The search for the bug.

[Werehorse]

I want to get well and truely re-bitten by the horse bug. I want to find that passion again. I want to re-immerse myself in that world. But it's been such a long time since I was totally hooked and I've spent such a long time suppressing the addiction that despite having a loan horse (Poppy) since last October it just hasn't re-ignited yet.

But it will. I know it will. I just have to put a bit more effort into finding it.

I have decided to make a project of Poppy and, for the time being, shelve my plans to buy my own. I need to overcome the hurdles I've encountered with Poppy in order to restore my confidence in myself as a horse-woman. Only then will I really be ready to tackle the search for a horse.

We (myself, OH and Oscar the spaniel) visited the horses (Poppy and OH's horse, Jester) today. We've just had them turned out doing their own thing for quite a while and have been briefly checking that they still have their legs attached every day. The yard where we keep them are really good in many ways and check the horses every day as well. But we actually went in and did a bit of poo-picking and gave them a more detailed check over. This is the first step - getting more involved.

Both of them are is desperate need on new shoes. We've decided not to use the regular farrier who comes to the yard anymore (the last set of shoes were rubbish) but of course that means that we have to get ourselves organised to book him to come rather than writing their names on a board at the yard! They’re fine for being in the field but I’m not going to ride her until they are sorted.

I have less than two weeks until I’m on holiday now. I’m both excited and nervous about the fact that that will afford me more time to spend with the horses. At least I’m feeling some emotion about it!

And to keep things interesting - a picture of me on Poppy back in October/November when she first arrived;

 

[Jane&Ziggy]

She's a smart looking girl, Werehorse. So are you!

Good luck with reigniting your flames. Let us get at you, we'll turn you into a firebreathing dragon!

Enjoy your bonding with Poppy. :smile:

 

[Werehorse]

Thank you Jane!

The horses got a "legs still on" check today. This week has been so busy and stressful! Another 6 working days and it'll be summer though. :biggrin:

We have decided to go along to the Cumberland Show in Carlisle on Saturday. I'd completely forgotten it was on until one of my pupils started telling me she was taking some of her cows to show. I love working in a rural school. Although it did mean I then got some interragation about why I didn't ride my horse and a 12 year old telling me in an old farmer's wife type way that she "doesn't like to see horses not being used". :giggle: Bless. I have to remember that the kids don't have much understanding of how busy adult life can get!

I'm quite excited about the show and I think watching the ponies there and going round trade stands will help my enthusiasm for the whole caboodle. I'm also looking forward to watching the gun dog demonstration. See if my spangle can pick up some good behaviour vibes from the working dogs!

Tonight we are off to be demo dog and handler (along with some others) at a clicker training seminar run by the people who run the dog training class we take Oscar to. It shoud be entertaining. I'm just hoping Oscar doesn't decide to do his deaf-dog-runs-away act today! :biggrin:

 

[Werehorse]

Woke up this morning to the sound of rain, lots of rain. We decided against a visit to the Cumberland show and opted for another couple of hours in bed instead. I am too tired to wander round a show in the rain and stay happy!

We went and saw the ponies this afternoon. The intention was to take their shoes off but it turns out Poppy's are on too tight for my OH to feel happy about trying to pull them off himself. So we'll have to wait until we can get the farrier out. We tried one farrier we have been reccommended today but we are outside his area so it's back to the drawing board. They need it ASAP though, I'm a rubbish pony mummy and have left it far too long. :cry: :redface:

Given the rain last night and the forcast for more tonight we have left them in for the night. I gave Pops a good brush and fuss. She's not the most affectionate of horses but she enjoys a nice groom and will rub her face against a brush if you hold it up for her - which is quite sweet. I think there's a spot of mudfever on her back leg so I'll be trying to sort that out in the holidays as well - it's not bad enough to need urgent action but it's been the same for a while and not sorted itself out.

I need to start making a plan for bringing her back into work. I'm not happy about starting anything until the shoes are done but I might try and bring her in for a full groom every day that I can this week. I'm hoping that the last week of work won't be too stressful but you never know!

 

[Werehorse]

We got ourselves down to the yard reasonably early this morning (for a sunday morning!). Even so Poppy was pawing and neighing to get out. She's quite a greedy mare so I think she was hungry more than anything. I had no mercy though and tied her up for a groom before we took them out. No amount of body brushing is going to shift the mudstains from across her back though so I'm waiting for a nice, sunny day when I have time to bath her. OH did the stables while I brushed Pops. His horse, Jester, is entirely self-cleaning. :wink:

Walking them up the road to the field you'd think they had been on box rest for 6 months the amount of prancing around they were doing. This completely defies their 21 and 14 year official ages, they were acting like silly yearlings the pair of them. When we got them ready to turn out we barely had time to ask each other if we were ready to go before they both did half-rears and spin and set off up the field at a gallop (Jester's not *that* unsound then, but I bet he was feeling it a bit after that!). OH had let Jester go on the muddy bit and got himself showered with mud from Jester's departing hooves. Watching them go brought a smile to my face, inklings of why I enjoy being around horses came back to me...

