Just a little lazy

Yeah, So its summer. I've been lazy about riding and the sticky hot weather does not help. Tonight however I am a free woman, as College is finally finished! I'll be sad to leave many wonderful tutors and fellow students behind but I now have some very firm friends for life who I will certainly make an effort to catch up with regularly. Lisa will come riding with me as well as taking our pet rat passion to the market, Kathryn is interested in trying to ride and lives just up the road and as for Emma, well shes family, so I'm stuck with her.

Tuesday evening was a lovely day for the beach so Lisa and I headed down for a nice ride. The water looked lovely and cool and I got Nell in further than I ever have before. I might even get her to swim with me someday. Mum and I will be speaking to Chris Cook this week about training Nell to pull a trap, which is going to be my big summer project.

This autumn we are also hoping to hitch a ride up to the Joe Moyle's sale with the Tregurtha lot and have a good look around. Who knows - we may bring something home if I can find another job to support an extra beastie. I have been planning for a while to get a quiet youngster as a first breaking project. Something hairy, a bit lazy and about the age of 3 but unbroken. The plan is to break it in then ride it out for 6 months to hopefully make a profit - although the experience is always good even if I never make any money!

Helen's friend has a haflinger stud colt who should be ready for breeding by next spring. providing I can get Nell down to a fair weight I am hoping to breed her at the beggining of summer, ride and drive her for a few months then turn her away for the winter, during which I might fit in a breaking project youngster. It would definately be a keeper, either to replace Tralee, when he gets too sore, if it's a colt or as something with a bit more go for myself if it's a filly. Even Helen said that our old horses won't last forever and that if I am going to have one last foal from Nell it better be soon. after all she will be 19 next year although she could be older. You'd never know it though looking at her! I know the Westfalen Haflinger Association have her on record somewhere because her brand number is unique to her, but as most people will they are trying to weedle more money out of me (250 euro to be precise) for a full DNA test that she should not need! It would be helpful if I could get her information that would allow her foal to be registered, but if I can't then its not going to be sold anyway so it doesn't really matter to me if I know its pure. Anyway though, that's a long time off so I shan't think about it too much or get my hopes up. I'm just going to look to the near future first and work on getting her in a trap and driving.

Some beach photos

Just a couple of photos from mine and Sarah's trip to the beach a couple of weeks ago. Can't figure out how to turn them over so you'll just have to make do.

Emma has been doing some light riding but cruddy weather today meant we just decided to hang around the stables. Nell has had her mane plaited to encourage it to grow and choose a side of the neck to fall on. She looks very pretty plaited and I expect I'll do it for the showjumping on the 12th.

Why do I end up working harder than the horse?

Mum took my uncle's ex riding today. Beverly has said for a while now that she wants to get back into riding so give's us £10 when she uses Rocky. She's still very novicy and hasn't rode in about 14 years so has very little balance, therefore mum rides out with her. I didn't go with them but took Nell around the lakes in the hopes of burning some fat off her due to her putting on some unwanted weight. We whizzed round the lakes in about 15 mins, trotting flat out pretty much all the way but it took about an hour to do the full ride. I'm careful about trotting on the roads for too long as it doesn't do Nell's hooves or legs any good and I wouldn't dare go faster than a slow walk down halammaning hill so it takes at least 20 mins to actually get down to the lakes. After Croft Gothal we'd still only been out for half an hour so I extended the ride a bit. By the time we got home, Nell was warm, tired and breathing quite heavily but she didn't even work up a sweat. There was a small patch under her thick saddle pad where the saddle sits but otherwise I had sweated more than she had. On the plus side I wasn't as hot, tired or sweaty as usual so I must be getting somewhat fitter.

Sarah said she would accompany me to the show jumping on the 9th August with Gully. We went to the beach last week and he was so well behaved for a 4 year old. I think thats Cobs all over though - you can't beat Cobs for temperment and amiability. We got some action shots and are hoping to go down again to get some more - possibly closer this time.

