Tellytubby Hill

How to weird your horse out?! Take him on a ride down a road that has been resurfaced.

This stretch of road is near the yard. We call it Tellytubby Hill. Not a clue who came up with it but it’s apt. On one side, we have the old landfill with lots of pipes and the other a water building. You get the picture.

Anyway, I digress. It’s known to be a bit slippery. So very happy to see it’s been resurfaced. Buddy, not so much. He walked along like it felt weird underfoot. Well I guess it must have been. It looks very different too.

I could almost hear his asking if we’d been down there before. He does make me laugh sometimes. Thankfully he wasn’t bothered by all the road warning signs.

Broom broom

Oh my days, my legs were feeling the past two days this morning. I looked a bit like the love child of John Wayne and the Tin Man walking round! I wasn’t at my usual pace that’s for sure.

But then I rode for the longest I have in some time on Friday. And walked round a huge estate yesterday. Plus lots of driving. It’s kinda understandable why I’m feeling it.

I tried to pick jobs to do today that wouldn’t take much movement. One thing I did need to do was clean out the lorry from Friday. The last few times I’ve cleaned it out, I’ve gotten rather annoyed with my lorry brush. It really isn’t that effective. There’s usually a lot of huffing.

So today, I treated myself to a new lorry broom. I know! I’m just too good to myself.

It works a treat. The label made me laugh. Perfect for removing stubborn debris. Yup that could have been written about Buddy’s poo…

Indecisive

I was meant to be judging a show jumping competition today. Sadly it was cancelled due to low numbers. As I had a free day, there was so much I could have done, it took me a while to decide. In the end, I pottered about, mowed the lawn and tidied up the garden.

This afternoon, Buddy and I went out for a ride today with a pair with a combined age of 102! Pretty special huh? Buddy was so cute as he walked at Sam’s pace. Well once we got going. We headed off in one direction, then had to turn back. So made a new plan. Then changed that too.

We had a lovely wander. As the boys were so good, they got snacks on the way back. They were much more decisive!

Freaky Friday

This was the best way to finish a rather freaky Friday. A lovely ride round Blickling in the evening sunshine.

My day didn’t get off to the best of starts. I was halfway to the Chiro’s when I realised I’d left my coffee on the counter. I’m going to let you into a secret. Part of the reason I’m so positive is my first coffee of the day. Without it, I’m in a bit uncoordinated. Even more than normal!!

I popped to the shop en route and bought a jar. But the dye was cast. Managed to set the alarm off when I did arrive at work. Not totally my fault as one of the keys on the keypad wasn’t working. First time I’d set it off. And boy was it loud!!

After that, it was one thing after another. By the end of the shift, the chiro and I were both laughing at the goings on. I checked the date – definitely not Friday 13th.

Given the way the day had been going, I wasn’t sure if a trip out in the Buddymobile was wise. Thankfully, the gods were back side and it was wonderful. We haven’t been to Blicking for such a long time. It was lovely to be back. We’ll be back again soon.

Mucky puppy

Look at the sheer pleasure on Buddy’s face. He was beyond happy to get recovery mash after his hack today. Well it was a tad warm today. He was such a good boy.

Recovery mash is a little bit like crack for horses. God knows what they put in it, but he goes mad for the stuff!

I’ve learned that I have to hold the bucket. Otherwise he has a tendency to spill it everywhere. He still managed to make a mess with it. And got a lot of it all over his face.

He’s a mucky puppy sometimes. Such a happy mucky puppy though.

Ticking ‘em off

After feeling out of sorts yesterday, I was much more grounded today. And rather motivated to tick things off my to-do list.

Yesterday I also realised the tax had run out on the Comedy Car – at the end July! So got that sorted out. It made me take a look at my to-do list to see what else had fallen down it. Today, I reversed it and ticked off lots of the small, annoying things on there.

Mother Nature gave me a helping hand with a few of them. Watering the garden, cleaning my tack, washing the Comedy Car….

We got soaked on our ride, so tack cleaning was definitely needed after that. The rain helped my garden and cleaned my car. So three more ticks right there!

Anyone else add things to their list, just to tick them off?!

Candles and cakes

Day 2 of camp done. Many more poles and poos done. Massive improvements from so many riders. It was a pleasure to watch.

You really do get a different perspective from the ground. I’m finding it fascinating. I’m also getting just how much I’ve learned over the years. Well you’d like to think so after the hundreds of lessons I’ve had something’s would sink in.

Got to walk off another horse today after his lessons. The beast that is Bruno. He’s massive! But such a sweet boy.

We spent our last evening in a gazebo chatting the night away and eating cake. There are no calories at camp! The camp onesie was much needed tonight. As were the candles. They do make you feel a bit warmer. I know it’s psychological.

Poos & poles

First day of camp done. I was on poos and poles duty. So lovely watching everyone progress throughout the day. Seeing confidence boosted by great instructors.

I did have a couple of moments where I wished it had been us. Especially when the jumps went up. It will be before I know it.

I did get to put my bum in a saddle as I took Archie for a little hack to cool him off after his lesson. He’s such a dude!

Archie

Another day and another set of ears. I am a very lucky girl indeed to get the chance to ride so many different horses.

Each one makes me smile in their own way. They’re all very different. Today I got to jump Archie. He was a total dreamboat.

Reminds me that not only am I good rider. I am a confident rider too. Having only sat on him once very briefly, today I got on and popped him round a few jumps.

Took me a few jumps to work him out. And him me. I haven’t jumped a different horse for a while so I’m rather used to Buddy. Once we worked each other out, it felt so good to be jumping again.

It wasn’t that long ago that my confidence was shattered. It’s been a long road to getting back to me. I’m sure there are many silver linings to Buddy being off games. This is definitely one.

Special lady

This afternoon I had the honour of riding a very special horse. One I’ve known for a number of years but have never ridden before. So when I was offered the chance, I wasn’t passing it up.

That and it meant I got to catch up with a good friend too. It’s wonderful that people trust me with their horses. Carla and I chatted the whole way round. It was lovely to ride somewhere else too. We clearly need to catch up more regularly as we talked for another 4 hours!!

Missy was a total poppet. I understand why Martine adored her. And how special she really is. It’s clear that Carla has the same love for her. So made it even more special to be able to take her out.