Fun guy

Spotted this on our hack today. I had to double back to check it. I’m guessing it’s a mushroom of some sort.

Whatever it is, it’s huge!! The size of a human skull. And yes it might have crossed our mind…. Well Halloween is not far away.

Another little outing

Buddy and I headed over to Blickling Estate NT today to meet my friend Katie and Archie for a long hack. Felt very autumnal today as so many of the leaves are turning.

We met up with another friend Maria and her dogs on our way back as she’d come to find us.

Great to catch up with them both. Even better to have a spot of lunch in the sunshine.

I do love our little outings. I’m so grateful for the Buddymobile. I love being able to get out and about. Blickling is so beautiful. It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to ride round.

Mental Health

So here the thing that has the biggest positive effect on my mental health! And he’s completely oblivious to how much he helps me. He’s far too busy stuffing his face.

This little boy gets me out of bed on a bad day. He keeps me going when things look bleak. He motivates me to work hard. He’s made so many of my dreams come true. He makes my heart melt. He makes me smile.

And because of him, I’ve met so many amazing people, had some incredible experiences and made memories I’ll never forget.

Wind assisted

I had a rather windy lesson today. It was hard to hear Lewis at times. Thankfully Buddy wasn’t too bothered by it. Well for the most part.

I’ve entered some Arena Eventing so today we jumped a mix of show jumps and more XC style ones. He set up a corner and some cool lines.

Couple of interesting moments. Particularly when the green astroturf flapped while we were jumping a rather large oxer. I definitely got impulsion! Perhaps we need to wind assisted more often!

Testing times

The world feels rather odd again. Lots of uncertainty about. Changes afoot. And confusion around. I’m getting used to it as it feels like a bit of an undertone for the past few years.

The parental tag-team is on again. My Dad is poorly at the moment. So all healing vibes gratefully received.

One thing that never changes is the smile Buddy puts on my face. Especially after popping some jumps in the Autumn sunshine.

Shedding season

And so it begins! Buddy’s summer coat has blown. Spent ages grooming him today and there’s still a ton more to come out. He is officially moulting. Which means it won’t be long till he needs clipping.

I’m going to go through his rugs this weekend and work out what’s what. Last winter he trashed a few so not sure what’s good and what needs fixing. Good job I’m handy with a sewing needle.

There’s something very satisfying about fixing something. And stripping his coat. Reckon I’ve got enough to stuff a small cushion.

I miss shoe

Now I’m no farrier, but I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be on your hoof Buddy. He pull this off doing his pre-lorry warm up, which included laps of his field and throwing some rather interesting shapes.

It did mean that we headed over to High Ash this morning with 3 shoes.

Thankfully it came off cleanly and my farrier was able to come and put it back on again this afternoon. So that was good.

I see ewe

Another first for us today as we took a trip over to Ickworth Park for a XC lesson. My sat nav decided to take us on the most convoluted route possible and right through the middle of Bury Sy Edmunds. That got a few looks from passers-by I can tell you.

Arrived later than planned so had to do a speedy tack up and get on. Good job I can tack up fast!

Once onboard, we headed out to our lesson. Buddy was a bit eyes on stalks to start off with. But soon got into the swing of things. Thankfully he doesn’t have an issue with sheep. Cause they were everywhere!!

After a steady warm up, and a stirrup length adjustment, we headed out onto the course proper. Something clicked! And I don’t mean my back. The new strirrup length meant I could get my leg on and control the canter so much better.

There was lots to look at. And the sheep were another obstacle at times. But I really felt like we got our XC mojo back!

Came back with the biggest smile on my face!

Friday feeling

Well this is a view I haven’t had for a while. I’ve been so busy recently that it feels like ages since we went out for a hack round Strumpshaw. It was much needed indeed.

We even had a cheeky canter as the ground is perfect at the moment. That’s something we haven’t been able to do for ages either as the ground has been too hard. If the rain continues, it’ll be too slippery.

Honestly, people wonder why us Brits are obsessed with the weather. It’s cause its so changeable. At this time of year, it feels like four seasons in one day. It’s definitely four outfits too as I feel like I’m layering on and off.

Burning calories

Back home after another fab BHS Clinic at Forest Edge. One night in the lorry, two lessons with Jo Winfield and lots of lightbulb moments.

It was blissfully quiet and relaxed. I’m so glad we decided to stay last night. Buddy had a very good night judging by the amount of shavings on his rug. I had a cozy night too. I love sleeping in my little lorry.

We both worked hard in our lessons today. Buddy had to work even harder in our jumping lesson with some bending lines. We were also working on the quality of his canter between jumps. He was ravenous afterwards. He burnt a lot of calories it seems.