Paula’s blog – Anything to get out of work!

We were all set to go for our next outing, and were super excited. That was until I heard the dreaded clunk of a loose shoe! I checked it over, praying it wasn’t too loose, but, nope, it was going to need a refit.

This time of year, especially with the odd weather conditions, always seems to affect my horses’ feet. I’ve been putting more hoof ointment on to strengthen them and prevent them drying out, alongside a supplement, but sadly it didn’t help. The shoe was loose on the Wednesday ahead of the show (and was found in the field on Friday morning), and sadly my farrier had no space to squeeze us in beforehand. I was disappointed, but then I had the bright-spark idea of: “Ooh, let’s take Freya for an outing to the nearby riding club instead.”

Well, she has clearly learnt a thing or two from Bob. On the Friday evening we brought them onto the yard, and as I looked down to do her feet something was missing... you guessed it, a shoe! I think she is picking up some bad ideas from Bob! They must plot against me when I’m not at the yard and decide who is getting out of what.

Well, that squashed my outings plan, sadly. I did also get the idea to hire the local offroad ride and take Autumn, but as I had left it so late the slots had all gone (don’t blame anyone as the weather was lovely for it). So that was a bust, but I’m booking it hopefully for next weekend for her, which will be a nice, relaxed outing.

The twosome are now back to having shoes on thanks to an evening visit from the farrier, so will commence work again, and fingers crossed we can get out to the next few shows. I’m trialling Bob without back shoes to see how he copes; he doesn’t seem to need them, and we don’t do much, if any, road work, so it seems worth a go. To be honest, it also helps save some cash. I will see if he is happy, though, and doesn’t get footsore. If he does, he will have them back on, but hopefully he can do the transition as Autumn did.

Freya is due her saddle refit shortly. I need to get that booked in, so we can continue building her up with work. I can see her starting to change shape, which is great, so fingers crossed I can get some lessons booked for her too, so I can start getting her to progress more. Having someone on the ground, especially with a youngster, is so helpful. She has also found her voice, which surprised me yesterday, as it was the first time I’d ever heard her fully neigh. She normally does a deep-throated, camel-like whinny, but I hadn’t heard anything else from her, so it was lovely to hear her properly call yesterday – let’s just hope she’s not like one of my dogs, who now will sit and talk at me and not shut up when she wants something!

As much as I dread to say it, I’m starting to plan for supplies for winter. Hay has been cut and baled all round near me, so all the farmers are now selling it slightly cheaper off the field. I’ve already loaded up with four huge, round bales, despite having some hestons and half a round bale in the barn. Next task is finding the bedding! My birthday is next month – wonder if I can request bags of shavings or pellets as gifts?