The Final Countdown

Today is Humphries final day in Dromiskin. His five months are up and he has to go back tomorrow. He has a winter of carriage driving to look forward to. I went over to say goodbye to him, the first time I have seen him in ages. He is looking really well. His winter coat is growing through, but he isn't too woolly and he is really soft. His mane has grown a lot and is beginning to look nice. Despite neglect (from me) he isn't that fat and looks great.
Michele hid apples in her pockets and let me give them to Humphries, so he was very glad to see me, as were the other animals who clustered around. Every time he finished an apple, Humphries went after Michele because he is clever enough to know she was the provider of the feast, and not me. I suppose he is much more used to seeing Michele than me anyway.

Humphries is a really lovely horse, very gentle and accommodating to people, and he has shown me that I can do things with horses - like leading and grooming and tacking up - and that they aren't evil. However, I felt really sad today saying goodbye to him. Goodbye's are always sad, but I keep on thinking about my plans for the summer and for doing things with him and comparing those plans to how things really turned out. I suppose that makes me feel sad and also very foolish.

I hope Humphries will have a good winter and remember fondly his time in Dromiskin. I know Chiana will greatly miss her friend - I would say he was her best friend. She won't like going back into the field with the other horses. I think Humphries gave her a lot of security as well as companionship. I think she will be the hardest hit by his leaving. I'm sure Harvey, Nellie and the goats will miss him too, as they seemed to get on well. He fitted in with everyone so calmly and even though he was nervous of the goats when he arrived, he is totally OK with them now. I hope he enjoyed his summer with his friends in Dromiskin, which is a lovely place for animals and I think they find it very relaxing and comfortable.

Lunge lessons

...are what I need! In the sunny, dry spell between showers today, Michele, Rags and I headed over to the horses. Michele locked Cheyanna in the garden to remove temptation from Rags, and then took in J.B and tacked him up. The poor horses in the field were plagued with horse flies (or Cleggs, as the country folk call them). They were all standing in a line under the trees, tail to nose, sheltering from the sun and helping each other out against the flies with their tails. Humphries was getting his fair share of grief from the cleggs, but he didn't let them get in the way of his pursuit of food.

Michele closing the door to the garden

I had a couple of carrots with me when I arrived. Harvey and Nellie and the goats came over to say hello to me first, so Harvey got some carrot, and then Humphries wandered over, so he got some too. He followed me into the stable (it was nice and cool in there, so he liked being in it for a change) and Harvey hung around outside peeping in, hopeful for more carrot. It was nice to see him getting so brave, even if it is for food. I decided to lunge Humphries today so, while Michele tacked up J.B in the next stable, I put the bridle onto Humphries. He was really good and lowered his head to help me get the bridle on. He was much better than the last time I tacked him, which made it a lot easier for me. I got the lunge line and lunge whip and went to lead him out of the stable into the arena. He was a little hesitant and Michele had to give me a hand and likewise at the gate to the arena Michele needed to provide some gentle prodding, but once in the arena he followed me around very well.

Gerry has a good scratch

Michele did a little leading with J.B and then got on board and started to warm up. I led Humphries into the corner of the arena and started to lunge. In lunging, the horse is supposed to walk, trot or canter in a circle around you, while you keep the horse between your hand holding the lunge line and your hand holding the lunge whip. That is how it is supposed to go. I tried my best to keep the correct position but Humphries ambled in an irregular circle around me and, slowly, we moved laterally across the arena. When I asked for trot, nothing happened and then a pitiful jogging walk was produced. I know I was at fault, my signals weren't clear (I was tired and my body was all over the place) and Humphries was hot and bothered by flies, but I knew I could get him to trot, so I tried harder and he trotted around me (finally in a circle). With difficulty I changed rein (he kept on coming in to me and nuzzling my hands for treats) and trotted him on the other side and I left it at that because I thought it was better to quit while I was ahead. After lunging, I thought I would long rein him around the arena and, if that went well, I would walk him up and down the avenue. Long reining did not work, however. I gathered up the lunge line, held the whip in my hand and moved to his hind quarters, which would have been perfect, except Humphries moved to keep with me and it ended up with both of us running around in circles and neither of us getting anywhere! Leaving the long reining, I led him around the arena instead and, apart from getting the lunge line wrapped around his legs a couple of times and standing on the whip (all of which was my fault) he went well. Things weren't going well enough to tempt fate and lead him up and down the avenue flanked by long luscious grass, though, so I took him back into the yard and led him around there. He was confused by that, being used to walking free, but he went ok and then I led him back into the stable and took off the bridle.

