Whats been happening

It's awful to have left it this long! Poor lonely bloggy. My life is somewhat manic though and I get home and sit in a waking coma until I trudge to bed. I have now have 5 polo ponies I'm working on top of my working pupil work and occasional milkings so downtime is a little thin on the ground. Anyway the next show after Foxton was Labour Weekend Showjumping. On Butch I totally mastered the 1.10m classes and had two clear rounds but I rattled him in the amateur and after an awkward jump coming down a line he had a Butch moment and shot left and jacked up which is what he does when he can't cope.  The next day he jumped another 1.10m and he jumped another clear round though I could feel his jack left desire especially as the brown to the green combination line still existed but he stayed honest. The final day he had lost a shoe and I didn't start him.

Conni had two rail in the 1.20m on the first day. She came out in the pro-am which is 1.20m-1.30m and I had such a miss to the triple bar and I thought she was lame so I went to retire. Then the judges told me she looked fine so I carried on and she didn't have any rails, the only rail was where I missed her at the triple bar. The next day she came out in the 1.25m and she wouldn't jump her combinations. It's my fault thouh because I'm throwing my contact away in the combinations and also her courage. I am really struggling being off of my depression meds with the anxiety that shows cause and it is affecting m riding. I can feel myself partway around a round switching mentally out of the moment and as soon as I do I make a mistake.

I'm definitely also struggling with the switch from Butch to Connie. Connie rides like a little fat pony you need to keep humming a long and on Butch you basically need to not move at all. Don't put your leg on except at the base of the fences and one he gets flustered forget about it.


At the Wairarapa A & P the next weekend Butch had a rail in the 1.10m class and like four rails in the 1.20m class but he jumped well, just didn't adjust to the change in height until he was at the fourth fence. The next day they started the Amateur 30 minutes before the prescribed start time and it was a mad flap trying to get him ready and when I'm flustered forget about it. Butch was pure goat, went through the top rail of about three fences and was a jackin up shooting left llama beast. So I retired him. Late entered the 1.10m class and had a time fault in the jump-off. When we are in ring 2 we are great when we are in ring 1 it's going to pieces but at least here I figured out I need to sit on him really chilly and be completely unemotional about it or I rattle him. I also need to get him a good quality calmer when I get some money. The last day he had a rail i the jump-off of the 1.15 Championship class so that was petty cool.

Connie was double clear in her first 1.20m though I had to really work for it, te next day she had a rail in the jump-off of her 1.20m class and she bopped around happily as. The last day was the pro-am class again and I had stops in both combinations and it was a realy weird round because I would feel like my spot was there and then at the fence I would be half a stride out which was super awkward. When I came out of my round my trainer was like those aren't the spurs you use on her and I was wearing the little spurs I used on a clients horse earlier. Connie being a put put pony goes in roller spurs so that identified my lack of ride but rattled me.

Mentally I'm really struggling to ride up at the 1.25m class and it's only 5 cm so it's silly but I'm so much happier at the 1.20m height. Thats my happy place but  want to jump bigger than this!

Central Hawkes Bay A and P show Connie came out in the 1.25m class first up and it was quite rideable. I got her to the last combination and there we got the big E. It was a tough round though. Not a good feeling at all. She jumped the 1.10m class that afternoon and then again the next day and I think she had a rail in one and a rail in the jump-off of the other but she was so happy bopping around that height. I'm very seriously considering selling her to a teenager or someone who wants to jump amateurs and not more than 1.20m. She is so safe and reliable but realistically not a showjumpery type, which is what I need to be riding if I want to jump bigger tracks.

Butch had a rail in the 1.15m class but jumped super and then in the Amateur got rattled down the treble combination and had 3 rails. It's so so frustrating you have no idea. My Boss hurt her back so I got to ride the beautiful Erl Grey in the 1.10m class to give him a canter around and he had a rail but it was so fun to be riding the big powerhouse holsteiner type and it was nice because I didn't make any mistakes.

So thats where we are at I guess. I want to get Connie back happy at the 1.20m height again and I need to get Butch jumping the 1.20m heights but in a relaxed way. We having been doing much with my boss hurt so thas been a lot of hard work for me. It's all good though thats why I'm here right. I'm tired, I'm so tired my bones even hurt.  

post coming

There is a post to come, but I really can't order everything right now. Trying to balance fun/ambition/performance/anxiety. It's not going that well.

Back boots and Central Districts 2*

 

So in the picture above you can see that Connie can cramp a little behind over her fences which isn't desirable in a jumper. Generally you want them to open up behind and almost extend the back legs. Butch has a super back end.

 

Exhibit A- Though looking at this I'm not sure if this normal for him or more extreme, but then looking at his boots it probably has to do with them. Those boots being so long enourage action behind and because he is already naturally very free behins over a fence it taked very little to encourage him. I ride him in bandages or boots behind that don't encourage any action because when my less smooth riding when I started riding him, I wanted to do everything to encourage him to jump up and round in front and wasn't so worried about the back end. Even now he takes rails in front and not behind. He has to have good coverage behind because he stands all over and kicks himself. Being smart and all that :/

 

 

 

That being said Connie does sometimes have a good back end, it's definitely gotten worse probably due to me killing the back end by sitting up too soon. I never really worried too much because you can always put on boots that encourage the right action and effectively train the trail. So last week I had a bit of a session with some various types of boots on Connie. I tried weight boots first. You are allowed to use a weight boot up to 1.5kgs and sometimes the weight just encourges them to try harder behind.

 

That made absolutely no difference at all to her so I then went to the big guns in legal boots and tried the Dodas. The dodas are very thick and a bit inflexible and had a ridge running down both sides on the inside. They work because when the horse goes to cramp up the boots grab and ecourage them to let loose behind. These boots work on everything, but not Connie. Her canter got angrier and she wasn't  happy bean but behind she did absolutely nothing different. Maybe I  should have tried over a bigger fence but if it doesn't work it doesn't and if it upsets her already ordinary canter then its not worth it.

 



Connie was first up at Central Districts in the 1.20m class because I missed my 1.10m class on Butch. Occupational hazard when you are grooming and busy in other rings. The wind was enough that I couldn't hear what was happening over the loud speaker. Anyway, Connie was a Boss and rocked around a technical course clear and relatively quick for second place. Lots of nose kisses for her. On the Sunday we had our first ring 1 start for the season in the 1.20m championship. Once again she was super as you can see below and popped over the water like a treat.



In the jump-off she was going really really well and then me the dumbass stuffed it all up. I was coming down to the last, a big old oxer and just never saw the distance and I think I just kept putting the hand brake on more so I never created a distance either so we sort of petered out to a stop. Soo dumb because she went round and cleared it easy. Dumb ass. Still she was a star and I love her.

