molly's mum

Queenie; I saw her today; i should say, i do still own her, she's in retirement about 30 miles away and i see here when the person who has her is there (she often works weekends and so often when I go up to pay her keep i have to go there, not to the farm). I'm not sure she's going to do next winter. I'd been getting good reports through the winter, one person apparently thought she was about 10 years younger then her present 25 and in foal ... but when I saw her today I'm not at all convinced. She seemed to have lost a bit of condition, which she hasn't in the past (always did herself well!). I'll pay more attention over the summer; where she is, is very good, I trust the people implicitly, i think it's one of those things where if you see the horse all the time any changes creep up on you where if you don't, the change hits you in the eye immediately.

Anyway, I'll post some pictures later when i've got them off the camera.

As for Molly - i did more than I'd expected, jackie was riding out up to one of the other yards on the estate which has a much better arena than ours so I went up with her. Molly wasn't wholly impressed - fair enough really, new place, new route to get there, jumps in the middle, etc. Spent a fair amount of time throwing her head about! But i think, i wasn't at all helping her. the stirrups were even this time. But i've decided to go back to the original flat panels, not the new style moulded panels that i'd put in. I very much felt as though these panels were tipping me forward, and that's no good! Also, I think the stirrup leathers have stretched!

But i was nontheless pleased by the finish; and Molly was striding on along the road going back (she does like a tarmac road! and it's good for her feet).