Today saw the return of my
ear warmers, ear flaps or hat sideburns. I’m sure there’s a proper name for them, but damned if I know what it is. 😂

They kept my ears nice and toasty. Needed them too as I was a tad damp when I rode. It seems Buddy isn’t the only one who needs ears.

So it was bound to happen. Today I had my first awkward customer on the till. Apparently she’s a regular and has form.

First time I’ve been called a ‘nonce’ before too. That’s a new one on me. Most definitely her stuff!

Anni and I decided to do a spot of indoor hacking today as it was a tad damp. It had been a while since we’ve ridden together so it was good to catch up. We didn’t stop talking. Buddy and Frankie were very happy to catch up too. Not sure they got a word in though.

I’ve been finishing late so I haven’t been able to get down to see Buddy. I was determined to see my little boy today. I’ve missed his face. We had a lunge / play session. Just me and him together. Alone. Just what I needed after a busy day on the till.

So I’m almost officially branded. Got a temporary badge till mine arrives.

I have my first mini appraisal about how I’m doing today as well. Apparently they observe you without you knowing. One of the checkout managers said I passed with flying colours.

It seems I’m great with the customers. One lady actually went to give feedback on me as she was so impressed with how I was with her. How lovely is that?!

Only downside is that my back is aching from sitting on the till. Hoping it will help with my dressage as I have to sit quite upright. Always a silver lining.

Got home from Tesco to find this on the lounge floor. Took me a while to work out what it was. Pretty sure this bulb should be in the ground. Not a clue which one of my cats brought it in.

Second shift went well. Slight issue in that they missed me from lunch break so it was 3:30pm before I got to have a break. I’d done 5.5 hours straight at that point. My bladder was protesting at this stage some what I can tell you. Thankfully the only accident was a bag of exploding pasta!

When you get to the yard and find your horse is sporting a new look. The yard has been painted and it looked like Buddy had decided to check it and rubbed himself on it. He managed to get some on his bridle too while I was tacking him up!

Didn’t stop us having a lovely hack in the sunshine.

It’s been another chilly day with lots of meetings. So having a chilled out evening on the sofa with 3 of my boys (Buddy hasn’t made it to the sofa). This is the face of one very contented little boy. It’s a purrfest right now.

I’ve been lacking a little bit of motivation when it comes to my training of Buddy. With so much being cancelled, I’ve lost my competition mojo somewhat. It’s hard to keep focused when you don’t have any goals or things to aim for.

I miss competing. I know it’s not for everyone. For me it’s a good way of tracking our progress.

So I took my own advice and broke out the jumping books to find some exercises to try. Came up with this! It worked really well and definitely helped up to keep focused and work on our turns.