With Butch I jumped the 1m class after missing the 1.10m class and it's really a lot too small. He jumped really nicely for a rail in the jump-off. In my Amateur the next day I just destroyed the canter and buried him for a rail and then had a circle to recenter myself and he jumped awesome though I had another rail. My boss thinks the circling is a subconscious sobatage so then I can just ride and not worry about the result which maybe true. She promises me to humiliate me somehow if I do it again. So mean! but probaby a bit necessary.

Sometimes with Butch I feel like I plug into him and it's super easy and smooth and relaxed and other times we just sort of are on a disconnect and I struggle with my eye and get too hard in my hands and high in my elbows. His last class was the 1.10m speed class and he cantered around awesome and I was really happy with him because he was super relaxed. He was a tool at the show fell head over heels in love with Connie and ended up yarded by himself far away and he was much nicer the next day.

RDA Gymkhana

This weekend the only ESNZ show was far far away in Te Teko so we hit a local Gymkhana instead. It's always fun to get the babies out and have a cruisey day. Well sort of cruisey. Poor Anna was in the saddle from 9am to 1.30pm without a break, and I was shuttling horses nonstop to the ring. I only took Butch because Connie isn't allowed to jump that small any more.

Photos are all credit to Belinda Pratt photography. Finally some pictures of Butch where he looks nice. Until now I have been pretty ho hum about his jumping pictures. He just looks so good at the moment, he is in full bloom and he is just so much happier this year. So the aim was to get a time fault to make sure I went slow enough, he likes to go slow. I would like to point out he does work round in his flatwork but when we are jumping i let him travel in the frame he is comfortable in, even if it isn't the prettiest. It keeps him happy.

Anyway he just did the 1.10m class and he was super. Such a good pony. Stayed nice and relaxed and I only had my one time fault. So stoked with him because I was so nervous.

Incredible back end for an OTTB.

Video of the round.

Why don't I share my stories more when I'm spending so much time riding and my blog is about horses.

My phone is clearly giving up the ghost because I swear the world isn't that blue tone. Hacking with Connie and Butch. Ponying is the best for double the exercise in half the time. Also Butch leads really well until some foals chased alongside the fence and the great blouse went to pieces. He is such a loser when he gets excited he doesn't snort like other horses he actually does this huge groan like he is constipated. It is both hilarious and bad for my riding because the laughing makes me weak.

He looks really well he is almost fat. For the first time since I brought him in January his ribs are covered. After having the winter off in eketahuna which is cold and wet, he has come back a new horse. He is hungry all the time which is great because he used to be a bit of a picky eater but he is always eating now which is so good in a hard keeper. Connie is also a good eater but she always has been the little fathead. It's so hard to keep her energy levels balanced with her weight because she needs to feel amazing to jump really well, but at the same time I need to keep her trim for her legs because she has a club foot and is slightly behind at the knee. Still she has a snail like metabolism and can put weight on in an instant but is so slow to lose it. Also Butc now likes cuddles which is nice because he has been so standoffish but we are starting to develop a really understanding which is very cool.

I flat him is spus because he always wants to travel bent slightly to the right which is why we struggle on left turns. It used to be in a course of jumps my ability to turn left would get worse and worse as we went. He turns better off of the outside leg really but because the crookedness and left turn fail is apparent in his flatwork I can work on it on the flat and the spur helps me keep his body straight/ bent left or right as required. He can do it and he feels beautiful, but in needing to keep him really quiet to the fences I leave the spurs in the tack box. He doesn't stop unless I make a complete mare of it and when I get him to the fence both softly and at a speed that feels as slow as going backwards he actually jumps in a round shape which is both amazing and so odd for him. It's lovely though when he is that soft to ride. Of course it's funny he jumps round when he travels so inverted and hollow between the fences. But it's Butch who is mentally a delicate flower so we compromise on many things. Mostly the compromise is in his favour!

Local Gymkhana this weekend so Connie isn't getting a start. She doesn't need to do small stuff anymore. I have decided that she wont enter anything smaller than 1.20m unless she needs the confidence because she doesn't jump well over small stuff and I need to be brave and suck it up and stop being a pussy. She cruises around the 1.20ms so it's no big deal really. Only to me. And I can do it. I'm capable!

Feilding IA and P Assn 1* Show.

So we only went over for the one day at this show to save money and because there were a bunch of jobs that had to be done on Saturday like moving the colts. So my first class was the 1.10m championsip on Butch and he was so amazing. I had a lesson on Friday the primary theme being, sit on him quiet, keep him insanely slow and get him there relaxed. Normally he is terrible from a deep distance but if I get there slow he is better and he actually jumps in a round shape. This round was definitely the slowest I have ever jumped him. It feels like I could get off and out walk his canter it's probably the right canter. He is so much stronger and better able to hold his canter now he isn't falling behind the leg the same. It would be the first time ever that he finished his round basically as quietly as he started and he stayed so soft.

Cpnnie did not rear or buck in the warm up of the amateur (1.10m-1.20) Though only the first fence was really 1.10m it was big for an amateur. She was a little bit naughty backing off of the the wall and then I hit her at the next fence and put her through the rail but after she had backed off I had to ride a little aggressively to make sure it was a one off. The rail in the double she didn't need to take. So here is connie. She wont blow your mind because she is just a bare minimum sort of a girl but I was still happy with her.  It was nice to actually get into the ring on her and they both jumped well enough.

Sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug

Pukahu show. Debacle. Normally I have an okay show here but not this weekend. I wanted it to go well to much probably and should have been more chilled. I don't know I put so much pressure on myself but ultimately who really cares. I'm only riding against myself at the end of the day. Anyways, On the Thursday night before the show good old Butch kicked through the fence and hurt himself. I took him to the show anyway because he only really had some bark off, but being in a yard the swelling increased even when I did hack him so he didn't start all weekend. I really thought the orange bandage would blend right in to his coat but it didn't!

In Connies first class she hit the warm up and bucked and reared so much I went back to lunge her. I don't mind the bucking so much but the continuous rearing scares me. The only times I have really falling off her have been from her rearing and falling. Anyway the class was closed before I could get there. Cue 30 minutes of lunging until she went from zoomies to cantering and then another 20 mins of riding and I had my horse back. I jumped her in Butchs place in the 1.10m class and had a cheap rail though I could have been straighter and a circle before the double but I don't feel I rode as well as I could thouh I was still really really mad at her. She looks awesome though her condition is fantastic. No wonder she is feeling so well. 

On the Sunday she came out and had a slightly puffy fetlock and was lame. Boo and hiss my friends so she didn't start on the Sunday and I got to watch both my horses sit in their yards all day. Thankfully my bosses horses went well enough that there was plenty to be cheerful about. Also both Butch and Connie look a lot better today with no swelling. Thank goodness for small mercies. 

