Alison Goulding

Today the arse end of hurricane Bertha is whipping about outside. I had loose plans to ride Rodney but he's a bit of a tit to catch in the wind so I was fully prepared for that. He did stomp over but was a bit shy about having his headcollar on so I stood still and just kept calling him back till he settled and let me catch him. 

At that point it was very tempting to take him in and tack up but I felt it would be a good moment to let him go and reward him for being canny. So I did, and left the yard feeling that sometimes you've got to take what's offered and be glad of it rather than always wanting more.

In the afternoon I had a riding lesson with my friend. The first horse I rode was lame on her LF so I switched on to Brooke who I've ridden quite a bit. I really like her and we seemed to click quite well today and tried a bit of counter canter which was fun.

Last week I rode a horse called Hudson. He has a giant canter (like sitting on a space hopper) and aged four he is full of try and potential. This pic in no way does him justice.

The photo of Rodney and Tia snogging is from last week at stupid o'clock am when me and my friend decided to go for an early gallop before work. It was so much fun we couldn't stop laughing and the lines are so overgrown we had to practice some stunt galloping to avoid getting wiped out by branches. Tia and Rod loved it too.

Happy horsing everyone x