Powered By Blogger

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Life, the universe and raised beds

After a great deal of anticipation, the digger arrived last night in preparation for another bit of work to transform the respective mounds of (a) earth and (b) telegraph poles into a raised bed along the left flank of the hard standing. This has become a bit of a bugbear as a number of factions were involved with an interest in getting the thing done. First, us; it was becoming a real blight on all the work done thus far and while I am not a fussy bint, it was starting to grate a bit. Second; the gaggle of electricians who have rewired the yard - we're still running on the original connection back to the house and were waiting for the bed to be laid so that the armoured cable could be installed (which still makes me think of armadillos even though the cable itself doesn't look anything like an armadillo and is very definitely not crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside like one either). Third; Phil himself, who is very clear that he likes his bollocks as they are are and if at all possible would like to avoid any further suggestion of a scrotum/nail/pole interface by virtue of being too busy to shoehorn our doings into all the other doings he has to cram in every day. They do say farming is stressful, and I begin to see why. Anyway. They arrived this morning just as I was leaving, so I just had time to make them a coffee before leaving.

I've been in Earl's Court for work today discussing the relevant merits of numerous service desk solutions, and sussing out the contraindications, if I may put them so, by a combined process of interrogation and deduction. An interesting if tiring day - by the end of it my feet had a very clear message for me, which went something like this. "Wahhhh! Wahhhh! Wahhhh!" and "Arrrrrghhhhhhhhh".

Was looking forward to getting home for a number of reasons, and was delighted to see that they did an excellent job of making the raised bed, which is now (a) larger and (b) shorter than it was when I left, and flanked with telegraph poles. It stretches all the way from the garden fence to the muck clamp and they've finished off the remaining bit of hard standing so it goes all the way to the edge. Wicked.

The next task will be to enrich the soil with fertiliser, and luckily for us we have an almost inexhaustible supply of that. So for the next while I can poo pick the fields and spread said poo over the bed to prepare it for planting. There's a real dearth of plant life on the place at the moment so it will be great to do some planning for what we are going to plant. Leylandi, certainly, for the fence masking, as it is quite rancid, and a wealth of shrubs. Top of my list is dogwood and ceoanthus (sp). As sure as night follows day, Sid will want some sort of rhododendron, although they are a bugger to keep going in full sunlight and clay soil.

The Next Big Thing is the garden, which is a real shitpit, it must be said. The challenge is that it currently all slopes towards the house and when the biblical rains come it comes very close to flooding the house by way of the strange hole in the lounge floor which is ostensibly there to allow air suction for the fire (we're told) but which also fills alarmingly with rain water in the event of a torrent. The plan is to redo the patio and build a small brick wall around it, then raise the level of the lawn such that it slopes away from the house. There are the inevitable plans involving the trellis, climbing things, vines and walkways that characterise a Sid-designed garden, but there's a lot to do before we get to the fun bits. We also want to build one of those marvellous outdoor ovens, a la Jamie Oliver, "in the fullness of time".

Meanwhile the boys are doing well on their 24/7 routine and I am certainly doing well on a routine of little or no mucking out. Poo picking the field is so much more civilised, even if it is with a wheelbarrow and shavings fork. The boys spend much of their time loafing at the fence near the mares, wandering up every so often for sustenance, or grazing for a while. Our ridiculous attempts to water the fields with a sprinkler do seem to have had an effect, but I would really like it if we had some rain some time soon.

Sunday 25 April 2010

Boy doings

The last few days have been interesting, horse-wise, here at Kentish Towers. First it was T who was so excited that the mares were coming into season, while Q could care less; then it was Q becoming a stresshead to the extent that I had to close his top door to stop him spending the whole night weaving. Interesting how it never seems to be both of them at the same time.
What has been goo though is that it has given me the opportunity to ask them to come away from the mares while they were excited by them, grunting and waving their fifth legs, which can be a dangerous thing to do but they took it in their stride and for my part I expected nothing else. Very proud of them.

I've also been toying with the idea them being out 24/7 now that the weather has picked up and the paddocks have been reseeded, harrowed and rolled. I wanted to give the grass time to get going before that, so we gave it two or three weeks.