Countdown

So the show season is only 10 days away from the first ESNZ show. Ii still have yet to register Connie and myself but at least it is in the works now. I have been searching the couch and behind my car seat and have finally put the money together for Equestrian sports NZ to say I'm allowed to compete. Wonderful. I'd love to see some more of my registration money filter back down to the grass roots of the sport. Head office will tell you it does but that's not really true. And i only ever gets more expensive.

I haven't had internet for over a week but plenty of things have been going on. We had the last of the Winter shows. I rode a clients horse for a clear in the 90cm and second in the 1m speed class on the first day and then 1 rail in the 95cm class and the 1.05m classes respectively. Very cute funny little horse who is very generous and tries really hard despite being a little bit spoilt and slightly unorthodox.

Butch was superb in the 1.10m for 1 rider rail but stayed soft and round which he struggles to do indoos where he is a little fried. Connie had a rail in the jump off. In the warm up of the 1.15m I cased down a stupid distance and nearly killed connie and myself. Thankfully, clever pony is clever and kept her feet on the ground which is more than I deserved. The stupidest ride to the biggest miss of m life. I'm still a little rattled. Still 1 rider rail in the 1.15m but Connie hated the surface outdoors. (All my rails were rider rails bar Butch the next day) On the Sunday in the 1.15m butch warmed up super and then got int the ring and had about 7 rails. Not from particularily bad distances or anything. I would/do struggle to understand what happened from one round t the next. It was very much a case of two different horses from one day to the next. I might have been slightly tenser in my body, but no major difference. It's odd. It's horse. It's especially Butch, that being said they are so incredibly different to ride which Butch requiring a lot of tact and support while Connie just chugs around.. Connie had 1 rail in the 1.20m class which was awesome because I was so nervous and it was a reasonable sized tracks with a few big oxers and it always looks bigger indoors. I always worry that the jumps are too big for little Connie but she has jumped so many 1.20m tracks now I need to suck it up.

I find mentally in my head i get bogged down in thoughts that I'm not good enough to be jumping the heights I jump, which is ludicrous because I am jumping them. I just worry I look like a pig in a hen house, that I'm not as good as the other riders. Also ludicrous because I'm a competent enough rider and I should focus on my own stuff and forget everyone else anyway. I know in my head it doesn't matter if you don't have all the gear and the uber fancy horse, but I still find it intimidating. Never mind.

Last weekend I did a ctr endurance fun ride over 10km with a clients kid because she is only 10 and needed an adult to accompany her. It was a bit of a hard case. Beautiful sunny day for a quiet ride across other peoples farmland on my favourite pony. There is quite a lot involved but basically the winner is the person closest to the time with the lowest heart rate on arrival + heart rate at vet check within 30 minutes. We did awesome for time being only 2 minutes over but a miscalculation on my part had us hustling home and while her pony coped ok with it, Connies heart rate was quite high once we got in. She is a typical airy farty leg flaily andalusian mover, not at all economical so I don't hold it against her . Still fourth out of six, I just wish I had worked out the time properly in the first place! The kid I rode out with was second so that's really cool and we had a great gallop across a paddock. So that's off the bucket list now and I never have to do an endurance ride again. Actually I probably would do it again but I think it would benefit from more jumps!

Currently Connie has a nick on her leg that looks like it may be infected because it's swollen and Butch has a bit of thrush in one foot her is being a baby about so preparation for the first show is going perfectly! Horses. Still they should both be fine fingers crossed. Hoping to get away for a few days next week to the beach and have some fun with the ponies.

  

Chris Chugg Clinic

There is always a little bit of anxiety when you clinic with someone new. You never know quite what they are going to be like. Thats why I always put Connie up for new clinicians because our partnership runs pretty deep and she is a lovely pony. This time it was Chris Chugg a top Australian Showjumper. Yea we are going international! I did investigate on the internet to find out what the general consensus was about him and i found he was tough but fair and made people cry. Awesome. That's good considered after three years I have only just come off my anti-depressant drugs. Here comes the weepy train! For added excitement I was in a group with 2 grand prix riders and a 1.30m rider. Add to that the fact the weather was so awful but only mostly when my group was riding :/.

Of course I give neither myself or my horse enough credit. Connie was a super star and jumped everything in front of her. The main things I need to focus on are keeping my hands together and my reins organized and short (Guess who got a knot in her reins! On both days) Chris was very very good. He missed nothing and so you had to be so tidy.As long as you listened and did as you told he was very very nice. He said I had a nice feel (Yesss!) that Connie had a good rhythm and canter. Because Chris had turned out to be so good I rode Butch the second day in the same group. Butch can be a bit of a delicate flower and throw his toys when expected to do the same exercise to many times off of the left rein so I'm careful about whom I train him with.

Anyway it was much the same. I find it a bit harder on Butch to find my distances because he is more adjustable and i just don't know him like I know Connie, but that will come. Certainly since riding full time I'm a quieter, more effective and accurate rider. Apparently, Chris said I was an ok rider. Swoon! It was awesome just to hold my own in the company I was in. I had a few errors. With Butch I can't turn him up to a fence like I can with Connie because his brain is slower so on my roll backs I have to give him more room to sight up the fence. And I just have to trust my eye more and keep the faith and keep counting my strides. Like Chris said with our group we could all ride it was just putting the finesse on. It was all basic stuff but the more I learn the more I learn it's all about the basics. Go straight to the fence, land straight, keep your hands together maintain a good canter and LOOK where you are going.

First show tomorrow with Connie and Butch so lets hope the clinic has helped! I think I will leave the knot in my reins lol. The knot made a huge difference in helping keep the horses straight through the turns and just in keeping me organised. I'm not as bad on Connie but with Butch who is quicker and more extravagant I have a lot of trouble keeping him organised.
Anyway, snippets of Butch

XC schooling video.

I'm so sorry , not much has been happening but we have Chris Chugg coming to this weekend from Australia to hold a clinic. I hear he is tough but fair so safe to say I'm shitting myself. I'm such a sensitive little flower. So easily reduced to a quivering mess of nerves. I am for the first time in like 3 years off of my antidepressants and I'm holding steady. A bit more emotional but still chipper and doing well. I have been running and have lost a lot of the weight I piled on last year so that's good. The weekend after that we have the last of the winter shows at Manfeild and I have 3 or 4 horses to ride depending on owners and things.

Anyway her are some clips from the first of the XC schoolings we have done this winter. The pictures of Butch were from the second one, so this other one would be over a month old. Which is interesting because I can see I have definitely lost weight since then so yay for me. Body protectors are so uncomfortable! I had forgotten but was quickly reminded! I think we did a few fences around 1.05m and Connie loved it. She got bolder as she went and isn't her dishy andalusian movement so adorable! She is such a good little horse. Not orthodox or super talented and a little bit spoilt and so hard to get slim but she just tries so hard for me. I'm so happy she is currently feeling sound and good, though still too fat. She is like a small pony to keep the weight off.

