Trying Something New.

Mike and I have booked a western lesson at David Deptford's Sovereign Quarter Horses in a couple of weeks time. I'm having an hours lesson and Mike half an hour (I've only had him riding twice so far and, although his confidence has come on in leaps and bounds, he hasn't even trotted yet so we must find time to do a bit more at home before then!).

Impatient to begin as always, I bought a used treeless Barefoot Arizona saddle on eBay last week and I LOVE it!!! It's incredibly comfortable and doesn't put me in a chair seat, which I had thought it might. I've ridden Jack and Grace in it so far and they seem very happy in it. I am finding it difficult to tighten the cinch sufficiently (it's so different to English girthing) which means the saddle is slipping back quite badly but never slips at all laterally, Jack and Grace don't seem to mind but I do need to sort it though as I end up with far too much horse in front of the saddle!

I think that Jack would be perfect for western as he's much happier and more confident if he can keep his head carriage low and I always feel mean trying to encourage him to raise it. He copes with his limited sight much better with his head low, in the 'confident horse' position and I'm sure he knows what's best for him in this case. I'm also much more of a western style rider really, I think, and it would be great to find something that Jack could really shine in - outdo his younger sister Bella for once!!

I'm really looking forward to having a ride on a Quarter Horse as it's years now since I sat on a different type of horse to my cobby lot.

Photos of Jack and then Grace with the saddle.

Cycletta South

I took part in a 40k cycle event on Sunday. It was the first women only event of it's kind, designed to promote cycling as a healthy activity for women. I entered some time ago and really meant to train for it but never found the time, apart from one longish ride a month ago!

I LOVED every moment of it!!! Everyone else looked very professional, in proper cycling gear, and I was the only person I saw with a basket on the front of the bike so I was convinced I'd be the slowest by miles! In fact I started to overtake people as soon as we hit the first steep hill (there are lots around here!) and carried on overtaking all the way around. I LOVE overtaking people - I am such a sad case!!!!

I finished in a respectable time and determined to train properly next time and get much faster! I even escaped any aches and pains so I must be fairly cycling fit even without doing any, which can't be bad! I love my trusty bike which was given to me second hand and beat loads of flashy bikes!!! Can't wait until the next one!

Here is a link to the photo I've ordered as a memento:
http://www.sportcam.net/ImgTimePhoto.aspx?id=633&RaceID=442&Race=CYS11&Path=TagImages/CYS/CYS11/Batch-DJB-6/CYS11_DJB_002521.jpg&Event=CYS&imageOR=P

I've been really enjoying my ponies lately. We've had some lovely weather and I'm very happy and positive about life again now. I feel that I really am 100% recovered and it's only taken two and a half years!!!!!!!!

Through a friend of a friend I've managed to arrange for Anne Wilson http://www.classicalridingannewilson.com/ to come here and give me a lesson on Bella soon. She's been very ill but is also just about 100% recovered now. I've been doing lots of trot, rein back, trot with Bella and now sometimes get such big, bouncy strides I have trouble sitting them so I'm hoping Anne can help me progress towards piaffe and passage (I don't ask much, do I?!!!).

Bella is looking brilliant at the moment - very fit and shiny, and is full of enthusiasm for work including for cantering, which is a real breakthrough!

I've also started riding Jack regularly again. I've hardly ridden him at all for the last two and a half years and I can't believe his attitude to work now. I have to keep steadying him in trot as he starts to rush sometimes, he's so keen to please, and he carries himself beautifully. He is so much bigger and more powerful than Bella that he gives me a totally different feel and I'd forgotten how much I love riding him.

Merlin is coming on really well too. I'm doing lots of in-hand work with him at the moment, to teach him to accept the bit and aids, and to bend and step over Into the the outside rein. He is very sweet to work with, always happy and trying his best, and he is fast getting the hang of lateral work, rein back, etc. He's still a bit "chompy" with the bit at times but I'd been working him without one until quite recently and he's already carrying it quietly in his mouth for some of the time.

