Sadie's blog

Progress

Posted Thu, 02/02/2012 - 14:24 by Sadie  Sadie

 unfortunately i have been working over the weekend so today was the first day that i have been able to ride jack again since our lovely hack out.

A little break through

Posted Fri, 01/27/2012 - 13:55 by Sadie  Sadie

 Yesterday jack and i went for a wander up the lane as per farriers orders. since jack had laminitis his feet have been growing really well and coming through at a nice angle but the part of the hoof that was laminitic now needs to be worn away and the best way for us to do that is long walks on a harder surface.

Training in the Relaxation

Posted Thu, 01/26/2012 - 12:04 by Sadie  Sadie

 I have been trying to write this post for the last two days!

Ride for Tomorow

Posted Tue, 01/17/2012 - 12:08 by Sadie  Sadie

 Since i passed my level 3 Liberty and Online late last year, the first audition that i wanted jack and i to work towards this year was Freestyle level 3. 

I PASSED!!

Posted Wed, 12/28/2011 - 11:40 by Sadie  Sadie

 I HAVE JUST PASSED MY LEVEL 3 ONLINE AND LIBERTY AUDITION WITH AN OVERALL SCORE OF 3+!! I EVEN HAD SOME TICKS IN THE LEVEL 4 BOXES!

we have done so much!

Posted Mon, 07/18/2011 - 22:03 by Sadie  Sadie

dont you just hate it when your internet stops working, especially when you and horse do some super things and you cant write about it! i actually have a list of the cool things me and jack have done over the last couple of weeks!

lead by tail, stick to me canter, 's' pattern

Posted Tue, 06/28/2011 - 14:46 by Sadie  Sadie

i love stationary. pens, paper, you name it i love it! so when i decided to get organised on what games jack and i needed to learn for our auditions i decided to write it down with pen and paper! i bought a cork board and post it notes. one game to one post it note, all neatly arranged in lines under the titles 'online','liberty' and 'freestyle'. it took me an afternoon but i thoroughly enjoyed it!

Jack is definately feeling better! :)

Posted Sun, 06/26/2011 - 20:29 by Sadie  Sadie

today was the first proper play session that me and jack have had since he was unwell and he is definatley feeling better!

:(

Posted Wed, 06/08/2011 - 06:56 by Sadie  Sadie

Jack has Laminitis :( but ive been told that he isnt too bad and should be better really soon. my poor boy!

Stick to Me @ Canter ...

Posted Wed, 05/18/2011 - 20:05 by Sadie  Sadie

..WE DID IT! :)

Stick to me ... @ Canter

Posted Thu, 05/12/2011 - 20:33 by Sadie  Sadie

over the last couple of days jack and i have been playing stick to me at liberty, first at trot working on him staying more connected to me which he is doing really well. one thing that i focused on was circles as jack didnt seem to get going round me but now he does it really well, better with me on his left but we are working on the right too. its really cool trotting stick to me and having jack do a full circle round me with very little prompting and staying connected!

On the mend :)

Posted Fri, 05/06/2011 - 17:59 by Sadie  Sadie

i had a great 'YEY!' moment with jack yesterday... we were playing on the circling game as i wanted to see how he was moving and if his feet were any better. i sent him and let him walk as i didnt want to push him if his feet were still sore but then he OFFERED the trot! WOOHOO! i had been thinking all these horrible thoughts abouy the big 'L' word since jack's feet became sore so it was such a relief when he offered to trot!
we then went on to play some stick to me at liberty which we carried on with today.

Sore Feet :(

Posted Wed, 05/04/2011 - 20:49 by Sadie  Sadie

i dont know where the past couple of weeks have gone!

jack and i were doing really well with our freestyle having moved on to the weave pattern. then we moved house so i was kept busy packing, tidying and organising! now jack has sore feet!

when the trimmer came she said that his feet were in great condition and he can stop having his hoof suppliment so i decided to slowly take him off his feed all together to see how he did since he is in such good health. well now he has sore feet so he is now back on his feed, we live and learn :)

Look...No Hands!