This is all the more impressive because beyond a small hickstead day 4 years ago and the derby I jumped at Taupo last December the pony has never jumped any XC fences. Love her.

Horses man :( :)

We have been really nice to our horses lately. They have gotten to go on lots of adventure rides. Last week we took a truckload out to a huge hill farm for hillwork and yesterday we took  truckload over the hill for cross country training. The hill work was mostly to tone up some fatties and put some fitness and go forward on some lazier versions. Connie naturally being a fatty needed the hill work! She was the slowest horse up the hill all day. I swear the hill was probably eroding down to her faster than she was climbing up it. That being said she has spent the last five months on a hill.

Now as a recap Connie was turned out for being lame. We never knew 100% what it was but she nerve blocked in her foot and was sound, and she had some balance issues with her shoeing. She does have a somewhat club foot that isn't easy to keep balanced. A course of Bute and two weeks off and she should have been sweet however the low grade niggly offness lingered. She would be less than a 1 out of 5. so i just turned her away until July, knowing that most likely it would be something that needed time. Also her x-rays were beautiful and her joints pristine. Roll on July and she has been feeling fantastic. However, after the hill ride it was back. Massive sad face. Huge massive sad face. That being said she was ready to be pushed a bit more, I have to know if she will hold up. Anyway at this point in time I will see what she looks like tomorrow and go from there. I am thinking perhaps of putting her in foal. Now while you all recoil in horror because she has a slightly clubby foot I would like to point out that if I knew then what I knew now it would have been a lot better and I would have gotten on top of it earlier and she is a proven jumper whom is otherwise a stunning horse and has a neat nature.

Yesterday was the bomb. I rode Willis and Butch. Cross country is very very scary. Willis was a good boy just very very green which he is, having never jumped any cross country fences ever before in his life. He got quite bold by the end but then he went past that and got over tired and adrenaline brained. Babies. They are such babies. So he had a paddle in the water jump and dropped off the bank into it and was in general a very good boy. He hesitated at the ditch in the coffin so hard that I saw spit fly out of my mouth but I didn't fall and he still went which is pretty much the goal! Horse stayed between me and the ground at all times.

Butch. Now Butch was a boss. He loves it! He jumped everything, never faltered, even jumped some pretty big fences and every time we pulled up he would flap his lips with happiness. Ditches, water, palisades, ski jumps, coffins, nothing was an issue. He was just the most fun. And then after like 4 hours of riding I was exhausted. Some pictures!

I love this last one! Anyone of the whole day these are the only pictures of Butch despite a million photographers being there. Just my luck. 

Full photo credit to Ella Bussell- Gallery here 

Here is Willis looking oh so cute. You can see how in the second picture he is has a full stress sweat going. That was one of the last fences he jumped before going for a play in the water jump and then walking home.

So much riding.

It has to be the warmest July on record. It's supposed to be the depths of winter and we are having such long sunny days, it's unreal and a little unnerving. The arena is being absolutely thrashed now that it's in and both Connie and Butch are here with me and coming into work. Connie is hella fat and I'm working on it but she is like me, quick to get fat and oh so slow to lose it.

Butch is the other way a little lean and mean but feeling strong and well in his body. Actually both of them feel good and strong under saddle even if Butch is much uglier than I had remembered. Though to be fair he certainly is a lot better now once he has been clipped. Not the easiest horse to clip because every time the clippers touched him he would jump and he had to be twitched to do his head and neck but he looks so much better now the rank coat is gone and his clipped coat has an amazing copper sheen. i have added copra and oil to his diet so I'm hoping he will pick up. I wish I could fix his back and make it like he was a 7yo again but it's so swayed now from poor saddle fit and unbalanced saddles. Even when you do tummy stretches he can't lift it that high. Still like I say under saddle he feels the best he has since I bought him.

Anyway we had a client come to try a horse and she spent a few days with us and took lots of photos. So I will share them with you now and you can see my ponies in all their glory. Yes I do ride in track pants it's because they are cheap and breeches aren't and then when I put my breeches on i have so much grip. If you can sitting trot in track pants you are secure lol.

Look who is back

There is just something about life through that set of ears, it always brings a smile to my face to have her back again. Connie is back in training and it's like sliding on an adorable pair of faded comfy old slippers. They may not be the most talented or flashy but they are a dream for your feet. She is my slippers with all her beautiful buttons. Shoulder ins, leg yields, demi-pirouettes, every part of her body mostly under my control. 

It's an amazing thing. Though I had a shock the first time I rode her because after the holstiners I have been riding, and the nippier tbs, and Butch who goes very like a gangly warmblood, she felt like a little fat pony. And she is seriously fat. I'm going to actually have to train her like I'm planning to field hunt her to get the weight off of her. 

Still she is a very good 1.20m horse and there is no shame in that. She has won me quite a bit of prize money now and she really owes me nothing in terms of what she has done for my confidence and I just love her. She is my best horsey mate. Sometimes we upset each other with niggly behaviou e.g. pawing and breaking things to get to food, but she has always been good to me. Rode her in a bitless cross over bridle today and she was ok in. Much the same as in the rubber snaffle though perhaps a little quicker to stop, but worse to turn.

A couple more pictures of Willis. I'm not sure how he got the name Willis, he came with it, but he was free and he is actually a very very cool horse and the person who gave him away should be kicking herself for not persevering with him. When he arrived he was dead in the eye and now he is starting to get a personality and sparkle. He is very brave and not very spooky and very laid back about everything. a little dull to the leg but we are working on it. He is jut a very nice, very basic sort of a horse, though his jump is very cute. He used to buck a little at the canter (not well) but now his back is stronger he has completely stopped it. He does pull to the right over jumps but he is still very very green.

Full photo credit to Belinda Pratt Photography

Manfield Winter Show

So we had a show yesterday. My boss won two classes, and everything else jumped well and her 5yo is shaping up into one of the nicest horses ever. He is just a dream. All the raw talent you would ever want with a big kind sensible brain. I just want to hug his wheelbarrow head all day.

I got to compete as well on a 4yo OTTB called Willis whom has been handed around a little bit but he is a very cool dude. Very sensible just quite green.
https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=683817378298259&notif_t=video_wall_create

That should be a video of him in the 70cm when we had about a billion time faults. In the 80cm we didn't have as good a ride, I needed to let him canter more and trust him and keep him straight so we had two rails, but really it was his third show and my first show on him and we both survived so thats a win isn't it?

 Now the arena is in I can start putting more work into him and get him a little more schooled. 

9 Weeks

First proper show of the season is in nine weeks! Who is excited!! I'm not. Haha kidding I'm so excited. Picked up Connie this morning and she has come through the winter butter fat. She looks like a seal so sleek and shiny and no ribs whatsoever. She is so miffed to be on a diet.

