This month I have been riding Barney quite a lot. At first, I was just meant to be hacking him out when we rode out on hacks, but now, his owner and her mother have given me permission to ride him in the school etc., which is absolutely brilliant! I suppose the big news with him, is that I’m taking him to a show this Saturday... which I am really incredibly nervous about! Our dressage needs a miracle, and if we aren’t careful, our jumping could go incredibly badly as well! Arghhhh stressful days!!
Anyway. The first time I jumped Barney properly was... interesting. I was trying to figure him
o
ut really. It is IMPOSSIBLE to get a decent position... You can go with him at the start, but then it all goes wrong somewhere in the air when he somehow manages to land about a metre away from the jump. Bad times. The last jump we did that day was actually alright, because we had a nice speed going up to it and he took off nicely. I over released a bit, but I think out of all of them, it was the best.
Somewhere in the last couple of weeks, Alex and I went on a couple of hacks. The first time, we went with Cloudia, who owns Barney and Diesel. We sort of ambled along and found the sandy track that we were allowed to canter along. It was a lot of fun! Barney goes mental and tries to kill me by chucking his head in the air and then whizzing along. He is SO good. He goes when I ask him to, and 99% of the time, stops when I ask him to as well.The second hack we went on was just me and Alex... it was rather eventful. They went pretty well throughout the hack, mostly not too strong or too ploddy. Actually, I lie, Laddie was PAINFULLY slow. We went for a canter together, and Laddie always has to go in front, and he would. Not. Move. I was just trotting behing Alex going, ‘ALEX!!! MOVE!!!’ but it was good fun. Until it started raining. Towards the end, we decided to canter back along the sandy track to get home quicker. As
always, Alex went in front, followed by me and Barney. All was going well until Barney put on a burst of speed; and overtook Alex. Then Alex was going, ‘Okay Liv... you can stop now!!’ all I could say was, ‘I can’t!!’ Every time I tried to stop the reins started slipping through my hands and then he would shove his head down and pull me forward. Then i dropped my whip. And we kept going. Eventually, i managed to slow down. Then i had to go back, get off, retrieve my whip, then get back on. It was an interesting time.
Last Sunday, we had a bit of a jumping session. It was really, really good. He was an absolute superstar. He absolutely FLEW over the small jumps. We went up to 3ft which he cleared with so much ease it was like ‘WOAH.’Was still trying to figure him out a bit but I think we’re getting there. slowly.
As for today, we hired out the arena down the road and had a jumping session in there to practice for the show. We did a course which Alex set up for us. He still flies. Also today was the first time that I jumped fillers on him. The first time, we had a bit of a tumble,
but after that little episode, he was as good as gold and flew over everything. I’ve learnt that I need really relaxed hands, all the time, or he starts fighting and we mess up the striding completely. To be honest, I’m not all that worried about the jumping; it is our dressage that needs a miracle. 
And that is all for the moment! I will keep you posted more often now, I promise. Wish us luck for the 24th!
Livvy, Laddie and Barney. xx
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