Drama.........drama...........drama...........

Ok, so we left off after another hardcore flat lesson. On the Thursday I was cold and miserable all day in work, so I said I'd leave the boys off for the night, seeing as I'd be away for the weekend.

Thursday night I got everything ready for the weekend so that I could leave straight after work. I had the boys rugged and fed and all set for a chill weekend. I was leaving them in Dads charge.

I had a great weekend full of chat and craic with only one hangover that paracetamol cured! The place where we were staying had no reception, so we were reliant on WI-FI. I got a Whatsapp message on Sunday morning from my sister to say to call when I could. There'd been a crisis, but it was now ok, just to fill me in. Well you can imagine every which way the mind goes after a message like that. So I rang her immediately. The boys decided they'd have their own fun while I was away. And did a runner. A gate was left open and they got out on the road. In the dark, at night. They couldn't catch them, and went for reinforcements and then they couldn't find them. They found and caught them on Sunday morning and they were now back in the field. Now, you could worry yourself silly with all the what if's, so I didn't. I was glad I didn't know about it until after and glad that they weren't injured or cause any accidents.

I got home early Sunday and gave them the once over. They were fine. Rusty wasn't great though, and was very lethargic. He was the same on Monday and had to go to the vet. He'd been poisoned somehow, possibly ate a poisoned rat. So he'd to get a few shots and it took him awhile to recover, but he seems well on the road to recovery and is back to his normal self.

I decided with our upcoming Dressage Ireland competition, in order to give it our best, I needed to start riding them again in the mornings, especially seeing as they'd had a pretty easy week the week before. The mornings aren't fully bright yet, so I started to ride them down a lane on the land. I can practice leg yield and shoulder in on it, so it's handy enough. Getting up that bit earlier however, proved difficult. For the first few nights I couldn't go to bed any earlier, which meant by Thursday I was wrecked!!

Started in darkness............

......finished in brightness!

The next day was much nicer!

Monday evening was time for Yoga again. I felt like I didn't get as much out of it this week. I had to keep my eyes open for the mindfulness at the end otherwise I would have been fast asleep!! I still haven't got my cod liver oil...

Tuesday evening I went to the indoor down the road to give them both a good session. Cu Chulainn was tense for canter and wouldn't relax. Fred on the other hand was in top form and did a great shoulder in. All set for our hardcore lesson tomorrow night.

Wednesday evening myself and Fred set off for our lesson. We got on great. Lots of shoulder in to make him really stretch down in free walk. I'd brought my spurs this week. I usually only wear them for showing, so am really conscious that I don't dig in my heels too much with them. We also did a good bit of canter work, which my legs were in bits for. I could not hold him and she was asking me to do collected canter, I was gritting my teeth trying to squeeze my legs but they were having none of it!! I need to do far more stretching.........
Feels like we're all set for Saturday though, which is great. I'm not expecting much of CC, as he's tense and inexperienced. But it'll be nice to have Fred going well.

Such a poser!

 Called in to my local tack shop for my clipper blades that I'd sent away, as need to fix up Fred's terrible clip before Saturday. Turns out they were the wrong blades. :(
Thursday evening I roped in a friend to help me wash the boys and muck out as they would be staying in all day Friday - because they roll EVERY day and despite having necks on their rugs, they still get filthy. The help was great, did a great job on the stables. I'd made a list of everything I thought I would need for the weekend - I'm a great believer in lists as my memory can be lacking :)
So after watching First Dates - hilarious - I did a bit more packing and decided I'd use the morning to do most of the rest.

Groom in training!

Friday- I worked through lunch Thursday and Friday so that I could leave early. My blades still haven't arrived, so had to call a friend so that I can borrow them tomorrow. Finished packing up. Then we locked and loaded and hit the road - Dressage Ireland let's be having ya!!

Game face!!

The journey was boring AF.........motorway is a snore, so I always ring people to help me stay awake and focused.  Took a bit longer than I expected, CC weighing us down :p So used to doing the journey with just Fred.  We eventually arrived, unloaded, got them settled, they shared a big stable, which was actually perfect as CC can get anxious, so big brother was there to protect him. By the time I got to my sisters I was fully exhausted. I stayed up till about 10 and then fell up the stairs. Alarm was set for 6.20 am as apart from plaiting both the boys, I would have to finish as much as I could, Fred's clip.