Yesterday I rode Q and he began coming in a bit concerned about leaving everyone even though I told him they'd still be there when he came back but then settled quickly for grooming and tacking up. We did some work in hand to begin with, just a little shoulder in on either rein, then I got on. After reading Elaine's clinic report I had the idea of collected elbows firmly wedged in my head and with that in mind we set about lateral work, moving between shoulder in, travers, renvers, then on to HP and walk pirouettes.

In spite of the fact that he was a bit distracted to start he settled very well and was really quite available in both the body and mind sense, making for a very enjoyable and productive experience.

The trot work interspersed changes of "frame" between collected and stretchy trot.

We spent more time in canter, first working and then collecting, ending up with reinback to canter in which I really felt him sit through some very smooth transitions. Quite a marked development and we used this to our advantage by working on 6m voltes and then on. The reason for this specifically is to help him develop collection and strength for canter work at the long reins. And also because it is good for him and very enjoyable. I do tend to do better though when there is a purpose to what I do and it did help to inform the session.

During this time I dedicated a few brain cells to my posture to be as tall and collected myself as possible (yes yes, even when only 5'2) and to maintain those collected elbows. Lovely ride, he was a superstar. It had that contemplative feel to it of shared time enjoyed together and that is the thing I love most about riding.

Next I rode T and we went through a four leaf clover exercise changing bend on a series of 10m circles, and looking at flexion on both reins. We had done a brief warm up of the straightening exercises in walk and trot and I wanted to reproduce that under saddle. We did this in both walk and trot and there was more relaxation from the outset of the trot work and I found myself riding more positively. This is partly to do with the fact that I asked Rui if he found him more difficult to ride in trot at first and he said "no" so we reasoned it was probably tension from me. Knowing that I took more ownership of it and it did produce a more positive work from the outset. I find I am no longer afraid to change the rhythm and ask him to move forward, and find myself much more confident overall, which has its positive impact on him.

I did try a canter and we had half a circle twice but then he broke to trot. I am pretty sure that this was because I was a bit tense in the contact and he is very sensitive to that, so it was a bit crap but the point is that it's a start and we did it and our first forays into trot were also crap, so instead I take comfort from the fact that my big girl pants were more easily accessible and that it will come. He coped very well bless him. I was pleased with the good bits and particularly the positive trot work and know that the next step needs work, and that's OK.

They had their first night out last night and all seems quiet this morning, not least because I haven't got any mucking out to do. Yay!

Meanwhile work is ongoing and there is no shortage of Stuff To Do. I love it here and I love the fact that there is always a lot to do, and every now and again comes a moment of pure bliss such as sitting on the patio yesterday morning eating free range bacon and freshly laid eggs from the next village, drinking coffee, enjoying the morning sun and knowing that the boys were grazing nearby.


Monday 19 April 2010

Big cats

Yesterday we spent a couple of hours at the Wildlife Heritage Foundation's Kent base to support their breeding program for some of the most rare and endangered big cats in the world. It's an amazing place and does really excellent work; added to this as a member of sponsor you can participate in an experience that is much more intimate than any you'd get at a zoo - plus for the cats it's better as it's not open to the public and is a less stressful existence for them, which helps with breeding success rates. We got to stroke a tiger and I got to feed him a chicken drumstick through the bars (carefully I might add, keeping thumbs out of harm's way). We saw a European lynx, snow leopards (my personal all time favourite big cat), amur leopards, a number of tiger sub-species, a couple of pumas and a caracal. They also have pallas cats there but they were tucked out of sight.

It's such a mix of emotions going to a place like that. On the one hand, the staggeringly awesome beauty of these animals and the privilege of being near them; on the other, the overwhelming sadness of seeing such perfect wild beauty enclosed in a cage because that is the only way their species can be protected from us.

I particularly loved the fact that we could take my mum and that she loved it so much. In fact we joked that we probably should have put some sort of harness on her, so intent was she on getting up close and personal with these beautiful cats.

Sid's got some amazing photos. Meanwhile here's the site link for anyone interested:

http://www.whf.org.uk/

We finished the afternoon off with our first meal outdoors at the new house, which was fab. OK it was a bit later than planned and we all had to wear fleeces but that's not the point, dammit.

Sunday 18 April 2010

Birthday doings

It's been a very busy couple of days indeed here at Kentish Towers, with preps for the folks and Rui arriving which has necessitated the preparation of three separate guest rooms and the slapping into shape of the bathroom. Sid and I have been hard at it for ages and were reaching the end of our endurance.

