News and New Stuff!

Well I have some happier news to report - and an explanation on why Sarah is riding Rio in this picture! We are pregnant, and will be 26 weeks tomorrow! Rio has been off work since my last post, for my peace of mind but it also came at a good time over Winter whilst I'm trying to balance his digestive system. Sarah kindly agreed to brave the saddle for me a few weeks ago just to see how he is getting on, and he was a little angel. He had started pulling his head down when I mounted, because he was getting uncomfortable, and there was none of that on this day. He usually takes 5 - 10 minutes of being a little more alert, on his toes and joggy before he settles in our friend's manege. Not this time - he was lovely and relaxed from the get-go. This may have been down to the groundwork and long-lining I did with him before, but this was the first time he has been under saddle in 3 months+ so he could have done anything. It was lovely to see him looking a happy chappy again. 

I think he is looking well at the moment (and I think in this picture he does too!) He has had a follow-up visit with Donna since September and we saw great improvement. He has been less spooky, and thanks to the groundwork we even ventured out around the neighbouring field on long-lines on our own a few weeks back. It's been keeping me active having Rio - and although some days I've possibly done a little too much, it's great for keeping me going! 

In other news, I have an exciting new venture in the planning stages! I've decided to take my maternity leave as a perfect opportunity to really sink my teeth into my photography, and launch myself into business. Please do add me on Facebook and Instagram so you can keep up with my updates. I'm super excited to open a brand new chapter in my life - and not only that, a chapter that can tell other people's stories! There's plenty to plan, and lots to get sorted, but I can't wait to give this my best shot and see what's out there for me. Launching my business with my first child on the way is not complete madness, right? ... 

I'll try to be a little more active again now, it's been a bumpy few months, but we're back on track! 

Blasting away the cobwebs

The cruise was fab. It was the perfect break that we needed at just the right time. If you ever get an opportunity to sail on a Clipper, absolutely go for it! 

Back to real life, and I'm getting back in the swing of things with Rio. His confidence has taken a bit of a hit under saddle, and he's been a bit spooky, but on the plus side he's much improved in hand. Yesterday we went for a ride around the village with Millie and Bailey and finished with a little canter up the field which was interesting. It's been a while since he's had a proper leg stretching canter out on a track. The first half was very much a rocking horse gone mad, with his head between his knees! There was nothing malicious, but he was certainly happy to be out and moving some. 

This evening we hit the track up the road for a proper blast to try and clear some cobwebs. The wind was pretty gusty, but I wasn't about to start down that "nervous in bad weather rider" road. We tacked up, mounted, and headed off. We were so busy chatting away that I barely even noticed the wind. The ride was pretty relaxed all the way, and we had a fantastic canter up the hill and across the fields including a little bit of a gallop across the top! He was very responsive, keen and I think we both had an absolutely fab time. He's a little star, and I'm so pleased to be enjoying him again. 

Growing trust

Riding has taken a very back seat at the moment, and we've been sticking more and more to ground work. I'm determined to get Rio more confident, as it has become clearer that he really is lacking in self assurance. 

We went up for a play at our friend's again on the weekend, and got to collect our brand new Parelli rope! Now our mission is to get rid of that shiny bright white and get busy with it. We learned more about backing up with sideways adjustments this week. Due to his claustrophobia, we have been working around poles and trying to get him to back up to a single pole. The first time we tried, he was having none of it, so it was rewarding this time when after a few minutes of trying, he managed it. 

There was a moment where he was clearly in two minds and was just staring straight ahead in concentration. My friend made it so easy to pick up and learn, and I value her time so much. As soon as he blinked, and was "back in the room", we continued. It was quite funny to see him resist to the point that his front feet were backed right up to his back feet before he finally got his hind feet backed over it. His little face once he made it was priceless. More work to be done on this!

We then did some work on learning the circling game. As we are not riding much at the moment, I wanted to learn how to do this so that I can at least get him moving and try and keep him fit. The other benefit is that it gives him responsibility to maintain his pace. He relies heavily on being micro managed. Rio is a clever boy, and I'm sure he can count. He started out by taking off at a canter, and stopping at the start point! He developed on to trot two rounds before stopping where he started. I soon got the hang of a stronger send when he was doing this, and we ended on a very nice 4 circles before I disengaged his hindquarters and allowed him to stand. 

