A ride (of sorts!) - JOY

Finally something to blog about! Truth be told the winter has been getting me down. The mud has been relentless, my wellies have been anything but, and I missed the last pleasure ride I had planned to enter due to yet another injury (human, of course).

So yesterday, Chip and I (at long last) made it a pleasure ride. I call it a ride of of sorts because it was only 16km and it's almost hardly worth the 2.5hr journey... BUT it was needed more than I even knew! I cannot tell you how good it was to get away from the mud just for one day. I actually remembered what it feels like to ride without feeling like I’m starring in a remake of ‘The Great British Bog-Off.’

I was being very mindful that Chip and I haven't put in too much continuous trot and canter work yet this side of Christmas. Our bridleways at home are far too wet and I don't like to do more than walk on tarmac.

For months we have been walking and walking and walking. This has been good for Raine but I do believe it has been especially good for Chip too who has seen huge improvements in his topline. I also think that walking is such an undervalued gait for endurance training since you can really practice that 'time in the saddle' objective without too much leg strain. Although, it's great for endurance training; I'd say it's questionable for my own mental well-being - and certainly cold!

As a side note, I also haven't actually clipped Chip yet. It's always a contentious decision in my own brain - how much hair to take off? When to do it? The lack of decision has resulted in inaction and so I was also mindful that I was taking a relatively hairy horsey to Thetford too!

By the by, we made the most of the mud-free riding and definitely topped up his fitness another few gears for the outing. He of course got a little curly with his longer than usual hair-do and lack of faster work but we made sure to have plenty of walk breaks and I tried to hard to keep a check on our overall pace.

It was so good to get out and remind myself;

a) how much fun riding horses around new places actually is!

b) that the winter slog will be worth it (though I reserve the right to complain about it daily in the meantime).

What next? Well actually I was one of the lucky ones and I managed to get an entry into the sold out Cannock Chase taking place on the 23rd March (5 weeks away). We have entered the 32km which I am wildly excited for even though it's such a short class (for us anyway).

Since we didn't manage to actually get to any successful endurance in 2024 my big aim for the year is simply to get out and do rides, no matter how short the class. Of course, I really want to progress Raine through her Novice season too and so it would be just lovely if Chip could escort her on some of these.

I had sort of intended to take Chip to the vets at the end of February for his usual pre-season MOT however I have diverted funds elsewhere at the moment (all will be revealed soon). Since he is going so nicely currently, with only small rides on the cards, I feel confident I can manage him holistically at least until the ground hardens up.

In regards to my princess pony Raine, we are eagerly awaiting her very own saddle which is being made by my favourite Jeremy Rudge Saddlery. In the meantime I am continuing with her ground work and plenty of riding and leading off Chip so that she is getting out and about seeing the world. I've started incorporating quite a bit more trotting to these leading sessions now when the opportunity allows so she has been getting a little fitter along the process too. I have lightly pencilled a pleasure ride for her in April (all being well!).

A quick note on the other mares and then I'll leave you be until next time!

Zesty (can you believe it) is now rising 3 years of age! I have been investing in fortnightly groundwork sessions with both Zest and Raine to fine tune their handling and start to engage their brains (and bodies) in the arena. Of course, Raine is progressing to much more advanced work already as physically and mentally she is ready for more. However, I have been impressed with Zest so far and have definitely noticed and felt the improvements in her. She is still a work in progress, much like my ability to leave the yard on time for anything.

The sessions are short and sweet, literally just half and hour each but we achieve so much. It is lovely to have this dedicated time with them, especially Zest as I often don't find the time to do anything much with her at the moment! I also have to remind myself what a privilege it is to have the arena to use. For so many winters we had the field only and so I must not ever forget how lucky I am to have a working space to be able to do this from home!

Fern has definitely been enjoying her downtime in the field.I had the best intentions to keep up her groundwork to maintain her core strength, but as per the common theme of this blog, the winter blues got to me, and some weeks, it’s been hard enough to even commit to working the ridden horses. Despite her lack of specific work I am really pleased with how she's looking and importantly her demeanour everyday when I change rugs/feed her/pick out feet etc.

All the adults had physio last week and Fern has improved so much and was so much happier throughout the treatment too. It's a big relief as I was really worrying about her in the field. Chip and Raine too were both good with noted progress in the focus areas I'd been set in my homework! The adults have physio every 6 weeks however we'd agreed to drop Fern back to every 12 weeks now just to keep a check on her.

If you’ve made it this far, well done—you deserve a rosette just for reading! And on that note, if endurance is something you’d like to learn more about, I’ll be offering more coaching this year. So if you fancy joining the madness, please do get in touch!

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