Rocky's nose, which was badly sunburned, is now looking lovely again and is smooth as a baby's bottom. He is developing some muscle tone now and seems to be more eager to go out these days. Tralee on the other hand is feeling rather grumpy and we may need to up his No Bute. His ringbone is getting bigger and seems to be more painful as the heat in his hoof today was much more than the other three. We knew when we got him that the ringbone would probably be the one thing to put him out of work but the riding does seem to ease it more so than just standing in a field.

Well, I'll try to get the photos up here soon but if not then you'll just have to be patient.

A new Trail

Mum finally showed me the ride to Marazion beach today. It was quite chilly and very windy when we got there though. That and the fact Tralee was looking as though he was about to explode into a bucking fit meant we stayed to a trot at the fastest. Helen, Rocky's old owner also enjoyed herself so all in all a very nice ride.

Although we didn't get to have a good gallop, I now know how to get there and I'm sure Emma will love to get down there at some point this summer. :)

Finally some photos! :) but none of the ride :3

Emma and I took Nell and the Rockstar for a beach ride yesterday and as you can see from the top photo, Nell and Tralee's friendship is blossoming!

It was the nicest day we had had for a while and although Mum couldn't come along it was still a nice ride. I had planned to get some photos but like last time, didn't check the tide times.

When we got there, there was only a small stretch of beach and it was already quite crowded with people. The tide was heading out but we decided that it was best we just spend a short time there and let the pedestrians have the beach.

The first canter resulted in a bucking fit from Nell. I think she was probably protesting about how hard I had kicked her. Rocky came along behind, doing something between a trot and a canter.

The second canter, Rocky was starting to feel excited and overtook Nell and I. There was a hair-raising moment where he almost didn't stop, but Emma pulled him into the sea.

We didn't stay long, as it was not in our interest to annoy the people sitting on the rocks and staying away from the horses. A few canters, a few trots and that was us done for the day.

On the way back, after the beach farm is the two fields I have mentioned in a previous post. The grass was much longer this time but the field is certainly not being used, so once again we used it as a canter spot.

This was only the second time we had used the field, but Rocky knew where we were. One minute Nell was cantering steadily in front, and the next Rocky had flown straight past us at the gallop. I had never seen that horse move so fast!

Emma and I were both surprised at how fast and fit the Rockstar had become over the past few weeks. By the time we got back he only had a bit of sweat under his saddle, girth and mane.

We didn't get any photos on the beach but I got a few nice ones of Nell to add to my album. Oh and look! Lucy isn't a yak anymore!

Cranky opposition

Some people don't like horses. Some people are just rude. Sometimes there are people who happen to be both.

Emma and I came across one of those the other day. We were meant to be going to the beach for an evening ride but the overcast sky dictated that we stay close to home. So we headed down the woods.

We have always ridden in that woods. Everyone does. It's often the only place for the poorer horse owner to go jumping such as myself. I can't afford to buy jumps and even if I could the sand school at Kestal is only 20ft long. It's not a big enough space to practice without crashing into the fence. I would like to just jump real fences rather than logs but hey, you get what you need not what you want.

So we had had a few good jumps already, I'd taken Nell down a drop bank to do some exploring, and Emma and I were on our way back. I normally have a favourite jumping log of mine halfway through the woods. Its small with good firm run-up and a lack of trees to run in to.

So we were minding our own business and Nell was jumping just the right way when some nosy woman with THREE snapping, barking minature snauzers comes up to us. We had pulled the horses up to avoid aggravating the dogs any further but the woman was obviously on the war path now. We were in the woods. where she was walking her dogs. And it was a "footpath". Shock.

So she asks us if we knew it was a footpath. My response... No. I didn't know. Despite the fact there is a sign outside which says footpath. I'd never noticed it and as we'd always jumped in the woods I had never paid attention much.

Anyway, she goes on to say that we shouldn't be in the woods as it was a footpath and that we should leave NOW.