Rio was a very sweaty boy by the time we had finished. It takes a lot of brain power for him to achieve these things, as he thinks about everything so much. In some ways, he is a bit too clever at times! This is also a downfall for him, because he will often over think things, but that's why I'm so keen to work on our relationship on the ground. I'm truly looking forward to our future together.

Schooling success

We made a trip to Water Farm on Monday evening after work to do some schooling, with Sarah and Franks. It was a thank you for us helping out at the second dressage clinic last weekend. Can't ask for better payment than free use of a lovely indoor arena! It was made all the more interesting when Nancy joined us. This is Nancy:

She is very opinionated, and was not interested in the slightest in leaving us to it. Luckily Rio wasn't too worried about her, although he did avoid her for a couple of rounds. We did some lovely demi-volts along the opposite side of the school, and then set back to it, and he was fine. 

We had some fab movement and work in the trot, and he's really starting to work better from behind now - which followed through into tonight's session at the yard! I was a little disappointed with the canter work (or lack thereof!) at Water Farm, after we hacked out twice at the weekend and did none at all. I thought he'd be itching to get going. 

Tonight I was very pleased with everything he did, on the ground and in the saddle. He stretched down and forward beautifully by the end of the session, and we managed our longest canter in our grass arena yet - and he didn't drop out of it on his own, I asked him forward to trot! As a little bonus my friend was having her horse schooled by a mutual friend who teaches, and as we were trotting around at the end, he gave me some pointers on getting Rio working more effectively from behind and pushing down and forward. I was absolutely beaming by the end, but shattered! 

Absolutely brilliant discovery - take feet out of stirrups, and let them drop down, and Rio stops dead in a perfect square halt. 

Not so good when I eventually come to wanting to work without stirrups, but interesting nonetheless. I ride quite short, so it must feel very odd to him when my legs stretch down! 

After Franks had a bit of a meltdown on our casual walk out on Saturday, courtesy of the two practising trial bikes I inadvertently took us past, I decided to take Rio out for a casual walk up the road on Sunday morning. I was determined to clock up another solo ride, and this one was a bit of a challenge that I ended up being proud of. 

We crossed the road, where he took offence to something (still no idea what!) and promptly spun to the right, and took off up the 3 foot grass bank. Onto the farmer's field. Not good! I used my recently learned trick of lifting my right rein to bend him and disengage his hind, and brought him back quickly, before too much damage could be done to the crop... I whisked him straight back off at the corner of the field, where he still put up an argument about proceeding up the road. After a moment of discussion, with a couple looking on from their car across the road, he eventually got on with it, and we marched on our way. 

The ride was made up of little victories; sitting the spook, not turning back and making him listen to me, not turning around at the top of the road because my nerves were shot, and having a great trot across the two fields. The trip back down the hill was relatively uneventful, which was lovely. 

Turbulence!

Life has it's UPS and downs.

You will never fully appreciate the ups

unless you have some downs

It has been a turbulent few weeks since my last post, packed full of riding, not riding, and plenty of peaks and troughs. 

Peak

The dressage clinic. Wonderful. Rio behaved impeccably, despite being absolutely shattered by the end of the lesson in the morning and refusing to go up into canter. He redeemed himself immensely when performing the test in the afternoon - 63.2% in our first test ever! Even though he dropped out a little early from the canter on the second rein. His trot was fab, he's got a lovely rhythmical trot which suits dressage very nicely it would seem. The day wasn't without it's drama however, as a friend's horse slipped whilst cantering a 20m circle, and went over, smashing her big toe. Luckily no broken ankle or leg, but it was horrifying to watch unfold (seemingly in slow-mo!)

I think he was pretty pleased with it.

Trough

Clipping was not such a fun experience. Despite having had a nice relaxed leg stretch after the fun at the clinic, and him practically falling asleep on the spot when we got back, those clippers still instil the fear in him. I may have to resort to him needing mild sedation to get this done moving forward, and save us all some stress. He is back to his handsome ways now though, and has undergone a full clip this time!