I'm not doing a lot of three horses I ride day to day and they are all lovely. Especially Erl Grey because he is so smooth and well schooled so I do all my no stirrups work on him. Got to get some strong thighs before the season starts. Especially if i'll be riding some babies and I don't like falling off. I have spent so much time out of the saddle while we set up the new place I feel like I'm green and weak again. Bad habits sneak in so fast! Thumbs on top and following elbows! Be soft to create a soft horse, use your leg not your hand and circles are a girls best friend.

I jump the young horse I work tomorrow and he is pretty green so it should be interesting because the new jumps we have made are scary! I'll have to be very brave especially because the little bugger bucks.  Not psarticularily well but with my current lack of fitness and feeling a little down on my ability I need to be careful.

Still it's july it should be cold and horrible and I have had two lovely days of riding in a t-shirt and sunshine. So excited to have my mate back into work. Yay Connie.

NOT HORSE RELATED- Laser Eye Surgery

Ok so I had a couple of people ask about the laser surgery. I had the LASIK procedure or the flap and zap. I know I also have a little issue that most people don't have in that I have dry eyes because of the SSRI's for my headcaseness so I had to be more careful to keep my eyes lubricated.

Right ok basically had a few appointments and then I went in for the procedure. Basically you lay on a bed and you go under one laser that sucks onto your eye and creates the flap and then you roll around to the next laser that reshapes your lens and then they stick the flap back down and away you go. Well not quite. I do remember at one point being like shit I can't do this but I was always halfway through so I just lay there. You sort have to just go with it.

It truly was pretty unpleasant, I wont lie. Sort like the dentist but with your eyeballs. Yes you can smell your eyes burning but its just like a whiff of burnt hair, it's not that offensive. Your eyes are completely numb the whole time, you can feel some tugging but it never hurt or was uncomfortable. Just have to keep taking deep breaths and you are away.

Then afterwards your eyes hurt and my eyes streamed constantly on the trip home and my eyes closed themselves and then I had a sleep and when I woke up, they hardly hurt and they never really hurt again. It takes 9 hours for the first layer of cells to join up so after that time they feel a lot better. I did have to tape eye covers to my face every night for a week so I wouldn't rub my eyes in my sleep and I wasn't allowed to rub them for a month or something and when my time was up I was like yea rub rub. Soo good. And you have to use eye drops all the time but thats no big deal. I know my surgery was a lot milder than the version when they scrape a layer off your eye, rather than cut the flap so if you can get the flap and zap.

You really just have to hold still and let them do their thing, it is a bit scary because it's different but it was better than the last time I got a filling, or had surgery. And the outcome! It's amazing, my vision is beyond 20/20 I wear sunglasses all the time, I never get dust under my contacts or fog up my glasses. It's the best money I ever spent getting my eyes fixed. It was expensive but it's for life until I start needing reading glasses as an old person. It was more than worth it to have normal sight. I would do it again in a heart beat because its the best thing ever. And it's not like I have a very high tolerance for pain, I'm basically a sook. I know it comes with some risk, but I would recommend it highly to anyone.

Liebster award

It's always an honor to recognised by other bloggers. I can hardly remember why I started doing this, it was such a long time ago and I was quite gutted when my first blog wa sinfected with malware after 3 years and was destroyed by Google. This one is pretty old now as well though because this one started with the arrival of Kate and I must have had her for 3 years. Anyway it was extremely gratifying to be awarded the Liebster award by four different bloggers. I have decided to answer the questions from the first two awarders but I was also like to thank Danger Bunny and Hawk.

HOW TO ACCEPT THE AWARD: The Liebster Blog Award is a way to recognize blogs who have less than 200 followers.  Liebster is a German word that means beloved and valued.  Here are the rules for accepting the award:

   1. Thank the person who nominated you and include a link back to their blog.
   2. List 11 random facts about yourself.
   3. Answer the 11 questions given to you.
   4. Create 11 questions for the bloggers you nominate.
   5. Choose 11 bloggers with 200 or fewer followers to nominate and include links to their blogs.
   6. Go to each blogger's page and let them know you have nominated them.

Eleven facts about me

1. I used to be really shortsighted and wore glasses until I had laser surgery which was terrifying but oh so worth it. It's incredible to just be able to see!

2. I continually struggle with my weight. It's a constant battle since I was 16 to not turn into a fatty.

3. 2 is caused mostly by my utter love of sugar and gluttony.

4. I am nearly always afraid I'm not good enough to jump as high as I do and this stops me progressing.

5. My Nana is going to teach me to knit even though my Mum has failed at this at least five times.

6. I have no idea what I am going to do with my life and career.

7. I have the most amazing boyfriend, whom I probably don't deserve but I'm not complaining!

8. Nearly all my horses have been brown or bay (9 at this stage)and plain- not much in the way of white markings- Butch is my first ever chestnut.

9. I badly want a sport type pintaloosa or a jumping mule.

10. I have a BSC in Animal Science and Physiology with a first class Honours.

11. Working with the horses has been my favourite job ever, even though I am so deathly poor. Thank God milking starts soon and I can get some relief work.


Thanks to Carrot Top here are her questions
Eleven questions from me
1. What's the last book you read cover-to-cover?
I just finished a book called Wool by Hugh Howey and it was AMAZING. Incredibly gripping and a little horrifying. I read compulsively!
2. Have you ever broken a bone, and if so how?
Oh dear- Elbow, wrist, ankle, wrist, nose and all the bones in the back of my hand. I really am a shocking rider in terms of accidents and injuries. 

3. If you could chose any super-power, what would it be?
Self-belief without arrogance
4. What would you change about the horse world that doesn't have to do with animal abuse or money?
because those are the two major drivers of bad things in the industry but I guess I would like to see people have to qualify to upgrade in Showjumping for everyones safety and enjoyment.
5. What are those 'Baby on Board' signs for cars really for? Nobody have ever been able to give me a satisfying answer.
To prove that people with children think other people care they have children.
6. What are your 3 favourite words?
Currently (I'm fickle) Totes, ludicrous and voluptuous.
7. What's the most 'out there' thing you believe in?
That a poor, ordinary, limited support type girl of 28 can jump a grand prix in the next two years despite fancy horse power.
8. Describe the last time you laughed out loud.
Watched The Hangover II today and I laughed out loud many times.
9. Mares, geldings or stallions?
I have only ridden a couple of stallions and they are certainly something else to ride, but my love goes to mares. Tough little fickle emotional fighters. I'd take a mare nearly everytime.
10. Who would you most like to go on a trail ride with?
My little sister. I miss riding with her so much
11. What's the most ridiculous thing you've bought for riding or horses?
 expensive stirrups with an angled foot pad I now despise because they don't grip well, or Ear bonnets my horses don't need but I like because they look cool.




