2021 Hacking and Riding

It is pouring here. But riding lessons at our yard go on whatever the weather. I have a very good Berghaus summer jacket, bought after I saw one worn in pouring rain by a BBC reporter on the news. Edited to say, I looked up our accounts. I got it from Cotswold Outdoor in 2009.
 
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We dodged another bad storm bullet.
Thank god.
The storms that brought tornadoes to Bucks county Pennsylvania went south of us.

Its very humid even though its not really hot yet.

I played a bit low key but more precise transitions in the cavaletti pen.
I had let him out there really early he had just rolled.

I started play w the mask off but the midges are too bad i had to put it back on and continue

Supposedly we are supposed to be
FALL LIKE tomorrow.
Ohhhh I hope they are right.
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Lincoln was very cute watching him
 
It seems EVERYONE has had a crummy summer.

WE ALL NEED FALL.
We have! It has been dry for almost 3 weeks to the point the yard ran out of water. It comes off the hill. The grass had dried out so much they were pleased for some hay. We had heavy rain Tuesday night but been dry again since then.
 
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Lovely day here, the horse flies have finally departed, but too busy with work to do anything with mr zi. Such a shame. Mr trews can't leave his desk much at all today :(
However, I did manage a short in hand session with Zi but he was spooky and cheeky, I just don't think he was in the mood! (left my desk because I lost internet so went out to play!)

@Huggy @horseandgoatmom it's not been bad weather wise up here really, not a lot of rain and plenty of calm and sun. I just don't think I'm used to the heat lol but the flies have gone yaye! 😬 :)
 
So I had my riding lesson in very heavy rain. Boots and half chaps seem weather proof but anything else not under the bp or resting on the saddle, was soaked, my shirt, the front of my pants. It is all dripping into the bath now. OH was wet through too. He had planned a walk - so we both needed to strip to the skin and put on dry clothes. Andhe asked me to whizz up a can of tomatos to get some hot soup.
 
That does NOT sound like a fun or productive lesson.

I'm not a rain rider.
And tack is far too expensive to get
Soaking wet.
Not fun but, yes, dont worry, it was very productive. From the start this RI said her aim (I was then over 60) was to get me balanced as well as possible in the saddle, to prevent my falling off when out hacking.
For safety, one cant ride with no stirrups while out hacking, so having the chance in a lesson to trot on the lunge with no stirrups is really quite important.

The tack wont come to harm as good quality leather. The horse is on working livery. My hacks have never done school lessons, My share lives in the most beautiful hacking area and I feel very safe going out on her. We wander at will whever we want and at a fraction of the price of owning. So I thank my lucky stars.
 
Managed out this morning, despite the threat of heavy rain (again!) Stayed dry though. Uneventful, except Hogan on high alert for whatever reason, the whole way round. We managed some good active trots, although he was awfully shocked at being asked to trot uphill. He also had a crab fly that I couldn't catch - they're so hard to see on a dark horse!
 
Managed out this morning, despite the threat of heavy rain (again!) Stayed dry though. Uneventful, except Hogan on high alert for whatever reason, the whole way round. We managed some good active trots, although he was awfully shocked at being asked to trot uphill. He also had a crab fly that I couldn't catch - they're so hard to see on a dark horse!
They do have their moments of high alert don't they? Zi was like that yesterday for no good reason I could see.
 
Woo hoo so far its REALLY COOL OUT today.
I was out before dawn WITH A JACKET.
Then I played really early STILL with a jacket. YEA...
Then I ran up for hay to be there when they opened because it will probably be very busy..
Its also getting windy which magnifys the coolness.
It may only last one day BUT I WILL TAKE IT.

Its the kind of day you want to be in the sun..
Not hiding from it.


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Still not feeling good. Ive done nothing with Billy since last weekend. Really didnt feel up to riding if he got spirited. So opted to keep my feet on the ground. So i got chunkys rider to lunge Billy. So i stood on the side giving instructions. Hes very inexperienced still lunging and not something i want to do regularly because of the hock injury but i thought ot would be a good opportunity to teach her a new skill. Billy had a few sticky moments. Didnt canter properly, and threw in a few bucks and not for very long but i as actually ok with that. He hasnt been lunged for probably 4 months and for a novice lunger it was best to take things slow. She had the classic novice trait of gathering up the lunge line a bit irratic so i tried to teacher her about gathering it in carefully in loops. So she could then feed it back out easily when needed. I did get a little giddy watching billy going round in circles. Glad i wasnt stood in the middle actually lunging him.

After that, i taught her more skills as i elected to take chunky out for a drive just so i could have a sit down. Chunky hasnt been driven for 4 months. Im so use to tacking him up in his harness, it comes so naturally when you do it yourself but standing back instructing someone else when you havent harnessed for months really tested my brain. Chunky was an absolute superstar. He never batted an eyelid at going back in the carriage. We did about 2.5 miles. I didnt drive, i was purely sat instructing. Chunky even managed a very short canter when asked.

So both horse exercised, i didnt do much physically but instructing learners is actually hard work. Hoping to try riding tomorrow if i dont feel dizzy or sick.
 
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