40 Things for 40

Today, I was once again promised a list of things that needed doing, and once again, that list never materialised. So, I decided to go to the yard at lunchtime. Got the horses in and gave them haynets. I was a bit worried that Matti had not eaten all of his hay in the night, then I saw that Amber hadn't either. I realised it was because they had extra hay yesterday plus more hay than normal last night, so they were probably full. Phew! Both dinners and breakfasts had been demolished so think they are both feeling fine. Rode Matti for about 20 minutes in the school, mainly in walk with some trot. Worked on circles, getting an active walk, some leg yield and shoulder in. He was very good. I decided to cheat a bit today and ride Amber in her bitless bridle. I have a plan for dealing with her naughtiness with her normal bridle, we'll do training with that and use the bitless when I actually ride so we don't have 20 minutes of battling with each other. She was a bit spooky and d...

Bog off, I'm eating

After another worried night, I am very happy to report that Matti is fine. He ate all of his breakfast and was happy out in the field. I brought all three in and tied them at the posts with some hay for a couple of hours. All tucked in and I gave Amber a good groom and Matti a quick tidy-up. I have to admit Blossom was looking filthy so I decided to not bother for today! I also mucked out, put some fresh bedding in and topped up waters. After a couple of hours, Amber started getting antsy and wanting to go back out, so I gave them some lunch (Matti's dinner from last night with some hot water mixed in) and them popped them back out again. Got them back in back after another couple of hours for some more hay. Phoned the vets and spoke to the lab. Matti's bloods were all normal. The lady on the phone was very helpful and explained what was tested and why. She even went through Amber's results with me and explained the difference between the two. Sue looked over Amber a...

Feeling better

Now Matti. Simon did horses tonight and when he got back home, he mentioned that Matti had not really been interested in his hay or eaten dinner. As we were going out to get something to eat, I wanted to go up to the yard and check on him. Got there and Matti had dug all of his bed into a huge pile and was standing by his haynet looking rather forlorn. He finally come over to say hello and just seemed off. When he started pawing/ waving his front leg around, I decided it was time to call the vet. Spoke to the office first, who were very helpful, had to hand them over to Simon to give them directions though (realised afterwards that directions were on Amber's record and not Matti's). A few minutes later, the vet, different to the one who saw Amber, called for some more details about Matti, then said he would be on his way. Simon was once again given direction duties while I got Matti out and started walking him around the school as advised by vet. The vet was prompt although got...

For the first time in a few months, I've just entered a couple of photo show classes. I might not be able to go quite so mad with entries this year, but I aim to do a couple of classes each month. I still say it works out cheaper than going to a 'real' competition! I loved doing them last year, and apart from one of the organisers not sending me a load of rossettes, I thought all of the ones I entered were very well run and organised by lovely people. However, I did so well, I filled up two of these, and still need a third! At some point, if we ever have some nice weather, I'm tempted to take some of the ponies winnings up to the yard and make them wear them for some photos.

Hellooooooooooooooooooooo

Well, maybe a little grumpy today!  All the horses were a bit spooky in field, they kept staring into the distance, had a prance/ run round, then back to staring again. We found out later that the hunt had been out and had lost about 10 of their hounds. We found this out when  one of them wandered onto the yard. Paula managed to herd him into the round pen and called the hunt. They arrived to collect the hound and told us that we might see some more! Hopefully they have all been found by now. As Amber hadn't really grazed much and I had left her out for longer today, she was a bit hungry when brought in. Hungry = grumpy but I forgot this when I decided to give her the antibiotics without letting her have some hay first. Well, most of the dose eventually made it into her mouth. The rest was on her face, my jacket, my hands, my trousers- you get the picture. I just hope that after tomorrow's one, I won't need to give her any more otherwise I really will end up wearing ...

Matti

Well, Amber has been a lot brighter today. She is still not 100%, but is much better than yesterday. Put her out for a bit in the morning, then brought her and Matti in around lunchtime as needed to worm them. Had them in their stables for a little while as posts were full and they both were settled. Wormed them and managed to get most of the wormer in them and not on me! Got Blossom in and wormed her too (she is much easier to do as can't get her head so high). Put Amber and Matti out by the posts with big haynets while I finished off their stables and topped up their waters. Then had to give Amber the humonga-tube of antibiotics left by the vet. She was not impressed! Put them back into their stables about 3 pm and Amber was a little quiet, but much better than she was yesterday. I also had some fun with Blossom and Matti as Toni had organised a long-reining competition for us all to take part in. We had to get out horse to stand on a peice of tarpaulin  then through an L sh...