Saturday is here. Not a wink of sleep was had because I had to get up early and was afraid of missing my alarm. Bloody Catch 22, need my sleep to be fresh, can't sleep cos have to get up early?! Get to yard by 7.10. Plaited up Fred, he was happy out munching on haylige. Then it was CC's turn, he wasn't as happy as he thought I was blocking him from eating! My friend (Tack 'n tails) arrived to save the day with her clippers and I gave Fred a very quick run over his neck - he will need a fixing up, but it'll do for now. I'd be afraid of my instructor if I didn't get it done!! Got their fancy coolers on and loaded up. And Queue Meltdown............................ if you have ever seen the video clip of the elevator prank, where it looks like the floor has disappeared, that is exactly how Fred reacted when I went to drive. Twice. Complete meltdown. Ended up having to put him in backwards. So I arrived at the competition with one horse front facing and one hanging out the back, really looked like we belonged 😏 Fred did a nice job on his legs. But it was only flesh wounds. I hosed him down there and let him chill in the horsebox. CC was up first anyway. Warm-up was in the arena, which could be spooky, lots of flowerpots and entrance to the stables where horses walk past. He was grand, had a look but nothing major. All was grand until canter when he decided to take off and then kept changing legs, we went round and round to try and tire him out. Didn't even get a chance to try him on the opposite leg. It was time. He was not chill at all in the pocket. All I could think was 'this is gonna be fun'...........
It was actually grand! He took off a little in the canter, but he really relaxed as the test went on. Now his head was by no means on the bit, but we've had much worse and there were no arguments bar the first canter.
Next up, Mr. Fred. I took him out and tacked him up. CC was delighted to get back in the box and eat! Fred was fine in the warm up, no lameness. He was a bit lazy and I hadn't a chance to put on my spurs. As we were warming up one of my past students came in with her mother. I'd convinced them to join up too, so she was competing on her little pony. And what a difference in him! Fantastic little pony, and he was hunting the weekend before! If only they were all like that.😊 Myself and Fred went out and did our test. He could have been a bit more forward, but I was happy. Especially after the morning we'd had.  I got down and put him back in the box for awhile. There was a bit of a delay now, so it was had to know when to get him back out. I got my spurs out for the next test and boy was there a difference! Much more responsive, I don't even have to use them much. We didn't get that much of a warm up, but it was ok as we'd had too long in the previous test. Two more of my friends had arrived by then too and were there to watch. He felt much better for this test. This was the Novice one. He spooked at my friends watching!?! WTF?! He rarely spooks and then to spook at someone watching?! So we'd a spook and mammy went wrong once...............I was going across the diagonal in free walk on a long rein thinking to myself how the hell do I get from here to up the centre line?! Turns out it should have been medium trot...............and what a medium trot he did when we re-did it!!  Power-ful!!  I was delighted with that test.  Untacked him and put on his nice cooler - he actually knows it and loves it, will stand still with no headcollar/bridle for you to put it on. I gave them a load of water -CC is incredible in how much he drinks! And I went in to see if any of our tests were back and to chat with everyone, as well as sit down finally!!
Got the results of our Preliminary class first. CC scored 63% and Fred 65%!! Wow!! I can't believe CC did so well! And Fred could definitely have put in more effort.  I decided to bring them back to the stable as it'd be a while before the other class results were out. So we headed back and the boys tucked in to some lunch. No meltdowns on the way home and Fred travelled on the left this time.

Reviewing their performance!

 I unhooked the box and let them off for a rest. Then I headed back up for the result. Fred got a whopping 66% in the Novice class and came 4th overall. Amazing!! He scored 7 points between the 2 classes and CC scored 2, so it was definitely worthwhile! I celebrated with some takeaway and listened to the Six Nations on the radio. Then I picked up the boys again and we headed off for the beach. Listened to Ireland lose on the way............We met Tack 'n tails there and headed for the beach. It was CC's first time ever at the beach, and what a brave little boy he was!! He jumped the water a small bit, but nothing too bad. We walked almost the length of the beach, mostly in the water, so he was well used to it and even drank some of it! Fred loves the beach and it was a nice treat for him, as well as great for his cut legs. CC also benefited by having ridiculously clean legs after!! I had my helmet cam, so video footage to follow!

By the time I was driving back to the yard, I had really hit a wall. I was exhausted. I rang my sister on my way to hers and they were ordering takeaway, wahooo!

Sunday, I had a chillout morning with my nieces in my jammies. Still pretty tired. I watched my sister play some rugby and headed out for the horses. I wanted to get home in daylight. When we eventually got home, I let them out to the field for a roll and they both got down for a nice roll. I had something to eat and then brought them in, gave them hugs and kisses and tucked them in for the night. Everyone home safe and sound after a successful horsey weekend 😀😀