Imperial Coffee Nov Update

November has the wet mud theme. 

31st Oct I allowed an hour to get the ninja worked before we headed off to the show with Alfie. I spent the whole hour brushing, so no time to exercise. 

It may be mild weather but with a full time job and lack of daylight the lightweight rug has come out of the wardrobe. It means I can exercise him rather than spend all my free time cleaning him 

This was his clean side. 

A little apprehensive for today (1st Nov) after a week with no work but need not have worried. He wasn't particular confident on the slippery grass but gave me some trot work when I asked for it. A few sticky moments where he needed time to think but we got through them. Another big step forward for the orange ninja and my confidence.

Hopefully this is the start of positive new beginnings. After two weeks off, and onto the fresh grass today (Nov 14th) we girthed up without a twinge. Fields super muddy so we only did some walk / halt transitions but big steps in the right direction.

We normally have to do the girth up super slowly but today went straight onto third hole. Which also means fingers crossed some of that belly is one the move as well.
Weigh Tape tomorrow to check we are within our targets....... 

Weigh Tape... Oppps well no weight gain but no loss either. Still that is positive

18th Nov we found the brave pants, or was it just stupidity, who knows but we survived. Took the ninja down to Blewbury for some skl hire in the rain and high cold winds.
Tractor unloading hay.. not an issue.
Car driver reasonably fast through a puddle up close to back of trailer... not an issue.
Flapping plastic on a stack of shavings a little bit of an issue with the path narrowed by a van parked, but we got through with a few snorts and tail lifting.
Noises from the stables extremely scarey!!!!

Not the ideal weather to take the Ninja out of his comfort zone but needed to be done at some point so heck why not today.
A bit disappointing we didn't get any trot work, but we were on hyper alert, so to get onboard and walk round with him finally listening to me and not what was going on elsewhere was a good note to finish on. 

Nov 20th Decided we needed another trip out before we compete in the Intro at the weekend.

Not the run through hoped for before Sunday. But there was lots going on and we didnt have a complete melt down, that's a positive. 

Got on almost straight away after a few lunge circles to stretch out whilst girth being done up. Did get into trot so that's a positive, stayed on that's a positive. 

Doubling supl dose for the next few days as not sure if he was just upset with new routine or uncomfortable as we had some gulping of air again when asked to trot. 

Traveled nice and quietly to and from venue so that's another positive

22nd Nov well we did it we went and competed in the intro class. One moment in the warm up I was glad to be on the end of a lunge line and not on board but it came to nothing in the end. Mounted in the arena so his first trot of the day was down the CL so a bit sticky. I cant blame him for the irregular contact as I didn't get my confidence till second half of the test when all of a sudden we both found our confidence and forward button so much so the attempt to halt at the end was shocking. 

Decided to let him watch the others in the warm up afterwards but actually ended up walking around with another horse cantering around him.
All in All very happy and now looking at the next date we can venture out together

And we got to show off our CHN Magazine Saddle Cloth which reminded us we can do this. He even won one of the CHN Style Ridden Qualifiers a few years ago.

Global Herbs Ltd have kindly let us take part in a Brewers Yeast Trial. This is one of their new products and we are quite excited to do a field test for them. 

We have entered another local Intro class for the 20th Dec. Lets see if the Brewers Yeast is the magic potion we have been hoping to find.

27th Nov.. yes that day when we all hoped to find bargains but not sure we have enough in the account to keep pressing yes.... I lasted till about 10.30pm and then gave in and pressed buy. So on its way is a brand spanking new Back on Track Rug for the Ninja... God I hope it's worth it... lots of £££££ just gone out my account. 

Throughout November the Ginger Ninja has still kept up his cheeky side. 

At the beginning of the month I planted some lovely young herb cuttings to fill the hedge gaps. Whilst mucking out a few days later I noticed odd earth clumps dotted about. Then I realized I was looking at the left over root system with no cutting tops left... He only went and ate all of them. 

So I got some bigger Lavender cuttings as they are supposed to deter them from pulling the whole plant up... Well my lovely stripped and prepared cuttings I left by the tack room door didn't even make it past the field gate. 

uhmmmm culprit in the act !!!!! 

The Ninja Sarcoids are now famous 

I finally got to shout about the sarcoid product we had on trial from Feedmark. This was a great trial with great results. 

We have some blemishes still by his eye and a small shriveled section on his chest to get gone but overall super happy with the results and the reset of his immune system. 

Just waiting for the Feedmark days of Christmas offer so we can buy some more. 

Here is our full sarcoid story 

Sarcoids: The ugly bits The gory bits and The finally getting better bits

RoR Awards Nights 2015 - Photo Montage I can change

Upping it to Novice

Survived our Addington Novice The other weekend. 9th with 66.43% The best bit was bringing home the highest placed racehorse rosette for the class and showing off our new Stromsholm Hoodie from our previous winning vouchers

N27 has lots to think about when your used to plodding around doing a very comfy basic Prelim.

Bit gutted I couldn’t correct the 1/4s on the initial CL but he felt so much more active and soft overall now his saddle has been readjusted.

A few weeks ago the walk jig jog had returned so over the moon being back into the 6s for his walk. The stretch will come one day.