And also toAmberRose who asked these questions

11 Questions that I made up for you :)
1) Do you have a camera?
No
2) If so what make and model?
N/A
3) When did you first start riding?
Always ridden, my Mum rode and I used to hassle her for rides and I got my own pony when I was two.
4) Have you always loved horses and had them in your life, or is it something that you started later in life?
Always, always, always. Mum says I have horse shit on the brain. That being said I don't know if I would ride if I didn't compete because I really hate trekking with such a passion.
5) What's your favourite colour for your horse?
I only use brown gear and I love classic not flash, so I tend to accessorize in black or white.
6) When you were little what were your equestrian dreams?
Go to the Olympics
7) Other than riding what do you spend your spare time doing?
I love to read, soon knitting haha, currently exercising a lot trying to get rid of my fat ass before Spring, hanging with the family and friends, the boyfriend or the dog.
8) What is your favourite job to do at the stables/yard/barn?
I love feeding because I like how the horses are so delighted to see me even if it is only because I'm the lunch lady.
9) What is your least favourite job to do at the stables/yard/barn?
Mucking out or clipping/ It's a toss up.
10) Which famous horse and rider team inspire you the most?
I don't know why this is such a hard question to answer! I love Cumano but not so much Jos Lansink..Probably Ben Maher and Tripple X blow my mind at the moment.
11) If you could meet any famous horse dead or alive, real life or from a story who would it be?
I'd really love a ride on Cumano, I love those big powerhouse types which is completely not what I own but there you are.


Ok I'll try to find 11 bloggers but no promises.

Nuzzling Muzzles
(Re) Training as an Adult Event Rider
The jumping Percheron
Dairy of a young horse
Eventing akhal tekes
Stuff that Perf does

I think 6 is pretty good going. My questions for the six are:

1.Who was your favourite horse?
2.Why?
3.What person has most affected negatively or positively your attitude towards riding?
4.Why?
5.What are the three things you couldn't live without?
6.If you couldn't compete/take part in the discipline you do now, what sort of riding would you do?
7.What is your dream job?
8. If you were given $100,000 tax free what would you buy first?
9. Do you like Feijoas?
10.When you are all worn out and need a drink, what is it that you drink?
11.What are your favourite pair of footwear.

Good luck guys! 

Where is the line?

This is something of an issue that bothers me and I know that possibly I will get some flack for it, and it's a difficult and contentious issue. I know that growing up on a farm and having a pragmatic approach to life and death colours how I see things to a large degree. I know that in many other countries horses live in truly deplorable conditions and genuinely peoples livelihoods depend on horses working in conditions we would never even consider for our own horses.

The picture of the mare above is a horse in Egypt suffering from babeoisis/malaria and clearly severely neglected. Like that mare is thin like you really never see horses. It's pretty clear Egyptian horses are tougher than any of mine because they would die before they ever looked like this. So I imagine it took a huge amount of resources to bring this mare back to the health you see today and thats fine and ok, but I guess where I start to have an issue with it is that the mare is functionally unsound and can only be hand walked because of arthritis in her front fetlocks.

So I guess my question is this- how do you determine which of the horses gets the resources, in a country of poorly treated horses, some of the horses who have whole families dependent on their incomes. It's tricky isn't it. Especially because every horse is beautiful in it's own way, and they all have personalities. I guess this picture struck me because it was put up as an in your face to the nay sayers who said the horses should be put down. Top be honest I think she should have been, because I feel like she took resources away from a sound horse, so that she could hobble around. Personally my favourite way to see a horse is playing in the paddock and with severely compromised fetlocks the mare will always be experiencing pain. I feel like part of being a horse owner is being prepared to stand up and do the right thing even if it feels too hard.

I feel like so often rescues are saving horses in their twilight years and that are already severely compromised and calling them Miracle and Hope, and huge amounts of money are going into horses with a limited prognosis and quality of life, while the sounder younger versions get passed by, because they don't have such an emotional pull. By all means remove the horses from bad situations but then let them go. When did death become the worst thing for a horse? No more suffering, no more struggle, no more pain. I feel like it takes more courage to put a horse down than it does to pump money and resources into one.

Full credit to the rescue that saved this mare who was clearly on deaths door, they did a fantastic job to save her, but was it at the cost of horses in a less severe condition getting the less acute help they need to keep them in a good condition? To heal their saddle sores before they get infected, to provide feed before they are emaciated, to help with hoof care before they fall?

Honestly when I saw the horse with a prosthetic leg I felt a little ill, because that horse will never get to play in the paddock and to me that's the bar. Happy animals play and if they feel well enough, comfortable enough and in a tolerable amount of pain then they play. Is keeping the pony alive really for the benefit of the pony- or is it for the benefit of the people. I hate to think what this cost for this pony to walk around and I don't want to sound like a merciless cold hearted person, I just feel like there was money that could have helped several horses spent on this pony, whose quality of life is always compromised.

I found this story when I was researching foot problems with Connie and this I have a really big issue with. This 2 year old filly " Special" (Always with these names) who sloughed her entire hoof wall off. Then she shed her pedal and navicular bones.Her foot grew a new hoof wall and a sole but there was no internal structure to her foot. She lives in a brace for her whole leg to keep weight off of her non hoof and really has no quality of life at all. DAY1

DAY47- Note she can't really weight bear on that leg, because the foot has no internal bony structures to support her weight.

I mean it's clear why this one was kept alive, being the full sister to a top barrel horse whom won like a phenomenal amount of money so Special has the bad luck of being kept alive for egg harvest. This isn't ok! I hate to think how much was spent on her vet bill while sound useful horses were neglected.

I hate that there are horses out there suffering. I'm all for rescuing horses out of bad situations and providing new homes and lives. I respect the right for people to spend their money on their horse - though I feel rescues need to be more responsible with their donations because it's other peoples money they are using- I just want people to think really hard about whether or not the ends justify the means. Death is not the worst thing that can happen to a sore, damaged, worn out horse. A dignified end is sometimes the best you can offer. We have to be so careful because horses are so stoic and will endure huge amounts of pain but still prick their ears to see you. We are the care takers and it's our responsibility to look after them properly and sometimes that means that we give the grossly injured/ neglected horse a nice meal and a lot of love and then give them a peaceful goodbye.

Sound!

So I had a pretty good birthday present the other day (I'm 28 now- running out of time in my GP by 30 goal) because when I lunged Connie and Butch and their movement looked fantastic. Connie bopped around on the circle and had many many bounces and bucks so clearly she feels fantastic and so she should, the little fat bum. She can come into work soon for a slower build up than Butch will need. Connie throughs hard to the andalusian and doesn't maintain her fitness at all, while Butch being  TB living on a hill will come it so much fitter. He has got the hang of his feet on the side of the hill too, he hasn't just slid straight past me for ages.

