Dreaming of Dressage

Hello to everyone out there.

I'll be the first to admit I'm terrible at keeping a diary, or rather I'm terrible at keeping a diary consistently, but I'm going to give this one a great big bash.

First things first, who am I and what do I do?

Well, I'm an (almost) 40-yo British ex-pat who dreams of doing dressage.

I have two Mérens horses, which I'll refer to inconsistently as both ponies and horses, as my mare Tartine (aka Titine d'Alzen) is a petite 142cm (13.3 hands) and my younger gelding Blitz (Blitz von Illmatten) is a stonking 160cm (15.3 and  a bit hands) at rising 4

Tartine in a rather "natural" state

Blitz, just after his 3-yo birthday, all tarted up for the yard show

Despite many set backs due to my lack of self confidence I dream of "doing" dressage.

Tartine is rising 8, and she came into my life 2 years ago as an exceptionally green 6yo.  She is now working nicely in walk and trot, and is finding her balance in canter.  She also does bits of jumping and my hope is for her to get out and about a bit this summer, both dressage and jumping, with an aim of doing a small ODE by the end of the season.

Blitz is rising 4 and is in the process of being backed at the moment, which is rather interesting as my very large dope-on-a-rope is proving to be rather resistant to leaving his life of luxury, and has shown a rather unfortunate propensity of showing his stomach off and waving his front legs around.  Other than having a stubborn streak a mile wide, he hasn't been fazed by anything I've thrown at him so far - though in typical fashion (for me) I backed him before we had any ground work in place - shocking I know

First sit, Boxing day 2014

No real plans for Blitz this year apart from getting him going under saddle.

My over all aim is to go as far as I can, up the levels, of dressage. It might not necessarily mean competing, but certainly working at home.

Tartine is ridden, not only by me, but also by a friend. We both have lessons, and as a result Tartine is progressing very nicely.

Todays lesson: 
Tartine - B riding
Canter and counter canter transitions

Blitz
Manners (whoops!)
B had a sit on and walk around on a lead rein

Tomorrow, Tartine has both a hack and jumping lesson lined up with B.