Who else has felt the pain of this winter? It's hard to believe we are coming into spring, and yet the last of lockdown is still keeping those winter blues in place! Unfortunately due to the weather here, and the ridiculous hot headed nature of my horses, combined with no travel or arena hire allowed I haven't been able to take the boys out anywhere or ride.
On the plus side, it has meant we have been able to get other yard jobs done. The stables now have brick work around them, and are starting to take shape in what feels like a forever process - although we did have a few silly moments the first few days with all the horses, who apparently didn't approve of the workmanship and were too scared to go in!
I also managed to get the inside of my lorry repainted, and new rubber matting laid. This has been a huge project, as I didn't have the budget to buy a decent 7.5t and lost a lot of money when Travis broke my trailer, but I do have a newer cab, with lots of mod cons and what was an empty aluminium shell is now starting to look like a horse box, all thanks to my partner who loves nothing more than spending his weekends on a project that has been problem after problem with electrics, flooring, leaking roof ...... (watching the pounds float away)!
Anyway, all the important stuff is now done, so now I can actually start making it look pretty, with the inside horse area finished, paint ordered for the outside, decals all designed and waiting to go on once painted and windows quoted. It's been 3 years in the making and I would love to get some living put in next year. The lorry and the yard have been a nice distraction from the lack of riding and have helped me not lose all my marbles!
We are also really close to having all the new fencing finished, although now the ground has started to dry I am going to need shoulders of Arnold Schwarzenegger to get finished - atleast it will make up for the gyms being closed!
Diva and Jackson have travelled to shows together several times but, as we try to enter Jackson for gelding-only classes rather than mixed mare and gelding ones, they had never competed in the same class.
Bob and I had our second lesson with out new instructor and all I can say is wow (plus I also stayed aboard – just!)!
As mentioned in a previous blog, the way the grass is growing this year is causing problems for people with good doers. This time last year Diva and Mabel were out 24/7 and I was getting to the stage of giving a little hay at night as the grass just wasn’t growing.
While there are plenty of benefits to a beach ride there are also particular risks you need to plan ahead for. If you want to try out beach riding then you need to make sure it is safe. If you’re wondering where to start, then read our top tips.