beginner to hunting in one year

fat and slow

Goal for the year is to win a bet (for pride/honor) with my cousins and be able to hunt on my own horse with them by next stephens day. is this possible? I'm new to horse riding. Started riding over christmas at the cousins and did about 10 infromal lessons with them. Now i'm getting 1 lesson per week with david maher at roscrea equestrian center at weekends. I'm considering doing another lesson per week near dublin;

i'm good at cantering have good balance from roadcycling and i'm ok at keeping my balance after small jumps. I need lots of work on posting trot, i sometimes lean too far forward- i can lose control and get bounced up and down and my hands need to be steadier. on one particular smaller horse i nearly have the trot perfect. but on the bigger/faster stronger horse i was put on last week i bounced and was bounced too much.

Over the next few lessons i want to improve on the posting trot. have a more upright posture, steadier hands. know which leg i'm rising on. and if it's the correct outside leg. Be able to trot on the bigger horse.
Thereafter i would like to be able to do a troting change of leg and be able to do figure of 8's correctly on the bigger horse.

This weekend on the farm i'll try and rotivate the sand arena/ excercise area. It's too compacted and holding too much water at the moment. The irish draught mare that i've ridden twice on the farm is a little scared of water and large puddles. She trots fine for me in the arena but only on the dry parts. I know she should be able to trot through puddles but we'll work on that later. The draught mare tacks up and detacks brilliantly, stands perfectly for mounting and dismounting. she walks, trots and halts on command in the dry parts of the arena. Is it worthwhile practicing on the draughtmare on the farm or should i wait till i get a few more lessons first.

so let me know if the overall goal is too ambitious. is it worthwhille doing two lessons per week and if it is too early or not to work on my own horse at home.

FueledByAisling

Well I don't know about everyone else but I've been riding for the past 8 years on weekend lessons only and then pony camps at every school break when I was younger. I still don't feel ready for hunting.

You need confidence in yourself and your horse for hunting and also competent. To be honest, I think at the level described yourself at I think not only would you be a serious threat to yourself but also everyone else around you.

Green Hornet

Well it's a pretty controlled environment that you're currently in. It's a whole different ball game when a bunch of horses get their steam up........very strong.

Keep in mind that there's banks, hedges etc to pop as well. Not saying that its not possible, you don't have to go hell for leather but being able to control your horse in a herd situation is very important.

You should go on a few advanced treks when you've got a bit more experience. If they are advanced enough they should give you a gauge.

monflat

Well I can say that it's not impossible at all to do It but what I say in meantime is ride ride ride
Once a week ain't enough but as evenings get brighter it may b easier for u
Someone could b riding for 3 years once a week r they could b riding for one year 4 times a week
Forget about tryin to ride thru puddles r anything like that at the moment you need to learn the basics and learn how to balance with ur body weight ur seat and ur legs
Way too many riders r all hand and no leg and there is a lot of horses out there that pull like steam trains because of harsh hands
So I would advise to get the most out of your riding get some one to one lessons with a good instructor group lessons r fine but u will get more out of one to one
There is a place not too far from where u mention who hold intensive xc sessions/ weekends
I cud advise u to go there I'll pm if u want

To b fair to the horse and urself the more you do the better as I'm always advocating for the horse u need to c it from their perspective if u have unsteady hands unsteady seat and legs an hour with a rider like that on their back would b hard let alone 3-4 hours now I no of people who can hardly do rising trot but still go hunting but all they are doin is hanging out of the horse for balance

Remember out hunting your horse is a herd animal and will go with the herd u cud do a gallop to a walk in 3 seconds and b stopping and starting for ages
You will over the next few months have to learn to jump at speed as there sometime s won't b any time to do anythng steady

Also I would say get out hacking in company as much as u can go through water up hills down hills also if u can find a wood and go in through trees zig zag ur way through keeping an eye not to take the knee caps off urself by doin this is a great exercise to get ur horse to move away from ur leg and move over and back
U need to ride on the road too and get into the hang of moving ur horse over to the verge when a car passes etc but that's something to b done in the summer r later


Good luck with it but to be fair on the horse and youself u have a bit to do but you will get there

byhookorbycrook

I agree with the others. You'll need a lot of work.You say you find rising trot a bit of a challenge on another horse,this would seem to suggest that you are still quite novice.I think you need to be riding at least three times a week. The fact that she won't go through puddles may be that the mare is taking the pee with you,as a novice. My very experienced cob will try it on with anyone he thinks he can get the better of,he's 100% safe, but just naughty if he can get away with it.

