Problem solving

I have been wracking my brains recently on how best to get Henry out and about working in groups.

Previously when I have been bringing on young or green horses I was younger and part of pony club. This time round with Henry I am older... and not part of any club. Pony club was such a great way of exposing horses to so many different environments, group situations, jumping, games, obstacles. we did so many fun things and the horses got used to just doing what was asked of them.

Always flying solo!

With D, it didn't matter so much. She was a sensible little mare and I did pack her off to pony club with another rider a few times. She was pretty much up for anything though and being older, she had a bit more life experience. Henry... well he doesn't have any life experience outside of the track. Group environments in particular are hard to come by outside of competitions where I have very limited control of what goes on around me.

We do like trail rides with our besties though!

Earlier this year I looked into joining an adult riders club but the ones I looked into had most of their dates clashing with eventing dates. Obviously not going to work. Then after a chat with Jonna where he mentioned adult riders, and a chat with a friend where she mentioned her dressage club I decided to look into it again.

This time I looked into 2 different clubs, one was a dressage club and one was an adult riders that offered multiple disciplines. The adult riding club also offered a half year membership and I can attend most of the remaining dates this year... so I signed us up!

Our first rally was a nice gentle introduction, and I am looking forward to making it a regular part of our scheduled. I am also trying to convince Andrew to take Coolie too for an all round family outing!