushing to do more under saddle risks another incident like this and, apart from the safety concerns for the rider, it would be a massive dent in his progress. By putting the time in on the ground, we expect him to improve quickly now he is under saddle again. Not to mention we have broken the cycle of tension, pain and ‘behavioural issues’
Very happy with this special boy and looking forward to his next ride.
Julia X
Happy Valentine’s Day! Hope you you have a nice night with your loved one 🤪 😘
Ps. Yes he opens zips 😂
Some upside to a frosty morning!
Go go Maj, not a foot wrong! And rehabilitation continues... #relaxedhorse #nomorebolting #welovemaj #happyowners #showjumping
Alice arrived a week ago, she had been rushing her fences, particularly after jumping and was quite unbalanced in the canter. She still has some way to go, but after a week working on the flat today was her first jumping session and she has made really good progress... Take a look!
Some clips from cross county schooling at Tweseldown last week. What a difference in a week, they has just opened and the ground was good but wet in places. I really like Twesledown as a schooling venue, particularly for the more experienced horses. They have good choice of bigger fences and use the undulating terrain really well.
It was so good to get out and jump on grass again, a world away from this weekend, won’t we long till we are complaining about hard ground! Think the horses enjoyed it too, a bit excited to be getting out again, my #noscopenohope sweater from Huff Equestrian was a bit redundant, plenty of scope in these two!!
I was testing a new saddle style for BUA Saddles, really excited to see what comes from it.
3 yo 15.3 (to make 16-16.1hh) bay gelding
El Clarimo (Clarimo) x Calvados x Zonneglans
‘Baby’ is a top sport horse prospect. He has it all, pedigree, movement, temperament, jump and presence. His dam and his grandam are proven for producing quality eventers and show jumpers and grandam produced a 1.60 GP horse named Zidane.
Super brave and super careful in his jump, really impresses with his relaxed technique and bascule. Video shows his second time lose jumping and his mentality shows amazing potential for a 3 year old!
He has 3 quality paces and could be top dressage prospect too. Has rangy movement with an uphill canter and big stride.
On top of all of this he has an impressive temperament and gorgeous personality. Easy to handle, picks his feet up, good for the farrier (has only been trimmed), and to be washed etc. He learns quick and loves a groom and a fuss! A lovely horse to work with, no vices, clean limbs, good feet and beautiful conformation!
This type of quality young horse is hard to find and will make someone very happy, professional or an amateur.
Christmas came early!! (No I’m not saying Mel looks like santa 🎅 🤰!! 😬)
Lucky me got a box of amazing Huff Equestrian goodies!! #teamhuff #huffequestrian #mensbreggings? #honestriders #unboxing #lookgoodfeelgooddogood #christmascomesearly #toomanyhashtags?