Humphries waiting to be groomed

He stood happily in the stable (with open door, no breast bar and not being tied up) while I groomed him and brushed his face. He was very intrigued by the smell of the face brush. He wandered out to the barn to peer through the door at Cheyanna while I was combing his mane, so I followed after him with mane comb and hoof pick and finished off grooming him there. He followed me back to the stable, so I cleaned out his eyes, nostril and dock with a couple of damp sponges. I took some photos, but it was hard because he kept on following me and coming right up to me (which doesn't make for great photography). I was about to take some pictures of Michele on J.B when my battery died, so I put away my camera and went into the arena to watch Michele jumping without it. J.B was spooky and tense, so Michele was working on relaxing him and getting him working. She popped him over a few jumps. They were low to boost his confidence. His jumping was nice and he really relaxed and got into it after a few jumps.

Humphries just loves the camera!

When Michele was finished riding, she fed J.B. While he was busy eating, and Michele and I were standing outside the stable chatting, Humphries, Harvey, Nellie and the two goats came over to us and surrounded us looking for food. While Harvey nibbled at Michele, I put my arm over Nellie (who stood between me and Harvey) and scratched Harvey's face and neck. He didn't move away or seem to mind, which is the first time I have ever been able to do that. Humphries was on my other side looking for carrot (which was all gone). When J.B was finished, Michele led him back to the field (leading Rags too) and I opened the door to the garden to let Humphries back in with his field. I thought Cheyanna might rush out to see him, as she had been calling for him the whole time (without reply), but she stayed in the garden and Humphries stood at the door peering out. He had tried to muscle his way out of the yard after J.B when Michele was leading J.B out and he looked very disappointed that he wasn't going out to the field with 'the big horses'. I said my goodbyes to him and Harvey and went out the front where Michele and Rags were waiting by the jeep and we headed 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.

Day 25

Me and Humphries on Monday

Went over to Dromiskin to see Humphries yesterday afternoon. Things looked very peaceful in the field as I drove up. Megan, Cheyanna and Cori were walking quietly down to the lower field and Sky was walking over to Humphries. He seemed a little wary of her, but she was very affectionate towards him. Michele was riding J.B in the arena, so I popped in to say hello to her and watch her riding. J.B was very fresh from all the box rest, but he looked really smart in his lovely new black saddle and black bridle. He was giving Michele a lot of trouble, pulling on the rein and holding his head crooked. Humphries came up to the gate and looked over at the arena, so I went into the field and said hello to him and gave him some carrots. Harry was over in the yard as well. Eithne had left her over for her lesson, but she didn't have a riding lesson this morning and she hadn't collected her. I put up some cross poles for Michele and she got J.B going beautifully over the jumps. Then I helped her fix up the stable for J.B and held him while she saw to his cuts and then we went home. Ruffles, the peacock, was displaying to the goats in the yard and it was beautiful to see his magnificent tail in full display, and to hear the rustling sound that his feathers make when he vibrates them. It is a pity he doesn't have a peahen to see all the display. I forgot to take my camera over today, which was a shame. After the horses, Michele and I went into Horseware and she bought me a lovely bag for my grooming kit and a really cool buff scarf, which is very versatile, as well as a cool green rain jacket for herself and some nifty leather cleaning goodies.

