Educational

Today has been a very educational one for Buddy, Bert and me. We headed over to Forest Edge for a BHS Clinic being run there. I haven’t been there for a while, it felt so good to be back. It was Bert’s first trip. He loved having zoomies in the forest.

Buddy thankfully didn’t have any zoomies in the arena. Lots of lightbulb moments in our two lessons. Bert slept in the Buddymobile while I was riding. He’s really getting the hang of it all. Good job too as it’s 6 weeks till camp.

Buddy was on top form too. He’s come back from his injury so much softer. It was lovely to catch up with everyone. It’s such a happy place for me.

Frostbite

My goodness the wind has some bite to it today. I couldn’t feel my face by the time we’d finished our walk. Bert was on top form! He was having a blast chasing the leaves as they swirled about.

He really does make me laugh. He been in full Spaniel-mode the past few days on our walks. It’s wonderful to see his exuberance.

He got a few more admirers today. We had two trips to the same venue. First for breakfast, then back again later for coffee. He was introduced to sausages. Let’s just say he’s a big fan! Well there has to be perks to going out. Thankfully, Spaniel-mode is switched off when we’re out. Well for the most part…

Orangery

A new venue for me today. The Orangery Tea Room at Ketteringham Hall. Wow! Talk about stunning. I was so born in the wrong era?! I could imagine myself walking along the lake in some oversized dress. Very lady of the Manor. Oh who am I kidding?! I’d be on a horse somewhere probably breaking some rule or other. I definitely wouldn’t be below stairs. We know how good I am at cooking and cleaning. I’d be fired in a week!

I must admit, I was slightly nervous of going to an Orangery. The last thing I really wanted to do was eat in an oversized conservatory in the heat. Needn’t have worried, we were outside.

Lovely food, lovely company and very lovely setting.

I did end up in an oversized conservatory as I had time to kill between appointments. So I ended up popping onto the Rose Nursery. The smell was heady. Might have bought a new rose. Well it was called Agatha Christie. There’ll be no mystery where she ends up in my garden…

Cloister

I went to a wedding today. It was held in Norwich Castle. I love a castle. And Norwich Castle is pretty special. So that was rather cool. Ironically it was like the bowls of Vesuvius inside.

But the venue for the reception topped it though! It was held at The Great Hospital on Bishopsgate.

I had no idea it was there. My gosh it’s stunning. They have the smallest cloister in England. It seems I love a cloister. It was like something from Harry Potter.

Originally built in 13th century for retired clergy and church staff, it’s now sheltered housing. Still run by a charity, it’s got great event spaces. The food was lush. The staff on point. The downside to being in Events is that you can see things others don’t. This was wonderful.

I took so many photos of the grounds and buildings. Just stunning.

Jump for joy

Well that’s it, we did our last clinic of 2023. And it was a really good one! I wasn’t sure if we were going to make it when I woke up feeling pretty rotten.

Dosed myself up, downed a few medicinal lucozades and headed off feeling more human. Thankfully Buddy was feeling rather fine.

We haven’t been to Anvil for a while and the pigs were back by the Arena. Buddy does make me laugh. He’s scared of a pigeon, but give him a field of large loud pigs and he’s like ‘got it Mother’. He even ended up being an emotional support pony for the 5 year old mare who we were sharing the lesson with. She wasn’t happy about the pigs. But Buddy soon reassured her.

It’s been a while since we had a lesson with Simon too. We finished the session popping over some meaty metre jumps. A fabulous way to end our 2023 training. We’ve come such a long way. I’m excited about what 2024 will bring.

Wilting

Headed over to Mousehold Farm for a jumping clinic this evening.

We haven’t been out jumping since Hickstead, so we were a little ring rusty. Buddy was full of it too. Still we jumped everything. And once I realised that I was getting ahead of the movement and changed my position, we left them all up. Funny how your horse can jump better when you stay out of his way.

For an English Rose who wilts in the heat, I was questioning if jumping tonight was a good idea. But it was cooler than I thought it would be. We were still a tad warm afterwards. There was lots to like and another new venue for us.