Spring is in the Air..........

...and a bunch of mad march hares are out cross country schooling.

After all that snow its so nice to finally see a little sunshine and warmth.

My horse having just had a brand spanking new haircut is fresh and ready to start work, so this last weekend I finally got stuck into the "get fit" campaign in preparation for the 2009 season. This started as a somewhat sedate flat session on Saturday. Given he has spent 4 months in relative hibernation working only one or two days a week, he's pretty fit and engaged. Sunday we spent with a little gentle jumping over a few simple fences in the school, just to see how settled and engaged he was, nothing stressful just a simple cross pole or two.

I did spend some time (on 2 feet) at the local cross country schooling ground on Sunday as well and I have to say it still astounds me how many people come cross country schooling:

without a plan or strategy
without any regard for safety
without any proper knowledge, supervision or instruction.

this can only lead to being ill prepared for the season ahead.

Like any form of schooling exercise, and especially when XC schooling, it is vitally important that everything you do has a realistic goal and purpose. Anything less is potentially dangerous, and will nearly always lead to disappointment somewhere along the line.

(see my blog post from April 22nd 08 if you're struggling to find enough good advice)