I actually managed to sit to his trot in and out of the transitions and after the hard work we have put in recently it was so lovely to feel him let me in.

Last night’s devil appeared briefly in the prelim when he mistook my half halt prep for the walk for another canter !!!

The first centre line comment was a little quick. Yep that will be me sitting there hoping we weren’t about to take off.

Luckily the Judge liked the energy and didn’t penalise us too much when the balance went a bit off in his quicker moments.

End comment was delightful horse. And this delightful horses managed to bag himself 74.79% luvly jubly. Nice points added onto the RoR league sheet.

Now to conquer the halt step back and establish balance for the grand finishes.

Imperial Coffee and Mumaathel: The all important back up team

Imperial Coffee and Mumaathel: The all important back up team: Very blessed to have a brilliant support team behind me and they are my parents. (and husband when needed)  Friday Dad came with me to ta...

Ninja Confidence

It’s a funny thing you have all the bags of confidence in the world one day and the next day it’s all gone…

My Orange Ninja has some diary dates at last. Only down to the local centre where he feels safe but it’s a good start and a massive step from where we were last year. We have finally got his feed and routine sussed; we have also found a calmer he seems to respond to.

I have been dealing with the unexpected for the last 2-3 years and I am determined no returns to A&E will be needed.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but learning from experiences is such a valuable tool. I know now my boy jumps at the silliest of things, normally pigeons!!

So lesson one expect the unexpected: You can’t be prepared for every event, spook or squeal, but, if you know your horse well you can at least prepare. I never go anywhere without my neck strap and luckily my ninja luvs a human on the floor by his side to give him confidence so a groom/helper on the day of a show is an absolute must for him.

Anxiety:boy does this creep up on you when you least expect it. It doesn’t take long after a few sharp spins and those 180 turns with a leap that leave you dwelling on what you could have done or what went wrong.

Best thing you can do is stop thinking about it yes it’s difficult but if you can think of something else and practice your breathing, and you will soon start to convince your body to relax, and you will be less likely to contribute to the next spook.

Last year I had the privilege of being invited to the TSR short listed talent show. I was on my other horse, the ex-racer, but the same principles apply as he was forever getting into hot head mood and not walking round the arena. I was told to imagine a party in my head so I started having conversations with myself and singing silly songs about fruit and veg… yes you need to do what it takes J

Start doing this out loud and you will soon be having your party silently in your head and no one else will know, unless you’re having so much fun and suddenly burst into a mass giggle.

Visualize:When I teach canter to beginners I ask them to imagine a really big hill they are cantering up and there is a far away horizon they are aiming for which has a gorgeous rainbow at the end. I really must take some of my own advice.

This is such a powerful technique for any situation, whether hacking and you see an object that might cause a spook or your schooling in the field and a row of pigeons are sitting on the fence your about to ride past.

This will help you build on your own positive energy and relaxation.

Happy Feet

The wise words we have all read in magazines…. Control his feet.. It is so true but also for my cheeky ninja I have to pay close attention to his head and shoulders. If he is upset he has to lift and then lower his head to buck or leap. Controlling his shoulders and foot direction has been a really big help this year. We had a couple of sessions with Jason Webb and learnt how to put the horse into a controlled small circle/turn and stop exercise to regain concentration. This way they can settle themselves which in turn gives them more confidence to relax and trust the rider.

And one of the biggest recaps from Jason was to assert the ground rules. (that’s a blog all of its own)

Breath 

We took the Ex-racer to RoR camp this year and we introduced him to some music. I have always worked around the yard with the radio on and have it sitting on the fence when I am riding in the field. Whilst we were working on our rhythm and tempo with the music’s help I realized I don’t breathe properly. Such a simple just very important thing. An amazing difference in my horses walk out if I breath naturally compared to holding my breath whilst I anticipate him jig jogging

The other day I was leading the two boys out to the field and checked my breathing at one point I was holding my breath in anticipation of the ninja leaping and lunging on the fresh grass path The moment I started breathing with a relaxed deep technique I noticed he also stopped pulling at me.

Now when I walk up to him with his saddle I work round the corner from the tack room exhaling calmly having taken a deep relaxation breath in.

It certainly seems to work when I approach him with a spray bottle!!

Simples!

Sometimes the simplest things are the best.

Just stand still, reassess your breathing, give your horse time to think and sometimes that’s all they need to realize the world is not against them.

My ninja can over think and if you give him time out he will often take a deep breath himself and a big step forward and relax.

Diary 

Start blogging and/or keep a diary. It is amazing to look back at what you have achieved.

If you are feeling low this is such a powerful tool

Be honest, sometimes you just need help.

Watching someone else ride your horse confidently forward can work by giving you back the ‘I can’.

Be realistic with your goals. Last year was to get back on and ride with confidence myself. We even got round the block and left the safety of the yard confines with the ninja.

This year is to go out and do a couple of intro tests and if we complete the test we have succeeded

Check out this Sway! "Roaring about Links, News and Reviews"

Check out this Sway! "Roaring about Links, News and Reviews"

Check out this Sway! "Sarcoids: The ugly bits The gory bits and The finally getting better bits"

Check out this Sway! "Sarcoids: The ugly bits The gory bits and The finally getting better bits"