Buddy got rather impatient while he was being shod and has managed to take a chunk off his hoof. He was a bit footy when we trotted him up afterwards. It’s now part of his post-shoeing routine after he had a tiny bit of nail bind a few years ago. My farrier recommended a few days rest to let it settle.

A friend had asked us to join her for a ride round Blickling today. As Buddy couldn’t go, Bert and I went to be foot soldiers for her.

She’s been working on her hacking confidence. I’ve been helping her. This was the next step – her hacking solo with support if she needed it. She left us several times to go solo. So proud of how far she’s come.

We all have our wobbles from time to time. There’s a great phrase ‘your OK is someone else’s exceptional ’. Hacking is such a part of my horsey life, but I’ve had my wobbles over the years. I guess it’s why I try to help others overcome their wobbles. That and helping others makes me feel good.

Bert had a lovely time walking along. My legs are feeling it. As much as I loved walking round today, I’d rather have been onboard myself. We talked just as much as if I had been…

Buddy had new shoes today. Nothing unusual there. Except this time my farrier had made the shoes himself. You can really see the difference in Buddy’s front feet. I always joke that he has a stiletto and a flip flop.

He has one flatter hoof and one upright hoof. It can mean that he has a slightly uneven footfall at times. There’s nothing wrong. He’s been like that the whole time I’ve had him and he doesn’t seem bothered by his odd front feet.

As horse owners, we can become obsessed with our horses confirmation. I get it, but at the same time, you show me a rider with perfect confirmation. Mine is shocking!

What a gorgeous day it’s been. Not always the case for a bank holiday. It felt really good to sit with the sun on my face. Not that I actually sat for that long…

I tried to spend as much time outdoors as I could. But not do too much. Always a bit of a challenge for me. There was a lot I could have done. Don’t get me wrong, I did stuff.

Buddy definitely appreciated having the sun on his back. I took his rug off when I went to poo pick his field.

Bert was happy to bake himself in the garden. Well when he wasn’t waiting for me to throw his toy. It made weeding a little difficult.

I managed to get two loads of washing dry on the line. There’s something about the smell of line dried washing. It’s very satisfying too as it’s one job done in one day rather than having to wait for it to dry. Of course it meant that I had to put it away.

All in all a rather lovely Easter Monday.

Today saw the resurrection of our competing with a spot of Arena Eventing. Well it seemed rather fitting for Easter Sunday. We locked and loaded early for a trip to Lime Kiln. Our first time there, so wasn’t sure exactly where I was going or how long it would take. As a result, we arrived rather early.

One thing I’ve learned about myself over the years, is that I can get a bit anxious about going to new venues. Let’s face it, Buddy hasn’t always excelled in them either. So I wasn’t sure what to expect. Literally!

I needn’t have worried. Everyone was very welcoming. Being early I had time to walk the course twice. A far cry from mucking up my timings and missing the course walk.

There’s a water splash and bank too. I was interested to see what Buddy made of them. He stormed through the water and flew up the back with a little encouragement. He paused at the top to admire the view before heading back down.

Not our best round as we had 3 poles in the SJ section, but he flew the XC elements. I know I can ride better as I’ve started getting ahead of him. Overall, I’m chuffed with how it went. Even more of a surprise to get a placing. We did the 70cm as that’s what we’re doing at champs. If I’m honest, it’s a bit small for him and he makes minimal effort. We have two months to crack it and a 3-day training camp in the time. One thing you can count on is that I will give it my all.

The only blip in a good day out was I came home with less than I left. Poor Toby’s wing mirror is somewhere on the Fakenham Road. It’s quite a twisty road back, as I came round a rather blind bend to find a couple of motorcyclist close to the white lines. I must have moved over too far as next thing I knew there was a loud bang and the passenger wing mirror was no more…

I must had hit something in the verge. Better that than the motorcyclist. I’m sure I can find a replacement one. I’d need a proper Christ-like miracle to revive that one.

Oh and I get an Easter Egg too for competing. What a nice touch. So first competition of 2026 done and first trip to Lime Kiln done. Happy Easter everyone.

Toby Travel was needed again today. Another one of the liveries at the yard asked if I could take her daughter’s pony to a XC clinic this morning.

I kinda wish I’d known it was on myself as I would have taken Buddy. We’d already made plans for tomorrow by then though. It was lovely to watch and have a walk round.

