Proud in the spring sunshine

It has been delightfully sunny, warm and spring-like in Cardiff.  The daffodils are in full bloom and the cherry and magnolia blossom is particularly beautiful this year.  Both of the camellia bushes in my garden have the most perfect flowers - one a bright pink and the other a deeper reddish pink.  The forecast however, was that the weather was due to change, with it becoming wet and colder, so I was determined to ride yesterday in the sunshine.

I have not ridden since the end of January, so there was a little nervousness in my stomach.  A ride goes out from Briwnant at 11 am on a Monday, so I set out to join this group.  Red was still out so I caught him, groomed him and tacked him up and managed to be just about ready for 11.  Four of us were going out and I knew them all except for the ride leader who has not been at Briwnant that long.

We headed out for the Wenallt horse trail.  I was surprised when the ride leader suggested a canter near the beginning of the trail because to my eye that part of the trail is downhill and we do not usually canter on group rides if there is even a slight downhill incline.  I was behind the leader so I didn't see what happened but one lady came off.  She hurt her leg and couldn't continue but felt sure she would be okay to walk back.  One of the other riders let go of her horse and the mare decided to go home.  Clearly the ride had to be abandoned.

As I was on my own horse of course, it was up to me what I did then.  I could not help the lady who had come off and she was well attended with two other people to help her back to the yard, so I decided to carry on alone.  This must be the first time I have ridden completely alone in nearly two years.  I sang to Red to relax us both and he was a good lad.  He tried to turn round a few times when he thought I might not be paying attention, but I was quite tuned in to Red's intention and was able to respond so immediately that it was never a serious issue.  We had a few canters and trots and enjoyed ourselves.

When we reached the end of the Wenallt trail I decided to turn left instead of right to come back through the woodland and along the track that leads straight into Briwnant's yard.  This route avoids the extremely narrow and steep stretch of Wenallt Road which I never like riding.  If you meet a car someone has to turn round.  As it is so close to home horses can object to turning round at this point and car drivers are not always considerate.  Red was a little unsure about being asked to turn left out of the Wenallt trail, but soon settled down again.

Half way down the track we discovered a closed gate so I had to jump off, untie it and open it.  I had resolved myself to walking the rest of the way leading Red, but then spotted a handy log and successfully lined Red up and jumped back on.  He was most cooperative.  He is a better schooled horse than he was 2 years ago and much easier to work with.  That is down to Briwnant and their expert care.

I feel so happy and proud of myself and Red to have had such a successful solo ride.  It bodes well for my riding this year.

After seeing to Red I drove up to the top fields and found Dee.  I groomed her and gave her a feed.  She is looking a bit moth eaten but otherwise pretty good.  I think I'll start making sure I have her saddle with me when I go up to Briwnant from now on, and if she is down the bottom I can bring her in and ride her a little.  There is a fun ride at the beginning of May.  I will have to ride Dee a few times before then if there is any chance of her being up for it.

missing the horses

My van is off the road so I'm not able to get up to see the horses at the moment.  I'm really missing seeing them every day.  Of course I could get up there if it was absolutely essential, but i am blessed with Paul and Sarian taking such good care of Red and Dee that they will manage without me for a few days.  Hopefully we will be back on the road tomorrow.

I took these pictures last week on my new mobile – an HTC Wildfire.  Very flash – and taking a bit of getting used to.  I keep embarrassingly having to ask my sons how to do things on it.  The first one of Red was to show the state of the front of his rug.  He moved his head at the last minute so it is not a very good image.  How does he manage to wreck his rugs?  It was new this winter—at the same time as Dee's—and hers still looks pretty new.  He is a vandal!

Dee's mane and forelock is looking longer and thicker than I have ever seen it.  Perhaps it is the oil I've been adding to her feed this winter. Her mane also has all sorts of colours in it ranging from rusty brown to black.  Really beautiful – but it doesn't really show up in the photograph unfortunately.  I'll try and get a close-up – if I can work out how to do that on my mobile's camera!

Dusk photography

At the weekend 'ö-Dzin always comes with me to see the horses and he takes photographs.  These were taken when it was starting to get dark.

