Today marks a very special day to me. 2 years ago today is the day I went and picked Scottie up and I can’t believe how quickly those 2 years have gone! I will try and keep this different to last year’s post which was loads of photos of how much he had physically changed and improved, as that post is still available here (although I think some of the photos have disappeared, I ned to look into why.)
Although we have had a few more physical changes, I can’t believe the improvement in our schooling and how we are going! This time last year, we were starting to think about working in an outline, but not quite achieving it consistently. However, now we are working in a lovely outline in walk and trot, regularly placing in Intro tests in the ex-racehorse section and we are starting to think about coming down and round in canter. So far we have entered 4 Prelims and I have been very impressed with our scores and we are starting to get 6s and higher for our canter and canter transitions. This year we have mastered our canter leads. Although we still occasionally strike off wrong, we tend to get it right straight away afterwards! So it is a massive improvement.
This year we also attempted our first ridden classes where we placed in every one (albeit by default in a couple of the classes!) This was a brand new experience for Scottie which he coped with relatively well, I think it being on grass was a little too much for him. But our second outing was a huge improvement and I couldn’t believe how good he was. So over all, our flatwork has improved massively!
We haven’t done nearly as much jumping as we could have been doing. Largely because I was focusing on our flat work and that we had a set back over winter where Scottie lost a lot of confidence. However, since then he has jumped fantastically a couple of times (but also jumped terribly one time.) So really we just need to find someone to do the poles for us and jump more regularly at home to get back into it.
Credit Jason Bax, Equuis Photography
Once again, Scottie has had a fairly unorganised year. He was picked up and down regularly while I was going through busy phases at University and he is now at a brand new yard at home. He has been fantastic and taken everything in his stride. When I write this post next year, I hope to be able to say that our jumping has improved and that we have attempted our first hunter trials and/or event. And that we are doing well at Prelim and starting to look towards Novice.
Last Updated on 14/01/2022
