Not quite the way we planned it...

Lisa, Emma and I all got out for a ride today. Unfortunately, it doesn't always go to plan.
It wasn't the nicest of days to start with - a bit hazy and grey - but the air was warm and it wasn't raining for the moment.

When we got down to the boys field they were all sleeping, with the exception of Quids, and Rocky who was standing some distance from the rest of the herd. When Emma went to catch him it was pretty obvious he was lame. Suspecting nothing more than a pulled muscle, we decided to go ahead with the ride and it did - to some extent - loosen up.

He was happy to try overtaking Tralee, so we made the decision to press on and do Rocky Road. Trotting on the lanes was fine but the road seemed to be a bit of a struggle for the old boy so we stayed to the walk until reaching the top of Rocky road where we always start the canter.

Nell was being an ass, refusing to step up a gear into the canter, and instead extended her trot. Still; it was fast enough for the boys to get a canter behind me. As I slowed her down however, to try and stop the extension and get the canter, I heard Lisa shout my name.

I pulled Nell up to find Emma clambering to her feet. The wet ground combined with a pulled muscle has caused Rocky to slip sideways and fall. It was a bit of luck that he chucked Emma out of the stirrups as she fell and no-one was badly hurt. I felt bad in some ways that Emma had fallen off but in others relieved because she got back on and we had another canter, so her confidence is not totally in shreds. ;)
This was only her second fall in all the time she has been riding. The first time she fell was the first time she ever sat on a horse - which dumped her quite badly. To be fair she has gotten away with it so far. I normally average about one fall per year, while she has taken 4 years to fall off once. Either she is lucky, is a better rider than she thinks or she has some special magnets in her jeans...

All I can say is I'm just thankful I didn't take Jade today.
We got back in time as a wave of rain hit us. It wasn't particularly heavy but it was consistant. I was pleasantly surprised to find not a speck of sweat on Nell. She really is thriving at the moment. She is behaving wonderfully well, and seems to be establishing a relationship of sorts with Tralee. It could just be her getting broody and fruity but I would like to think they'd become friends...

Rocky was fine, although he may be a bit sore tomorrow. The poor lad hasn't had a very good day, poor bugger. Mum left him in the stable tonight with plenty of haylage as he seemed quite reluctant to go out into the rain - which I don't blame him for. We'll give him a few days off riding and see how he goes. He was never worked hard before we got him so a lack of fitness makes him more suseptable to pulled muscles. Of course we always worry about laminitis but a lack of heat in the hooves and the fact he is not overweight doesn't really scream it. We will keep an eye on it and keep you all posted on how he's doing.