Peak

After a few days off, we had a lovely ride out in the countryside with a couple of friends. My gosh was it windy, but all four boys were very well behaved - even on the big hills where things might have gotten messy. Last Friday, after a few more days of doing nothing, Rio came in and we did some schooling. We are focussing not so much on a full contact, I am looking more for him to seek the bit out for himself, and working a little longer and a little lower. We will be working up and in from there. He did very well, and was wonderfully relaxed. As a treat, he had his whole field for the night, so he could enjoy some proper green grass!

Trough

Too much proper green grass!

The fun returned on Saturday morning, including (but not limited to) 

spooking at anything and everything possible

freaking out when I turned him around outside the gate to close it

running back into the field

twice

being on his toes walking up - cue him being sent out around me in a circle for a few minutes

fidgeting every time I went to pick up a foot

standing on my foot

being a spooky sweetheart on the way back down to the field, with freshly picked feet, and his rug changed

When we walked back down, I imposed some in hand schooling to keep him busy. We stopped, started, walked, jogged, stepped back, and he did it all foot perfect. He's so lucky I love him to pieces! 

Peak

Last night, with carrot stick in hand, I made my way to the field to retrieve the boy - "I'm taking no prisoners tonight" was my text to Sarah! Of course, he didn't bat an eyelid at the gate, didn't dance about, and barely fidgeted whilst I got him ready and tacked up. Just another day... He got lots of cuddles and strokes. We went for a windy wander with Sarah and Franks around the field next door, and after a silly spook from Rio in the corner, where I sat tight - I took us off around the village for a proper leg stretch. It was trying to drizzle, but it wasn't too bad, and I felt much better for having taken him out.

Even better - we are having a pole clinic with a friend on Easter Monday, and I'm really looking forward to it. Watch this space! 

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.

That feeling of inadequacy

We managed some schooling last weekend, after a fab ride out on Saturday (see video below!) I felt pretty good about it. Making it into the school, me not worrying. Rio being a bit of a prat and me still not worrying, trying to get a feel with him again... All until I put together my video. He fought and fought with me, and despite him coming in a bit, despite me desperately trying to get him moving forward into a contact; all that happened was me holding him together, and it didn't flow at all. 

I've booked us in on a dressage clinic next month, and I'm just dying to get in there to try and work this out. It's come to that point where I feel like we need to step it up or I just feel like I'm not enough for him. This weekend's frustration was my lack of ability to just sit to the trot. I'm not kidding now, this is really starting to eat at me. By now, I should be past the point of getting excited about sitting to three strides before I lose it again. Right? 

Wrong. I need to remember not to run before I can walk. In the grand scheme of things, it wasn't so long ago that I was terrified of that school and of Rio being stupid in there. 

It wasn't so long ago that on a hack I would have been a sprung ball of tension at the slightest trip or spook. 

It wasn't so long ago, that if another horse had come sprinting past causing Rio to rush off in pursuit, that I probably might have lost my seat (maybe a stirrup or two) and bailed out in a big sprawling mess. 

Not any more.

These are the things I need to remember, and when the inevitable downs of horse ownership and riding come into play, these are the things I need to draw on. How many times have you been through these patches? How did you get yourself through them? I don't want to feel like I'm letting his potential be lost because I'm not a capable enough rider. I want to learn, and I want to be able to teach Rio, and for him to learn with me. It's time to start saving to try and get a trainer in every few weeks. 6 weeks and counting until the clocks go forward. I cannot wait.

On a more cheerful note - here's our hacking video! 

If anyone has any tips they would care to share, I would be more than grateful.

Stuck like glue!

We have had a smattering of snow over the course of this last week, but whilst the snowfall has looked impressive at times, it's not lasted long! This was on Thursday afternoon - I was lucky enough to be granted a late request for a half day's holiday at work. I took Rio out around the village with one of the girls whose 4 year old TB can be a bit of a crazy boy, and Rio was a bit fresh. I intended on changing his numnah back to his woolly white one, but ran short on time with the weather threatening. His new one has been rubbing a bit at the back of the saddle, so I had temporarily padded it out with the half pad which seemed to fit much better too. I think he may be changing shape again a little. It could have been the numnah that caused him to do a speedy stomp around the village, or maybe he just knew the snow was coming! 

