Equestrian

Christmas is coming…

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The time has come to introduce a bit of festive cheer when we are riding.  As ever I built things up slowly for Galahad.  He started off with some antlers on his head just standing in the stable.  He was not keen on my putting them on!  Once they were on though he was not bothered at all.

Next came the tinsel on the noseband.

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That was no trouble at all and we went out for a lovely hack.  After that I added the antlers again.

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These days he seems to take it all in his stride.  Next will be the jingle bells!

Horsey Shopping

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Last weekend I visited my Uncle in Surrey.  Whilst we were there he took me to Snack and Tack  – an equestrian and pet shop.  It was amazing!  There was so much variety in the products they had there.  Our local tack shops are good but just can’t carry so many different items of stock.

Naturally I had to buy something.  I was thinking of something like some new riding socks but then I came across the display of breeches and I fell in love with a pair from Equetech with the most beautiful non slip seat.

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I just had to have them – we don’t get pretty breeches here!

I was very brave and rode out alone the first time I wore them.  Ever since I was small I have had a superstition about riding with new things – I went through a phase of falling off every time I did so.  So much so that when I was given a new pair of spurs just before a show I had to wear them just to hack around the showground the day before.  It kind of worked – I didn’t fall off in the competition but I did get eliminated for too many refusals!

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Luckily these breeches did not make me fall off and I still love them.  Galahad was looking at everything that could be considered remotely scary but didn’t do anything stupid.  For anyone who might be interested it turns out that it is the concrete slabs he finds objectionable – the Christmas wreath is perfectly normal!

Muddy Lanes and Christmas Wreaths

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We recently had some work done on our lane – the ditch was re-excavated and the mud and grass was scraped off the middle.   It is looking a lot nicer and the puddles have pretty much gone which is excellent.

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It is a bit muddy at the moment but that is just because the digger was driving up and down all morning.  It will dry!

Galahad – who can be a bit spooky walking on an unusual surface – didn’t bat an eyelid at it.  However, he did have a massive spook both going out and coming in through the gate.  I couldn’t decide whether he was objecting to the concrete slab which got left in the hedge when the digger had gone:

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Or whether he didn’t like the Christmas wreath on the gate.

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Either way, he wasn’t happy!

Schooling with an audience

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I thought that the downpour a couple of weeks ago had put paid to any schooling for the rest of the winter.  The fields were certainly very soggy afterwards.  Since then though we have had two dry, frosty weeks which have done wonders for the ground.

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The going is almost perfect now.  Perhaps a little on the soft side but it is lovely to ride on and we had a good schooling session.  Galahad behaved very well and was actually working quite nicely.

The puppy normally comes out with me when I do the ponies and she is now old enough for me to leave her to potter about whilst I school.  I tie her up with a long line outside the field and keep half an eye on her.  It is wonderful to be able to do so.

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Winter Wonderland

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It has been simply beautiful here this week with a hard frost that lasted all the way through to Friday.  I had to take ice off the water buckets every morning and the piles of ice are still there now.  As you can see, it has also been pretty foggy.

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The mornings especially have been glorious with clear blue skies and bright sunshine.  Having said that, the evenings have been just as beautiful as the clear skies mean the stars are looking wonderful.

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It has been pretty nice to walk over the top of frozen mud as well – much better than sticking in the wet stuff.  Not that we have too much mud yet as the weather has been so nice this autumn.  No doubt it will come!

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Beautiful Tuesday

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This is Galahad waiting to go for a ride yesterday.  I was not impressed.

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It was an absolutely beautiful day and we had a lovely ride.

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We didn’t get out until lunchtime but there were still patches of frost in the shade.  In fact, they were still there at the end of the day.  It was cold!

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There was even some ice left on the puddles.

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We had a wonderful time.

Sheep Cross Country

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We have had a proper deluge this week.  I think all the rain we haven’t had over the autumn fell in just a couple of days.  The last few days have been much better though and we have had some absolutely beautiful starlit nights.