So Friday arrives and I've got a day's leave. Up at the crack of dawn to do the boys then off to Waitrose to buy a large consignment of food for the forthcoming festivities. We no longer do presents for each other but instead a big five course extravaganza to celebrate, which is nice.

Arrived back home at exactly the same time as Rui landed, this time in a vehicle other than the gold coloured popemobile from last time. Joyful reunions followed, a quick catch up and then on to work the boys. As we know Rui's "mounting" activities were confined and as such I had fondly imagined that he wouldn't be riding T. Ha! The only time Rui would come to England and not ride T is if he no longer had a pulse. However we did agree that using the picadeiro would be prudent on account of the pulled ligaments. Rui rode him first and he was very "up". The small part of me that wibbles at things was thinking "hmmm" about getting on afterwards but then my big girl pants took over and on I clambered. T was immediately relaxed, bless his heart. We have been doing an awful lot of work on relaxation (mine and his) and it has paid off in spades.

We did lateral work to begin, and he was feeling really good. We went through the whole gamut of things - piaffe, passage and canter - my first canter with him at home and I could have died of happiness! His canter is absolutely sublime and it was that combined with the culmination of effort of all that work that really made it a special event. Ahhhhhhh.

We then took Q down to his Old Home down the road, and he was lit up like a Christmas tree! Wow, no shotage of energy. Quick lunge to let him look then jumped on. Still lit up so immediately proceeded to some fast work to get him settled. By this point having ridden T I needed a wheelbarrow for my enlarged cahoonas :) which really helped enormously in doing what needed to be done with Q. We worked on SI, HP and leg yield transitions, first in trot and then in canter, finishing with a flying change and then work on his piaffe. Got some lovely lovely steps and great feel to take away with me. Rui did a little work with him and my beautiful new leather long reins (yay!) but Q was quite mullahed by this point and didn't wanna, so Rui kept it short, finished positively and we all went home for .... arrgghhhhh is that the time?

There followed what can only be described as Benny Hill-esque activity - well apart from the bevy of suspender-clad lovelies - as we rushed around trying to beat a path through the house for the folks, who arrived about 5ish.

That night we had a big meal all together, lots to drink including a fabulous bottle of port which Rui had brought, and laughed and laughed all night. Fabulous. Haven't enjoyed myself so much in ages.

Saturday morning - arrghhhhh. Feeling a little rough around the edges, and up early to make the most of Rui before he had to go off again. T first again, in the picadeiro. Rui had a fabulous ride on him; rarely have I seen him quite so unbelievably strikingly beautiful; a real fairy tale of a horse. He blew us all away, and Rui was exuding an air of barely concealed joy - he loves T like no other horse.

When it was my turn he said "Rach, now I want you to ride like I just did. Ride with your heart". Sometimes a word or phrase comes along at precisely the right moment and captures the essence of the experience, and so it was with this. I thought yes, the sun is shining, it's my birthday, I am just about to ride this fabulous, fabulous stallion of ours and damn, I'm going to ride him with all of my heart. And I did. It was the best ride I've ever had and I finally felt what Rui and Sid have spent endless hours discussing about the nuances of this horse when you really tune into him. Suddenly everything was effortless and I felt connected with him in a way I've not had before. Awesome awesome awesome. We went through all the exercises again and I experienced many strung together moments of perfect happiness. I found a rhythm with him in piaffe and passage that I hadn't felt before and again had some really powerful feels to take away with me. Amazing boy!

Then time to take Q up the road again for his lesson. We did a lot of work on changing bend from eg SI to travers, followed up with HP and finishing up with a flying change. Still don't feel I own these in any shape or form but we seem to be getting them more, so that's good. He was lively again especially as there was a heavily in foal mare being walked alongside the school, which ticked all his testosterone boxes. Good opportunity to deal with stallion behaviour though, and he settled well once we agreed who was wearing the breeches.

Rui was then off down to Canterbury in the afternoon and we could all relax a bit and attend to the matter my birthday feast. What we had planned was this:

* Dressed crab/Gewurtztraminer
* Sticky fingers lobster/Amarone
* Seafood linguine
* Fruit meringue dessert
* Half a hundredweight of cheese

What we actually did was get through the first two courses and then agree by consensus to continue the rest next day, as everyone was completely stuffed, and were all in bed by 11pm, being completely knackered from the previous evening's activities :)

It's been an excellent few days - there's something about this house that really thrills to the joy of free flowing wine and good company - it sounds weird but it's true.

