now here's a thing

clipped yesterday as you know. it was so warm she went out rugless (and I didn't need my jacket to muck out, which is a balance - keep my top half clean from horse things, as i have the work shirt on, but not get hot and sweaty). and when i got back tonight, she felt warmer down her neck than she had prior to being clipped. So i reckon there's a thing there about being too warm and thus feeling cold....

anyway, i tried to finish the face off (at least made it a load tidier!) but it'll all have to wait to the weekend for some daylight now.

felt sure it was going to rain - kept spitting on and off on the way home and was forecast - so decided not to do anything work wise with her. and of course, by the time i'm on my way home there's no sign of rain... ah well.

Muriel, yes I think the myler combi has a lot to do with it. She can't set her jaw (although she can set her body if she really wants to....) which means it's much easier to get direction and softness.

clipped

I got off work early (dental appointment) so was at the yard with plenty of time before it got dark, and wahl pro trimmers - which i rather thought would do the clip I wanted, the girth area & between the legs, up to the wither then neck/face - and they did. Ran out of battery before i got the face done, and some tidying up needed, but considering that's the first time i've ever clipped a horse myself (in the past other people have done it for me - even when it's the clippers I own a share in!) i was very pleased. Molly is very good about being clipped - had a haynet in front of her, and got through two slices of haylage whilst i was doing it - but not bothered in the slightest. unlike her mother, who was a total pain, especially regarding the girth/between the legs. People were amazed i was able to do that clip with those trimmers (which is what they are sold as) but they're pretty substantial compared to many other brands of tiddly trimmers, and whilst not a full width blade, plenty wide enough, and much easier to get to the fiddly bits.

And then she was ridden.

bearing in mind that in the past we've struggled with small circles, i was very pleased that we did one of my favourite warm up/suppling exercises (well as taught by Marji armstrong, actually .. works though) which is round the arena in 10 metre circles - you do 1 1/2 right, then 1 1/2 left, and so on until you get round the arena again. not perfect circles by any means, but no argument about them, no attempts to not go the way i indicated, no stress head..

Oh, and I did leave the schooling whip on top of the wall in the arena, so I was able to get on first time of asking no trouble, so that was good as well. must remember that one!

it's not that dark

honest, not when there's lights in the arena! everyone else was away home, but i decided 15 minutes ground work would be a good plan...after I'd helped Kirsty get her hay in, had arrived really late (think she'd given up on it as she came back in her best kit! when i rang to say it had arrived).

Really good molly already being in when i get there, saves a load of time. It's amazing how much they can eat in a short time though!!!!

pictures from google earth:

close in on the shot you want to capture, then file/save/save image, and it saves it as a jpeg wherever you tell it...

20 acre

The yard is slightly to the right of centre towards the bottom of the picture, and the line running bottom right to top left is the River Wear; the 20 acre is the field alongside the river, so i went this mornign as far as the white line running at right angles to the wear. the ford that i sometimes mention is off to the left of the picture hidden by trees...not the top left corner though, we don't ford the wear, only a small stream!

out on our own!!!!

Not very far, it is true - but I managed to get molly down the hill and half way round the 20 acre, i was very pleased. I think what decided her against going further was the pheasant sitting on the log at the half way point - either that, or the sudden realisation that she was in fact on her own! she had thought about not going at all, but didn't turn round, so I tapped her with the stick and down we went.

when we came back i did try to go the other way under the willow, but she wasn't having that.....so we went back to the arena and practiced our trot circles etc which are improving.

and I worked out why she was heavy in my hand yesterday - i'd put the reins on the wrong ring, oops. Sorted that.

I was impressed to be able to ride at all - raining when i left the house, no one else was, groomed and put the saddle on and then had a cup of tea and could see it was clearing, so mucked out round her whilst the weather cleared some more. Turned into a gorgeous day, for the little we did she was very warm, out without rug, glorious sunshine,

the whole day was spoilt by the fact that I'm having to have coffee now - there was enough milk for me to have my tea when i came home, when i left; came home, brewed a pot whilst toast toasted and i cleared & refilled dishwasher, toast ready, poured tea - no milk! AARGH. by which time partner had left .. and is going to the shops and won't have registered that milk is required....
a
ah well, it's been a good day so far and its only 11 am - the joys of the clocks going back to GMT!

barefoot

i've been thinking lately about this...

Molly has been barefoot for ages (only had shoes on for 6 months, then took them off againn, since I had her, and it was years before that since she'd been shod).

