And we’re there...

[Jessey]

Monkey was funny last night, the grass must be flushing which leaves them hungry and full of themselves. I walked out of the feed shed to fill my water bucket and he jogged along behind me, head low, ears back, nose all wrinkled up, snaking his head at me, obviously mad that dinner wasn’t immediately ready. I’m used to Jess who doesn’t threaten just acts, whereas Monkey is all threat with no follow through, so he got growled at and a poke in the ribs for his trouble, so he of course settled straight down a waited patiently! it’s almost cute!

This excess energy did mean he trotted merrily behind me (loose) along the tracks out to the field and he still looks 100% sound, I’ll give him another week just to be sure it’s all settled completely (he’s been off bute for a few days already and it’s not swollen back up).

I opened up a big strip of long old grass on the far field, so I’m sure they’ll be much more amenable this morning. There’s probably another weeks worth out there, then they either have to go on the summer grazed and few weeks rested paddocks again or onto the winter paddocks that have rested since spring, but it seems too early for that yet

 

[Jessey]

I got back on board tonight, tomorrow would have been 2 weeks but the weather looked less favourable and he’s looked sound throughout, and he still is!

He was really good going out if a bit snorty, but at the end of the lane uk power networks were up in a hiab working on the lines

And he was not keen and planted, not wanting to risk a 180 I hopped off and dragged him past then back on to do the shortest loop in the forest and back again

I asked for trot and just did about 10 steps to assess him and he felt good but we’ll stick to walking for a bit just to be sure it’s completely settled.

 

[Jessey]

Not riding makes me grumpy, thank goodness the rain stopped and the sun came out for a little while tonight so I could get out! though it was really windy still!

Monkey was a jangly ball of electric energy when we went out, but he was impeccably behaved

Only half an hour but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

 

[Jessey]

I forgot to add Fridays ride, he went out wired but was impeccably behaved, just another really short one.


Yesterday I had a yard day and Monkey spent a lot of time being a monkey messing with anything he could to help! And he spent a lot of time just hanging out with me whenever I sat down for a break


Today L&L came over, I wasn’t expecting any drama but L gets anxious travelling so we often walk the first bit and I was very glad we did, Monkey was again a bit wired and we got a 4 foot stomp when L stumbled a little, a spin at nothing in particular and when horses ran the fence he launched, spun and went full Arab with tail over his back prancing around! But as soon as we were past them he settled really well and I hopped on for the rest of the ride.

 

[Jessey]

Teeth and jab today for Monkey, new vet this year and she wasn't as confident as the guy last year so he ended up having a touch of happy juice (sedation) to have his teeth done, a shetland dose was more than enough to get the job done! Bless his cottons

 

[Jessey]

I was going to ride last night but had an absolutely stinking headache, so I pulled out some poles to do a little in-hand. Jess volunteered first, so I had a little play with her, Monkey was a brat, getting in the way and randomly leaping of all 4's squealing and bucking.

He's a poppet though and when his turn came he focused and did very well including with new things (now I have more poles) backing through an S, and shrinking circles over an X and walking over odd distanced poles. He was funny, I kept rolling the poles with my foot to rearrange them, and he copied! not quite what I had in mind but it made me chuckle.

2 minutes after I let him go he was right back to squealing and bucking! The joys of ...... October?!?

 

[Jessey]

The big ones were full of it this morning, I didn’t even fancy riding, I didn’t have the energy to deal with an idiot horse! But this afternoon they were much calmer so I took Monkey out.

I thought I’d made the wrong decision when I nearly got jumped on leading him out of the field, he’d spooked at nothing! But actually once I got on he was very good, only a couple of minor spooks when out. We had a lovely bimble in the sunshine

 

[Jessey]

By crikey it was chilly this morning, after 45 minutes at walk I had to hop off and walk the last stretch home to get the blood flow back to my feet! But it was lovely and quiet out in the forest.

Monkey is itching to get on and do more but being very polite about sticking to walk

I picked up a lick for them yesterday, and I was impressed they shared

For all of about 5 seconds before Jess went all kicky and squealy! I won’t let them have free access because although it says low sugar I’m sure if they scoffed the lot they’d be hyper, perhaps after they have had supervised access for a few days!

