Our diary for our fabulous five

[Befnee's Hero]

Well I have read alot of peoples diarys on here so me and the OH have decided that we should probably contribute, and let everyone know what we are getting up to...

Should probably introduce our herd to your first though..

Hero is a 16 HH TB, 13 yrs old and always full of beans!

Charlie is a 16HH TB, 16yrs old and is Henry's my OH.

Jimmy is a 14.2HH 7yrs old TBXNewforest, nervous pony.

Bandit is a 14.2HH 5 years old Welsh D suck up!!

Buttons is a shetland (not a clue how high) 13 years old. Wonderfully good with my little sister!

Well there they are...

Yesterday Henry picked me up from work, and we sped straight to the stables to make the most of the good weather. We managed to be on by 4 ish and hacked to a local duck pond to take the horses for a splash. I rode Hero and Henry rode Charlie. We made the most of the harder ground (by that I mean no mud) and got in some nice gallops.. although our two boys thought it was fabulous to race each other - suppose we expected it both being ex racers.

Had a super exciting day the day before and backed Bandit the day before. I had never been on him the day before, and I was amazed he was so good. I'm really looking forwards to breaking him this summer and bringing on Jimmy as well - hopefully doing his first show.

Also this summer will be Henrys first show season, as he only started riding this year -( I passed on the riding bug! ) Really exciting summer coming up!

 

[Befnee's Hero]

Well it's been a while since I updated from my first post! So much has happened...

Jimmy had begun jumping.. was a star and has so much scope - can't believe that he was the nervous pony that I knew before.. And very exciting news he has had his first set of shoes put on!! Very very cute the first time he walked across concrete in his stable *clip clopping* away! You could almost see him saying look at me aren't I a big boy very cool dude!

Me and the OH have started having lessons again with our instructor since the ground has dried up. Me and Hero managed to do our very first shoulder in (with lots of encouragement from RI). I honestly think you could of seen my smile from space !!

OH is improving by the day as well - even though he struggles with his right side of his body due to nerve damage from an accident in June last year. He can't use his right leg very well so inteupts with his leg aids. Charlie his trusty steed looks after him though. (although he did put in a pretty spectacular sharp change of direction for OH last weekend and he went straight out the side door Of course I was the doting girlfriend and laughed my way all over to him!) Other than that they are doing lots of grid work with RI and are doing great! so proud of my little prodige

I am already fly rugging my shetland who is very sweetitch prone. I spent a long time trying to find him a fly rug in his size - managed to find a very fetching blue one, which was swiftly ripped from front to back as I watched him escape from his paddock!! (4 times in one day!! grrrr little man!! )Despite me fencing along the post and rail with electric fencing as well !!

That's it really.. me up to date.. looking forward to the weekend and lessons again with our instructor. I will add piccys at soon.

 

[Befnee's Hero]

Well Friday me and the OH took our two TBs out for a hack to the local duck pond. Me being the brainiac that I am did this whilst trying out my new bit that I had bought for Hero. Well I can safely say there was not a great deal of brakes involved but was still a lovely ride.. lots of cantering across dry (yes I did say DRY!) fields. I love this weather! OH got super soaked in the duck pond as me and Hero walked past and soaked him

Sunday we had lessons booked - and as I'm sure everyone experienced, it tipped down. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) I didn't think Hero was sound enough to ride so only OH rode Charlie for a lesson. Poor guy was made to work so hard by RI - he kept pulling faces at me as he rode past! oh the maturness! Charlie who is not the most forward going horse the world has ever been blessed with seemed very non-chalant much to the frustration of OH but they did get things right in the end.

I had asked RI whether she would start teaching me on Jimmy my little Newforest X as well so I brought him out after to lunge him as I wanted to show her how nervous he was before we has any sort of lesson. Well Apparently (and I agree) I am being far to nice to him. I think I molly coddle him I have told myself that I need to assert myself more with him because I am proabably making him more nervous. Do feel slighty mean though - all for the best though! She agrees he has lovely paces and is worth the work. Told myself that I was going to make the effort to lunge lots this week so we can maybe show an improvement for next lesson... well that got off to a great start yesterday spent 4 hours in hospital appointment with OH and was far too tired to do anything with any of the horses.

So here goes today ... I'm at work thoroughly bored and absolutely maxed out on stress with trying to plan our wedding for next year... I will try and de-stress and spend some time with my lovely boys tonight lunging and achieving lovely things !! Hmmm here's hoping

 

[fairlady]

Gosh you have my admiration owning 5 Horses and 1 of those being a Sh*tland They make a lovely Herd.

If you have ever read any of my posts you will know I consider
all Shetlands to be 'the Devils Spawn' They seem to be perfectly behaved
as long as 110% of their needs are met but as soon as they decide they are not being given the god like worship they think they deserve they are up
to mischief

Thankfully my Shetland, Bertie, has been behaving himself more now that
the grass has started to come thro' but I know he is saving it all up for
when he is put on restricted grazing

Reading the bit about lunging Jimmy reminded me of when I owned my loopy
TB Mare, Lady, (not that she was a Lady in any sense of the word) My RI
taught me to lunge her over a few lessons and gave me a list of things I must 'never' do.

Within 2 weeks it had all gone pear shaped and I was having very little
success. I took her back to my RI and he started to lunge her, one by one he
did EVERYTHING he had told me never to do. When the session ended I
questioned him about it and he said 'Had to be done, she is taking the
proverbial 'P' and YOU have been letting her'

Seems I was being to 'soft' or nice as well