Settled

I have been taking my 3 yr old Patterdale/Jack Russel dog Frank to the yard these last few days and he and B have got on very well. In fact Frank seems to love yard life and following horses out to the field with myself and/or Jan which bodes well for us three, me, B and Frank riding the woods together. I don't think I am terribly good with dogs, despite having two English Bull Terriers and Frank but he appears to have excellent re-call and is very OK with horses. I am beginning to think all three of us could soon be 'hooning' round the woods together!!!

I got the distinct impression today that Breeze has really settled in in her new home. She catches me every time I go to get her in from the field and she has calmed down so much I don't have to tie her up very often outside her stable. She is a lot less spooky and 'on her toes' and is so quick to learn things she already offers me things like getting on the pedestal.

Breeze is slowly becoming tolerant, if not quite happy yet, about being groomed in her ticklish areas. I noticed this evening that her coat is already developing dapples. Lovely. She is like Lizzie in a lot of ways, at least she reminds me of Lizzie which is very comforting somehow. But I guess most bay horses are the same no matter what breed they are lol.

I have had to give B soaked hay this last week because I missed ordering haylage in time. But she seems ok on it although the chore of wetting the hay has worn off somewhat. Today I had the joy of dragging the huge haylage bales to my shed only to see B try to break through the black plastic this evening. Must mean she likes it? And now I have a better and higher mounting block to play with!

Now that I have got over the first hurdle of riding B in the woods I now have to get my head around riding her in the school and beginning to try the Parelli Patterns. How interesting to find how resistant to 'schooling' I am! Now, is this plain old fear because I knew Lizzie hated riding in the school? Actually I hated riding in the school because I knew Lizzie hated it. But B has no hang ups about it at all, so why do I have a mental block about it? I fully intend to make the whole experience fun for Breeze. I will stick to my Parelli principles and follow the program so B's experience with me will be positive and never boring. So I guess it will be approach and retreat more for my benefit that B's, the same as it has been riding in the woods.

Anyone that followed my progress with Lizzie back at the old Frontshoesonly blog will remember we used to go to Radlett and hack for miles/hours around the Herfordshire countryside quite regularly. There is a ride planned for the end of this month but my sensible head says no, not yet! My more easy going/reckless side says go for it! How hard can it be? But I need to feel B is more accustomed to being ridden in a hackamore and 'following a feel' before we take the plunge and go hacking around all that gorgeous countryside. After all, we do have the next 20 years to get the hang of it. Oh and my thighs need a little more conditioning first!