 

[Jessey]

Same ride tonight which is getting rather repetitive, but sometimes the little things make it epic and tonight had one of those

I’ve been tinkering a bit with subtle control while we’re just walking. Shoulder in he’s got pretty down, and hip left but right has been a struggle but tonight the penny seems to have dropped

Then I asked a bit more, shoulder one way, a few steps straight to reset, then the other way, reset and hip, reset and hip the other way and he did it faultlessly without any resistance it’s a big ask for him on a straight open track and back to back like that. And control within the gait is coming along really nicely too

 

[Jessey]

Well that was interesting! Monkey was wired tonight, off we toddled, met 3 kids on bikes going slowly and all was well until one of them did a little bx stylee jump, scared the life out of monkey!

He was then a bundle of anxiety for the rest of the ride jumping at nothing, a lot. And I misjudged the day light, we made it back just in time (as we were out without any lights), thankfully the moon was very bright but I still couldn’t see the numbers on the gate lock.

 

[Jessey]

I know they must have been a little chilly overnight in the fog as they didn’t come down to see me this morning, they were resolutely parked in the sun.


I arrived at the yard at 5.20 tonight, changed my boots, cleaned and painted both big ones feet, tacked up and rode a quick 25 minutes around the block, got all 4 fed, rugged the big ones and locked up again at 6.20! Sadly that’s probably my last after work ride for the year unless I go in the dark.

 

[Jessey]

He really does have some skills! how does he grind mud into his forehead?!?

 

[Jessey]

Not enough light to ride after work now but we made the most of the road works in hand and went to check them out


You can see how sandy our soil is here, the top layer is just ’dirty’ from organic matter, below that is just yellow sand, with flints

 

[Jessey]

Just over a week since I last got to ride, and I hadn’t planned to ride today after a very long, busy, physical week at work, I needed some rest. But I rested most of the day and it was just too nice not to go out, so we just did a quick 45 minutes.

He’s spookier after a week off but it’s not unmanageable thankfully, I’m grateful for that because my work does mean some weeks I don’t have time.

 

[Jessey]

We had a nice-ish ride this morning, an hour and a half and our first canters in ages!



Monkeys prey instincts (self preservation) are strong and he is very wary of predators hiding in the forest (mushroom pickers), so he has to stop and stare at them and then creep past them, still staring, to keep them at bay!! He doesn’t mind them if they speak to us, and instantly relaxes, but most of them don’t and there were dozens throughout every bit of forest we went through today.

On the roads they’re doing roadworks everywhere, the entire estate as well as the drove, every 50 yards or so there’s another hole with barriers and pipes and signs while they replace the gas mains. These needed staring at today, to make sure they didn’t move perhaps!

Hopefully he’ll be less wired tomorrow, I think I’ll ride early to avoid the mushroom pickers!!

 

[Jessey]

I feel terrible, before I rode yesterday I noticed Monkey had a little lump mid back beside the spine but it wasn’t tender so I assumed a bug bite and it would be in the gullet so no pressure, so I rode.

He didn’t put a foot wrong but on the last stretch home he was a bit uneven in my hand and leg (not lame just not straight). When I untacked his back looked a bit tense but wasn’t sore. By last night he had a 3” diameter swelling which was a bit warm and it’s still there this morning it’s not sore to poke but still. I put a cold compress on it for 15 minutes and will give him a bute at dinner time to take the swelling down if it’s still there by then.

I’ve no clue what it is, the only thing I can think is he’s rolled on a rock or taken a tumble. He doesn’t appear bothered by it at least.

 

[Bodshi]

Oh dear, I wouldn't beat yourself up though. Could it be an insect bite that he's had a reaction to? You'd think it would be sore if it was an injury caused by rolling on something, but perhaps Monkey is a lot more stoic than mine. How is it now?

 

[Jessey]

It’s maybe slightly bigger tonight, so I’ve given him bute. He’s not stoic, but he’s not a drama queen either.

 

[Bodshi]

Fingers crossed the Bute takes it down

 

[Jessey]

The lump is barely visible today, but I can still feel it's there, so another couple of days rest and hopefully it will be done with. I'm going to book him an appointment with the osteo for Monday, just to check there isn't anything else deeper down.