Never let it be said that we don't cram a lot of stuff into a weekend.
The boys were back yesterday to continue the fencing and there was the small matter of about 60 tons of top soil being delivered, making a complete and utter mockery of the 4 puny tons we bought earlier, naively imagining it would somehow be sufficient to fill all those raised beds.
With that tonnage of soil comes the need to rake and spread, although Phil has moved the bulk of it around with his tractor, saving us hour upon hour of back breaking work. Also, Rui and Fiona arrived early afternoon and were soon pressed into service to help out.
Went to a cheese tasting thingy at a friend's house down the road which did mean sitting down for a bit (yay!) and tasting lots of exquisite cheese (double yay!) but unfortunately I was so damn tired I could barely keep my eyes open and was therefore not at my most sociable.
I'd bought a nice Dexter fore-rib for dinner whch had been boned (?) but that turned out good as we got back late and slapped it on the barble instead. Had a lovely meal with Rui and Fiona, drank lots of wine and went to bed late. Marvellous.
Sunday
Had a lie in til 7.30 and was just sitting relaxing with a cup of coffee when the boys turned up to continue fencing, so had to go and gather insulators and all the other stuff for them. This is all very well but I have forgotten the last time I actually managed to have a whole cup of coffee unmolested by the need to leave it to go off and do something.
Next order of the day was to get the boys organised for our lessons, which were to take place down the road at a friend's yard. We opted to travel them together in the trailer, which involved a very great deal of blokeishness on their part (and no little on Rui's part too, it should be said). Was interesting listening to the snorting and squealing and banging and crashing going on in the trailer as we set off, but they did settle down.
T's lesson
I worked him in hand first and he was a wid man; very up, yelling etc so we worked through that until a state of calmess fit for riding. Rui was very complimentary about my ability to get them calm and listening with the work that I do, so was thrilled with that.
Rui then rode T and he produced some very nice work, especially as last time threfore he found it so difficult to relax, but this time although he'd seen mare and baby and was geerally very excited at all the equine comings and goings, he settled really well into his work and was a joy to watch. He produced some really nice extensions - wow.
Then it was my turn. There was a time when I wouldn't have ridden him when he was still so up but there was no real question in my mind that I would. He did vocalise quite a bit and was on the verge of being distracted and tapdancing a bit; just relax, keep seat and press forward straight away into trot, relaxing and bending him, playing with some SI and leg yields, nice and forward in the trot work and feeling really good with him even though I found it difficult at times to keep with his movement in the bigger extensions - wow that boy can really move.
Up to canter (!), circles, go large, across the diagonal, counter canter and repeat on the other rein. Awesome, really really awesome. I can't explain what a joy it was to ride him in this work and feel the confidence in him - he was rock solid. We had a few steps of passage and finished there.
Quinito's lesson
Q also was a wild man and we went through our calming warp up routine, in which he eventually stopped yelling enough to relax a bit and settle. Really nice to ride him with that buzzy energy and feel how beneficial it can be to shape that into work. Began with a few shoulder ins and leg yields interspersed with medium trots and then played with some extensions, with the idea to extend the neck and go. This produced some really flying extensions and he felt grand. We did some work playing with extended trot to piaffe and back again; this really helps him with impulsion in the piaffe.
Up to canter, shoulder fore and HP on the left rein, thinking forward and using the energy to ease the movement, with suitable conviction from myself. Really enjoyed this and he produced some very nice HP. Had our first piaffe-canter transition! Awesome it was. Just there, ready to be brought to the surface.
On the right rein I began to struggle. The shoulder fore was ok but to get the HP I was really struggling and it took a while before the penny dropped and I realised that it was my right hip getting very sticky that was causing him the problem - just couldn't do it for the life of me. Had to get Rui to have a sit to get it so he wouldn't stay confused. Poor Mr Q, bd mummy. Rui put in a couple of changes to finish and we all left it there; hot, sweaty and completely bollocksed.
Completely chuffed with both boys though as it was a very exciting day for them and they did really well. Also thrilled to have done all that work with T and feeling a bit more like the rightful owner of that pair of Big Girl Pants which I keep in the cupboard for an occasional outing.
There's still the matter of the bulk of those plants to attend to but with Phil's help (and Rui and Fiona) we have got two of the three raised beds done and ready for planting. Must just sit and dribble for a bit though before I do anything else.
No comments:
Post a Comment