Normally I apologise; explain I didn't know, then head home. After all we could come back on another day... But this woman had such a rude tone and the fact she had the cheek to say "I can't hear you" when her own dogs were making the noise, raised my hackles. I told her that we were going to finish jumping first, and then we would leave. She asked which yard we were based at. I told her that we were from Kestal and that our yard manager was also the grounds keeper for the woods. I turned away from the rude lady, and continued as though she wasn't there. Obnoxious people only deserve the same back.

She continued to complain that she had to put her dogs on the lead because of the horses. Well what do you know? If you actually trained your dogs properly they wouldn't have to go on the lead. My dog walks alongside the horses when we ride, as do many of my friends dogs. And you don't have to have a horse to teach them that barking and running at horses is unacceptable behaviour.

So after ignoring her she storms off saying that she is going to report us and so on. Well good luck to her. Not only did she have the WHOLE DAMN WOODS to walk in, we were off the main footpath so what is she going to report us for? Jumping a 1ft log in a secluded part of the woods at 6:00 evening on a wet day?

Surely there are better things to be doing with your time. How about getting those nasty dogs of yours trained? At 6:00 in the evening you don't expect to see people walking in the woods. Especially when the grey clouds roll in and it looks like its about to piss it down.

We horse riders truly are sorry that we have to use the footpaths, and roads, and beaches and woods and wherever else you don't want us to be. However, I don't see any of you doing something about it. I don't see you building bridlepaths or offering to re-turf old ones. I don't see you volunteering to trim back overgrown lanes or opposing building new roads on our bridlepaths. So perhaps before you start complaining you have a look at a map yourself. Instead of telling me to look at a map and see I'm on a footpath, you look at a map and tell me where there's a bridlepath that DOESN'T cross a footpath or road.

Edited to add: The rough speed of a horse WALKING is 3mph. Trotting is about 10mph, canter is between 17 and 28, and gallop is between 29 and 40mph depending on the horse. In other words, a horse can cover 3 miles in 1 hours ride at its slowest pace. Our rides are roughly two to three hours long equalling between 6 and 9 miles covered if we were just to walk. You try and find a cornish bridlepath that long.

Duracell pony

I think Nell has a couple of duracell batteries stuck up her ass... she is that fit at the moment. We went on an intense ride with LOTS of trotting. The first trot was exhausting... for me anyway. She was somewhat lethargic to begin with after stuffing herself all night with grass so I had to sqeeze everytime I sat. Driving her up that hill was painfully hard.

Halfway around the ride she started to perk up and the trotting was steady rather than *rise... Squeeze! rise... Squeeze!* Nor was it at the other extreme of having to stand because her trot's too fast to sit then rise to.

We had a couple of nice canters with good clear aids, resulting in a canter straight off the leg instead of the awful extension. Both canters were steady and controlled.

Overall it was an enjoyable ride but all that trotting really tired me out and I sweated buckets. As for Nell? No sweat. literally. Not under the girth, saddle or the elbows. She was as clean as when I took her out.

The weather is set for rain tomorrow but on the off chance that it is clear in the evening, Emma and I are heading down to the beach. I'll work her hard then and see - after the climb up the cliffs - if she actually sweats.

Oh and update on Rocky: He's absolutely fine. Just a pulled muscle as we suspected although after his fall he had a couple of small nosebleeds. They havn't come back since though so he's almost back to normal.

Spring fever!

the long dark of winter is over and I have spring fever! I can't wait to be out riding all easter and don't worry - there will be lots of photos this time!

I'm finally getting somewhere with regards to finding out Nell's real identity: I got an e-mail from the westphalian horse registry. They may have found her. The downside is it will cost me 250.00 euro - roughly £116 uk pounds at the moment. I am considering it as it will include a full investigation, dna testing and whatever else they can give me. I may wait for a while though - I have livery bills to pay over summer and I'm not in a hurry for it.

With the days warmer and drier, I will be doing some competing. There's a fun showjumping show locally coming up that I might attend and an agricultural show where I want to enter some art, photography and the dog into.

