TCJp26 Riding

Henry

TODAY WE WENT FOR A RIDE: 
...and we loved it!




Today was cold and sunny, a little breezy, but quiet.  Somewhere in the distance the Hunt was offloading their horseboxes and the boys were very alert!

As always I ride Henry first, he is what I lovingly call 'special needs', meaning he is very slightly mental.  I was worried I wouldn't be able to do up their girths (see TCJp25 for that story), but that paled into insignificance with what happened next.

So, picture this, I have boys loose in the yard, I'm trying to brush them (they were covered in mud, rightly so this time of year), I'm following Tom to his haybar and he just stands there whilst I get him presentable (and we never leave the yard looking scruffy - their Mums would not approve). Next Henry.....

He trots around the yard, diving in the stables, one after the other.  Turning on his back legs in a rear-spin...squealing as he goes, and pelts back out.  He repeats this several times, he is just so excited - perhaps he knows he'll be leaving the estate to have a wander around the village?  then, he rolls, squeals, jumps, stops.  

I'm standing there with a hairbrush in my hand (one from Boots I use to get the mud off- works brilliantly, fully recommend it), waiting for Henry to calm down.  

Boots hairbrush

John says, 'you're not going near that horse are you?', he's swinging his neck from side to side squeals and gallops back out and stops dead, with his head high in the air obviously listening to something.

I decided that, yes, I would go near that horse, he cant help being excited, and it shouldn't mean he misses out on getting out and about. 

Tom, just glances over, munching his HorseHage, looking disapproving.

Tom goes out, Henry stays in the yard, gates to the field closed.  He goes mental again, trotting round the yard.  I was starting to wonder if John was right.  But I got him tacked up, it took me ages because he just wouldn't stand still.  If I had been in a hurry I might have tied him up, but this would be a last resort, I like them to be able to express their feeling, and today Henry was saying, hurry up!! I want to go!!

And go we did.  We had a lovely ride, lots of walk/trot transitions to ask Henry to listen to me, this works very well with him, because there's always something interesting to listen to or look at.  We did some short spurts of some very slow bouncy trots and power walking.  Then we came back and went out on Tom.

Tom was very big today.  He was bouncy and held himself tall.  His tail was swishing, and I managed to sit a beautiful floaty trot.  His neck was arched (nothing to do with me, I ride more-or-less on the buckle), his head was concentrating, his back legs were under and engaged, it felt like nothing I could describe here...amazing.

Tom

They were both happy to get back to each other, calling once in earshot.

They went straight out and rolled in all the mud!!!

That hairbrush will be coming out again tomorrow.  I'm riding with my neighbour....hope we have good weather, and maybe, just maybe, the boys will have lost just a few more pounds?

UPDATE: 

They both went down a notch at measuring time, and our ride of walking with short bursts of slow trot was an attempt to begin a fitness regime.  more about that in a separate post.