I like this picture of me – I think it really shows how much weight I have lost.


No point in losing it if it doesn't show, now is there!

And Dee doing her usual post-feed thing.  I love the way the flash has highlighted her mouth.  Her teeth look cleaner than usual.

Feeding

Life has been a bit hectic over the last three weeks.  My mother—who is 94—fell and broke her wrist.  She was in hospital for a couple of weeks and now is in a 'transitional care' home for up to six weeks.  They will then assess whether she can go home – whether she can realistically continue to live on her own.

The care home is lovely.  She has a large room with an en suite bathroom.  The meals are good.  There is a pleasant garden.  The staff are friendly and efficient.  There is a lounge with the TV always on and a quiet lounge with no TV.  There is a kitchenette where I can make mum and I a cup of tea when I visit.

Mum is determined to hate it, and is convinced that it is her evil daughter's fault that she is there – that I want to rob her of her freedom.  Sigh. . .

Needless to say there has not been much time for anything other than visiting mum.  The horses are in the top fields at the moment as there is still quite a lot of grass there for them.  I have been going straight up there every day and feeding Dee by the fence, rather than trying to take her down to the yard.

Last night I got stuck in traffic coming back from the care home, which is right the other side of town from me.  It was dark and wet by the time I arrived at Wenallt Road.  Although all other roads had been clear up till then, there was thick fog on the Wenallt.  I called Dee and a horse came over to me through the gloom.  The horse looked the right sort of size, appeared to have a white star and two white socks and was wearing a Masta rug, though I could not discern the colour.  So I fed it / her. 
After finishing the feed this horse put its head in the air to do the flehmen response – so at that point I was confident that it was Dee that I had fed!  She always does this several times after being fed even a treat.  She was quite nervous being away from the herd in the dark and the fog and quickly headed back to its safety as soon as she had finished eating.  I was also glad to get out of the rain and go home for my feed. 

I still had to go a way up the hill until I could get off Wenallt Road though and the fog got so thick that I was crawling along desperately trying to find what was road and what was verge as there are no road markings on this single track lane.  I haven't been in fog that thick for many years.  It was a relief to finally arrive at the main road opposite 'The Traveller's Rest' – where the fog miraculously disappeared.

Today Dee was waiting for me by the same bit of fence where I have fed her for the last three days.  Red was close by too so I went over and gave him a few treats and a bit of fuss while Dee ate her feed.  He would have already had his dinner as part of his livery.  There was another horse with them—Saffron perhaps—and Red was quite happy to share the treats with her.  It is sweet to see that Dee and Red still stay close to one another, as all the rest of the herd were one field further down.

Visiting

It's difficult finding time to ride at the moment.  We did manage to hack out one weekend earlier this month.  It poured with rain for the second half of the ride and we all got soaked – but it was still fun.

One of the reasons there is little time to ride is because I am visiting the hospital nearly every day.  My mother—who is 94 years old—had a fall last Saturday and unfortunately broke her wrist.  It seems that this is going to be the end of her independent living.  She will be in hospital for another week and then in a care home for a few weeks where she will receive occupational and physio- therapy.  The decision will then be made whether she goes home or into another care home.  It is mostly likely to be a care home as this is the third fall where she has hurt herself enough to end up in hospital.  It will be something of a relief for me if she goes into a care home as I worry every day that she will have another fall, but I do sympathise with her for her loss of independence.  I am hoping that the company will compensate, because she has been lonely this winter not being able to get out at all.

Today we just managed a trip to Briwnant to visit Dee and Red.  They are both so well and have amazingly shiny coats.  I don't know whether there is something special about this winter – but I have never seen them look so shiny or feel so silky.  Dee has lost a little fitness but is still a good weight.

I have been hearing amusing stories about Dee from the folks at Briwnant.  She is an honorary member of the stables' herd because Red is on working livery and they did not want to separate Dee and Red.  The working horses, old or ill horses, and warmbloods receive hard feed every day whereas those not working are just fed field hay.  Apparently every now and then Dee decides she quite fancies a feed and tries to come in with those who come in every morning.  Sometimes she pretends to be Red – they are not easy to tell apart at a glance as I have them in identical turn out rugs, especially if their hind feet are muddy and you cannot discern Red's one white foot and Dee's two white feet.  Red is bigger than Dee, but only by a hand.  Alternatively she will try to 'hide' among the big horses and sneak in with them – as if she were small enough to come in unnoticed!  They usually indulge her and give her a little feed. 