Here's a piece of my artwork that will definitely be going:

Lisa and Jade are going to be riding again this easter. I WILL HAVE PICS THIS TIME! so keep watching this space. ;)

Beaches and Banners

Spring really is here now. The daffodils are blooming, the sun is bright and the horses are losing their winter coats. Oh and up there ^ is our new banner. Lovely is it not?

So today was another beautiful day that makes living in Cornwall absolutely magical. Every colour was rich and vibrant, each green leaf sunkissed and beautiful to behold. Today I noticed everything in all it's beauty for finally the long, barren, colourless winter is over. Look through the eyes of an artist, a poet, a writer; and you will know exactly what I talk about.

A ride to the beach was in order. I normally go down once a week to school anyway but I haven't really had the energy to ride all the way down there for a while so it felt good to be down by the sea again. We had very little beach left by the time we got their but we made the most of what we had. I now have my dad's old camera which is by no means old. As you can see it takes stunning photos. Rocky quite liked the water and must have enjoyed the taste as he found a salty rock and started licking it. Nell got her feet wet but backed up the beach very quickly when the waves "chased" her. She didn't spin but it was an odd sensation having her run backwards.

We finished with a couple of nice canters although it was difficult to do with so many people on such a small amount of beach.

Keen to get home as ever, Nell charged up the slipway nearly breaking a canter to get up the steep slope. At the top of the coast and beyond the Skewers's farmTwo large fields with an opening in the hedge between them offered a fantastic spot to canter. At first Nell did her long extended trot, refusing to move up a gear but when Rocky was put in front to canter she didn't want him leading. The result was an explosive haflinger. She went from a standstill to an extended canter, surging past Rocky. They were next to one another as we passed through the narrow hedge opening - a little too close for comfort, then Nell carried on past Rocky; obviously making sure she was still boss.

I just can't get enough sunshine at the moment! We're going Rocky Road tomorrow as long as something doesn't go wrong again. Last time Nell threw up lame so I really am looking forward to going there.

Shovelling Shite

Nell is pretty much back to normal now and is charging around the field at her usual pace. Went for a ride yesterday with Emma on Lucy and she was looking great. My thighs are a bit sore - we rode bareback but still managed to poo-pick the field today with Emma's help. Everything is ready for the girls to move back to Kestel now and the paddock was completely clear of steaming mounds of dung until Nell christened it as we walked out the gate. >:(

Hopefully we will get down on to the beach tomorrow. I will take my camera and fingers crossed - remember to get some photos for an update tomorrow.

Quick update

Nell is now about 90% sound. It seems she just pulled a muscle after all and every day looks better. There was a little bit of lameness when she was chasing me up and down the fenceline this evening but by my rekoning she should be fine by next week.

Rocky made the integration into the bully boys herd yesterday evening. Rodney, Tralee, Quids and Puzzle all seem to be ignoring him for the moment although there was a small amount of fighting between Rodney(herd leader) and Rocky when Puzz was first turned out. Rocky gave Rodney a good warning with his back legs and all now seems quiet.

Nell and Lucy move down to Kestel in 2 weeks. There is still 3 weeks before the all horses are allowed back on the fields although chicken field is being used for the bully boys. Everyone else was too lazy to walk up there so we have the field to ourselves. Their loss. I know Tralee is relieved to be out of the stable.

Spring is right around the corner and the weather has been absolutely like summer. The heat is amazing and here's hoping it will stay that way until Autumn.

Lame

Went for a ride with Emma today. Nell seemed to be a little off but it wasn't until I got her trotting I realised something wasn't right. The more I watched the quicker I realised she was lame on the near fore.

We were meant to have gone for a long ride, as Tralee is in the stable with only 3 hours turnout a day, for a whole month to re-seed the fields. However half way round we turned off to Croft Gothal instead of Rocky road. I didn't want to push her.

I will give her a week of just light riding and if no improvement we will have to call out Otty to have a look at her.