She doesn't get white line disease. She doesn't get thrush. She hasn't had any abcesses (touching wood as I type).

she's trimmed by the farrier every few weeks.

I don't wash her feet out every day or whatever....

You all know the work she does (granted, not huge amounts!)

Anyway, I spend a lot of time reading other forums and what other people seem to struggle with. White Line disease, thrush, abcesses; and i get the feeling they get trimmed more often than Molly does.

Do other people do too much? is this not a less is more situation? bearing in mind that as the horse moves, the hoof is getting worn, and there's a balance to be struck between the amount of growth/amount of wear - if the work/growth balance is right then hardly any trim would really be needed, just tidy ups...

anyway, what do people think?

And I wonder

farrier & shooting

the farrier was late - i rather think he'd put the appointment in his diary for 1/2 hour later than i'd put it in mine! Molly was pretty good - she'll never pick her near hind up for me, because she doesn't like putting the extra weight on the off, i think, but does for him, probably because he's stronger! He's doing a dissertation and wants photos of molly's feet - something about using her as a control to compare with shod horses, i think

Shooting - it's a shooting estate, and today was a shoot day, they were very near the yard, down on the 20 acre, and one girl from another yard hadn't realised and ended up having to get off and lead! I tried to get molly to go with her (we were ready to ride by then) but the gate was the failing, she wouldn't go through it of course - so back in the arena. Molly actually felt quite heavy in my hand today, which she hasn't since i put the myler combi in, so i don't know what that's about - probably stretched leather on the cheek pieces, will probably have to use the pony bridle in its entirety with the full size browband

But we did an awful lot of trot today. My position in trot was huge amounts better - i was rising pretty correctly, which i haven't done for ages as consistently as i was today - and we did a load of circles and stuff. Molly didn't get any lighter though, although she was listening more. so a mixed day there..

tomorrow should be able to go out with the others...

friday night....

and i still had to muck out, as had to take partner to drop her car off as well this morning.... and am knackered (all these 0600 starts, Caroline!) - so mucked out and fed. Farrier to trim feet in the morning, so I'll miss the hack out with the others - might try and see what she'll do on her own after last week's minor success!

don't quite think we'll get a light on the bridle muriel, and olympic sports? perhaps not!

longlining in the dark

was vaguely successful; she was really moving on and i was at one point worried i'd lose her, but i didn't. not sure that the myler combi is the right one for that job, just didn't look right in her mouth .. but ok for the purpose tonight and worth trying. and we finished with a walk right round the outside of the arena, which was good as last time we tried that she wasn't having any of it. and must be warming up as i ended up quite warm (although that might be trying to keep up with her!)

muck boots

are the warmest things on the planet (well, this neck of it, anyway....) and the riding style ones went in the car this morning.

so i rode tonight, and was quite pleased overall. didn't do huge amoutns, only about 25 minutes, but i was getting some active walk, and the circles were ok, and we had some nice trot as well that grew out of the walk (although i wasn't so clever!) and people thought i was "brave" to ride in teh dark (we do have lights in the arena!)

the most difficult bit was getting on, had to have help, but i can let her off a bit - it was dark by the mounting block, there was a rock in the way, i was trying not to fall down the hole in the middle of it, and i had my stick ( i wonder if i shoudl put the stick on top of the wall in the arena and pick it up once i'm there? schooling stick ... ) which she usually takes as a cue to move on ....plus of course she's had a couple of days of in fed and not working!

really really clear

and really really cold.

I'd rashly not dug out my warm winter long riding boots. So there was NO Way i was going to put my thin cotton socked feet into my leather riding boots ..

will remember to put them in the car tomorrow.

and got home to no heating - it's died! ggrrhh. hopefully someone can come on friday, partner's off work that day.

and molly did remember the thing this morning, went past it without a problem! so did everything else, so whether it was the lesson or the fact that it wasnt' new any more is another matter. but getting her into the field with brookie & portia standing in the way in the dark wasn't so clever..

more bogies

but this time they were items that the estate workers had left nicely positioned to spook horses being brought in from the field = the fact that the horses will have watched the workers put the items there being completely not the point, of course! one white object that on closer inspection might be a section of corrugated roof, and one large tank, made of green plastic and still with it's labels on - possibly for heating oil.

ME go past THAT, said molly tanking off backwards on the end of the lunge line (i use that to get her out of the field as there's no space to turn round ...). much snorting, sidling etc later, she consented to go past when she realised it wasn't coming after her. She wasn't the only horse who took that view of those objects either!

so when i'd groomed, i decided rather than ride, some ground work followed by some familiarisation with said object would be a good idea (had i ridden back to the arena, she would have spotted the objects again ....)

so that was what we did. eventually she was right up close to it and not a problem.

