Progress with Autumn

The last couple of days I have been going up to my friend judes arena to work Autumn...I have a dressage comp on Monday and lately I have really not been doing a whole heap of dressage with autumn, I have been enjoying just mucking about around Davids race track and having a break from riding....
Yesterday Jude helped me out with a few of the exercises she does with her horse, Jude rides western and as a english rider I am really interested in the way they train there horses...
So today I rode up the road to Judes and when I got there i just started to do the things she showed me, and really its so simple and it really works for autumn, I just had my hands out wide and high and turned her in small cirlces like I was going to do a serpentine just lots of small half cirlces down the arena then turn and go back up..it really gets her thinking and brings her head down and she stretches and then becasue I am asking ehr to do the small half circles she naturally becomes round....
I rode like  this for about 10mins then gave her a walk and then brough her back up in dessage mode, and she was soft and relaxed, I was so pleased..when I went to canter she was soft and I asked her in the canter with wide hands and just moving the bit and being very soft with my hands and she went nice a low which I wanted and I pretty much had no contact on her mouth and she stayed in the same frame plus she didn't go any faster I actually was able to do and really nice trans to the tro and back to canter all nice soft contact and low round head/neck....this would be the best she has gone since I ahve owned her and I feel like its a bit of a break through with her leftside stiftness....just hope on monday she goes like that!!!...

Mr Grey.....is sold..

Am feeling a bit sad as tomorrow my young horse I bred is off to start another chapter in his life with his new owners....I have got very attached to him lately as I have been doing so much more with him and he really is sooo sweet...Can't keep them all I guess but would love to have seen him grow up and what he would be like as a grown up...Hope you have a happy and spoilt life Mr Grey...

Our restaurant getting down to the last few weddings

now married and having photo's




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  So far our Autumn weather has been great, we really haven't had a good rainy day for weeks, which is just what a bride orders for her wedding and yesterday was certainly another good one for the wedding party at our restaurant....Here are  a few photos of the set up which we did and my motherinlaw did a wonderful job on the flowers, she also did all the brides and bridemaids flowers plus about 10 button holes and sprays..she was a bit buggered at the end of the day to say the least...Waiau sure scrubs up well for a wedding..my friend sally came and helped as well which was great as her kids came along and were able to keep my little treasure happy while we got to work....Although freckles my dog sat happily next to Holly it was for only one reason and yes he got her sammy's!!!!

schooling on the race track

Great when you don't have to walk to catch your horse, so nice for autumn to be in a big paddock instead of the normal break feeding small area I normally have to do

trotting along the track by the roadside

riding back towards the stables and tieup area

Autumn not quite sure of the tie ups but she happy to stand there without having the tie ups on

Autumns bad mud fever...even though there is no mud its an infection from the grass..white socks are terrible for it, trying very hard to get rid of it..

I am currently grazing Autumn back at my inlaws property and they train harness racing horses....David has an all weather surface track, stables, wash down area and undercover tie up area....I have to say I am really enjoying troting around the track and working with autumn on staright lines as being a young horse keepoing her straight is probably the hardest part of all our training at the moment...so easy for them to drop there shoulder to the outside or go on the forehand, so working around the track enables me to just keep the forward momentum and concentrate on her shoulders and head neck all being inline with out having to turn any corners its great...plus I have to say its a bit of fun going for a bit of a blat around the track...good for autumn to go have some fun in the training session...
David has been using his ute to tow around a couple of young horses he has had turned out for a bit, its quite good as they get worked behind the ute and so when he puts the sulky on and drives them they have got any sillyness out them...as its not that great to get the boot from them when you are sitting so close to the back end...