Roo is currently on week 10 of a x3 a week training schedule. One hack, one school and one groundwork. We’re not particularly looking at improving fitness or strength but more ticking over and not losing too much condition over winter. So our sessions aren’t hard or long but just a nice bit of maintenance to keep the foundation ready for when it’s time to start doing a bit more.
I took Roo for his first outing of 2023, a nice quiet 10km around the Upper Boothay Farm ride which also has a selection of jumps. Roo hasn’t jumped since April last year and that was in a group. Most of the jumps around the ride were too big for us at this stage and ideally, we’d take a lead into some of the bigger beefier jumps, where the consequences of getting it wrong are higher. But we still managed a few little poles and logs. Roo was particularly good at ditches, step downs and step ups.
It’s the first time I’ve taken him ‘out out’ bitless, and even with other horses jumping and cantering past us I could still happily ride him on the buckle. I just need to increase his confidence going over the more solid looking fences without other horses to follow and I think we’ll be able to pop around a little course before long.
Beth Endurance 