February sunshine

I've had a couple of really great rides on Red this week. It is such a relief to be riding. I don't really like lunging – and neither does Red, so I'm happy to have tack again so that we can go out into the wood together.

Suddenly the weather here is quite spring-like. It was so warm on Saturday morning that I didn't bother to take my coat. I don't know whether the photograph quite shows how delightful the day was.

Now that we only have one horse to ride, we take it in turns. I rode first on Saturday so that I could take Red on ahead and have a few canters – to give him the chance to really stretch and exercise. 'ö-Dzin came off him the week before because Red came down one of the steep stretches of hill too fast. As Red trotted round the corner at the bottom of the incline, Red and 'ö-Dzin parted company, with 'ö-Dzin ending up in a heap on the ground. He was okay—if a little bruised—but I'm sure he came off mainly because he still isn't terribly well.

So on Saturday I took Red on ahead to the far end of Coed y Wenallt where there are a few good stretches for cantering. I asked Red to lope up the hills, and he was puffing a bit, so we must ride out together more often so that he can get a bit fitter. We also did something together for the first time – we jumped two logs! I was proud of myself. It was the first time I have had the courage to take the opportunity. I know J took him over a log now and then, but I had never had enough confidence. We are getting along so well now, he is so much more willing and always ready to canter, that I decided to give it a go. He sailed over each log and seemed to thoroughly enjoy himself. I'm not about to suddenly take up show jumping, but it's good to feel that Red and I are working so well together. I always knew Dee loved to jump and would take any log in the wood, but it has taken me a long time to feel ready to try it with Red.

We then headed back to find out how far 'ö-Dzin had walked and to swap riders. 'ö-Dzin just walked Red home. I got really warm in the February sunshine walking back—especially trying to keep up with Red's 'going home' pace—and even had to take my jumper off. This is amazing for February, and I hope it continues. As before, Red stopped and waited for me to catch up a few times – so sweet.

His mud fever is now nearly cleared up. He has been reasonably well behaved about having his legs seen to, but I will not be sorry to lose this chore. Let's hope the unseasonable sunshine is a portent of a good summer. Then perhaps the fields will have a chance to dry out for the first time in over a year, so that the horses no longer have so much mud to contend with.

Hosing legs

I'm trying to get Red used to having his legs hosed down on the occasions that I bring him in from the field. This doesn't happen too often because I tend to go up and see him in the morning. When we have needed to hose down his legs, it is like having a large prancing pony on the end of the leadrope.

Red has mud fever – not too seriously fortunately, and it is getting better quickly. There is no heat in his legs or swelling, just scabs. To treat the mudfever I have to clean off the mud, treat his legs with a liquid solution, and then dry them. He likes me to hold his leg to rub it down with the towel.

Red has tended to not like having his legs fiddled with in any way, but he has gradually improved over the 18 months we have owned him. It is a pleasure to pick out his feet nowadays, and he is being good about having his legs looked after. Fortunately he has never been too bad to shoe. His unhappiness with having his feet messed with does not provoke any malicious response, he just becomes extremely restless – which can be rather unnerving when in a fairly small stable with such a big animal. When he is restless he doesn't seem to have any awareness of where I am in relation to him, so it can feel slightly dangerous.

I think Red has always had quite an easy life, with good owners who have treated him well – or even over-indulged him because he is such a pleasant chap. I believe this is why he took so long to settle with us – it was a big change and he wasn't used to life changing. Moving him to a different yard after six months did not help, or trying him barefoot and with hoofboots. Now however, he is content and generally a ‘perfect gentleman’, as he was described in the advertisement placed by his previous owners. I think he is settled enough to try and get him over this aversion to having his legs hosed.

On Wednesday he gave me a bit of a shock. I was working on one of his front legs and he bit my head! It really hurt. I made it clear that this wasn't on, but on reflection, I think he was actually being a bit of a comedian and trying to take my wooly hat off. I think he misjudged how much force was needed. Nevertheless I feel it was important to make it clear that it had hurt and that this was not acceptable behaviour.