Maiden voyage

Buddy had his maiden voyage in the new Buddymobile (or Toby Truck to his friends). We headed over to Easton College for their arena hire to pop a few jumps.

I tried loaded him on Sunday when he’d walked straight on. And christened it! But this is Buddy, so anything could happen. He walked straight on again and started munching his haynet.

He travelled well. It’s weird cause after my little lorry where I can feel him moving about, in the new one, I could almost forget he’s there!

I’m starting to get used to it. I found the windscreen wipers. I found most of the gears at the right time. I still find it massive compared to my old lorry. And I’m still ‘Driving Miss Daisy’.

Thankfully we were much faster round the jumps.

I was so busy concentrating that I totally forgot to take a photo of him onboard. So here’s a photo of him happily munching away when we got back.

Feel the rain

Bert and I got very wet on our walk this morning. Now as a good equestrian, I have lots of wet weather gear. So you’d think I would be prepared. And I was! I put my Reincoat on as I thought it might rain. What I wasn’t prepared for was the torrential downpour.

I was laughing to myself as the rain dropped off my hood. While most of me was dry, my legs weren’t. It didn’t help that I stopped to chat to another dog walker. Because as she said, we weren’t getting any drier. Good to know that dog walkers have the same sense of humour as horse riders.

When we got home, my jeans and my puppy needed to go in the conservatory to dry out.

I love this quote. Today I was both of these…

Sole comfort

I broke out my new yard boots today. I bought them when I was at Badminton, but they’ve sat in the box. The reason? Well the old ones were still doing OK. Sure they have holes in them, but it’s been so dry it hasn’t been an issue. I did end up with rather dusty socks though.

Today was a different weather day, so I didn’t want squelchy feet. They are slightly different from my old ones. Still Ariats. Still super comfortable. They’re almost too good to get covered in muck and mud…

Flies

I decided to stay at my Dad’s last night as I didn’t fancy the joys of the M25 on a Friday evening. Instead, I had the joys of the M25 in heavy rain instead. Can’t win them all. At least it was moving pretty well and I had a good run through.

Stopped at Birchanger Services for a ‘comfort’ break for us both. Ended up being just Bert who relieved himself as the queue for the ladies was well out the door. It was packed in the services. Stopped at another services and it was the same – packed!

By contrast, it was lovely to take Buddy out. So quiet and peaceful. Hardly saw a soul. Well unless you count the flies and horseflies. They were everywhere!

Do horseflies have souls? There were a few more dead ones after they tried to bite me or Buddy. My poor boy took the brunt of it. Even after I covered him in flyspray. He looked like the character from Charlie Brown with the flies round his head. I always thought that was Linus, but apparently his name was Pig Pen. Can’t say I remember that at all.

West Pier

Bert has had a lovely day with his Granddad. He stayed with my Dad while I went to do the hotel site visit in Brighton. The site visit and meetings went really well. It’s a lovely hotel. One I’ve been to many a time before. One I’ve stayed in many a time before. One I’ve been rather drunk in many a time before…

At least I know that when I am next there, I won’t be getting drunk. I’ll be running around like the swan I am.

As I left, I walked down the promenade past the old West Pier. It looks so sad. Once a beautiful Victorian Pier, it’s now a tangle of metal work after two separate arson attacks in 2003.

It’s sadly beyond repair and left to the ravages of time. Though still a key feature of the Brighton seafront. That’s seen many changes over the years. But as I drove through Brighton today, there were so many things I remembered from when I lived there. And in Hove Actually (in joke for those who know).

I have so many wonderful memories of the city. It taught me to be able to parallel park into the smallest of spaces. And on both sides of the road. Believe me that when you find a space in Brighton, you will get into it even if it takes a few attempts.

I was reminded of this when I sat for what seemed like an age on Grand Avenue watching two separate drivers reversing into spaces. It did make me smile. Funny the life skills you pick up along the way.

