Funny turns and crazy times!

Well today was good fun! The human came up and poo picked. She forgot my hay and feed, though, so I presumed that I would be removed from my field and made to do some work! The human said she wanted to make the most of the dry morning.

She brushed me off (a bit) and put my saddle on. It felt a bit more comfy today and she said that she had changed to gullet in it because I was slimming down a bit. We went in the school and had a little wander around. I haven’t done any real work for a while so she was taking it easy, especially as it was windy – any excuse to be a bit crazy!

We walked around a bit and were practising doing corners with the human just using her legs. She wasn’t doing too bad, I have to say.

Then a couple of my old field mates came in the school with us and I started being a bit crazy! We had a couple of canters (she asked for a trot, but it was much too exciting) and I had a lovely time throwing my heels up. Especially when the other riders were using their whips, the sound made me jump.

We wandered around a bit. I had a good old look at the other horses, but I was very good and carried on listening to the human. She gave me lots of nice scratches on my shoulder. When the other horses left, she asked me if I wanted a canter, and I threw my heels RIGHT up in the air. She laughed, but fair play, she stayed on. She’s come a long way, has my human.

We walked around a bit more, and then she took my tack off and started chasing me around the school. I loved it! It was great to run around with no rider and I had a good old blow out.

Then Millie saw me running around and started running around the field, so we had to stop. A nice feed and then back out to the field to enjoy some hay with my best bud Millie.

All in all, a great day!

Bitless Adventures

On Sunday my human brought me in and generously brushed all the mud off of my coat (just so I can get it nice and muddy again when I go back out) and got her hat.

No saddle, and not even a bridle. At least that meant that we would be heading into the school. But no! She led me out to the gate and got me to stand at the mounting block. We were going out! With me almost naked!

She was pretty tense on our way out of the yard. It was blowing a gale and sensible though I am, it is sometimes hard not to spook when the whole world is waving all around you! I was nice and steady going down the track, though, and made sure not to swipe her legs on the barbed wire.

Left at the bottom, which was another source of worry for the human, bless her. I could hear Millie calling to me and I really wanted to go and say hello, but I kept going straight like the good girl I am.

The human kept asking me to stop if I started walking faster because of the wind, and I made sure to take full advantage and stuff my face with grass every time she did. She didn’t mind, really.

We only got as far as the first gate, but I definitely thought the human had had enough by then. Besides, there were sheep…

So we turned around and came back. It was pretty good fun. I definitely like not having a bit in. Hopefully we’ll do more of that! I’ll have to teach the human not to be so scared, though! Desensitisation, yeah?

Field foolishness

I am injured. It was only a matter of time, I suppose. All the other horses are fit and well, and I am practically dying.

The incident occurred yesterday. I’d had my foot human come out to tell me how great my feet were looking, although I had a hole in my left hind from a nasty abscess. My foot human was impressed with how thick my soles are, because I’d hardly noticed it.

Then the foot human trimmed the interloper’s feet. Bloody show off horse has lovely feet, but an unfair advantage of being barefoot forever! I was put in my stable and had a talk to Mr. Darsey next door.

We could all hear the hunt close by and I got very excited, but the human wouldn’t let me out. When I was finally released, I ran around and around my field, bucking, rolling, rearing. It was great fun.

But then, disaster.

At some point, I had bashed my head! My human came to give me some hay, and got very worried. Apparently I had blood all over my face. She then kept bribing me with carrots so she could have a look. It hurt… but then, carrots.

Eventually she let me go again and I started eating before Millie could scoff it all.

The positive in all this is that although I have a headache, the human has decided that it would be a bit mean to put a bridle on me until my cut has healed up a bit, so I get some time off! Result!

Weekdays and work.

The human has decided that my weekdays are no longer to be spent in leisure. She has come up to see me at least twenty times this week. Well… thereabouts.

The first day she came up I got to spend some time with the good looking gelding a couple of fields over. He’s called Boo and he’s very handsome. Boo’s human suggested a ride and we went out to the glider field. I haven’t been up there since a glider attacked me last week and the human fell off (oops), so I was very keen to get going. Luckily the human picked up on it and I got to have a wonderful race. Boo has longer legs, but he’s no match for me!

