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Sunday 6 April 2014

Adventures with Archie

 
So I was super excited when I stumbled across a link to my blog post on Haynet this week! It is currently featuring in the "Blog posts not to be missed" column. Awesome.

I was feeling a bit lethargic again this morning, we had a lovely ride out yesterday morning around the village and I spent the rest of the day chilling at the yard with friends. I had more or less accepted that I was probably not going to ride today, and had taken up a comfortable spot sitting in the barn doorway chatting. Sarah arrived not long after me, and quickly said she was going to go and get her pony in to have a mooch around the village. 

I decided that I should be a good pony mummy and take Rio out as well, and duly wandered down to the field to collect him. He's been a bit cheeky again just recently and was up to his games again coming out of the field today. I am still keeping hold of my schooling whip when bringing him in to use as a last resort encouragement. He's getting a little better, but he just plays silly when he feels like it. Darn this spring grass coming through. He will be coming up a couple of mornings this week to have his breakfast outside the gate to continue to try and encourage him to come out a bit more easily.

Well our mooch was a little more eventful than we had initially thought it would be, both boys were on their toes as it was a bit windy. We made it to the top corner of the field and they both spooked, including a bit of a spin and trying to bolt, silly boys. Sarah and I both thought we were in for a gallop across the field, but thankfully they listened and that was that. We made it around the village with little trouble and a bit of jogging (that's going to have to stop!) but decided it might be safer to split the boys up coming back across the field as they were still both jogging along. Rio settled a little once we got around the top corner so he had a longer rein so he could walk out the rest of the way. All was going well, we ended up a little way behind Sarah as we went the slightly longer way, and we saw her go past on the other side of the hedge down the drive. Turning on to the drive, we had a pleasant walk going, then all of a sudden we were cantering full pelt onto the yard... I still don't know what set him off, but that was certainly one of our more eventful rides to date!

See the spike in speed right at the end? Haha. I'm absolutely over the moon to say that I honestly feel my seat is developing, I didn't have my usual "blind panic mode" setting at any point today, and didn't feel at any point I was coming off. Woot woot. 

Once we had gotten some nibbles to sustain us, it was Archie's turn for some fun! Parelli style. He was such a superstar, here are some photos so you can see him being a total dude:




Ride safe x

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