Horse of the Year 2011

Its a mixed bag on the home front at the moment. Hubby's work is off limits until possibly the end of the year (no one knows how long body recovery will take, and then the CBD has to be made safe again and there are so many buildings to be torn down, its just mind boggling) so he is commuting up to Wellington for his job. Fingers crossed he will be home at the weekends, but we are trying to get all the autumn jobs done before he heads off this weekend. Autumn seems to have arrived overnight and we have just reseeded 5 acres in a horse mix (cocksfoot, timothy, broome and prairie grass) so we need a bit of rain & warmth to get a flush before the temperatures drop too low.

Molly is being a right little troll at the moment, and I am so frustrated I have parked her in the paddock while I mentally "regroup". She gets anxious, curls behind the vertical, and does the horrible pony trot, and I'm at a loss as to how to push her out of it. The title photo is a good example of how she curls behind and  you can see the tension in her neck and tail. If I let the contact go she races off on the forehand, if I try to half-halt she throws her head and will even go backwards, or sideways, in the ditch.... My lesson that got cancelled is rescheduled for the end of next week, so I will be looking forward to what the new trainer has to say about the issue!

This week is a major week on the horsey calendar - it is the Horse of the Year show. It covers every discipline you can think of (eventing, showjumping, dressage, showing, endurance etc) and competitors have been working all season towards qualifying. The sidesaddle classes will be held on Wednesday and this year there are 8 riders in the classes, which is a great turnout. I'll be waiting for the results and photos to come in :)