Racing this time....

Took Katie to the races on Saturday and she also raced Monday.....
It was a grass track at Hawera, she went really well but unfortunately she has this thing for the crossings on the grass track and tries to jump them which isn't the best thing to do when racing and with hobbles on anyway the driver always has to get cover going over them( as in a horse in front )and then shes off, ...Saturday she got blocked in coming down home straight when she got out(20m to finish line!) she came home really well and was a photo finish for 3rd, 4th & 5th and she got 5th....On Monday she had a good run and got pipped for 3rd on the line, so all in all although not in top three she did really well....considering....she has had a swollen back leg due to our sand track at home, vet said she was sweet to race, but I think she may not have been 100%, apparently the constant training on sand track compared to grass has an effect on their legs because they have to really get under themselves to keep balanced, interesting.....Roll on next weekend, at New Plymouth, she races sun and tues...hope to remeber my camera this time!!..

The race horses

Well we have had a few fun and games with the race horses and am pleased to say we have had a win which is what you everyday train and strive for. Katie is to race at Easter time and then the weekend after then she is going out for a well deserved holiday on a reletives farm in the Hawkes bay. Our other horse Tuppence, unfortunately hurt her leg, although it didn't stop her from becoming a pain in the paddock so she was soon able to resume her training which is the best thing for her as she is not a good horse to put out when the others ar training, she loves to run and wants to be in the action all the time. She will have to wait until next season now to see if she will cut the mustard and be a good racehorse.

lots has been happening,

I haven't written on this for so long!!!..........

My plans kind of went out the window, I hurt my back and decided that since I couldn't ride I would put Milly in foal, so in december last year she became pregnant to Pintado Desperado.

So Nov this year I am hoping she will produce something really nice and something that I will be able to have alot of fun with in the future.

Since then my back got better and I ahve been riding lots of other epopels horses, went on the Taranaki hunt 3 day trek on Waitangi weekend, that was great fun and lots of amazing scenery to be seen. Above is a photo of Reko, he is the horse that I rode, he is a Clydie stationbred who has been around the hunt field for a few years now and was so much fun to ride, the other photo is of the beach we did end up riding on. On the second day on the trek we had one very long ride, I think it was a bit to long to be honest as my butt and legs were quite sore by the end of it...the end of the ride we came along the beach and had to go through a tunnel to get back to the camp area, was quite cool riding through it, but my head was about 1cm from the roof of the tunnel!!..

After Join up...The riding

After the ground work exercises we rode milly...she was going really well but because she is still very green she just didn't quite understand about moving sideways and crossing her legs..so we did it from the ground. It was a great way to each her and making sure she was crossing her legs over the correct way ie the leg crossing going in front of the other leg and not behind....Fridjoff told me that Milly is a very smart horse, she was really quick to learn what he was asking and said that some of the excercises he asked of her she picked up very quickly and normally he would have had to work with the horse a bit longer than what he did with her...

Now all I have to do is practise everything he has taught me, it does help to have some kind of arena or round pen but alot of the exercises can be done out in the paddock..So here goes my turn to keep up the good work that has been done and we will see how Milly and I go from now on.....

Ground work

Yesterday I took my horse to a man I know to help me learn more about ground work. After my weekend at the dressage tournament where my test where ok, but I found she was just a bit pushy with me on the ground..I can't expect miracles with this horse as yet because I have only had her for a year and considering she couldn't even canter properly, or even know about correct leads she is doing pretty well..I just figure coming from a big race horse stable, they don't give them anytime, just saddle up and go..so, off I go and I am so glad I did this, we did alot of exeercises that I can continue with and the best thing is I got join up with my horse...outside of the round pen was a colt, my horse was really in season and all she wanted was this colt, by the time we had done join up she was ll eyes on me..Fridjoff then continued with excercises that I can continue at home..The photos show Milly going between the barrell and the rails, horses don't like walking in confined space, she did this willingly with out whips or aggressive behaviour by us...the jumping photo all we did was lead her to it by the lunge rope it was her choice to jump it or not, she did actually awing off it a couple of time and so then all we did was turn her in the opposite direction and get her to trot at the jump the way she swung off, then she just popped over...as soon as she jumped we stopped her and told her what a great job she did then lunged her back around to the jumpa gain and over she went, her choice not by any of our doing. I think the thing all us horse people do is once the horse is broken in we think , right lets ride and forget about continuing with the basic ground work..horses need this as part of their everyday work out, it will only give us a better horse at the end of the day and one that really respects you on the ground and on their backs...

Dressage training

Had a great ride on my horse today, she is very teachable and quick to learn. Today we were doing leg yeilding and sholder in, she has never really done this before and it didn't ake her long to figure out what I was trying to acheive so am really pleased with her...

The race horses are finally back into it after 4 months on holiday, pretty full of beans but they really do love to be doing exercise. We have two, one is called katie, she is four and the other is called tuppence, she has just turned 3. I call tuppence miss madam, as she really is one, a very smart cookie is she and boy does she love food..hopefully she will qualify and race this year, all going well she will be racing in jan/feb. katie, her racing name is Exceptional Courage, she is a lovely horse to handle so easy, I wish all horses had her temperament, she has already had a season of racing and came away with a few placings and win under her belt so hoping this year is even better.

Miss Milly

This is my horse called Milly, she is a TB by hail out of Diana Ferrari, she was surposed to have been a good racehorse, but when you ride her you realise she just wouldn't have it in her. She is 6yrs old and I am hoping to sell her onto someone who can taker her further in any discipline. At the moment I am only really schooling her for dressage and we are going to a tournament this weekend the 19th so I am frantically trying to get her up to scratch for this as she has only just come back into work 10 days ago from 7 weeks off. Am looking forward to the day now can't wait to see how she goes.