Car crisps

I have to do a hotel site visit in Brighton tomorrow. So I came down to stay the night with my Dad. I bought some snacks for the trip – including a big bag of Marmite crisps. I love Marmite, I love crisps, so I really love Marmite crisps.

I may have accidently eaten the whole bag! It was only afterwards that I saw the warning. They were spot on there….!

Toby

Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to introduce you to the latest addition to the Langley family, Toby. Otherwise knows as the Buddymobile Mark 2!

I’ve been waiting over 3 weeks for his arrival. They say good things are worth waiting for. Let’s hope it’s the case here.

We didn’t get off to the best start as I totally embarrassed myself by inadvertently using the brake instead of the accelerator. No wonder I wasn’t going anywhere.

I did redeem myself as I drove along. Even had another trucker salute me. OK so he was overtaking me, but it still means I’m a trucker. Right?!

I was a bit ‘Driving Miss Daisy’ on the way home. Probably didn’t help I was looking at kilometres and not miles per hour. It’s all learning.

It’s a tad bigger than the current Buddymobile, so it’s going to take a bit of getting used to. So far so good.

And yes, I might have ducked going under the bridge by my house. I know I was going to fit, so why does your brain do that?!?

Now to start working out where our stuff needs to go, reading the manuals (who am I kidding, I’ll probably just wing it) and take Buddy out for a test drive.

Let the adventures begin…

Day camper

Buddy, Bert and I locked and loaded early doors today to head over to Forest Edge for two lessons. There’s a camp running there, so we went as day campers.

When we arrived, Buddy headed to his stable (no. 3 for the third time this year) and Bert headed to the forest for a runabout.

As the weightbridge was there, I thought I’d pop Buddy on it. He walked straight on and stood patiently. He was so eager, the poor lady wasn’t ready. He was also rather eager for his treat. He knows the deal. He stands to be weighted and he gets rewarded. He also got a rosette for having a perfect body score. He’s now 643kg.

In our jumping lesson, we ended up being demo riders for the other campers to watch and learn. We flew round the course that was laid out. There were lots of new campers so they hadn’t seen us in action before. Several came over afterwards to compliment me on my jumping position, our partnership and how at one we were. That has not always been the case I can assure you.

I do feel that we’re getting better and better. Now we need to recreate it in competitions. Maybe we can start getting some perfect round rosettes too. Who doesn’t love a red one?!

Petflap

Bert got caught out in a rather heavy downpour. It was so loud that I couldn’t hear the webinar I was on!!

As I went to shut the conservatory doors, Bert decided to go and play in the rain. He soon came in when he realised just how heavy it was.

The cat flap is getting a bit snug now. He might have got a little stuck in it. He’s still growing!

I was feeling rather smug under my lovely newly laid roof. Then I heard an ominous dripping sound. Fearing the worst, I tried to pinpoint it. It didn’t seem to be coming from inside. So that was a huge relief. Eventually I found it. The water was dripping in the downpipe where it’s connected to the water butt.

Guess I was the butt of that as I got wetter than Bert. And I am in no way complaining about rain. It felt so good on my skin…

Vet wrap

I am definitely embracing the ‘mend and make good’ vibes. The zip on my everyday riding boots got stuck yesterday. Tried putting some grease on it and that seemed to help.

I brought them home so I could try and fix them. Some WD-40 and a toothbrush later and I thought I had. When I got to the yard, it appeared I was mistaken in my efforts. It went completely.

I have another pair of boots – my competition boots. They live in the lorry. The only trouble was that the lorry was at home as I’d given it a good clean out today.

Ever the resourceful equestrian, I used some vet wrap to keep them together. It’s not my best look, but it did the trick.

I worked out that I’ve had these boots since 2013. I bought them with a tax rebate I got after being made redundant. They have served me very well. They are so comfortable.

I think it might be time to get some new ones though. Till then, off to the cobblers I go…