A few weeks ago she had practically a tree caught in her tail.  The stable girls do not really know Dee as she is not generally handled by them, and were a little apprehensive of helping her out.  Their main experience of her is seeing her bullying the other horses in the herd to assert her dominance.  They were amazed and pleased therefore, to discover what a sweet girl she is to handle when they went out to free her tail of its attachment.  I can understand that they are wary of her—she can seem intimidating in the field—but given the choice I would always prefer to be in the confines of a stable with Dee rather than Red.  Dee is respectful, cooperative and sensible, whereas Red can be pushy and uncooperative.

Dee is certainly a mare with plenty of character!

What took you so long?

The horses are spending most of the day in the hay fields at the moment.  They come up for hay and feed morning and evening and then wend their way back down.  The hay fields—as the name suggests—are usually left fallow for hay and the horses are not permitted to graze there.  However the grass was still quite long there by the time the snow arrived and they are finding a lot of grazing by scraping away the snow.

On Monday we arrived at the stables early in the afternoon and the herd was still in the bottom fields.  We plodded down through the snow as far a the stream which was one field away from the herd.  We called to Dee hoping she would come to call.  Red was out on a hack and not with the herd.  At first there was no response and then gradually horses started to appear.  At first they walked towards the stream, then they began to trot, and then—in groups of twos and threes—they cantered through the stream and galloped full pelt up the fields through the snow.  Their enjoyment of racing through the snow was evident.

Dee glanced at us as she splashed through the stream, but galloped up the field with the rest of them.  We then plodded back up the fields through the snow.  Dee was waiting for us by the arena.  The expression on her face seemed to say 'what took you so long?'

She is looking great.  She was a little lame last week but it has quickly cleared up.  I think she had just twisted a leg on the uneven ground.  I'm really pleased with her new rug.  It stays in place and she looks warm, dry and comfortable.

We have had an unusual amount of snow in Wales this month.  It has stuck around for two weeks.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you a healthy and happy 2011.

No riding

Twice this week I have transported Dee's tack up to Briwnant but not succeeded in riding.  On Wednesday I went out to the field to bring her in.  Usually she just follows me up to the yard, but on Wednesday she was not interested.  I said hello, gave her a treat and patted her neck, but when I turned away to walk back she did not follow me as expected.  Now I know from previous experience with Dee that if she really does not want to come in and I try to lead her in using an ordinary head collar and lead rope it ends in trouble.  It may have been that she would have walked up quietly with me – but I decided not to risk it.  I was not feeling bright enough for an hour following Dee round the field to get the head collar off her after she'd dragged me around for a while.  Although she would not follow me she stood looking after me for a long time – in fact I think I could see her still looking for me as I drove away.

This morning I went up again but she was too wet to put a saddle on.  It has been raining for a couple of days.  Ahh well – perhaps next week will be drier and Dee will feel more cooperative.

I had a nice message from Moira in response to my post about the fun ride.  Moira owned Dee when she was a sprightly five year old.  She said:

"I laughed out loud to read about Dee jumping that stream.  I have a very similar tale to tell from years ago.  We were out on a hack with a friend of mine and her horse, Chester, and were trying to find a stream crossing.  We knew the way vaguely, just hadn’t done that particular ride for quite a while.  My friend and Chester found what they thought was the crossing (it wasn’t the right place as it turned out) and Chester scrambled down the bank, across the stream and back up the bank on the other side.  As this was happening, I could feel Dee gathering herself up for the most almighty jump.  And, like you, I had absolutely no choice but to go with her.  She flew right across and landed just to the left of a big tree, allowing just enough room for my leg.  I always believed that she would never take a jump without being certain of her doing it safely and that if I stayed with her, I’d be okay.  It sounds as if that’s still very much the case."

She is correct.  I trust Dee completely when it comes to jumping.  She is totally reliable and sensible.  I love that mare!