The arena is currently going in at work and we really need it because the ground is getting seriously wet. Its a miserable drizzly June, still more babies to break in and I really feel like my riding is getting bollocks. I don't know it's hard being under the bosses eye I'm starting to get so insecure. I need to sell my saddle as well. Someone convinced me I needed an 18inch and I swim in it, it doesn't really support me and I think that would make me happier. Though perhaps it's because I have been riding in the bosses and it's nicer!

Motivation LOW

Just for fun a picture of My little sister and the horse she borrowed after Bob died. This horse was called Cow for obvious reasons. This picture makes me laugh everytime.

Winter! Every year it does this to me. I just can not be assed. Though to be fair having both of my own horses injured doesn't help. And normally there are a couple of horses at work that are my projects but I don't have any one at the moment. I don't think I'm not sure. I have been mostly fencing because the whole operation has been moved and then my boss got really sick so I have just sort of been riding everything.

Which is good but though the arena (omg omg!!) should go in next week, at the moment we are very much at the whim of the weather conditions. I can't even remember the last time I jumped a jump it's been so long! I can't wait to get jumping again. I am so tempted to drag Connie off of the hill having had 5 months off and now being a mane flicking snorting wild horses, but with only about a month until we start conditioning for the next season she may as well stay on the hill until then.

Went hacking yesterday on two different rides and managed to time it perfectly to get caught in both showers of rain. And I had a guy come out because he had a hideous black and white stallion behind a terrible fence on the roadside so he supervised him as I rode past. Best part was how he was like yea he has jumped out before. Awesome. Slow clap for you my friend. Pretty sure by law you need to have two fence lines between the boundary/road and a stallion but what do I know.

In other much happier news I have finally got motivated about something and i'm getting my lard ass in shape. After being so unhappy in the old job and stuffing my face with anything with sugar on it to make myself feel better, I had gotten to whale like proportions. I was even using another show coat because mine looked truly awful. I'm making a little progress which is amazing but there is still so far to go. It's so easy to get fat and so impossible to lose it again. that hardly seems fair. Still it must be only 3 months until the seasons starts up again. Yay!! Oh I am going to jump some sweet ass jumps this year. 1.30m or bust!

Vale Truckie

So it is with a heavy heart that I tell you all that my beloved Truckie is sold. I can't afford it and the parental units need some capital, so the old girl is out. We have had Truckie for around about 9 years and getting a horse truck was pretty much a life highlight. No longer stuck with a horse float with no room, sleeping in tents and scattering my gear for miles as I looked for the thing that was inevitably in the bottom of the boot of the car. Trucks have room for gear, and feed and hay, and a living area and I could take 4 horses. The luxury!!

Still all good things must come to an end, though I'm not sure how I will cope without it. So many miles I have traveled in the little truck. It was very noisy and a little smokey and and so slow. Every hill was climbed in third gear while cyclists and camper vans flew past. I overtook something once I think though I may have made that up to feel good lol.

Still the horses traveled well in her and I had many good nights sleep. On to the next i guess. Bye Truckie be good to your new owners.

Vet Visit

I will never ever hesitate to recommend South Rangitikei Vet Services. It's such a good clinic and I have complete faith in them. It's certainly worth the 3 hour drive. Ok so the story with Butch is this. Super lame for four weeks with nil improvement. Sudden onset like overnight. No swelling or heat. Now I thought it was in the foot, and was mostly waiting for an abscess to rear its ugly head. But he never got a hot pulsing foot or had any sort of an abscess track. Having lived in the wettest place ever I can track an abscess like nobodies business. So yea I was pretty concerned going over there as to what we would find, and how much it was going to cost, but also relieved to finally know what was going on.

So we turned up there, the vet had me trot him on the tarmac and then lunge (briefly) on a small circle. So he was a 3/5 lame on the straightway and 4/5 on the circle. Normally I go there and they are like yea I can see the lameness but it's subtle, this time She was just like yea thats lame! She couldn't see anything either that jumped out, and he has no history. I knew it was unlikely to be an arthritis or a ligament/tendon issue because that tends to be an off on subtle sort of an issue or there is swelling and heat. Apparently he has lovely clean knees *preen*.

So we blocked the back of his foot and he was marginally better. So we let that sink in more and he was definitely better, and then we blocked the whole foot and voila it was gone. So then of course we are looking possibly at a fracture or something horrible :( Off for x-rays and he was of course being by His Royal Highness a bit of a tool despite the sedative. He was most offended when they twitched him to get the last shot! Poor Brother Butch! I can sort of read x-rays a little having been to hospital so many times, and of the base of his foot shot even I could see the big black spot, but no lines that indicated a fracture.

I thought possibly the black spot was an abscess that was trapped deep in his foot, which would have been a nightmare to fix, and so painful for him but it's good news really. The vets are very confident there is no fracture of his pedal or navicular bones, but that the pedal bone is badly bruised and he has a massive haematoma in it. He must have stood on a stone on a hard surface, or a spike sticking up out of a stump. Anything sharp and unforgiving where his whole weight has come down on the point with no give and none of his hoofwall touching the ground to protect him. Poor pony! He may even grow a new sole and shed this one over the next few shoeings. Basically, he is going to be very sore for the next couple of months until the haematoma and bruising resolve and there is very little I can do for him. It's just a freak sort of an accident.

So he is out on the hill at my parents place with Snail, my bosses broodmare, and Connie who is also on R and R, surrounded by sheep and grass. I have been a little worried because I don't think he has ever really been out on a hill that steep before and I hadn't seen him all morning. I was going to go check he hadn't fallen over at the bottom like the complete wuss he is but he has just popped up on the skyline and everyone looks happy and content. Though in saying that I had hoped Connie would be moving better by now, but she still looks a bit off. Still she needs her feet done and she has three months before she will be doing anything. It maybe too that my eye is out on her oddball washing machine movement after not seeing it for so long. If she isn't right I will put her in foal next spring and we can go from there.

Lame!

Old photo from when I was riding Butch as a 7yo- look how little the jumps are!

Cursed cursed bad luck! Butch is still lame, I still have no idea why. The farrier went over his princess foot with a fine tooth comb and couldn't find anything. It's a mystery lameness and those are the worst kind because they are expensive. But he is way lame, like my boss said even a moron could tell he is lame.

The thing is he has a strong pulse running down to his foot which indicates a foot issue, but he doesn't respond to the testers at all, anywhere. He has no heat, no swelling and it doesn't behave like a soft tissue injury. So he jumped the weekend at Manfield. The next day he was a little lame and his shoe had twisted on his bad foot a little bit. That was the foot that had been poorly shod making him not want to jump and leading to his arrival back here and into my ownership. He is a little thin soled on his front feet and there is some bruising, but he doesn't have a reaction to the testers on his bruises at all. Apparently his foot landing is fine too. So I whipped the shoe off and he improved though after his shoes were reset he was still a little off but improving. Had a short schooling ride and he was a little sore so mostly did walk work and stretches.