He's also amazingly bold these days, unrecognisable from the scared, bedraggled pony who jumped and snorted at everything and everyone when he first arrived.

Grace is also very well and much in demand with liveries who want someeone quiet as an escort. I was riding out with a friend the other day who said she was the perfect pony and "I want one just like her - in fact I want that one!" pointing at Grace.

I am very lucky!!!
Three photos of Bella, then Jack having his post work snack, then Merlin looking rather round!

Brilliant Day.

I had a lovely day today! I've definitely got right back into the swing of enjoying my horses again and am even beginning to guard myself against getting too obsessed with them again, reminding myself that there's more to life than horses and balance is the key in all things!

I rode and did some in hand work with Bella this morning. Her in hand lateral work at trot was just lovely (reminding me that if it's not as free when ridden the weak link has to be me on top as opposed to on the floor!). We finished with some very expressive Spanish Walk and then, when I asked her to bow, she lay right down! This is about the third time she's offered this and I shower her with praise and treats every time so I'm hoping it will become an established part of our repertoire soon.

This is all totally at liberty ad I have never done anything to try to force or coerce her, just enthusiastically praised any bending of her hocks while she's bowing and hoped for the rest!!! I feel really humbled and honored that she trusts me enough and tries so hard to please that she will do this for me. She is definitely my little superstar and pony of a lifetime!

I also rode my last remaining Fell Pony of the four I rescued last year. I renamed him Merlin some time ago as I never thought Bertie suited him. Merlin is 7yo now and I have been very slow to get going with him but he is the kindest, most genuine pony you could ever wish to meet (and he's Bells's best friend nowadays too!). He is now backed, his steering is really good and I'm riding him around the farm. At 13hands he's really a bit small for me (although my farrier calls him Mr Stocky!) but I love riding him! He has the most brilliant, swinging walk and he's such a kind, steady, gentle little person. Everyone loves him - humans and horses alike - and he's never any trouble to anyone. I ought to sell him but I can't really see it happening, especially as he seems so happy and content now, after all the tough times he had before.

The third great thing that happened today was Mike had his first ever sit on a horse! I got him standing on the mounting block and told him to put his foot in the stirrup and he told me that was too dangerous a manoeuvre which had me literally falling about laughing! In the end he only tried getting on to stop me laughing and did really well, even managing to sit up and relax a bit after a few minutes walking around the yard. To try something like that at our time of life takes a lot of courage, I think, and I was really proud of him. He's keen to do some more so hopefully I can build his confidence slowly, if he wants to carry on. Either way I think it's very brave of him to give it a try!

A lovely day to remember!

Vienna and The Spanish Riding School.

Vienna was very beautiful and we had a lovely break there, and The Spanish Riding School were awesome!

I hadn't flown since I was sixteen years old, and then only the once, but I loved it. I love the power of take off and love being able to see countries and the sea passing by below you.

The underground in Vienna is excellent and we bought tickets for the week so we were free to travel wherever and whenever we wanted.

The highlights of our first holiday together were;

The zoo (the oldest and only baroque zoo in Europe - very beautiful and they have Giant Pandas including a baby Panda! The animals I most fell for were the Anteaters with their big, shaggy legs, looking like cuddly toys. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera!

A music festival we went to on the banks of the Danube. The Danube is very beautiful and impressive and bopping away to a Rock and Roll band on a hot July evening as dusk fell was an experience not to be missed!

The view over the city from the top of the huge Ferris wheel which long predates the London Eye. We went on it at night so the city was all lit up below us. Very romantic!

Lanzier Tiergarten, a huge wild park on the edge of the city where we saw wild boar roaming the woods and glades. The park is incredibly hilly and was very challenging walking, and the number of very elderly Viennese people managing the steepest climbs and descents really impressed me. There are little cafes in the remotest parts of the park and we had a really lovely day there. We climbed an enormous tower which is situated on one of the highest spots in the park and the view from the top over the city and surrounding countryside, with mountains in the distance, was breathtaking!

