Christmas!

Festive greetings, everyone!

I hope you are all have an excellent time regardless of whether you celebrate Christmas or not! I love Christmas, mostly because of the decorations. One of my fondest childhood memories is walking the dogs in the evening and going down this one particular street where everyone seemed to have lights on their roofs and some had giant inflatables and the likes to create various Christmas scenes. I also love Christmas because it means that I get a break from school, and let's face it we can all do with a break!

This year I feel very spoilt as my parents gave me a lot of presents even though  I only asked for one. I always feel guilty asking for things, especially as my birthday is so close to Christmas, but I really wanted some half chaps/gaiters (which I will be doing a product review of either January or February most likely). I didn't ask for anything else, but they still felt the need to buy me miscellaneous items. One of my favourites is a panda onesie, which is the most comfortable thing I have ever worn, although the tail does have to be shifted for some positions to be pain-free! I also got some festive socks, which makes me happy because I always seem to be in need of more. Is it just me who finds socks getting threadbare ridiculously quickly?

I didn't get to enjoy my presents for too long as family came over to ours for Christmas dinner, so I had to be somewhat presentable (and by that I mean dressed in something other than a fluffy panda onesie). I don't think we ever really thank Mum enough for all the effort she puts into Christmas dinner. There isn't a lot of counter space in our kitchen, so it can be difficult and what with me being vegetarian she has to juggle an alternative for me. This year I had a rather delicious nut roast cutlet and as yummy as it was, the most delicious item on the plate was the roast potatoes. Who doesn't love a roast potato? The delightful potatoes were followed by a heavenly Yule Log that left us all feeling rather full and sleepy. Brave was on TV so there for me the afternoon was perfectly relaxing. Disney on Christmas just makes perfect sense. Although I think Frozen would have made more sense given it being set in winter (sort of) and all. Or 101 Dalmations.

One of my other presents that will no doubt come in handy is a boot bag. For things like travelling to and from uni it will definitely be handy to have somewhere secure to stick my jodhpur boots (especially if they've gotten a bit muddy!).

Anyway! I hope you have all had a fantastic day. Did you get something from your wishlist? I'd love to hear what you are all getting up to.

Happy Holidays!

The Competition

Hello, everyone!

First off, I'd like to apologise for taking so long to get around to posting this. I became quite busy and didn't really use my laptop at all, so sorry about that. With that out the way, on with the post!

I did manage to have the Pony Club session before the competition a couple of weeks ago. It gave me a good indicator of what Bails would be like at the competition, and was really good fun - even if we basically destroyed the last jump. I'm getting much better at riding courses now, and so I felt as prepared as I could be for the competition the next day.

The competition itself was really good. Bails was ridden by two other people before me, which was a
bit disappointing as he only went clear with the first person. After that there was one fence he wouldn't hit on the right stride, and he generally was just too excited to think about his feet. Nevertheless, I was mostly just there for the experience as opposed to claiming 1st place. I'm just not that competitive. So I walked away with a rosette that has special written on it, and I am perfectly happy with that. My instructor said it was the best course I had ridden, so whilst I may not have place highly it was still a personal best, and I think that's all that really matters.

My Dad did record the jumping, although I haven't actually seen that video yet, but I think it'll only prove that my position was a bit over the place. The jump that Bails wasn't hitting on the right stride in particular meant I was out of sync with him. I love riding Bails though because I never feel panicked in the approach to a jump, because he is so honest. The only scary part is when you finish the course and he won't stop, and you're not convinced he'll avoid the jumps!

One thing I would really like to work on is changing leg over a jump. Or just a generic flying change. Bails can be quite hard to bring back to a trot, so being able to do either of these things would be helpful in keeping relaxed so I'm not fighting him to come back to a slower pace. On the bright side, my instructor taught me a trick of sorts that enables me to know if I'm going to fast. Instead of counting '1, 2, 3' (because you can count that faster and faster), she told me to recite the days of the week. It being two syllables automatically means you can't say it quite as fast as the numbers, and if you start emphasising each half of it, then you really can't say it all that fast. So 'Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday' is my new jumping chant!

Well that's all from me. I hope you are all well, and I'd love to hear about your competition memories!

Until next time :)

Force of habit

Hello, everyone!

Today I had a private lesson on Bails in preparation for the jumping competition in two weeks time (and also, I couldn't make Pony Club yesterday). It was a good lesson in that my problem with show jumping is not the fences themselves but the fact that it's a course, so we primarily worked on that. My steering tends to go to pot when jumping courses, and I end up with too much energy going sideways instead of forward. My lesson today focussed a lot on my that, and my problem seems to be from things I've been taught over the years.

One of my big issues is that I have a tendency to hold my hands in the wrong position. They are either too low, or I open up the outside hand when turning. The latter problem is something I was taught last year in particular but it's now second nature to me. I do it without thinking. It's also why I end up with lateral movement. I have to teach myself to keep my hands closer together and to fix my outside hand more - which sounds easy, but when you're also being told that you need to be on one seat bone more than the other and elongate a leg to nudge the horse into straightness becomes a bit of challenge. To make it harder, there were lots of changes of rein to mess with my head, because what was left is suddenly right and what was right is left.

