christy moore

was on at the sage tonight as we discovered last night, so partner wanted to go and booked some tickets at the last minute so we went; whilst I like his music on CD, I didn't really get into it in concert, which was a shame as it wasn't cheap. So molly got fed, flysprayed and turned out again ... I had planned to ride as Iknew the others were going out tonight, but there you go, sometimes one has to do what one's partner wants .... and it was Shearer's testimonial tonight, you can see St James Park from anywhere in the town and from the Sage (which is south of the river, folks! in Gateshead) and bye could you hear them! They had a good night, i gather....

200 miles

is what my car did today, i only did 100.

Partner's car needed MOT, booked in at Hebburn. out of the house at 0700 to hebburn to drop car off; then to thornaby to take me to work; partner then takes my car to durham for a training day she's doing; then goes back to hebburn to pay for car, then comes to thornaby for me, we go back to hebburn for her car, then to pub for dinner, then I go see Molly.

We actually were earlier than we'd thought getting finished, as I hadn't expected to be picked up from work til about 1800, in fact she was waiting for me. But I didn't have the saddle or a change of clothes so Molly only got checked over and her fly veil put back on again .... I'm sure she knows its good for her, but that doesn't stop her (or one of the other horses!) getting it off.

lovely ride

4 of us went out for a hack tonight.

We started off well as Molly in fact managed to stand to be mounted WITHOUT ANYONE IN FRONT OF HER. I was gobsmacked.

had to tap her to get her to follow the others, then she was really good. She got left behind when a gate closed in front of her (one of those tedious one's where it opens uphill and then swings back) but she didn't paddy at that, I even got her turned round to close it, the catch needed a boot to shut it. Then trotted round a field without too much upset. And the field had sheep in ..

After that we crossed the road and went round another field, that one she kept shying away from the fence for some reason.

further on, I set her away in canter up a hill, it was a nice steady canter, no tanking off, and brakes at the top (even if we did veer off away from teh gateway we were approaching - no gate, but some really deep ruts!).

and so one back home. She wanted to be in front all the way (she doesn't do behind except when she blocks) and was very well behaved altogether.

I was very pleased with her and so was everyone else! We're getting there folks.

But when I untacked, there's a line of what looks like it could be pressure from the stirrup leather, so that's not good. Will have to keep a close eye on that one ...

missing fly veil

I bought Molly a new fly veil on Saturday; of course, when I got her today, it wasn't on her head! Happily, it didn't take me too long to find, not caught in a hedge but lying on the grass. I was lucky I set off the correct way round the field (it's always a guess). She has to have one; like her ma, the right eye needs protecting from the flies!

Didn't do anything with her; partner had been at home alone today (holiday) and so I thought I'd come home sooner ..

Thinking about what we've been doing, and how I haven't been doing something every day, I wonder if that hasn't been the right thing to do .... we're certainly moving on nicely in terms of getting things coming together, and maybe something alternate days as opposed to every day is better for her?

out on our own!

after a trundle round the arena, and getting a couple of canter transitions (if badly) i realised the saddle/suberpad - not sure which, really - had slipped so got off, sorted it out, and went back to the barn to get help getting back on. So then decided to try the 20 acre on my own. We did it, in trot, no trying to turn round, mega good. the only minor problem was that on the track back to the yard she tried to jump a puddle and i stopped her (i wanted her to go through it) and after that she felt like she's lame - but probably isn't. since we were nearly back by then we just walked back. But I was SO pleased with her.

Not sure I'm so pleased with the saddle, still ...... it's not the saddle as such I don't think (unless it's got a built in asymmetry .....) but getting the padding right underneath. the Suberpad is better than the grandeur, but it isn't right .....

the leg

btb, the wound on the leg was indeed a re-opened very old one; now that I don't understand. It was one she'd had before I got her (an old injury in a wagon .....) and I really don't understand why it should re-open now. Unless co-incidentally she caught the same place again, but that would be odd as it is on the INSIDE of the near hind, not a place that could easily be injured ...

but she seemed sound enough on it.

canter!!!!

well, a good short hack.

Allison came with me on foot, and the plan was to at least do the 20acre without any traumas - which we did very succesfully, I was very pleased with Molly, it was almost as if last week hadn't happened and she wasn't even phased by the normally scary red & white tape.

When we get to the end of the 20 acre, we have a choice - along the track, or through another small gate and up the side of the hard track on a grassy track with logs, which ends in another gate to a big field.

I had allison open the gate, and we cantered the grassy track, no problems, stopped at the top, didn't want to tank off again, excellent. I did vaguely think about going through the field, but decided not (wide open spaces are never my favourite thing anyway....) and was glad, as I had forgotten it was full of sheep.

So back to the track and trotted home in good order.

