Poorly pony

Selfie with the hubby!

There's lots going on at the moment, and it's starting to get dark and dismal of an evening. I took the plunge and invested in a visit from Donna Blinman for Rio last week. I had a niggling feeling that something wasn't quite right with him, as he's been getting more and more reactive in his spooks, and had been getting less attentive whilst playing on line. Boy was I glad I went for it!

So it turns out Rio has problems with his stomach. It could explain his spooking, and why he can't control his adrenaline and bring it back down when he does spook. It could also explain why he's been uncomfortable backing up, and brushes behind with his hind feet. It may be the reason that he's been stretching his head down to the ground when I've been mounting him to ride for the last few weeks. My poor guy was pretty sore - Donna was quite surprised we had been out riding, and spent most of his appointment working on his stomach. He's been such a trooper and barely showed me he was in pain, but I'm so glad I followed my gut instinct. 

He's now on green clay, and out of ridden work for a few weeks to let him get more comfortable again. Fingers crossed it all starts to come good again soon!

Sluggish start

Having spent all Winter complaining about the ground being wet, the wind being cold, and not being able to ride, I am now in prime riding season and feeling so tired I'm really not making the most of it!

That said, the little bits that we have done have been positive. Trying, but positive. The third time of going to walk Rio out of his field after our first session, and he's walking up to it with no issues. I'm still leaving him to graze in order to close the gate a few yards away, but the panic is not as set in as it was before. I am hopeful that a few more sessions will crack that. 

I brought him up on Thursday evening and gave him a good brush down, before I hopped on and took him into the outdoor arena for some schooling. He was really not very attentive at all, and when my friend left the school with her horse, he was very tetchy. I decided to see if I could test his senses a little outside of our usual routine. Sylvia Loch has recently moved into the local area, and classical dressage is something that I would like to further explore with Rio. I think that with both done correctly, that CD and parelli will work nicely hand in hand. Both intend on creating a bond with the horse whereby a tiny movement or suggestion speaks volumes. 

So I decided that I would try simply dropping my inside leg weight slightly more into the stirrup, and see what happened. Now, Rio is still quite young (yes I know he's six now!) and is quite attuned to weight distribution. Something that I'm keen to utilise and not lose. I was pleasantly surprised that whilst keeping my line of sight straight through his ears, not moving my hands and reins to steer, that he started to turn. A little more weight in the stirrup, and he turned a little sharper. What magic this is. The basics are there for us, I just need to learn how to develop them.

For now, we will stick to small tweaks, and we need to do a lot of bending to ensure those corners aren't taking at a 45 degree angle to the ground when we make it up into canter. Moving forward, these little things are what give me the belief that my boy really can do anything, if only I can help him to learn!

Spring has sprung

Rio learned a new trick after our ride this afternoon. We were chatting away, feet out of stirrups whilst the boys had some boy love and the next thing I saw was Monty's bridle over one ear! Such a naughty boy. Perhaps there is hope yet for Rio to be friends with him. 

I've finally reached a point where I've decreased Rio's daily hay allowance. He's stuck to a good weight all winter, but coming into Spring now, I don't want him to start expanding. Sarah got him in for me on Friday evening so that I could have my first post-work ride of 2015, and had a bit of a fight with his girth. I was expecting to ride out with Millie but she was just getting back when I pulled up, which left me only one option: ride out alone!

Given that he was tacked up when I got there, I could hardly say no, so I changed into my jods, got my boots on, grabbed my schooling whip (just in case!) and hopped on. I had no time to doubt myself or him and we marched out in a race against the light together. It's been a bit wet here, so I expected that it would be a simple walk up and walk down job, so I was very pleased when the ground was good enough for a trot, and even a beautiful steady canter before we headed back. 

We'll see how the ground is tomorrow - maybe if it's firm we will give this schooling lark another try.

New year new look

My Photoshop trial ran out 17 minutes ago, so I thought I'd use the last bit of time having it to update my header! My question to you, if you would, is which one do you prefer? Quote or photo?

Fingers crossed the weather tomorrow afternoon thaws out enough for us to have a good ride!

Speedy update (and another video...)

Better photos to follow - more stable work this evening, and we'll update you on that tomorrow. Super happy. 

Last video of this Sunday's playing, I promise!

Ride / play safe x

Freedom

Freedom to be you. Freedom to be what you want. Freedom to be who you want to be. Freedom to travel through life and learn it's lessons. 

