Gridwork on Roger! | GoPro

Yaaay more fun Gridwork! Roger wasn’t quite feeling himself this lesson; he was ok on the flat in the warm up, if a bit lazy, but even over the poles on the ground he struggled a bit with his canter and what should have been a very easy grid jumping exercise for him actually took a lot more energy out of us both than normal. To be fair to him though, his early clip has grown out so he’s quite fluffy again and it was a warmer day, plus the low sun made it quite tricky to see the poles on the right rein, so I don’t think there is anything to worry about in the slightest. Despite Roger not being quite as enthusiastic as normal, he still did a good job of the grid and got us out of trouble after a couple of dodgy approaches, which is always a bonus! He also listened and managed to shorten his canter enough to fit in two strides between the fences by the end of the lesson - he had been throwing in one long one in-between jumps at the start, which is what he likes to do when he’s feeling lazy or tired, so the fact he actually paid attention to me and adjusted his canter when asked in the second half of the lesson was great, and he’d definitely perked up by the final couple of goes after a bit more work on his canter in between goes over the grid :-) I've said it once and I'll say it again, horses aren't machines and they're allowed to have days when they're not feeling 100%!

🚨Anyone who leaves negative criticism/tips/advice MUST donate at least £1 to a charity of their choice 😊

QOTD: If you're in the UK, are you still able to ride during lockdown 2?

Ponies/horses:
Roger - 14hh piebald gelding

Helmet Cam: GoPro Hero 6

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⬇️ FAQs ⬇️

🔵 DO YOU OWN THE HORSES & PONIES IN YOUR VIDEOS?
No, all the horses & ponies belong to a lovely riding school, or are working liveries at the same yard.

🔵 WILL YOU EVER GET YOUR OWN HORSE?
I would love to own a pony one day, but for now I am more than happy having weekly lessons on the fantastic riding school horses & ponies.

🔵 WHY DO YOU ALWAYS JUMP THE SAME HEIGHT?
These riding school ponies usually jump more than once a week, and sometimes more than once a day, so we don’t jump ‘big’ except on special occasions to ensure the ponies stay sound and live long, happy lives. Fence height has very little to do with jumping technique or experience.

🔵 HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN RIDING FOR?
I’ve been having weekly lessons in riding schools for 16 years now!

🔵 IF YOU’VE BEEN RIDING FOR SO LONG, WHY DON’T YOU COMPETE?
I have no personal interest in competing or jumping huge tracks. I ride for fun, simple as that!

🔵 WHY ARE THE HORSES ALREADY TACKED UP WHEN YOU APPROACH THEM?
This is a busy riding school & livery yard and so the lesson horses are tacked up by the staff who work there to ensure they are ready to leave the yard on time and have been tacked up correctly.

🔵 DO THE HORSES STAY TACKED UP 24/7?
No. The horses are only tacked up right before their lessons and spend the rest of their time turned out in grass fields.

🔵 WHO IS ROBIN FROM YOUR VIDEOS?
Robin is my mum and she rides with me in my lesson every week. She's 64 and fearless as ever!

[nicoleesmefan]

Amazing riding such Hard work together GREAT BOY ROG👏👏❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[alcequestrian]

You guys look amazing (as per usual)!
AOTD: Not for lessons but I loan a pony there (to keep things running) and although the time is heavily reduced (from eight hours a week to three and a half) I still get to go up and ride her twice a week! My riding school is also a charity so people from schools come out to ride them still for sensory and therapy reasons although their 'public' clients are not. They're a busy riding school so there would be too much risk of contamination!

[beccah]

Ah a lovely video Claire
Phoenix at the end though 😍 ‘can I have one’ x

[Rachelvehiclespotting]

Great video. Roger loves Gridwork. QOTD: Not able to ride at the moment as I can only ride at my friends house and not allowed house visits

[thelifespikeandgeorge]

Rogers so cute i loved this jumping lesson I jump oxers but I can tell you jump so much higher I'm 11years old I started when I was 8 years old but good work today you and Roger are so cute together you to work as a team

[RoxyPiglet]

QOTD: luckily my riding school has stayed open to private lessons and as i have a horse now (we have had him for two weeks) i am allowed to ride whenever the school is free xx

[amypowell]

Ahhh great! A pony cam vid! Hang on let me just grab my popcorn

QOTD: nope, I ride at a riding school and it has had to close until 2nd Dec which is annoying so right now I am living of pony cam vids!

[STEquestrian]

Some of his canter work at the beginning looks so good! And in answer to QOTD I was riding, I am now not 😂 It’s going to be so weird for me not riding for so long! x

[kateb]

Everyone has their bad days, and you did great!

I had a lesson yesterday on a very exited thoroughbred, but even while being exited, he would NOT pick up his left lead easily. We ended up continuously jumping or line on the right lead, while I was furiously trying to get a lead change over the jumps 😂

Another amazing video! x♥️x

Edit: oooh I love Roger’s browband!

[siennabug]

QOTD: yes I can still go outside even public lessons happily

[minniemcgibbon]

Yayyy finally a grid-work session, I’m second xx

[daniahalsaeed]

Wonderful😍😍 I watch you for Kuwait and I am horse raider❤️

[Montyequine]

QOTD: So far my riding school is open for private lessons, I did a small grid yesterday. The jumps weren’t huge but I’ve been struggling with my confidence when jumping at the moment (just because lack of doing it, no other reason) and it really boosted my confidence! I did a 30-40cm spread which doesn’t sound very big/good but it was a huge step for me :)

[dracomalfoy]

You so lucky to be able to ride the riding school i go to is closed cause of covid 😭

[L.C]

Well done 👍🏻 glad you get to loan maverick and zubie! How are you going to do that? Do you have a place to put them or are they staying at the yard and you go in to them on specific days?

[danielledewitt]

For 2 weeks in a row I’ve not been riding because captain stupid made me stupid cancel this weeks lesson too even though my covid test came back negative. She can’t talk though, she’s my key worker and also works with an old lady, she has been going to the old lady when she should be isolating too because she was in this house the day before mum got tested.

[lillian.lybrand]

YouTube decides to tell me you uploaded this 6 days late *insert face palm here*

[georgiacorfield]

QOTD: my riding school has closed until the uk lockdown is over but luckily i can ride my 30 year old mare at home once a week and still spend time with her every day :)

[audreysomerville]

How old were you when you started riding?

[ridehorse]

QOTD my riding schools is closed and definitely won't be reopened until December