The Daffy Diaries

We don't have a school! Well we do, just can't use it as it's being resurfaced.

Bit of a bummer when we have a few events lined up;

15th Feb - dressage (P10 and P14 possibly)
22nd Feb - dressage (Intro A, P1 and P10)
21st March - team dressage (P14)
13th April - gymkana wars!

None the less, they were never going to be boring whether I'd schooled him or not! We may not make it, will have to see how it all goes.

I had to buy some new knee boots yesterday (at £70! Ouch!) as his original Jeffries ones are in for repair (took 3 weeks last time) and the cheap spare pair, which were rubbish anyway, broke on Sunday. Every horse owner has a few things they're obsessed with, and knee boots for hacking became one of mine last year. At least this means I can continue doing things with him - work is pretty quiet and therefore flexible at the moment, so no problem starting late or finishing early to get some daylight.

We have physio tonight, obviously had to cancel the lesson, but I could do with a bit of a pep talk, and Amanda is the best person I know for that when it comes to Daffy!

Managed to ride today and yesterday - I wouldn't have said he was as good as he has been this winter, but they weren't bad days either.

I'm getting some nice trot work, although tonight he was really weighting the inside shoulder. He also started trying to snatch the reins from my hands when being allowed to stretch forward. I don't think he's ready to start working up yet, the lower work isn't consistant by any means, but I need to make sure I'm not working him onto his forehand and stop him from leaning. We're also just starting to think about shoulder in (or out, to make use of his counter flexing evasion) in trot, just a couple of strides at a time. He finds that much easier to bring his shoulders left, because he's not then having to engage his stiffer hind leg, so going to focus on getting the reliabilty on the left rein first.

The main reason for blogging tonight - when doing a search for Daffy's family, which I like to do regularly incase the internet has been updated, I came across some videos I thought I'd lost on an old computer. These are from 2005, just after his tack was stolen, and that was his first time in the double jointed pelham. It was 2006 when he really started evading the pelham, and October 2006 when the physio started to correct his neck/pelvis.

http://www.myguitarplayertv.com/Clip.aspx?key=AA0DEBBE27D42409

 http://www.myguitarplayertv.com/Clip.aspx?key=CC3AAA6CCE593099

http://www.myguitarplayertv.com/Clip.aspx?key=97F236E55A98D828

http://www.myguitarplayertv.com/Clip.aspx?key=542B8AAF41B6E487

http://www.myguitarplayertv.com/Clip.aspx?key=457053A8D7F81AD2

http://www.myguitarplayertv.com/Clip.aspx?key=D096873FD4A74F79

Check out the (really bad) lengthened trot! Ok the riding is dreadful and he isn't exactly soft or balanced in his way of going, but I know how easily I could fix it if that was what I had to work with at the moment. As it is, I'm not sure I'll ever see such paces from him again, I live in hope that he could return to that level of soundness!

Busy busy busy!

We went out in the trailer with Sarah and Billy on the 6th, off for a group ride with the Calderdale Saddle Club. Both boys loaded well (Billy is used to travelling alone, and Daffy isn't used to an Ifor W. trailer!) and we all had a fantastic time! Daffy was extremely well behaved, which boosted my confidence with cantering him in company, and now one of my new year resolutions is to go hunting next season. Huge thankyou to Sarah for taking us, hope we get to do more of the same soon!

The bad part of that day, was Daffy's chest flared up, it looked really red and raw. Had the vet out, who said fungal infection, shampoo every 3 days. The lumps went very quickly, but it's still flaky, and there is some hairloss, some has grown back, black of course, so he looks a bit weird. Fingers crossed it's going - I ended up buying a new turnout (so his other rugs can be washed without him freezing), two anti rub bibs and some potions from Eqyss, totalling £120! Horses eh?

In terms of his soundness, we're still having good and bad days. He's now on CortaVet instead of CortaFlex, on the low maintenance dose. I've asked YO to double the dose (to maintenance level) when it's been raining, as I'm beginning to realise that the bad days relate directly to when it's wet.

We've had two lessons recently, the first was videoed, and I posted the videos on a forum for critique. After some useful comments (including up the stirrups a hole, check the position of his saddle, and he needs driving forward more) there were some comments made about Daffy's soundness (it wasn't a particularly good day, in hindsight) and the thread ended up being removed.

The second lesson was on a good day, and we were on our own in the school. Daffy was already much more forward, but we got some absolutely fantastic trot work out of him - next time we can have a lesson in day light, we'll try to catch that sort of work on camera. It was stretchy, babyish, but really what he needs right now. He wasn't particularly stiff that day, and asking him to go from working trot (5 on the scale) to 4.5 and 5.5 really helped to wake him up.

We're aiming for our first competition of the year on the 22nd Feb - Intro A, P1 and P10. We aren't cantering at the moment, and just want to test the water, so I'm not sure how it's going to go, but should be fun none the less.

Happy New Year!

I'm posting this simply to put down a few musings so I don't forget them before I ride again.

To soften the jaw; gentle asks with alternate hands in time with the respective foreleg leaving the floor. Timing is important because the "ask" is a request for Daffy to soften his jaw AND lighten in front, and the shoulders cannot be influenced when their feet are on the floor.

Improving the canter - currently Daffy's canter is rushed because he is on his forehand, he is falling in through the inside shoulder, and his hind end is not engaged. I need to slow the canter first and foremost, engage the hind end and then lift the shoulders, all of which should correct the falling in. To slow the canter - use of the core muscles to control my pelvic circles during canter; if I go slow and deliberate Daffy will hopefully pay attention. In conjunction with this, half halts with the outside rein and seat as the outside foreleg leaves the floor, which should also lift his shoulders. Using my inside calf as his inside leg leaves the floor will help to engage his back end. I need to sit tall and straight to stop him falling in.

A lot to remember when I'm up there, but I hope to get a chance to try this on Saturday. He is having tomorrow off as I think he's a bit tired from a lot of work recently.