We poo picked a bit then went back down to the yard. When we nipped into the office to note down the poo-picking on the sheet I spotted that a farrier had left some business cards pinned to the notice board; we picked one up to give him a ring. You can but try can't you, recommendation or not.

We'll see what the weather is like but we might bring them in again this evening...

 

[Werehorse]

The horses have stayed out. I checked on them on the way home and OH popped out to check again later. It's just too easy to leave them in the field and too hard to come home, get changed and go out again after a hard day at work.

I need to start taking riding kit to work.

I need to figure out what it is about seeing to the horses that I'm afraid of. I used to happily be responsible for a livery yard of 7 of other people's horses, why am I worried about 2 of my own?? :frown:

 

[Werehorse]

The horses were in on Wednesday night this week... and I went to the yard and brought them in and sorted them out myself. And it wasn't as scarey as expected. We still haven't got in touch with a bloody farrier though!! :frown: We've phoned two and they haven't got back to us.

And we had to write down for them to be turned out on Thursday morning which means the annoying lady at the yard will probably make some comment about their feet when she next sees us. At which point I'll either cry or snap at her. I know we should have had them seen to before now but, as per usual, by trying to do the right thing (i.e. not get the farrier who the yard book to come to do them again because he did such a bad job) we've ended up messing up more.

We got a text from Poppy's owner as well - she basically hasn't got a home for her anymore so she either would like us to buy her or will be looking to sell her when we don't want her any more. We haven't texted back yet... I'm not sure what she'll decide to do if we say we don't want to buy her - will she want to sell her on immediately or will she be happy for me to keep her for the summer and get her fit and a bit better schooled ready for sale. Not sure - we shall see. I may be on a horse hunt sooner than I thought.

 

[Werehorse]

FINALLY we've managed to book a farrier - thank gods for that. Thursday.

Until then it'll have to be longreining in the school or nothing. The way I'm feeling right now... probably nothing! Annoyingly I had some longreins and I've lost them, one of them came home to be a long line for the dog and I don't know where it's gone.

And I'm completely stuck today. I think I'm paralysed by the choice of things to do now I'm on holiday. I can't decide what to do so I'm doing nothing. Great approach to life that.

Meh.

 

[Werehorse]

I managed to get myself unstuck and got myself up to the horses field where myself and the spaniel removed 5 barrows of muck. There's probably a few barrows left to fill so that's tomorrow's job but that will be done AFTER I long rein Poppy. First thing tomorrow after the dog has been out I'm going to kit up and head to the yard and just do 10-20 minutes of groundwork and give her a good groom. And try to ignore comments from people at the yard, which might not even happen...

 

[Flipo's Mum]

And I'm completely stuck today. I think I'm paralysed by the choice of things to do now I'm on holiday. I can't decide what to do so I'm doing nothing. Great approach to life that.

Meh.

Sorry but Lol - This is me!! I can sooooo identify with that feeling. Glad you've been more productive today.:wink: and you're on holiday - you're allowed to vegetate for a little while aren't you?! Good luck with the long reining.

 

[Werehorse]

I did it! I long reined Poppy! :smile:

It was funny because even though I haven't brought her in from the field for ages and certainly not at 2 in the afternoon she was stood at the gate waiting as if she knew something was up.

Brought her down, picked feet gave her a bit of a groom. So much hair and dust came out! There was noone at the yard which was just bliss. I think the nagging woman who is usually there must be on holiday. So I tacked up and bundled us into the indoor school.

We spent the first five minutes trying to figure out what the hell we were doing. At one point Poppy was facing me and walking backwards... not sure how that happened. But eventually we got going. Lots of walking, lots of changing the rein to practice steering and a teensy bit of trotting. There was the occasional muddle still so eventually I decided to do away with the whip and we managed much better. I'm far too clumsy to be able to cope with two reins and a whip. Towards the end I dragged a pole out and we walked over that a few times and then left it at that.

Poppy seemed to actually enjoy herself she was stretching down into the contact and lifting her back and not rushing. And I had fun as well! It was nice working her with no pressure, noone watching or potentially judging us.

Afterwards I was just going to rinse off the sweat patches but ended up giving her whole saddle area a shampoo and rinse and washing her tail. She looked lovely when I turned her back out. No doubt she'll be covered in dust and muck again tomorrow.

Her little patch of "mud fever" (I'm still not sure if that is what it is) has got worse. So I washed that with hibiscrub and put some mudguard on. I'll do the same for the rest of the week and see if it improves.

Good pony day today. :smile:

 

[Werehorse]

Today started with a trip to look for an imaginary saddlery that supposedly does rug washing but I couldn't find it where it was supposed to be so I went to Co-op instead. I bought dinner for us and some polos and apples for Poppy.

Then I went to WCF to see what pony stuff I could get and to buy food for spaniel. I was looking for a lunging roller but they didn't have one but I did come away with a big bag of horse treats, a treat sized likit thing, a poo skip and a dog frisbee, plus food for the dog. I came home and ordered a lunge roller and some brushing boots off the internet.

I got to the yard a little later than I got there yesterday, it was still quiet but I knew lots of people would be coming soon so I got Poppy in from the field as quickly as possible. She seemed a little lame on the hard road-surface I'm hoping it's just that she needs re-shoeing and that when that is done (tomorrow) it'll be sorted.