I finally got around to putting my photos in my frame! Such a gorgeous boy, and now I get to admire him all of the time. 

Today we went out in the trailer with Sarah and Franks, and Rio got to try out his big boy pants and take the lead! We had an interesting start, to the point that I thought his saddle must really be causing him aggravation. Whenever I asked anything of him, and again in between, he was skipping around being a bit silly. We gave him the benefit of the doubt, and took the boys up the canter hill for a leg stretching trot and it seemed to do the trick. Franks was being super good, so Rio and I took the lead, to give him something to think about, and test his brave pants!

He did have a couple of moments, as you can see in the video haha. It was a fab ride. We still have plenty to work on, but it was just great. Sadly the SD card was full before we finished our hack, so we didn't get footage of the uphill gallop at the end of our ride. My seat has improved so much, as has my confidence and trust in Rio. Not long ago, if he had taken off up the hill at the rate he did, I would have been genuinely scared, and pulling him up. Not only that, but he ducked abruptly to the right once we hit the track at the top - straight into a low hanging branch. I've no clue how I stayed on, as I had to duck down over his left shoulder to avoid getting smacked in the face, and of course that's the way my balance was thrown by him jumping across to the right. A quick glance at the floor reminded me that's not where I wanted to be, so I looked straight ahead and we carried on!

This month is looking to be an expensive one on Rio's part! Just as well I'm accustomed to being poor on his behalf hey. I'm running desperately short on hay, and have somehow got to try and make it last until Saturday. I've managed to make up a haynet from some of the fresher stuff around his bale for the morning, and I'm just going to have to hope the rest is enough... (I do have a backup offer from Sarah should this fail! I can't let my poor baby go hungry in this horrible cold weather)

Going off piste

We're not going down there are we mum? Yes. Yes we are. 

Um, I'm not so sure. Bailey doesn't want to go in there, and Monty is hanging back, so I don't think it's safe. Really? How about you give it a look, and then if you really don't want to, we can discuss it sensibly? GET ON! 

Mum. No. I'm not going in there. Look, my head is under the roof, and I'm telling you - it's SCARY. I'm turning around. No you're not. Look, have a second, that's fine, but you're not turning and running away from it. You're better than that. Come ON. 

AAAHHH ok mum we're in, it's... it's not so bad actually... I just need to check the others are following! Good boy, I told you it would be fine! Of course they're following, you've just shown them it's not scary, you ninny. You funny boys.

We've had a mixed bag this week. Rio came up for a little play on Thursday evening, and there were three horses in for the night. Do you think he would go into his stable and stay whilst I closed the door? Not a chance. He ended up being driven backwards the length of the barn because he was being so rude. We went into the indoor school to work on manners, where we experienced difficulty in getting him to stay on the right rein in walk or trot. We made it in the end, and ended up with some nice movement once he was actually listening. He joined up, and was happy to follow me at liberty in the school in various shapes and over a small raised pole. He went into his stable (still with a little fuss) and had dinner afterwards, so I still managed to have my own way on that front! 

Yesterday we went on a little mission around the local village, and ended up doing alot of road work. It was probably around 1hr 45mins with minimal time of that being off road, so although we had taken it steady and it was a walking hack for 98% of the ride, I was still a little worried about his splint and hind (unshod) feet. All was well though, and there was no sign of heat or swelling today, and his splint is no different. In the picture above, we are all lined up on Amy's drive (not pictured, but Monty is the one I'm holding!) 

We certainly drew a lot of attention, as there aren't usually horses on the roads we trekked. There are probably a few people with photos and videos of us now... Amazingly none of the boys pooed on the drive, but we did stop at Tesco on the way back to get a coke, where Bailey decided the pavement was a great place to let one go. That didn't go down so well, despite Mils trying to kick it off on to the road - the cashier wasn't impressed. Hey ho. Won't be going in there for a while! (The reason we were on the pavement was because it's on quite a busy road, and we were less in the way on the pavement than milling around in the road... I know we're not technically meant to be up there - just sods law!)

