Time

My friend's horse was very sadly put to sleep today. He is at peace now. My thoughts are with his family who loved him dearly. He was a funny, intelligent, mischevious character and he will be sadly missed, but hopefully in time, his family will treasure the memories and many funny stories they have of his antics and the times they spent together.

A horse in his own mind has no thought of the future. Tomorrow is something the horse does not plan for. He only knows the present - now. And he would only ask one thing from his owner and that is compassion and freedom from pain and suffering.

I hope you gallop free across the Rainbow Bridge Mr M.

RAINBOW BRIDGE

By the edge of a woods, at the foot of a hill,
Is a lush, green meadow where time stands still.
Where the friends of man and woman do run,
When their time on earth is over and done.

For here, between this world and the next,
Is a place where each beloved creature finds rest.
On this golden land, they wait and they play,
Till the Rainbow Bridge they cross over one day.

No more do they suffer, in pain or in sadness,
For here they are whole, their lives filled with gladness.
Their limbs are restored, their health renewed,
Their bodies have healed, with strength imbued.

They romp through the grass, without even a care,
Until one day they start, and sniff at the air.
All ears prick forward, eyes dart front and back,
Then all of a sudden, one breaks from the pack.

For just at that instant, their eyes have met;
Together again, both person and pet.
So they run to each other, these friends from long past,
The time of their parting is over at last.

The sadness they felt while they were apart,
Has turned into joy once more in each heart.
They embrace with a love that will last forever,


Don't cry for the horses
That life has set free
A million white horses
Forever to be

Don't cry for the horses
Now in God's hands
As they dance and they prance
To a heavenly band

They were ours as a gift
But never to keep
As they close their eyes
Forever to sleep

Their spirits unbound
On silver wings they fly
A million white horses
Against the blue sky

Look up into heaven
You'll see them above
The horses we lost
The horses we loved

Manes and tails flowing
They Gallop through time
They were never yours
They were never mine

Don't cry for the horses
They will be back someday
When our time has come
They will show us the way

On silver wings they will lift us
To the warmth of the sun
When our life is over
And eternity has begun

We will jump the sun
And dance over the moon
A Ballet of horses and riders
on the winds
to a heavenly tune

Do you hear that soft nicker
Close to your ear?
Don't cry for the horses
Love the ones that are here

Don't cry for the horses
Lift up your sad eyes
Can't you see them
As they fly by?

A million white horses
Free from hunger and pain
Their spirits set free
Until we ride again

I don't think I'm alone tonight in giving my boys an extra scratch and feeling very grateful and lucky.

Buttons goes to the Ball!

I haven't posted much in the last month as things with the horses have been pretty busy and stressful for various reasons. I will update a separate post later explaining. However, things are so much very worse for one of my friends at the yard and that puts everything into perspective, so I shouldn't grumble.

Yesterday, we loaded up Wolfie and Buttons and headed off to Campsie Show. It was a fairly last minute decision, due to the various reasons above, but we went for me to get towing experience, Buttons to do an in hand class with Zoe and Wolfie went as a training exercise and to get experience.

Wolfie having his bath on Friday evening.

Buttons ready to go

Both boys bounced up the ramp and into the trailer without hesitation. I was really proud of them both.

They both seemed to travel well, Buttons sauntered off the trailer cool as a cucumber. Wolfie got very excited and wound up at the show field. So much going on for him to try and take in and process. He was very hard work at the beginning. I left him tied at the trailer with Buttons to try and let him settle, but in hindsight I should have tacked him up sooner and got on and ridden him around and worked him in. As later on when I did feel brave enough to ride him as soon as he saw his tack he began to settle. Obviously something familiar to him which he knew. He had a couple of really 'silly' moments,involving taking off and spinning. He threw in a couple of bucks out of frustration and not being allowe to go but I managed to get him back quickly. He's not used to a lot of horses working at speed around him, but it's really only at events like this which I can expose him to this kind of thing. At one point he was performing classical high school movements, levade, capriolle and he was also performing spanish walk, no kidding. If only he was trained under saddle to do this when asked. I managed to get about 10 minutes of really lovely work out of him and I really felt he would have given the big hunters who were warming up for their class at the same time a run for their money. He got some lovely comments from people at the show and one lady was very complimentary about him (who I later found out was the judge for the coloured class).

Due to Wolfie being so unsettled, I really had to leave my sister Susan with Buttons and to get him ready, and she did a great job. She doesn't have vast amounts of experience with horses, but she learnt quickly yesterday and Buttons looked fantastic for his class. I cut my fingers quite badly and Susan was trying to bandage them up. Buttons was passed to Susan's mother in law (who hasn't been near a horse in her life), Buttons probably took the opportunity to rake through her hand bag but we all mucked in.

