Bad News

Michele had a bad accident today while riding J.B in a lesson. They had just completed a jump when J.B humped his back and took off at top speed. Before Michele could regain control, he swerved sharply and she came off, hitting the fence at speed. In an effort to save her head, she twisted and hit the fence with her shoulder and back. She dislocated her shoulder and bruised her back badly. I am very shocked. Thank God her injuries are not worse, but it was still a bad accident. I can't get over J.B. It is so unlike him. I can't help but think that this justifies my belief that horses are dangerous unpredictable animals.

Monday 16th July

I shouldn't have gone over to the horses this evening. I was tired and cross and in a foul temper. I didn't want to have anything to do with Humphries or the other animals. I feel so inadequate that I'm not riding or lunging or doing anything useful and productive. I watched Michele riding J.B. She was jumping him and some of the jumps were really beautiful - harmony, grace and balance. J.B has such scope.

Relaxing Evening

Saw the horses this evening. It rained this morning but it dried up in the evening and turned out nice. I was tired and didn't want to groom or lunge. Michele locked Cheyanna in the garden so Rags wouldn't chase her and then took J.B in, tacked him up and started riding. I chilled out with Humphries, the donkeys and the goats in the barn. I sat down on an old log and they all clustered around me looking for treats. Oscar and Rags came over periodically to say hi. On one occasion Harvey moved away from Rags quite fearfully, so she started barking at him. I got up calmly and picked up an old piece of wood. I walked towards Rags and waved it at her. She got the message and stopped barking at Harvey and a few minutes later came running up looking for attention. However, Humphries was a bit shocked by this behaviour (even though I didn't feel cross or wave the stick at him) and he ran out of the barn. He walked back into the barn very slowly, his ears pricked and body tense for flight. I felt bad because he has never been nervous of me before. I waited and Humphries came back into the barn and the donkeys and goats came back too. Rags ran in to say hello and sat at my feet licking the equines' noses, which they didn't like very much. Harvey rolled in the barn and I could see that Rags really wanted to bark at him, but she didn't.

Then I went into the arena to see how Michele was doing. She had just finished doing some lovely canter work when I went in. She started doing some jumping. J.B went over the first couple of jumps a little lazily and then he started to focus and jumped beautifully, finishing up really nicely with a double.

When Michele was finished riding she untacked J.B and fed him in the field. I said hello to Cori and then we headed home.

No Show

It was raining this evening, but it wasn't raining hard and it was warm, so I headed over to the horses with Michele and Rags. When we arrived, Fiona told us that a friend was coming to use her arena. Humphries and Cheyanna had been locked in the garden so that they wouldn't spook the new horse when it arrived. I didn't feel comfortable working in the yard with the strangers and I couldn't lunge with the arena in use, and Michele couldn't ride, so we just said hello to the horses and went home. Harvey, Nellie and the goats got lots of carrots. The entrance to the garden was really muddy and I didn't want to wade through it, so I waved at Humphries from afar while Michele and Rags braved the mud and gave him and Cheyanna some carrots. Then I walked Rags up and down the avenue while Michele braved the mud in the field to say hello to Cori and J.B. It was a disappointing evening.

On another note, Michele read an article in a horse magazine about a woman called Helen Spence. She is a horse behaviourist and riding instructor. She seemed to have a very sensible approach in training both horse and rider. I wonder if she could help with my mounting problem/riding phobia.

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.

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.