Thanks to the wind and horrible weather today, I decided a ride was off the cards. Not because I was worried about Rio being a numpty, but because he's been so good recently and I keep on saying that I'm going to do some groundwork with him and haven't. This seemed the perfect opportunity. It was also a great chance to trial his new sports boots! He's getting to be a right posh-boy. We did some in-hand work and getting him to stay out of my space. He did some trotting work but was only on his regular lead rope so it was quite small circles around me. That said, he settled very quickly, and was soon trotting with his neck stretched beautifully and nose to the ground. Lush. 

I thought he might enjoy a chance for a prance on his own whilst I had a chat at the gate with Sarah, so I let him off the lead rope, but he just wasn't interested. When I ran around the school, however, he loved it and happily followed! So we went back to working, and had a couple of cones set up as a stop start box. The idea being that we would walk or trot to the cones, and stop or go down to walk as we went through them. It only worked! We even managed a couple of steps backwards after halting in the cones. So proud. 

Check him out! 5 minutes in his stable having his dinner this evening. With the door shut! I left him to it, and listened out for the tell tale sound of him sizing up the door to jump it, before I intervened. He didn't barge out of the stable when I opened the door, and had even had a bit of a munch on his haynet. Now tell me that the Alfa A hadn't been addling his brain at all? Is this really my boy?

We've been having such windy days recently, so Rio's hay has been at risk of being blown away. I've resorted to weighting it down with a tyre for now,but I'm hoping my lovely hubby might build me a pallet hay manger of some sort - will keep you updated! 

Ride / play safe x

Keep it natural

Hey everyone! Mum has handed me the reins this evening as she's been super busy starting to plan a "baby shower" - whatever one of those is.

My breakfast and dinner were changed just over a week or so ago, and I feel so much better now that I'm on a more natural feed. I've always been on Alfa A, but since mum changed it for ReadiGrass I feel much calmer without all the extra rubbish in my system. 

I was so well behaved this evening, mum didn't have to raise her voice once. I had a lovely brush, and mum says my coat is looking super shiny. Looks like that new diet is having more effects than expected! Yay me. I'd also like to mention that despite my field being quite ... empty... the yummy hay is keeping my spirits up. I always get at least four little piles to go and munch, which does mean I have to walk around to get it all, but I can let that go. I've even been getting five or six piles some days! It's boring standing still all day anyway...

Does my butt look big in this? Guess who's been practising tail plaiting again? My tail is getting a bit long again... Ahem... It is smooth and silky though! I didn't even fidget whilst it was plaited this evening. I got so many cuddles and scratches, which just helped me relax more. I even plucked up the courage to wander through the barn. I wasn't asked to, but mum didn't stop me - we walked up and out the other end, and I got some more scratches behind my ears before we walked back through the other way. I can do this. Maybe mum will start doing some of the scary stable training again soon, then I can show her how brave I can be.

I really enjoyed my stretches this evening, I'm super flexible! The carrot was nearly at my bum and I barely had to strain - yum yum. I also had to stretch down and out to the side, which was a bit confusing at first, but I got it in the end. I've obviously gained mum's trust more as she let me off the lead rope when I was doing them, so I made sure I was on my best behaviour. 

I couldn't resist showing off with a flashy collected canter when my head collar came off in the field whilst I waited for my hay to be brought in. I've been making an effort when my feed is brought in to pay attention and wait for my bowl to be put down and be told I can have it. It's been much easier since I started paying attention as mum doesn't get shouty or pushy with me.

Catch up soon! x

PS. There's another video been posted on the video page - it's a follow-on to part one!

Sunday Musings - what works?

Hi there from sunny Montreal! I've been enjoying the opportunity to have a good play with the camera, what do you reckon? I do love a pretty little macro shot. 

So, something caught my eye on my facebook feed this morning whilst I was having a quick catch up. I dabble in a bit of Parelli natural horsemanship stuff with Rio, because I want to improve our relationship on the ground. I don't take it too seriously - I just use the bits that make sense to me, and ignore the bits I don't like (I will never whack a metal clip into his head... That's just not how we roll, OK?) and someone had posted this article. Obviously I had a little read.