So we come back to today's ride, where we conquered the scary underpass! Rio was lovely and relaxed, other than the little fight to get him to trust me that he wouldn't get eaten down there. When we got back I decided we would spend a little while in the outdoor school again, whilst I was feeling comfortable and confident in the saddle. He would not move past the other boys as they were stopping to be untacked. Amy kindly grabbed her riding crop, and we were off. We had some lovely movement, and he even took up a bit of a contact with a bit of work from me. Perfect. Here's a video Amy took on our second run (can't beat a good bit of desensitising!) - I couldn't leave without going back again to get photos haha.

Cool day

I love a good girly lunch. Me and Sharon were the only ones who would have our photo though so here we are. After we stood in the falling snow for a moment (it lasted probably no more than 10 minutes, but it tried!) we'd all done our yard chores for the morning, and set off for a delicious fry up down the road. 

I couldn't believe the ice that I pulled off the top of Rio's water in his bucket this morning. This was around 10am as well, it was so cold. Amazingly, there was next to no frost... All very strange. Rio soon tucked into his breakfast and I was far too excited about spreading his hay into more than two piles. I'm loving this drop in the wind speeds again. 

We spent today's hack (there were 5 of us today) practising not sticking to the horse in front's bottom, and standing to wait when asked. The first time I asked him, he just kept walking, in super collected fashion, and popping in little side steps. Not to mention the one attempt at a little mini plant and rear - he didn't get that far though as I gave him a quick kick to remind him who was in charge. As soon as he stood still for one second, I allowed him to move on, and we upped the ante from there. By the end of the hack, he was standing, and not moving a muscle until I asked him for as long as I tried to leave him. 

The improved response was with him in 3rd position though, and not fourth where we were on the first attempt. It's progress anyway. I'm not sure he will ever be a last horse kind of boy. As long as I can have an acceptable level of control over him wherever we are in a group, then I'm happy. If we can be in a more comfortable place for him, then all the better for it. 

When we got back to the yard I felt comfortable enough to sit and stretch out my legs without my stirrups for a few minutes, which is a relatively new thing for me to enjoy. I dismounted, and popped him into his stable for a bit. So proud. I just tried not to make a big deal of him being in there, other than to make sure he knew where I was so he didn't panic. 

I walked in and out of the stable again a couple of times whilst tidying things away, and getting his rug in to put on him. He listened very well, and didn't even have any haynet to keep him occupied. He did try to walk through me once, so I backed him up and made him wait. When it came time to walk out of the stable, I motioned him around and he came and waited behind me for me to clip the lead rope on. He walked out quite calmly, and I loved every second of it. 

Ride / play safe x

Stable manners

Just look at Rio finally starting to look a bit more at home in his stable! I was trying to persuade him that the bank corner is a safe spot as much as by the door! Treats r us!

Seriously though, he did so well this evening. There were a couple of horses in for the night, so I'm not sure if that helps but the improvements are certainly showing.

Tonight I changed his rugs over, picked out all four feet and managed to walk out of the stable to get something and come back in without him trying to shove his way out of the door. It's amazing.

I could see he was thinking about scaling the door up at one or two points but I called him over and kept his mind off it and, for today at least, it worked well.

Ride / play safe x

Walking on wind!

We braved the winds today. After our little play yesterday, and not having done anything else since last weekend, it could have been interesting. Except the Alfa rage seems to have dissipated!

We went out with Millie and Bailey for a wander around the village, and Rio tried out his new boots again! He does look dashing all dressed up with his smart booties and exercise fleece. All was going well, and then we came back in onto the field, where a lady was walking through the footpath that runs alongside the track. Rio was a bit on his toes, and had a little spook, which I'd contained. However Bailey is still learning how to follow, and had other ideas - all I heard was "my pony's going to explode!" The perfect cue before we took off full speed ahead down the field. I found a few seconds to realise that if I sat in, gave him his head and then checked him, he might come back to me. Hey presto - we had a lovely canter whilst we watched Millie disappear off into the distance and pull him up at the corner. 

We decided it would be a good option to get them to walk around the field so that the next time we went out on the field, neither of our boys would expect a good canter! We had a canter up the first side, then walked back to the yard, and I even had Rio on a long rein. Millie decided that she wanted to take Bailey in the school and hop a few small poles/cross poles. It seemed the perfect opportunity for me to address my fear of the outdoor school. I decided I would go in and walk Rio round a couple of times just to say that I'd done it. A building block as such.