Day 20

Went out to the horses this evening. It was a lovely evening. Poor J.B is still on box rest and is really getting fed up (as is Michele). We headed out to the field to get Humphries and Rags came with us. Humphries and Cheyanna were in the upper field having a drink when we went out. He started to come towards us, but Cori was looking and as he doesn't trust us to look after him yet, he headed out of Cori's way down to the lower field. Michele, Rags and I tramped down to the lower field to get Humphries. Once more he came towards us, but Sky, Cori and Megan headed down to the lower field and Humphries and Cheyanna headed off in the opposite direction. Michele went to bravely get rid of the other horses, but Humphries was still slowly walking away. I didn't see the point in going after him as long as Cori was hanging around to intimidate him, so I went to help Michele drive the horses back up to the upper field. As soon as we started to drive the horses up, Rags gave us a hand and started to chase and bark at them (although she left Humphries and Cheyanna alone). Cori didn't like getting a taste of his own medicine, but they ran back up to the upper field. Cheyanna and Humphries came back to us once the other horses went away. I put the head collar on Humphries and asked Michele to lead him up the avenue. Cheyanna kept pace on the other side of the field as we went back to the yard. Humphries didn't want to walk past Cori, even though the fence separated us and he wasn't even that near to the fence. Michele tried to shoo Cori away and immediately Rags ran into the field and started to bark at Cori. He turned in tiny circles, kicking out at Rags with both his hind and fore legs. It was amazing to watch, because he was so supple, but also really frightening because I was sure Rags would get injured. Avoiding harm, she followed us into the yard. Michele led Humphries into the stable. I groomed him and he was really good, the best yet. I bought sponges for him last Wednesday to clean his eyes, nose and dock and I forgot to bring them over again today! After I had groomed him I put on the bride and lunge rope, grabbed the lunge whip and headed into the arena.

I try my hand at lunging...

... in trot...
... and then a walk around the arena

Michele helped me with the gates and was on hand with advice. I was really nervous lunging him. I had never lunged before, but I had memories of Cori bucking and taking off on the lunge and I was afraid Humphries would do the same. He was very good though, and I soon relaxed and enjoyed doing it. He didn't move very well, but he was watching me the whole time and was relaxed and communicating. Towards the end of the session I imagined driving him forward and he went a lot better, but Michele said it was more like long reining than lunging but that it worked. Then we walked him around the arena (driving him from behind) and took him back into the stable to put on the head collar. I didn't want to lead him back straight from the field because he might get into the habit of going straight back after work. He was perfect in the stable after lunging and he didn't try to get out the door once, he stood nice and quietly while I took off the bridle and put on the head collar. Then we led him down to the lower field, and I managed to lead him back. Cheyanna came over to say hi and he got some pony nuts for being so good. When we got back to the yard, Sky and Cori headed down to the lower field and drove them on, but it was quite gentle. Then Michele got J.B settled for the night and we went home.

Day 19

I couldn't get out to the horses any day this week so, even though I was really tired today, I made sure that I went over this afternoon to say hello to Humphries. J.B is still on box rest because of his hurt foot (he is allowed out into the yard during the day) so, when we arrived at the yard, he came over to the gate whickering softly. I think he is very bored, so he followed us around, nosing in our pockets and generally seeing what we were up to. It was a lovely warm afternoon and Tom and Gerry were stretched out against the stables, chewing the cud. They looked so cute. We collected the head collar and lead rope and headed out to the field to get Humphries. Things are tense in the field now that J.B is no longer there to keep the herd together. Cori, Sky and Megan were grazing in the upper field while Humphries and Cheyanna were grazing in the lower field. It was more than Humphries life was worth to walk up to the top gate, so Michele and I headed down to the bottom gate. He was watching us as we walked, but by the time we got to the gate, he was lying down! I don't know if this was to encourage me to hop on his back or an evasion tactic to prevent from being taken in, but he seemed totally relaxed and at home lying down in the field grazing. I put on his head collar and and gave him a carrot and he just lay there placidly. Then Sky came down from the top field to investigate, so we got Humphries up and led him out of the field. I got a bit spooked because of the tension in the herd and asked Michele to lead him for me. Cori and Megan trotted along the other side of the fence, intimidating poor Humphries. Michele put J.B into the arena when we got to the yard and I held Humphries at the gate, waiting for her. He was tense and I was afraid he would try to get away from me to run back to the field with his pal Cheyanna, but I think it was my nervousness that was unnerving him. Michele led him into the stable for me. I gave him a thorough groom and he was OK, although he barged a bit towards the door. Michele lunged J.B in the arena while I groomed. My nerves settled a bit while I worked with Humphries. When I had finished grooming him, I started to wash his tail. It was the first time I've washed a horse's tail, so it was quite exciting.

