Coming to call

We had visitors from the USA staying with us recently and I took them up to Briwnant to visit the horses.  Sergio took this great little video of Red coming to call.

Horse swap

Red: That was a fun hack.

Wow!  Where did June go?  The horses are well and enjoying the warmer weather.  It took Dee a little while to pick up after the winter, but she is fully fit now.  The last time we rode out we decided to swap horses.  Red can be a little stubborn and refuse to canter for 'ö-Dzin, which can be a bit frustrating for us both.  I am a more experienced rider and know more how to deal with Red's stubbornness, so we thought we'd give swapping horses a try.  It worked a treat and we had a few good canters on the Wenallt trail.  Dee happily cantered for 'ö-Dzin following behind Red and we all had a lovely ride.

Red: No more treats?

Briwnant fun ride

The Gorgeous Red

As promised, here are a few photographs from the Briwnant fun ride on May 2nd.  I have been away on retreat (post about that on my Ngakma Nor'dzin blog tomorrow!) so I have not been able to post them earlier.  'ö-Dzin took the photos and found it a difficult task.  There are many pictures of 'horse's rear end after jumping' or 'horse approaching jump' but few that really caught the desired moment.  The delay of a digital camera can make timing almost impossible.

The experienced riders took it in turns to jump.

'ö-Dzin and I decided not to ride in the event this time.  Dee was not fit enough, we hadn't ridden much over the last few months, and Red can get a little over-excited.  We decided to help out as stewards (a slightly grand name for standing around in fields checking people are okay and putting fences back up when needed).

For the first hour we stayed with the experienced riders' group enjoying the cross country course in the Briwnant fields. We mostly helped put fences back up.  It was lovely to see Red enjoying himself in the capable hands of Jodi.  It looked as though he was calm and well-behaved - in fact the whole event was pretty calm and well organised. 

Showing the horses this scary pink and white jump
before asking them to jump it.

Then the experienced group headed off for the trail part of their ride (over Caerphilly way I think) and the novices arrived at Briwnant having completed the Wenallt trail.  Some of them rode into the fields to try a few of the smaller cross country jumps.

Although these events are called 'fun rides' there always seem to be a few youngsters for whom they become something of an ordeal.  At the beginning of the ride I tried to reassure one nervous little girl by leading her around the arena a few times to give her a chance to settle into the saddle and relax.  When the novice group were trying the jumps I stayed with a couple of riders who had stayed behind the main group to try jumping without the excitement of the larger group.  They did not really need any help but I felt it was better that they had someone with them just in case.  After this I returned to the rest of the novice group and found a young girl crying because her pony kept running away with her.  I started to lead her back to the yard and then another helper took her the rest of the way.  After a bit more jumping everyone began to head back to the yard for refreshments.

Adam showing he is becoming a confident
and able rider.

Bathing

When we visited Dee at the beginning of last week I was a bit worried about her.  She was looking a good weight but her summer coat was not coming through very well.  She had a few bald and scabby patches and generally looked a bit of a mess.  We gave her a thorough groom and I rubbed some herbal balm into the bare patches.  Sarian suggested we give her a bath.

On Thursday I bought some tea tree oil soap and we went up to Briwnant on Friday to give her a bath.  The difference in Dee in just a few days was remarkable.  She no longer had bare patches.  Although her coat is still a not-very-pretty mixture of coarse winter coat and finer summer coat she is clearly feeling well.  Walking up to the yard from the field at liberty she was playful, trotting after 'ö-Dzin when he ran ahead to try to get a photo of her, and getting behind me and nudging if she thought I was being too slow.  It was lovely to see her feeling energetic and strong again after the stamina-sapping winter.

I don't usually hold with horses being bathed – especially horses that live at pasture.  I feel they need the natural oils in their skin.  I do not use shampoo on my hair—haven't done so for many years—so why would I want to use such products on my horse.  I did make an exception this time however, as she is clearly itchy and uncomfortable.  So we gave her a bath and another thorough groom.  As usual she behaved perfectly while we bathed her – she is always so to easy to handle to do anything like this.  I didn't tie her up while we did it, but just left her head collar on in case I needed to grab her for control.  The only thing that disturbed her was when the goats escaped – they have four at Briwnant.  I don't think Dee had seen a goat before.  She snorted and became quite agitated if they came near her.

When we took Dee back to the field she trotted away – again a sign that she is feeling good.  She then—of course—had a good roll in the dirt!

Briwnant has been preparing for today's fun ride all week and putting horses over the cross country course, including Red.  More about the fun ride and photos soon.  Nicki told me that Dee has been jumping the jumps that are in her grazing pasture, just for the fun of it.  That mare does love jumping!

One distant, one close

I went up to Briwnant this afternoon with the intention of riding Red.  The sun was bright and warm - a really delightful day.  When I arrived Red had not long been turned out - and, for the first time this year, turned out into the fields that had been left for the new spring grass to grow.  I wandered down to him and he was easy enough to catch, but uncharacteristically reluctant to walk up to the yard with me.  He kept calling to the other three horses he had been with.  A couple of times I had to really insist that he continued to walk with me.

When we reached the top gate, I gave him a treat and let him go.  He accepted the treat, paused for a moment looking at me, and then headed back to the other horses at a gallop - bucking, cavorting and calling.  It was a pleasure to see his exuberance.

Did I do the right thing?  I don't know - but I reckon that a horse that is wound up, not wanting to leave the herd and not wanting to be with you is not a good proposition for a solo ride.  He may have settled down and behaved perfectly or he could have been agitated and overly anxious to get home.  I did not feel it worth the risk and decided to go with ensuring my safety and his comfort.  I'd be interested to hear my readers' comments.  Some may say that in letting him have his own way I have set a bad precedent, but I trust Red enough to know that he is usually happy to be with me and likes to go for a hack.  Usually he comes to call and follows me up to the yard without any encouragement and even without being led - but not today.

I then went up to the top fields and found Dee.  I groomed her thoroughly getting out a lot of the old winter coat.  She is not her summer colour yet, but it is coming through.  She is still looking a bit thin, but her coat is glossy and she seems happy enough.  After I finished grooming her and took off her headcollar, in contrast to Red's behaviour, Dee did not want to leave me.  She stayed with me for quite a while, letting me stroke her.  This is not usual for Dee, especially as she seemed to be enjoying my stroking her around her face and neck and kept nuzzling me.  This could be an indication that she is feeling under par so I must keep a close eye on her and ensure that she starts to put on weight now that the spring grass is coming in.  It has been a long, hard winter.

The photo of Red is in fact from the end of May last year.  The buttercups are not out yet this year.

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!