Vin was so pleased to see me this afternoon! Or perhaps it was the carrots in my hand. No, it was definitely me he was pleased to see.
I tried to explain to him why I hadn’t been up to see him during the week; that my car had died and getting up to see him had been impossible.
But that unfortunate situation is now over because I’ve got a new car and can get up to see him more often. I think he thought that was good news.
Vin’s had a busy week. On Monday he had new shoes. On Tuesday he saw the chiropractor. Both events are routine, he gets new shoes every six weeks and a chiropractic check every six months.
Apparently the chiropractor fell in love with Vin and raved about his character, temperament and conformation; It’s not surprising, he is an exceptional boy.
We schooled this afternoon and he was excellent, right up until the time someone started setting up a course of showjumps.
This is typical of Vin, showjumps get him excited; ten minutes before the showjumps came out he was relaxed, happy, supple and obedient.
As soon as the first fence was built he went rigidly tense, stopped listening to me and bounced his way around the arena. It took quarter of an hour to get his head back to a place that was approaching where he was beforehand.
Vin’s attitude to showjumps concerns me.
I trust him implicitly over cross-country fences and his dressage is borderline excellent. But put coloured poles anywhere near him and he loses it.
And for an event horse, that’s seriously not good!
Next Sunday we’ve got a clinic with JP; it’ll be interesting to see what that yields. And in a few weeks we have a cross-country clinic with William. I can hardly wait for that one!