I know a lot of horses travelling together will just pair bond in a different environment, but Wolfie was getting separation anxiety when I left him, and I ended up having to take him over to the other side of the ring to watch Buttons class. He and Zoe looked brilliant as they walked into the ring. Buttons got very excited once he got into the ring (he had behaved impeccably up until this point) and started to walk faster and faster, broke into a trot which got faster and faster. Zoe is too little to stop him and her legs are too short to keep up with him. He trotted off at speed with Zoe on the end of the rope doing her very best to keep up with him and with the judge of the class in her tartan hat and skirt in hot pursuit. It was really funny and a real Thelwell moment. He stopped and Susan came in to lend a hand. He ended up with fourth place and Zoe was very pleased with her rosette. I was really proud of them both, they looked so smart and did brilliantly. Buttons really did have a ball and revelled in the atmosphere. They definitely had the cute factor and random people were asking to get their photograph taken with him. He was clearly enjoying his minor celebrity status.

Again, they both just marched straight onto the trailer when leaving to come home. Wolfie was a bit sweated up when we got back to the yard, but Buttons didn't have a drop of sweat on him. It was a long day and tiring, but good fun and good experience for us all. I need to get Wolfie out more, but I feel much more confident now about towing etc. I need to invest in a good wicking travel rug for Wolfie. We turned them out when we got home and they both had a good roll and seemed very pleased with themselves. Good horses.

Went for a wander

The weather has been lovely over the past week (actually too warm for me, but I better not complain about it). Today when I went up to the stables it was raining and showing no sign of clearing up. By the time I had finished mucking out, the rain still hadn't gone off, but I had planned to hack Wolfie and didn't want the weather to stop us. I put on my waterproofs and we headed off. We headed up to the Castle and into the forestry. Wolfie was very keen and happy to be out. We explored some of the trails that I had walked on foot. We found a nice long canter track and found a few more paths that I want to explore. I knew there was a way back down onto a different road at the castle, but I've never walked it. We followed one track in the direction of the road, we ended up in a small forest, I got off as I couldn't really see where the path was going. It ended up leading onto a very steep, muddy hill. I didn't go down it as I didn't know where it would finish at the bottom and I figured me and Wolfie would end up sliding down on out bottoms! I ended up pretty much having to go home the way I came so I will have to back up on foot and have a look. I like to ride loops and vary the way out and the way home. Wolfie was very good. He seems to get a bit spooky and upset when I get off and lead him from the ground, I'm not quite sure why as he settles as soon as I get back on. Maybe it's because he's not used to me being on the ground in unfamiliar surroundings and feels more secure with his rider on top. I'll try and get off a bit more and lead him intermittently whilst we are out to try and build his confidence. There is a way up to the castle which would cut about 1 mile, maybe more off the trip. There is a public right of way, which goes past a house which sits next to the railway line. I have never used it as you have to pass through the garden of the house. It is however a right of way and would allow for more time up in the forestry so I think I'm just going to use it. I'm keeping my eye out all the time for any little logs which we could have a little jump over. Again today, he negotiated all sorts of different terrain. Stepping over any logs or obstacles on the path. Sometimes in marshy or muddy areas, he doesn't know before stepping over if it's 6 inches or 6 foot deep, but he is very brave about it. We covered almost 14km today. Wolfie really was born to do this type of work. He is a cheeky, mischevious character, but he is very, very honest. On days like today, my heart bursts with pride at him. I'm lunging him once a week in side reins or long reining and doing a little in hand work. I'm schooling once or twice a week. I find the school we have difficult to ride Wolfie in. The surface is very deep and Wolfie has never liked it. It's a small school and the fence leans inwards (I know!) meaning you almost have to use the three quarter line as the outside track to prevent getting knee capped on the fence, and in turn this lessens the limited space there is already. Walk and trot is doable but canter is impossible at the moment. I have rarely cantered him in there as it is so small. He is unbalanced, which encourages him to speed up. One of the girls at the yard hit the nail on the head the other day by saying his canter was just too big for the school. At the moment it is. He has a huge stride and he only just gets a few strides, doesn't even get a chance to establish any rythmn and the corner appears and neither he or I are prepared for it. A balanced horse would manage but I am leaving canter at the moment until lambing is over and I can ride in the fields again. I would much rather school in a flatter part of one of the fields.

Some photographs of the forestry today

Who's been sleeping in my bed?

When I got to the yard yesterday, I had a strange feeling that someone was there, even though I was the only person and all the horses were in the fields. I was walking down to Wolfie's stable when a little head popped out of Wolfie's stable doorway.

The stable door had been left open and the sheep must have found a bit of shade from the sun inside the stable.

Zoe came up last week to help me muck out and Buttons had his first ride of the year (and since his laminitis). Both Zoe and Buttons thoroughly enjoyed themselves. Only Wolfie was put out as he didn't get to go.

Wolfie has been demolishing buckets again. I've had to chuck two in the last few weeks. I don't know how he does it, but he manages to turn them completely inside out.