Out the top of the glider field and down the steep rocky path (my foot human would be proud because I was sound as a pound, even on the big rocks). Splashed through a few puddles on the way along the path and managed to avoid the sea monsters lurking within, but I didn’t quite manage to swipe the human off on the trees.

We took a sedate walk back along the road and I showed Boo how much of a brave girl I am with tractors and trailers. Boo is not so brave.

I had a nice feed when we got back and the human put me out in the field to sunbathe. I had a good roll first, though, and posed for a couple of pictures for my adoring fans.

The second day, the human came up and it was very misty, so I thought I’d be free of the dreaded work. No such luck.

She put my bridle on over my headcollar, put a couple of extra ropes on, and off we went. I wasn’t wearing my saddle and the human walked beside me along the road, which was a nice change. She walks pretty quick, which I soon cured by dragging along behind and staring in gateways.

There were a lot of tractors around again, and because it was different having the human walking beside me, I wasn’t as brave as I was on day one. She was very gentle with me, though, which made me feel braver. We walked all the way down to the woods and the human tried to take a few pictures of me, but I was feeling quite wound up by all the tractors, so that only lasted a few minutes before she realised that I wasn’t in the right mood.

She hung my leadrope over my shoulders and after a few false starts, climbed on my back. She’s only light, so it’s quite nice having her without the saddle.

I calmed right down once she was on board and we had a lovely walk through the woods, following a man and his dog. The steep rocky path came as a bit of a shock to the human – it was a good thing she remembered to put a neckrope on me, or she would have slid right off my bum! She got herself sorted quite quickly, though, and we managed to do the gate at the top of the hill with no problems.

We took a nice steady walk down the glider field (no gliders attacked me so the human stayed on this time. I think this made her happy!) and back to the yard.

I think that the other eighteen days may have existed only in my imagination, with hindsight.

Despite the incredible workload I remain oddly fond of the human. She makes nice feed.

Smudge’s Thoughts on Rain.

I have been abandoned to the elements. Just because I have a thick winter coat, which is keeping me dry, the human thinks that that means I can stand in the rain. With no shelter, might I add! Well, apart from the tree which hangs over the fence and does actually keep the rain and wind off quite nicely. But why would I stand there when my hay has been left in the open? Millie is a nice sort, but if I’m standing out of the way of the rain, she, in her rug, will eat all my hay.

Plus, if I’m standing in the shelter of the tree when the human arrives, she will think that I have the “instincts” needed to survive out here, and I will be left again. No. It is much better for me to stand in the middle of the field with my back to the wind and the rain, and try to look like I’m wasting away (which is not as easy as it sounds when you eat as much hay as I do!) At least the human will feel guilty when she once again abandons me. If I do it often enough, she may relent and let me into the stable. With the gorgeous Mr Darcy next door. Better work on looking skinny!

Smudge.

The human brought me in this evening. She was very pleased with the coating of mud that I’d managed to achieve since yesterday, and brushed it off nicely so I can start again once she lets me out. She and the smaller humans went into the soft-sand field with the interloper and left me standing by the fence. I expressed my displeasure on their return by refusing the bit. They always appreciate the exercise of stretching right up when I stick my nose in the air.

The human put my saddle on and went to put her boots on. When she came back, the little humans distracted her and she didn’t tighten the girth – they are so forgetful at times.

She took me into the soft-sand field and there were a couple of jumps up. Right, then. She got on and promptly slid sideways. I took advantage of her having to tighten the girth and got a good few mouthfuls of grass. It gives her something to do on cold evenings – picking the soggy grass off of my bit. I do my best to keep them occupied.

Once she’d got the girth tightened up, she started walking me around the soft-sand field. She didn’t seem at all phased by the monsters which were evidently hiding in the trees. So I had to do enough running away for both of us, since she’s too silly to take the danger seriously. I definitely saved her life a good few times.

I tried to do my favourite trick of running sideways away from the jumps, but the human was onto me today and waved her flicky stick at me. We did a couple of jumps, and luckily she got better, otherwise I’d have been forced to drop her in the sand.

The tiny human got on and we walked around slowly for a little while. Then I was released from the soft-sand field and finally permitted to eat. I made sure to flatten my ears at the interloper as we went back out to the field. I will report back soon, if I am permitted to communicate with the outside world.