 We walked around a few times, and he didn't put a hoof wrong, so I decided to try a trot. I was so pleased when he dropped his head down into a lovely contact, even though my reins were longer than usual when I would be asking for it. 

And then this happened! We were having so much fun, we "jumped" several times and didn't even think about being in the outdoor arena!

Needless to say, Rio got lots of cuddles, and was treated to an apple and pear in his dinner this evening.

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

Merry Christmas, the rocky start...

Merry Christmas everyone!

We made it out for our Christmas day ride yesterday, after a rocky start at the yard. Rio has been a beautiful field ornament for a week and a half so a good blast was in order to blow away those cobwebs. However, when I went to lead him around the barn to go onto the trailer, and he spooked and fell over, that wasn't the first thought on my mind. Luckily he had his cooler on, so whilst he did scuff a chunk of hair off his left knee, the main damage was to his cooler rug... He now has armpit ventilation! 

He was a bit of a sod to load, having freaked himself out, but after walking a few circuits of the car park, he chilled out and off we went. True to form and living up to expectations, he was super fresh, and we had a bouncy, joggy walk down the track. We had walking and trying to sneak trot strides in, trotting and dropping in canter strides, and cantering with gallop thrown in for good measure! We hopped puddles and dips in the track, yelled ahead for Sarah and Franks to hang on a sec (little did I realise that we were in fact going so fast, we'd already made it to the end of the track, and they were then pulling up anyway!) 

Franks was being such a good boy that we even got to take lead file for a bit, so that Rio could practice his bravery. We went up the super steep hill, where much to my amusement, we launched up and over the crest, and had a lovely canter after that, and then we went out for a trot back towards the trailer on the stubble field. Inevitably, that turned into a canter, which was not so bad until Rio tried to drop his head! Little bugger. I brought him back, and we had a great trot along the grass track, and walked down the hill. Rio was still up for it, so we decided to turn them around and have one last blast! 

Rio went nuts for it, and I had my first "ohmigosh" canter moment. We went hard up the hill, and as we levelled out, Rio's bottom tucked in, his back came up, and we had the perfect canter and I felt on top of the world. (I didn't realise this until afterwards when I explained the sensation to Sarah). He was still up for it, he's obviously feeling much better for having his clip and not being a sweaty blob! When we went to go back down the hill again, he decided that walking was not an option, and much to my horror we trotted pretty much the whole way down. EEK. We survived though! I would like to say that I did stay rather calm (surprisingly).

We even found the Christmas Star on our travels! All in all, I was super pleased that I bit the bullet and took him out despite my concerns. If I can do that after a week and a half of him doing nothing, and come out of it smiling - darn it, I can do anything! Rio enjoyed a special Christmas dinner after working hard. Two parsnips, two carrots and an apple with his usual feed. Yum yum. 

So this afternoon, we did. I tacked him up and we went out around the village on our own. It was rather bumpy. I'm not sure if Rio was trying out Piaffe, but aside from some nice walking down one of the roads, it was certainly not the smoothest ride we've had. We made it though! I was a bit naughty, and forgot to put his sports boots on, which I regretted when I realised after we did the scopiest trot I've had from him on the way back (on the road...) I was hoping it would settle him a bit. We covered the ground faster than I've ever known him to. 

I'm not sure if I'd mentioned the lumpy bump and its prognosis from the second (better) vet when Rio had his jabs. It is a splint, so now it's just a case of looking after it (wearing boots. Please!) and monitoring it. On the downside - it's close to his knee, so I just hope that it's not going to interfere in his later years. Also - a footnote on his clip - it's really not so great now it's growing out a bit again. There are lines everywhere, so that's definitely something I'm going to have to work on for next time... I did get show trimmers for Christmas though, so we will be clipping away at those! 

I'm hoping to get chance to ride tomorrow afternoon, but it all depends on this horrible rainy weather - it sounds awful out there at the moment. Me and hubster are away for a few days after tomorrow night to have a break, so Rio will be mooching around until new year's day when hopefully the fun recommences. Bless his little patchwork rug. He's got a couple of friends at the yard looking out for him whilst I'm away, I'm just hoping the weather isn't too horrible so his rug doesn't end up soaked through! 

Ride / play safe x