Is it spring yet? It’s been teasing us the last few days, going from a few dry days when I could walk across most of the field and it felt like spring, to heavy downpours, including hail, which reverted the field back to a quagmire. I didn’t let it put me off too much, though, and I’ve now managed to get all three horses back into work! Eek!
Autumn is taking it slow with walk work, only starting at about 15 minutes, and we will build it up as she is still struggling with arthritis. We are also planning some hacking with a lady local to us in a couple of weeks, which will be nice.
Bob is doing lunge work, and I hopped aboard as a test one evening to see how he was recovering from his fall. He was great, but I took it easy to start with so not to overdo it. We’ve continued with lunge work to build him up, and I also rode him over the bank holiday where he was very, er, energetic! In trot he was pulling and having a few naps when asked to slow, and I thought: “Oh no, he’s still not right.” So, I had one more attempt at a small trot, in case he was just being a sod. We went over a pole, and he broke into canter, which turned out to be a lovely, balanced, no-rushing canter and felt amazing. We haven’t cantered in over four weeks, so I think he was trying to show me he was ready to get back on it. He’s completely sound now and ready to go. Hurray – let’s get a lesson booked!
Freya’s been progressing well, a little light riding ahead of the saddle fit so she remembers what it’s like having me aboard, but mainly lunging and long lining. I will admit that my long line skills are rusty but, apart from on the first attempt getting completely tangled up in them, we managed to do a good few sessions and I can see they are helping her. It is such a useful training exercise, and I added a couple of poles to steer round and over to mix it up a bit.
She has started to properly gain weight, especially now the worms have been cleared from her system and she’s on new feed. She’s also getting more adventurous with food, now liking swede and parsnips, as well as carrots. Her new trick is to call to me from the stable for her feed, and then once that is finished, she calls again to let me know she wants her feed ball filling – I have literally created a monster! She is very good with using a feed ball now, although somehow has managed to crush part of it. Bob’s had his feed ball for 11 years and, with his size and clumsiness, I expected it to be destroyed in a week, but it’s still going strong; Freya’s, however, lasted two weeks! She’s also in the doghouse with my partner, as she has itched on the side of her stable and managed to push part of the wood out, so he’s now got a job at the weekend to reinforce the stable side – oopsie!
Let’s hope spring arrives soon, so we can all get out and about, as so many shows near me have been cancelled due to ground conditions. Once Freya has her saddle fitted next week, I will be sorting a plan for getting her out to arena hires and hopefully some local shows for exposure/experience, as well as getting the other two out too – exciting times ahead for the trio, I am hoping.
Once again I threw Arlo in at the deep end, affiliating him purely for the Arena UK second round show, and once again he pulled it out the bag. How lucky am I to have such a wonderful little horse? We haven’t really competed this year. I don’t really compete over the winter, and also my horsebox was away for repairs up until the beginning of June, so I had no transport even if I’d wanted to.
With the dry ground we don’t seem to be having much luck with shoes, as little madam managed to pull both her front shoes off within 12 hours the other day! We entered the arena with two shoes on for a schooling session and left it with one missing (took about an hour to find it). Then that afternoon, as I went to put some hoof ointment on, I looked down and had to double take, thinking I was looking at the wrong hoof. But, no, the other shoe was missing too.
After having a long wait and some lunch at the onsite café, it was time to get ready for the Joan Wolfe Overall Supreme Shetland Pony Championship. I got changed out of my usual showing outfit into black trousers and a maroon top with white spots, as you are expected to be a bit more “bling” in the evening.
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.