Posted Sat, 04/16/2011 - 13:11 by Sadie  Sadie

yes, today me and jack did our figure 8 pattern freestyle without reins!!
we started in walk where jack only needed a couple of corrections with the reins, we then went into trot and all i used was my focus! he was also so confident when we played with mounting that he actually became disobedient! brilliant! :D

my plan for tomorow is to put jacks saddle on and go over the figure 8 pattern one more time and then have a recap on the follow the rail. after that i would like to go onto to sideways freestyle as im trying to keep my level 2 audtion in mind.

The Power of a Positive Pattern

Posted Fri, 04/15/2011 - 16:30 by Sadie  Sadie

jack and i have been playing with the figure 8 pattern this week. ive been wanting to get back onto riding as i would really like to pass my level 2 freestyle so that im then a level 2 graduate, woo! and one pattern that we have had trouble with online has been the figure 8 so we played with that a little before the celebration and so i decided that we would carry on the figure 8 in freestyle.

WOW!!

Posted Tue, 04/12/2011 - 07:35 by Sadie  Sadie

WHAT A CELEBRATION!

Figure 8s - Continued!

Posted Wed, 03/09/2011 - 14:25 by Sadie  Sadie

jack and i practised what we had started yesterday, firstly playing with the change of direction on the circles which jack did beautifully! the last one we did he turned towards me as soon as i started to run backwards then went in the other direction with no problem. when i brought him into me i actually cried i was that proud of him!

Figure 8s - Flavour of the Week!

Posted Tue, 03/08/2011 - 20:13 by Sadie  Sadie

since the weather has been nice for a couple of weeks i figure that this is the beginning of spring and have decided to become more organised with what games jack and i play.
i have ordered one of the parelli western inflatable pads but it is not in stock at the moment but im not going to ride jack until that arrives because i want him to be as comfortable as possible, so at the moment i have our level 3 online audition in mind and one pattern that was a weak point in level 2 was our figure 8s so that is our pattern on the week!

4 Week Fast Track Application!

Posted Sat, 03/05/2011 - 21:51 by Sadie  Sadie

check out the utube link below for the video of me and jack that is part of my application for the 4 week fast track. filming these videos always makes me nervous!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJYqfJtNrZ0

 

enjoy!

Check out the re-vamp on my blog!

Posted Wed, 03/02/2011 - 20:21 by Sadie  Sadie

sadiefrancisequine.blogspot.com

Level 3 games

Posted Wed, 03/02/2011 - 19:34 by Sadie  Sadie

jack had a lovely canter on the 45 line today. we were playing the circling game at trot which is his prefered gait, its quicker than walk but not as much effort as canter. when he canters online he usually leans on the rope and rushes and generally looks unbalanced but today as he was circling he suddenly went into a canter and looked beautiful! he was relaxed, balanced and more elevated than usual. i have been wondering whether this is one of the benefits to the hill therapy that i have been doing with him or just because it was his idea to canter it was less effort.

Barrels!

Posted Tue, 03/01/2011 - 19:50 by Sadie  Sadie

i had the opportunity to play a great game of appraoch and retreat with jack today. i was planning on us having a stroll up the lane and back so i was taking jack to the yard to have a brush before we went because he was covered in mud! robs dad had been able to get hold of a couple of barrels for me to use as another toy for jack and they were sitting on the yard waiting to be rolled up the field when jack came across them for the first time. he was sceptical at first and didnt want to go near them so we used approach, retreat and reapproach.

Lights, Camera, Action!

Posted Wed, 02/16/2011 - 14:55 by Sadie  Sadie

Once again the camera came out today as i am planning on applying for my four week fast track course for next year and for the application i need a video of me and Jack. my cousin Katie was kind enough to volunteer to film me. we had a real fun time with Jack! he was in a really playful mood which resulted in some cheekiness that had me and Katie laughing!

45ft Line = LEVEL 3!

Posted Sat, 01/29/2011 - 14:01 by Sadie  Sadie

the last couple of times that i have played with jack i have been putting aside a few minutes to play the friendly game with the 45ft line. well, today was the day i clipped it on jack's halter!

SUCCESS! the 45ft line was made for jack! he could move his feet and be playful without being restricted by a rope but i still had the rope as a safety net. wonderful!

Back in the Rhythm

Posted Wed, 01/19/2011 - 22:25 by Sadie  Sadie

Had a brilliant play session with jack today, we were really connected.

played loads of friendly game when i first went in the field with him, the sun was out and it was one of those times where you feel like you dont have a care in the world!