On The Road Again

It's been nearly a month since I rode 'Mr F'. 

Yesterday, with the recent return of 'Kitten', another of 'Lillian's horses, it was time to see if he was all ok again, especially his breathing.  And we have been given a brand new super set of laced leather reins, a gift from 'Lillian' as one of her other horses had damaged the old set. 

As it was a hot day, we planned on riding in the evening. 'Mr F' does not like the heat and it has been close to windstill on top of that, perfect for the flies!

Not sure if I have said this before here but everytime I don't ride for a while - although this one was the longest break - it feels like 'new' when sitting on 'Mr F'.  

I straight away felt that he was fuller and remembered that earlier on when girthing up that he seemed to have become a little fuller. He isn't fat by any means but certainly comfortably padded, just right for the coming colder days!

The month break seemed to have cleared bad habits and somewhat in as much as I paid much attention to my body posture but also to any unwanted tension. My job keeps me certainly very fit so fitness and stamina won't be my problem. The aim was to give my body to 'Mr F' ... meaning that I was not resisting his movement and went with it very relaxed and loosely, following what feels like a light figure of 8 swing in his walk; its not just backwards / forwards but there is also a light left / right swing.  That of course I only began noticing after Neill had his back treated. Prior to that it was indeed a rather choppy forward / backwards gait.

I am still enjoying that barefoot physio pad and I do pay attention not to fall into a 'sofa' seat position as I see so often with other riders. For me it works best if I am seated so that my heels are on the same line as my shoulders; basically if you would pull the horse from under me, I would stand upright, rather than fall on my bottom. It also allows me to have my weight, even if its only 48kg, its still weight, distributed down over 'Mr F's body rather than on his spine. I am at all times clear of his spine, partly also with help of the pad.

Something else that I noticed again was that although 'Mr F' does struggle going downhill if it is steep (I suppose this has to do with his 23 years of age even though he is otherwise still fit) that if I move myself further back so that his shoulders are completely free, he finds it much easier. In fact going downhill is the most sensitive of his gates where the impact of my position/balance has the greatest impact on his gait / balance. If I am out of balance he has to compensate. This will be very difficult for him steep downhill on stoney ground. (I do usually get off anyway but for once I wanted to see if it actually does make a difference to 'Mr F' if I am riding or leading him downhill.)

We rode over to the village that will be our new home very soon and had a most enjoyable stop in the pub - indeed I no longer drink alkohol but a crisp lime and soda is most refreshing after a hot sweaty day!

As always, the horses receive much attention when stopping in the pub (any pub!) and much questions are being asked.  'Mr F' very patiently lets children stroke him, although he does always give me that look of mild annoyance as though to say "Look, do I really have to put up with this?" - "Yes, just for a little while, let the littlens stroke you, we humans love this kind of thing."

We rode back accompanied by a wonderful sunset! Autumn is in the air, even if it is still a few weeks away but soon the skies will be filled once more by the autumn fire in the mornings and evenings. Autumn and spring are my favourite season.

It is good to have 'Kitten' as a riding companion as she keeps 'Mr F' on his 'toes'. She strides out faster than 'Luke' and is also very good at motivating him to go faster by walking behind him sticking her nose into his behind!

We have also aquired a rambo optimo rug for the winter. I will write more about this shortly, with photographs, explaining why I decided to switch rugs.

Overall, it was a lovely ride out, 'Mr F' seemed chipper and chilled. His breathing was fine and his gait was ok, a little stiff but still comfortable. He did stumble a little more than usual, it is time to get him a little more fit. In fact both, 'Kitten' too, was stumbeling a fair amount. I will be keeping an eye on this and see if it improves with regular riding out.

So far so good!

Enjoying Being Together

'Mr F' has had a fair share of issues lately, first with his feet and then a sudden spout of breathing troubles even though he is having his hay soaked.

With the lungs of the horse being sensitive and him having had quite bad breathing when he came under my care just over three years ago, I was quite worried that it may be serious this time. I noticed him producing sounds similar to that of snorkling when water comes in at the top of the snorkle. Even though it was a faint sound, I was quite concerned. He was a little more lethargic than he normally is (in the heat). Walking him would increase this of course. 

I certanly did not want to ride him. When Neill treated him over a year ago he noticed that 'Mr F' seemed to have a somewhat compressed lung, Neill thought this could have been caused by over girthing in 'Mr F's racing days. 'Lillian' suggested to move them out of the field with the stables, it could be the dust inside the stables (bedding, remains of hay on the floor even though the stables are cleaned daily). Before calling out the vet, this is what I did and put the boys into a different field. 

It took 4-5 days before there were improvements, but it made a clear change. Meanwhile I have cleaned out the stables completely and removed any bedding just to make sure, they don't need bedding as they have access to the field at all times. If he was to have hay, it was soaked but only presented in the haynet, not in the feed bags (where dust could still accumulate and affect him while sticking his head into the bag to feed).

And so, today was my first day off in nearly a month and with all the sunshine I and 'Mr F' went to accompany 'Lillian' on a ride, 'Mr F' and I both walking. I was pleased to notice that any breathing issues have dissapeared and 'Mr F' was enjoying being out. We accompanied 'Lillian' to her home village - which soon will be our new home too - and made our way back on our won, enjoying the views and the grass.

I have probably ridden 'Mr F' 3 times over the past month. But we go out on walks all the time and he very much appreciates that he can come out on his own terms without being reidden when he is not comfortabel. He has done his fair share of work as a race horse and I am not at all bothered about riding him. If he is fine with it, I ride, otherwise we walk together. It's lovely just taking in the views, me keeping the flies off 'Mr F' while he gives me the odd back scratch. Simply the presence of him (or any other horse) offers so much peace and I enjoy spending the time together this way.

Sometimes I meet other riders on horseback and some of them I know. Mostly the first question is: "Why don't you ride him?"  I guess I am as astounded by their question as they might be by seeing me leasurly walk a horse on a long rein. He doesn't pull (unless sometimes there is that ONE grass that has to be eaten), he is super in traffice, he is considerate when going down narrow paths not to trod on my feet, he respects my space as I do his and he doesn't make boring conversation, what more can one want for a walking companion? :)

I am glad that 'Mr F' is finally back to good health. And a reminder for myself: he is back on 'Thunderbrook'  Base Mix which is improving his 'rear end business' and seems to have settled his digestive system into a normal 'rhythm'.

And so we are slowly preparing for our move to a new home. Further updates to follow soon.