~ Sunday the 31st ~
We went down to the pony club grounds and did some jumping!  The highest jump there was probably the spread which was approx. 70cm!  It was really great, when we were cantering around he went on the bit for about one stride!

~ Saturday the 30th ~
Went down the beach.  Jumped the wide part of the branch.  Continued up the beach jumping a few things on the way.  Turned around and jumped the wide part of the branch again and then cantered back.  Tomorrow we are going to go to the pony club grounds to do some "proper" jumping!

~ Friday the 29th ~
Day Off.

~ Thursday the 28th ~
This wasn't a great day because the ground was really sloppy!  We were working on forward movement, and that was going great!  He was really responsive and walking and trotting really forward.  I think we need to do some practise on transitions though!  10m walk, 15m trot, 20m canter circles as good as I could expect them to be on the sloppy ground.  Decreasing and increasing the circle, 5/10m loops at walk and trot, serpentines at walk and trot ok.  We walked/trotted up the road to the little forest and then walked home.

Too Wet!

~ Monday the 25th ~
10m walk, 15m trot, 20m canter circles all great!  Started decreasing and increasing the circle at walk and trot.  He's listening to my leg really well!  Turn on the forehand good.  Will replace with 5-10m loops.

~ Sunday the 24th ~
Started 10m walk circles!  Going well.  15m trot and 20m canter circles good.  Leg yielding at walk great!  Will replace it with decreasing and increasing the circle.  Turn on the forehand good.

~ Saturday the 23rd ~
Fun!!!  We went up and jumped that branch a couple of times and then we did a wider bit!  We crossed over to Pohara beach and walked, trotted, cantered up (jump a couple of logs on the way) up the beach - including a couple of short gallops!  We did our first jump in water!  Once we got to the end of the beach we turned around and cantered/galloped from the boat ramp to the end of the golf course (can't exactly remember - too much fun!)

I've been too sick to ride.

~ Tuesday the 19th ~
Went up the beach, jumped the branch then cantered to the access.  Went up by the sea and cantered back (The tide was too high to cross to Pohara.)

Away in Nelson.

~ Friday the 15th ~
Day Off.

~ Thursday the 14th ~
Much better!  20m canter circles, 15m walk and trot circles, leg yielding and turn on the forehand all good.

~ Wednesday the 13th ~
Terrible!  20m walk circles fine.  20m trot circles, he wasn't listening, kept speeding up and didn't bend properly.  20m canter circles even worse!  His canter was (exaggerating just a tad) a flat out gallop!  It took atleast 5-10 minutes on each rein to slow it down.  Once we had we stopped.

~ Tuesday the 12th ~
Went down to the beach.  Trotted up near the sea and galloped across and back.  He wasn't breathing hard or anything so I decided to cross the river over to Pohara beach.  We walked, trotted and cantered up the beach then turned around and went for a good gallop!  Not too fast - just as fast as he wanted without me having to ask for more speed.  We slowed to a trot but he wanted to go again!  So we cantered a bit more and trotted to the river.  Walked home.

~ Monday the 11th ~
Day Off.

~ Sunday the 10th ~
Rode to pony club.  At pony club we first went on a trail ride.  Down the river up a little hill and then did this litle jump - a branch about 45cm.  We trotted up a bank twice and walked down once.  Wound through trees back to near the pony club grounds then down the road, through a gate into a paddock.  We rode through the paddock then cantered up a hill, walked down and up a bank then through some trees which was like a tunnel.  Back down the hill and cantered up a little hill twice then walked back to the pony club grounds.

~ Saturday the 9th ~
Been at a sleep-over and arrived home too late to ride!

~ Friday the 8th ~
Day Off.

~ Thursday the 7th ~
Too wet!

~ Wednesday the 6th ~
20m canter circles almost perfect.  15m trot walk and trot circles great.  Leg yielding and turn on the forehand good.  Went down the beach and did a little canter.

~ Tuesday the 5th ~
20m canter circles and 15m walk circles good.  Started 15m trot circles - ok.  Leg yielding and turn on the forehand good.  Jumped the 35cm upright then took about 5 tries to do the 50cm cross-rail without knocking  it down.  Did the 50cm boards good and then tried some 60cm barrels.  Jumped the very edge a few times and stopped once he jumped the middle.

~ Monday the 4th ~
20m trot and canter circles ok.  15m walk circles ok.  Leg yielding and turn on the forehand ok.  Did some raod-work at walk and trot.

~ Sunday the 3rd ~
He always does the 20m walk circles well so we will start some 15m circles.  Trot circles ok.  Canter circles much better!  Leg yielding and turn on the forehand good.  Did the 35cm upright then a 50cm cross-rail a couple of times (has been rushing that jump a bit).  We then did the 50cm boards - good!  Because he was rushing we did some circles before the jump (cross-rail) and he didn't rush!  We went up the road into this forest thhing, through some puddles then home.

~ Saturday the 2nd ~
Went up the beach.  The tide was nearly in so we could only go along the edges.  There were people on the beach so we played around in the water for a bit.  After they passed the branch we went up and jumped it coming back.  I stopped and measured it so the people could get further along and it was approx. 60cm!  We jumped it again and cantered up to just before the people.  We walked back a bit until they had gone, and then we went for an awesome gallop up to the beach access.

~ Friday the 1st ~
Day Off.  Red's 4th Birthday!