It was only 1/2 hour, but a good 1/2 hour and that's the point ....

teeth & leg

tooth person came this morning for Molly's 6 month check and rasped a couple of teeth - i of course coulnd't be there, but gaynor was. And Molly's leg's dried up nicely and there doesn't seem to be any heat in it, so rather than play further with it and turn a good job bad I left it and turned her out again. Hopefully the weather will remain good for tomorrow for a ride and she'll be fine.

wounded molly

she had a open wound on the inside of her near hind - and it rather looks like a very old one has been re-opened. I washed it, clagged wound powder on it, and turned her out again, and have asked gaynor to look at it in the morning when she gets her in for the equine dentist coming.

and mozilla has refused to work since it's latest download, so I'm off there now to find out what the craic is with that; i quite like mozilla now i've got it, especially the tabbed browsing, so that's rather tedious.

in the meantime, here's a zebra molly ...









not quite as good as the one of the grey, but not bad!

gorgeous evening

after last night, who'd have thought? spent some of the afternoon sweltering in a new client's conservatory - we all melted .... then got to the yard a bit earlier than usual. no one riding, so decided to lunge, since I haven't done that for ages.

Molly was excellent on left rein, which is about what I would have expected, but right rein - took me ages to get her going right, i thought we're back to the old argument, but i think she was just trying it on. She did eventually give up arguing and did it, nice trot work and some canter, so since she had, I left that as being the good note and took her back in.

Normally i like 5 minutes each rein with and without side reins, but since the success for the night was clearly doing right rein at all, and she did work well, and we hadn't done it for ages, i left it at that, i.e. didn't do the right rein without side reins but had done all the rest. and I wish I could remember to take my watch! so i could time it properly, rather than guessing.

and it was so hot we were both melting ....

winter gales

are upon us again. The only good thing about it was that it was a good drying day, so the laundry i hung out in glorious sunshine this morning (before 0700, folks!) was dry when i got home. But I hate a howling gale, so just fed molly and turned her out again. It's quite sheltered in the field as we're down in a dip and don't get the worst of it, but to ride anywhere would have been exposed to that. Others were brave enough, but I certainly am not (anyway, gales make me angry, which isn't a good mood to be in when riding, especially when you are angry anyway, as I am tonight!)

Roll on spring, anyone?

kirkleatham hall museum

the fountain:

may day

Involved molly doing nothing more strenuous than getting wet, eating her tea, and moving into the new field which was scary as she didn't get being led right round the barn, and wasn't happy until she realised the other two mares were following her.

as soon as they all went in - you can say, they all three immediately came into season (well, near enough - they knew where the geldings were, and if they weren't in season tonight, they will be by the morning!).

Partner wanted a day out, so we went to kirkleatham hall museum and to Hartlepool to the Quay and went on HMS Trincomalee, well worth a visit if you're around that way (both of them, but especially the ship). Build 1817 in India of teak, the oldest european warship still floating, they say. Pretty big, but of course tiny next to the stuff they build now...

not quite such a good day ..

apart from the fact that it's so cold I've turned the heating back on this evening ...

Molly wasn't quite the star today that she had been yesterday.

Had to ride on my own .... so went in the arena for about 20 minutes. Then thought I'd try the 20acre on my own, which we haven't done before but regular readers will recall we thought a bout it a couple of weeks ago but were stymied by a gate....

So, set off. She was well up for that, wanted to trot down to the field (not a good plan, it's quite a steep hill!), through the gate, happily open, and trotted on. got to an old field boundary - there's a log placed as a jump, she sidled past that, then trotted on again, but then started stopping. I couldn't see why for a bit, the stopping became more so, then I realised ....

visualise, we are riding round the edge of a field, the River Wear on our right, and straight ahead there's a coppice through which we can see. We are heading to the place where you turn left down the far side of the field, so that the coppice would then be on our right with the wear behind us.

Firstly, she could hear before I could see the fisherman standing in the middle of the Wear casting his line. That wouldn't have been so bad, I don't suppose, but then she spotted through the coppice (which of course is only coming into bud now, given the late spring) white things moving at a hell of a pace. That was a herd of sheep, and they didn't all pass at once, but in bits, So they were scary monsters, little white blobs moving fast ... Then to cap that, she clocked some horses also to be seen through the coppice. She blocked. She did THINK about napping back, but didn't. She gave a couple of very minor bucks (the sort where you think, oh she bucked, rather than b***** h*** can I sit this buck). she moved on couple of paces and blocked again. and stood there. and stood there. and thought about turning round again.

I decided the one thing I didn't want to do was end up where she turned round to go back with me having no say on the subject, that clearly woulnd't be good.

So I decided that if the only way she was going to go forwards was by having a lead, the only lead she was going to get was from me. The trouble with that is, of course, once I'm off, I can't get back on again without someone to hold her, she still won't stand. But that's what I did.

Some would say I shouldn't have done that. But since it was the very first time she'd been asked to go round that field on her own, and to my mind the idea was to get round it, not to go back, I thought and still think it was the right thing to do. It was certainly a much better plan than ending up going back the way we'd come, which would have taught her only that she could get away with not going forwards.

And then when I got back I had to wash her legs & bum again; whilst its nice to have a horse that doesn't insist on stopping for a loo break, if she did, then a wash wouldn't have been needed.

really good day

in fact, excellent for Molly!