He continued to improve, took him for a walk hack around the roads about 800m mostly on the verges and the next day he was very lame and has stayed that way/worsened ever since. I just don't know whats going on with him and it sucks not having one of my own horses going. I will need to sell some old gear to pay for the vet. :( Nevermind. Horses man, such bringer downers. The really good master farrier is going to have a look on Friday and then I imagine he will be mystified and I'll take him over to the good vets. Boo.

Chief Shit Mover

I'm lucky in my job here that I get to do a lot of riding. Lots of jumping, lots of hacking and with less enthusiasm I seem to have inherited on of the breakers because he likes me better. But lets be honest if you are a working pupil your main job is moving around poo. I don't mind moving poo though, I have always been a fan of manual labour. What has sucked at the moment has been the rain, the cold and creeping arrival of Winter. Which sucks because Winter and horses have long been a terrible combination. Here we have currently only got 8 and half (one satanic weanling) on about 3 acres of grazing so the horse density is high and to preserve pasture the horses come in when it's wet. Its dragged on for about a week now. They had been going out for the days but now it's two wet for that, so I have seven bored bored bored horses in boxes.

When it's been pouring like yesterday I turn them out two at a time in a big paddock so they don't do too much damage while I do those two stablesand then bring them in and so on and so forth. Today I had had a gutsful of them. Butch has pulled up lame and the weather is miserable and they all had ants in their pants so I turned everything out for two hours and they grazed and played and only got rained on really hard once. Still by the time I had mucked out and fed and watered they were all at the gate mugging to be brought back in.

It's interesting two how the girls are so much neater than the boys. And Erl is disgusting. Just gross. I found out early on when I was washing him he has a leaky bum which is why he is impossible to keep clean (of course he is grey) but today when I was pushing to clean the boxes up I realised with horror that has was just pee and poo and sawdust soup so I have had to strip his stable and resawdust it, though tomorrow I'm sure it will be soup again just not as bad. He is just gross. I feel like he is my karmic punishment for being bad at some stage in my life. Needless to say that ended up being a lot of work in the rain. Really makes you appreciate the tractor you used to have when you are back to doing everything with a wheelbarrow.

Still it's satisfying once it is done and I really love the horse. It just blows me away just how much feacal matter they can produce. My boss got kicked the other day too, by the breaker I don't want but likes me because I'm the lunch lady. So it's just been me looking after a lovely team of horse with the exception of the foal (cue music from the omen) and the breaker that kicks. Good times!

Kim Rules

My little sister (left), currently in Australia, must be getting a little annoyed with my lack of posting, so she sent me this message about stories I could tell of my ponies: I will add some reply in bold.

ok ok ok... this could be long. Well there was the time mum jumped on Marcus and galloped away on him.. much to my horror.. but now looking back it must have been fun jumping on a 14hh pony and galloping the shit out of him (He was a little bastard and deserved it, to be fair Mum did this to Bob the first time we rode to pony club because I was scared). The time when you told mum to shoot bob after she reared over on you.. and dumped you 3 times (I still feel this was a fair point even if she did go on to be the best horse ever, I landed on a rock. The horror on the girl who was visiting to see the ponies face though). Off subject kind of.. i had a hilarious dream last night that Sam rode Connie and she bolted on him.. haha we were both yelling don't bail! haha hilarious. Anything happen at Greytown pony club with you and Bob? (We ruled Greytown Pony club! What a horse for a pony club kid to have!) There was the time I jumped the fence without Prue but still firmly had her rains. The time you came off Kopa when you shouldn't have been riding him! bareback i think it was (Sneaky farm gallops on my little sisters pony! Oh yeeaaa!). The time every time when we would try ride past the donkeys.. carnage. I don't remember Duke doing anything wrong? (I used to fall off him all the time because I was so little on him, but he was pretty much the mans. We made it to pony club in eleven minutes flat once. We flew up the verges all the way there. Lost turnout points for the hot puffing mess I pulled up on though.) do you? I found some pictures of me jumping Kopa at Greytown.. i jumped kinda big! I can see why I fell off all the time.. horrible sliding lower leg. Prue fixed that I guess. All the times Connie tries to buck and scare the life out of you as she doesn't like going down hill. Which is awesome since you had so recently snapped your hand in half getting bucked off downhill (Still hate going down hill, I sing now when I'm hunting downhill and think to myself how they don't want to fall either. I will never enjoy galloping down hill ever). You had many fights (I had heaps of fights with Bob, because she was an opinionated mare and I was a know it all kid. Such an amazing horse once I learnt to stay out of her way) I remember with Bob on x country.. like jumping that hay rack thing at solway, and you got eliminated.. then you came out after it was done and she jumped it first time. Bitch. Manny even scaring grant with his bucks. You winding Bob up so bad that I would have to ride her home to try stop her jigging (Kim has a cool seat and I have a hot seat. I make horses hot and she makes them chill. I'm not even sure why it has always been that way). I preferred her over Kruise anyway. He used to dig holes like a charmer. Getting kicked over by Prue, ha the bitch (Kims pony Prue kicked me one night when I was feeding and I had a shoe mark on my hip for a year. The next day I rode her at a sports meeting and was first equal clearing 1.27m, and taking 1.35m despite it being the third time I ever jumped her. An amazing talented scop[ey powerful and intimidating pony). Me bloody endlessly lifting Bills feet up onto the ramp.. christ. Her topline is gone, but she looks good hey. Anyway enough for now.. getting all nostalgic.. i better come back and ride. Il see if I can think of more stuff. Ha there was the time cruise jumped off a track onto a sheep track.. i think mum might of been on him.. horrifying.

I have always been a spoilt spoilt kid. 1. Because my parents gave me ponies- the greatest gift ever, and 2. because I had a little sister who rode too. Kim and I have logged so many hours in the saddle together and even now if we need to talk we go hacking and that gives us the freedom to discuss anything and everything. I miss her so much, because she is like my super coach and my biggest fan.

I used to make her cry constantly too, because I wanted to canter up and down hills and go fast and she wanted to go slow, and her smaller ponies struggled to keep up with mine. And then as we went on and I was on green horses and she was on the trained horse and I'm going 'slow down kim, please slow down,' in a complete turn around! I think Kim probably got nicer ponies than me, or perhaps just easier ones, though Prue wasn't easy just insanely athletic and she did an amazing job on her. She is probably even a better more correct rider than me, unfortunately we both have issues with nerves and courage in front of a fence. I have had more time to learn to cope with it because I forged the path, but Kims time to shine is still to come. We will get her over some really big jumps.

Anyway, here are the crew that got mentioned in the post above

Marcus:

Kopa:

Bob:

Duke:

Prue:

Kruise:

 

I'm not even at all sure what my point is. haha I guess thanks Kim,  hopefully we can be riding together again soon. Miss you babes. x