Friday, August 6, 2010

New home, new horses

I'm still alive :) Which is a good thing I guess...

Well there's lot to tell I suppose.
Firstly Hailey and I had a huge talk and now Cupid has a new owner. They are doing extremely well. Cupid is still living with us though. So no stress with stable change. Risotto was also sold. He lives in Austria now :) Heard he had won his first competition with his new rider. 120cm in junior class. I'm glad for him!
Don is resting. I have no idea how he managed to hurt his left hind leg. He was in a vet center for a week before they let him home. He'll be ready to start small rides next week. I think some lunging might b good for him.

The biggest part is the new home! We actually didn't move. Me and my husband just decided that our stable area needs some renovation...and now we have 8 boxes...and the are so huge. If you think it's too big for only 2 horses (because my sister's horse is still living with her) then you are right.
I managed to persuade my darling husband and I now have 4 horses (I don't count Cupid anymore).

First two are 3,5 year olds. Yarabond and Teperance. Both are holsteins and with good personality. I'm not sure if I should geld Yara but it's somthing I have to think soon. I have started training them and we'll see what's going to happen.
Third one is 8 year old mare. Let Me Remember is a KWPN. Not good for sport and that's why she was sold. She can't jump because of a leg injury. My idea is to get a foal out of her. I have been looking for a good stallion but I really need to find someone with an excellent personality.
Meantime I have had some rides with Remi and she is super! Her leg is only affecting her jumping (had a vet check it before you yell at me!) but she is perfect for dressage exercises. She has managed to learn flying change so far and we are moving to to some half passes correctly.

Wish us luck!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Hello again :)

So it's been a long since I last wrote something. A lot has changed but in a good way.

Firstly Donberch, Cupid and Risotto are doing extremely well.

In February I managed to get Cupid a rider.
A small 7 year old girl Hailey. She's from England so I'm also practicing my English this way.
This is actually a long story but at first I did some rope trainings for a week with Cupid and harnessed him so he would not have all those new things together. He remembered a lot and this was really an easy week. I have to admit I was a bit scared about the first riding lesson but Hailey was really good student and she got the connection with Cupid almost at once. I didn't let them canter for a first two weeks and I was impressed how good Hailey's seat and behaving was. First time they cantered Cupid behaved really good and they are working put fine together. I gace Hailey a week to decide if she would like to continue with dressage or jumping trainings. We worked out a compromise witch means she had (and is still having) 2-3 dressage and 2 jumping lessons a week. She has some problems with her balance in jumping but I think they are ready to have there first competition. Not more than 60cm yet but still.

About Don. Well he's still my love and lover. We just do fun rides and sometimes I let Hailey to practice on Don. Rope trainings. It's when I want her to do some exercises that can't be done on Cupid. Don is a good teacher and Hailey's balance is improving with him. That doesn't mean I'm not riding with Don. It's just he's 18 already and I'm still a bit afraid about him. I have a vet controlling him regularly but I can't help myself :)

Risotto is the one who hase made the biggest progress. There was just a crack one day and everything started to work out between us. Right now Ri is for sale because I'm planning to buy a new horse and Ri has a great ability in jumping. It's just I need something else between me and my horse. I have a connection with Risotto but not the way we both would see it.
He can do collected and extended movements in all speeds which was the most incredible thing for me to teach. I also managed to jump up to 130 cm with him once and he had no problems with it. I have had some potential buyers seeing him and they all have said that Ri is really well trained at his age. I hope he gets a good home.