Partner came down with me to walk whilst I rode, so essentially Molly was hacked out without another horse. And she did really well! along the lane - she was still a pain, we had lots of stop turn round, but she was prepared to follow partner eventually, and after that she was really very good altogether. I suppose we were out about an hour - it was all in walk - and I went a route we'd already done several times of course, and was very pleased with her. partner said (apropos of the napping in the lane) is that typical? and of course it is, but this time we were able to move on from it.

The only problem at the finish was that we left partner behind - trot up bank on road because of the traffic, turn into drive, she knows we're nearly home then .... we were NOT waiting for partner!

I was so pleased.

I hope she remembers later that she did manage to get along the first lane on her own, and that we didn't have the usual major argument to get through the first yard, just a very minor one!

visitors

i know I get visitors, and I think a lot of you are horsey people. But no-one talks to me, boo hoo. some feedback on some of the potentially problem issues would be helpful ..... the suberpad, the wind up lameness, whatever .....

on the subject of suberpads, someone posted an ad on ebay for 'cork filled saddle pads' - essentially a suberpad. 34 were available, and 31 had gone within a day .... someone checked it out, and they were in fact early suberpads & legit. going for £10 + postage, , we all piled in! for that price, if it isn't right under the saddle it'll be dead easy to sell on to someone who can use it, and if it is right, it's a good spare for when the other one is in the wash ...

out of the barn

good news tonight

I've wanted to get molly out of the barn since she was found to have a dust allergy, it's the last place for her, but had to wait until a stable came up outside.

that will be happening at the end of may, if not before; the lady who sadly had to lose her old horse earlier in the year is giving up her stable, and the YO agrees that, once everyone else has finished playing musical stables, I can move Molly round there.

That'll be MUCH better for her chest & lungs.

So I won't go investing in rubber matting until I know which stable she'll be in.

In the meantime, the wrist is much better tonight, if not perfect, as when partner came home last night the first thing I did was retrieve my magnetic bracelet. And i've had to turn the heating back on in the house, b. freezing!

There wasn't anyone riding tonight, they'd all pretty much been and gone, so i just fed her and turned her out again.

back in 1998

i knacked my right wrist (i'm right handed) in an RTA. consultants said it would get better after a year. it didn't, it got worse (a few years later I discovered it should have had some physio, effectively an untreated soft tissue injury). so now I can't write, can't do anything fiddly for too long - and sometimes the bones in the joint knack..

That's today. It was going yesterday, and went with a vengeance today. Picked a kettle up at lunchtime - ouch!

So I shall have to dig my wrist support out (or buy a new one) and retrieve my magnetic bracelet from partner (oddly, it does in fact help!) and take painkillers.

So Molly got a night off, which was a shame as she's being going really nicely this week, but tbh i did feel the wrist last night, especially when I was taking the saddle off (and it's a really light saddle).

for those who are wondering, how can I type? it's a damn sight less painful and I've set my desk up at home so that it's ergonomically correct for me!

the daft thing is - for a claimant PI solicitor - i believed the consultant, as one does, and settled the claim (it wasn't my fault, someone drove into me from the side!) for a massive undervalue .... ggrrhh. but it informs my advice to clients when they have such injuries!

still going well

we had another ride out tonight. Round the 20 acre, along a track she's been along before, which ends at a gate. that was mildly traumatic, as we were in front and Molly was disconcerted by the dead end (quite narrow) and we had to get her back behind the other horse so the gate could be opened. But then it's a u turn through another gate - and we opeend this one ourselves!! a much easier gate to open, but it's one that doesn't stay open unless held. But impressive that I got the rope off and the latch opened, even if the gate did swing back again! and then along the bottom of two fields, out back onto the track and over the ford bridge, back along the track to home.

Very good.

Progress is being made again.

I do have a concern still re the suberpad, which is very comfortable but I'm not sure it's long enough. My saddle is the larger version of this saddle, and my feeling is that others who've tried the suber with the cheyenne have the smaller saddle. Normally, you'd want a numnah or pad to be larger than the saddle to avoid any issues of seams etc. under the weight bearing part. now stricly the suber doesn't end under the weight bearing part of the saddle, because it's in fact under the cantle form where I don't sit! but, the may be an issue re weight distribution and I shall have to keep a careful eye on Molly's back there.

But so far so good. I'm pleased with the sweat pattern, looks ok, and Molly's going nicely under it.

And she's having to make friends properly with brookly (and vice versa) - they're the only two mares out overnight at the moment!

evening ride!

amazing. There was someone to ride out with, and we went a new way - through the park, they call it. A very large field with a track running through it, next to the Wear - gorgeous! a couple of times Molly tried to turn round and go back, but was easily circled back the way we were going. Hadn't been out before with the other horse/rider, so didn't know how they'd get on, but that was fine! Had to contend with cows as well, not very scary - I think she was more disconcerted by the sight of the sheep on the other side of the river.

Very pleased!

and there was another bareback rider tonight - one of the women couldn't find her girth (she'd left it in her car and hadn't realised, and also hadn't spotted my old girth from the old GP hanging up) so rode bareback a good fast hack I hear!

and as planned they are out overnight, so I can have a lie in by about 1/2 hour or so tomorrow, YAY.