The scruffmiester aka Blossom!

Amber seemed bright enough this morning, so put her out for a couple of hours. Got her and Matti in, and had them tied up at the posts with a haynet and water so I could watch her. She started to get very tired so I put her in the stable where she laid down. Started acting like she did last night (stretching oddly and groaning) so called the vet. He got the bloods he took last night tested and said he'd call with results. A short while later, he called back saying the results were not back, but he was going to pop over and check her anyway. Amber looked quite bad again, laying flat out and groaning. Suddenly she did a half roll, got up and started tucking into her haynet. By the time the vet arrived, she was quiet again and standing in her 'poorly spot' with her head by the wall at the side of the stable. All her vitals were normal and vet said her results showed she has a low grade infection, poor girl. He gave her some anti-biotics and left me some pastes to give her and ...

Amber feeling a little better

Simon got Amber in at about 5.30 pm. Seemed normal, but not interested in hay or feed. Laid down in stable, but not too distressed. Simon called me to ask my thoughts, I immediately said "colic". He kept an eye on her for a bit and she was starting to look uncomfortable so he decided to come and get me. While on the way back to the yard, Sue called about 6.40 pm to say Amber was more uncomfortable, and maybe call the vet. I did so and explained that I thought she had colic. Was told that I would be called back with an ETA for vet. Got to yard and Amber was still down in stable. She was sitting up, then laying flat out and was also shaking and groaning at times. Vet arrived at about 7.45pm and Amber got up when she heard the car. Took her rug off and after a quick check, he said she had "thumps", rather than colic, something that I had never heard of before. He told me that it was caused by a calcium deficiency and that strenuous exercise could trigger an attack. It ...

Some days, the sofa just isn't comfortable enough!

One of my #31things from last year was to pass my driving test. I had my test in August and failed. After that I had a break, then started up lessons again in January. Got my test booked straight away for 19th February. Great, that's ages away, I thought. Then the next thing I know, it's my last lesson before my test. Yikes! I was doing good at not worrying until that point, then I had a confidence wobble, thought about cancelling and just riding a pushbike forever instead. Thankfully, that didn't last too long. The next major wobble was on the morning of my test. I took Blue out for a long walk, got cash out I needed and was fine. Walked back in the front door and it was if a sledgehammer struck me. It took a lot of will power to stop myself from hiding behind the sofa while gently rocking and mumbling to myself. Once I managed to get my nerves back under control, I felt pretty calm and decided whatever will be will be. Once my instructor arrived, we went through some of...

Make sure you get my best side!

I thought that it would be a good idea to set a list of min-goals for myself, as I haven't really got any challenges to do for this #thing. I was also thinking that all of my other #things are set towards becoming a better me anyway! So, some of the ideas I have include: Completing an Equine Nutrition Course - this started a couple of weeks ago and is a free online course. It has been very interesting and informatiative, despite only being 5 weeks long, there is a lot included in the topics. Customer Service Level 2 - this is from the same website where I did my Business & Administration course last year. I thought this would be another good qualification to put on my CV and somehow managed to sign up for it. How did that happen??? Photography Course - one of my failed #31things, I would still like to achieve this in the future  However, Groupon have an offer of an online course for £49 at the moment, so I am hoping that they will be running the offer again in th...

Views don't get much better than this :)

 Yes, I do realise I am going to have to think of some slight more imaginative titles for these posts! Simon decided that he wanted to ride again today, and as we were 'on duty' to feed and turn out, we got to the yard early. Decided to put horses out for a bit while we did mucking out etc. Sue and Jackie arrived so we all decided to hack out together as they just wanted a slow hack. Got horses in, groomed and tacked up, then helped Simon get on Amber and settled before I got on Matti. Amber was a bit fidgety, but Simon coped well (I think all these little things are good for his confidence). Off we set, Simon was a bit nervous at first, but with a bit of advice from Sue, he was able to relax.  Simon did well as getting Amber to stop when he wanted her to, and then asking her to catch up/ keep up with Matti. We had to go along one track with a few puddles, Amber wasn't too keen on walking through them, so we decided to save dealing with that for another day. Just was...

