over a year

i've just realised it's over a year since i've written anything on here

i doubt i'll write anything more.

Monfils is fine - but I am not.  Rheumatoid Arthritis, of the kind that gets worse, started to get the better of me and i haven't been able to do anything since August.

Gaynor has taken over and is enjoying herself and will continue to do so.

who'd a thunk it

1. we got some reasonable weather (i.e., not freezing, blowing or raining)
2. I rode my horse!

think my thighs might know about that ...

quite pleased, given the length of time off, that we were still moving forward.

tuesday was a blip

in that the weather is now somewhat cold and snowy. to be fair, no where near as bad as in other places (new jersey, for instance) but too bad for any of us to want to do anything... the only consolation is that the mud is frozen.

apparently, we can blame the jet stream....

5 minutes

in hand

still a very faint glimmer of light, no howling gale, no rain, and the temperature got up to 8 C.  so that was motivational (thinking ahead to when we can do more) to do some in hand, only 5 minutes but think i got a shoulder in left.

Gaynor's hoping it doesn't snow tomorrow; the forecast isn't looking good for her!

finally

a nice day decent weather and no injuries to either of us (well, not strictly true, he had a lump on his jaw that wasn't troubling him and was missed by the bridle...)

in hand and lunging

and proved again to the satisfaction of all that

1. i can lunge any other horse but mine
2. Monfils will lunge for anyone but me
3. therefore, it's not my technique

and turns out i'm not alone in that, someone else i know has the same problem (her horse will lunge for men ...)

a three day jaunt

to taunton (the other end of the country) for my niece's wedding ....an enjoyable wedding, and the weather was good so they could do photos outside.  Apparently i missed nothing weather wise up here and G wasn't able to ride M at all....

fence down...

when i got to the yard this afternoon, M was in....as were all the geldings, it transpired. the field fence is down at the bottom of the hill.  the estate workers had all gone home, of course (if they were even in, who knows) and no one had been able to get hold of YM at that point.

and M was still covered in very wet soggy mud - all up the side of his neck etc.  apparently the last thing he did before being brought in was roll!

euch.

so i fed him, put more haylage up, and came away again...

cold winter break

i rode today, yay, and did something right as my hip did NOT hurt when i got off.. thought it was going to , but didn't.

went out round the 20 acre late on with one of the others, who unexpectedly decided to ride having not planned to...

i didn't think it was safe to ride yesterday, frost all over which never really let up on the ground horses were slipping and even arena was frozen (well, half frozen by the afternoon, the sun having unfrozen one half of it).

not as much riding done as i'd planned for the holiday, but that's often the way in the winter....

a success

for the first time ever, i got Monfils to trot on the lunge.  was a bit of a battle, but did it. i was well pleased and told him so.

happy christmas all...

socks falling down

mine, inside my boots, whilst doing some in hand work.  very very uncomfortable indeed!

the boy did good left rein; right rein he wasn't interested in at all and did badly .... never sure what part of that is me and what part of it him (right rein being his worst) but on balance lack of doing it for a while will have been relevant.

eventually the sock problem got so bad i gave up ...... when i took the boot off i found the sock altogether off!

age catching up with me

there was a time when, winter nights, only rain/snow would stop me doing something with my horse... these days i find the cold is just too much for me...

:-(

no swelling

this morning or tonight, so who knows what that was ... hopefully nothing and never repeated.

but it went really cold again.....after gettin gup to 9 degrees C yesterday and not too cold this morning...

:-(

yesterday but not today

for riding, that is

i rode yesterday, my feet were well cold time i'd finished; wasn't as pleased as last week, i'm doing something wrong again, but on the other hand it's good that he just stands whilst the mares race towards him at full pelt on the other side of the fence!

G couldn't ride today = she rang, he has a swollen jaw?  weird. apparently he's eating fine, so teeth must be ok.

he did that before, a few years ago, on the left, that time we were sure there was a bite, but no sign of any such thing this time.

will have to keep an eye on that...

a good afternoon

after a bad start - apart from the -3C temperatures, when i got to my mother's i had to take her to hospital (again) - she'd clearly had some sort of fall and skinned her arm, it needed dressing.  couldn't remember how, where or when, of course (i concluded must have been last night...).  however, all sorted and dressed by the nurses who know her well at the local minor injuries unit!  that all put me well behind with life and i had thought i wouldn't have time to rid,e but i did, and even got some trot strides (not very well and not very far - but progress!) quicker progress than i anticipated after the abscess layoff and the lack of work through the week...

a week's silence

due to my shoulder freezing, then the weather freezing...

mop my fevered brow

it wasn't raining, i was able to ride my horse!

first time either of us have ridden since his abscess started (it now, fingers crossed, seems to be resolved)

only did 1/2 hour in the arena, didn't think wrestling with the mud on the land would be a good plan for a first day ridden for weeks and weeks - what is it, 6 weeks?

picked up wehre we left off, really, kept going, nice walk, working on half halts and moving on, and trying to ensure he was flexed to the inside (never and easy job).

one potential spook that didnt' happen - heading towards the wall at one side of the arena when a blur of feathers headed towards us at top speed, which resolved into a pheasant as it landed on top of said wall.

we were both startled, of course, as it was out of the blue and at the wrong height for pheasants (they're normally underfoot, LOL)

and not phased by the shooting over the hill (it's a shooting estate, and it was a shoot day) - the horses are well used to that by now!

no heat

in the offending foot

:-)

all hosed out.

and felt exactly the same temperature as the other one to me.

still a bit of a hole (which also got hosed out)

so i went in the arena for 5 minutes in hand, which he did nicely - even didn't protest too much about going right, which is his worst rein.

hopefully this progress continues on the foot front.

and someone found the poultice boot he'd got rid of the other day. broken - in that the strap had pulled off someone which will be why he got out of it.  but impressed it was found!  amazing what you can do in daylight that is impossible in the dark, LOL

heat reducing

but he got rid of his poultice boot in the field, was left with a necklace of duct tape round the fetlock, very fetching.  G forgot to buy another.  we are keeping it hosed out and sprayed and will see where we are when we have daylight at the weekend.  hopefully, the outdoor sensor light will be fixed at hte weekend as well.

also something is upsetting him in his stable, he keeps trashing it, and really really keen to be out in the morning.

in past winters, he's been quite settled, and whilst happy to be out, not trashingly keen to be.  so no clue what can be upsetting him.

the only difference is that i removed a cupboard that used to sit in the corner minding it's own business, with some rugs in it.  he killed it one day (rolling, I think, i reckon he'd kicked the door so hard that was why it broke), so it's not there.

the abscess saga

i guess all our horses get them once in a while, and M is no exception - this is his 4th (each foot in turn) but it's a few years since he had one.

but this one is the deepest and is therefore taking a good while to clear - hence, nothing to say!

yesterday we had a joint effort, since we needed to start again on the poulticing.

but, i'd bought a poultice boot, so life ended up a lot easier once the poultice, nappy and vet wrap were on.

also, i stood at the head end and distracted him with a tube of polos - he eventually ended up just licking my hand, which tasted very minty!

hopefully, the boot stays on.

we're going to keep poulticing again for another week, i think, and then review to see if we can then get away with plugging the hole.

in the meantime, this thursday's lesson cancelled of course

still a bit of heat

in that foot, although he seems to be sound on it.

so we'll leave him a while longer.  if it subsides, all well and good, but do keep wondering if i should get some antibiotics as well...

mmmmm