Mind, you can guarantee she'll have forgotten about them time she goes out in the morning (last night, she decided she wasn't going to be dragged away from her hay into the cold, rugged or otherwise....so she's in nights now). So I'm up at 0600 for the foreseeable...(till April, probably ....)

much better....

Molly actually was in front as we set off under the bogy willow, and stayed there past the house... blocked a bit further along the lane, prettymuch the same place as yesterday, but took a lead from the others (and then regretted it, I think, as they don't walk as quickly as she does!).

Then once we were through the ford, Molly & I took the lead and stayed there ..... hard to slow her down so the others could catch up!

all in walk, up to the riding school and back down along the road and home.

one scary moment - there's a dip with a farm house and livery yard on the left at the top as you go down - a dog ran from the house across his garden to the fence line, not barking, but there ... i saw him and told everyone, but that didn't stop Blake behind us having a bit of a moment ... all the dog was doing was just standing there wagging his tail, but behind the hedge so all you could see, and then only if you looked hard, was his legs.... but there was a car coming up the hill towards us! it stopped, happily and we went on.

I did carry my stick, which may well have help substantially!

but it was below 0 when Igot there about 0830 .... the sun's up now and it was warm in the field when I left, but when I got molly in she wasn't warm even under her rug!

I'm thinking I might just start bringing her in tonight. Think she's about ready and won't argue about it at all! I did want to keep her out another week .... if I do that, I'll have to go down mornings anyway to change rug, as it's not getting out nice until after I time i would be at work anyway ... so difficult.

but was very pleased about this morning....

cold/hot/cold

day started well - hairdressers, sold old GP saddle, breakfast, then to Hexham, there was a continental fair (huge queue for the bakers stall, they'd brought their own oven, i joined it!), eventually got home and had a french lunch (demi baguette, pate campagne - mind, english cheese!) (We also bought some italian dried sausage for partner, croissants, ciabatta, tarte au pommes, tarte framboise, belgian chocolate macaroons....and some kielder organic meat, for a local touch!)then went to see Molly.

Bear in mind it was freezing all night, and very very cold until about 1 pm - of course, she should have had her rug taken off at about 12 noon ..... only to be put back on when i turned her out about 5! can't win

but she certainly does need a clip!

and as for riding her? well, i was on for an hour. she didn't want to move in the arena (will have to get into habit of carrying schooling whip, just the carrying of it is motivating!); woudlnt' go to the 20 acre (despite my praising the forward steps ....)

young emily on katie offered to give me a lead along the track, and we got under the bogie willow and along past the house, but she got her eye on something - we'll never know what! - and wasn't going further forward.

she can't set her jaw - doesn't stop her setting everything else, though!

maybe a stick when out as well? sometimes i do, sometimes i don't.

anyway, ride out in the morning with the others and see how we do....

friday night

and as usual, knackered - had to have a black coffee this afternoon! mind, had got most of the way to our other office when my mobile rang (handsfree, so no telling off ) reception saying the client had cancelled.... duh. wasted an entire hour of the afternoon.

ana, i imagine people do groom every time before they get on if their horses are out all winter - i reckon, the main point of a rug is to keep the mud off most parts of the horse!

molly will be coming in next weekend for the winter - then she'll be out roughly 0630 - 1800

I've been thining this week - what with it being very cold, and getting very dark - that really i can't work her too hard at night now unless she is in, because i can't turn her out sweaty, of course.

She'll get clipped probably in november some time - just from the back of the girth forward and then up to the poll and half her face!

so i don't know what i'll do next week; it's compulsory they're in overnight from next saturday and i want to keep her out until then (if only to maximise the length of time i don't have to get up at 0600....!)

cooooold

as cold as december should be! hard frost on the cars this morning.....

so we just did 10 minutes groundwork.

she isn't arguing to stay in yet (but is rugged of course!).

at last

and just to totally p. me off, she was an angel.

i put the pressure halter on as well, in case... it may be that that made her behave, or it may be that kirsty did the deed .. whatever, she's now had her double dose strongid p. next one we'll do the same way (equest in november, and they have to stay in 2 days....).

all of which would be all very well if anyone picked the poo up - i've never been on a yard that does...and would have thought it would have been worth the estate's while tp get one of those things that hoover it all up...

