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Choosing to be close to my human

Cancer invaded my human’s family early last summer; it twisted its knife and stole a life that should have rolled on for many more years.  My human was needed elsewhere a lot of the time but some days we chose to chill out together and ease our stress.We chose times that were warm and still,  not when it was too hot or windy.  We did some in-hand work first until we moved as a pair and felt really comfortable and close.  I am a curious horse; if yours isn’t naturally curious you may need carrots.

I need to make a few comments about safety. The human should wear their riding hat during a liberty bonding session; mine is ancient and forgets. We’re lucky to have an arena at home; if you share a yard arena please make sure no other horses come  in unexpectedly.  Please do not have a set agenda, do this when you have plenty of time so you can let your horse set the pace. You should not carry out any horse-yoga exercises without learning how do do them properly from a qualified practitioner and never work on an injured limb without the vet’s permission.

I could see that help was needed so got stuck in straight away

 

 

 

 

 

I needed to reposition the red cone then it was time for a release with some yawns

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought it might be time for a snack but could not find any treats so I tried eating her hair.

 

 

 

 

To be honest, the taste was rather disappointing.

 

 

 

 

Suddenly she decided to jog off round the arena but I was ready for action; you can see from my ears that I was keen to play and I soon caught up.

 

 

 

 

 

I love playing “grandma’s footsteps” but I have to walk to one side.

 

 

 

She’s putting on her waistcoat which means either some Masterson work or some yoga stretches next.   You can see that my ears stay in a neutral relaxed position for the left side but I am less happy holding the stretch with my right shoulder which gets very tight. I don’t leave though, I choose to stay because I feel better afterwards.

 

 

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2017

mutual grooming on a fine day in mid March

The year started well with lots of riding, massages and walks and with a plan to enter some dressage tests plus, hopefully, a bit of  local show-jumping by mid-summer. However, in mid-February my human picked up a nasty virus and took six weeks to recover.  Then the family had a very sad time and I just went out occasionally. An hour after the last photo in this post was taken I injured a hind leg; that was at the end of July and, for lots of reasons, I haven’t been ridden since.

 

poppy and I had a competition; I won easily

poppy

 

walking round fields on a lovely sunny day in mid May

 

2 days after my birthday; just checking to see if I look any older

who’s been in my arena

shady spot for tea

 

last ride before my injury

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Two years on

January 2016

It’s been a long time since I published a new post and during the past year a lot of the old posts have been removed from this site.  Today,  I am putting up a selection of photos from 2016 and my next post will be photos from 2017; after that I hope to publish a regular blog although probably not the daily diary that was my original intention.

I hope you enjoy this glimpse of my year.

 

May 2016

 

July 2016

 

August 2016

 

September 2016

 

October 2016

 

shadow. October 2016

 

relaxed October 2016

 

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07.01.15 – Will Faerber & art2ride

I’m having a quiet day off after yesterday’s nosebleed so thought it would be a good day to let my human talk about the effect Will Faerber from art2ride (also written as arttoride on YT) has had on my schooling and her riding.

If you have read the posts from last spring you will know that Dolly arrived with some serious issues; in spite of a mix of accidents and other setbacks we were making steady progress but it all went wrong  (see  wp.me/p4wbRD-3Q .)

Already a fan of  Sylvia Loch, whose books and videos  continue to be a source of inspiration,  since buying Dolly I had also been learning a new approach to handling on the ground using methods advocated by Pat Parelli.  I was already well aware of the advantages of schooling “long and low” but when I “discovered” Will Faerber and the art2ride website last July  something about his way of explaining and demonstrating his methods, combined with the footage of lots of horse owners achieving excellent results working by themselves, boosted my confidence at exactly the right moment.

In September, with the arena finished and Dolly feeling much better after her total break and slow re-introduction to ridden work,  I was determined to finally get her going forwards.  Watching Will’s wife Karen trotting round on huge horses with their noses nearly on the floor, horses whose necks and backs had been in a worse state than Dolly’s, I realized that I needed to put on my brave pants, kick on and feed out the reins even more than I had been doing.  I admit that at my age and fitness level this was not easy to do at first on a mare who  panicked and reared  and  eventually  tanked off round the farm with me a few months earlier.  It took a while to get more than a few steps of walk at a time in a good stretch but the more relaxed and experienced I became about riding her in that position the more she settled into it.  Trotting at full stretch was much harder to achieve but,  when it’s going well, I can bring her poll up to the height shown in the photo without losing the rhythm or causing over-flexion or a hollow back.  I don’t believe that any one person gets it right 100% of the time but Will’s wonderful attitude  and the art2ride videos convinced me that if I persevered then the Dolly I know is hiding in there somewhere would start to emerge;  and she has!

highest dolly can bring up her head while keeping the same rhythm and tempo

highest dolly can bring up her head while staying round and keeping the same rhythm and tempo

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05.01.15 – schooling with added heron

I got away with some spooks this afternoon thanks to a dive-bombing heron who settled round here a couple of weeks ago. Apparently herons are not a recommended method of improving impulsion whilst schooling trot circles but can be very effective. Don’t be fooled by the calm staring in the two photos, the old girl did well to stay on when the bird was overhead. Not well enough to actually get a photo of the heron, however; maybe next time.

alien approaching

alien approaching

sit tight it's taking off again

sit tight it’s taking off again

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02.01.15 Day off because of a birthday; hugs

I had the day off today; apparently it was one of the humans “special” birthdays so there was a lot to do before family and friends arrived.

Every day just before dark my friend and I are let through to a larger paddock with a lot more grass, returning to the small paddock each morning.  I usually kick up my heels and run a few yards before I start munching but tonight was different;  I turned back to the gateway and gave my human a hug, wrapping my head and neck round her shoulders.  She hugged me back, rubbing the middle of my neck with her hand;  who needs words?