On the plus side, I got some good pictures to send to the Westphalian horse association. I hope they can ID her or at least e-mail me back if they can't. I hate it when people never reply.

Jumping problems? solved!

Emma and I finally went for a ride yesterday after many weeks. She bought along her camcorder in the hopes of getting some video of us jumping.

It was a beautiful day and the sun was out. We warmed the horses up by riding around three gates, where we had a lovely canter along the grassy stretch. Nell's canter was rolling and steady so I made the decision to work on turning at speed and kept her going around the corner. Normally she stops at the end of the stretch or breaks down into the trot, but yesterday she was feeling well and cornered with an elegance that would make a dressage horse jealous.

When we got to the woods I tried teaching her to stand to open the gate. It took a while to get close enough but eventually she got the idea that I wanted her to stand next to the fence while I reached across to the bolt. We got most of the way and decided to let Emma finish the job. After all, I could try opening it on the way out.

The big pond in Rocky's field drains off into a river which runs through the woods. The river had flooded leaving many of the trees at the bottom half of the woods standing in water - including the jumps. We walked the horses through the deep water - another one of Nell's dislikes then headed off in search of dry land.

We found a couple of nice easy jumps with a run up that wasn't too boggy and started jumping. Nell was wonderful and I finally figured why our jumping had sucked. I had been restricting her by becoming tense and keeping my reins short and in turn she was cat-leaping because she was struggling to get her head. So I relaxed and allowed her to do the work.

And we flew. No more cat leaping. No more falling behind the movement. My confidence has gone up and I am ready for next time.

Tralee was a poppet but not quite as bothered to be jumping as usual. He took it all in his stride and jumped every one but it may have been too easy for him. After all - a 15.2 Hunter who was used to 6ft hedges need not put much effort into 1ft logs.

On the way out Nell stood close to the gate and for the first time since we bought her; I opened it without getting off.

Two problems were solved yesterday and here's hoping my jumping goal might just become a reality!

From white to brown

Well, the snow dissapeared by Wednesday and as we all know snow is just frozen water. So now we are wading through its remains in the form of knee deep mud and puddles. Thankfully the top field is still dry and most mornings the girls are up there.

In other news, Rocky's fieldmate, Dubai, has been sold so he was meant to have the mares move in with him. Unfortunately most of the mares owners did not like the field having a pond in it - referring to it as a marsh - despite the fact that it was dry and had GRASS. Oh well, their loss. Now Rocky has to eat all that grass to himself. He has company in opposite fields and isn't worried about being on his own anyway so its not our loss.

Tralee is fine. No real news to report on him other than all the boys are very very hungry. He is being bought in during the day and turned out at night while Rocky is in by night and out by day.

Overall their is not much to report as the weather is far too wet and cold to ride in. Perhaps we will get a break in the weather in the next few weeks but I don't hold out much luck.

Groundwork

Nell is an especially bargy mare. She is incredibly hard to turn away from you as she walks ahead of you. If you speed up to put her inside the circle she gets quicker as well. I don't know if it is a dominance issue or whether thats just what her past owners let her get away with but I need to get it under control at some point. I did a few basics like walking a straight line (very difficult when Nell is trying to pull you back to the gate), turning my back to her and changing direction when she walked ahead of me and trotting poles in hand which she was not very keen on at all. It's going to take alot of work this year and their are lots of bad habits that need breaking. We did manage a few jumps in hand though. I did have to turn the leadrope into an extra noseband to stop her shoving me around but once she did a couple of jumps she seemed to start enjoying herself and I didn't need to encourage her much after that. At the end of the seesion when Lucy came back from her ride I attempted a free jump. We have a gate that opens to the top field that consists of two wood planks that slot into metal resters(?) which can be simply slid out of the resters to open the gate or a piece of metal attached to the resters can be pushed down into grooves in the planks to lock it. I simply placed the lowest plank so it was sitting half on the rester and half on the ground. I then tempted Nell to follow me with an apple.
I ran towards the gate and she followed. I jumped over but at the last minute Nell ran out and decided it was safer in the top field than to jump that scary 1.5ft plank of wood! Not worth an apple! The second time she realised that she would have to jump it or stay up their so we tried again. I ran. she followed. I jumped and lo and behold! She followed! She ignored me and cantered straight down to Lucy, looking rather pleased with herself. I did give her the apple though. ;)