and it's really cold. think it'll be not long before molly insists on being in, but hopefully not until the end of the month when they all have to be. at least i'm doing better than last year for that!

well

i'm going to the store for more wormer on the way home tomorrow, she'll get it straight in her mouth/down her throat and hope we don't get it all over..

no not powder ... tube of paste/goo....

priority for the week is to get that into her.... so there won't be much riding getting done, as i have to have help for the task, and then you can guarantee it'll rain the following ...

she's rugged it's gone really cold and she felt cool when i brought her in - warmed up in the stable, but it's very sheltered and the warmest place in the entire yard! - but worth light rugging. i needed to put my fleece under my jacket! this is possibly because i had been in a warm car .. but it was only 10 degrees C and getting colder...

would it or would it not?

rain, that is.

it was starting to as i pulled into the yard.

got molly in; tried to feed her - it stopped raining - spent ages trying to get her to eat her tea (wormer... she's usually good about eating her tea with wormer in, but not tonight) - rained again by the time i was leaving.

think it's going to be like that all night.

molly is going to have to eat tomorrow what she didn't eat today - and if that doesn't work i shall have to buy more worker and get some help to put it down her throat, which is always a pain...

good and bad

Good, in terms of some of the work we were doing in the arena.

Bad in that she still doesn't want to go out on her own.

I was getting some nice trot coming on when a very tiny fly landed splat in the corner of my left eye! had to stop whilst I took my glove off and got it out, which rather buggered us up.

and some walking over poles.

Not enough space - or poles - for the exercises suggested in the "100 exercises" book .. but walking over three poles did help!

not sure how much more contact i should take up = or to put it another way, how much, if any, shorter I should have my reins. will have to think about that.

but she was generally soft, generally listening (except when i tried to go out!) and generally very good.

will have to remember to take dressage stick with me.

and I wish i could remember to not try so hard, it's amazing how one tenses up when trying...

oh, and must remember to do more work without stirrups before doing anything else ... my position was of course a lot better after that!

will i regret this?

a wagon - 3 horse & living - D reg - £500 and the ramp needs mending - from my friend. they'd given it away to some neighbours who'd helped them out loads and whose daughter helped them mucking out etc; neighbour fell out with them and returned it needing a new ramp, and mucking out - friends don't need it as they have a much newer one - it starts, everything works, taxed to December. I'd be able to take molly to RI's for lessons, to e.g. an EE teacher for lessons, to friends to ride, we'd be able to go places from the yard....and if it's not a good idea I could sell it again without losing money, i would have thought....

yup, reckon i have the key

to Molly's mouth.

Went out along the track. she tried 3 times before the ford to nap back, and failed because she could not set her jaw. She tried to nap into the 20 acre as we got to that entrance, which is just before the ford, and failed again with much less grief than usual, as she could not set her jaw. and again not long after the ford.

So it turned into the nicest ride out I've ever had on her as she could not set her jaw, was huge amounts softer - i was so pleased.

it was all just walk work, but that was the point. we avoided all gates as I wanted to avoid anything that would stress her out in any way

Next time we'll go further, a different way ...

Unfortunately, that is unlikely to be tomorrow as riding partner won't be riding tomorrow - although you never know, might catch someone else going out later..

and now she can't set, i stand a huge amount better chance of getting out on my own as well....

tyne at night

i should have taken some photos but ran out of time - parking @ 80 p an hour, even after 6 pm!

anyway, we're planning another ride out tomorrow with Julie, so hopefully we actually get somewhere this time! we WON'T set off round the 20 acre, though ....

have i found the key?

myler combi. put it in (with the shorter cheek pieces of course.). she didn't argue with it in the stable. I got on; she stood llike a lamb. I went to the arena on a very long rein and walked round slowly picking up a contact (although not as short a rein as RI would have me use!).

for direction, close the hand, little finger.

we got lots of nice walk, we got circles, we got a halt - all with no resistance in the jaw. I could feel that she was softer. i was also told that she looked more relaxed.

so watch this space (but not tomorrow .... i'm going to the baltic for a bit of a do.....)

now work this one out

I wanted some pony cheek pieces so as to be able to fit a bit (myler combi).

you'd have thought cheek pieces would be cheaper than bridle.

not a bit of it - it was cheaper to buy a complete pony bridle, with rubber reins (Kincade) that it was to buy cheek pieces. Not by a lot, but cheaper. but the cheek pieces off it will do the job

so I'll be selling some rubber reins on eBay fairly soon.