Bails was a star as always. When I get it correct he responds straight away, although by the end of the lesson he was knackered and had no energy left. On the bright side, I can now steer a lot better. I'm hoping direction won't be my problem with the course. The only downside of the lesson is that I didn't actually go over any jumps. The instructor just put some poles on the floor. In a way this was good, because it meant I didn't have to worry about light seat position and all that jazz, but it is a negative in that I now haven't jumped for a month and I've put myself in for the upper jumping class.

I'm hoping that I can have one more lesson before the competition, but even if I do it would be with a different instructor - so the new habits I'm trying to learn wouldn't be enforced! It's a bit of a vicious cycle because I have lot of habits that I need to adjust before the competition.

Of course, there's no guarantee that I'll be riding Bails for the competition in a fortnight. I could end up on a youngster, in which case a different riding style would be needed entirely. Bails has been around some pretty high level courses in his time so he knows what to do when it comes to show time. Nevertheless, it's all very confusing!

What are some of your bad habits, and how did you correct them (or realise they existed)?

Until next time!

I hear sleigh bells!

It's that wonderful time of year where people put up their Christmas decoration and the shops start playing our favourite Christmas tunes in the middle of November. We both love it and hate it.

In between buying presents for birthdays and, of course, Christmas, I received word that the annual Christmas show jumping competition is happening next month. This is a small event my stables throws. It's just a bit of fun for its clients. There's the actual jumping of the course as well as the dressing up element, so it's usually pretty good.

This year I made the brave (or stupid, we'll see!) decision to sign myself up for the upper class. I've normally always stuck with the lower due to inexperience with courses, and also I tend to have a run out or two. My steering gets a little off, especially when the horse/pony I'm riding gets a tad excited and doesn't seem to be able to turn any more so we just keep going sideways - yes Duke, I'm talking about you!

I decided to sign myself up for the upper class for a couple of reasons though. Firstly, it could well be my last competition at the stables, for Christmas at least. Next year I'll still be at University and won't be back in time to do the competition, and the same will apply for the two years after that. Depending on where I go to university, I may end up moving away. I'm sure I'll find another stables, but it really isn't the same.

The other reason is that sometimes the horses concentrate more on bigger jumps. Bailey is a great example of this because on many occasion I have ridden him over jumps and he has let his back legs kick the pole for the simple reason he doesn't put the effort in if he doesn't consider the jumps worth his while. If the jumps get bigger he starts picking his hooves up and really thinking about it.

I would really like to place this year, but I'm not sure how much practice I'll be able to put in. I'm going to miss Pony Club this weekend, so I'll only have half an hour on Sunday. Depending on how much money I have in my bank account affects whether I'll make the next session of Pony Club, and then it's the show on the 13th!

Nevertheless, I'm really looking forward to it. Hopefully this year none of the costumes will prevent the rider from getting on the horse - last year someone's antler-hat had to be replaced with a plain, normal hat or else she would not have got on her horse!

Have you got any competitions coming up?

Until next time :)

Are you going to university?

Have you considered what you'd like to do at uni yet?

I'm in my last year of secondary school, so next September I'll be off to university. It was only this year that I made a decision about what I would like to study, so whether you're in year 12 or year 10 (or equivalent) remember that it's okay to change your mind.

When I was in year 12, I always thought that I would end up studying English and/or History for my degree. I never even considered anything else. That all changed when my Dad pointed out to me that it was possible to do other things at university, things that might be better suited to my interests, like horses.

It hadn't really occured to me that you could do anything horse related at university, besides joining a horse riding society etc. Once I started looking at equine degrees, I realised that it was actually what I would love to do. In fact, I now even have a career in mind.

So what equine degrees are out there? Well, I've applied to do equine science courses, because I would like to help retrain and rehabiliate horses, and the science courses tend to have behavioral and therapy modules.  I would like to mention here that I don't study any sciences for my A Levels. Yep, that's right. I've applied for an equine science degree with my highest science qualification being at GCSE. How? Because the colleges I've applied for don't need it.

There are some that will need a science, but it's really important to just check these things without assuming. I nearly assumed a science was necessary, but actually I just need to show that I have the potential to study at degree level, and be prepared to put in the effort learn the science skills.

Of course, there are other equine degrees. One of my back up options is all about training and management, but there are others that are about behaviour, equine performance and coaching, and equine therapy. There are probably even more out there that I don't know about. Some include riding, some don't (although there is an opportunity to ride at most places).

If you are interested in studying horses for your degree, don't be put off by them being based at colleges. It's actually a blessing because seminar sizes are smaller, you get to know the lecturers, and usually the campus is really pretty because the college will offer agricultural and horticultural courses too (and there are some really adorable animals if the college does small/farm animal courses).

I'm really excited to go to university now that I know that I'll love what I'll be doing. I have an interview in a couple of weeks for my first choice college/uni, and the rest I have received offers from - so hopefully before the year is out I'll be able to make my choices and start applying for the more stressful things like the student loan.