I'd also be looking to ride cross country in a group to get an idea of what your mare is like out with others at the gallop/canter as you improve. Has she hunting experience?If not, it might be good to see if someone will hunt her a few days for you to give her an idea about what it's all about, so at least one of ye will have some hunting experience. My first ever day's hunting was on a well used pony and I spent the day holding the neck strap and because he was used to hunting, he actually watched the hounds and followed them without the need for me to do much more than hold on.Does she have good "brakes" when out?Does she kick?Does she lash out at dogs-if she kicks a hound you won't be too popular.

You need to remember that the whole thrill of hunting is not knowing what you will meet. You might have to jump wire, drains, double banks, stone walls,in and out of rivers-sometimes very deep.You may not have a choice of going round things and may well have to jump everything you meet. Remember both you and the mare will have to be hard fit and as she gets fitter she'll need more work-and feed and it can be hard to strike the balance between enough feed to let her hunt the day, without her being a raving lunatic, like a guy on too much red bull.
It would be worth your while going as a car follower to your local hunt and see what kind of terrain they cross,too.

Best of luck.

fits

I think you have a good attitude anyway. continue with the lessons and practice as much as you can.

When you're finally ready to give it ago, make sure its the right horse and the right day. your own horse might not be the best to start off with. There are days which can have less jumping and are better for someone starting off. Not necessarily Stephens Day which can be very busy. Ask your cousins for their advice.

And don't be afraid to give the horse his head and grab onto mane or a neckstrap when going over a drain or up a bank etc.! I hate seeing fellas (and it usually is fellas) hanging out of the reins out hunting.

mothoin

I worked in a yard in kildare, one this lad just drives in, says he got an audition for a new tv series, only problem is he can't ride and said he could in his cv. He went from no experience to rising trot cantering in a week(7 lessons) poor lad was crippled! two days off, seven more lessons, lots of hacking, and then the work on the gallops! after twelve lessons he was flying around the gallops(great schoolmaster horses also!) by twenty lessons he was pooping over a grid in the arena, and jumping schooling ditches!

So anyway he disappeared then, didn't hear from him for ages, tyhen I was out in a pub in naas and happened to bump into him! he said he got the part, and it was great, and then said on the firstday of filming there was 5 of them riding up a quarry and all the horses galloped off, he was the one to stay on!

If he could could do that, you can do this!

Another one actually aswell, I worked for a trekking centre in Galway for a while and had a lad come and go on a trek with us, as the chatting went, He said he learnt to ride after going out on a hunt! he did it for charity, never rode before, got sponsorship and went out ona hunt, said he had a top class horse and neckstrap!

its so doable! but don't wait for stephens' day, get out cubbing earlier, the hunts are shorter and shouldn't have many of the bigger jumps you will experience later in the season.

pm if you want any help, you are welcome to my place anytime and try one of mine! I really admire intentions like this!

GOOD LUCK!

Dark Phoenix

few years back when I worked in a hunting and trekking yard I met an inspirational man. he was in his sixties and decided he wanted to ride and wanted to hunt with his friends. He had not ridden at all before but came for lessons. What he lacked in skill and experience he made up for in sheer determination. We had him out trekking in no time and soon he was jumping and hunting I was delighted for him. What I liked best about him was his ability to take feedback and to listen and learn and as a result he developed great balance and was good with his hands.

OP ride ride ride get as much horse miles up as you can. Get as many lessons as you can and listen and take in as much advice as possible. get out hacking and riding in fields with someone.

My main advice would be get riding a school master and being honest if you were doing your first hunt I would be doing it on an experienced and safe school master and not on anything in any way green as you need a horse to look after you.

The man I was talking about learned to trek and hunt and ride on really genuine experienced horses and that was the big reason he was able to do it all so fast because if all else if he sat quiet and kept the hands quiet the horse would look after the rest

monflat

mothoin wrote: »

I worked in a yard in kildare, one this lad just drives in, says he got an audition for a new tv series, only problem is he can't ride and said he could in his cv. He went from no experience to rising trot cantering in a week(7 lessons) poor lad was crippled! two days off, seven more lessons, lots of hacking, and then the work on the gallops! after twelve lessons he was flying around the gallops(great schoolmaster horses also!) by twenty lessons he was pooping over a grid in the arena, and jumping schooling ditches!

