Stressage September

After showing ourselves to capacity we changed it up a bit in September. There was a return to flatwork and dressage. Fred had the Nationals at the end of the month and our Midland & Western dressage final that we qualified for as well.

Sunsets were  back to being beautiful after the bad weather

"You must obey me when I'm on my throne"

I decided to bring Cu Chulainn to Claremorris to try the Horse Sport Ireland combined training.  I'd entered him in the 90 + 1m class. We spent the week before practicing our flatwork in the stubble field. I was still having difficulty getting him to stay on the bit, but his relaxation had improved.

Our summer arena........

Saturday morning came and Rusty, Cu Chulainn and myself packed up and headed West for Claremorris. We had loads of time when we arrived to have a look at the jumps and get CC ready. We got slaughtered in our tests for not being on the bit, but I was delighted with his relaxation. Tension wasn't mentioned once in either test!! I was clear in the 90s and had an unlucky pole in the 1m. All in all I was very happy with him. It's great that I can head off anywhere with him by myself and have fun.

Brothers in arms....

Fred's turn.....

Up next was Sir Fred. This year we'd upgraded to Elementary and we were finding it tough going. It is a massive jump from Novice to Elementary. The amount of collection needed is staggering. We'd taken the foot off the accelerator a bit in August and had a bit of chill time, taking the focus off of flatwork. So September meant it was back with a bang. I booked in some lessons and tried to hit the floor running.  I'm not going to even pretend it was easy.  We were like an old married couple in the field. There were countless arguments. He'd get thick and say no, we're not doing it that way. I'd get thicker and say hell yes we are. There was a bit of back and forth. When we got to Claregalway for our regional final, we weren't where I wanted to be, but he was only really a week back at it. Miracles can't be expected from either of us. He did do his best so I was delighted with that. It was a team effort.

Didn't he look well?

Big pats......all done

"Did I do a good job Mam?"

We got the results I expected. Nothing spectacular. But he did come home the Elementary champ. Yay Fred!! He was a star bar as usual, so I was really happy that he won it.

Get my good side!!!

Post competition, happy smiles!! And turmeric noses!

Back to work again after the comp. I gave him two days off and then back to flatwork on the Wednesday. Still really struggling with the simple changes. Walk to canter, nay bother, canter to walk........tears........tears.......
Cu Chulainn had a normal hack out. Just to stretch his little legs.

Hack out

Sunset & big ears

You missed a bit......

On Thursday I brought Cu Chulainn down to Flowerhill for some fun and games. Just a no pressure, let loose, have the craic. Had great fun with my friend Wendy. He jumped everything I asked him to and just really enjoyed himself.

Cu Chulain @ Flowerhill 

On Sunday myself and G.I.T. went for a spin. A spin with a mission. That mission was to get me some rescue hens!! The idea of getting some hens had been mulling about in my head for a while. I kept seeing posts from Littlehill Animal Rescue on Facebook about the hens that needed rehoming. The time to do it came when Mam and Dad went to the UK and I conveniently forgot to mention I was getting some.......

I accidentally misread the time we were supposed to meet them in Tullamore, and we missed them. So we had to bomb it over to Mullingar to get them there. Mission accomplished. I got 4 hens to test the waters. Now to get them home. I had a small shed all set up for them with straw and water and food. They advised to keep them in for a few days to get them used to their new surroundings. The day I let them out, when I came home in the evening to put them in, one was missing. She didn't come back the next day. Nowhere to be seen. I was mucking out and I thought I heard something. With Rusty's help I found her near the muck heap. Now finding her and getting her were two completely different things. Picture Laurel and Hardy trying to catch a chicken. There was a chase. Literally all around the sheds. Eventually I cornered her and put her in with the rest. I christened her Mel after that. Mel after Mel Gibson in Chicken Run ( great film if you haven't seen it).
I told Mam a week after I got them. I never actually managed to tell Dad, he just accidentally came across them one day! I thought he'd go mad, turns out he kinda likes them AND he made them a perch and some laying boxes!!

Bluto not giving a crap about the new arrivals

Not looking the Mae West

Rusty found it a bit harder to adjust......