Welcome to blog! I started it in 2020 to chart my recovery from breaking my ankle (hence the name). I guess no-one saw a global pandemic coming. It's turned into a place where I can talk about the things happening in my life, my horse and my cats. Enjoy!
So today we found out that a seagull is better than a canary! My two teams were drawn in the FA Cup so only right that I pop along to Carrow Road to watch the match. One of those lovely matches where I didn’t mind who won.
It was a bit of a one sided affair, with Brighton proving to be the much better team. Very grateful I wore my Equidry. It was rather cold. Not much opportunity to jump up and down either. I felt it might be frowned upon to celebrate Brighton’s 4 goals…
If Bert had a star chart, he would have added a lot to it today. Not only did he ace his lorry dog training, he also completed his Puppy Pre-School. What a clever boy.
I had to take a horse to the vets in Newmarket (not Buddy). Bert came along for the outing as we didn’t know how long it would take. He sat on my friend’s lap, watching the road go by, before crashing out on her.
He waited in the lorry while the investigations took place. He went for a nice walk round the grounds. And even sat patiently in the waiting room. Before sleeping most of the way home. He was a very good boy indeed.
Then tonight, he went to his final Puppy Pre-School session. It’s making the difference in from the first session to now. Though he was still running about like Superman with a hi viz cape on. Not quite the exercise. That was to desensitise him to having stuff on. Not sure he even noticed he was wearing it!
I had a chat with one of the ‘new puppy parents’. They took a lot of comfort from hearing Bert’s progression through the weeks. They’re in the ‘we seem to have gotten a piranha that never sleeps’ stage.
Bert starts Puppy School proper on Saturday. He’s got such a good brain on him… well when he’s not distracted or over stimulated. He’s such a darling, he really is.
Wow! I’ve just realised that I’ve been writing this blog for 5 years!
I started it as a safe space for me to talk about how I was feeling, to chart my recovery from a badly broken ankle and generally share my musings.
Has it been the roaring success I’d hoped for? No. Have I enjoyed writing it? Yes. Will I continued? Why not!
Thanks to everyone who’s commented, liked or shared it.
Here’s to the next year!
Well my self-imposed saddle pad ban has held firm for a while now. Then they had a sale…. And my resolve waivered.
So Buddy is the proud owner of two new saddle pads. One in Kiwi and one in Sage. In my defence. He has got a couple of pads that have seen better days. So these will replace those.
I can’t wait to put them on him. I think he’s going to look very smart indeed! Just need the weather to improve so I can actually take him somewhere now.
I took Bert for a walk through some ancient woods this morning. I’d forgotten how beautiful they are. Even more beautiful in the winter sunshine.
After the grey skies, clouds and fog of the past few weeks, this made a wonderful change.
These woods used to be privately owned, but were bought with donations and put in trust to preserve them. That makes me heart swell. So much of our beautiful woodlands and countryside are being lost. Knowing this will be kept for future generations is great.
These woods were on one of my lockdown walks. It seems such a long time ago that I used to walk miles to keep my head from imploding with it all. Now I have Bert, I can see I will need to rediscover some of the routes again.
Think I might need to invest in some decent walking boots…
Super sub was called into action today. The receptionist at the Chiro’s has been poorly, so I went in to cover the desk for her. I didn’t want to leave Bert that long, so he came with me. His first day’s work.
He was a really good boy. There’s a treatment room at the back where one of the other therapists brings her dog in. So was already set up. Bert got lots of visits and a few visitors. Bless him.
He waited patiently in the car afterwards while I got the results of my recent health check. Gold star to me it seems. The nurse was very surprised at how good my results were. For my age. That does make me laugh. She said whatever I’m doing, keep doing it!
Apparently I’m very low risk for diabetes, heart attack or stroke. Can’t say I understand it. But there were lots of positives judging by how excited the nurse was about my results. She said I’m one of the rare ones.
Bert’s crashed out now. Tough gig this working lark. And yes, he got his pay in treats of course.
Someone was very pleased with himself. I swear he’s part-womble! He had a whale of a time ripping this box up. He was tearing round the house too.
I have now nicknamed him ‘The Dark Destroyer’. Judging by the way he was throwing himself about, he clearly sees a future as a WWE star. And now he has the name sorted…
This is what happens when you try to take a photo of your horse standing next to Santa. Buddy knocked him over.
We had a lot of fun at the yard today with a spot of ‘pony club games / Le Trec’. Buddy aced the obstacles. He’s a pro at it now. He even acted as ‘emotional support pony’ for some of the newer liveries who haven’t experienced our yard games before.
Anything to make winter a little bit more fun..
This made me laugh a little too hard.
I claimed 2020 was going to be my year. I broke my ankle on 2 January. Badly. Oh and let’s not forget the global pandemic. Amongst other things like my Mum nearly dying of the bloody virus!
I claimed 2021 was going to be my year. Then I ended up in hospital with Covid. Yup Santa was uber generous! I started the year on ‘house arrest’.
I kinda gave up after that for obvious reasons…
But in the spirit of positivity, they weren’t all bad. There were so many good things that happened in those years too. And every year. Like the song says, life is a rollercoaster, you just got to ride it.
Sure I’d love a great year. One with less drama, heartache and angst. It’s true that you can’t always change the things that happen. You can change how you view them… and while I’m not claiming it as my year. I am claiming my ability to view this year as a good one – whatever happens.
In preparation for the ‘big freeze’, I broke out Buddy’s ‘big coat’. Of course, it will now be much milder than they’re forecasting.
My ‘big coat’ was called into action too. First to take Bert for a walk. I did wait till the sleet had stopped. Then again to lunge Buddy over some raised poles. I say over, he nearly fell over them! Poles on the ground or raised are definitely something we need to work on. And when I say we…
Tales, Tails and Talus 