Now, Rio usually works in a regular halter or his leather one. He will have a rope halter on the Play Days, and that is about it. This isn't so much an issue for us. At home, we work on his manners without utilising pressure and release with these more "pressure pointed" aids. Slobber straps - we don't use them. I ride with regular rubber reins, and we have been working for some time now on understanding each other and developing his contact in a much quieter way. We are past fighting over it, and for the most part, he offers a contact and supples quite nicely (when I ask properly...)

The carrot stick I have found to be of some use. On the ground it has proved invaluable on a couple of occasions, and despite being unwieldy and really quite heavy to carry regularly, I would always now keep one handy. In the saddle has proved a little less successful - perhaps we haven't played enough of the friendly game with it in that respect, but I am happy to use a schooling whip or regular crop to achieve the same end, with far less angst or resistance. 

As for treats, these don't get offered regularly. At the first couple of Play Days I ensured I got a big tub of treats ready for training and rewarding, because this was how I was being taught. What I actually ended up with was a horse that wanted to be in my space all of the time because that was where he got the treats. I don't want a horse that mugs me for nibbles. Since ditching the treats and opting for scratches/cuddles/grass munching time as a reward, I have had a much more responsive horse to work with. I'm lucky in this sense that Rio is such a people person, because he's usually more than happy for you to give him a good rub on his neck as a reward. 

The idea of "just get off" is a tempting one. I have however learned that unless you follow something through, it's likely you will find a brick wall develops. Once this happens, not only have you got to knock that wall down to achieve what you're after, but you've also got to build the bridge! Surely we all understand this one - aren't we always told when we're learning to ride, if you fall off the horse, you get straight back on? Why should it be any different if your horse is finding something a little difficult? Three strides of controlled canter and asking him back to trot is a better start than avoiding canter altogether (for example). That is something to build on. If you don't take the plunge, how do you build the foundation?

It's interesting to get a full picture of what goes on when we are training our equine friends, as we always seem to get so focused on what we want to achieve, that sometimes we overlook the side effects of what we are trying to do (and probably not quite getting right!) It's so important to take a step back every once in a while to appreciate the small things and the impact they can have. You can create something wonderful if you just take the time and make the effort.

That said, I do think that anybody going into horse ownership thinking they will automatically have a best friend for life should really reconsider if owning said horse is right for them at that time. I love Rio to bits, but I'm under no illusion that 10 months is an infinitely small time in the grand scheme of things. We have a lot of experiences to have together, many scary things to work through, and lots to develop in our relationship. I just hope that in 10 years time we can be in as strong a place as Sarah and Franks are together. Fingers crossed, we will have experienced half of what they have too - I'll be a very happy lady if we do!

Sweetie Pie - my dad's girlfriend's cat in Montreal!

Enough rambling from me, please feel free to share your views on training your horse (natural horsemanship or otherwise!) Are there any things you feel work particularly well for you and your horse, or indeed anything that you avoid like the plague?

Ride / play safe

Sunday - NOT the day to relax??

Today started like a normal sort of Sunday. Mum was late (as usual!) and she even had the cheek to walk down to the field to see me without my breakfast. Like it's not enough that I was left to starve without my hard feed yesterday! When I got up to the barn it was clear that breakfast wasn't quite on the menu yet. Mum brushed me down and tacked me up, and one of the other guys from two fields down met us in the car park. I've only met him a couple of times, but he seems nice enough. Mum let me have a long-ish rein, and we had a couple of trots and I was mainly a good boy. 

I waited around for a bit when we got back whilst mum sorted out tack and got breakfast - at last. I was busy munching away when she came up to poke the lump under my chin. She squealed a little bit when she touched it as the lump has gone down, but it was pussy. Now I'm not a wimp, but this thing is getting really annoying now. Thankfully one of mum's friends was on hand to squidge the pus out - it wasn't much fun, and I did my best to be helpful but I couldn't help shaking my head about a bit. Once it was all out, they put warm cotton wool on it with hibiscrub to try and draw out any extra manky stuff, but it just bled a little. I had some cream on it, and mum told me I have to be good and not scratch my chin on anything. Like there's anything fun in my field to scratch on anyway...

I thought this would be the end of it, but turns out mum wanted to "smarten me up" a bit. She brushed my tail out and chopped it up by a few inches! Then she had to rough chop the ends and the sides so it looked more natural. Obviously it doesn't look natural, it's SHORT! But I do look rather dashing. Mum says she likes my tail shorter. This was still not the end; mum made the brush soggy and then brushed my mane - trying to tame it over to the right. It didn't really work. Apparently I'm going to have to have it plaited for a few weeks to "train it over".