Today we have one final treat to look forward which has been organised for us by our good friend Phil the farmer - more on that later.



Really great couple of days, and loads of good food still to come. Yay!

Friday 16 April 2010

A moment of quiet

Well here I sit with a nice quiet cup of coffee - or is that quietly with a nice cup of coffee - anyway here I sit in a quiet fashion imbibing the morning's caffeine fix having just done the boys, contemplating the day ahead. Got a long weekend coming up which seems almost perversely indulgent given that I've just had two weeks off, but anyway.

First, we have the Ru-ster arriving later this morning, to give a clinic. Very much looking forward to this. Then, my folks are arriving this afternoon - and I haven't seen m mum for well over a year, so it will be awesome to catch up properly. Can't wait to see her and my niece, the erstwhile Knickers.

Tomorrow is my birthday, a fact which I am simultaneously trying to forget on account of the advancing age factor, and celebrate with a big slap up meal, because that's what we do in this house. It'll be a seafood feast that looks something like this:

* dressed crab
* tiger prawns in garlic and butter
* seafood linguine
* a confection of delicious but unhealthy doings involving meringue, cream, hazelnuts and fruit
* cheese
* lots of Amarone. Even though white wine is probably more appropriate.

There's so much to do between now and then that I must sit here quietly contemplating for a moment longer before I get going and get my increasingly aged butt over to Waitrose. But not for too much longer as Rui will be here soon.

Thursday 15 April 2010

Lunchtime quickie

Did I mention that I've got morning stables down to a fine art - 15 mins? ALl I now have to do is wrestle the equivalent evening work into something less than the entire evenning spent fiddling and faffing around in a most inefficient manner.

Yesterday: very bloody angry indeed. Why? The guy delivering the consignment of bedding left the yard gates WIDE OPEN when he left. Arrggggghhhhhh. Then, when I got home I discovered that the bales were a little more than two thirds of the size of the previous batch. Arrrggggghhhhhhhh. I was, as we say in these parts, utterly without chuff. The guy is coming for a summit meeting on Monday to discuss, so hopefully we can find a way forward.

Worked T yesterday who was in good form. Still not wishing to come in at night; had to go and fetch him again about 9.30pm while my madras was cooling off on the coffee table. Boys. However he was calmer so that was good. It's not like he struts up and down the fence line or anything, he just stands next to the youngsters. Q meanwhile has No Interest Whatsoever in them.

Gave the boys another face to face opportunity last night. Was very funny. Not imagining it that Q sticking his tongue really winds T up for some reason. Sweetest moment: Q picking bits of wood chip out of T's mane.

And finally: a couple of important points about the daily commute. While in the main this can be described as no better than a necessary evil, just occasionally there comes along an event or a sighting or some other noteworthy thing that makes the whole thing worthwhile. For instance, I noticed this morning that Mr Ave Maria, the bloke that stands every morning on the station in the same position clutching his bible, has started taking the early train. The guy is amazing really; he stands there draped in a veritable cloak of righteousness. Or as Sid and I like to describe it on his behalf: "I'm a right pious c*nt, me".

Also this morning I saw Lurch on the train. Which was nice.

Wednesday 14 April 2010

An unexpectedly busy evening

So my cunning plan for the week is as follows:

Sunday: load up beds, prepare as much as possible for the week ahead. This is limited by the need to steam T's hay, but anyway. Work both horses.
Monday: skip out, leave beds down, work one horse
Tuesday: skip out, leave beds down, work one horse
Wednesday: beds up, boys day off, any preps possible to make next two days easier
Thursday: skip out, leave beds down, work one horse
Friday: skip out, leave beds down, work one horse
Saturday: Leisurely approach to everything; work both boys

The actuality:
Sunday: Phil plans to harrow, reseed and roll on Monday.
Monday: Boys in for a big part of the day. Beds: skanky, more mucking out. No boys worked.
Tuesday: Work Q. Bedding people announce next delivery of 100 bales tomorrow. Wahhhh. Cue the second attempt to clean out what was their old feed room and divest it as far as possible of the skanky, stinking, rancis sewage-like mud and filth that had collected on the floor, not assisted by the fact that this is the lowest point on the yard. Oh God. Worst job ever. Sewage splashback = unpleasantness in the extreme.

