Iris time
Since my contract ended, I have tried to take lots of opportunities to ride, both on Iris and out with my student Anne, who I have been doing frequent lessons with. As she has a really nice arena and we have a slightly sandy swamp, I have been taking Iris over sometimes when I'm teaching there, which gives an opportunity for us to work, new experiences for both horses and a chance for me to use Iris as demonstration horse.
While we were there in the fine weather the other day and my dad had a new tripod head that he wanted to try out, I thought it was a good chance to get a bit of video of Iris and I together, as a marker for our progress after ( very nearly ) six months.
As ever, I carefully think through want I want to get filmed when I do one of these then totally forget the minute I get on my horse and just trot around a bit.
I think Iris is looking pretty nice- her ability to follow the bit is a work in progress and I need to work to keep her in front of my leg but generally I'm well content with where we are at for the amount of work we have done. I'm particularly happy with how much more relaxed she is now.
We have also ridden out a few times in the pleasant weather. The other day Sari was with us so she got some pictures that show a few of the things that I love about Iris:
She is so careful over terrain that is new to her- this was our first crossing of this little ditch and she just walked very steadily and with great care over it.
She likes splashing! She's very good in general about walking into and through water, although weirdly she seems to prefer muddy water to clear. On the way back from this ride she threw in one out-of-the-blue buck which I think was trying to escape from a suspiciously clear puddle at the side of the road.
Trotting off down the track.
Yesterday we made our first expedition up the hill to the Punchbowl. Again she was super-good in the light of all the people we met including large groups of walkers, dogs and cyclists.
The track is rocky but worth it for the views:
I think Autumn is at its very peak now. A few people are now offering stark warnings that winter is coming.
On the way home we go around a couple of big fields and at one point the electric inner fence of the field was ticking and Iris had a bit of a morale failure. I hopped off and lead her past and then was glad I was walking as these guys came scampering over to say hello:
Iris was actually super adorable about this, she just walked along with me whickering quietly to them. If I had given her leave I think she would have gone to say hello, but as it was we ambled around the end of the field and then, just as I was about to get back on, one of the babies zinged themselves on the fence and everyone went bucking and galloping off around the field. I was quite glad to have waited at that juncture.
It took a little while to get Iris brain back in her head after that, but I calmed her down enough to be able to get back on and aside from a bit of passage down the steep hill beyond the field the rest of the ride was pretty good.
Today we went out for a short loop on the common in the afternoon. We were a little short on time but I think it was our first truly seamless ride- we had to stop and look at some cows and snort a little at a cyclist, but in general we just kept going smoothly and comfortably without any big drama. We had some nice trot and canter that didn't accellerate unnecessarily, it was just all really nice.
Walking home in the afternoon light. We're at the time of year now that I really wouldn't want to leave the yard without hi-vis in abundance.
The day ended with the moon taking charge of a pastel sky.
While we were there in the fine weather the other day and my dad had a new tripod head that he wanted to try out, I thought it was a good chance to get a bit of video of Iris and I together, as a marker for our progress after ( very nearly ) six months.
Click to viewAs ever, I carefully think through want I want to get filmed when I do one of these then totally forget the minute I get on my horse and just trot around a bit.
I think Iris is looking pretty nice- her ability to follow the bit is a work in progress and I need to work to keep her in front of my leg but generally I'm well content with where we are at for the amount of work we have done. I'm particularly happy with how much more relaxed she is now.
We have also ridden out a few times in the pleasant weather. The other day Sari was with us so she got some pictures that show a few of the things that I love about Iris:
She is so careful over terrain that is new to her- this was our first crossing of this little ditch and she just walked very steadily and with great care over it.
She likes splashing! She's very good in general about walking into and through water, although weirdly she seems to prefer muddy water to clear. On the way back from this ride she threw in one out-of-the-blue buck which I think was trying to escape from a suspiciously clear puddle at the side of the road.
Trotting off down the track.
Yesterday we made our first expedition up the hill to the Punchbowl. Again she was super-good in the light of all the people we met including large groups of walkers, dogs and cyclists.
The track is rocky but worth it for the views:
I think Autumn is at its very peak now. A few people are now offering stark warnings that winter is coming.
On the way home we go around a couple of big fields and at one point the electric inner fence of the field was ticking and Iris had a bit of a morale failure. I hopped off and lead her past and then was glad I was walking as these guys came scampering over to say hello:
Iris was actually super adorable about this, she just walked along with me whickering quietly to them. If I had given her leave I think she would have gone to say hello, but as it was we ambled around the end of the field and then, just as I was about to get back on, one of the babies zinged themselves on the fence and everyone went bucking and galloping off around the field. I was quite glad to have waited at that juncture.
It took a little while to get Iris brain back in her head after that, but I calmed her down enough to be able to get back on and aside from a bit of passage down the steep hill beyond the field the rest of the ride was pretty good.
Today we went out for a short loop on the common in the afternoon. We were a little short on time but I think it was our first truly seamless ride- we had to stop and look at some cows and snort a little at a cyclist, but in general we just kept going smoothly and comfortably without any big drama. We had some nice trot and canter that didn't accellerate unnecessarily, it was just all really nice.
Walking home in the afternoon light. We're at the time of year now that I really wouldn't want to leave the yard without hi-vis in abundance.
The day ended with the moon taking charge of a pastel sky.