Mum disappeared off for a bit and left me turned out in the grass arena again. I was very brave and decided to graze in the scary corner where the trees blow around in the wind. It wasn't so bad. You mustn't tell mum though, schooling would be far too easy if I didn't have something to be "afraid" of. After quite a while of getting to relax on my own, and munching to my heart's content, mum came to get me, and we walked out to the barn at the back. Big T was out there, and shouted a word of warning to me, but it was too late! Mum had already tied me up, and suddenly the noise surrounded me.

CLIPPERS!

What have I done to deserve this today? It's really not my day! MUM! STOP IT! Oh... Actually, it turns out they're not so bad when they're actually on me... Ok, I guess I can stand almost still. I'm still going to shake a bit though. I would like some sympathy after all. After my first leg was done, I'd sort of decided it was manageable. The clippers weren't going to eat me, and I was even allowed to have a proper look at them and a good sniff. They're just so loud! Mum stood at my head and was giving me neck scratches when I was stood like a good boy. I did try and run through her to begin with, and once on the third leg, and then I got a bit of a smack. Message received - sorry mum, I didn't mean it!

How smart do I look now?

Good news, there's no other bad things hiding under there, and I don't have any other bits of mud fever. Mum's also hoping to save time on grooming now. The cheek of it. I will just have to try harder to poo down my legs more. It all feels a bit funny with no hair to protect me - mum walked me through the long grass and stuff on the way back to the field, but I was very brave and took it all in my stride. You wait until my first time back on the stubble. I might save my freakout for that! So that was my not so relaxing Sunday. I hope you've all had a better day of it!

Saturday's musings

Rio finally got his feet done yesterday after the farrier had to postpone last Friday. I had to leave him with a friend at the yard though as I got there for 2.30pm to receive a text saying it would be nearer 3.30pm before he arrived! Rio was turned out in the scary outdoor grass arena whilst he waited. He was adorable trotting around and generally looking very handsome. 

I was hoping last night to make our first true solo mission around the village. Unfortunately it was a little windy, so that did not happen.

Instead, I poo picked three fields, gave cuddles to three horses, and left it at that. Today was much the same, so Rio had a second day off. However, there was a bit of drama when Sean the Sheep was found dying in my friend's field. A mass rescue ensued (most of which I was more of a witness to than a participant!) whereby Sean was loaded into the giant wheelbarrow and escorted up to the yard into the indoor school. Attempts were made to get him to drink, and stand up, and although he managed a few steps, he then fell down and sadly died a little later. We always complain about the sheep, but all the same, nobody wants to see an animal suffer. We will remember you Sean!

Ride / play safe x

My chunky monkey

Yes, that is Rio in a rug. No, I haven't gone soft just yet. I was hoping on Friday to ride after work, and the forecast was showing rain for most of the afternoon. All straps and buckles had to be adjusted for it to fit him as he's bulked out a little since he last wore it! What a chunky monkey. It actually just about fits his shoulders now instead of it hanging loose around his neck. He's growing up so fast *sob*. Anyway, I didn't ride on Friday so it was all a bit pointless, as I still had a headache (day 5 and counting, although today it has been much more dulled).

I just had to share this pic. My phone seems to save the last image on the camera viewfinder when I lock it/close the camera app. I'm going to be keeping an eye on the thumbnail as I have a feeling it could provide some gems! This was Franks trying to pop over and say hi. 

I now have my dad's camera for a few weeks, so bring on some photo shoots to have a play around with it... We had a day out at the beach today so I'll be reviewing the shots I got from that some time soon, fingers crossed I got some good ones. 

Sarah took me out on Saturday morning for a hack with the boys. I decided to go for it despite the headache. We had a lovely peaceful hack up the road, and whilst we didn't gallop across the stubble, we did have a trot and then a wonderful collected canter on the track through the stubble field. There was no bucking or broncing, and Rio was very responsive, collecting himself to stay behind Franks when I asked him not to pass! So there we are, I've now cantered since the incident, on a hack. Hurrah!

Ride / play safe x

Growing up with Rio

I was looking through my (hundreds of!) photos of Rio last night, right back to the day he arrived with me on 20/11/2013. That's this first one. The other two are from the first couple of months of having him.

