Despicable Three; minions on horseback!

Team jumping time on Sunday! I took Sparks and Emma and Lottie both rode Star for his first competitive outing since he joined the team. The morning got off to quite a stressful start which meant we were running half an hour late so hats off to the ponies for being very cooperative and warming up in only 5 minutes, they coped with it very well! Star was a very good boy considering he hasn't competed over show jumps in a very, very long time, well done guys, he can only improve surely! Sparkie was a little whiz kid, I was a little hesitant and didn't know what to expect as when he went team jumping last time he wasn't on his best behaviour but he knew mother was on board this time and flew round clear, no problems! He's such a super star, Mr Reliable! 😊 The photographer got some lovely pictures but I can't afford to buy them at the moment which is super annoying, but hopefully I shall purchase these soon! (Oh and did I forgot to mention we did all this dressed as minions?).  

Outings and birthdays and lots of fun things

This blog is a little over due sorry! I apologise if it's a bit lengthy, I have quite a few things to catch you up on... Firstly, Ronald went to his first ever show last Sunday, sqeeeee how exciting!! Sparks went along too as a little mascot and to be a good influence. He was a very good boy, a few baby tantrums here and there but nothing I wouldn't have expected from a 2yo and Emma handled him really well in the ring, so it wasn't anything that we couldn't deal with. He looked super cute and seemed to enjoy his first little outing; many more to come hopefully, well done Won! With a bit of time and work and a lot of elbow grease he has the potential to bring home lots of pretty rossetes (he came 4th out of 4 because his socks were a bit of an off white oops; dem farm life problems.)   

Had a little horsy day with Lottie and Hannah which was super nice as it's been far too long since I saw Hannah and Vics, I missed them guys lots. Jumped Sparkie who was super duper for everyone; think we're starting to really crack skinnies now so here's to hoping we can try and persuade him to jump them xc! Practiced our jump off turns which he aced; He was just generally a super star! Felt so good to be riding Vics again, he's such a fab pony bless him and so reliable, my riding left a lot to be desired as he's quite unfit at the moment and so a bit lazy and I'm used to having to hold a horse back not push them off but he jumped fab and was flying, love him! He's going to be going so awesome when he builds his fitness back up!

 Lottie had a birthday, (congratulations on being alive for so long) so I went up and took some pretty photos of her and John which John thoroughly enjoyed; he is a very willing and easy subject! I haven't taken proper photos in so long and I forgot how much I love it! 

Yesterday was a jumping day for Sunny & Jack. Both were good boys, Jack was very excited to be jumping as I haven't jumped him at home for a couple of months and so we had a couple of bunny hops and rears but he jumped great anyway! He's dropped a lot of weight recently which has been worrying me a lot but hopefully he's starting to put condition back on now and will be back out and about soon enough! 

A little blog for the best pony in the world

So I shall warn you already; this blog is probably going to be a bit cringe worthy and cheesy and a little bit all over the place but it really is very rare that I take a step back and appreciate the little things in life. The first point of this post is that the outdoor season has officially gotten under way! Jack went to Stafford Show on Sunday and was an absolute delight and a pleasure to be around all day. I intended to do the 2ft6 but the classes were running really late and I was on quite a hectic time schedule so dropped him down into the 2ft3 so unfortunately we are yet to really challenge him. He jumped two clears and then just had a couple of lazy poles in the jump off for 6th which is a shame as he would have won his class otherwise! He felt so so much better and flowed so nicely round the course, no pointless flying changes or going disunited! I don't feel like I'm exaggerating by saying he gets better every time out; onwards and upwards I hope, can't really fault his effort at the moment :)

Then Monday was my birthday, happy birthday to me! Me and Lottie took the S Team (Sparkie & Star) to Someford for the farm ride and they literally had the best time, I swear they had more fun than we did they bloody loved it! Sparkie literally flew everything I pointed him at and I just had the best day. Afterwards me and my mum were just talking about what he was like when we first got him and it really got me thinking. Whenever I have a bad day with Jack, or I think about how he's not quite where I want him to be or perhaps he won't load or is an idiot for the vet I need to take a look at Sparkie and remember that he is living proof that hard work pays off. He is honestly the most wonderful pony to work with and be around every day and yes, I know he is my pony and so I am bias and will say that but in my eyes he is perfect, he tries so hard for me and no matter how shit a day I've had, a hug from sparkie or a good bareback gallop makes me feel miles better. It seems crazy to think about what he used to be like, it doesn't even seem like the same pony. Back when I had to pin him against the wall to tack him up, he used to rear and strike out when you bridled him and mounted him, he had to be led in a bridle because he used to plow people over or bronc and rear at the end of the lead rope, he refused point blank to load (the longest being two hours!), he used to bite people and charge at them in the field, bolt as soon as you asked him for canter, try to jump out of show rings to the point where I had to retire him one time because he was a danger to everyone at the show... in no way at all was he suitable for a 12yo and I spent many a time in tears wondering how the hell I was ever going to be able to control this wild pony I'd brought. I never, ever in a million years could have imagined he'd be the way he is now, I mean the fact that we've done two ODE's together last year is absolutely mind blowing to me. He is just a complete and utter star and I am so, so lucky to have him, however it has taken so much hard work to get him there so I guess in a way, I am kind of proud of myself for a change for sticking with him. I'm very sorry for how wordy this is and how cheesy it is but I had to write it down somewhere and I guess I wanted to say this as a little reminder to anyone who maybe isn't having the best patch with their horse at the minute; it is so, so worth the hard work!