Hacking

Festive riding

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On Monday my sister and I took the ponies on our instructor’s annual tinsel ride. It has been so long since I have actually been able to go with the group instead of having my own private ride and I had a wonderful time.

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Waiting for our lift!

We could not have asked for better weather.  The sun was shining and we all got rather warm.  One of the valleys was full of mist and the views were absolutely beautiful.

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I was a little concerned about the ponies’ fitness levels for a long ride (four hours!) but they actually kept up pretty well.  They even had rather too much energy in a couple of places where they shied spectacularly and barged into other ponies.   We were fine but I am always terrified of making a small child fall off.

In fact, the only issue we had was that Galahad felt a little footsore on some of the stonier tracks – he pretty much dragged me through a hedge at one point so my knee is a mess of bramble scratches.  I expect Cookster to be footsore sometimes but it is most unusual for Galahad.

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My sister also came away wounded – she banged her knee on a fence post at a gallop. She has an impressive bruise!

At one point we took a shortcut to avoid some particularly stony tracks and began walking down the grassy gallop to meet the others  half way.  Of course, they could not pull up so rushed past us but I was so proud of our ponies as they didn’t whip round and take off – we were very much in control.

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I had a wonderful day and even came away with a lucky dip Christmas present. I am not a proper grown up yet!

The Rains Came Down

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Whilst the rest of the country seems to be knee deep in snow we have had a veritable downpour.

When I got up on Sunday morning the rain was lashing down and it was blowing a gale.  It was not ideal riding weather but I had to go out so any riding had to be done then or never.  The field was in a terrible state!

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As it happened, the rain eased off slightly while we were riding so we were well rewarded for taking the plunge!

I was out for the afternoon and during that time the rain got worse.  There was water flowing out of the drystone walls around our yard and the stream rose alarmingly.

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As I was out my Mum left a marker stone to show me how far it had come.  The gates had to be opened because there was a lot of debris building up against them.

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The water levels went down again surprisingly quickly but the fields are still sodden.  There will be no riding on them for a while!

Time to Stop and Stare

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Things have been a little hectic here recently.  I do get very busy in the run up to Christmas but this week does seem to have been particularly busy.  Therefore, it was especially nice to have a pootle round the lanes with the ponies this weekend.

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It has been very cold for the last couple of days but there was no rain so we had a lovely, relaxing time.  I was very proud of Cookster for not batting an eyelid when a pheasant flew up very noisily right next to us – even though I jumped out of my skin!

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Galahad also made me proud – we had to squeeze through a narrow gap between the hedge and a car with an open boot and the hazard warning lights flashing.  He did hesitate but when I asked him to move forwards he did so.  He rather wanted to rush through but managed to contain himself.

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There are beginning to be a few signs that Christmas is coming.

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Galahad may have wanted to eat the wreath!

The Gathering Gloom

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Things are getting pretty dark here.  It has been dark when I get home for weeks but now it is also almost too dark to ride before work as well.

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Not quite though – I can still squeeze in a hack if I am super quick and don’t go very far.  In fact, the only good thing about working on Sundays is that when I have to do so I start an hour later  – plenty of time to ride!

It hasn’t helped that this week I have had a terrible cold which has made my energy levels plummet.   Getting up in the morning has been even harder than usual.  I am on the mend now though and hopefully I’ll manage to have a few more early morning rides before the darkness sets in.

Autumnal Ramblings

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Things are beginning to look wintry here.  A lot of the trees have lost their leaves and the countryside is starting to look a bit brown.

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The hedges are taking on a new kind of beauty – there is a lot of lichen visible now the leaves have gone.

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Every so often though, we still come across a tree which is a blaze of colour.

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Galahad and I had a lovely lazy hack today, rambling through the countryside and enjoying the autumnal scenery. It is a good time of year.

Freezing Rain

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It has been rather cold here for the past few days.  The wind is biting and the rain is freezing.  Literally  – there were bits of sleet in it today.  Luckily it stayed dry for our hack today but we got pretty wet yesterday.

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Our neighbour has moved out and the new people were moving in yesterday – we met one very fast small van and a slower, larger one.  That one got slightly wedged between two cottages and we had the fun of watching it try to extricate itself.  The ponies were fascinated!

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They were very well behaved though.  We have a field right on the side of a fairly busy road and lorries frequently drive past it very fast.  It has been invaluable in making sure the ponies are not traffic shy.

Dawn Ramblings

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Now the clocks have gone back my riding has had to move from after work to before work.  Which is just as well – it was starting to get a bit tight for light after work anyway!

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I have never thought of myself as a morning person (I do not like getting out of bed!) but once I am up I really do love the early mornings.  I love being up before the sun and I so much enjoy the chill that we have at the moment.  It is great being able to ride above the mists too.

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One of the best things though is the light from the sunrises.  It is just beautiful, especially when it is shining on the autumnal trees which are looking particularly lovely at the moment.

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It is a beautiful time of year.  I love the autumn!

Galloping Again

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Yesterday my sister and I went for a ride through the fields together.  Galahad was again very well behaved but with a little more energy – he was perhaps a bit too slow last time!

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This time we had a proper gallop but it was planned and definitely not just Galahad taking off.   He did spook once but we think my sister touched him accidentally with her whip.  It’s excusable to spook at that!

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We had a lovely ride.  The weather was perfect and the ponies were well behaved.  What could be better?

 

Fording the Torrent

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Yesterday Galahad and I went for a hack along our most overgrown route.  Given the trouble I had to get him to walk through the brambles last time I decided to just lead him from the start.  The trouble was that the stream was a bit swollen by the recent rain.

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Galahad was not impressed and categorically refused to be led through.  I had to get back on and ride him – apparently that was no problem at all!

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I did have to get back off again to navigate the brambles but after that we had a lovely ride.  I had got rather wet riding Cookster but it cleared up nicely for Galahad and I.  Definitely worth the hassle!

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Sedate Excursions

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Although we have had a fair bit of rain recently it is still possible to canter in my neighbour’s fields without risking slipping over.  On Sunday my sister and I went for a lovely lazy hack and took full advantage of the not too slippy fields.

Some of the electricity poles have recently been replaced so the gateways were hideously churned up but the fields themselves were fine so we had a great time.

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Both ponies behaved very well – Galahad was possibly the most sedate I have ever known him to be in the field.  Hopefully the lesson is getting through and we will have no more taking off!

It did start to rain while we were out but it was that very fine rain which is practically just mist.  Very atmospheric and nice and refreshing!

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