My mum has agreed to bring a fellow boarder at Kestel's horse in for her on days she can't. In return we asked if she could teach me to lunge. Its strange that in all the time I've seen people lunging down their I've never thought to ask about it. Its one of those skills that you should know but have never needed. If I can get Nell to follow me over jumps then I will but if not the lunging would be helpful. Especially as I don't think I can even get over 3 ft jumps anymore, I'm so unfit! As that is my goal for this year (ride Nell over 3ft jumps) I might just need to know how to lunge. I don't even know if Nell knows how to so that should be fun!

Have you hugged an old horse today?

It is well known that unlike antiques horses do not get more expensive with age. Many are simply put down when they can no longer cope with the things their owner wants them to do or are simply sold on. There is rarely a market for old horses, even here in the UK and it's a sad fact that many will never find that lifetime home.

Our horses will NEVER suffer that fate. Dear old Tralee turns 20 this year and is one of the few horses to pass through only a couple of homes. He was bought over from Ireland as a 4yr old and lived with the same owner for the next 14 yrs of his life. June will mark his 2nd year with us and we have no intention of ever selling him.

Although we lack much history from Nell, we suspect she has never really had a home for long. Born in Germany, she is a long way from her roots. She is a lifer though. Never again will she be hungry or unloved. Nell has many, many years of riding left in her and I intend to make the most of her lively and spirited nature for however long I have her for.

Lucy is my sister's loan pony. Being a Welsh c she is long lived and this year will turn 28. She is still ridden and although we only have her for one more year, we will miss her. Thankfully Lucy will never be far away and we will always be allowed to visit her.

We could never think of selling our older horses. They have given us so much, isn't it fair we give them a permanent home in return?

When the time comes that they are too sore to do their jobs, we will do the right thing and send them over rainbow bridge. As much as we would all like to hold onto them, it is only for our own selfishness. Once they are gone they do not hurt. Until that time we make their lives comfortable. We rug them when it's cold, give them supplements, feed them warm mashes in the winter and keep their bellies full. We stable them when the rain is too hard, and take them on walks in hand during the long summer days if they are no longer rideable.

But what in return? Friendship, trust, a safe and reliable mount. Older horses have a lot to give. They inspire confidence in us. When we take a fall, our elderlies are always there, waiting to help us feel safe again. They have funny moments like spooking at umbrella's or mobility scooters but never let us down on a busy motorway or when a massive truck rushes by. Not all veterans show their age either. Nell is 17 this year(as far as we know) and still loves to gallop and jump. If you are considering buying a horse this year, there are a lot of older horses out there, just waiting to give you their love and experience.

What did you get for christmas?

Well I got everything I wanted minus the breyer. ;) a bridle that is absolutely gorgeous on Nell, a middleweight turnout rug, tote bag for all my brushes, tack box cover and saddlepad. All in purple of course! I'm most pleased with the rug and bridle. The rug seems slightly lighter weight than her turqouise one but she looked comfy under it.

The most amazing thing happened today... The sun came out! The wind was chilling but it was actually dry for a change so I took Nell out in all her purple gear. Saddlepad, bridle, reins, my jumper, chaps and boots; all purple. It took me about an hour though just to sort the bridle due to Nell's strange head shape. Lengthening the noseband made the bit drop in her mouth, then the throat strap was too small so I took the halter conversion strap off and finally by the time it was sorted she barged me out the door and I had to do a flying mount off the block as she trotted off!

Other than that it was a good ride. It was rather on the quick side but enjoyable nonetheless. I will get some piccies of her all tacked up in her purple stuff for my next entry.