So anyway he disappeared then, didn't hear from him for ages, tyhen I was out in a pub in naas and happened to bump into him! he said he got the part, and it was great, and then said on the firstday of filming there was 5 of them riding up a quarry and all the horses galloped off, he was the one to stay on!

If he could could do that, you can do this!

hey mothoin
was that Jockey Eile by any chance ?
There were a few that auditioned for that who said they had experience and had none at all !!

fat and slow

Thanks for all the responses and for letting me know that it is possible and to get their on merit lots and lots of work is needed.

I'll focus on getting lessons twice per week for the next few weeks. Advanced treks, riding out with other horses and a cross country training weekend are all good ideas but tbh I'm not even thinking about cross country weekends or even advanced treks till i get the basics down.

General warning; be careful making kind offers I will take yee up on it, pms are already sent

mothoin

monflat wrote: »

hey mothoin
was that Jockey Eile by any chance ?
There were a few that auditioned for that who said they had experience and had none at all !!

No, Game of Thrones, sorry but if some of those yokes on Jockey Eile walked through the gates,I would have sent them packing!

fat and slow

Hey guys here's a small update. I've now had a total of 12 lessons with roscrea equestrian centre, two with kilronan ec and one with thornton park ec and two more lessons with my cousins. On top of this I've ridden my mare at home the last three weekends in a row.

I've done a lot of jumping, some flatwork and one xc session at roscrea and one trail trek . In roscrea the lessons are geared towards people who will be doing xc and hunter trials. There is a general warmup[do what you want free time] with transitions, walking, sitting and rising trot and cantering before the jumping course begins. I would now rate myself as nearly up to the standard of some of the teenagers that I do my saturday lessons with. I'm part of the group, there are no longer any separate exercises or jumps just for me. My balance and position is improving. Each week it seems like i'm doing more difficult stuff, or doing the same stuff slightly better. If I skipp a week now I'll feel like i'm missing out.

The pregnant mare i'm riding lost her foal, misbirth, was my fault. Lesson learnt: If you're pregnant and unfit, do not start riding a bicycle to work during the final few months of pregnancy, but if you are fit and are use to riding a bicycle to work their is no need to stop. My mare wasn't fit or use to being ridden. I didn't do too much with her, no cantering, less than half an hour stuff. It was her first foal and she may have lost her foal for some other reason but I feel responsible. She is back in foal, healthy and happy with no depression,. I'm doing the basics only with her trotting circles, figures of 8, transitions, and cantering a few strides. Whereas at roscrea i'm jumpin a course of 9 jumps. it's good to get a mix. The arena where i work her has dried itself out. We took down the central divide. So it's now bigger and better.

Plans for the next while. Continue with the lessons and riding the mare. Find a suitable replacement for the mare. Here's a sneek peak to my dad's website www.galteeponies.webs.com , i'll put the link in the introduce us section in a few weeks time when the site is finished.

marley123

Why did you put her in foal again?? And surely if the Mare wasnt fit or used to being ridden especially by a beginner why on earth did you Dad not step in???? Sorry its just not making sense to me.

MDFM

fat and slow wrote: »

Hey guys here's a small update. I've now had a total of 12 lessons with roscrea equestrian centre, two with kilronan ec and one with thornton park ec and two more lessons with my cousins. On top of this I've ridden my mare at home the last three weekends in a row.

I've done a lot of jumping, some flatwork and one xc session at roscrea and one trail trek . In roscrea the lessons are geared towards people who will be doing xc and hunter trials. There is a general warmup[do what you want free time] with transitions, walking, sitting and rising trot and cantering before the jumping course begins. I would now rate myself as nearly up to the standard of some of the teenagers that I do my saturday lessons with. I'm part of the group, there are no longer any separate exercises or jumps just for me. My balance and position is improving. Each week it seems like i'm doing more difficult stuff, or doing the same stuff slightly better. If I skipp a week now I'll feel like i'm missing out.

The pregnant mare i'm riding lost her foal, misbirth, was my fault. Lesson learnt: If you're pregnant and unfit, do not start riding a bicycle to work during the final few months of pregnancy, but if you are fit and are use to riding a bicycle to work their is no need to stop. My mare wasn't fit or use to being ridden. I didn't do too much with her, no cantering, less than half an hour stuff. It was her first foal and she may have lost her foal for some other reason but I feel responsible. She is back in foal, healthy and happy with no depression,. I'm doing the basics only with her trotting circles, figures of 8, transitions, and cantering a few strides. Whereas at roscrea i'm jumpin a course of 9 jumps. it's good to get a mix. The arena where i work her has dried itself out. We took down the central divide. So it's now bigger and better.

