A bit of childhood history and a bit about horses

Considering I didn't ride when I was a child and nobody in my family has much to do with horses, I was wondering how and why I ended up hooked.

This could be the answer - found on YouTube. I loved this programme when I was little and it's still one of my favourite ever songs. There's a better clip on YouTube, the actual starting sequence from the show, but I can't work out how to get it from there to here.




Another great TV series for horse-mad girls was Follyfoot. I wasn't into this programme so much but loved the song, I still do.

Trotting on

John and I rode out this morning with another couple of girls from the livery yard and their horses, we were out for around an hour-and-a-half, the longest hack we have done so far. He was tired when we got back to the yard because we did a lot of trotting, more than we have done for ages.

Again, he was brill in all ways. We went a new route and he handled it really well, even though for some reason there were lots of cars around (on a Sunday morning can you believe, why weren't people still in bed?) We met several dogs, joggers and cyclists - the only one he seemed to be wary of was a very large poodle with a quiff.

I lost a stirrup manoeuvring our way through apple boxes stacked up either side of the path at one point - he did take a dislike to them - but he went through at a jog so didn't disgrace himself by taking off with me, and I managed to hook my foot back into the stirrup pretty quickly.

Another great step forward for us I think.

Why the long face?

Ho ho, the old ones are the best. He's actually happy as far as I know, though it was very foggy. He prefers to be out rather than in I'm sure, even if the weather is pants. We didn't ride until the afternoon when the fog had gone and there was brilliant sunshine - but by the time I had de-mudded him the sun had gone in and the light was going. We still rode out - and we did the short block by ourselves! He called most of the way round, joggged some and walked sideways looking towards home, but he still did it. I am so proud of him!

Riding out

He is definitely feeling better today. I rested him again yesterday but decided to ride out this afternoon and see how he coped - he was fine. We were going to go out alone but ended up going out with the new livery and her friend, John and I introducing them to the 'short block', which is about 35 minutes. Imagine, me showing somebody around on a hack!!!! That would have been unheard of just a few months ago.

Anyway, he was a star as always and we enjoyed a relaxing ride through the countryside. I'm so relieved his fall the other day didn't cause any damage. He seemed to have a good time - he always does - he definitely prefers being out and about to being in the school.

Another cold day today...

I'm getting a bit fed up with the weather now, it's so cold it's beyond a joke. I lunged John yesterday afternoon - I thought the school had defrosted enough and the sand seemed quite soft. But he fell and I feel terrible about it. He went down on both front knees.

I have rested him today but he seems out of sorts, he looks a little depressed. I can tell when he's not feeling right - I know my horse well. There doesn't seem to be excess heat in his legs, no more than normal anyway (he often feels warm in his front legs, I think it's his age). I'll keep a careful eye on him over the next few days.

I hope he's better tomorrow...