History lessons

I was browsing the net for Haffies the other day when I came across something rather unexpected. I discovered an old show picture of a stallion named Aristo.

Lo and Behold there on his quarters was a familar firebrand. I had noticed the mark during the spring after Nell shed her winter coat and we had been searching for a lead on what it may have meant. Suddenly out of the blue we find Aristo bearing the same mark and the excitement starts to build. Finally we have something on our horse without a past.

Whether it was fate or purely amazing luck a few moments later I came across this:

This is the brand for Westfalen Haflingers. Unfortunately the site is all in German so I cant tell you what that means. We sent emails to people who seem to have a connection in the hopes they understand english and can tell us more about the brand.

It is strange to think that my Nelly Noodles came all the way from Germany. We always had an incling that if she was british she would have come with more history and its not unusual for dealers to buy horses abroad and sell them for more over here. It is a shame that all her past was lost along the way but now at least there is a chance of finding out who bred her if there is a registry. I always wondered why Nell never really listened to me. It was probably because she speaks German! ;)

The most wonderful thing so far about finding her brand is that we now have proof that she is PURE haflinger. I always knew there must have been a mistake when we got the passport saying she was a cross. Hopefully on these facts and pictures alone we will be able to re-register her.

I'll update you as we get more information but even if we don't it has been wonderful just knowing where she came from.

It is horse related...

Zahra is our puppy; a springer x Cocker spaniel. She's 3 months old at the moment, smart and incredibly loyal. We had always decided that when we got a dog it would be taught to follow the horses out on rides so yesterday was Zahra's first walk with me on horseback. It was a very short ride, no more than 10 mins and was literally up one lane and back down another. Nell had just had a shoe replaced so it needed bedding in but as I knew we wern't going out for long I hopped up on her bareback. It was halfway down the lane I realised I'd forgot my helmet as well, but knowing that if I turned back Nell wouldn't start off again, I left it at that and continued with Zahra behind. Nell was fresh, bouncy and impatient to get going. It's funny how different she is when shes out on her own.

Zahra was a little uncertain at first and at one point scarpered back towards the stables when a pair of dogs scared her. I waited for a moment then called and Zahra came streaking towards me, tail between her legs. She was terrified of the dogs but being so loyal she found the courage to go past them and we were off. She stayed close to Nell, who had no problems being followed by a pup and when we got to the road, I told her "wait", which she did willingly. She's very obedient. Perhaps I'll take her into obedience classes when she gets better at ignoring distractions. We came across a car on the road but I clicked to my left, telling Zahra "here" and she slipped behind Nell and walked next to us as the car passed by. We then headed down another lane which would bring us back to the Rescorla's yard. Zahra was well behaved in spite of Nell prancing a bit to get back, and we even tried a little trot up the drive.

Next time we will go a little further and further again after that until she gets the hang of staying to the side of the road. Next time though, Although I trust Nell, I will remember my helmet.

Unreliable Cornish weather on the "Dambi ride"

For the past few weeks we have seen very little sunshine. In fact, our whole summer has been wet, windy and down-right miserable. Emma and I finally decided that Tuesday would be a good day to get out on the horses and sure enough the following morning we had a warm start with the sun bright and beaming heavily on us.

We had a pleasant walk to the stables with the sun on our backs and chatted happily about how it had been ages since the weather had been nice enough to ride. We must have taken a while to get Harriet and Nell tacked up as we didn't mount until 12 ish although we had reached the stable an hour earlier. Heading off with Harriet in the lead, it was nice to sit back and enjoy Nel's brisk pony walk. On day's like that it feels like the world stands still.

Both Nell and Harriet were feeling well, so we enjoyed a short trot past the woods and past the long cow fields until we reached the area we called "three gates".