Simon rode Amber again today on a 30 minute hack. They both did very well.

It was my Grandad's birthday on Friday, so Mum asked if I would like to go back to visit for the weekend. Simon was unable to make it due to work, so I got the train (no panic attacks this time). The journey was good and I managed to get back 1/2 hour earlier than planned! Mum met me at the station, then we went up to her horses. Binky recognised me, although Bailey kept getting in the way when I tried to give him a fuss! Helped mum with mucking out and poo-picking, before doing feeds and hay. Hmmm, seems like a bit of a busmans holiday so far! I did manage to sneak a wee ride on Binky though: Then it was time to go home and get ready. We were meeting up with my two uncles, Raymond and Eugene, Raymond's partner Jude, Grandad of course and my cousin Johnathan and his girlfriend Gemma. at a restaurant called Alberello  in Bexley Village. We had a lovely time at the restaurant and it was great to catch up with my family. Me and Mum Me and Eugene Raymond, Me and Gra...

Rather than filing up this blog with my photos  I have set up another blog to keep track of them, which can be found HERE I shall leave my January posts here for now, but all new photos can be found on the new blog. Enjoy

Bud.Mu's 12hh Welsh section A pony

Honey

My Grandaddy and me :)

As Sue had heard that there were some gallops available to hire out nearby, we decided to to a reccie hack to see if we could find them, and who we needed to speak to about using them. Sue had map my ride on her phone, which tells you how far and for how long you have been riding, while Paige had a map of the area in case we got lost. It took about an hour for us to find the gallops and the person who we needed to speak to. On the way back, we went a different route. One section of the bridleway was completely flooded due to the lake bursting it's banks, but the horses went through the water fine, even though it was up to their knees in parts. Matti then decided to refuse to walk through the tiny puddle on the path afterwards. Silly horse! It was pretty cold and after 2 hours of riding, my ankles refused to let me do any rising trot. We did have a couple of canters afterwards though, and all three horses were well behaved. However, once we had gotten back t...

Hacked out with Sue, Paige and Lisa. Did mostly walk with a good long trot. Amber coped fine, although at some points was sluggish and others quite fast. Really, I just need to work on her rhythm and gettinh her a bit more balanced (and straight lines).

Wotcha doing?

It's February already and I realised that I have not done an update on how all of my things are progressing. 01. Get crafty Haven't managed to do very well on this one. I have a half-finished scrapbook page and that's it. Must try harder in February! 02. Finish Sage course Have managed to do some of this. I'm working through the last modules, then I am going to the whole thing again before doing my assignment. At least this course does not have deadlines! 03. Matti As mentioned in one of my blog entries, I have broken down my plans for Matti into various smaller challenges, some of which have been achieved already. I think I am going to add more at this rate, we seem to be doing really well so far! 04. Photo a day So far, I have done pretty well with taking photos most days. Of course for February I want to be able take even more, and will attempt to get a bit more arty with them too. 05. Blossom Again, we have done really well so far this month, my biggest problem is...

Blue making a new friend

Not the best photo, but was trickier than I thought taking a photo from on board Matti!

In the week, Simon mentioned that he would like to go for a hack on Amber at the weekend. I admit that I was glad I was sitting down at the time as to say I was surprised would be an understatement! We decided that Friday would be better as there would be less people about and Simon was due to finish a bit earlier than normal. Sue and Jackie offered to ride out with us, just in case of any issues. Got the horses in and tacked up (eventually, Amber was a tit with the bit again). Once Simon was happy(ish) on Amber, I got on to Matti, a qick check of Simon's steering abilities and we were off. We decided to avoid crossing the stream as it can be a little awkward, so went up the other side instead. Amber was very good and although Simon was pretty nervous, I think he was enjoying himself. We were only out for about 20 minutes, which I think was just enough for Simon. The only scary moment for us was when Amber kicked out at Matti as he got too close to her. However, Simo...