A beautiful day out

Together with  'Lillian', 'Tom' (her partner) a friend of 'Lillian' we made use of the wonderful weather and decided to travel a bit further afield so that the horses see new surroundings. They always perk up quite a bit when seeing new scenery, especially 'Mr F' seems to loose years when taking new routes.

We travelled in the big horse lorry, offering room for 3 horses. Last time 'Mr F' travelled in that vehicle he was very upset and anxious upon arrival. I guess he still thought: 'Ok, where is the start line! I need to win this race!' Perhaps that is one of the reasons why 'Mr F' also has been sweating up each time he has travelled in a trailer or lorry.

This time however, even though it was a warm summers day, there was not a single bit of sweat on him! He was a star loading - he was the last one to be loaded so he had to try and fit his long body up the ramp and around a very tight corner. He just did not know how to do, his body is so long. But throught all the shuffling and trying to get him to move his back end into his 'compartment', 'Mr F' remained totally calm but did give me the look of 'Look, I really don't know how to move my body to fit into this gap!' So we swapped places with the horse in the middle and all were happy.

While on route, I spent some time with the three horses in the back just to check on them. They looked very relaxed and where munching their hay. It is still baffling me how much they trust us ... a pray animal that by free will enteres such an enclosed area and then also copes with the rattling and shaking of the trailer / lorry itself and all the traffic noise which they cannot even see. This alone make me feel humble because these wild and beautiful beings are so willing to cooperate with us and going along with the strangest of things, completely against their nature.

Upon arrival we unloaded the horses and there still was not a single bit of sweat on 'Mr F'.

He was calm, listened to me and behaved impecably - this was a first!

Among the four of us we shared a bottle of 'Lillian's home made strawberry wine - nothing can beat it!

The route we took was interesting and in parts quite challenging for me riding with the bareback pad. It was a excellent excersise in building up my balance and all the muscles that have to flex and move and switch. A fair amount was downhill on a stoney path and under very low overgrowth. Due to 'Mr F's height I had to bend forward hugging his neck and trust him to find the way, while the branches were scraping over my helmet and back ...

And so I got used to sitting trott in all kind of strange positions and 'Mr F' didn't complain once.

'Lillian' and her friend wanted to do some longer stretches of cantering for which I was not yet ready. Therefore 'Mr F' and I went ahead on our own for a bit. But as we were reaching a lovely flat field I couldn't help but to give it a go, just the two of us. It was beautiful! However, it is a new gait for without stirrups and I have to learn to feel it so I am more secure.

Although it wasn't a very long ride  (just 2 hours) it was a physically challenging one because of the very varied terrain and me adjusting to it constantly.

Overall it was a fantastic ride and a steep learning curve for me as a stirrup-less rider.

'Mr F' was very pleased and had his smug face on when back at home.

Times flies

Between trying to earn a living, spending time with 'Mr F' and Aikido there is no much time to write posts. I make notes in a little notebook and perhaps in winter, with the shorter days, I can catch up on all that I am observing and learning.

But lets not talk about winter just yet and enjoy the currently nice and mostly dry summer weather!

'Mr F' and I have been out and about regularily and he generally enjoys going out, albeit he prefers new surroundings rather than the same old.

His left knee is still a slightly different shape and I believe this will remain so, maybe it is afterall early signs of arthritis. As long as I keep an eye on it and keep him moving but in a gentle manner he hopefully should remain without great discomfort.  I don't think he feels any discomfort as such, but he seems to stumble more on that side.

The reason for not posting for some time is due to quite big changes in my personal life, but they are all for the good and am beginning to feel much more at peace with myself even though at this moment in time everything is chaotic.

Aikido is very much a main part of my life now. I learn from both immensely, about myself, about life and all that is within. It is interesting that I notice that 'Mr F' and I seem to be on a different level in terms of communication. The recent changes in my life and decisions have freed up much inside myself and therefore I am probably more relaxed and content. 'Mr F' seems to notice this and he is behaving a little different to before. Much of the communication between myself and 'Mr F' is nowadays without words.

For now, let us enjoy the still long summer evenings!

 Not a worry in the world ... 'Bailey' and 'Mr F'.

 It's a hard life being a horse ... 'Bailey' dozing while leaning against the gate post ...

... while 'Mr F' is finishing off his early breakfast ... 

 If I and 'Mr F' don't go out riding we go out walking (flies allowing!), and the cows always show great interest in 'Mr F'.

 Mr or Mrs Fox ...

 A temporary guest ... 'Blue' ... doing what one does on a early summer's morning

 

 'Princess Leia' - 'DV' - 'Sammy' - 'Topsy' (lying down) - and 'Blue' in the front

'Twix' the farm cat - never far when I am outside

Polo - Eye opening and inspiring

Copying what I wrote on the riding club's blog:

"Naturally, we started with a pint in the club's bar. Yes, possibly not a wise thing in this heat but it sure helped us along!

As a few of use had never played polo before we did some training in the barn with small polo mallets so we could learn the motion.

Once we had a basic idea how to swing the mallet (one must never hit the horse!) we were then each assigned our mounts. All mounted and ready to go, we proceeded to the huge polo field where we all were shown some basic 'warming up' excersises. It is sure handy if one has good balance!

I was completely overwhelmed by how well trained the horses in this club where! So very soft in the mouth and very responsive to the weight distribution of the rider. Therefore it was very easy to 'connect' with the horse, although I am speaking for myself here really but I hope we all felt this. Because both horse and rider have the same goal in mind (the horse is trained for this sport and so knows what it has to do) it allows for a great connection, making rider and horse one. This in turn allows one's concentration to focused on handling the polo mallet and the gameplay. I repeat again: I was very taken by the willingness of the horse to connect with a rider it did not know and actually in my case, visa versa. There was a great sense of purpose, of 'getting a job done'. Very different to 'just' hacking out.

Therefore, from a riding point of view, to just being able to experience this 'connection' is worth giving polo a try. I don't know if all clubs have such well trained horses but I do sure hope so.

It was also fascinating that the horses would be very hesitant joining a 'crowd' (which does happen with a bunch of over eager and excitet polo beginners!) and yet would need hardly any encouraging as soon as they see the ball roll in front of them in the open field. I dare say it was similar to a dog wanting to chase the ball ... really quite something else!"