It was looking pretty ominous when we went for our ride this morning and it was freezing cold but it stayed dry which was the main thing.  There were some loose sheep in the lane who ran round the edge of the field as we approached and jumped back in.  They were pretty athletic.

I stopped for no more than a quarter of an hour to speak to my neighbour and by the time I left there were already four back out of the field.  We herded three of them back but the fourth was the wrong side of us and ran ahead of us down the hill,  She kept thinking about turning and coming back but in the end we had to wait for a handy gateway so Galahad and I could scoot past.  She was fast enough going back up the hill then and I felt safe leaving her there until I came back on Cookster to herd her back in.  Of course, by then there was another sheep with her too.

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The farmer is aware that they are getting out – I didn’t just leave them to get on with it!

Autumn Loveliness

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Galahad and I had a wonderful ride last week.

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We went along a route we don’t use very often and went a little further than usual.  The valley was looking absolutely beautiful and we had a lovely, relaxing time.

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We were very lucky and only met a couple of cars.  There was also a van (with a lovely driver who turned off his engine) Galahad tried to shoot past him and slipped a little on the new tarmac where the road had been resurfaced.  It was nothing major though and we got home fine.

When we got back though I realised that Galahad had got pretty sweaty (he was fine!).  I think it is time to admit that he either needs to be clipped or not do so much work.  I don’t really like to keep him clipped over the whole winter.  It just doesn’t seem fair on him to have him bald and rugged up when I can only ride him a couple of times a week.  I’ll clip him when the days get longer and in the meantime we’ll just have to go for shorter rides.

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Wheeee!

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We have had rather an exciting time recently.  I was riding down the hill towards home when three girls walked across the bottom of the lane and stopped to have a good look at us.  They walked on before long but they kept bouncing to see us over the hedge.  Galahad was very intrigued and really sped up to try and see what was going on.  He does like to walk much faster towards potentially scary things which can be unnerving.

We were just getting to the bottom and I could hear a large group of cyclists approaching along the main road so I pulled up to let them pass before we emerged from the lane – sometimes that seems like the most sensible option.  The road is very popular with cyclists, although I wouldn’t like to ride the ponies along it.  It is very twisty and cars can drive incredibly fast along it.  I would feel very unsafe on a pony.

Unfortunately Galahad got spooked by a walker and shot out towards the cyclists – I thought he was going to head straight into their path.  One of the cyclists shouted, ‘Tally ho!’ which I’m sure was very amusing but was not entirely helpful.  Luckily it didn’t affect Galahad who pulled up without any trouble.  All the same, I was rather angry and a bit shaky too.

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The next day I was riding Cookster down the same hill and thought I would take a picture to illustrate the scene.  I wanted to wait until something passed the end of the lane though which meant a bit of waiting about – something at which Cookster has never excelled.  He started moving just as I took the picture (hence the blurriness !) and as I was messing about with my phone I automatically pulled on the reins.  That doesn’t really work too well with Cookster – he responds much better to the legs than the reins.  He strode down the hill and before I could stop him he was cantering along our lane for home.  Apparently the cat was watching us through the window and the sound of hoof beats made her run away!

I took Cookster back up the hill a little way and then walked all the way home.  I had to force myself to keep the reins slack and just use my legs to slow him down if he sped up.  It was very hard work but we managed it and I think we learnt our lesson.  I did at any rate.

Super Moon!

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We may not have been able to see the super moon on Monday night (it was very cloudy!) but it still made itself felt.  It shone down on the clouds and illuminated the whole sky.  It was beautiful.

It was also incredibly bright.  We could walk around in the dark – or what should have been the dark – without torches and it was really magical.

Sadly though it didn’t photograph well so instead here is a picture of what I found when I came back from riding Cookster yesterday.  Apparently Galahad got a little impatient  – that bucket had been hooked over his door when I left!

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