Wolfie has been working consistently since my last post and I'll blog in more detail soon. I'm on holiday for a week so I'm hoping to get a lot of riding done, starting with a long hack tomorrow. The horses should be going out 24 /7 for summer a week today. It's been a long time coming. Personally I think they should have been out weeks ago, but it's not my decision. I need to sort out some electric fencing for Buttons as he won't be going straight into the summer field straight away. I also need to order him a grazing muzzle (I'm not sure if it will work, am almost certain he will get it off in minutes but feel it is worth a go) and get various fly sprays etc. I'm thinking of getting Wolfie a full face and muzzle fly mask which also keeps a lot of the UV rays out. As he has such a pink muzzle he gets sun burned really easily. If I put sun cream on him he usually rubs it off within minutes on the nearest object, which is normally me.

Clocking up the miles

Now that there is more daylight, I have been able to get Wolfie out and work him for longer. On Monday and Tuesday we hacked. Wednesday he had a rest day, I lunged him in side reins on Thursday and we hacked Friday, Saturday and today. I've introduced more trot and yesterday and today we had a couple of canters. Wolfie is absolutely thriving on the work. He has been outstanding this week. Wolfie is evidently a horse that needs work and lots of it. He really has been a pleasure and great fun to be with. He's been hacking with different horses from the yard, boldly crossing the 'scarey' bridge, and really striding out. Wolfie has one of the most amazing walks I've ever felt in a horse. We've been averaging 5 miles per hack and varying our routes. I'll continue to increase his workload as he gets fitter and introduce more schooling. I'll keep introducing more trot and canter and extend the distance on the hacks we mainly walk on and add more hillwork. I really want to keep it varied for him. I've got an app on my phone which measures the distance we are covering. I really want to get back up into the forrestry, but I'd like him to be a bit fitter before going up. It's a fair distance to get there and if I want to do some faster work whilst I'm up there I want him to be prepared. I've been up on foot and have a good idea of some good tracks. Some of it is quite rough terrain and a tired horse is more likely to make a mistake or end up injured. I just need to continue to monitor his recovery times and he will let me know how he is feeling. Yesterday I was hacking with another girl from the yard. We met J. and C on route returning from their hack. I wondered if Wolfie would try and nap back towards the other horses heading for home, but no, he barely gave them a second glance as he continued on. We have been hacking with other horses, and today is the first time I've hacked on my own for a while. I wondered again if he would notice or be funny about it, but no, I got on and he marched off without hesitation. I'm definitely feeling the effects more than wolfie. I'm shattered. The horses are still in, so I'm still mucking out at night as well. But it's defintely worth it as I'm already seeing the benefits.

Mad as a March hare

The weather has been amazing this week and with the nights getting longer, I've actually been able to work Wolfie every night this week. Spring is here and Wolfie knows it. He's been somewhat 'difficult' this week. I'm putting it down to the change in season, better weather, increased daylight. The grass is growing in the summer field, there is greenery sprouting everywhere and he's still stuck in his winter field which is completely poached. He's bored and when Wolfie gets bored it means only one thing, mischief. I managed to get him out for a slightly longer hack on Monday and Tuesday. Both times as soon as I've got on and started walking, I've known straight away that he's been looking for an 'excuse' to be silly. He got it on Monday when a rabbit darted out from under a fence across his path. He shied violently sideways, span around and managed to set J. off too. He then took off, I pulled him up and he stuck his head between his knees and bucked. He was then pretty well behaved for the rest of the hack but this has set the presedence as he now stares at the area where the rabbit was constantly waiting for another one, as rabbits bounce around there all the time, he doesn't have to wait long till one appears and then he spooks. It's in good spirits and seems almost like a game to him. Not a game I enjoy though. If he wasn't quite so excuberant about his games, it wouldn't be so bad.

He was shod yesterday and was pretty naughty. He was fidgeting, spooking at nothing and at one point span and took off. I didn't even realise what was happening until he screeched to a halt about 10 yards along and my feet hit the ground. He then casually walked back like nothing had happened. I lunged him last night and tonight I schooled him. He's on a complete fibre diet, he doesn't get any concentrates and he certainly won't be until, well until I feel that he requires it, despite his increasing workload. Hopefully after the clocks change this week I'll be able to work him for longer.

I brought him in tonight and tied him up at the trailer with a haynet and left him there whilst I mucked out, just keeping an eye on him. He was relaxed and just stood eating his hay, even when the other horses were brought in from the field. I will start tying him up at the trailer and tacking him up as at the moment he only ever gets tacked up in his stable.

He worked well in the school tonight. I worked him in and walk and trot and then we worked the last twenty minutes in walk, concentrating on just asking him to relax and soften. I have to be much more consistent in my rein contact and clearer in what I'm asking him. For all he is full of bravado, he doesn't like to make mistakes or get it 'wrong' and worries and tenses. A couple of times I felt that I had confused him tonight and I really don't want to do that when he is trying. Like most young horses he takes time to warm up and settle, but I always seem to get the best work out of him in the last 5 minutes of any session. I got off, slackened his girth and we did a little leg yield and shoulder in, backing up and just placing his feet in hand which he seemed to really enjoy.

Buttons is great. He's the slimmest he's ever been. His coat is coming out thick and fast, every time I brush him, mountains of hair comes out, but when you look at him, his coat just looks as thick and huge as ever. The farrier commented yesterday on how well he was looking.