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• Hot, hot, hot…15 August 2022

  

  Hot, hot, hot…

  And hard ground.

  The heat and a loose shoe meant Homer had some deserved time off, firstly waiting for the farrier and then simply because it was hot: it ended up 13 days in total. TBH, it was well timed as he has been a busy boy, developing and learning.

  

  As ever, he was a gent to come back into work. A short hack and then schooling. We started to develop his jumping more, just trotting to a place pole – X poles – place pole. Poor Homer, I think I mentioned before that he isn’t the quickest thinker, it is his superpower however it meant he found he had to think quite hard to sort his legs out. Just a few sessions, dispersed with hacking, really seemed to help him understand about how to organise his body over a fence.

  Out hacking he was generally a champ, apart from one day when he became quite distracted. It was when we were almost home, and he had already passed the cricket club where a match was taking place. He was fabulous: we could hear but not see the thwack of the bat on the ball, people shouting and running and also the crowd shouting and clapping. It was certainly more animated that I expected a village cricket match to be! A couple of my previous horses couldn’t get to grips with not being able to see what was causing the noise, I used to have to jump off and drag them past! Not Homer, he lifted his knees high and marched by, looking rather flash. So, when he started getting agitated when we are almost home, it was something of a mystery, until I got off and found a nasty horse fly attached into the soft flesh under his eye. I flicked it off and a trickle of blood came out. Good boy, Homer, staying sane under those circumstances.

  

  The weather was hot at this time, the ground baked. So, we did more arena work rather than hacking fast. Homer’s jumping from trot evolved into a little grid. For all that they were little things we jumped, Homer found it a big effort. Because of the ground poles and Xs, he was having to used his brain and adjust his body to take weight behind and shorten. Poor Homer, he would rather be eating grass.

  
  We did do one XC type trip… I took him, on my own, to the local country park. You can hack in the woods or on open land, and riding solo is not encouraged but is allowed. When I started keeping my horses at home (as opposed to at a livery yard) I promised myself that if I started not doing stuff as I am alone, I would return to livery. Not that I am silly about it, when Homer was genuinely green, we pressed Rigsby into service or did lessons instead of me doing a solo hire. It was a marker of my growing trust in him that I would travel him alone, then go out and do some XC fences far from home. Of course, I did tell Mr Red where I was, texted him when we sat off and when we got back to the box. But, in-between times, it was just me and Homer.

  Because of the ground, we mainly did walk hacking. We met some big HGVs, a Huuuuuuge sprayer, a massive tractor, and he kept plodding on. Good boy, Homer. Then, a scary thing that I wondered if we could tackle, a water-flicker that was watering the crop, only it was flicking water from behind the tall hedge and over the track, looking like smoke – wet smoke! It was making a T-T-T-T-TR sound, the ‘smoke’ was in front of us, crops to the side of us. I will say that Homer was tense enough that I had to deploy the singing technique, but that didn’t matter, as he DID walk past!

  That really bolstered my faith in him in the being alone scenario, so when we came across some XC fences, that had all weather take offs and landings, I decided to give it a go! I had a Go-Pro on. The film of flying mane, mainly trot approaches, some green balloon jumps but Homer calmly working it out and taking care, it makes me smile. I even got off and placed the Go Pro on the ground for one fence, so we could have a film of us jumping. Super-hero Homer and smiles all round.

  

  On the way back to the box, there was a row of about 10 fences, uphill which would mitigate the hard ground somewhat, so we cantered the whole row. The more we did, the more confident Homer was. He was just as good with the little gate, allowing me to open and close from on board. Some evenings it all comes together and this was one, despite being alone and the fact that it was windy!

  

  That has been it for XC though; the ground has remained rock hard. I decided to quit XC altogether for a while, until the rain comes sufficiently to put some give back into it. Luckily, we live very near an ace arena, 40m X 60m, so we hired it to jump then did some competitions!

  Sometimes, with a baby, I like to do many competitions, close together, in a run. Then let them have a rest. I like the competitions to become very everyday. Well, not literally every day, but twice a week. Homer has finished his months with dressage and show jumping competitions.

  In dressage, Homer has been getting better and better. I have been lucky not to have times at the worst of the heat. In fact, the worst days he was out at night and resting in his stable during the hottest days. He has now done three Prelims, almost 70% each time and improving each time.

  

  In show jumping, he has gone up a height twice. When stuff changes, he slows and falls to trot, but that is OK, he is just being careful. He did a 55cm round, then we did some grid work at canter at home and got him to the dizzy (for Homer) height of 90cm. That made his first 65cm clear round look very small and he was comfortable, despite the fillers making him jump a little exuberantly over a couple, despite the fillers being at the side. Even better, he is now doing proper dress-up shows as well as the ‘stressless’ ones. We aren’t exactly competing, as we are only doing the clear round as yet, but it is all small steps towards where we want to be.

  

  I trust in Homer, he tries his best and is just slow at moving forwards (I meant in a macro way with his general training, but that is also true in an everyday sense). But, forwards we are moving, so we can take all the time he needs to feel confident before moving up any levels.

  A few times we rode out at 5.30am to beat the heat. Nice and cool, the village was ours. Nothing nicer that just you and your horse, on a secret adventure. Nothing nicer than having ridden and got all the stable chores done by 7am. Nice photos too, especially of the sunrise.

  

  So, this was a month of consolidation in some ways, yet we managed some firsts. First 8s in dressage (a few 8s actually). First jumping round at 55cm and then 65cm at a show. First dress-up show. First place at dressage. First time boxing out and jumping away from home totally alone. First time clearing 90cm at home. That is good enough for a steamy hot month where we incorporated some down time! Next month we have a riding club camp, then a beach camp. Ye-ha! It is fortunately finally raining, so hopefully XC will be back on the menu as the ground softens up. At least a beach camp will ensure good going for a gallop!

  I will finish my blog with a little ride description and question…

  Yesterday I had a really nice ride out on Homer. He came in from the field very mellow. He was practically begging for his tack to be put on, then parked himself at the mounting block ready for his ‘good boy’ treat (that he has trained me to prepare LOL).

  We marched right down the main road and met a few things: a tractor head on, a lorry head on, a man trimming a hedge with power tools, cyclists, a banner flapping in the wind and road signs warning of loose chippings. Homer was just mellow. Looked and decided that life is safe and we are OK. He occasionally asked for reassurance and was trusting.

  

  I decided that I would go further, so we did the 2 bridges ride. We haven’t done that for a while but Homer was solid and brave. He didn’t LIKE stepping onto the metalled, wobbly, noisy bridges, but he did it. We passed a bonfire then whole field of mares and foals. He was interested but mannerly.

  On the way home, the bridleway was overgrown, I had to duck as the trees were low. I have a habit with this, that I will break off any intrusive branches I can, as I ride along. Homer is a lovely youngster, and quite mellow. I have had some horses in the past that I would not have DREAMED of snapping off branches above their heads when riding, it would have ended in disaster!

  It made me think… There are 2 types of horses in this world, one type would panic if you broke a branch above his/her head, the other would try to snack on it!

  Made me think of some other ways that there are 2 types of horse…

  One type would panic and dump you if you lose your balance, the other would do their utmost to keep you in the plate. One type can have a month off and go straight out for a relaxed ride, the other would need counselling that the holiday was over.

  One type likes a brush, even with a stiff dandy brush, the other hates brushes (even the goats hair ones or the ones with the sheepskin inserts).

  Any others?