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!