I picked her feet out and gave her a very quick brush then popped her bridle on and got myself in the outdoor school with enough time to mooch for 20-30 minutes before anyone was booked in. I decided that, in the absence of a lunge roller, to go without anything and see how it went - I was just very careful to keep the lines high so they didn't drop down to her legs. It went better than yesterday although we still had the odd mis-communication and Poppy does not want to trot on the left rein AT ALL; as soon as I asked for trot she fell into the centre of the school as if trying to change the rein. And I was only asking for a few strides of trot at a time. I need to work on her flexion to the left I think.

I popped her into her stable then, as furtively as possible as I felt a bit daft doing it, I tied the dog frisbee toy to the end of a short crop, stuffed my pocket full of horse treats, got the clicker form the dog's training bag and slipped into her stable. :ninja: The aim? To teach her to target the frisbee. Why? I don't know really, because it's fun and because it'll help me help her do stretches and we might be able to build up to some other good clicker things.

It took her a while to get it. At first she just kept sniffing my pockets and licking my hands, then she spent quite a while just staring into space as if she was processing the goings on. Then very, very slowly the penny seems to drop and she started reaching to the target more and more confidently each time. :biggrin: It was really fun interacting with her like this so I think it is something we are going to keep doing. Even if people on the yard really start to think I'm bonkers.

I think a big issue I have with my confidence and enjoyment around horses is the fact that I feel really "watched" and judged by the people around me. Everyone horsey has an opinion when it comes to horses and I find it really hard to cope with people sharing their opinions about what I'm doing with me. I even find it hard to cope with the *possibility* of other people having a negative opinion about what I'm doing. I think it is especially bad with Poppy as she is not mine and her owner used to keep her at the yard I'm at, so many people on the yard know Poppy and her owner better than they know me. I think this is one of the reasons (amoung quite a few others) I have decided I don't want to actually buy Poppy, I don't think even actually owning her would change these feelings.

Anyway, I gave her a bit of a brush and washed her legs. Her mudfever spot is looking a bit better so I hibiscrubed and mud guarded it again. Then she was back out to the field after all the pampering and the OH came down and heped me poo-pick, another 3 barrows and the field was clear apart from one or two that we just couldn't squeeze into the last barrow. :dance:

The best thing is that I'm actually feeling enthusiastic about getting to the yard tomorrow. :dance:

 

[Werehorse]

The ponies have NOOOOOO SHOOOOOOS! :dance: I'm so happy. I was feeling really guilty about their feet but now they are all done and sorted AND I booked the farrier in again for the end of the summer so we don't have to remember to do it nearer the time. :angel:

It's rainy and horrid today so I've left them in their stables munching hay and I'll go back later to long rein Poppy a bit (hopefully my lunge roller will show up today but it's looking like it'll probably be tomorrow). IF it doesn't show up I MIGHT hop on for 10 minutes in the school but I'm not going to pressure myself into that.

I forgot to take the clicker so didn't do any clicking with Poppy this morning. I'll take it along for a 10 minutes session later on even if I do nothing else.

Lazy kind of day today. :sleep:

 

[Werehorse]

I chickened out of doing anything with Poppy this afternoon. I think I was having silly ideas about riding now she has new shoes and kind of psyched myself out of going at all. So me and OH went down later on and turned out and skipped out and left it at that.

Tomorrow I shall go and do *something* but indecision is a problem. Do I wait for my order from Derby House (lunging roller hopefully)? And then go long rein her to try out my new gadget. Or do I go down early-ish and just hop on for 10 minutes and do some clicker training the take Oscar for a decent-ish walk? I have an appointment at 4:30 so I can't dither about all day, I don't actually have to be in when my order arrives. Hmmmm. Don't know. We are going away on Saturday so I probably need to think about that a bit as well!

 

[ponymagic]

I've enjoyed reading your diary- how are you getting on?

 

[Werehorse]

Back. And the bug has bit!!

I let my subscription lapse! Ooops. But I have renewed it for a year now.

Oooooo, can't catch up properly. So in brief - I have been hacking Poppy lots this summer. It's been lovely and I have managed, with just a few weeks of consistent riding, to feel reasonably confident again (at least on Poppy) and, best of all, to feel like I WANT to ride again.

Me and Poppy have been getting on better. She is such a good hack it is hard not to like her when she's being steady as a rock while being overtaken by tractors and motorbikes. She still dislikes schooling but we're working on it. She is carrying herself better and doing less of the antics. I am just working on walk-halt-walk at the moment until she can do that without hollowing or resisting (too much).

I have booked a lesson for this Friday to help us both. If it goes well this will become a regular thing.

Right, some pictures and videos of our schooling session a couple of days ago. The best thing is that this followed a hack where the OH and I went together on the horses! Is there anything more I can ask for in life than a hack out with a horsey OH on our horses? :cloud9:

Anyway, pictures.

And videos. I was trying to correct too many things in the halt at times in these, so it's a bit fussy in places...





That's it for now! It's been a brilliant summer for me. :smile:

x