Hungry Humphries

It rained all day today but cleared up this evening so Michele and I were able to go over to the horses. It actually turned out quite nice - warmish, sunny and dry. Who could ask for anything more? (I feel a song coming on). Humphries and Cheyanna were waiting in the yard when we arrived. Michele took J.B in, put him in the stable, groomed him, tacked him up and took him into the arena to ride. I got a handful of nuts from the feed room. Humphries, Cheyanna, Harvey, Nellie, Tom and Gerry all gathered around for some food. Humphries got some nuts, which he ate greedily - unlike his usual gentle self - and Harvey got some too, because he came up really close to me and he usually doesn't do that. Humphries followed me around the yard, all the time nudging me for treats and being quite bossy about it. Now, I know I give him food, but not enough to encourage this sort of behaviour. Harvey came up to me again and I gave him some nuts and Humphries put his ears back and drove him away, which is very unlike him. All of this led me to believe that Humphries was VERY hungry. However, it wasn't until I was sitting on the oil barrels, the goats nibbling me, Humphries demanding food and Cheyanna sniffing my boots that I realised the door into the garden was shut. No wonder Humphries was so hungry! I had forgotten to secure it open on Tuesday, and the wind probably blew it closed, so they had all been locked out of their grazing for almost two days. The poor things. I opened the door and Cheyanna and the donkeys hurried happily in. Humphries stayed inside with me. He followed me around the yard and into the stable, where he licked up the crumbs from J.B's apple. I got him some hay, but he wasn't interested, and eventually he wandered off into the garden. I sat on the barrels again for a while with Oscar and Bilbo (a hairier, chubbier, friendlier version of Rocky) giving them some attention. Oscar jumped up and smeared me with his big muddy paws. He is such a big heavy dog. He made Janna look tiny and delicate when I got home. They are lovely dogs though. Then I went into the garden to see what the horses were up to. Oscar and Bilbo came with me and started to play with Rocky, who was hiding in the garden. Tommy and Gerry, who had been in the barn, followed me into the garden as well. The next thing I heard thundering hooves and Humphries, Harvey and Cheyanna were racing towards me. A few minutes later, Nelly joined the gang. I went for a walk around the garden, and Humphries followed me for a while and then started grazing again. As I made my way back to the door, Humphries walked over to meet me and then Cheyanna and the goats. I said goodbye to them and went over to Harvey. I didn't want Humphries to chase Harvey away while I gave him some treats, so I had to wait til Humphries wasn't following me. Harvey is usually so nervous, but today he was being really friendly and confident (I don't think it was just because of the food either). I gave him some nuts and made my way to the door. I realised someone was following me and I turned around (thinking it was Humphries) and it was Harvey! So he got my last few nuts (which had been saved for Cori) and I got an extra nuzzle from his lovely velvety nose. I looked back at them in the doorway out of the garden and Humphries started to walk towards me, but I left the garden and went into the arena to watch Michele riding J.B. She was almost finished riding. Today was flat work. J.B had mouthed up nicely and he seemed more accepting of the bit. I watched Michele finish up, then she took J.B back to the stable and untacked him. She led him out to the field and gave him something to eat, and I grabbed a few nuts for Cori, so he got his treat from me in the end. Then we went home.

Putting the romance back into riding

I have loved horses all my life. To me, they have always represented freedom, beauty, power and grace. They are beauty embodied and reflect it with every movement. Riding, for me, has never been about adrenaline or sport, but about communication and being able to share in God's wonderful gift of creation that is the horse. Over the past seven years, through a variety of reasons, that 'romantic' view has been destroyed and horses have become unpredictable, frightening, cruel, vicious animals in my eyes. I wanted to get back riding this year because I didn't want to give up without doing it one more time and I wanted to do it for the sport and to lose weight - in other words, for all the wrong reasons. I wanted Humphries to help me get back riding because he is smaller than Cori and Cori frightens me at the moment. I thought it would be simple, not realising that without my love of horses and a desire to communicate with them, there was no way I could get past my fear.

And now Humphries has come along and is working his hardest to restore my faith and love in horses - yes, my romantic view. He could very well be the perfect horse. He is better than any horse depicted in a book.

I went out to the stables this afternoon to see Humphries. I haven't seen him in ages and I was looking forward to seeing him, but I was still nervous when I arrived. Humphries and Cheyanna are now in the walled in garden just off the stable yard and have full access to the yard with the goats and the donkeys. They have been there awhile but I haven't been over since they were moved out of the field. Michele kept me up to date with tales of Humphries and Cheyanna sneaking into the stables and being generally curious and mischievous. I didn't bring my camera with me, so no pictures for this post, sorry. I went out to the garden to say hello to Humphries. I was armed with a handful of horse nuts. Humphries was grazing with Cheyanna and they both looked up and came over to say hello. I was nervous at how Cheyanna would be when she came over, but I didn't say anything to her because she is good friends with Humphries and if she is his friend, then that is good enough for me. Rags decided it would be a great game to chase Cheyanna around the field and started barking at her. Humphries ignored this entirely, and Cheyanna was really good at ignoring it as well, but then I twitched a bit when Cheyanna got a bit twitchy and Cheyanna took off and raced into the yard. Humphries stayed chatting to me, happy to calmly eat his horse nuts, but when I went to see what was going on, he went into the yard after Cheyanna and trotted around. The next thing, J.B exploded into the garden doing the most impressive trot, followed by Rags. I imagined a terrible scenario with Michele battered by frightened horses and a bad case of rope burn, but she appeared a minute later in one piece, let J.B out of the garden and caught Rags. Apparently Cheyanna had barrelled into the stable with J.B, seeking solace, and broke the chain across the stable door, thus releasing J.B. Anyway, with Rags safely in the jeep after exercising the horses, Michele tacked up J.B and took him into the arena to ride. Humphries came back out of the garden to see me (after trotting off to make sure J.B wasn't stealing Cheyanna) and he followed me around and was very sweet. I went into the stable and got my grooming kit. Humphries stood quietly in the stable, but I decided to groom him outside. Humphries stood perfectly still while I groomed him, despite not being tied up and with Cheyanna peering at me over his back. After I had brushed his body and legs and face and picked out his hooves, I went up to the water trough to wet his face and dock sponges. He followed me up to the water and stood perfectly while I washed his eyes, nostrils and dock. Then I went back to the stable to leave my grooming kit back. He came back with me and I chatted with him for a while and then he wandered back into the garden with Cheyanna. He was so gentle and sweet, he knew exactly how to set me at my ease. He is the perfect horse.

I brushed out the stable and went into the arena to watch Michele. She was jumping J.B and he was going really well. He looked really compact and forward going. He knocked one of the jumps and it annoyed him so much, he reached down into the bit with a perfect outline and moved forward and upwards with power and energy. It looked fantastic. His jumps were really good.

After Michele had ridden him, she gave him some food and left him back into the stable. Then we went home. I am so glad I went over to see Humphries today. I know I'm not riding at the moment, but seeing him today has made a much bigger stride towards me riding again than an hour standing on the mounting block.