A Quick Catch-up

So, I’ve been terrible at keeping up with everyone and everything lately; I just need to sort my routine, and then I will find a way to fit Twitter back in. I miss my Twitter Sisters! I started work in April, and I can confirm that I am ridiculously happy. My boss is a wonderful woman, kind and friendly, and world-renowned for what she does. She brightens up my day, and I am excited about my research in a way I never quite experienced for my PhD, because while it was very close to what I was really interested in, it wasn’t quite on my first choice topic. I’m now in Animal Welfare, and am excited about the challenges ahead. While I’m not hugely motivated by money, there is definitely an upside: being able to ride each week! I also have a new best friend: we even phone up and book each other in on rides, and do things outside of the yard too. We’re off for cocktails on Monday! I do love that horses bring people together, especially for an introvert like me who doesn’t make friends very easily :)

So, I suppose I better do a quick catch up entry. There’s two things I want to briefly chat about – the hacks itself, and how my Common Riding season is shaping up.

I haven’t had any hacks to write home about since that hairy, high-adrenaline and really fun private hack. I have had another private hack since, but we went the usual shorter, slower route as we didn’t have L as our ride leader. While LD took us out on a fast horse, we still didn’t have a lot of canters, and we had to stop for pedestrians on the gallop. (To be fair to LD though, we were going to go a different route that really extends the length of the gallop, but things got in the way). I was full of cold that day, and couldn’t be bothered fighting if I was going to have a horse that needed wrestling into position, so I said a dobbin was fine as I wasn’t with it: I got Hero, and was very happy at the end of the ride. I always pushed him so that we kept up (it’s a pet hate of mine when people are at the back on a lazy horse, never push on, and we constantly have to stop to let them catch up). The only times I got left behind were on longer canters, but only because Hero’s top gear is nothing like the bigger horses; still, galloping a little horse was a lot of fun, potentially more so than holding a bigger horse in a steadier canter. Still, the fog in my head had cleared 5mins after I left the yard, so I regretted not taking a faster horse a little, but I still made the most of it and enjoyed myself. I even got to canter some of the trots home. Score!

I’ve had Hugo out again, but with so many slow riders with us, I had to put him at the back with Ripper. He got the message on the first canter that I wasn’t allowing him past the pony in front, and he was a gent from thereon in. At least I got to practice extending and quickly collecting his canter with such slow ponies in front!

I’ve also had Tom out a couple of times recently, but unfortunately they haven’t been particularly fast hacks. I wanted a hairy ride on him, to make sure I have the measure of him for Common Riding when he’s pulling and trying to race. I’m sure I will, but it’s always nice to be sure, and those adrenaline-fuelled rides are a blast! I have however been doing some CR-relevant schooling on the hacks, and have been entirely able to adjust his trot and canter/gallop (not his walk: he won’t extend, only jog, but he does this with everyone. It’s an accepted part of Tom, that he doesn’t walk fast – just trot slowly)! Steering at speed and galloping with one hand also weren’t an issue, so I feel very happy on him. We did have two big spooks on our last two outings though: a couple of weeks ago he freaked out in the middle of the road on me when we were crossing a junction. He’s a star in traffic, regardless of whether he’s the first or last horse, but I think he was worried the car coming wasn’t going to stop. The car was perpendicular to us, so I think it might just have been the T-bone approach that made the difference, and the guy could have started slowing earlier to be fair to Tom. The second happened in town yesterday: builders were loading an angle grinder onto a flat-bed trailer. I couldn’t get Tom to walk straight past it, but I rode him positively and we passed it without napping via the grass, giving Tom an extra metre between him and the trailer to make him comfortable. He wasn’t silly with it either, no leaping or spinning, just shying away quick-smart: he got a quick pat for being so willing to keep moving forward and settling back down again so quickly. Starsky would have leapt a mile in the air, like a school girl at the sight of a mouse! lol.

On the Common Riding front, things have changed, both in terms of my Rides and my mounts. When I emailed my form to add a third Common Ride in February, I also requested to change my horse from Hugo to Tom on all rides. I adore Hugo when he’s a live wire, but I ached after those 2hrs on the private – I’d find Hugo hard work over 4-5hrs with my weak back, and I owe it to everyone to be as controlled at the end of the ride as I am in the start. Yesterday, I finally caught the Common Ride book with the YO in the office yesterday, and found that I hadn’t been changed to Tom as I’d requested. So, while I do have Tom for the staff ride out (a fast one), I was still booked on Hugo for those original pair of rides (A and B in my dilemma post). However, as it’s now the end of April, I knew that my choice of horse was going to be limited: I wasn’t wrong!

