Pony is well - a little too well.

In fact, he is a lard arse. Wedding and honeymoon jammed his exercise schedule (he was not at all gutted) and now he has rippling bits of fat clinging to him, despite my kind friend using his grazing muzzle interspersed with nights in on soaked hay.

Yesterday I lunged him for five minutes just to remind him that his legs still work and today we put an hour in. We practiced riding in straight lines at walk, trot and canter and though rusty, there were some nice moments. 

Assuming I can catch him we'll do as much as possible to limit the lard. I do fret about fat ponies, even if they don't go down with laminitis it's so much strain on their legs and feet...

Me and Rodney waddling about

Today I also had my weekly riding lesson, which is helping to whip me into shape for my Stage 2 exam. I ride a very sweet pony called Brooke and today we did some work without stirrups and some walk to canter transitions. The sweat was pouring off us by the end but it was great - I do love a lesson that gives me things to practice with Rodney.

Happy horsing everyone x

The rage passes

I stopped blogging for a while due to the rage-inducing return of Rodney's favourite summer habit - The Grass is Here and Now You Can't Catch Me.

Last year was my first summer with him and the habit was short lived. We had two weeks were he went AWOL, rounded him up with a band of helpers and then kept him on much poorer grazing for the duration combined with catching him a lot just for a treat and a groom.

This year I could feel it coming when he gradually became spookier to catch and sure enough the day arrived when I had to walk away empty handed.

Combined with starting a new, busy job and planning the wedding, I just totally lost heart with him and any interest in riding as I felt I couldn't make any plans.

Recently, things are a bit better. He's (temporarily) at my friend's place as her companion horse is poorly and her ridden horse needed a friend. The grass is too good there so he's been in a grazing muzzle and my friend usually brings them in in the evening for a fuss and a time out from the grass.

He'll come in when his friend does so we've had some nice rides, hacking about and a bit of jumping in the field. My enthusiasm has returned and I feel much less cross with him. Although I know it's silly to get annoyed I still do because I love to ride out and the catching issue drains the fun out of it. Always for me the biggest challenge in the all-consuming-ness of horses is handling the disappointment that inevitably happens from time to time.

In other news, I passed my Riding and Road Safety test. The whole group passed which was great as the training has been a right laugh. One of the ladies even organised some fizz and cakes for after which was a lovely conclusion to it all.

One of the ladies who did the training has a lesson each Monday so I've now joined her for that while I to brush up for my Stage Two. The syllabus looks good - I've done most things on it but I'm keen to revisit everything thoroughly and brush off the cobwebs.

Not everyone likes the BHS qualifications but I think they're comprehensive and encourage you to be better - wish me luck with the revision. A friend (who is a vet) has lent me the most beautiful book on anatomy so I am doing my level best to make sense of it...

Happy horsing everyone x