At last summer is here.....Its been Scorchio. So much activity on our behalves.
Baths for one.. Not sure Charlie has ever had a bath, but I was determined to get him clean, and cure the hose pipe fear. So as Jo bathed Lulu with the hose, Charlie had a bucket bath.....No problem (even tipping buckets over him). He was still wary of the hose though. Why???? Who knows. He has been seen to drink from a tub while it is being filled up with the hose. So once he had been bathed i took a small piece of cut off hose and ran it all over him. No reaction. Next step, Get a small trickle coming out of main hose and run it over his already wet body. A small reaction, a rear, a double strike out with front legs, then actually finding it nice.
The following day I worked him loose over some small jumps. He loved it. He even went off when I had walked away and popped them again. As it was Scorchio he was very sweaty so I got the hose running again slightly faster this time. And low and behold much snorting, growling, sighing and rearing. Now I have been taking things very slowly with this boy. I understand his fear, the facts he is a long way behind 4 year olds that have been bathed, trimmed, long-reined and shown since they are 5 months old. But he does push his boundaries sometimes. I know him very well and can tell fear from coltish tantrums. I heard the growly grunty sigh and saw the look in his eye. This was just a tantrum. So this time I held the lead rope close and carried on hosing him regardless. For just a second he stood and admitted it was quite nice on a hot day!
As we are off to the Suffolk Show next week with Lulu, we thought she better have a trip out in the Lorry. Jo had to pick up a parcel from Leiston, so we combined the two. No-where to park a lorry in the high street so we parked in the Co-op car park. Jo went off to the Post Office, and as Lu neighed I went and checked....happily eating hay. Windows in truck open, Dogs hanging out of windows, me in passenger seat. And so a lady came along and said, "Are they ok?" "The dogs?" I said, "yes they are fine". "No", said the lady, "The Horses" "Er yes she is fine", I said. "Well its awfully hot" said the lady huffily, and stalked off. It then occurred to me she must have thought we were doing our weekly shop or something!!
After we had put Lu back after her shopping trip, we left the Lorry open. Walking past it with Charlie on my way to the tack room I let him sniff the ramp while I stood on it. Two seconds later he loaded himself, turned his quarters in and started pulling on the Hay net. On the way back out to the field, he again loaded himself, this time in front of me. I slung the lead rope over his next and said, "whoa boy, we're going this way", whereupon he calmly backed down. What a Star. On the way out we had a few selfies.
Woohoo its been warm!! Tee-shirt weather. The Daffs are everywhere, as are bumble bees at the moment. We have spring cleaned the hay shed and removed miles of tarpaulin that kept tripping us up. And we have been working the ponies. They have been naked and shedding winter coat at the speed of light. The fields look like a pillow fight in a kids dorm!
Charlie has been long reining daily and is being a star. The other day I tripped over a molehill and face planted the ground. As I let go of the reins so as not to jab him in the mouth, he lept forward one stride, then came back for me. Many horses would have galloped off at high speed. He's also had a sack of bran on his back and me leaning over him at the mounting block again. My other half (Mark the Mechanic) has been working on a car at the yard all week with tools and blankets etc spread around. Charlie walked straight onto the blanket to eat the carrots I had left there. Later I rode Daisy over it with no hesitation. Madam Lu kicked up a fuss, but at last put one foot on it. Charlie is so nosy he stuck his head in the back of the van and also examined the engine.
I hacked Daisy out Tuesday. Having not been ridden since about last October she was slightly excited. Having failed to get a girth around her I abandoned my english saddle and used the Western one, even though the breast plate is too big to do anything. I thought I had cinched it up tight enough. Anyway she jogged everywhere having a fine old time, while I lounged around and experimented with just hooking the reins over the horn so I didn't have to use my hands at all. Riding for the chronically lazy. I love it! On the way home, unusually she spooked at at pheasant. Then followed it up with a bronco bucking fit. That saddle is brilliant for bucking. You just don't move. Poor Daisy...she throws her all into it, but its still not unseating. I laughed all the way home. When I get off remembering to step down, the whole saddle swung with me. Guess my cinching needs to be a lot tighter!!
Last weekend it was Poplar Park horse trials. They are the first biggish ones in the eventing calendar and Jo and I did a couple of hours on the gate....all in aid of the RDA. The weather was spring-like and we had a fine old time watching riders coming up and down the track.....either off to jump, or trudging back having finished. Pippa Funnell seemed to have so many rides, I asked her if she had a twin. She is a very nice lady, not to mention extremely talented, and introduced us to her horses each time she passed us (once every 10 minutes). I gather she did very well....So well done Pippa.
We were able to watch a bit of show-jumping and walk the course which was very well built. I used to work at Poplar Park, and its a great course. Very undulating and sandy soil so always good underfoot. Always makes me want to jump again............
Wow its been a busy couple of weeks. We are constantly fencing, so the horses have old grass, and we save pasture for new grass to grow. The Indian Summer finished with 30c at the end of September, to a mere 14c for a more autumnal feel. Goodbye flip-flops and shorts (and tan), hello hoodies and boots. Better for working the horses though. I have set up another school and Charlie has been learning to jump on the lunge. He has been working out where to put his feet.
Daisy has been like a cat on hot bricks. It may be the extra sugar in the grass, or the fact her feet don't hurt, or an Easterly wind up her tail. Whatever, we have been hacking out alot, and she has taken to jogging everywhere, tossing her head, and plunging. Lu in comparison has been very good.
I have started teaching at the RDA and loved every minute of it. One of my clients from the mid nineties came in, gave me a big hug, and a photo of her sitting on my Paddy, with me beside her. I almost cried. Another client remembered me. Theres nothing like it for a feel good factor. So if anyone reading this lives near Sutton, Woodbridge, and can spare a couple of hours Friday morning, please come along. There is coffee, biscuits and a lot of smiles.
For another smile factor, just spend time in the field with your horses. The other day, while waiting for the water to fill up in the Shetlands field, I lay down in the sun. Straight away they both came over and started licking my knees and belly and leaning down to blow with there nostrils. If I scratch there bellys, they try to groom me back, nibbling my hair. Charlie wandered over in the adjoining field and flicked water all over me with his nose....The more I laughed the more he did it. He also loves a belly scratch, and lifts his head up like a giraffe.