Clean stable as best I can with combination of marigolds, power washing, sturdy broom and sturdier stomach, hump six pallets (cheers Keith) and lay them in stable, ready for today's delivery. It's not perfect but it's the best that could be done with short notice.

Q was fab; looks like a little Baroque stallion from the paintings of the ODGs. T no longer wishes to come in at night. It's either leave him out or close the top door too to stop him straight plaintively down the field all night and trashing his bed. He has taken a fondness to the youngster next door - boys not girls, we note. Could this be second gay stallion drama? Don't want to leave them out 24/7 yet until the seed has had a chance to take. Soon boys, soon.

Monday 12 April 2010

Ahhhh

Well I can't resist a second post in the same day - unheard of I know and the more sporadic normal service will be resumed hereafter.

Got home to find that our lovely neighbours had put the boys back out after Phil had finished rolling, and they were grazing contentedly.

But the paddocks! I wasn't prepared for what a thrill it was to see them looking groomed and smoothed. I realise that probably sounds quite sad, but I care not! It's safe to say that it's been a while since the land had such TLC and it's a lovely, satisfying thing. So I did the only thing I could, which was to ring Phil and tell him how thrilled I was with his work. That and to discuss the wad of cash that we now owe him. He will be pleased to know I'm sure that his nads are safe for the moment.

Meanwhile, Tom the chap that did the hard standing and who will do the arena "in the fullness of time", had an unexpected fit of the giggles when I rang him today and told him we needed 450' of telegraph poles. I've no idea why that is amusing.

Harrowing and reseeding and rolling, oh my

Sod's Law states that in spite of the fact that I have just had two weeks off, the day for harrowing, seeding and rolling the paddocks is today, my first day back at work. Originally Phil, our pet farmer, was going to come in the afternoon and I was going to ask D next door if he could bring the horses in for me to save them being stuck indoors all day. Of course, he said.

Next thing, Phil is arriving at 9am this morning. So I left the boys' doors open after giving them their supper last night to make the most of their turnout while Sid and I continued our housely doings, and rather typically after dark Q was firmly entrenched in his hay manger while T was at the bottom of the field, having struck up a friendship with one of the horses at the end (possibly a mare in season). So I went to get him in, kicking and screaming all the way (well ok, dragging his feet a bit and looking back). It kicked off a bit, quite literally as it turned out, when I closed the stable door as he was really wound up, whirling and caprioling like a mad thing :O

I made it safely to the yard and stood outside watching for a while, listening to the crashing and banging of hooves beating the living shit out of stable walls thinking "hmmm", before reaching the conclusion that this time the top door was going to have to be closed if we wanted anything resembling a stable left by morning. It's not often I feel the need to go into his stable with the reinforcements of hat and stick, but I did then. The good thing is I just have to show him the stick and he knows to settle down. It's fair to say he was a bit manic though for a while there afterwards but very good to have his feet picked out, to his credit.

So then I was thinking "hmmmm". To put them out and risk having to ask D to get a strange and potentially rampant stallion in for me, or leave them in? To leave the back top doors open, or not? In the end I decided to leave them in, and texted D to say "after all that, I've left them in". He fired back "do you want them out after Phil's finished?" Yay! Well yes please, that would be fab my friend, I appreciate that hugely.

Next thing, I get a phone call from Phil, who'd been back home to get the roller and returned to find two stallions in the fields that definitely weren't there before. Phone D. "Deeeeeeeeeeee, you know you very kindly said you'd put the boys out when Phil had finished? Well guess what..."

So in spite of my efforts to minimise hassle all round and the very kind offer of our neighbour to help out, he still has a potentially rampant stallion to wrestle into the stable. Life's like that sometimes. But I'm sure the boys will be fine. T's not normally a whirling dervish, but a pussycat.

Meanwhile I look forward to arriving home to perfectly manicured paddocks and two perturbed-looking stallions, wondering what the day was all about.

Sunday 11 April 2010

Further doings

I know! Since I'm not sure I can physically move at the moment, I'll use the excuse of the need to blog progress on the farm to sit here on my (increasingly toned from humping heavy shit about and being on the go all the time) arse for a bit longer.