The bottom right is the "before" in these. It's from March 2014. It's probably just me, but he looks much better in the two "after" photos, perhaps it's just where his neck has chunked out a bit - along with the rest of him! 

This is 17/12/2013 vs. 20/07/2014. Definitely happy he's had his mane pulled. Seeing the difference here really makes it pop. Now just to get the stumpy bit of mane under control and he will look super handsome.

I think you can see even in his face that he has grown up, but again that's probably just me being sentimental! I think the beard is the next tidy-up project, that will make him look much smarter. 

Ride / play safe x

Happy Horsey Weekend

We've had a lovely weekend! Yesterday, Millie and I spent almost 9 hours "at the yard" (we did pop out to the local tack store, which counts as being at the yard in my eyes!) You may have seen a picture of Millie's little pony on my last post - meet Brandy. He's a darling little twenty year old pony from the New Forest, who loves being in his cart. It was my first time driving, I've never been in a cart before! We had decided we needed to pop to the shop to get a drink and maybe an ice cream, so Brandy took us. We parked up in the car park, and boy do people come and talk to you. Several people came over to stroke him, and were asking all sorts of questions. That was new. I'm not really a people person... Interesting experience! I even got to take up the reins on the way back home, and we had a little trot and everything. It was awesome.

Today was pamper day, and my cousin kindly pulled Rio's mane for me this morning. He looks so super handsome now, and his short tufty bit doesn't look quite so short and tufty. I begrudgingly let her pull his forelock, but wouldn't let her do more than one pull as I love his forelock long. Admittedly, it does look very smart now. We decided that before he had his bath, we would ride round the village and stop off at the shop on the way back as there was a little bit of cloud coverage and a slight breeze. Rio wanted to show off his new 'do' to the world as he's a posh boy now. They were a little fidgety whilst waiting in the car park, but overall it was pretty successful. Who needs to park a car in a car park when you can park ponies?

So when we got back, it was bath time. He was much better than usual on the left side, I even managed to hose him down, lather him up with the shampoo, and rinse him off on my own without too much fuss. However, the other side wasn't so successful, and ended up with me holding him whilst Millie hosed him. He was very naughty at one point as he kicked out when his hind end was being hosed. Due to his left brain thinking, however, he didn't kick towards anyone or anything, rather he kicked out behind him like he had an annoying twitch. After a telling off from Millie and I, there were no more legs going out where they weren't wanted, and although he didn't stand still, we made it through. Perhaps whilst the weather is still warm, he may get hosed down daily for the next week to see if we can't get rid of this silly behaviour around the hose. 

Just because he's such a poser!

Amazingly, and possibly for the first time ever, he didn't even roll when I turned him out in his field. It's a big night tonight, he's spending tonight AND the day tomorrow in with Franks. We've extended the fencing in their paddock so there's more grass in there again so fingers crossed there will be no bitten bottoms. He's also back to having a hard feed once a day, as they're not getting all the nutrients needed from the grazing at the moment, so he's on chaff and a low calorie balancer to make sure he's getting all he needs whilst he is (still!) growing. Come on Rio, let's get that last inch or two out of you!

Ride / play safe x

Sweet Shots Saturday

Cuddles with my boy

I'm very pleased with how Rio has been the last couple of days. The weather has been so blustery, I've not ridden since Tuesday, but he's been very responsive. Moving him between fields last night when the wind had trees bending over in the gusts, I was a little nervous that he might be a bit of a numpty, but he walked straight out with me with no hesitation. 

I was a little concerned when I got down and Rio was laying down, and didn't move to poo pick with me, but he got straight up when I was done and put his headcollar on. He's looking much better now him and Franks are alternating nights in the fatty field. 

He was still very sleepy when he went into the field with Franks so there wasn't much to see, but a friend said that he was pushing Franks about later in the day. He came up this evening to have his feet picked and the scabby bits on his pastern seen to again. His skin is starting to look much more pink and fresh, so hopefully the Hypocare is helping, and we are getting somewhere. He even came for a trot with me at liberty in the field tonight, love him! 

Ride / play safe x

Keeping control

Tonight's purchase. Since Rio bit Franks on the bum, and went back into his own field, he has ballooned over the last two days. We are going to try putting them in together during the day, and in their own fields overnight, but for now that means that he needs some restriction other than the fencing that I put up to make his field a bit smaller. I don't want him to be restricted to a tiny paddock, but he definitely needs to get rid of the grass belly. I'm disappointed really, he'd just started looking so good. 