My very first tail washing!

Rags finds tail washing boring

Humphries fidgets while his tail is washed

His tail wasn't too bad, because Michele washed it last week, but it was still quite dirty. When Michele was finished with J.B she came back into the stable and gave me a hand. She was invaluable with advice and refilled the buckets of water for me. Humphries stood very well until Fiona and a hoard of kids and dogs came into the yard and then he started to fidget and stepped back, almost upsetting the bucket. After washing his tail, Michele took him into the arena and lunged him for about 12 minutes.

Michele lunging Humphries...
...in trot...
...and halt...
...then canter...

...and then changes rein

He was good, and worked nicely, but he is very unfit and found it hard to canter. It also took him a few minutes to tune into Michele, but he was eager to work. After lunging, Michele hopped on his back and rode him around for a few minutes.

Some bareback riding......trotting...
... around the arena

We left him back into the field at the top gate. Keeping a wide berth of Cori, Sky and Megan, he walked slowly to collect his pal Cheyanna.

Humphries went to collect Cheyanna

Cori keeps a close eye on Cheyanna, while Harvey rolls

Cori waited until he was in the corner of the field and then he went tearing off after Humphries. Humphries, loosened up from his lunging, galloped away with Cori barely cantering behind him, his teeth locked onto Humphries' haunches. Once he had chased him out of the upper field, Cori gave up and went back grazing, but Humphries sneaked back and Cori chased him down to the lower field.

The chase begins...

... and continues...

... and continues

Determined to get Cheyanna, Humprhies trotted back up to the upper field, collected his friend and the two of them walked down to the lower field without further hassle. It was very sweet.

The young lovers reunited

After that, Michele washed J.B's tail. He wasn't as good as normal and fidgeted a lot.

Michele wets J.B's tail...

... goes to get the shampoo...

... and then rinses

I think it was because there were a lot of flies annoying him and he is bored. Then we brushed out the stable, gave hay to J.B and some feed, settled him down for the night and went home.

Day Nine

It was a beautiful morning this morning, but as I headed over to the horses with Michele, it started to pour with rain. I was feeling really nervous going over to the stables. It was my first visit after my unsuccessful attempt at mounting, and my stomach was like an angry wasp nest. Eithne and Fiona had both had riding lessons in the morning, so Eithne's horse - Harry - was in the yard when we arrived.

Harry says hello to Humphries

I took Humphries in. He was down in the far end of the field on his own, and it was a long walk there and back to get him, but he led very well. He was too wet to groom, so I picked out his hooves and then sat with him in the stable for a while. Harry came over and nibbled him and squealed for a little while. Tom and Gerry, the goats, kept running into the stable to shelter from the rain, and also for some company. They are very curious, friendly animals and I think they are lonely now that the donkeys are out in the field with the horses, rather than in the yard with them. Harvey used to let Tom scratch his horns against his head, which is rather sweet.

Tom decides to eat some plastic

Rags shelters from the rain

After sitting with Humphries for a little while, I started to clean the tack in the stable. I cleaned two leather head collars, two bridles, one pair of half chaps, the saddle and girth and both my boots and Michele's.

Nice shiny clean bridles

While I cleaned the tack, Michele tackled Humphries' tail. It was in a terrible state, really filthy and all chopped up by the people who had hired him last.