As I reach the final furlong of a lovely two week hiatus, it's as good a time as any to reflect upon all the doings that have been done in the past few weeks. There's no room for smugness or a sense of satisfaction because, as we are learning, where the list of things which have been done grows longer, so does the list of things still to do. I had a conversation with young Phil this morning about this very thing (me: bog eyed, splendidly attired in jim jams and wellies, him: bright eyed and bushy tailed having been up and at 'em since 5:30, as farmers do); how with land there is also a long long list of things to do. We of course are small fry compared to him; we have five acres, he has 500 :) but the underlying principle is the same. Besides he has more machinery than we do and is accustomed to it (I tell myself). This brings me to the importance of a Zen mentality in all of this. It is not the final goal that is important, but the journey, and each step and goal achieved in that process is something to be celebrated. I actually love that, that this is such a big project that will keep us (a) busy and (b) divested of any disposable income for years to come.

So with that in mind here's a nice celebratory list of the things we have recently achieved. I shall not be writing a list of things yet to do, as I might wither and die at the keyboard.

* electrics on the yard all done, aside from the final connection back to the main house. Meanwhile we have separate lighting for each row of stables, and for outside.

* a load of hard standing done. This shortest sentence for the costliest bit so far. Natch.

* The muck clamp is done and filling nicely. Although almost unfeasibly costly for something intended to store shit in, I am really glad we had it done. There are endless benefits to it.

* The top floor of the house has been redecorated. Sounds easy when you say it quick but behind that small phrase lurks 3 days of my time spent stripping wallpaper, sanding, painting and tidying, and that's just one room. But the rather skanky shade of lavender (!) has been replaced by a relaxing creamy hue and it now looks fresh and clean and inviting, and there is no half ripped wallpaper hanging off the corners.

* I have cleaned out the stable next to Q which will be the room for rugs, grooming equipment, boots etc, and transferred the feed to a new stable, all scrubbed and clean and divested of the stenchful accumulated mud and horse shit as previously mentioned. The yard is taking shape!

* I have put up a series of rug racks in the rug room (using the drill and everything) and hung what might be described as the boys "spring wardrobe" up in there. In fact I went a bit drill-tastic and put up bridle racks, salt licks, you name it.

* We've had a man with a telehandler (let's call him Mick, cos that's his name) come to spread about the earth that was dumped in the summer paddock from when the hard standing was done and which we fondly came to refer to as our "giant mole problem". Mick, a dour farming type, was clearly impressed with the work done thus far, proclaiming the place prior to said work "a shithole". LOL. I don't know why that tickled me so much but I was grinning like a fool while he proceeded to expound at length about the importance of the earth drying out and what a £($&£$" the former owner was. I really like these farmers - they are straight and honest and they don't fuck about when they've got something to say.

* I can now say that I know what a telehandler looks like.

* We've got a cunning plan for the garden, which will involve a lot of work but which will be awesome when done.

* We have redecorated the bathroom. Sid has put a great deal of painstaking work into it, after the fashion of the OCD Frenchman. The only thing is we're still not completely convinced about whether the colour scheme is a mark of genius or a kaleidoscope of putrid wrongness.

* The yard has been swept and power washed once more and that layer of skank and mud and filth has finally gone.

* We have taken delivery of unreasonable numbers of railway sleepers, which were originally intended to do something cunning in the garden, until we had a long conversation with Phil in which there was much scratching of nuts and rubbing of chins (and that was just me) and decided to do something completely dfferent. Sid and his excellent mate Rob have pressed them into service for other purposes, using an ancient but effective technique of rolling them along on poles to get them from A to B. Do you have any inkling how heavy these things are? No, I didn't think so.

* I have discovered that if one is having problems getting one's favourite farmer to come and visit to discuss plans, it is an effective technique to ring him up and threaten to nail his nads to the telegraph pole in the garden. He turned up that very afternoon, walking oddly and wearing an ingratiating smile.

* I've ordered enough grass seeds to reseed 5 acres and Phil will be along tomorrow to harrow, seed and roll the fields. It's a funny thing, that nad comment really seemed to galvanise him into action.

I think that's it for the moment. Today we will hold off on the headlong development work in favour of cooking and preparing for the week ahead. I think in the last two weeks I have pared down the boys' doings sufficiently that I feel I can cope with the workload, and now have a plan for exactly hat gets done and when during the week. Will report back on that how that turns out in reality.

Wednesday 7 April 2010

Rollercoaster

What a day it was yesterday for all the family. I just want to record and reflect upon the bravery of my dear sister Susie and the awful experience she endured yesterday undergoing treatment in Sheffield. The online information was reassuring but somewhat misleading in terms of the reality of what had to be done - and with good reason, we later agreed. Whatever way you dress it up, screws drilled into the skull is always going to be an incredibly painful experience. She's come through it with courage and dignity and no small amount of mind control and I am very very proud of her. And of Knickers and Dave, who were with her throughout and helped her keep it all together.

It's all over now, and we can be very thankful. Good on you Susie Woo xxx

Sunday 4 April 2010

Equifest

Decided that since the weather was better, for once, than ofrecast, the thing to do would be to equifest as though my life depended on it. As T was in munching hay, he went first. Primped and scrubbed and even brushed his tail :O which I believe to be a first since we moved. Bad Momma.
We did some straightening work and he was straight into it, bless his heart. He had one big spook at the onset when a cyclist went by then after that ignored them. We did quite a lot of lateral work, LY and SI followed by milling. I was going to start renvers with him but couldn't get my head round it so left it :)
We finished with some very nice piaffe steps and this time I didn't just finish in a heap of gratitude after the first effort, we worked on it and got some nice efforts - again better on the left than the right. Hmmm.

Its an awesome thing being so close to such a magnificent stallion especially when you have such a bird's eye view of that world beater of a neck rising snake-like out of his withers. He's an awesome boy. Awesome. Very attentive throughout and a very enjoyable session.

Q next, who was a complete fart at the outset; spooky and manic. Not helped by those bloody barking dogs. Was on the verge of losing it for a while there and had to reel myself back in in a conscious fashion. Once I did Q settled and we did some straightening work, much the same as with T followed by laterals. He is looking good at the moment; lost that bit of padding and looking (and clearly feeling) very well. To finish we did some work on goat on a mountain top and some piaffe steps - his best efforts came in "Dog Corner".


Two lovely sessions, really enjoy the work in hand. In some ways at least as much as riding, which will be handy when I'm old and unnecessary and no longer able to get on a horse.

Otherwise Sid's back is better today so maybe tomorrow we can get on with some stuff.

Having just eaten my own bodyweight in cheese, it's time to go and do lates.

Friday 2 April 2010

Tedness

I was concerned about Ted today as he hadn't shown up for breakfast or dinner. Then he appeared tonight after lates (hurrah! Ted! Ted! Where have you BEEEEEEN?), I gave him some supper on the porch as normal, including a bit of chicken, locked the kitchen door for the night and next thing he's in the kitchen, having somehow gotten through the magnetic cat flap and was helping himself to more chicken :) It's truly a sign that he wants to come and live with us always. And nothing to do with the fact that he's a cat with magic powers who just wanted more chicken.

Sid said "Hi Ted". Is this the start of a beautiful friendship? Probably not.

Thursday 1 April 2010

Busy-ness

I seem to spend a lot of time being busy and not having a lot to show for it. How is that. Possibly because quite a bit of time seems to be spent negotiating deals for getting things done or getting people to do stuff at short notice, all of which is important to our endeavours. Also, am dipping in and out doing bits of stuff and not actually getting anything finished, which won't help.

Really enjoyed a rare lie in this morning although was still up by 8am, having dreamt that Sid forgot to feed and turn out Mr T when he did them before work this morning. Sid will doubtless tell me that this is evidence of rampant control freakery on my part, but I can't see it myself. Did he mix the breakfasts enough? Did he put the hay in the mangers appropriately mixed so they wouldn't just pick out the haylage? Only kidding. Really, nothing serious in there at all.

The muck clamp is under way and the RSJs are embedded in concrete, which is setting as we speak. It remains to be seen whether the exact right angles between them will meet Sid's equally exacting standards. Am hopeful.

Rode Q, who was on good if minimalist form, wanting to devote more energy to finding things to spook at than doing actual work. Solved that with a mix of being utterly uninterested in any of his exhortations to mum LOOK and giving him plenty of other things to think about. He did some very nice piaffe steps on the left rein but didn't get much of any use at all on the right rein.

The Easter weekend promises an overhaul of the garden and the finishing off of the clamp. Hopefully the weather will be better.