I helped my cousin take Oakey out on long reins this evening around the big field, and for his first time out, he was a little superstar, very trunky and looking at everything but that's exactly what you expect from a four year old! He had a couple of little side steps but took it like a pro. 

I left the yard feeling a little deflated this evening, I didn't ride or anything as felt absolutely shattered. I was downhearted when comments were made about Rio's belly. I'm not kidding myself - I know he's ballooned the last couple of days, I'm not denying it or saying he looks good. I don't want him to be this round. We are working more often than before though, so I'm hoping it shouldn't last too long and the plan is that the boys will do a couple of days in Franks' field, and then one in Rio's. If all goes to plan, I'm hoping that they will eat the grass down in the next couple of weeks, and he won't have to use the grazing muzzle for long... He won't need to wear it in Franks' field, only overnight in his own, and he can have it off during the day that they spend in his field. 

Ride / play safe x

Relaxed pony

Love how he stands like a show pony so often. 

Rio had the evening off today, he wasn't very forthcoming with leaving Franks in the field, but with a bit of pressure and release (and unfortunately a bit of snaking) we made it out in a few minutes. He's proving his intelligence again as he's figured out that when he goes for a wee he gets to stop and munch some grass. Clever boy.

He's been stomping his feet a little recently, so I've been keeping an eye on him as he could have mites in his feathers. He's not been so bad these last couple of days, but I brought him up this evening, I washed his legs down with some hibiscrub in case he has any unseen sore bits. He had a little leg massage, and was very good and stood steady pretty much the whole time. He's also got a little scabby patch on his right hind just on his pastern, so I've been treating that with warm diluted hibiscrub, and taking the scabs off. A friend has lent me some udder cream so I've been putting that on, and it's starting to look much better. A quick application of baby oil on his feathers, hypocare on the graze he keeps catching on his back leg, and it was time to head back down to the field. 

Ride/play safe x

Assessing the damage

Well this was the impact spot on the field last night! Sarah insisted we hacked back via the scene of the crime despite my attempt to sneakily ride back across the other side of the field. Amusingly Rio spooked at a pile of poo just about where he threw me off yesterday, just another one of the "maybe it was ... **insert random possibility here** ". However, today he opted for a much more manageable side step instead of hopping around like a numpty. 

So as you can see, I got back in the saddle tonight, and went for a ride out with Sarah and Franks. Rio was up front for almost the whole ride (Franks was a very good boy and only tried to sneak ahead a handful of times) I just about managed to swing my leg over and get on! He had a couple of spooks, which just consisted of a quick sidestep but other than that it was pretty good. 

I ordered a new bit for Rio last week - I've got it on a 30 day trial to see how he likes it, which is great. It's essentially the same as the bit he has now, except with the Salox metal which is meant to heat up to the same temperature as the horse's mouth in a fractions of a second. It's also a nickel free alloy, with a bit of a sweet taste, so should encourage acceptance of the contact. He's not too resistant to taking up a contact when asked, but I'm not very good at asking, so I'm hoping this will be a good piece to the jigsaw puzzle for us. It had to be done as the eggbutt link on the left of Rio's current bit keeps seizing. This time I'm going for a keeper instead of a cheaper!

So here's the assessment from head to toe:

• Neck - tender on both sides, probable whiplash effect from head hitting the ground
• Tummy/core muscles very tense today, feel like I've done the plank for an hour!
• Right fore arm - pulled a muscle maybe, trying to hold onto the reins as I went down
• Inside of right hip - sore! Difficult to hold my leg up for a length of time, and driving is a little uncomfortable (also why I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get on tonight!)
• Pelvis/lower back - bruise is starting to come out already, sore but thanks to my anti inflammatories, no swelling as yet and manageable

Think that's about it! We clearly have a lot of work to do on hacking alone, but only time and effort will help us with that. Here's to the learning curve! I'm just glad I was able to get straight back on last night and not let this push me back to where I was a few weeks ago. Onwards and upwards. Oh - and speaking of upwards, I could swear that Rio is a bit bum high again! He's already gone up from 15hh to 15.2h since I got him, and I think he may be growing a little more. Bless him!

Ride/play safe x