Michele washing Humphries' tail

When Michele had finished with his tail (she did a fantastic job, it looks great now) I led Humphries back out to the field and helped Michele bring in Cori and JB. Cori was hesitant to come in at first (all the horses were sheltering from the rain under the trees at the far end of the field) but with Michele's gentle coaxing and me leading JB, we got them both safely into the stables. JB kept on walking after Michele rather than following me. It was very sweet. I'm not surprised that he preferred to follow her, as he knows her a lot better than he does me.

JB potters about the yard

Michele wormed and fed JB and then wormed Cori. Cori put up a big fight about the worming. It was not so much that he objected to the wormer or the easy wormer bit, it was more a matter of principle to him that he couldn't do it easily, so of course it took three times longer than it should have. It was funny, because he would spin away from Michele and then come over to me and lick my hand. Then Michele would come up to him and he would spin away again. We also noticed that he had a swelling between his front legs.

Lumpy Cori

Close up of the swelling

Michele fed Cori and then we led Cori and JB back to the field. Humphries was grazing with the mares and the two boys went racing down to chase him off. Cori stopped before he even reached Humphries, and started grazing, while JB chased Humphries away from Cheyanna and then started to graze. His chasing was half hearted and not at all hostile.

Practising my riding position on a barrel

The Herd

The horses live in a stable herd of five - two geldings and three mares. At the moment, there are also two donkeys out in the field with them.

J.B

Although he is the second youngest horse in the herd, J.B is a natural leader with his calm, authoritative air and his suave good looks. The mares love him. He has managed to control Cori's aggressive behaviour and he generally keeps things running in a friendly, orderly fashion.

Cori

Cori is second in command (although Sky as lead mare out ranks him) and J.B's right hand horse, as well as his best friend. If there is any heavy duty work to be done - like chasing, kicking, and generally running around madly - Cori will do it for J.B. His natural tendencies are to fight, but J.B has given him the strong leadership that he needs so he can relax and let someone else take care of things.

Sky

Sky is the lead mare of the herd and responsible for keeping the other mares in order. She is top over all the other horses, except J.B. She was used to being in charge of things before the geldings arrived, but she gladly let J.B take charge and is more relaxed now that she doesn't have to lead the whole herd.

Megan

Megan is Sky's best friend. She is low down in the herd, but because of Sky, she is allowed privileges above her station. She often operates as Sky's right hand horse, doing any heavy work that needs to be done. She also sneaks in and takes food from all the horses when they are being fed.

Cheyanna

The youngest member of the herd, Cheyanna has a lot to learn about horse etiquette. She doesn't have a pair bond and is often out on her own. Every few months she plays up and challenges the other horses, running madly around and having fun.

Day Two

Humphries went out to the field today with the rest of the horses. First of all Michele took Cori and J.B in and put them in the arena, and then put Humphries out with the mares. They chased him about for a bit, but then settled down. Then Michele put the two boys out in the field with the rest of the herd. J.B drove Humphries around the field, letting him know that he is boss, but he protected him from the others chasing him and he wasn't aggressive.

Cori grazing peacefully in the field

I visited the horses in the evening. Everything was peaceful when I arrived and Humphries was grazing with Sky (lead mare) and J.B. After a while, Cori and Cheyanna came up and ran to chase Humphries away, but J.B stepped in and protected him. Then they came running over to Michele and me, but when I went to say hello to Humphries, J.B drove him away. While J.B was busy talking to us, Cheyanna came up and stole Humphries away to the other side of the field.

Cheyanna steals Humphries away for herself

Michele and I tramped all the way down to the other end of the field to say hello to Humphries, but by that stage, J.B had realised what was going on and raced down to chase Humphries away from his mare.

Humphries and Cheyanna watch the rest of the herd

J.B and his ladies

After several more unsuccessful attempts to approach Humphries (J.B kept on driving him away just as we arrived at him!), we called it quits for the night. I hope the herd will settle down over the night and things will be more peaceful tomorrow.