eh, tha's champion, lass

Our last show, the riding club ribbon day. More about this later. Maybe.

It is Christmas here in NZ. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

We are having a quiet day with only half the family at my parents' place on (the other coast from where I live). Lots of food, wine and laughter. Cheers!

An email from the new girls

"Hi Sharon

Just a quick note to let you know that Penny has settled in really well.  We have got her where she can get into the shade of the she oaks and she spent the middle of the day dozing in the shade.  The girls rode her tonight - just walking and trotting and she was great.  Even B. trotted her which was great to see!!

Thanks once again

S, B and K"

Isn't that nice? It certainly made my day and helped me to realise that I have done a good thing for Possum and those girls. I know if I were a teenager getting a new horse, I would certainly want it there for Christmas Day. There were many, many years when I rushed out on Christmas morning to see if finally Father Christmas had got me what I really wanted.

Well, I know better now than to rely on a man!  

Horse Lease or Loan

It was a brief email from the riding club. Just asking if anyone had a sensible horse for a couple of young girls who needed their confidence building.
It got me thinking.
If Possum is not happy doing what I would like her to do, is it selfish to keep her to myself? Maybe there is someone else out there who could give her a job to do, look after her well and cherish her too?

So I replied to the email with some info on Penny and a photo, and that lady passed my details on to the family who were horse-hunting. They emailed to say they were very interested. I rang and talked to the Mum, who filled me in on the background and how her daughter had fallen off the young horse and become nervous. We agreed to meet on Saturday.

And they came to the paddock and Miss P was an absolute angel! I caught her, got her ready, and then rode around a bit. Both the girls then had a little ride, and I could tell by the beaming grin on the older one's face this could work. We agreed to a month's trial and if that worked, they could take Possum on a loan basis for as long as it suited everyone.

So I delivered her over to their place and said my goodbyes. It wasn't until I went to her paddock this morning to finish the mucking out that I started to cry...

Who's a dirty girl?

We had a thunderstorm and heavy downpour of rain. I got to the paddock to find this:

Thanks!
Good old Possum, never one to turn down the opportunity to have a wallow in a mud bath. She must have overheard my intention to clip her this weekend and thought this might foil those plans. Now she will get a bath as well!

Actually it doesn't look as bad in the photos but you do get an idea, and also an inkling of how fluffy she is at the moment. That is not her usual summer coat, as normally she has a lovely TB-like coat (from her Grandaddy). I'm not sure if this is another part of ageing, to not want to lose the winter woolies completely. It has been suggested that it might be the start of Cushing's Disease, but I will have to do some more research on that.

Log- rode for an hour in saddle. Walked around orchard, along the road, then some flatwork and a little jumping practise. Both of us are horribly unfit, so it wasn't very pretty. But I think we achieved a bit of good work with some nice "long and low" phases.

Not Horse Related But Funny!

I am hopelessly late in discovering this, but it made me laugh and so I'd like to share it with anyone who hasn't seen it.

The Engineer's Guide to Cats.
Thanks to Paul and TJ for this!

Playing Possum

Actually, that doesn't work very well here as it is not an expression we use.

But anyway, it means to pretend to be dead. Or, just failing to post because there isn't much happening with the horse, and work is taking over your private life and WHY DOES EVERYTHING HAVE TO BE DONE BY CHRISTMAS??????????




That actually feels better now.
Thanks.

Another weekend where I completely failed to sit upon a horse. But Saturday was the Work Christmas Party where we weren't allowed caterers, so guess who had a no fun party? And Friday night was my book club dinner, Sunday morning was spent writing for the Dressage Champs, Sunday afternoon taking the young horse to his new/old home, Sunday night BBQ dinner with the neighbours. Where's the riding time?
Will try harder this week, then next week it is the Christmas holidays!

Possum goes to the beach

In the end, I didn't take Possum anywhere with the ute. My friend got a ride so took her off to the beach for the weekend.
Am I jealous?

No, not much!!!

Progress???

July 2008

November 2009 (Please ignore the devil's eye. Must have been a cranky day)

See any difference in her back? The second photo is after three months of massage, body work and correct saddle fitting. We know she has moved up a gullet size and if you draw an outline of her wither, she has definitely filled out.

I am not sure she is less grumpy, and she still has days when she sidles away from her saddle. But I think I can see a difference. I will try to get photos this week as the saddle fitter/therapist has just been and is very happy with her progress. We are to continue with the pads, bareback riding, massage and must change gullets ASAP! Not sure this will affect her hind-end stiffness though.

The therapist also said she is impressively loose in her glutes, quads and hamstrings. And she does her leg stretches better than the big grey six-year-old at the same paddock. Life still in the old bat?

Out and About

Finally, I have the use of a vehicle to go places with Possum! It has been a long wait, but we are now able to go off on our own and not be reliant on the kindness of others.

So - where to go this weekend?
Maybe the river? Although I've heard there are ticks along the trail there.
To the beach? Reminder to self - check the tides.
Down to the arena - nah, too boring. Unless it is raining again.
Soooooo exciting to have all these opportunities!

Not forgetting that I need to do some hoof trimming. Should be much easier after all this rain, and it is time to have a good tidy up. The reappearence of mud has probably caused some thrush to flare up, so it will be out with the copper sulphate solution too.
Sounds like a busy weekend. Shame about the housework...

No drought, so far

Just when we thought that our normal Hawkes Bay weather was resuming, it rains again. I went out this morning in a raincoat and with umbrella, after hearing rain on the roof all night. (Aside- don't you love the sound of rain on a corrugated iron roof when you are safe in bed and you don't have to go out in it?) Both my horses were wet through and even ol' tough-as-boots Possum was shivering! Unfortunately I have packed away all her winter covers, so all I could offer was an unlined cool coat. Will have to go home tonight and dig out the one with 100g fill.

The yard was awash with water, most of it running straight through to the paddock. But there was a puddle deep enough to soak my boots. I ended up wet as well, with cold, wet feet all day and no riding.