The Spanish Riding School (of course!). We watched morning exercise and had a guided tour of the stables on the Friday, then went back on the Sunday to watch the last performance before the summer break (the horses all go to the aforementioned Lanzier Tiergarten for the summer, and I looked for signs of them there but found none (it is a massive park).

I hadn't realized that the horses doing the 'airs above the ground' specialize in only one movement each. The stallions all seemed very relaxed and content, both in their work and in their stables, and were given lots of treats while training, from a special back pocket sewn into the riders tailcoats.

In the stables the droppings are picked up every hour, night and day, to keep the horses gleaming white and unstained! They also have three saddles per horse, which made me feel a lot better about how many mine have got between them!!

There are carriage rides which start and end outside the buildings which house the SRS and I made friends with a pair of greys who were much more sociable than most of the carriage horses. I met them several times and would very much have liked to sneak them home with me in my luggage! There are a huge number of carriage horses working in the city and I wondered where they all went to at night. I noticed that they all had buckets with chutes strategically placed behind the horses to stop the streets getting soiled. Vienna is a very clean city!

This first photo is the view from our hotel window;


The square outside The Spanish Riding School;


Taken sitting at a pavement cafe;



An inner city park;


My friends, the greys, taken at Starbucks just outside The Spanish Riding School;


And The SRS itself (you're not allowed to take photos so these are a bit sneaky!!!);





The stables;





Lanzier Tiergarten;



The view from the top of the tower:

Bella's New Bridle and Saddle.

I saw this Hungarian bridle on eBay and couldn't resist it!!! I've also wanted a Saddle Company Heather Moffett saddle for ages and this one had the tree already set at XXXW so it seemed as though it was meant for my lot! I've ridden Bella, Jack and Grace in it and they all seem very happy with it. It makes a nice change to have a treed GP saddle to ride in again for some of the time.

Introducing Pedro.

I will write about our trip to Vienna very soon but I just had to introduce you to our new arrival.

I received a phone call on Sunday morning about a very small pony who had been dumped in a back garden in our nearest town after a "domestic" between the couple who had just bought him.

I find it almost impossible not to try and help when I'm in a position where I can so by Sunday evening I had recruited a friend with a horsebox and we went to collect him.

I was told that he was a Shetland Pony but Pedro is actually a miniature horse. He is two years old, just under 8 hands high (about 80cm) and an adorable, very well behaved little chap. He was living in a very small back garden surrounded by children's slides, paddling pool, swing, etc and a very large dog who he had been trying to back scratch with.

At the moment I'm getting my horses used to him in the barn and in a sectioned off bit of paddock as he's so tiny and his legs are so short he can't run very fast, so I daren't turn him out with any of the others yet. I did think about turning him out with the donkeys but he really likes the horses and wants to be near to them.

To begin with he ducked under the electric fence and got in with Bella and Merlin, who chased him were threatening to kick him when he very quickly stopped trying to do the impossible and outrun them and stood still waiting for them to do their worst. I rescued him from them and put him back only for him to go under the other fence in with the cow and calf, only for the calf to chase him!!! Since I rescued him from her he seems to have decided it's safer to stay in his own private paddock, thank goodness! He was getting zapped by the fence as he escaped as well but he's a very determined little fellow.

One of the first things I did is to worm him as he looks very wormy. He was as good as gold for that. He had his feet trimmed for the first time ever yesterday which he didn't think much of but, unfortunately for him, he's too small to have his objections taken seriously. Apart from that he's been brilliant and he's very good to handle. When he's tied up he immediately rests a back hoof and goes to sleep.

Here he is, taken in the barn tonight. His nose is very rubbed as I think his headcollar had been left on all of the time: