Santana's Diary

Another year passes by...

2012-02-15T22:52:00.001Z

I had a nice day today which is just as well as it was my birthday :D It started with mucking out Sonny and Santana on my own as Jasmine is living the high life skiing in Austria. I did think it was going to be stressful and hard work doing both of the horses on my own but I have found that it is quite the opposite and have actually enjoyed 'doing my own thang'. I put the horses out and went off to work. Someone randomly brought a large box of Milk Tray in today so I claimed them in honour of my birthday :p.

Back to the farm after work to bring horses in (in daylight - what a novelty!). Took their rugs off and gave them each a brush before putting on their pj's and giving them dinner.

Next stop to my very good friend's house as she was taking me out to dinner. Now feeling stuffed with nachos, enchiladas and key lime pie washed down with a half of lager.

Lovely!

A Quiet Walk ...Not!

2012-02-05T23:04:00.000Z

On Saturday, as the ground was so hard from the freezing temperatures over the last few days, we thought we'd just have a quiet walk around a couple of fields on the farm. We knew snow was forecast for Saturday night so we were not likely to be able to ride on Sunday and Jasmine goes off skiing next Friday so it was the last chance for her to ride before then.

We tacked up with frostbitten fingers and set off out of the yard. All went according to plan until halfway around the second field when we met a yard mate coming the other way. She took her horse to the side of the track and waited for us to pass. Well, by the reaction from our two you'd have thought she was riding a dragon or something. Jogging and giraffe impressions went from bad to worse until Santana could take it no more and shot off across the field. He didn't get too far before I brought him back (remember, I have no curb chain anymore - yikes!).

Once we had passed the horse-eating monster we thought they would settle down. Unfortunately not. Sonny was so lively Jasmine had to get off and make sure there was nothing wrong with her tack. While we were waiting Santana was dancing on the spot. Having checked all was okay Jasmine got back on and we danced and pranced our way back to the yard. So much for a nice quiet relaxing walk!

Jasmine was quite upset but I tried to point out the positives - nothing had really gone badly wrong, although both of them had been very full of themselves and lively - Sonny didn't rear or do anything else untoward - they were both just uncharacteristically energetic, and they were egging each other on. We congratulated ourselves on coping and getting back home with both of us in one piece and still on board!

No pictures I'm afraid, I rather had my hands full!

Frequent Farrier

2012-01-12T16:49:00.002Z

I think I need to book a regular weekly slot with the farrier. Sonny is losing shoes on a regular basis at the moment. I wouldn't mind, but she's only got two to look after. You wouldn't think that was too onerous a task would you? Also, I don't have a gorgeous, hunky farrier like some people seem to have, although he is young so I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies.

So, what is the cause of the mysterious disappearing shoes? Does Sonny have a shoe fetish and she's storing them up in a corner of the field so she can go and drool over them during the day? Maybe someone is coming in and stealing them from under her nose. Whatever it is, they come off cleanly, almost as if they had no nails in. Hooves are intact and not ripped up as you might expect if she'd been over reaching. There's not even any sign of them becoming loose first. Its just there one day and gone the next.

We do have the small matter of the bog at the end of the field and I have a sneaking suspicion that this is the culprit. I would still expect a shoe to last longer than two weeks before being sucked off in the bog.

Anyway, friendly frequent farrier has suggested overreach boots to turn out in so that is what we will try first.

Any other suggestions would be welcomed!

A Happy Hack

2012-01-08T23:18:00.001Z

I was invited to hack out with some friends on Saturday afternoon. So I arrived at the farm an hour before anticipating a muddy horse. I was right, Santana no longer had white socks, so the shampoo and a stiff brush had to be deployed vigorously to restore them, along with copious amounts of water. Santana is such a sweetie - he lifts up each hind hoof spontaneously so I can scrub his heels. (I suspect this is really his way of trying to avoid the cold water but I like to think he's trying to be helpful!) Once we were all scrubbed and tacked up we were ready to roll. Five of us set off for 'the meadow' - one of our regular hacks. I haven't been there for ages, but one of the last times I went Santana had a fit of excitement and bucked me off, so that memory came flooding back. I was determined this was going to be a good ride and nothing was going to spoil it.

Halfway round the meadow three of our party decided they wanted to have a canter up the hill. Me and my friend were happy to continue walking around the path and we agreed to meet up back at the top. They thundered off up the hill at a full gallop and Santana craned his neck trying to see them and jogged to let me know that he would quite like to do that too. I told him in no uncertain terms that that was not going to happen and he reluctantly accepted it.

All in all it was a fabulous ride. Santana behaved wonderfully and listened to me the whole time. A happy hack was had by all!

Here he is back home enjoying a well earned dinner.

What Is It About Horses?

2011-12-30T22:44:00.002Z

Santana and Sonny

What is it that makes us all so passionate about, not only our own horses, but everyone else's horses? What is it that brings such a wide diversity of people together with this common theme? Diverse in age and ability, people from all walks of life. People with money and those with none. We all have this burning passion for our horses. We each have a different reason for having horses - to compete in various spheres, either for fun or in serious competition, to train and move them on up the ladder, to train others to do likewise, or simply to ride for pleasure. We all still share the same love and desire to care for our animals. We will give up endless hours to spend time with them, clean up after them and pander to their every need. We will spend more time and money on their wardrobe and appearance than on our own. We would rather spend our last penny on our horse and go without ourselves than deprive our him or her of something we believe they "need".

I was just thinking, as I was reading the posts on Haynet, that we are all so different and so widely dispersed across the globe, and yet we all think pretty much alike. It never ceases to amaze me how the world of horses can bring people together in this way.

So, what is it about horses that brings out the passion in you?

Stressage

2011-12-16T22:51:00.002Z

Can you imagine - several weeks of preparation for about 3 minutes of walking and trotting around an arena?!

It was about a month ago that my friend persuaded me to enter a dressage test "because Santana would be fabulous". So I let myself be persuaded and the preparations began. Intro B test was purchased and I attempted to commit it to memory. That was never going to work because I have a memory like a sieve. I managed to remember about a third of it so Santana and I practised this bit - enter at A in working trot and proceed down the centre line, turn right at C ... etc. etc. Trotting was fine, we're not bad at trotting. When it came to transition to medium walk we dropped all the anchors and plummeted into plod. So, downwards transition needs work. We spent the next couple of weeks practising transitions and keeping some momentum going and we made some progress.

The date of the test was looming nearer and nearer. My only chance to ride is at weekends now the dark nights have set in so I took to walking around the menage with test in hand, talking to myself. My yard mates must have thought I'd gone loopy! I think I ran through the whole test about 4 times in total with Santana before the test day.

The day before The Test Jasmine and I arrived at the yard armed with buckets, sponges and shampoo. It was a cold day but Jasmine insisted that Santana must have a "proper" bath if we were going to impress the judges

Poor boy! Fortunately the sun was shining which brought a little warmth with it. My goodness, he was gleaming by the time we'd finished - you needed sunglasses to stop the glare from his white socks. I don't think he's ever been so clean! We wrapped him up in cotton wool (almost literally!) and left him tucked up in his stable for the night.

We were back at the yard bright and early the next day and there he was - looking like a show horse with the light reflecting off his black coat. He loaded on the lorry like he'd been doing it every day of his life and off we went. We arrived at our destination half an hour later and were pleased to find it not very busy. I discovered that we were one of only three entries in the Intro B test. This means of course that I am guaranteed a rosette - result! We tacked up Santana and marvelled at how beautiful he looked. I climbed on board and off we went to warm up.

All this time Santana has been behaving like an absolute angel, as if this was all just in a days work for him. How odd! Surely something is bound to go wrong soon.

We entered the arena - bearing in mind this is the first time Santana has ever been inside an indoor arena he just walked in without hesitation. He had a snorty huffing look at the jump wings stood around the walls but soon decided they weren't the enemy and even managed to say hello to the judge. After one leapy spook for good measure we got on with the test.

For first timers I don't think we did at all bad, we got 59% and some really nice comments from the judge, along with some things we need to work on. Also, I'm still using my Pelham at the moment so we would have been marked down for that. We came third (of course!) but I was well happy with my boy, I wouldn't have cared if I'd come thirty third. My friend was right - Santana was fabulous!

Feel free to take a minute to look at my video...

So Exciting!

2011-12-04T16:58:00.001Z

1997 Renault Master

This is mine! I can't quite believe it! (and I'm slightly worried about the amount of money I've just spent and the ongoing financial commitment, but we won't dwell on that). I had to travel 100 miles for it and 100 back again but I think it was worth it. I now have no excuse not to do the dressage test next Sunday :/

But what a lovely van! The horses are rear facing and the ramp is side loading and very shallow. Hopefully Sonny, Jasmine's horse, will take to this better than a trailer. It is all easy to operate on your own as the ramp is very light and almost opens and closes by itself. Santana has already shown his approval by walking straight on, shuffling his back end round and looking at me as if to say "Do I stand here mummy?" Bless him!

Roll on next summer!

Dressage Practice

2011-11-20T21:35:00.001Z

Today, for the first time, I practised my Intro B test. This is a basic walk/trot test. Now, I can do walk and I can do trot and so can Santana. Today we couldn't do either of these things. We trotted the straight lines banana fashion and the circles were more oval shaped with indentations - golf ball stylie. Transition from trot to "Medium walk" (whatever that is) was like going from giraffe impressions to sulky teenager. So, other than make a little progress in getting the test into my head, we didn't achieve a great deal today. I hasten to add that none of this was Santana's fault. I think I expect him to understand that we are no longer just meandering aimlessly about the menage - we are now doing (fanfare here) ... Dressage. Of course it all means nothing to him at all and despite my failings, I still enjoyed myself.

Thursday Schooling

2011-11-19T12:11:00.001Z

On Thursday I was working at home so I was able to go to the farm in daylight for a change. As Jasmine didn't have any lessons until last lesson she came too and we took the opportunity for her to ride Sonny in the menage and do the first 'proper' schooling since her wolf tooth was removed.

She did some walk and trot work and after a warm up, took up a contact. No reaction. Halleluia, I think we've cracked it! I don't want to speak too soon, but it all looked very good. She moved on into canter and Sonny went very nicely. Throughout the whole session Sonny tossed her head about twice which I think we can allow her as she is still very green anyway.

I did take some pics, but they were all on Jasmine's phone so I don't have them with me. These are the only ones I took on mine:-

Sonny enjoying a well earned dinner

Santana showing off his shine and having a bit of dinner so Sonny didn't have to eat alone!

Autumn

2011-11-13T17:21:00.001Z

What a fabulous day for a ride! Warm sunshine and the trees looking beautiful in their autumn colours. Went to the farm with all intentions of having a lovely day. It didn't work out quite like that though. Jas had her "teenager" head on today, so nothing I could do or say would be right, unless it involved buying her something, such as that new pair of yard boots she's after or an appointment to have her hair done. She's already forgotten that I only just spent £169 on an iphone 4s and before that £120 on a laptop for her. £50 for the vet for her horse, oh and she also needs a passport for the school ski trip and a pair of GHDs . I know you bring this on yourself when you have children, and I love my children dearly, but I don't need this kind of treatment right now. I have enough going on already!

We did ride, but it wasn't very enjoyable for me. As you can see we weren't really 'together'. When we got back to the yard I didn't waste any time in putting Santana back in the field and took Jas home. Then I went back to the yard to have some "me" time with my friends.

One of my yard friends has bought me the Intro B walk/trot test and has instructed me to learn it because she's going to take me to a show on 11th December. Yikes! I need to learn the markers first because I haven't a clue - I just about know where A and X are!

When I got back home, it was still sunny and lovely so I took Sybil out for a long walk. Bless her, at nearly 15 she is definately slowing down.

Come on mum!

If I was a few years younger I'd chase that bird!

Are we nearly there yet?!

Haynet

2011-11-10T22:54:00.001Z

I would like to thank Haynet for renewing my enthusiasm for blogging about my horsey life and stuff in general. Also for the inspiring posts and blogs from all the members. How wonderful to have such lovely horsey people from all around the world all in one place. What a wealth of knowledge, ideas and experience to draw on!

Vet, Teeth and a Crazy Canter

2011-11-10T22:35:00.001Z

I had a day off work today for the vet to visit. My work involves me taking minutes of a meeting all day on a Wednesday and I then have the option of working at home on a Thursday to type up my minutes if I wish. This is really convenient because our vet's free call out day is a Thursday. This sort of happy coincidence doesn't normally happen to me so I make the most of it! I gaily booked the vet for Santana's flu jab and while he was there, to look at Sonny's teeth because we concluded she had a wolf tooth coming.

Typically, my meeting was cancelled on Wednesday (doh!) so I had to take a day out of my leave. As it happened it was a lovely day and I spent most of it at the farm and getting other odd jobs done.

Santana was duly jabbed in his backside, much to his dismay, but he quickly got over it after he'd turned his nose up at the vet's peace offering in the form of a polo mint.

Sonny's turn next and she had a jab in the neck to sedate her so the vet could rummage around in her mouth in relative safety. He found the offending wolf tooth and made short work of whipping it out. You wouldn't think such a tiny little thing could cause so many problems. We will see in a week's time whether it has done the trick.

While Sonny dozed off her sedative in her stable I went for a ride round the farm with a couple of yard mates who happened to be there. Most of the ride was nice and calm and relaxed, until Friend no.1 suggested we have a canter up sandy hill. Friend no.2 is a slightly less experienced rider and happened to be in front at the time. She turned the corner to sandy hill and shot off into the distance in a flash before we'd even got round the corner. Santana was popping on all fours with his neck arched in an impressive imitation of a prancing arab stallion. Friend no.1 said she'd be ok if I went so, I slightly eased Santana's reins. He needed no further encouragement and shot off up the hill after Friend no.2. Speed I can cope with, it was the fear of him bucking which I didn't like. Luckily for me it didn't occur to him to buck and started to run out of steam halfway up the hill. Ah ha! I thought, you're not stopping now just cos you feel like it! and I pushed him on up to the top of the hill. How exhilarating!

Swapping Horses

2011-11-06T17:44:00.001Z

On Saturday there was a shoot on at the farm so we had to get the horses in early. Fortunately it was just a small one and they were only planning on bagging about 10 birds so it was over quite early. We were able to ride at lunchtime and so we went out for a hack round the farm. Both horses were chilled and we had a lovely relaxing ride. Back to the yard to feed them and muck out. Had a quick look at the poo filled field, and decided it would still be there tomorrow.

Today, Sunday, Jasmine wanted to do some schooling so she went in the menage while I watched. Sonny was very attentive today and Jas was really pleased with her. I have a quick ride on Sonny when she had suitably tired her out. We walked and trotted and then tried a canter but Sonny is much more forward than Santana and I could feel myself tensing up so I called it a day.

Next it was Santana's turn and we went in the menage too. He behaved impeccably, walking out nicely, trotting in straight lines and nice round circles and some lovely cantering. The only mishap was when we were cantering and I went to push my hat up out of my eyes (*note to self - buy new hat!) and Santana thought something untoward was going on and rushed off. But we quickly got back under control and I suffered with my hat over my eyes!

Jas had a ride on Santana and was impressed with how much he has improved since she last rode him. Its good to be able to ride each other's horse from time to time as you get so used to the way your own horse goes that you can get set in your ways. Jas was saying that Santana's canter is so different to Sonny's and she has to use different muscles just to stay in the saddle!

We must swap horses more often.

An Ache

2011-11-06T17:15:00.000Z

As I get older I seem to acquire aches and pains like they're going out of fashion. But the one in my heart at the moment is like no other. I miss my son and my daughter so bad. My son came to dinner last Friday and it was so lovely to see him, I wanted to hug him and never let go, but you can't put that much pressure on your children can you. I see my daughter every day, twice on weekdays, but its not the same as living in the same house. She has been a bit "off" with me recently.. I don't know whether its normal teenage-ness and I'm reading too much into it but, it hurts when she snaps at me. I know its very hard for her too so maybe that's why. She was quite cheerful and chatty today which was lovely, and it tore me apart to leave her at home and go to my mums after we'd ridden.

Will this ever seem "normal"

A Sad Tale

2011-10-31T14:51:00.002Z

Not a horsey post this time.

Saturday was a very sad day for me. I had been having problems at home for some time and had decided some time ago that there was no future for me and my husband together. Things had gone badly wrong and I only realised just how bad they were about a year ago. I talked to my children (aged 21 and 17) and they understood why I had come to the conclusion that I had to leave. My son was, at that time, planning to leave home to rent with some mates anyway which was a weight off my mind. My daughter would come with me to live with my mother (who was just in the process of selling her 4 bed house to downsize to a bungalow - bad timing!).

Due to my mother's move, it was not possible for me and my daughter to move straight in so we had to hang it out at home. In this time my son's mates dropped out of the plans to house share and so he had nowhere to go. The bottom has complete dropped out of the housing market so we were not able to sell our house. Result: my son doesn't want to move out, my husband can't afford to move out and I am left with no choice but to move in with my mum on my own.

So here I am - on my own - having done the one thing I always said I would never do ...leave my children.

I know they understand, I'm sure they understand, well, if they don't now then I hope they will come to understand eventually.

My husband had not worked properly for over 3 years. He was a childminder (because he didn't want to be an "employee") and allowed his intake of children to dwindle down to one before and after school. Before that he could never manage to earn more than I did and I'm only an administrator so hardly a high flyer. He totally resents the horses and the time I spend at the farm and expects me to come home from a full day's work and doing the horses and still do the housework and walk the dog while he stretches out on the sofa watching tv or sleeping the day away. The house is going to rack and ruin and needs so much money spent on it. I had to get out while my sanity was intact.

I will see my daughter every day when we do the horses but oh my God, how I miss both of them and its only been three days ...

Monday Ride

2011-10-25T21:06:00.001+01:00

I had a day off on Monday. My sister-in-law was supposed to be visiting with her girls as its half term but she unexpectedly couldn't come. A good opportunity to fit in an extra ride!

We just had another turn around the school - just to make sure our Saturday ride hadn't been a fluke. Again, he was fab. Not a single spook, other than a good long look at some new jump wings just outside the fence.

We just did some walk / trot / walk and halt and he was paying attention all the time. I'm trying to get him to walk more actively but we're being very successful at the moment. He does like to plod at every opportunity! More practice needed methinks.

Avoiding the scary jump wings!

Trotting

and again!


Didn't he do well ♥

A Horsey Weekend

2011-10-23T18:24:00.001+01:00

I have had a lovely horsey weekend with confidence boosts galore! On Saturday we didn't get to the farm very early as Jasmine had had a night out on Friday and was somewhat hung-over. So much so that she wasn't up for riding (!!!) So, I thought I would take Santana in the school for a change. I don't go in there often because he finds all kinds of unlikely things to spook at. Lily was already in the school and I waited for a bit hoping they would finish. Lily is fab and extremely well schooled, but she has her moments! I decided to bite the bullet and go in with Lily. We took one end of the school each and Santana didn't bat an eyelid. We started just walking and then moved up to trot. Our field gate is right beside the school and people came through with horses and dogs and still Santana didn't even glance at them. He listened to me and kept on going, doing whatever I asked of him. We changed pace from walk to trot and back again and trot to halt and he was just fabulous! I even managed to canter a couple of times - we cantered two circles, back to trot for one circle and canter again for another - a lovely controlled, but active canter. I was so pleased with him that I called it a day after that and walked him round the farm field to cool off.

We're still only cantering left handed because I don't want to get into an argument with him about which leg he should strike off on. We can sort that out later when I have some more lessons.

Today (Sunday), we went to the farm intending to just have a walk around the farm fields, but some of the others were going on a hack to the pub and back. We thought that sounded like a better option and tagged along with them. On the way out a shotgun went off quite close to us which made Santana jump and then he tried to bomb off, but I got hold of him before he could go anywhere. I'm getting much better at not clinging to him like a limpet when he does that - I can sit back and bring him back to me and it doesn't worry me now.

After our drinkie at the pub we went to get back on using the bench in the playing field behind the pub as a mounting block and a family started running about trying to launch a kite. Not a very horse friendly activity, but they stopped when we asked them to whilst we got back on. Santana couldn't wait to get off the field though and pranced his way out of the pub carpark!

I have a day off tomorrow and I think a bit of tack cleaning might be needed as it hasn't been done for a while now. I might even ride again too! :D

No new photos this weekend so thought I'd add a nice one from back in the summer.

Santana and Sonny

A Bit of a Problem

2011-10-20T21:55:00.003+01:00

I arrived at the yard today to find one of my field buddies in a bit of a tiz. She had been to get her horse in and found him, together with Santana, in the far corner of the field knee deep in a pile of discarded half rotten potatoes. This wasn't the main problem though. There were several piles of dumped potatoes and earth but mixed in with this was a whole load of general rubbish, including broken pallets, wooden boxes, plastic boxes, glass bottles, cans, bricks and lumps of concrete. !!!

What the hell!?!

It seems the farmer has used our field as a dumping ground for all his old rubbish. We fenced off some of the piles with some electric tape and scoured the other piles for potential danger and came back with armfuls of lumps of wood with rusty old nails sticking out of them. Needless to say we were less than happy.

The farmer was nowhere to be found this evening so all we could do was tell his wife of our displeasure. Fortunately she agreed with us and said she would let him know, but something will have to be done. We can't leave that lot out there. What on earth was he thinking!?!

The Rugs are On

2011-10-20T21:38:00.004+01:00

So we went to the yard the other evening. Okay, so its starting to get a bit chilly, a hint of frost in the air in the early mornings, etc. but no matter - I have a hardy Section D, a butch cobby type who could cope with a bit of cold weather. My friend on the other side of the barn asks me, "When are you going to rug Santana then?" "Not yet" I say confidently, "It'll have to get colder than this for me to get the rug out. "

A little later on another barn friend arrives. Its dark by this time and getting really quite cold. She says, "Have you heard the weather forecast tonight? They say it's going to pour down with rain and freeze!"

I had a complete fit of conscience and out came the lightweight Weatherbeeta to keep poor Santana dry! My resolve didn't last very long did it?!

There was method in my madness though - the reason I didn't want to rug up too early was because last year I had to de-rug him in November because he started walking straight through the electric fence. Consequently he was out in minus 10 degrees c completely naked. I wanted him to grow some coat of his own in case he did the same again this year. Oh well, lets hope he has enough space in his field this year to stay put.

Hogged!

2011-10-15T22:21:00.001+01:00

For some time now everyone has said I should hog Santana but, although I always knew it would suit him, I was resisting because I need those few strands of mane that he hasn't rubbed off to haul myself up into the saddle. Well, the time finally came when what was left of his mane was looking so rough it just had to come off. He was a good boy with the clippers, bearing in mind he'd never been near clippers in his life before, but the twitch had to come out eventually. The bit between his ears had to be done with scissors.

Although I say it myself, he looks stunning! Where did this handsome chap come from? I see now I should have done it ages ago! I now need to have a rummage in my 'random stuff' box to find an old stirrup leather or something to use as a neck strap. In the meantime I'm using my cliprope tied round his neck - very fetching!

On another note I have ridden around the farm on my own a few more times recently and today was a landmark day. I went for a longer ride round the farm on my own past the massive scary hosereel, past the stupid baby pheasants that wait until you almost tread on them before flapping out from under your nose shrieking like banshees, past the REALLY scary stopcock on the waterpipe, and past the loudly rustling sweetcorn. We got to the stubble field and were feeling confident enough for a little trot along the edge, we turned to the left up the hill and pushed on into canter. Oh yes, we cantered. How lovely! We got to the top of the hill and we were on top of the world! A leisurely walk back to the yard and our day is complete.

"Why?" - I ask myself

2011-09-09T23:06:00.001+01:00

Last time we hacked to Toddington Show I promised myself we would check the weather and not go again if there was any sign of rain. Promises are like pie crusts - made to be broken. Although the forecast said "a chance of heavy showers" we thought we knew better. It looked fine when we left the yard. Sure enough by the time we arrived at the show it had clouded over and started to spit. No matter, we thought, it'll soon blow over. Jasmine bravely entered the clear round ring. Sunny was a little sticky. Perhaps she remembered her sore leg last time she was here. Over the first few jumps and then screech to a halt with bum on the ground when she spots the monstrous blue water trays under the next jump.
Totally freaked out she refuses to go anywhere near. Water trays moved to the side, then moved out of sight, then the back rail removed from the jump and eventually she very reluctantly jumps it as a tiny crosspole. Jas comes out a little disheartened. After a think she decides to have another go, without the water trays this time.

Sunny is having none of it and a few feet into the ring plants her feet refusing to move. After a little encouragement from the whip she demonstrates her objection by rearing up high then throwing a huge buck sending Jas flying.

By this time the rain was coming sown in earnest and we were starting to get a little wet. We decided enough was enough and set off home. The rain came down in torrents for the whole hour it took us to ride home. I don't think i've ever been so wet. Water was
sloshing around in my boots every time I kicked Santana on! (He behaves like a star by the way).

When we got home, although it was still raining we took Sunny in the ménage and set up a couple of jumps which she did several times with no problem.

Why do I not listen to my own advice?!

Vest top or thermals and jumper?

2011-06-17T21:32:00.005+01:00

You may wonder why we English are obsessed with the weather, but when we go from one day getting sunburnt whilst poo-picking, the field rapidly turning into a dust bowl around you and not a single blade of grass in sight, to the next day of howling gales and horizontal, torrential rainfall (...in June!) ...you can maybe understand our obsession. You think its safe to stash your thermals away for a few months and slap on the suncream instead and the next day you're dragging them back out again.

Well, on one such day we thought it would be a great idea to hack 6 miles to the local show. Okay so it was starting to drizzle a little when we left but no matter, surely it would stop soon - the previous day had been a lovely warm and sunny day. We are in the middle of summer after all! No. The weather had other ideas and by the time we arrived at our destination the rain had settled in for the day and the wind was getting involved too. We arrived wet and cold and I was all for turning straight back home again but it was only polite to wait until the others had done the classes they had gone there for. Jas did a 1'9" clear round with Sonny - it was the first show she had ever been to and seeing several jumps all at once rather than the one or two she was used to came as a bit of a surprise. She got round them all though and only demolished two!

I haven't jumped for ages so I wasn't brave enough even for 1'9". Besides I was so stiff with cold that I could hardly move by this time. I had to get off when we arrived, before my legs went completely numb. We had a cup of tea and a burger from the van in a vain attempt to warm up, but after waiting a couple of hours for our companions to jump their classes my bones had seized up. Getting back on Santana with no mounting block was ...errm, interesting! Lets just say I got up there eventually, much to Santana's dismay, and we set off back home - at last!

Needless to say we will not be attempting this again unless we have guaranteed wall to wall sunshine!

We've arrived! Can we go home now?

Rain!

2011-05-30T18:18:00.002+01:00

Rain interspersed with periods of steady drizzle today. April showers at the end of May. The grazing fields need it, but I wonder if its too late to help the hay crop.

Still, we managed to have a hack around the farm today, just three of us. It was really nice, despite the wet. Santana is so much more relaxed, as I am too. We've hacked out such a lot over the last few weeks and I think its really helping.

There's a big day coming up for me - next Monday I'm having a saddle fitter out to bring me a new saddle! Well, when I say 'new' I mean new to me. My funds won't extend to a brand new saddle, but I'll be just as happy with a secondhand one fitted properly by someone who knows what they're doing. How exciting ! After that I've promised myself I'll start having some lessons because last time I had a lesson I was on a high for days afterwards.

Jas had a lesson on Sonny on Saturday which went really well. We've definitely done the right thing by getting Sonny. What a relief. We paid a visit to our old farm this morning and while we were there we went and had a look at Sonny's daughter, now 2 years old. Jas is plotting to go over next year, break her in and buy her so she can have both. Dream on Jas!

Sonny

Sonny's daughter

What, no grass?

2011-05-23T21:13:00.008+01:00

Whatever happened to March winds and April showers? We're having May winds, does that mean we'll get June showers! Oh well, I count myself lucky to have a Section D who doesn't seem to need grass to remain a picture of shining health!

This was on a pub ride a couple of weeks ago. What a gorgeous boy! He hasn't rubbed any of his mane so far this year so we now just about have enough length of mane to plait - Woohoo!!

Bathtime - lovely white socks and
a plaited mane!

Anyway, I promised photos of Jasmine's new horse so here you are, this is Red Sonya aka Sonny.
..
This is her at our old yard: -
This is her when we first brought her home:
First ride at home:
Three weeks, some conditioning mix and a couple of lessons later, and looking gorgeous:

Confidence growing

2011-05-09T21:34:00.004+01:00

What a lovely weekend of hacking! An hour and a half on Saturday and two and a half hours on Sunday in perfect riding weather - sunny with just enough breeze to keep cool without that spooky wind. Not only that but last Thursday evening I rode round the farm for half an hour on my own!! How fantastic is that? I was so pleased with myself and Santana although he must have thought I'd gone a bit loopy because I chatted nonsense to him the whole time. We came across a couple of scary 'monsters' but I gave him time to have a good look and see that it was all in his imagination.

So by the time we rode at the weekend I could ride feeling quite relaxed and confident - loose reins and everything! I'm sure Santana is much happier and more confident too.

Next problem to overcome is sore feet. I asked the farrier to take his shoes off a couple of weeks ago (he'd lost both back ones anyway) and I think he's feeling it a bit after so much walking at the weekend. He'll have a rest this week and then more hacking next weekend - yay!

Another thing I have to write about is Jasmine's new horse. Gosh, how exciting and unexpected that was. Photos and details to follow soon...

Springtime = New Life ...

2011-03-15T14:20:00.000Z

... in more ways than one. The grass is starting to grow and daffodils are blooming, but that's about as good as it gets at the moment. Life in general is not great otherwise. Its looking like me and my husband will be going our separate ways. My 21 year old son is planning to move out soon anyway and Jasmine will come with me. Its a strange feeling after nearly 30 years but its not before time and its been my decision, not his.

As far as Santana is concerned, he has been great these last few weeks. We've been doing a bit of hacking and a bit of schooling in the menage. My friend was telling me the other week that he looks good enough to do some dressage with. The only problem with that is that I'm not sure that I'm good enough to match up! I might give it a go - at least it will give our schooling a bit of focus anyway.

After a lovely hack on Saturday with Jasmine riding Benny (a lovely Ffiord pony at the yard) I was saying how settled Santana had become and hopefully this year of his 6th birthday will be his best yet.

On Sunday we went in the menage for a short while, Jasmine put up a small cross pole which we trotted over both ways several times - lovely! Then, two strides out Santana suddenly charged at the jump, went straight for the far corner of the menage, did a sharp left back across the menage and before I knew it I was in the opposite corner, where I hit the deck, or rather the fence, on my back!

I was so cross that it had happened and I hadn't been able to do anything about it that I got straight back on and made him trot sensibly around the menage several times and stay in trot over the cross pole again. Talking to people at the yard, they thought he had probably just got over excited about jumping and, its true that I did get the feeling that he was really enjoying himself, so that could be it. Anyway, I have to try and blot that out and pretend it never happened because he's been so well behaved recently. The only trouble is I now have a lovely colourful bruise on my back to remind me!

Oh well, worse things happen at sea, so they say!

Old Field : New Field

2011-02-06T20:42:00.000Z

Another whole day spent electric fencing - dismantling from one field, taking the eyelets out around the whole perimeter, and re-erecting in another field, plus putting up a temporary paddock to put our two in while they get acquainted with the other field residents. It was hard work but worth it. OH came with us which was a great help, although he broke the drill attachment on only the second eyelet!

Old field:-

This is unusually dry - there's usually a massive lake here!

The quagmire formally known as our 'field'

Ahh dry land ye old landlubbers!

New Field:-

This will be our new field. The electric paddock is just a temporary measure for a week or so. The absolute bliss of walking into the field without fearing that your boots will be sucked off your feet by the mud, not to mention the sticky mud all up the horses legs. And, I have a horse with four feathery white socks!

So, that was Saturday. On Sunday I actually got to ride! Hang out the flags and rejoice! No, maybe not, it was blowing a gale all weekend so not the best of weather to ride when you're on the nervous side. Still I just had 10 minutes in the menage and Santana was fab!

What a gorgeous boy!

On the move ...again!

2011-02-04T21:58:00.000Z

Its not quite as drastic as it sounds - we're still at the same farm. We've moved stables to one of the other barns on the yard. There are seven stables in this barn rather than the three in the other one, so its a nice size and we all get on well together. And we have space to tie up under cover outside the stables which we didn't have in the other barn. OH has put some lights up for us so we can see to muck out which is a bonus. Now people have noticed he has some electrical skills he's acquired three more lighting tasks for other people too (oops, lol!). Oh well, it keeps him busy!

Next move is a field move. We've discovered that another horse is moving into our field. He was there before us so I guess he has a right to return. Well, the field can't sustain four horses so we need to find elsewhere to go. One of the girls in our barn said that she would be happy to have our two in her field, so I checked with the other girl whose two horses are in the same field and it's all good.

The only problem is that having just spent £60+ on electric fencing for our other field, I now have to dismantle it all and move it. I was so proud of how well we put it up too. Ah well, can't be helped. I certainly won't miss having to wade through a knee deep, boot sucking lake of mud to get through the gateway. There will still be mud but hopefully only ankle deep.

So, tasks for the morning:-

1. Dismantle electric fence.
2. Erect electric fenced paddock in new field.
3. Electric fence one side of new field.
4. Ride? Maybe not!

Note to self - remember to take the camera and take some pics.

Confidence Giver

2011-01-17T13:26:00.002Z

Jas had the opportunity to ride a lovely pony at our yard yesterday. She was so excited to ride something that wasn't likely to dump her the other side of the menage fence! Chevy is a 12.2hh pony from showing stock. He's a fantastic pony and he gave Jasmine a lovely ride. She was so chuffed when she'd finished - she was doing a little dance with excitement! Hopefully she'll be able to ride him again and she can then build back her confidence.

Trust me - her next pony will be very carefully chosen!

Slacking!

2010-12-15T18:31:00.000Z

Oh my goodness, when was the last time I blogged ... September!?! What's that all about? Well, goodness me, I swear time passes quicker the older I get. Actually, having said that, I shall be glad when this year is over. I think its been one of the worst years ever for me, starting with my Dad's death in March (may God rest his soul) and the very near break up of my marriage in October. We are hanging on and trying to get back to some semblance of normalcy. A serious lack of funds is hampering our efforts and I'm not sure how we're going to get through Christmas. Everything is considerably down-sized so I hope people don't think we're just being stingy with presents. Hopefully in the new year my other half will get off his backside and get himself a proper job earning proper money (and pigs might fly, but we can only hope!).

I will not give up mine and my daughter's horses unless we are completely destitute! At least Jasmine has got herself a job to pay for her livery - she works for two hours after school every day for the cleaners at the school. It means she's not home until after 5.30 but it leaves her weekends free.

Talking of horses, Santana is still looking fab. I've never seen him looking so good. Everyone at the yard says how great he looks - it makes me swell with pride.

In an attempt to combat my confidence issues I had a lesson with Caroline at our yard in October. She was great - making me think of all sorts of things at the same time (multi-tasking, gah!) and by the end of the hour I had completely forgotten my worries about Santana. He was feeling the difference and was so relaxed and chilled out - just like he used to be. This gave me something to work on and I rode on each of the next two weekends.

Then we had another mishap. Santana had started forcing his way through the rather flimsy fence around our field and I had to get it repaired several times already. One morning we had to bring the horses in because there was a "shoot" on the farm. No horses anywhere in our field and we finally found them a couple of fields down having destroyed several lengths of fencing, electric and other sorts. We brought them back through the gaps they had made when Rambo, Jasmine's pony, took a dislike to one of the gaps and suddenly freaked out knocking us both over in his panic. Of course me, being the one who always gets injured in any incidents, was the one who got trodden on. I had a perfect hoofprint on the inside of my thigh and, boy, did it hurt! That was about six weeks ago and its only now starting to get better.

I have managed to ride the last couple of weekends and I'm pleased to say it has been good. I am concentrating very hard on relaxing and all the things Caroline taught me which seems to be working.

Next problem: Jasmine had a very bad fall from Rambo about a month ago. Fortunately she escaped unharmed but it really shocked her. It has left her with a lot of distrust in Rambo which she's got to build back up again. She is such a confident rider, and with good reason - she's got great natural ability - I've never seen her nervous like this. I'm really hoping she can get back to where she was.

What a pair! We're as bad as each other now!

Anyway - now for some pics:-

Riding in the menage

Alex, my son having a lesson

Early October - chilling by the "lake" in his field

Where did the summer go !?

2010-09-02T22:16:00.000+01:00

Exactly that ...where did the summer go? It seems like only a few weeks ago that we moved to our new yard and here we are nearly at the end of the summer already. We have definitely enjoyed the last three months at our new yard, organising our grazing and our stables, etc. We've had lots of time to ride, either hacking out or schooling in the menage.

Santana seems to be really happy and is looking great at the moment, although he's slightly fat having managed to sabotage my electric fence energiser while I was on holiday and make his escape into the hay field. He was put back every day but by then he'd realised that the electric was off so as soon as no-one was looking off he went again! Cheeky monkey!

Anyway, we've now negotiated a field move to a field much closer to the yard, like literally 2 minutes away - how good is that!? We made the move on Wednesday and all ponies have settled in well together like they were old mates all the time.

Santana, Rambo, Ned and Robin (in that order)

This was after Santana had pranced around the field stargazing and with his tail stuck straight up in the air like he was an arab stallion. I didn't have the heart to remind him his carefree colt days were long gone!

Happy in his new field

Busy Days

2010-07-15T09:59:00.000+01:00

It seems I've had another long break from blogging - I seem to have been so busy, I hardly even get a lunchbreak at work sometimes.

We've been busy with non-horsey stuff such as, my family thinking it would be an excellent idea to sell our folding camper six weeks before we are due to go on holiday in it. The idea was to buy a caravan with the money from selling the camper. Good idea in principle but not so easy in practice because caravans tend to be more expensive than folding campers. Still, we managed to find one in our price range (just) and brought it home to store at mum's house (thanks mum!). Of course, on closer inspection when we got it home we find out all its little faults and foibles. Its a good job my other half is very handy and knows lots of other handy people. Work has started to get the caravan in shape for our holiday in Cornwall in August. Next we had to buy an awning so another search of Ebay ensued. Awning is now bought - check.

Of course in the process of inspecting and buying these things a fair bit of mileage was clocked up on the old Pajero which drinks diesel like its going out of fashion. This has had an adverse effect on my bank balance and the decision has been made that I can no longer afford to run the Paj. Its costing me over £50 a week just to get to work and back and I could halve that with a more economical car (and pay another livery fee instead!). I'm gutted about selling it but its just too thirsty.

The question now was what to buy. As far as I'm concerned I'm not too bothered, my only stipulation is air conditioning - the climate control in the Paj is so good I would really miss it now. I don't know if any of you have children but my two (15 and 20 yrs respectively) are very particular about what wheels they are seen in. No mere Vauxhall Astra or Ford Focus will do for them, oh no - buy an Audi A3 mum! Yeah, right, like that's going to happen!

Having trawled Ebay and Autotrader I think we've reached a compromise with a Peugeot 206 - around year 1999-2000. It's a little smaller than I would have liked but it seems to have great fuel economy and it looks cool enough for the kids. Now I just have to find one thats cheap enough for me to afford to buy and sell the Paj. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

The Lovely Pajero

Update on the horsey situation next time.

New Yard, Fresh Start

2010-06-01T22:03:00.001+01:00

Riding in the menage (yes - menage! Posh or what!) at our new yard. Santana has been superb since we moved. He's really settled in well and I feel so much more confident riding him now.

In this first pic he was doing that lovely typical Welsh Cob trot - really active and moving beautifully.

Canterrrrrr !

Someone should remind me to look up!

I put him in his stable one day (a novelty in itself) so that we could go and move the electric fencing. I only made a very small paddock at first while he got used to his new surroundings, but now that he's eaten everything in sight its time to give him more space. One small problem - he's a little itchy so while he was in his stable he was busy rubbing his backside against the front wall and managed to push it out and pushed out the bolt holding the door closed. Disaster I hear you cry! But no .. I had already thought of this eventuality and in true Worthy End style (my old yard) I had tied up the door with a clip rope. His bid for freedom was foiled! In truth I don't think it would even have occurred to him to escape, but just to be on the safe side my very handy other half has strengthened the front wall with a nine foot post bolted to the floor and roof beam so hopefully we won't have any adventures of the escaping kind in the future.

Back to Blogging

2010-05-17T14:18:00.004+01:00

I've not blogged for ages now for several reasons. After the various life changing events which have affected me recently I just haven't had the heart for it. Everything seemed so small and petty in the whole scheme of things and really not worth recording.

However, I feel as though I am now starting to come out of those dark dark feelings and look to the future.

I have made a HUGE decision, to move my horse to another yard. Reasons:-

1. Money. It is a completely DIY yard but I can keep him out 24/7 over the summer which is what he's used to anyway. It is half the cost of where I am now until winter when I'll need a stable as well but even then the rent will still be cheaper.   I'll need to buy feed (which I do already anyway), bedding (shredded paper, free from work, maybe mixed with some shavings) and hay at £3 per bale from the yard.

2. My daughter badly wants a pony of her own since her Section A, Catrin, was sold when she grew out of her.  Although she has been able to ride almost whatever she likes on the farm and train up the youngsters, its not the same as your own and I can understand her feelings. We will look for a loan pony for her maybe over the summer and in the meantime she can ride Santana.   She also has several friends already at the yard we're going to so I'm sure she won't be without a ride.

3. The farm has lost much of its magic for me since Tom died. I love the rest of the family, but it was Tom we were working with every day, Tom who we looked to for support, Tom who gave us the confidence to do things we might otherwise not do. I think the time has come for us to move on.

In the meantime I've had lots of problems with Santana. Looking back, ever since I broke my wrist last year I don't think I ever re-gained my confidence properly. This obviously transmitted to Santana and he also lost confidence.  Falling off twice over the winter just compounded the problem. He would spook at the slightest little thing and charge off like a freight train at top speed.

We decided to start Santana's training back at the beginning with lunging and teaching him voice commands. We changed his bit from a Wilson snaffle which is surprisingly harsh, but which he didn't respect at all, to a rubber mullen mouth Pelham. This has given me a lot more control and I think we are starting to understand each other a little better - I don't hang on his reins in a constant state of panic and he doesn't charge off on the slightest whim whenever he feels like it.

I've spent a lot more time with him on the ground talking to him while grooming and all that sort of thing. I think we are now back on an even keel. I think he likes me again and I feel that I can hack him out without fearing the worst.

There is a lovely outdoor menage at our new yard and lots of riding on the farm so I'm really looking forward to it now that I've made my decision. I've had lots of wobbly moments about whether I've made the right decision, but I can't wait for it all to be sorted now. I've bought some electric fencing to make a paddock in the section of field which I've been allocated, so I can rotate the grazing within my area.  It should arrive this week so we'll go and set it up one evening.

Moving day is next Saturday ...*gulp*

Happier Days

2010-04-21T13:05:00.001+01:00

What a fantastic photo this is. Taken many years ago, look how relaxed and laid back Tom is sitting amongst the bales.

A picture of me and Tom taken a couple of years ago at Tom's daughter's birthday bash.

Happy days.

Motivation ...or lack of it

2010-04-20T13:14:00.005+01:00

I haven't blogged for ages. There are various reasons, not least of these was the death of my Dad. I still cannot, and probably will never, believe that he has gone. The pain is still there, as strong as ever, but I guess you eventually learn to live with the loss.

Another huge shock to me was the sudden death of the farm owner, Tom, at the age of 70, just two days before my father's funeral. I have known Tom for only about six years, but in that time I have seen him almost every day. He has been my friend and mentor and he has shared so much of his incredible knowledge of horsemanship and experiences with me. If it were not for Tom, I would not have bought my first horse, I would not have gained the experience I have of riding and training young horses, and I would not have had the confidence to break and train Santana. All this was done under his close supervision and guidance. His funeral was attended by approximately 400 people which is testament to the immensely high regard people had for him and the number of lives which he has touched.

At first I felt that all that wealth of knowledge and experience had been lost but, on reflection, I realise that, in fact, he was so generous with his knowledge that he has passed much of it on to so many people, not least his four children and his grandchildren, as well as friends like myself.

We spent many a happy afternoon lunging young ponies with my daughter on board, Tom and I both on the end of the lunge (in case the pony took off!), and Tom would pour out his stories of the old days. He was fascinating to listen to.

I am proud to be able to say that I knew Tom and could call him my friend. I will also be forever grateful for everything he has done for me and my daughter over the last few years.

Rest in Peace Tom

For my Dad

2010-03-29T12:59:00.021+01:00

My dad was born on 12th June 1926 in Walthamstow, later moving to the North Circular in Edmonton. He attended Latymer School in Edmonton, a notoriously difficult school to get into. He was an only child and his parents were very proud of him. He joined the army and served two tours in Cairo towards the end of WWII in the Royal Medical Corps as a clerical officer
He met my mum and they were married on 5th March 1955 at Christchurch, Southgate. They made a beautiful couple.They set up home together in a bungalow in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire.

Dad was initially employed as an insurance clerk, later moving to the Civil Service to work in the Treasury Solicitor's Department. Over the years he studied and attained the position of Higher Executive Officer where he remained until his retirement in the 1980s. This was obviously in the days when a "job for life" still existed.

In 1959 my brother was born
And in 1961 I came along. I love this pic! On the very day I was born, my Dad passed his driving test.

Dad was not a "touchy feely" sort of person, but I was always secure in the knowledge that I was loved by both my parents. Dad was always there for you, he was always willing to advise without forcing his views on you. Growing up, my brother and I had a really good childhood and we never wanted for anything, although we weren't well off by any means. We always had a summer holiday, mostly camping or staying on a farm in Cornwall, and also a weeks holiday on a boat on the Norfolk Broads or canals.

Christmastime and some of the boating holidays were spent with the family of Dad's "best man" and I have many wonderful memories as a result of this happy time.Mum and Dad enjoyed rambling and I remember lots of jaunts into the countryside with Dad striding ahead with his Ordnance Survey map at the ready.

When I was ten or eleven we moved to a bigger house in Potters Bar which had an enormous garden, backing onto fields. (Later they built the M25 two fields away!). The size of the garden meant it required many hours to keep it in good shape. There were plenty of opportunities for a bonfire to burn the cut down bushes and brambles. I loved those bonfires and spent ages poking a long stick into the white hot centre to watch it burn - strange child!

(It was at this time that I was allowed to start horseriding, but much to my frustration Dad would never entertain the idea of a pony of my own, grrr!)

Dad was an old fashioned type of guy who took the role of head of the household seriously, liking to keep a firm hand on the finances. Mum studied at the Royal College of Music and became a piano teacher and an Associate of the Royal College of Music and earned her own money which she paid into her own bank account - much to Dad's chagrin!.

He had a great interest in classical music and over the years built up a huge collection of records which he later had to replace with CDs, giving in to "modern technology" very reluctantly.

His handwriting was incredibly neat and when he retired he took classes in Calligraphy and produced some lovely decorated pieces. Mum tried to get him to have some framed and put them on the walls but, ever the perfectionist, he always maintained they weren't good enough.

Through the years Mum and Dad belonged to a social club which originated from a youth club which members were required to leave when they were considered too old (ie. about 20). The members who left the youth club formed this new club so that they could continue to meet and do various activities together (and think up new excuses to have a party).

This club is still going today, albeit slightly less energetically, with some of the original founder members still attending. The club was a very big part of Dad's life, with some of its members becoming very close, lifelong friends. How amazing to have so many friends for this length of time.

An early photo of the club members all dolled up in their glad rags. Dad is about eighth from the left in the back row and Mum is second from left of the ladies seated.

In 2002 after about five years of trying, I managed to persuade Dad that it would be a good idea to move to Bedfordshire to live closer to our family. I mentioned in passing, a few times, that houses would be much cheaper and they could have a similar size house and have money to spare from the sale of the Potters Bar house. Eventually this argument won out and they moved to Shefford, only 15 minutes drive from us. They never regretted it and, in fact, wished they'd moved years previously. Stubborn old Dad, didn't like the idea of change.

A happy holiday in the 1970s
and 1980s

working in the garden at Potters Bar.

My wedding day

Mum and Dad
Dad's funeral was on 25th March 2010. My 15 year old daughter, Jasmine, read Life Goes On by Joyce Grenfell and my 20 year old son, Alex, read All is Well by Henry Scott Holland. It was extremely emotional but my children did their grandfather proud. We sang Praise my Soul the King of Heaven and Lord of all Hopefulness, Lord of All Joy. The music played was Chanson de Matin, Elgar, Nimrod, Elgar and Air from Suite 3 in D, Bach. The service was taken by the daughter of my Dad's Best Man who has obviously known him since she was a child and made it a lovely, personal, service.

I loved my Dad very much indeed. I only hope that he knew how much he was loved. Not being a very demonstrative person himself we, as a family were, similarly, not demonstrative generally.

I am so sad that he has gone, but I know now that he is at peace. May God rest his soul.

Rest in Peace Daddy

2010-03-18T09:29:00.005Z

My dear dad died at 3am on the morning of 9th March 2010 in Papworth Hospital, Cambridge. He was 83 years old.

He had been in hospital since November, initially in Bedford, then transferred to Papworth to undergo a heart valve replacement procedure. One thing after another prevented the procedure going ahead and eventually he was bedridden and in dreadful pain from gout which had resulted from kidney failure. I am thankful that he is no longer suffering. We, the family are grateful to all the staff at Papworth Hospital for their thorough and sensitive care of my dad whilst he was in Varrier Jones Ward. They helped to make my mum and dad's 55th wedding anniversary on 5th March 2010 a lovely day for both of them, as far as it was possible in the circumstances.

Despite dad's age and heart condition, we always expected that he would come home and have a little more time to enjoy his last days so it has come as a shock to us all and I still can't believe that he will never come home.

The funeral is Thursday 25th March. I do not know how I will get through this day. My children will both be doing a reading for their grandad. I will reproduce them here in a future post.

Rest in peace daddy.
I love you.

Another Wet Weekend

2010-03-01T13:48:00.001Z

Almost, but not quite, a washout. Went to the farm on Saturday. It was lovely sunshine when we were driving there. Of course this disappeared as soon as we had tacked up! Anyway, it was so wet and muddy on the farm that we decided to ride around the roads. I wasn't entirely happy because it was out of my comfort zone - I would have preferred to stay in the relative safety of the 'Pit'.

I needn't have worried because Santana was like his old unflappable self and, other than a little prancing and fidgeting when we came back through the gate onto the farm track, he was fab. I think he is unsettled there because that was the spot where he bolted and I fell off last time. I must be transmitting my feelings of trepidation to him. He soon got over it though when we moved off again after Jasmine had latched the gate.

It rained on us while we rode back up the track to the farm.

Back in the yard, we untacked and I felt GOOD! We had a lovely uneventful ride and I was feeling confident. The sun came back out again!

I was looking forward to repeating this on Sunday but when we got to the farm Sunday morning it was tipping down with rain and the front fields were almost completely underwater.

Jasmine brought Mouse in, got straight on with just a cooler rug on to soak up the rain from Mouse's coat and rode through the lakes that had formed. I'll post some video when I get round to downloading it from Jasmine's camera.

Back at work today and the sun has shone all day so far. Typical!

Another video

2010-02-23T19:04:00.003Z

I thought I would post this video I made last winter about my jumping exploits with Santana and my daughter and my friend Angie. As you can see Santana hadn't done much jumping so we were keeping them small, and of course he had the draw reins on. I only used them a couple of times.

Jumping This & That from Jooles1111 on Vimeo.

The Best Laid Plans

2010-02-21T15:18:00.005Z

Well, my few days off didn't work out quite as planned as far as riding goes. Thursday poured with rain and sleet all day then it snowed overnight so we woke up to a blanket of snow on Friday morning. Friday was quite warm though and most of the snow had melted by lunchtime so I managed to sneak a quick ride. The farm was so wet that all we could do was go out round the block but it was better than nothing.

As my riding plans were thwarted on Thursday I used the spare time to make a video which I have been trying to upload to Youtube ever since. I finally managed it this afternoon by saving in a poor quality wmv format.

When I look back to what I was doing with Santana in the early summer I'm amazed. We seem to be going backwards, which is not good!

On our ride on Saturday we went round the roads again and when we got back to the farm we walked round the outside of the front field. As we turned the corner, something spooked Santana from behind and he was off. I managed to turn him in a circle and then kept him going round and round until he got fed up with it. When I say something spooked him, there was actually nothing, he just imagined a monster. He never used to be like that at all so its a bit unnerving and unpredictable at the moment.

Today I just rode round the circle, trotting mainly with a couple of canters and it was all good apart from first getting on board when he was very tense and jumpy. As soon as we walk of he relaxes. I think he sees my right foot coming over his back and it frightens him, although its not as if anything has happened to make him scared other than the time when I fell off on the ice.

I just can't wait for the better weather and drier ground so I can get some more riding and schooling in and get back to where we were.

Another Birthday

2010-02-15T13:39:00.003Z

I'm sure as I've got older birthdays come round far quicker than they did when I was young. I seem to remember it being an eternity between birthdays. Nowadays they whizz round far too fast and I don't like it at all!

So, its my birthday today, and I'm sitting here at work wondering why I didn't take the day off and spend it riding. What was I thinking?!

Oh well, I have Thursday and Friday off so I can look forward to the other end of the week.

Keeping my fingers crossed for some half decent weather.

A Sea of Mud

2010-02-07T14:32:00.002Z

After the frozen wastes of last weekend when I only managed to ride for half an hour on Sunday afternoon because the mud had turned to concrete with a layer of ice on top, this weekend was slightly warmer but, inevitably, very muddy. I rode yesterday, but I was far too tense and nervous which obviously transmitted to Santana and he spooked and flinched at everything imaginable. I held him too tight and sat too rigidly, it was altogether not very impressive. Poor Santana, he did his best for me but I wasn't giving him clear signals.

Today, after retrieving him from the sea of mud around his field gate, there was an altogether different vibe. Elby held him for me while I mounted from the hay bale. He flinched while I found my other stirrup, but was fine as soon as we walked off. I made a concerted effort to relax, to give with my hands and to sit back. We managed to pass the area in "the pit" where the monsters hide with only a cursory glance. We managed a lovely swinging trot on both reins, we cantered on the left rein and then ... our worst bugbear, cantering on the right rein. The first time he got his front legs right but the back legs wrong. We tried again and he got it right, cantered half a circuit and trotted the rest. Then we had another go, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke and he did it right again. We cantered for a circuit and a half, no leaning, no pulling, just nice controlled cantering. By jove, I think he's got it!

I don't want to speak too soon but I really feel as though he's so much more comfortable in the Pennwood saddle that it could have been the other saddle which was causing the problem all the time.

All in all a lovely, confidence giving ride. Just what you need on a Sunday.

Sciatica - ouch!

2010-01-20T13:27:00.001Z

Oh the misery of increasing age!

Anyone who has suffered from sciatica will understand how debilitating it is. This is the second time I've had it, the first being about four years ago, with varying degrees of lower back pain in between.

I know that its my fault, I know that I'm unfit and my stomach and core muscles are virtually non-existent. I also know I really should do something about it. Maybe this will be the incentive to get me to that aerobics class I've been promising myself.

However, at the moment I can barely roll out of bed in the morning, let alone prance around the scout hut. Why are your feet so far away from your hands at times like this? I need a long handled implement to get my clothes over my feet. I feel rather foolish when my 19 year old son pops his head round the door and asks what the heck I'm doing when he finds me on all fours on the bedroom floor, attempting to stand up. "Just having a closer look at the rug!" I say blithely. Poor young thing - he has no idea in his strapping youthfulness. One day he'll understand.

I think the only saving grace is that my work might get me an all singing, all dancing chair to use. I wonder if I can put in for a footstool and a massage as well!?

I guess its just as well its still too dark to ride by the time I come home from work.

Enough Snow

2010-01-13T19:40:00.004Z

Okay, snow is great ...when it only lasts a few days. Much though it looks lovely and picturesque, I've had just about enough now. The horses are all bored and have nothing to do all day except wait by the gate for the tractor to bring the next lot of hay.

With no all weather surface we can't ride. All the farm tracks are treacherous for the horses and the yard, well, don't even go there!

I did manage to ride a couple of weekends ago and we have decided that Santana's sudden aversion to being ridden is mostly to do with his saddle. Although I have always used this saddle on him and it has been fine, we have now come to the conclusion that a combination of having stopped riding him most days due to longer hours at work and dark evenings and also winter setting in with a vengeance has caused him to drop condition slightly. Enough to make his saddle uncomfortable anyway.

What precipitated this conclusion was that when I rode him when the last lot of snow had nearly gone, we came back from riding round the block and I had to dismount to open the gate (I had already done this to go out of the gate with no problem). I turned his head into a corner of the fence to re-mount and Jas stood beside him on her horse. I went to get back on and was past the point of no return when he took umbrage, spun round and took off at a gallop up the only icy stretch remaining on the farm. After about 50 yards I couldn't maintain my balance and landed front first on the ice and skidded for what seemed like miles!

I'm now using my narrower Pennwood saddle which sits well off his withers and although I've only had a chance to use it once because of the weather, he seemed to be much more comfortable in it.

So as there's no riding, here are some pictures instead ...

Explosion

2009-12-10T22:08:00.001Z

Well, after two weeks of not riding I was so looking forward to riding on Saturday. Jas was riding a young Section D so we took him out of the yard to a safe place to mount. No problems there - a couple of circuits round the circle and he was settled. Back to the yard to get on Santana who had been patiently waiting, already saddled. Up we get and ... suddenly I'm sitting on an exploding horse. Equally as suddenly I'm sitting on the concrete of the yard. Not the best start to a nice quiet hack.

He's never done that before - even when we were breaking him in in the Summer of 2008 he's not given the slightest inclination that he might buck. We checked his tack and there was nothing wrong there. We took him out of the yard to lunge him before I had another attempt (with someone holding him this time). He was a little tense at first but soon relaxed and we were back to 'normal'.

I have no idea what caused him to explode like that, but it has certainly made me wary. I didn't ride on Sunday because my old bones were aching from landing on the concrete and Santana was drenched from the rain. Not a good combination in the circumstances.

I shall definitely be lunging before I get on him this weekend and I'll try not to make excuses not to ride.

One Month On

2009-11-19T21:13:00.000Z

Over a month since my last post and nothing of much interest to report. I'm not able to ride at all during the week now - its too dark by the time I get home and I'd never be able to find him in the field!

Rode him last Sunday after not riding since the previous Sunday and you could definitely tell. Even though he's turned out 24/7, he was really on his toes. Jas was riding Enzo who was really fresh and Santana picked up his mood completely. We were riding round Livery field as it was empty and Enzo spooked at the hedge and went charging off in the wrong direction then started bucking when Jas pulled him up. She held him well though and stayed on top. Santana thought that all seemed like a good idea and started pulling like a train. We were trying to trot sedately but he wasn't interested.

We split up and rode on opposite sides of the field and Santana calmed down but then Enzo sparked off again and Jas came off this time. Enzo charged for the gate and disappeared over the horizon. Santana was like "Yeah, lets follow him!", but I convinced him to stay put. Jas fine, having landed on her feet and set off to find him. I found out later that Tom had put her back up and did some serious lunging to work off Enzo's excess energy.

Meanwhile we carried on trying to concentrate on trotting like a proper horse. We managed it eventually, had a canter up the hill and called it a day.

I'm just glad I didn't attempt to ride him on Saturday because it was blowing a gale.

Frustration

2009-10-14T21:25:00.003+01:00

We have been working hard on the right rein this last couple of weeks, mostly trotting, and Santana seems to be getting the idea that he needs to bend into it. He's started to become much lighter in my hands and I've been so pleased with his progress. We've even managed to canter on the right leg without too much persuasion. Result !

Of course, on the day we take the camera to the farm, he has other ideas. He's forgotten everything and goes back to the beginning. Grrrrr... !

I still love him though :D

Rain rain go away

2009-10-07T18:31:00.000+01:00

From summer to winter in one easy step. I can't believe only last week I was at the farm in just a tee shirt and now its tipping down with rain and freezing cold. No riding today because of the rain so I thought I would post a pic of my gorgeous dog instead.

She's a standard poodle and she's called Sybil. This was about six years ago when she was young and beautiful.

This is more recent and she's still beautiful but as you can see we've changed her clip because now that she's ten years old its more comfortable for her not to have so much fur to deal with.

Talking of other pets, we had a mini funeral on Monday for Jasmine's hamster, Rupert, who died in his sleep. Its really sad because Rupert was a sweet little creature with a lot of character.

RIP Rupert.

Getting Back to Normal

2009-09-29T13:35:00.003+01:00

I see I haven't blogged for ages again. Now that summer is just about over things are now getting back to their normal routine. I was only able to ride once or twice a week after our holiday, but the last couple of weeks I've managed to ride more often.

I've dispensed with the Pelham now. Santana was starting to get used to it and was beginning to resist, especially on the right rein, so i've gone back to my Wilson snaffle but using a Market Harborough with it. Some days he's been great, other days he pulls my arms out, particularly my right arm. Doing right handed circles at canter I have to brace against his neck with my left hand in order to get him round the circle. Not good!!! Left handed he's perfect - he canters really collected.

So, new plan of action - right handed circles only. Trotting only. Zig zagging across the track with small right handed circles or figures of eight mixed in. I've got the Market Harborough tighter on the right hand side than the left.

I've been doing this for a couple of days now and he actually seems to be responding and bending into the turns which makes a nice change! We'll keep doing this for a while until I think he's really caught on.

Hoping to get Jasmine to take some new video for me soon.

Disaster Struck

2009-08-06T14:44:00.004+01:00

About eight weeks ago I broke my wrist - what a disaster! It was horse related of course. It was a Sunday morning so instead of spending a pleasant Sunday morning riding, I ended up in A&E being x-rayed and plastered. I chose a purple cast which I discovered later was a mistake because I don't have enough clothes that go with purple to last until the cast was removed!

No riding for a minimum of six weeks.

Jasmine managed to ride Santana for me a couple of times during the six weeks and in the meantime he's been getting fat!

At last I have had the cast taken off but I wasn't prepared for how painful it was still going to be. I have to have physio to improve the amount of movement in my wrist.

I have ridden a few times using a wrist support with a splint, but have not done anything too energetic yet. Santana has behaved himself very well although I have used a Pelham in order not to have him weighing too heavily on my hands.

Anyway, I'm off to Cornwall tomorrow for two weeks, so hopefully by the time I return I will be able to get back to riding properly. I'll need to get both him and me back to fitness again.

First Show Ever

2009-05-21T14:21:00.003+01:00

Oh my God, I haven't blogged for AGES! I didn't realise it had been so long.

Well since last time, I've been doing a mixture of schooling and hacking and a bit of jumping now and then just to keep his interest. We've been working on cantering on the right leg - he favours the left leg so a lot of work is needed here, but he's getting better.

On Sunday 10 May I took him to his first ever show. Its just a little show in Tingrith - perfect for his first time. We did the 2 foot class first and he clearly found it all a bit scary but he was really brave and didn't refuse anything. He had second and third thoughts about going over a really bright white jump but after a bit of encouragement he jumped it, but knocked it down.

As he'd done so well I decided to take him in the next class - 2'3" -2'6". Having already seen the jumps the first time around he was a little braver this time and cantered on a bit better. He had another one down but that was fine, I was just pleased he had done so well and we got round pretty uneventfully.

Jasmine took Scoobydoo (aka Crazy!) and he got crazier with each jump, but Jas managed him really well. She also took Hazel, a lovely chestnut tb who she's been jump training over the last couple of weeks. She's done so well with her Tom said she could take her to the show. She did the 2'3" - 2'6" class and the 2'9" class as well. She got fifth in the 2'3" and had a pole down in the next class, but Hazel jumped really well.

It was a gorgeous day too. The sun shone but it wasn't too hot. A fandabydozy day was had by all!

When I get time I'll upload the photos and videos to Youtube.

Proper Jumping

2009-04-16T22:43:00.004+01:00

Been doing lots of jumping practise recently - every couple of days, a few jumps here and there. The improvement is amazing. He is generally really careful with his front legs and really picks them up and then pushes off his back legs, but at the same time it feels as though he doesn't need to use any effort to get over the jumps.

I am soooo pleased with him :D:D I love my horsey!!!

Lots of Work

2009-03-28T22:14:00.002Z

Haven't blogged for a few weeks now, but me and Santana have been working very hard. I've managed to ride him pretty much every day for the last few weeks, even if its only for 20 minutes.

He's cantering really nicely on the left rein, much more balanced than he was before. We're still struggling on the right rein but, I think we are getting there slowly. Sometimes he leads on the right leg in front but not behind and he's all disjointed, Sometimes he manages to change and get it right. He's not nearly as balanced on the right leg though.

His jumping has come on really well. He's usually very careful when he jumps and he really stretches out over a jump. I think he's enjoying jumping.

Everyone is saying how much he has grown. I can't really see it as I see him every day, but I can see how much he has started to fill out. He actually has some muscles now!

I can't wait to see him in his summer coat this year, he's going to look gorgeous! Got some pics and videos to upload when I've got more time.

Draw Reins

2009-02-23T10:44:00.004Z

Okay, time to address the control issue. I have been advised to give draw reins a try as it will help to pull him together and force him to listen. I don't think he is deliberately fighting against me, I think he genuinely doesn't understand that when I tighten a rein he must give to it and not just pull back. I never feel that he's going to misbehave or take off, he's not that sort, but even so he needs to be responsive to me.

First go with draw reins on him Sunday 22 February. Wow, what a difference! I was trotting him around a small circle and he was bending, yes, bending! He wasn't falling in or trying to go sideways, he was bending around the circle. Fantastic!

I will do some training with these for a week or so, and then try him again without them and see what difference it has made. Fingers crossed.

Oh yes, we did a little bit of jumping too. He did a little spread which I was very pleased with although, as ever, he didn't expend any more energy than he absolutely needed to!

Galloping

2009-02-23T10:28:00.003Z

Last weekend was my birthday so me Jasmine and Angie all went out for a nice Sunday morning hack over the meadow which we haven't done for ages. It's the first time Santana has been to the meadow so it was a whole new experience for him. There was still some snow lying on the ground. There are several places for a canter around the meadow, so first we went down the path to the bottom and took the looong track which goes the whole way from one end to the other. It must be at least a quarter mile if not more. That was fab, it really blew the cobwebs away.

Then, as there were people walking their dogs further along that track, we walked back halfway along the path we had just cantered along to the track up the hill in the middle of the meadow. Jasmine went up first on Penny, the Angie's horse Mysti was getting quite agitated, wanting to go so I told Angie to go up and I would follow. My intention was to keep to a nice controlled canter. It wasn't to be. Just as Angie let Mysti go the bird scarer went off, acting like a starting pistol and off we shot! Oh yes, Santana can gallop! What's more, Mysti gallops like a racehorse, but Santana was holding his own and just about keeping up with her. It didn't feel that fast (not like my old horse, ex-racer Wolfie) but he has such a long loping stride that he covers the ground without any effort.

This was all fine and good, but halfway up I thought I'd take a pull to see what reaction I got ....and there was no reaction whatsoever. I leaned back and heaved on the reins to no effect ...oops! I knew he would stop at the top because the others were there but it was a tad worrying to know that I had so little control.

I really need to do something about that, he really needs to have a better mouth, but I don't want to use a stronger bit.

Riding - At Last !

2009-02-11T18:40:00.003Z

Yay! Today, I rode for the first time in a week and a half. (Not counting the time I rode Jasmine's pony inside the barn bareback!). At last there was enough of a thaw to get the horses further than a couple of yards beyond their field gate. All the tracks on the farm have been like an ice rink so I haven't even been able to take him up to the yard to feed him. Fortunately there's a hay barn just by his field gate so I've been feeding in there this week.

They've used so much hay that there's a large empty space in the middle of the barn so on Sunday Jasmine and I rode Catrin around bareback because we were getting withdrawal symptoms from not riding!

Today we tacked up and went out into the front field which was still covered in pristine snow. It was very wet underneath and I was very wary about Santana slipping. Jasmine, meanwhile, doesn't have a care in the world and was off cantering down the straight side. We did follow and had a sedate canter too though. Then we went splashing through the 'lake' on the other side. We only rode for about 15 minutes but it was bliss!

Had enough of snow now, roll on spring.

Fun At The Farm - Cross Country Practise

2009-01-28T17:48:00.001Z

Here's Jasmine's edited film. Enjoy! x

No Pressure

2009-01-27T21:01:00.004Z

How lovely it is now I've decided, no schooling, no pressure. My lovely horsie is so obliging and eager to please now I'm not asking him all sorts of questions he doesn't understand. We managed to ride on Friday, Saturday (after riding club), Sunday and Monday. Wow, four days in a row!

On Sunday, me and my daughter, Jasmine and our friend Angie all went in the xc field to pop over some of the xc jumps. I followed Angie on Mysti as Santana needed a lead and although on one or two of them he seemed to run out of steam halfway over the jump (not a good feeling!), mostly he was very good, picking up his feet nicely.

Jasmine was riding a pony she's been training for a while, Penny, a New Forest cross, who has got a lovely jump but is as inexperienced as Santana. She got a bit excited and put in a few big bucks after each jump. Jasmine fell off once but she wasn't hurt and got back on and did it all again. Penny did settle down a bit after a while and jumped really well. All in all a good fun ride. We even got some video footage which Jas has made into a film and uploaded to Youtube. Haha!

Still waiting for the ground to dry up a bit, but it seems to be getting wetter and wetter. Jas is hoping to get some video of cantering through the lake in the front field next weekend!

A new field and a new plan of action

2009-01-23T17:18:00.003Z

John, the bull, in the middle of his harem. He's huge.

The horse on the right is a shire x.

Ah yes, at last we are out of the field with the cows and John. the bull! Cows sure know how to decimate a field, there's hardly a blade of grass left in that field and they get loads of hay twice a day ...greedy lot!

Anyway, Santana and his mates are now in a different field which makes it much easier to get him in.

I managed to ride him three times during the week, but on Tuesday I'm afraid I got a bit cross with him for being so rigid in his neck when I was trying to turn him on a right handed circle. He has more strength in his neck than I've got in my whole body! So, it wasn't a good day; he wouldn;t turn right handed, he wouldn't canter on the right leg. I got cross and he got thoroughly confused.

We both had Wednesday and Thursday off and today I decided we would just do really basic stuff. His canter is getting nice now so we'll do walk, trot, canter transitions on the straight and only circle in walk. When the ground dries out a bit we'll try some figure eights and bending, etc. all in walk and gradually build from there. So that's the new plan - fingers crossed.

He was lovely today. Aren't animals forgiving? I was mean to him on Tuesday but he still loves me. What a sweetie.

The Big Freeze

2009-01-15T17:41:00.004Z

Not much has been happening recently due to the freezing weather and the ground being like concrete. I had a couple of days off work the week before last as well, thinking I could go and do some serious work with Santana. But no, it wasn't to be.

In fact I didn't ride from Sunday right through to Friday when I rode Strawberry, a youngster I've been bringing on. I usually ride her every day so I get worried if she has to stay in for too long as she gets very mischievous and full of herself. I probably shouldn't have ridden as the ground was still very hard. I couldn't get on in the yard, I had to lead her down the track and under the railway tunnel to the front field and get on there, on the grass and then do it all in reverse on the way back.

Of course she was well up for a gallop and buck all round the field, but I managed to stop her doing that, although only just.

Saturday riding club was cancelled as the farm was still in the grip of the freezing temperatures. Santana had to wait until last Sunday before I could ride him. At last the ground had thawed in the Pit, enough to ride on anyway. Trouble is Santana is so unbalanced he was slipping everywhere again as now the ground is wet. Doh!

Tried him out in the field at the front . This was better as he had more grip on the grass. Rode again on Monday and did our circles in the front field. He is still heavy and difficult to turn but I think we started to make some progress. I have also started doing some lateral work with him - turn on the forehand and leg yielding. He's getting the hang of it and hopefully that will help him with his balance.

As he's turned out 24/7 I'm getting him in every day now for a hard feed. He seems to have struck up a friendship with John, the bull, in his field, which means I have to drive into his field to get him and then lead him out of the car window back to the yard. I must take a photo of John one day - he's enormous!

Anyway, its Thursday today so weekend soon, yay!!

Dental Therapy

2009-01-04T16:39:00.003Z

Santana has had some dental therapy. Poor thing, I know how he feels! On investigating his mouth it was discovered that he had wolf teeth which were giving him some pain, particularly when the bit was in his mouth. I feel bad now, considering I contributed to his pain. Anyway the offending articles have now been removed with very little difficulty and Santana is now feeling very much better. We did a few jumps yesterday and even popped a coloured pole at about two foot! Hooray!

Hopefully, now he is without pain in his mouth he can concentrate on enjoying himself. Yesterday and today he already feel lighter in my hands, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we've solved the problem. Unfortunately it was below zero all day today so the ground didn't defrost enough to do any schooling. Instead we went on a ride around the roads which was lovely because there were seven of us who all rode out together. Santana was both the youngest and probably the most sensible of all the horses of the ride. What a star!