Nell being her usual "lets get the job done" self, Emma took the camera and snapped this photo while Harriet in true character stood stock still munching. Three gates (although not the official name) is named so, for the three gates that you pass along the trail to Marazion. The first used to be a narrow gate which would have to be pushed open, however has now been changed to a step over that allows only walkers and horses or a few determined cyclists along the path.

No sooner had we taken the picture did we recieve a phone call telling us that there was a huge cloud of rain heading towards us. We had no desire to turn back so early into the ride so we sheltered in the trees and waited for the storm to pass, not realising just how heavy the shower would be.

The horses stood braving the weather, tail to the rain as we sat hunched over in the saddle with me wearing little more than a t-shirt and Emma a hoodie. Both Nell and Harriet looked miserable and we tried to position them behind a tree as a storm of small hailstones pelted us and the horses. Goosebumps crept across my bare skin. The cold and wet made our shirts stick to our backs. Then it stopped.

As the grey clouds rolled overhead amidst the swirling dark, a sliver of blue sky tinged the horizon. Wet and cold, we still weren't to be swayed. We pressed on. Further down the track the rain threatened again but this time we were only hit by a mild shower - at least by Cornwall's standards. We sheltered for a while as Harriet dined on the hedgerow and Nell impatiently continuously tried to turn for home.

Eventually it passed again and we once more set out, more determined than ever we were not going to be beat by the rain. As we came down over the hill the rain had become little streams on the hard rock that ran down among the purple heather.

It was a shame my camera could not quite pick out the beautiful colours against that bleackness. Even the horses who by this time were sodden put up with the cold and damp and continued down the track. At the second gate, which is always open, we urged the mares into a canter along the grass. We stopped before the third gate to check girths then carried on cantering. Harriet took the lead as always, cantering easily with her long comfortable stride as I held tight to my half Haflinger, with her quick and bouncy extended canter. Bringing them back to a walk at the top of the hill we went steadily down the track which, although stony, was wet and the grass slippery. At the bottom there was a little conflict between the two horses - neither of which wanted to take the lead up the huge hill. With a bit of persuading however, Harriet once more led the way with Nell cantering quickly up behind. We passed through the farm with little incident and by then the sun had started to come out and we could enjoy our ride once more. We got to the road with the sun at our soggy backs and passing over the river Nell let out a gruff whinny to the horses in the field.

As we passed under the bridge where the cars roared overhead it was like being in our own little bubble, so seperate and distant to the angry motorway above us. It was a little piece of tranquility in a fast moving world. As the drivers rushed by in their cages of metal, time stood still for us alone.

Nell picked up her pace as she rounded the bend to the bypass. She had obviously come down here often with her previous owner and was used to the gallop along the track that ran parrallel with the road. We however, had been told a tree had fallen across the path so opted for the road instead, much to the little mare's dissapointment. The road passing the local swimming pool is narrow so we trotted most of the way up the hill to avoid causing trouble and as we reached Marazion we found it pleasantly warm and sunny.
Emma can't even remember taking this picture of Nell and I as we came down the hill towards Tregurtha but looking at it, it was hard to believe the weather had been so abysmal earlier in the day. The only sign that it had rained at all was the little trickles of water running along side the roads. Nell was walking out far ahead of Harriet, determined to get home and back to her field mate but was once again dissapointed as I changed the route down towards three gates again. We passed by the chimney stack, turning our backs on the cloud that had drenched us earlier, that had appeared to our right. While Nell impatiently stomped and tried to turn me for home, Emma caught these beautiful shots of the chimney.



We headed down to Trevarthian farm and headed in the direction of three gates. Thinking we were going down into the long grassy field between gates one and two, Nell picked up her pace, prancing slighty with her tail raised and eyes bright. We passed by the field however, instead allowing the girls to let off steam up the TREK track. We headed home and Nell instantly started calling to the other horses, in particular her field mate Lucy, while Harriet calmly continued to plod on behind at her usual pace.
Despite a wet and windy start we reached Kestal Farm feeling happy about the ride. We were both glad in the end that we hadn't turned back just because it was raining as after all, thats just Cornish weather for you.