Plans for the next while. Continue with the lessons and riding the mare. Find a suitable replacement for the mare. Here's a sneek peak to my dad's website www.galteeponies.webs.com , i'll put the link in the introduce us section in a few weeks time when the site is finished.

Dear god, how far gone in foal is she & you're riding her again??? Have you just covered her or when is her due date?

fat and slow

one month ago she lost her foal. She was covered three weeks ago. I took her out the last two weekends, not the weekend she was covered. Her due date, before she lost the foal was very late, end of may.

Why was I riding her? I was given permission to ride her. Heinsight is great, I did write 'lesson learnt', I was hearing all sorts of stories how it was ok to do lightwork and trot ponies which were a few months away from foaling. It was a shock to find out she miscarried. I wasn't galloping, cantering jumping. I had someone with me at all times, the sessions were less then half an hour.

The explanation, I gave she wasn't fit or use to being ridden, was slightly over the top. She was ridden a lot last summer. and occasionally by me since christmas. To say she was unfit wasn't really true either. She was outwintered with a group of mares on a hard stand off area and road, with lots of room, with natural shelter and a field hut. She was getting excerise with water, hay and shelter on different parts of road area. She wasn't sedentary in a stable with no excercise. When i did excercise her she wasn't sweating or out of breath.

Why is she back in foal, Dad wants to breed a sporthorse, draught connemara cross.

Esroh

F and S

Nobody can tell you that it was caused by riding her. If you have been riding her on and off since last summer i would doubt it was the problem.
In the past Mares did most of the work on farms and would have been doing work right up to a few weeks before foaling.
I have seen mares work right up to the day the foal was born

To those of you questioning why she is covered again why not. Nature brought on her cycle then covering her was a normal thing to do. Mares are covered in 'foal heat' all the time.

fits

Most mares should be able to take light work until late in the gestation. I know of one mare who was hunting until Christmas who is due to foal this spring. It might not have helped but might not have caused it either.

Kevhog1988

Not your fault the mare slipped her foal at all!!

With regards to the hunting i think the best way to do it is keep at your lessons until your confident jumping and then just throw yourself in the deep end and go at a few cross country jumps... You dont need to jump massive drains, just dmall ones to get going!!

I spent 3 months getting lessons every weekend when i started and then i was brought jumping small dry drains.

fat and slow

thanks all for your views, advice, opinions and encouragement. The lessons are going well. Completed roscrea ec, outdoor course. I'm very happy with that. Ok I was on a better horse then I was for the last month. But the last time,6wks ago,I was on Toby I fell off him in the arena because I wasn't use to jumping larger 70cm fences. Before that i was jumping 40cm fences. Today I managed a 1m drop and 80cm fences. I would of liked to have done this on the horse I was on for the last month, bud. But he's not there anymore he was on trial. Bud gave me my first proper fall, where I didn't land on my feet. I found him difficult to control. Anyway he kept me honest I had to try and get him to settle before the jumping part of the lesson started. I needed a strong grip of the reigns. My heart was racing when I was on bud, although I was improving, The week after I fell off him, I was able to do the course I had messed up. I'll miss him. It might be a while before I get that thrill again.
On the farm, foals are arriving, one born today. I broke in two ponies to learning to Trot stage. Lots of small steps involved, biting, picking feet, tacking, lunging, long reining, backing, riding... at walk pace. possible future connemara 4yr old eventing champions :-)

fat and slow

My mare and me are improving. I tried to long reign her down a bog road three weeks ago, but it wasn't working so I took her for a 5k walk down the bog roads and through the bog. We nearly sank at one stage. In the four arena sessions I've had since that walk she's improved. She's happy working out, with ears forward and snorting and she's responding to voice commands. My use of legs is improving, to help keep her out or turn her quicker.
I jumped her at the weekend it was good fun. I started small and only had one jump by the side.
anyway I think the next step, before I try trekking on her own again, is to get her use to following a lead horse. A neighbour of a friend offered to go on a trek with me. She is a very experienced hunter competitor. This weekend I'll try it out.

fat and slow

Does it take long to get a horse used to journeys in a box? other horses?

