Marathon obsticles

This spring we realized finally (!!! :D ) that it would not be too much trouble to build some marathon obsticles at our farm, we have a few nice spots for them here, too. In the mare herds winter paddock there is a nice area with trees, which is suitable for one obsticle, so I raked the whole area and we cleaned some stumps and branches to make a safe ground to drive on. We got old tires from a car repair shop, GTE here in Lohtaja village. The tires we will pile up around poles to make an obsticle and to soften it up a bit.

I have been sending e-mails to several companies to get material to a few obsticles more and I was so happy recieving e-mail yesterday from Svarvar trävaruhandel, a timber/wood/pywood company, who gives us material to four "barrel like" constructions! These we can make portable and use at our farm but also if needed transport them elsewhere. We also buy material for one obsticle part, so totally we get five barrels. To make a good and safe obsticle we consulted Ben Simonsen for advice and this is what they will be looking like:

Besides five barrel constructions we build a few fences and plan is to use one more birch forest area and build a simple and low bridge there which can also be avoided. That would make three obsticle areas. We have one more forest area that could be used and I also thought of having a water obsticle with just poles and simple fence construction but that would definitely need a sponsor to afford all the groundwork needed for the water with pool making and gravel needed. I really hope to get a few sponsors more to help us! But with what we got already it is possible to train obsticle driving properly and hopefully we have an training event later this summer! Will take more photos of the areas soon as we get them ready. We will probably go to Svarvars at Saturday to get the material so maybe at Sunday possible to start building! :)

Heading for competition!

So now we really are heading for the first combine driving competition with Shetland pair! Pretty amazing! Leaving tomorrow and competing Saturday and Sunday. Both dressage and cones are driven on Saturday and marathon at Sunday. I really shouldn't be blogging but packing right now! The Finnish spring is really not helping either as it has snowed a few cm snow during the night :P 

I have packed some stuff already, unbeliveable how much blankets and stuff you have to have with you with two ponies! Today I will drive the ponies in pair so cleaning up the tack must be done late this evening. Then there is packing of the carcaravan also, very handy to live in during competitions!

I just printed and collected all the documents you need, ponies passports, healthy cards for the driver and groom for marathon etc. Really a lot to remember!

Yesterday I tested if I could plait the ponies manes, looks nice here but as I drove it got loose, so I'll let the original pony breed compete with mane loose waving in the wind :) This is Paulette.

We had the vetenarian come to our stable at Tuesday. All 2 yr olds teeth were checked and wolfteeth removed, also Paulette's, Ivanhoe's and Verano's teeth checked and three young ponies vaccinated. Paulette and Ivanhoe had also to be measured officially due to the competition regulations and the document has to be with them in the competition, Paulette was 99 cm and Ivanhoe surprisingly 104,4 cm. We have got a measurement document of him taken in Sweden when he was a trotting pony and then they had measured him to be 102,9 cm, maybe it is the muscle he now have in his neck that makes him 2 cm higher ;) 

Then we even had a friend massageing Ivanhoe and Paulette, she studies to become a equine masseur. If you have ponies working hard you can't expect them to keep fit if you don't take care of them. Both enjoyed their massage and was pampered with Back on Track backwarmerer blankets afterwards. Next week they'll get their second massage after the competition. They were in quite good muscle condition now which I was pleased to hear as they still had a long stand in the trailer in the weekend to the camp and back home and hard training passes both days, so not any very sore points found, just some harder parts in muscles where one can expect with Shetlands, in the shoulders and lumbar region (hope that is the right term). So they had recovered from the training very good!

Hope I have time to put some photos from the competition on our facebook page during the weekend!

Training camp greetings!

We had a wonderful weekend at Kiuruvesi Equine Collage at combine driving regional training camp! We participated with pair Ivanhoe av Friheten and Swinghill's Paulette. 

At Saturday we drove a dressage training which went quite well and in the evening a second training with cones, both drives was in a manege. It was the first time I drove cones in pair so after one slow round I managed to drive 40 seconds faster the second round, still maybe not fast enough but it will do. In Finland in regional level one is not allowed to gallop so that is a bit of a problem in my pair. Ivanhoe who has been a trotting race pony in Sweden before he came to us is a very good trotter of course and Paulette has sometimes problems to hang along in trot. As she is not as experienced nor trained yet otherwise either she easily starts to gallop, that won't be a problem when we start driving national level :D :D :D if we ever will... We forgot the camera!!! Can you imagine! Thank God for smartphones with a camera...

 

Waiting for the cones training to start with a Shetland pony Qulla. Ivanhoe on the left in pair and Paulette on the right (looked from the viewer, not driver)

 

 Driving dressage on Sunday

On Sunday it was time to drive dressage again, this time we drove on outside arena, which was very heavy for the ponies. We drove the dressage program which will be the program on next weekends competition. Could have driven better but as we had so long very icy roads and snowy fields I have not been able to drive dressage much, it is understandable. Anyway next week we start in a novice class so we'll take it calmly anyway to get a good start with the pair.

At the camp three other Shetland drivers pariticipated, all drive single. It was nice to meet all and get inspired by others who share the same passion - and of course it was very interesting to see all the drivers with horses too! That is not affordable for me now but maybe we drive some other combination later in life, who knows!