should have worked Molly tonight - what with one thing and another she's done not a lot this week - but my IBS had been building up this week (must go back to more salads...) and really didn't think riding was a good idea for me...

hopefully I'll be a good bit better tomorrow, as I'm not at the office, I'm on a course in Newcastle (mind, wrestling with that traffic won't be clever, might be worth not having a huge lie in!).

roger mcgough

If you ever get the chance to see him, do so. Very Very funny! hasn't lost anything with the passage of time (and those of you who say "who he" get "nul points"!)

it's been raining since the middle of last night, as forecast!

rug on

because it's forecast to drop huge quantities of rain on us ... not because she'll get cold at the temperature it is,but she'll get cold if wet.... so in a way hope it does rain as i would hate to think i'd left her to overheat ....

bit of groundwork tonight, but i found i really didn't want to do anything much; had been a busy day, one of those days that flies by before you realise it...

ulcers

contributing to the debate on ulcers, andn posting here rather than commenting on 3 blogs separately - I've just been reading September's Horses for Life, and found this article - very technical, but if anyone is subscribed to it worth a read

well that wasn't so good

a mixed bag of an afternoon. friend turned up = but her group went to the other half of the estate first!

I did a load of work, in the arena, leave the arena, through the yard, back, go where i want. no napping back to the stable, which was something, but several "i'm not going through the yard". did TRY to get up the side of the geldings field,but no chance

anyway, eventually - been on over an hour - got off and fed her; friend and group she was with were heading our way, but i was SO pleased i wasn't with them.... it was in fact a fast hack with loads of jumping, wouldn't have been happy with that at all...

and then had to wait for friend to get back to her wagon as she was to sort something out with molly for me that she knew & I didn't, and she had some stuff of mine to give me back....

so wasted a lot of time.

and my hole punch, when i was trying to get it working, bashed a hole in the back of my hand, and won't work anyway

and it finally stopped raining when i got home...

Well that's working then...

Once I got on! had to have a hand with that .....

anyway, got her walking round at a good brisk pace, made sure I did the corners - didn't, i have to say, pull my hand back to my hip! but did ensure I gave a definite aid with my inside hand when i wanted her to turn.

Also, instead of just keeping a small circle going - as that was the real stressor on Thursday - put 10 metre circles in at various places round the arena - B, E, a corner, C, in the middle having let her think we were changing rein - like that...

She only set her jaw against me once in about 1/2 hour (although it might have been a bit longer, despite having my watch on i lost track a bit!) and I was really pleased. did a little bit of trot as well, but nearly all in walk.

not ONE headshake...

maybe she's getting it? maybe I'm getting it?

It was very warm as well, which was good...

now let's hope she behaves tomorrow - friends supposed to be coming up with her partner & their horses, and another friend, and we're supposed to be riding out with them. Mind, last time she was coming up it didn't happen, but this time someone else has organised it, so it might!!!!

River Tees

but firstly reflections further on last night.

Caroline, I do agree in many (if not most!) respects, and did in fact say I had been working on keeping my hands/fingers right and only moving the little finger in to turn her head slightly etc.....On the other hand, it was also keeping my hand up, when I've had too much of a tendency to keep them low thus pulling myself forwards a bit more than I should be ..... and, as Jean suggested, it was also about keeping her/getting her to be straight; AND to get her hindquarters through and under (it certainly succeeded in that, we almost had piaffe never mind passage with the tantrums!). And yes, that is a very interesting way of getting straightness, but since she wasn't listening to me at all previously (well, she had started to, but then I would end up with her "planting" and setting against me anyway) and we did end up with sideways that I haven't been able to get to at all before! ....RI knows how I do want to end up.

As I said, I can see where the pelham would be of major assistance here, but RI doesn't I don't think appreciate that side of the pelham's use, or at least hasn't admitted to doing so ... interesting contrast between her take on it and Alison where I keep Queenie......we're all the same generation as well. Anyway, will debate that with her another time. I have a Myler combination waiting to be tried, once my friend has shown me how to fit it, and I've a feeling that that might be sufficient to do the needful

For now, she's been teaching me for a long time, and did the same Marji Armstrong clinic that I did (it was on her yard!) so knows that I really liked that (and my balance etc is hugely better now than it was then, and I now have a much better feel for what my seatbones/body should be doing ...

RI says she'd be inclined to lunge the socks off Molly - but since that was always a major issue, I disagree and will continue with rope circling and longlining. Much easier to get what I want, and I think longlining will do her more good for now.