Bert was on his best behaviour. We’ve been working really hard on ‘wait’. That one definitely takes effort from us both. Especially getting him to sit first. There are times when he’s so good. Other times when he gets distracted. He’s 18 months now and still learning.

He got to jump a few of the jumps too. He really enjoyed that. And snuffling around the field. He’s turned into a fantastic lorry dog. But then I guess he’s been doing it all his life…

This made me smile. And a bit sad that we have to point it out to people.

We’re all unique. There’s a brilliant notion that no-one sees the world how it actually is. We see it through our own lens. Based on our experiences, beliefs and opinions.

Right now, the World is taking another pitch into chaos and weirdness. It’s easy to get caught up in it all. Assuming people are seeing what we are seeing. That people agree with us. That people who don’t are wrong.

Over the years, I’ve been come much more tolerant. More live and let live. I have my limits of course. As I was pottering today, I reflected on the past few weeks. It’s been a lot. So much worry, upset and struggle. It’s hard to see a way through sometimes.

Then I remembered it’s Good Friday. The day that Jesus died on the cross. Whether you are religious or not, whether you believe it or not, Christians believe it was the ultimate sacrifice for humanity’s sins, saving mankind from death. Right now, I think we can all agree that there are some rather abhorrent things going on.

Faith comes in many guises. That’s pretty unique too I guess. My faith in my ability to overcome is strong. My faith in humanity is a little rocky right now. So I’ve had a word with the man upstairs to see if he can help…

They say honesty is the best policy. This made me laugh a little too hard today. And right now, I think we all need a good laugh.

I was doing some work this morning when I heard a phone ringing. It’s happened before so I knew it was on the train track at the bottom of my garden.

Last time it happened it took me ages to work out it where it was coming from. And took several hours to sort. Anyway, I called Network Rail to let them know. This time it was sorted quickly so all good. Little did I know what had caused the problem. Let’s face it, we’ve all done something like that…

I have to admit, I was feeling a little discombobulated today. It was my first peopling in the new clinic. It was also my first Wednesday peopling. My lovely Chiro has asked if I would switch my Fridays to Wednesdays. That was easy to do.

Coming into the city on a Wednesday was considerably busier than a Friday. Plus I had to get to the new clinic and squeeze The Upgrade into the tiny car park.

I was a little apprehensive about it last night. I needn’t have worried. The clients today were very pleased to see me.

The clinic is still a bit chaotic. But all of the things I needed were there so all good.

I have to admit, I was having a lot of flashbacks to when I worked in the building. It’s been redecorated since then. Still find it so funny that I used to work there 20 years ago. I also find it slightly terrifying that I’ve lived in Norfolk for 20 years! Time really does fly…

There are many times in my life where I am very grateful for the fact that I am rather adaptable. Believe me, I can duck and dive with the best of them.

I got a message yesterday to say that the guys were thinking staying an extra night away so could I pick them up tomorrow. Made that work for them.

Then it was suggested that I take Buddy over to spend the day with them today. Brilliant idea! One problem, my lorry is with them. So no transport…

It seemed that it wasn’t a problem as Buddy, Bert and I hitched a lift. So we got to go on a very fun day over at Little Lodge after all.

Bert got to go for a lovely run. So did Buddy. And play over the jumps there. He borrowed one of the paddocks and learnt a valuable life lesson. The electric fence is on mains. He farted so loudly when he got zapped. Poor boy stood for a while in the middle of the field. He wasn’t making that mistake again.

Not to be outdone, Bert managed to get zapped too. Where as Buddy got zapped in the mouth. Bert got zapped in the bum!

We will all sleep well tonight. Honestly, it’s like buses. I haven’t been to Little Lodge since last year, now I’ll be there three times in a week. I’ve promised Bert he can play in the water tomorrow…

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed that the seal on my chest freezer was starting to go. I’ve been doing a number of ‘home’ fixes. Sadly none of them have worked, I gave in and ordered a new one. Well I have had it 9 years so it’s not done too bad.

I decided to go for a smaller one this time as I rarely filled the old one. And it was on offer!

I was originally given a delivery time of ‘somewhere between 7am and 7pm’. Nice and vague there. Then I got a text to say ‘between 12:23 and 16:23’. Then a voicemail to say ‘between 2pm and 3pm’. Finally a call to say they were 20 mins away. It actually arrived at 2:45pm.

The delivery guys took longer to get it into place as they were both cooing over Bert.

Now I need to move everything across. The new one has a digital display and everything. Very fancy indeed!