Not so good

2008-12-30T20:29:00.004Z

Well it had to happen didn't it. Things didn't go so well today. I was riding round the circle with my daughter and he was so heavy on his forehand, leaning on the reins and not wanting to go forward. When he did go forward he just wanted to follow Jasmine's pony and not listen to me at all. We tried going over the small log, but he couldn't be bothered to jump it and just stepped over it, or should I say tripped over it. Jasmine got on him (she rides much better than I do) and she found the same. He wouldn't bend at all! When you try to turn him he resists and in Jasmine's words "his neck is like a plank of wood". But, hold a treat beside his shoulder and he bends beautifully.

Gloom and despondency falls. What to do, what to do? I know I have to get him more forward going, but I feel as though I'm constantly nagging him with my legs as it is. I don't want to beat him because I don't think he'd appreciate that!

I think I have to do lots of bending and figure eights to get him to understand the concept of turning when I ask him to. I must have the only Section D that isn't forward going and a bit mad!

Any ideas anyone? All constructive advice gratefully received ...

Riding, jumping (well almost!) and cantering - Video

2008-12-23T18:26:00.001Z

Riding, jumping (well almost!) and cantering

2008-12-23T17:58:00.004Z

The next post is my little video we made the other Sunday when me and my daughter went to the farm on an icy cold morning. We had a mess about in the mud and ice and then went for a canter in the field. How civilised it all was! Looking at the video though, I can see how I need to get Santana working more actively.

Anyone got any tips?!

On Friday we went to Olympia and drooled over the shopping and the showjumpers, but we managed not to spend much money. I bought a Horse & Rider goody bag and inside, amongst other bits and pieces, was a Marine magazine ... what's all that about then? I don't see the connection, being a horsey person I'm not especially interested in the sea! :s

Jumping!

2008-12-09T22:46:00.004Z

I managed to ride Santana on Friday, Sunday and Monday this week, woohoo! On Friday, I was on my own so I went to do some trotting around the circle just to warm up a bit as it was truly freezing. It was very very muddy and nasty so we splashed about all the way round the circle. Then we trotted over the log jump and one of the small xc jumps which Santana wasn't very interested in. In fact he was so unimpressed that he broke it with his back feet :o Oops!

So, I thought, 'you'd like something a little bigger would you?' We headed for the slightly bigger jumps (only about 18" - 2'). I pointed him towards the jump and pushed him into canter and over he popped! Next one, he cantered as soon as we headed towards it and over he went again. By jove, I think he's got it! With this new found skill we went off towards the ditch jump, slid down the muddy bank, over the brush at the bottom and on towards the wooden wall. Brilliant! What a star. They're not big jumps mind, still only 18inches - 2ft, but he's jumping them properly - none of that paddling with the front legs.

On Sunday I rode with Jasmine and Catrin (Catrin being a jumping star) we went off to have another go, but following this time. Oh yes, now he's really starting to enjoy himself! After that we went for a canter in the front fields and then walked around the block to cool off.

On Monday I was on my own again so I just pottered about a bit round the front fields, we went trotting through some nice deep puddles which he didn't mind a bit. That'll be a nice change - a horse that doesn't mind puddles!

Hacking

2008-11-30T17:39:00.009Z

Again, as the weather has been so wet, the ground is soggy and muddy and very slippery we haven't been able to do very much. On Monday me and Santana went into one of the flatter fields and did some large circles. Managed to get a decent canter around the whole circle on both reins. He's much better on the left rein than the right. He's still very heavy in my hands when turning. He'd much prefer to go in a straight line!

Today four of us went out for a hack around the roads because, guess what ... it was raining again! Me on Santana, Angie on Mysti, my daughter Jasmine on Catrin (see pic) and Angie's daughter Holly on Terry, all went out together. We started off with Mysti at the front, the two girls in the middle and Santana at the back. Half way round we swapped over and Santana went at the front. I was very pleased with him - he looked at things a bit but didn't spook or do anything silly. We also undid the gate to the farm when we came back. Soon he'll be opening it by himself! Roll on summer!

How time passes!

2008-11-17T11:30:00.003Z

I hadn't realised how long it has been since my last post. Due to the dark nights I haven't been able to ride Santana as much as I would have liked, I have managed about three times a week, but have had gaps of up to four days in between. This is obviously not good for Santana's training as he goes back a little if there is such a long gap. This last week hasn't been so bad though, and yesterday we even managed to get a little jumping practice in.

First of all we had a little whizz around the block. which was fine. Then we went into the cross country field and had a go at a couple of the smaller jumps. First of all he just trotted over it as if it wasn't there! Not the idea at all. So we followed my daughter on her pony, Catrin, and he managed to lift himself over it, woohoo!

Then we tried one a little bigger which I thought would leave him no choice but to jump. Bless him, he didn't really know what to do but he didn't try to refuse and went over.

That was enough for one day as he is still finding work really tiring. I was so pleased though, he is very honest.

Clocks go Back

2008-10-26T16:59:00.004Z

Another couple of weeks have passed and Santana makes progress all the time. Most of our work is still trotting - large circles, small circles and figures of eight to encourage him to listen to me. We have short bursts of canter when the ground is dry enough for him not to slip. Otherwise we go into the field and have a canter or two along the straight. I've not been working him hard, 20 - 30 minutes at a time is enough. He has a lot of maturing to do so I don't want to make him work too hard at the moment.

Another milestone that we have managed is to canter over the log. He has done a proper jump over it which was lovely. At least I know he can jump. He needs to sort out his legs as he doesn't really know what to do with them at the moment. That will come with practice.

We have been out round the roads a couple of times which has been fine. He doesn't seem to be worried by traffic. We had a scary moment when he spotted something in the nettles beside the farm track and we ended up in the nettles over the other side of the track because I wasn't paying attention. So we went backwards and forwards past the spot several times until he wasn't worried about it any more.

I took his headcollar off in the field today, so he is now naked! I hope he catches next time I go out there!

I must take some more photos.

First Jump!

2008-10-14T23:15:00.003+01:00

Another good week of riding. Santana is making progress and every day he gets a little better.

We reached two milestones today:- One - I managed to get on without anyone holding his head and he just stood and waited. What good manners he has! and two - we did our first jump! Okay, it was only a log on the ground, but it was a jump all the same.

He's still heavy in my hands around the circle, but I'm sure he'll lighten up with time.

I love him to bits! Trouble is, I'm thinking that maybe things shouldn't be going quite so well, maybe something is going to go wrong at some point. But, no, those are just negative thoughts, banish them from my mind. My horse is gorgeous.

2008-10-07T21:43:00.002+01:00

Another week has passed and Santana has been gradually doing a little more each day. He had a day off on Saturday as it is riding club day and there are just not enough hours in the day. Sunday was pouring with rain, but we battled through the elements and had a good forty five minutes of riding. Unfortunately we don't have an indoor school or an all weather surface so it was a tad muddy. We weren't able to canter in the mud as he was slip sliding about just trotting. We did manage a canter along the straight side of the field though.

I am now able to mount using the stirrup and he doesn't bat an eyelid. How laid back is that?!

On Monday we started off on our own for the first time, ie. without a leader to follow. He was a bit perplexed by this and it took him a few circuits of the circle to settle down. But he was fine after a while. Today (Tuesday), he didn't even want to come in from the field. He stopped at the gate and wouldn't budge. It took a bit of persuasion and the assistance of a carrot to encourage him out of the field. He had changed his mind by the time I had tacked up though and was in a better frame of mind. Today he felt much more relaxed and I felt we had made progress.

I feel as though he is very heavy in my hands at the moment. I'm hoping that as his training progresses he will lighten up in front. It's rather like driving a car without power steering. Also, if he's spooked by something he doesn't take any notice of the bit and is very hard to pull up, whereas if we are just walking or trotting along he'll stop in an instant. Again, hopefully this will improve as he understands more.

2008-10-01T20:43:00.002+01:00

So, now we are not on a lead and are going it alone. I am still getting on by having a leg up and someone covering his eye, although he is very accepting of everything and I'm sure when I mount using the stirrup he will be fine.

This week I had my first canter on him. He wasn't sure what to do at first and just trotted very fast for half a circuit before breaking into canter. Boy, he has such a long stride! I can see his front legs thrown out in front of him with each stride. He really covers the ground.

I took him round the circle completely on his own while my daughter took her pony over some jumps. He was quite wary and looking at everything around him but still listened to my voice and continued moving forward. Even when my daughter's pony cantered past he just sidestepped and carried on as before. What a good boy!

2008-10-01T20:32:00.004+01:00

So, we returned to Santana's training in September 2008. This was when I first rode him. He is still on the lunge and learning what is expected of him. He is a little confused at first but, after a couple of weeks, he is getting used to moving forward and listening to voice commands.

We had one minor hiccup when whilst following another pony around the circle he spooked at the pony's tail swishing, lost his footing and slipped over, dumping me on the ground. We were both unhurt and unfazed and remounting, carried on but this time we kept the lead pony at a respectful distance. My first fall from my new horse!

Next stage is to come off the lunge and, being led with a rope, follow a rider on a pony. The lead pony was chosen carefully as Santana had proved not to like being flicked in the face with a tail! Billy was the obvious choice as he is a very experienced and sensible lead pony. We love Billy! Santana seemed to be quite keen on him too and followed along beside him like an old hand.

At this point we had another minor hiccup when a calf, who was in the paddock with his mother as she was being picked on by the rest of the herd, thought it would be a good idea to charge at the young horse to see what mischief he could create. Santana wasn't impressed with the naughty calf and made off at a canter in the other direction, yanking the lead rope out of the hands of Elby, my leader. This could have been potentially disastrous at this stage of his training, but I talked to him and told him to whoa and fortunately, he did. He stood still while Elby came over to us and we carried on, avoiding the mischievous calf!

The next big step is to come off lead altogether and go it alone.

In the Beginning

2008-10-01T20:19:00.005+01:00

I first saw Santana in June 2008. He was looking sorry for himself in his field having recently been turned out after having a stable all to himself for the last couple of months. However, he was not interested in making friends and made off if I came too close. He was 3 years old and was unbroken. Santana is a Welsh Cob (Section D) whose registered name is Ridgehill Ellis. (I couldn't use Ellis as a stable name as it has unfortunate connotations for me!)

In late July, he was brought in and the training began. He learnt about bridles and saddles and he learnt how to lunge. He accepted all these strange new things with good grace. Then the moment of truth - how would he take to a rider.

Surprisingly, he took everything in his stride and a rider was accepted, along with all the other new experiences. Unfortunately, due to circumstances his training was interrupted for the whole of August and it wasn't until mid September that we were able to continue.