This and That

My bitless bridle arrived.  I'm very pleased with it.  I tried it on Wolfie yesterday and had a little sit on him in the school with it on.  It's a full size, and does come up quite big, but the Cob size definitely wouldn't have fitted across the brow band or nose band.  It's really lovely soft leather.  He was very responsive to it, we were only walking, but once we start schooling some more, I will be able to see better how it sits and make any adjustments to the fitting.  I enjoyed riding in it and Wolfie seemed quite pleased with the fact that he could still ram mouthfuls of hay into his mouth without it getting tangled around his bit.  I'm looking forward to riding in it.

We went out for a hack with H and J yesterday.  That's the first time Wolfie has been ridden in a week.  He was quite fresh and had a couple of minor spooks, but nothing major.  He was very forward. We came home along a track which runs next to the river and the road is on the other side of the river.  For some reason this track makes the horses a little joggy and silly.  Wolfie strode along it with his back arched.  He felt like at any second he was going to explode.  I concentrated on trying to get him to stretch down and relax, trying to give him a long rein, staying in walk with a nice long loose stride, keeping his shoulders straight and trying to encourage him to relax through his back.  He was very good and listened and most importantly he didn't errupt into a complete bucking fit.

I really want to get Wolfie into consistent work now.  Not only because I want to get him fit, but also for Wolfie's sake.  He enjoys work and doing something so much.

Buttons is continuing to do well.  He is so good, he even eats his soaked hay with enthusiasm.  It can't be very tasty, having been soaked for over 12 hours, but he seems to like it more if I pour a kettle of hot water over it.  He's starting to moult now.  I think it will be nice for him to get rid of that big coat now, although it has served him well this winter.  It's a petty we couldn't just unzip him and take it off.


I've been trying to look into finding somewhere to hire a trailer.  It's not proving easy in Scotland.  England has loads of places where you can hire them for the entire summer season, for very reasonable prices.  If I hired a trailer from England, I would have to drive down to pick it up and return it.  I've got a list of numbers for places which hire out various types of trailers, so I'll need to call around them and see if they hire horse trailers.  There is a place in the Borders which hires trailers, but they are rear facing trailers.  I participated in a Study into the effects of horses travelling facing the rear when I was at University.  It's supposed to be better for the horse, I just would kind of prefer a front facing trailer.  I think that's just because I am new to towing and I know Wolfie travels well facing the front.  If anyone knows of any places which hire horse trailers in Scotland, please let me know.