RI has been teaching me on and off for about 17 years now, so knows me and my faults and knows where Molly's come from (the staking incident was on her yard as well, although nothing at all to do with her as the turnout wasn't her decision and she wasn't there at the time, as I recall. And she had to have Molly on her main yard for a few weeks whilst she recovered from the wagon incident 3 years later....). So I think that's an advantage for now.

But I would prefer to have an EE teacher at some point, but they're all so far away from me the mileage would make it really expensive unless there were a few of us....

Anyway, there's food for thought for Molly & I for a while until the next lesson, which hasn't been arranged yet as before long they'll all be in for the night and that makes it more difficult to do an evening lesson at RI's yard

as for tonight .. after I'd mucked out! I decided we'd do a groundwork session and had to get after her a bit again, but not nearly as much as I did the other night. She was pretty good considering. I have no problem moving her backwards, forwards, stopping her coming into my space etc, and she was moving forwards and tracking up when going round, which was pleasing.

And I was very pleased she didn't argue about going out again - had thought she'd decide that after last night she wanted to be in, but she didn't (mind, I helped by removing the haynet!).

And the river tees? well, it was a lovely day to day, and the river was very still (there's a barrage about a mile down river from the office) so this is the view from the carpark, looking across to the shopping mall in stockton. Taken on my mobile phone.... (cell phone to you Jean!)

lesson ... on molly

RI rang at lunchtime to say she didn't have a sound horse for me to ride - Spuddy had come up lame yesterday, and Jack colicked at a show on sunday and isn't himself yet. so we decided a leesson on Molly at mine.... well.

there's a lot of thought in that, and Molly ended up being kept in as she'd had so many tantrums she was pouring sweat!

we were working on straightness and getting her to listen. done by going straight in walk up to the corner, then bringing my hand back towards my hip to turn the corner in the corner, and so on round the arena several times, change rein and the other way ... she didn't tantrum until we got to 10 metre circle left and then she started. we had loads of spins which were very scary but I did stay on even though i gave the rein away.

the headshaking - which i thought was midges in her ears - RI says is her "stress head" - that's when she blocks, she says the only way she can get herself out of it is a spin or something of that nature.....

I can see why heather says the pelham would work in getting more acceptance, from doing these excercises with just the snaffle....

in course of keeping her moving, we did an awful lot of sideways - pretty much straight sideways, if you see what i mean - so now i know the feel of that, anyway!

RI wants me to work her that hard every night - but as i pointed out - and as she could see! by that time (we'd been on an hour) i'm left on my own, and there's limits to what I'll do when there's no one about ....

but much food for thought.

and I'll have to get up 1/2 hour earlier in the morning to turn her out ...

i'm impressed i sat those spins..... quite scary, and a fair few of them!

i've to keep my hands up (had got into the habit of keeping them down!) and my leg on.

RI did want me to kick on odd occasions, to get some movement, but I said - i thought we wanted me to keep my leg on properly! so i didn't actually kick, but did get my leg well on, it's full length .. hence of course the sideways!

anyway, we didn't arrange another lesson - it's going to be difficult with the dark nights... so i've to ring and see what we can arrange...

and lucky RI could come. turned out she was sitting waiting for me - had had to go and rescue her daughter whose car had broken down ....that was after she'd rung me!

and i owe some money, we couldn't remember what her mileage was!

rain

if it hadn't been for the huge traffic jam, i might at least have got molly in before she got wet; but i didn't, so after she'd been fed she went back out without the rug i might otherwise have thought about. But, it wasn't cold and won't be because of the cloud cover, and she was quite happy to go out again, so i don't feel the least bit guilty.....

got after her...

and it worked.

Back to the rope circling, and she really didn't want to go right, was challenging whether i really meant it, and wasn't hugely wonderful going left.

So I got after her .....by running purposefully and circling the rope - and my goodness she moved!

and if anything is hurting, it certainly wasn't showing - she's sound as a pound. think she's just winding me up, really, there's a surprise!

walk...you will!

and go right! she didn't want to to that - even going large - so she ended up doing an awful lot of right circles!

I'd left my new bridle at home soaking oil so used the older one with the continental reins, not so successful - despite my efforts they were getting pulled through, which doesn't happen with the libby's rubber lined ones. but i got what i wnated and she wasn't very happy. don't htink it was wonderfully pretty either, but that wasn't the point....(although I was getting the feel of my legs swinging with her belly, interesting!)

i reckon i should do more groundwork - thin ki said that about a month ago, but then did a lot of riding. but the dark nights make it more likely that groundwork will be more likely, i reckon!