The first thing I did when speaking to YO was to swap off Ride B, the last in my calendar, for an earlier ride so that I can go with my friend./buses to, but she will be great support on my first ride when my nerves inevitably tremble a little to begin with. That ride will also be a better introduction for me than the staff Common Ride, as while it contains lots of field/open space galloping and a race course, it’s straight forward (as opposed to windy, or with a lot of gates where fallers actually come acropper). Anyway, I now have a Tuesday ride with my friend in June, the staff ride in July, and Ride A across the beach and race course in late July.

I now however have no consistent Common Riding horse – I’ll have a different neddy for each one! I watched LD book me on Tom for the staff ride, so I am delighted with that. Unsurprisingly Tom was booked for the June ride, so Starsky was my close 2nd choice: L singing his praises really had an effect on me, added to how much I’ve missed him and been itching to ride him (and Hutch) since the big fellas came back from their winter holiday. I was worried however that some of the heavier men would need him, as he’s about 17.2hh and built like a Percheron; so, either he’d be taken already, or I wouldn’t be allowed to ‘over-horse’ myself when I could ride smaller horses that others couldn’t. Luckily however Starsky was free for the June ride, and as a back-up (in case he’s needed for townsman), I’ve put Abbie – a firmly built ~15.1hh coloured mare, who I’ve not ridden yet, but who I can see is my type from the hacks on mine she’s been on. She also stayed close to Ripper at Edinburgh CR last summer, and Ripper’s my friend’s horse for all of her rides. (Tom and Ripper are also best buds, and are similarly fast, so that was an extra benefit as we’d be riding together throughout the day). So, I have about one month before the June ride: I need to get some Starsky and Abbie hacks in before then! I’m going to enjoy that, even if my friend will be disappearing into the sunset with Ripper :)

For ‘Ride A’, now my final ride for the summer, I found that Tom and Starsky were both in the official party. That meant that even if I had booked Tom as soon as reservations opened, he’d have been taken off me as he’s leading the parade and Common Ride for the day. YO immediately said Hutch was free and put my name down for him, and I didn’t even think to ask about Abbie or even Corrie. I feel like Hutch is an old friend that I’ve known for a long time: he’s not as fast as Starsky, but it’s a steady Common Ride anyway, so I’m happy enough. It stops me having to decide between which brother’s my favourite, as I love them both in different way!

So, despite being momentarily irked that my request to have Tom had been dismissed months ago, I am excited about a June ride on Starsky (or maybe Abbie), the faster staff ride on Tom-a-horse in mid-July, and my local ‘home’ ride on Hutch. I’ll also be easy to spot in the videos and photos when I’m not on Tom! lol. I am beyond excited, and still tempted to add Edinburgh or Ride B at the end of the season if money allows. I wouldn’t have first pick of horses booking so late, but I’m one of the lucky people that, as a regular rider at my yard, know at least three alternatives that I’d be happy with; many people come and try a horse just for Common Riding, and if they go lame, then they end up on a horse they don’t know for the day (albeit one matched with their riding ability, and as similar to their first choice horse as possible). I just need to see how my finances stretch this summer, but my finger is itchy already!

So, all in all, I’ve enjoyed my hacks, even though they’ve often not been as fast or quiet as I’d like. (Yesterday’s was a whopping 13, and while there were no incidents during canter, someone did manage to follow off whilst walking in a straight line). Now that I’ve swapped rides, it’s just over a month until my first Common Ride, and I’m excited that I’m going to spend May riding Starsky and Abbie, getting ready to roll for the big day. I can’t wait until this Saturday morning in fact – I’m definitely itching to ride Starsky first! Fingers crossed the Glen is open too, as it closed early last summer because of all the rain, and is now a month over-due for summer re-opening this year. I’m itching for a bit of variety, and miss the smell of the forest floor, the dappled sunshine of the sun peeking through the canopy, the sound of the waterfall, and the firm thuds and clacking of shod hooves on a wooden bridge. It also makes the gallop longer, so it’s a win win! Fingers crossed folks :D

Tom-a-horse, before he lost his winter fuzz (so still looking like a pony somehow!)