I brought a mare out this weekend for a group lesson at roscrea ec 4miles down the road. When I got there and went in to the box she was sweating as if she done a tough workout. She calmed down after a while. I was early enough to do nothing with her for a few mins then brush her down, and tack up slowly. I brought her out of the box and walked a lap with her of the indoor arena, she was looking at everything. Then I mounted and walked a lap again. Afterwards the whole class went outside.
The instructor was very accommodating he told the class that my horse was a novice and not to get too close. He also skipped the normal warmup where all riders ride about in any direction to get their horses listening them and went straight into the lesson. As the group were doing jumps, I was off on my own trotting and walking again (I started this way at christmas on his easy school horse, and again when I was put on his more advanced school horse). When we went to the next field and set of jumps. The class were doing drops and I was trotting after a horse and trotting over ground poles. Then I went over the poles on my own. Went to another field and trotted over poles again and finished off with a log.

I think these away sessions are worth 4times the experience as the home sessions. She went very well and did everything we asked her to do. The only bad thing she did was paw the ground when we were waiting near the end of the sessions. The instructor david said she could come back again. less anxious about bringing her back. I'm But sometimes I think I don't belong at the teenager group lesson. Parents of these kids brought them to the lessons for years, they got them horses/ponies that were trained and safe for them. The teenagers got used to their horse and finally they brought them to group lessons. This could have happened over years. I felt I didn't belong at start of the year but I felt as if I was part of the group especially when I got to the level of the class. Now I feel as if i don't belong again, but this is probably temporary and I'll feel better when the mare settles in with the class and the class are carrying on as normal.

monflat

Yes it may take some time to get her used to the horse box . Remember she is leaving her comfort zone and going into the unknown .but the more places you bring her the better.
Just take it handy driving and always arrive early to let her relax in her new surroundings

With regards to the lessons you have your own goal . To do a hunt at the end of the year.
You have progressed so far we'll done.
Too much of us think too much of what other people think .

Everyone started somewhere so turn a blind eye to anyone
The most important thing is that the instructor said that he was happy with the mare .
If she had been very difficult for you or pose a risk to others he would have told you not to return with her.

She is learning so are you
Don't lose sight of your goal .if you want to make friends do some adult lessons or a weekend somewhere
But keep tipping away . You seem to be doing really well .

fat and slow

Monflat, I'm not discouraged, I'm looking forward to doing more. I will keep at it. I'm planning on doing a trec event on sun June the 9th in Slieve Aughty. It's similar to the pleasure rides run by endurance riding ireland. It's an all day event and buffet picnic for 30 euros. On the trec ireland website they described it as orienteering training / pleasure riding/ treking. It also mentions you can follow other horses about. They also have another similar event for the next week, and if the first goes well I'll do the next one also.

In preparation I plan on having three more Saturday lessons and more arena sessions before the trec event. There are lots of quiet bog roads and forestry trails near me. She will also go trekking locally before the event even if it means bribing a teenager from the group lesson to come out and be a lead pony for me.

As regards goals of hunting by the end of the year,tbh it's too broad a goal to motivate. The motivation now is becoming a better rider and completing the outdoor xc course in roscrea on my own horse, getting my horse to trek with other horses and on her own. These are the goals for may/june/july.

monflat

Well im totally lost then as to what your posts mean .
you said you felt like you did not fit into the group . Thats the jist of what I got from your post .

fat and slow

Ok, ignore my erratic responses and feelings. I just felt that I had taken up a new sport 'horse riding on my own horse' which is different to horse riding on a trained school horse. I've come to realise that posters here will have done it all before and if i want advice, i should ask just ask instead of describing what i'm doing.

I took my mare back to the lessons again last weekend, and i took her on a trek, to get her used to a box and did some training with her to get used to water. (put a blue lorry cover on the ground covered it with water and made her walk over it and then rode her over it. This stuff was to improve her confidence, i am at the same time trying improve my posture, leg use and get more hours in the saddle.

I am interested in improving our jumping and our approach work.

Is this link a good plan to follow, I haven't used it yet but it looks clear? or can you recomend something better? or what would you do?

Should every second lesson be flatwork? I did a beginner dressage lesson, in the group lesson, I could practice this and lots of extra transitions. Can you reccomend some resources you find good?

What percentage of a jump session should be flatwork. Eg should i do flatwork for warmup and cool down, or should i do easy ground poles and low jumps?

