Working on the canter

Our finished "wind assisted" canter at the end of the session, the lower ones ore the work in progress.





There is a lovely view from the school towards St Hilary church spire on the ridge




Rising trot (I'm a lean forwarder to rise I'm afraid)




Danni's more collected trot to finish - I was pleased with this carriage




Riding the canter forward for a big bound - Charles pointed out I'd reverted to putting my elbows out.....sigh




Earlier canter work - I think you can see a difference between here and the last photo at the end of the session ( that I put first because it was the best one ah hum)

So after a hectic couple of bank holidays Danni got his chance to go to a school to work for a change. i wanted to work to get a big canter bound and then bring him up for a more elevated carriage. Charles wasn't happy with my efforts to the right as Danni was drifting out through his left shoulder and so we spent some time cantering with a counter bend to open that shoulder - which for me was rather like rubbing your tummy and patting your head type job! but eventually we succeed and he became straighter. I was really pleased with his finished balance - you''ll have to excuse his mane billowing in the wind, it has been a breezy few day here in cornwall even the Scillonian didn't sail one day!

We hacked home through lanes laced with bluebells and cow parsley just in time for Danni's lunch!

Danilon in april

Danni had a rare treat when we hired a school for an hour this week but I think the work we have been doing with him to approach collection is starting to pay off and he has gain more elevation without dropping his back.

and nothing like a nice long rein when you have finished to stretch your neck ahh..... sorry to be brief but time and tide!!

Car park schooling and what is that!!

Danilon in shoulder in in hand in my usual scruffy but happy working clothes!


Danilon walk pirouette. note posh hat for camera and the hoof oil!



Dani's bottom!! He really has matured this year

Danni goes out around the Cornish lanes each day without fail, up and down hill, dodging the traffic and stopping to chat to pedestrians along the way but some day when we return he does a little work in hand as our schooling space is "limited!" But over the course of the winter, slowly slowly, as the collection has increased, his forehand has elevated and his bottom has enlarged, so I think we are on the right track. Now he is starting to step towards the bridle more thoughts are turning to piaffe ...sigh................. lets hope Danni's do too!

Our youngsters (by Danilon) had such an adventure this morning when a lady I often meet around the lanes, driving her invalid carriage with her dogs trotting beside her, dropped by the top yard to say hello. Well ! Heads came up nostrils flared ears pricked as never before and i ran for a camera quickly because they are usually half asleep!



Two year olds Archie and Amie




Archie giving this new mode of transport due consideration




hmmmmm what is that????



Amie's ears nearly met - she is out of a thoroughbred mare


Amie is Magic's sister

They have now gone back to munching their hayledge but just for a brief moment you could see their future as they puffed themselves up to look more important.

Archie's evening adventure

So!! We went to collect the horse yesterday evening as per normal and no a horse in sight in their customary position watching the gate. Until we looked up the field that is and spotted A sea of horse faces on the heap of ancient mine waste that separates on of their three fields in a very distinct traffic jam or was it a que? Diva had parked herself prominently and no one was going to pass whilst Amie admired the view - probably being given anxious advice by her mother - Diva's current colt Magic is just behind her.....




It was obvious they were planning a cross country party so I raced back to grab the camera and Charles positioned himself ready to record the action........



Archie's chestnut face can just be seen waiting behind Diva's firmly parked bottom - if he was a boy racer he would be revving the engine by now............eventually I went and moved Diva allowing



Archie to leep the bank



and look very pleased with himself indeed - he is by Danilon of course and only one and a half

yes definitely - just what he had been waiting for a clear jump - you can see the gateway if you look closely just beside it

Toffee Sophie and Magic


and would you believe it but this morning he hung back and let the all of the other horses gallop up the field (the top field is by far the best in their view) and then popped the bank in the other direction just for fun but I didn't have the camera so you'll just have to believe me on that one!

Mud wollowers

Toffee

I am happy to report that all of the foals or should I say yearlings have mastered the art of rolling in the mud, applying an even coat to every inch of their bodies - I'm sure this new art skill will put them in good stead throughout their lives.........So you will forgive me for concentrating on photos of their heads today on what is surely a "Day Lent" of gloriously warm sunshine the rain having gone through in the night - leaving behind mud of just the right consistency for earnest plastering said fur coats.




Sophie by Danilon will she grow into those ears?




Sophie again - now gate sized




Toffee and Magic two sparing parteners - mega mud bathers

who love each other really

I asked Charles to bribe Archie and Amie to look up from their hayledge

Diva the long suffering baby sitter

So that is how they have grown this month -all getting really tall - I sometimes look back through the blog to see how thy progress and find it amazing - the progress they make. But every day is a pleasure to watch them grow and interact with each other - the friendships, the squabbles, the rivalries. They for their part have learnt that Charles will be filling the haynets by mid morning and arrive tactfully, slowly and discreetly to see "excuse me????" if there is a little hayledge over to supplement their daytime grazing and then spend the rest of the morning quietly ruminating together and watching our progress with their stables. Diva normally organises this swathed in rugs to protect her short glossy coat picking her way carefully over the muddy field towards us with an expectant expression on her face - well who could resist the old girl!

Dani's dressage course



Charles working on Danilons right bend



Flu is no fun i can report and as the Dressage course that we have been waiting for with Peter Madison Greenwell came closer I felt sicker and sicker. The day dawned when Danni came home sweating from exercise and i came home shivering and so the game was up and I went to bed...........cough cough cough.

A week went past and Charles and Danni grew confidential and I wondered if I would make it out of bed just to see them go - phew just!

Danni and Charles looked great together - Charles is quite the "canter er" anyway with his show jumping background and and Danni was soon bouncing along in front of Peter shaking his head gently as he does when feeling really well and happy, causing Peter to chuckle and remark "He's feeling well!"

Danni working on his right bend with Charles - he's a little stiff in the poll sometimes



Charles and Danilon at working trot

A lot of the work that we do with Danni is geared to a simple assimilatin of the balance and freedom of paces - no fancy tricks juts straight forward daily work to improve his way of going whilst making sure he is mentally HAPPY!

Dani particularly likes the emphasis on happy! Then he is free and relaxed and able to progress to his ability. This weekend his transitions improved and he added a much improve half pass to his repertoire............half a packet of polos and some very nice carrots for tea!



Danni's winter outfit and other chilly mutterings

Danni looked rather like Desert Orchid today for his morning exercise as we both piled on as many clothes as possible before setting out between the snow showers. He grew rather err ummm whisper - portly, after he last snow incident, so I'm trying to keep going until we are stopped by too much ice on the roads.






We still have our robin with his haunting song amongst the barns rafters diving down into the horses feed buckets ans scooping up every spilled oat that falls - I'll miss him when the winter ends and he moves off to do what robins do for the rest of the year!



At the back of the farm a pair of buzzards wheeled above the stables with their poignant shrill call as I mucked out today and i disturbed one later, dining on a rabbit in the little group of apple trees that we have planted up there but he didn't go too far and was soon back on the ground with his rabbit lunch.

The youngsters make the most of the days picking at the hedgerows and ambling about as we beaver away carting wheelbarrows, haynets, water buckets and feed buckets. We break the ice on the water troughs only for them to freeze again and so if it is OK could we send the new cold spell back, Christmas or no Christmas - thank you so much!