If you take anything away from this post, then I really hope it's that there are so many courses out there that you don't need to do anything conventional. If you're living in the UK and would like to take a look at some equine courses, then I'd recommend Hadlow college, Writtle College, Myerscough College and Hartpury College. These colleges should give you a taste of the variety there is to choose from.

Until next time!

On The Bit

Hello, everyone!

Last Sunday I had a really lovely lesson on my favourite horse, and I have to say that I don't remember a time when he has moved better.

I had a different riding instructor, and she had me really thinking about what it is for a horse to reach for the contact, rather than artificially holding their head in an outline. Bails has a habit of holding his head up, so when you ask him to go on the bit with your hands, he's using the wrong muscles to carry his head. I hadn't really thought about it before, but my instructor pointed out the lack of muscle on his topline compared to the muscle on the underside of his neck. There is quite a difference!

So I spent the lesson teaching him to respond to my leg. There was lots of praise when he responded, and before long he was really engaging his hindquarters. By the end of the lesson he was reaching down into the contact, and I could feel that his entire body was working. Perhaps most importantly, he was powering himself from his hind quarters, rather than leaning on the forehand.

The thing that was most challenging for me was keeping my hands in the right place. I was working with a longer contact than normal to encourage him to stretch, and so my hands kept moving away from each other. It was also difficult for me not to tighten my hold on the inside rein when he was drifting out of the circle we were on. It was almost a lesson of opposites!

It was such a fab lesson and now that I know how he moves when he's really engaging and paying attention, I have something to work towards each time I ride. I'm not sure how well it will pan out in group lessons (if he's not at the front/behind a faster horse, he won't have anywhere to surge into when I ask him for a little bit more energy), but I'll certainly try because it felt fantastic!

On another note, have you ever encountered horses that dislike other horses in the stables? There are two such horses where I ride. Leading Bails in, one of them pinned his ears back and the other looked as though she kicked a back leg out whilst also snaking her head over the door! It amused me (once Bails was safely out of their reach, anyway!).

Until next time.

Restaurants

I recently went out for a meal with my family to a restaurant that we frequent quite a lot when it comes to meals out, and they had a new menu for Autumn. I knew before we even got there what I'd be able to eat from the main course section, because let's face it - menus do not change that much, and being vegetarian I only have a few choices to pick from.

The starter menu was a bit of a disappointment. I don't often go for starters, and last weekend I definitely didn't because the only vegetarian starter was bread, which would be too filling when the main is a pasta dish and comes with garlic bread. I was fine with not having a starter but when the waiter came back to our table to check that I wasn't having one, my sister turned on him.

She started saying that it was awful that there was only one vegetarian starter, that he should complain to the chefs and generally just making me embarrassed and the waiter uncomfortable - it's not like he makes the menu. Her little outburst did get me thinking though.

I've been vegetarian for five years or so now. I'm quite used to restaurants only have a few veggie-friendly dishes, because vegetarian diets aren't the most common in Britain. But does that mean it's okay to be overlooked?

I appreciate that other diets are overlooked also, such as vegan and lactose/gluten-free, but given the seeming awareness of and trends towards alternative diets, should restaurants be doing more to accommodate for all of their customers? I might be used to only having a couple of dishes to choose from, but that doesn't mean it's okay for restaurants to provide so limited amount of alternative-diet food.

Being vegetarian, I tend to get a little bit fed up when things like buffalo cheese are part of a meal. Just using normal mozzarella would automatically make that a viable option for vegetarians. Furthermore, it would be nice if there could be a bit more creativity in the menu for vegetarians. I like having cheese with my pasta, but when my choices are narrowed down to macaroni cheese, some other form of pasta with cheese, or a veggie burger (with cheese), it really feels like I cannot escape the dairy.

I know I am a bit of a fussy eater. I hate mushrooms, so even when that option is on the menu I don't look at it twice. But the thing is, before I became vegetarian I had so much choice. If I didn't like a food type, it was fine because there were so many other options. Vegetarianism may not be the norm, but it does feel like the choice becomes a pasta or burger. Some restaurants have a quiche or tart of sorts, which is great, but in some places it feels so constricting that I end up eating the best sounding choice even if it isn't what I want because there isn't really another one.

If I struggle to eat out, then I know it must be even worse for other diets. I know there are bound to be more specialist restaurants out there, and they may be able to cater for certain dietary needs (such as gluten free) if you let them know in advance, but sometimes that isn't an option if it's a spontaneous thing. When the rest of your family doesn't have any dietary constraints, then it isn't really feasible to find a place that has more than three veggie options.

It might be our lifestyle choice to be vegetarian, vegan or whatever else, but it isn't to have allergies. With growing trends in alternative diets, then more notice should be given. If anything, it would be a welcome break to have more options, if not in the main course then at least more than two options in the starters.

So my question is: should restaurants provide more varied dishes to accommodate for different diets, as opposed to just happening to have the bare minimum?

I'd love to know what you think, whether you're sympathetic or believe it's self-inflicted.

Until next time.