Month: May 2017

Back in the Saddle

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On Saturday I rode Galahad for the first time in almost three weeks.  It was so good to be back in the saddle!   It has been very strange at home without the ponies – I get home from work and there is no need to go outside.  Really odd.

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Galahad and I had a fairly short lesson (I am still not quite 100%) but I was pleasantly surprised with how we did.  Galahad was nice and calm and even when I couldn’t stop coughing he didn’t really react.  One of my main concerns had been that he would spook at the coughing and I would not be able to control him so I was very pleased!

We even managed a little jumping which I was not expecting to be able to do quite so soon.  We had three small fences lined up across the arena and jumped them in a figure of eight pattern.  I was thrilled with Galahad during this exercise  – he was very responsive and didn’t put a foot wrong. I on the other hand started coughing a bit more at this point and my legs were running out of energy – I struggled a bit to keep him going forward.  As I said  – still not 100%!

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I was so glad to be back in the saddle and I am very much looking forward to getting back to full fitness.

Portly Ponies

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This week has been rather interesting.  Just as I thought I might be able to start riding again I had a coughing fit and pulled a whole new set of muscles in my side.  I literally couldn’t stand upright.  The muscles are healing now but the cough is still here and I am still not on the ponies.

It sounds a bit pathetic to let a cough stop me riding but if I had a coughing fit on Galahad he would throw a fit of his own and I would have no chance of stopping him.   The trouble is that I can see the ponies gaining weight and that is definitely a bad thing.

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I have decided to give in to the inevitable and send them to my riding instructor for a few weeks.  They were due to go soon anyway for their annual back and teeth checks and this way they will at least be getting some exercise.   We have put a lot of work into keeping them trim and I don’t want it all to go to waste!

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I will also be taking a bit of a break from blogging – just until I am back in the saddle.  Surely it won’t be that long now!

Trimming the Grass

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After weeks of  no rain it is suddenly raining a LOT.  At least, we have been having some very heavy showers.  Which means that the grass is finally starting to grow a bit.  Of course, it isn’t growing as much as the weeds so the fields needed topping to control them.  Which was rather sad as the buttercups are beautiful.

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Still, it had to be done and it is looking a lot better for it.  The next job will be harrow the fields and they will be perfect!

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Not According to Plan

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The ponies are having an impromptu holiday.

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I mentioned last week that I had been unwell – I am not really any better and now I have pulled the muscles down one side as well.  All in all I’m feeling a bit fragile and sitting on a pony just seems a bit dangerous at the moment.

That doesn’t often stop me but you can tell I’m not feeling great – the ponies haven’t been ridden for a week.   That is a very rare occurrence and it is rather odd.  On the bright side, I’m sure they are loving their time off!

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On a side note, yes Galahad should be wearing a fly mask too.  As he so often does he had pulled it off right at the far end of the field.  Such is life.

Saddle Fitting

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I have recently noticed that the back of Galahad’s saddle had started sliding a little side to side.  Not all the time but enough to make me think I ought to check the fit.  Especially as I also noticed that he was moulting unevenly where his saddle sits.  You can see lighter marks on his back in the pictures from our last trec competition.

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The saddler came on Friday, took one look at Galahad and said he thought he could see the problem.  Even before he saw the saddle!

He said that Galahad is a much better shape than he was when the saddle was fitted and has more of a wither.  That means he is narrower so the saddle was tipping forward and therefore lifting at the back.  Obviously,  that allowed the saddle to slip from side to side.

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I am so glad I decided on an adjustable saddle.  All we needed was to swap the extra wide gullet for a wide one and the saddle is fine again.  It was well worth the investment!

Dressage Divas

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Sorry for the late posting this week – I have a horrible cough and was feeling pretty miserable yesterday.  However, I am pretty excited as I had another horsey birthday present which I am able to use now the field has dried out nicely – dressage markers!

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These are doubly exciting as not only can I practise my tests in a properly marked out arena, I will hopefully be able to enter some online dressage competitions.    I have never done that before but as someone with no horsey transport it seems an excellent idea and I am so excited to give it a go.

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My arena is not hugely accurate at the moment – I paced it out rather than using a tape measure and it made it quite clear that walking in a straight line is not my strong point!  It is great to finally be able to use them though.

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