Valentina

I found this book invaluable for schooling my mare

http://www.amazon.com/101-Schooling-Exercises-Horse-Rider/dp/0715329758/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_2

This is in the same series but focuses on jumping.

http://www.amazon.com/101-Jumping-Exercises-Horse-Rider/dp/1580174655

Could you get a private lesson that would focus on jumping?

When I ride my mare we would jump 5 or 6 days a week - she loves to jump. I would only spend about 20 mins on flatwork/warm up then up to 30 mins jumping with rests in between then maybe 10 mins at the end walking on a long rein to cool down. I do small grids, dog legs, cavaletti etc. The height is not important but getting the balance and approach right is and maintaining impulsion between fences. It's better to stick with low fences and build both your confidence than to overface your horse and be back to square one.

Oh another thing, on days you're not jumping you can practice riding around in your light seat to help your position.

fat and slow

Great weekend, my horse is like a new horse. In the xc group lesson we did everything the group did following a lead horse. David rode her first for some drops when she refused with me. On Sunday morn, the trek with Claire was brilliant. Her horses were away but she and her dog went for a walk with us through the woods. She got us to do lots of banks.up and down off the path. She said my horse was kind willing sure footed and we'd be ready for hunting In no time. I've an open invite to come back again and use her yard when I'm trekking by her house.

We've a Slovakian equine student coming for a placement. we got lucky with the student she has great experience she has broken and schooled horses, worked with problem horses and trained stunt horses and performed stunts. I'm confident we will and our horses will benefit and enjoy the experience. I look forward to learning from her and working with her.

fat and slow

Our new student has settled in very well. She gets on well with dad and is horse obsessed, likes working, is enthusiastic.

Last weekend, trek in the group lesson to the woods and through the woods on sat, and on sunday another trek in the woods with the new student and another connemara pony I broke in. The connie was much better following my horse than he was on his own he did all the banks bar 1 that I did. My draught Horse is getting braver and is a very good lead horse. I with help from (roscrea ec), and claire have done the basics that my dad wanted from this horse, and from me i suppose. To be confident enough to trek on our own and to act as a lead horse, for beginner ponies that we are training.

A question about refusals and training. Would you see a horse refusing as a) riders fault, b) the horses fault or c) a fault in training. For example two weeks ago the first day i did xc in the group lesson with my mare. there was a meter drop. My horse refused with me but did the jump with my riding instructor. My horse at that stage had never done a drop or a bank. So david did the drop and gave it back to me then i did it. I'm glad he did it and my horse benefited from it, and she is braver because of it. Is it unhealthy to rely on my instructor like this?

One fellow 16year old student with about 6 years exp said to me david took lots of horses from him when he was younger and it was only recently that he was good enough to bring a new horse on, on his own. This was the second time David took a horse off me. The first was when he gave me a horse at the start that i couldn't control. The rest of the times if I did something wrong, He'd tell me what I did wrong then get me to do it again and I would correct it. I suppose if he gets me off the horse I should still ask why, obviously it's because the horse didn't do the drop, but was it because i didn't have enough reign control, or didn't kick her on enough? or use enough whip.

With our new student ridding out my horse daily, my horse in about one month time will have more exp than me, more hours in the saddle and during the weekdays will have done higher jumps and more advanced flat work than I have. It was nice for the last few weeks being confident, and completely calm approaching a jump or a bank, or a drop, knowing that I would be fine even if the horse was less calm then me. For a while when I was doing harder bigger stuff every week and especially on the horse david got on trial, i was probably less calm then the horse and had a high heart rate. This feeling of calmness I got in the last few weeks won't go away, it will just be the mare will be more calm and i'll just be facing bigger stuff.

fat and slow

An update, our equine student is a massive help. The two ponies which I broke in are turning out to be superstars. These are been ridden daily now. One of them sully, a 4yr old gelding, we brought to a group lesson on saturday, it jumped everything. For it's first time in roscrea ec, it really handled himself very well and he is really brave. He's our best horse on the farm by far, and is better than the mare. The other one the three year old gelding, paddy is also doing very well, he's the one we took for a trek in the woods. He's improving a lot and is a good jumper.
Our student is an excellent horse rider. I was down on Friday and got to see her daily routine, of long reining horses, and ridding out. We rode out three horses for a trek to the bog together.
The weekend before I tried out some calvetti poles first with the draught mare and then with paddy. the setup was trot over 4 ground trot poles, jump a small vertical, land and jump next small vertical, land and take a stride then jump a bigger vertical. I was smiling when our student was warming up paddy. She did a few loops and turns and then did a beautiful extended trot on the diagonals, corner to corner of arena. She has obviously thought paddy some very good flatwork and dressage work on her own in the warmups before jumping.
Next week we will have 1 irish draught mare and 9 connies being ridden out.[ sully & paddy, 3yr old loose jumping champion, snowy 4yr old stallion, 3 other 3yr old geldings and 2 three yr old mares]. Actually only 7 are being worked with on the farm, the two mares are beside the house and I like to train them just for fun at weekends and snowy is being schooled professionally in roscrea ec.

My own progress and the mares. She is getting better, and refuses a lot less and jumps more and more jumps first time. I'm getting more time horse riding, weekends are less hectic because dad has more time to do farmwork during the week. I still need to improve a lot. I haven't fallen for a months but I nearly fall and loose stirrups too often. Our student has suggested bareback ridding. I'll give it a go.

fat and slow

i made a little bit more progress immediately after the last post.

But then I stopped going to lessons and horse riding. Hurling championship season took over. I also had a small falling out with dad, for taking friends out on a hack two days before two of them were up for sale, when he wanted them rested. - over reaction by him, he banished me from the farm, and I didn't come back for months.

Our work exchange student did fantastic work, and I would highly recommend her.

Anyway I got back on a horse two weeks ago, when a friend of mine was down to see our last hurling match of the year, the league final. We went horse riding on Sunday morning. She hasn't ridden for 6 years but was an excellent rider trained by the best. Our replay is this sunday, and my friend is back again. We're going to an introduction to hunting day held by the Ormond Hunt tomorrow.

fat and slow

Earlier in the week I was on to my friend Claire, who's in the hunt. I asked her was there any dress code, she said no, none at all until the first official hunt starts in November. We came a little bit under dressed. Most people had riding boots gloves jackets, jodphurs, shirts and stock ties. We came in a fleece, and jodphurs. Our horses were not the best turned out either.

Hunt went fine, no incidents. Lots of helpful people in the Ormond hunt, to give advice. There was no pressure to jump through gaps, and all jumps were optional. Near the start I decided to follow, two very experienced women who looked to be doing hunts for years. I said to them; Excuse me is it ok to follow in behind yee, yee look very experienced it's our first time on a hunt and our horses first time as well. They took it as a compliment and said sure.

My horse, Sully, was prancy at the very start when the hounds were released and were running around him. He managed ok and didn't kick them. He settled in fairly well after that. There was one incident where a person fell off a horse and there was a 20 min delay.After which Sully was not as patient and would sooner be trotting then walking, and cantering then trotting. I had to hold him back a bit.

At the very end, on the way home. I couldn't get him to walk done a steep hill, and he was picking up pace. So I turned him back up the hill, and then hopped off him and walked him down the hill, and I remounted at the base of the hill. I didn't want to lose control or cause an accident or cause the group to canter.
The other horse paddy, has a great temperament, very cool and calm. Happy to follow other horses or go on its own and is just as good a jumper as sully and is one year younger, slightly less brave tho.

The social side of the hunt was nice as well. We were given punch at the start and minerals at the end. Because it was an introduction day, we were given field lectures on how to behave on a hunt; The hunt leader, said unless your sure of being able to jump a jump, you shouldn't. You don't want to knock fences or damage property and have farmers giving out. 'Tally-ho' means I see a fox.
One incident occurred at the end. I had driven into a space perpendicular to the road. I reversed out fine onto the road, and as I was driving forward, up a damp inclining road my car, towing the horsebox and two horses cut out three times. This drew the attention of everyone, who were shouting,come on give it more revs and put the boot down. Finally on the fourth time it just about managed to get going.

convert

Hi there, glad to hear you enjoyed your first day's hunting. I assume it was autumn hunting, if your friend said the season hadn't commenced yet.

If it was, there is actually a 'dress code': helmet (with cover) or peaked cap; a hacking jacket, shirt, tie, gloves, cream jodhpurs and boots (correct dress is actually jodhpur boots).

Horses shouldn't be plaited, but should be well turned out (clean, pulled mane, etc.).

Dressing neatly and appropriately shoes respect for the landowner who's kindly allowing you cross their land, as well as for the hunt (and self respect, too!).