40 Things for 40

Cuteness overload. This is Polo, a week old husky puppy. She fell asleep while I was giving her a cuddle!

Simon's business partner was down for the weekend so we arranged to go on a hack together this morning before she went back home. Got to the yard about 10.30, and groomed and tacked up, then set off for our hack. I rode Amber and we did a couple of the easy routes combined together. This was the first time that the horses had been alone together (when Simon has ridden, we've been with Sue and Jackie), so both were a bit unsure about wanting to go first. After a couple of trots, they were much more settled and so we had a couple of canters too. Both horses were very good and A enjoyed the hack. She was very happy with Matti too and loved the yard so is looking forward to being down more often. What with this and Simon wanting to ride more, I'm not going to have a horse to ride soon!

Thankfully I wasn't feeling too battered this morning, although my arm is still quite sore. As it was my turn to bring horses in, I had to be at the yard early so JJ offered to pick me up. Simon was rather relived by this considering he didn't get in until 3.30am (working). As JJ needed to go early, we decided to hack as soon as we could. Got all of the horses in fine and tied Matti up at the post with a haynet. I managed to sneak Amber's feed past him without him noticing or I think he might have objected to not having any! Gave him a quick groom, then tacked up and managed to get on okay. We ended up going out on a long hack and rather than sticking to the main routes, I managed to remember a lot of the 'off roading' routes and we also would see a side trail and follow it. We had a lot of fun, and managed to do it without getting lost! We decided to pop over a couple of small jumps. Matti ran out at the first jump when I first approached it, then put in a...

Well it had to happen sooner or later. Took Amber out on a hack with Sue, Lisa and Paige. We passed the step jump so popped her up that a couple of times. She jumped great the first time, but not so good the second time (when Sue filmed us!) Carried on and then we got to the little log jump that Matti loves. Lisa and Paige jumped it, and I thought I'd try Amber over it. She could jump it from trot if she wanted too. Trotted round the corner, then pushed her on to canter. She then seemed to start to take off, then changed her mind and put her feet down again. Unfortunately  her back end kept going so she ended up half falling over the jump, resulting in me ending up somewhere by her ears. She then scrambled back over the jump and carried on going backwards. I carried on downwards. Hit the deck and went to get up, then realised my shoulder hurt and should stay kneeling. Managed to get up long enough to grab Amber, felt woozy and knelt back down again. By this...

Whoops, a bit late on updating this one! 1. Get Crafty Haven't done as much in April as I would have liked, but have to get my butt in gear for May as have lots of birthdays coming up. 2. Courses Finished my sage one, although did not do as well as I would have liked. I have also completed the training for PAT testing and Simon will be booking my exam for me soon. Currently also doing well on the Customer Service course. 3. Matti Had a couple of not so good days, but also some very good days. We have hacked alone a couple of times and he was good, done some schooling and jumping - including taking part in a couple of mini comps at the yard. 4. Photo A Week I have been keeping up with this one this month. 5. Do more cooking By this I mean proper cooking meals from scratch as we do not do that very often. So I aim to cook at least one recipe from one of my cook-books each week. 6. Take up Jui-jitsu Ever since I left Plymouth, I have missed Jui-Jitsu, but there are ...

It was another lovely day today, so once again we spent the day at the yard. We took Blue with us and had lunch with everyone of burgers and cheesy chips. Nom! Matti had a bite mark on his side, and although it didn't look too sore, it was right where the saddle would go, so I decided not to ride him today. I did some more jumping with Amber as there was a small course set up in the school. Paige and Lisa also did some jumping. We warmed up in Sue's field. While the others were jumping (I wanted to attempt smaller fences), I stayed in the field and Toni brought Wilf in, ready to be harnessed up to his cart. Some horses freak out at carts, but Amber was not bothered in the least, even once Wilf had started moving. Went into the school with Amber and after trotting around to have a look at the jumps, we popped over a few. She was a little more wobbly, and sometimes forgets what to do with her legs, but this will come with practise. She did some lovely jumping too. Unfortunately ...

Well, actually it was only one. A bloody big one. While finishing at the yard, we watched a hot air balloon in the distance, as it got closer and closer. And lower and lower, until it landed in the field opposite ours. And just because I now have the song in my head... enjoy!

Decided to do a bit of schooling again with Amber today. She was a bit spooky in the top end of the school, so spent a while doing 10m circles and figure 8's until she settled and did not find it so scary. Although she insisted that she be allowed to trot round like a banana and got rather grumpy when I got her to bend around the circle like a normal horse. But mum, I like being a banana Ok, I'll do some proper bending   I can even do a nice profile As she had been good, I took her for a short hack to relax. Simon came along and brought his hat with him (this is getting serious!). We had a short blast, then Simon was itching to get on board. He walked, then decided to go for a trot, until he bounced a little too hard and had to get off. I rode Amber the rest of the way. Weeeeeeeeeeee Simon looking a bit special Trot! Today has been the first day for ages that my hayfever has been playing up, so when the hay delivery was due, I was excused to take Matti out on a hack. As it was ...

As there was a small grid of jumps set up in the school, I decided to have a little go with Amber. Firstly, we headed into the forest for a short hack (with Simon) to warm up. We just did the short loop in walk and trot, then had a little canter up the hill. Amber was very good. Looking pretty - Amber that is, not me! Once we got back to the yard, I then took her into the school to do some schooling . Apart from being a bit spooky at one end of school, she was very good, so I decided to try her over the jumps. After a couple of attempts, she got the hang of it and jumped really nicely. Shame the same cannot be said about my position! Simon then wanted to get on (I may have almost fainted from the shock). He just walked her around to cool her down and did very well.  Next I rode Matti and schooled for about 30 minutes. Did walk, trot and a little canter work. He was quite hard to work correctly, being strong and a bit stroppy at times. However, I carried on until he settled and gave...

For the past few days, some of the horses have been breaking out of the field. It's been repaired  strengthened and despite two trained electricians looking at the fencing, the buggers were still breaking out. It turns out the electricians about as useful as a chocolate teapot and far too wimpy to actually TEST the fence (by touching it) so might as well not have done anything. This morning was my day to bring in. Got to the yard to find only Nicky and Charlie in the field, the rest were milling around the yard. Opened up the barn to grab head-collars and most of the horses sussed what was up so bogged off down the lane to the house's garden. Grabbed Casper and Tonto who remained nearby and chucked them back in the field. Went down and caught Matti and Tatty, with Frankie following us up- chucked him back in field and the other two into their stables. Headed down to catch next two- one of which was Amber who did not want to be caught, so after trotting round the gard...

Simon having a go on Matti