scarlets' blog

I must say Scarlet you are very brave to keep galloping everywhere. I would be afraid of coming face to face with walkers/joggers/cyclists. Does Ocar pull straight away if you ask him.



I am probably too wary as a friend of mine was left paralysed from the neck down after a bad fall. The person he was riding with took off at a gallop and his horse tripped in a gully in the track.



His life has never been the same again.

oscar can and does stop very quickly - i generally only gallop on hills (added braking power!!) and on tracks that i know well , but i thoroughly enjoy a good blast. i used to race trains in australia as a child - there was a fab 3mile stretch of wide verge - road one side, train the other (fenced!) and there were 2 ditches along the way. it was completely flat otherwise, and i used to bomb along there as fast as Rocky could go - even better if there was a train to race. great event training as he hurdled the ditches too!!
yes theres always a risk with anything we do - but i'm actually more worried by things that jump out at you when walking along - like dogs / kids/ large machinery/ or things that run toward or away from you suddenly like cows and horses - i think a gallop in a known environment is safer than a walk in an unknown environment. and i wouldnt do it if he was in a spooky/silly frame of mind. and i wouldnt do it on a horse that was known to buck or bolt.
and if i couldnt have a blast on a regular basis , then i would seriously consider whether i should stop riding!!! i know oscar also really enjoys it - he almost smiles after!!!

and if i couldnt have a blast on a regular basis , then i would seriously consider whether i should stop riding!!!

NO!! you can't mean that.

goodness yes. obviously with thomas as he deteriorated , fast was not an option, so that was fine . but i do believe that you should be happy at whatever level you ride at. i had a mare that i was frightened of cantering as she\d buck like stink - put up with walk and trot for 2 yrs (whilst trying to sort the problem i may add) and then decided whats the point if i'm getting no real enjoyment - so sold her on (to a much more experienced home where she went back to being a county standard show hunter !!! ) and i took on Rupert -the sweetest kindest cob who i would have trusted to ride on the verge on the m1 . gave me back my confidence and we had a lot of fun at all paces . only had 2 yrs with him till his legs went and he was very sadly put down - half the riders in the area came to say good bye as so many had ridden him over the years.
then i got thomas - much younger and feistier but also reliable. the best part of show cob is the gallop down the long side of the arena !!! we even had a go jumping - i'd not jumped in 20yrs or more!!) but yes, every time there was a good place , we'd happily go for a burn!!!
" HORSES ARENT MY LIFE, BUT THEY MAKE MY LIFE WHOLE!" YEEEHAH!!!

Different strikes for different folks as they say



There was a time when I would canter/gallop everywhere and anywhere[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

But now I think I would rather stick to walk/trot and be able to admire the beautiful countryside and take in the amazing views we have here.



Think thats why I love watching the dressage, I just love the suttle control of it all.



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I enjoy a good 'blat' as much as the next person, but if for some reason I, or my horse couldn't it wouldn't matter that much, I enjoy every pace equally My thrill, especially if I haven't ridden for a period of time, but every time to a lesser degree, is when I first get my ar** in the saddle, it feels like the most natural place to be. I'm in my element. We'll have to change your name to "speedy scarlet"
pen

PS. Horse's ARE my life, they always have been in one way shape or form, and without them.....

coming home!!! yaaaay!!! is it hunting season yet, or can i ride safely on sunday? oscar has apparenlty gone feral according to husband. trashed his rug then wouldnt let husband near him to fix it for 2 days. the words "glue factory" were mentioned .......a lot.
have treated myself to some new boots - riding trainers - ariat teluride -b*&$£ expensive but hopefullywill be more comfortable than my mountain horse ones. also had saddle restuffed so i'm all set! also have a new phone galaxy s3 so will be able to take photos and video of rides - once i have tamed the beast again. it takes a week to 10 daysfor us both to get back in to it again and i'm only back for 3 wks... sigh, then away for 4. it better not rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Welcome back scarlet Hope you manage to get out, at least a couple of times not sure when the hunting starts, must be soon. I think you'll know as soon as you step outside.
pen
ps. I Love my 12 yr old "mountain horse" boots.

well not quite how i planned it.....
got back after dark so still went to the paddock and oscar neighed his head off when i called and came thundering down the paddock followed more stiffly by thomas - what a wonderful greeting, brings a lump to your throat. following day i caught them both up and gave them both a good groom and inspect. oscar has a small wound on his face on the cheekbone and its quite swollen. graham mortified as he hadnt noticed it - am thinking possibly a kick , as he tends to keep his head buried in thomas' tail if the flies are bad.
graham had a problem last week in that somehow oscar got caught up in the electric fence and dragged most of the plastic fence posts out across the field, but also somehow ripped his pagony sweet itch rug so it was trailing on the floor. graham couldnt catch him for 3 days - we think oscar blames him as graham happened to be in the paddock poo picking at the time - so its obviously all grahams fault. !!! so thats one pagony rug completely trashed - there is a bucket of pieces left ! the other one has also been ripped but is salvagable. but what i dont understand is his pagony face mask has vanished. its a flat field no long grass and i have walked it 4 times now and cannot find it. complete mystery. expensive mystery.
so yesterday after having some quality time with them both , graham and i went for one of our long walks. we went to pont farcy and found a great new riding circuit complete with a long slope uphill thats all been freshly fauchaged ..... cant wait for a burn up that hill , but it will need to wait for a few days till we're both back into it again!!! its also got good parking and picnic tables to get on from!
so today was first riding day - hitched trailer up ,got my new boots on (REALLY like them so far) got oscar caught up groomed and went to put his old mac' s on and they wouldnt fit!!!! farrier had only been 3 wks ago to trim and remove old shoes , but his feet have splayed so the boots dont fit - never happened before in the last 3yrs. grrrrrrrr. not happy.will have to try and borrow a rasp and pincers . oscar somewhat confused to be rugged up and put back in field again!! then it started raining which was NOT forcast , so suppose it was for the best . getting soggy appeals to neither of us. so been back 2 days but not got aboard yet.

well thanks to azaria i finally got out today. she lent me her rasps and hoof cutters so managed to trim his feet up so that they are comfy in his old macs.
hadnt realized when i took saddle in to be restuffed that they'd replaced all the girth straps so had a lot of adjusting (plus oscars got a belly on him - 7wks unridden!!) to do before i got it to our liking. left him tacked up in the stable yard to get my phone and stuff before loading up and when i came out of the house found he'd pulled back and broken to baler twine and was loose in the yard and quite upset . cause? tractor suddenly appeared on other side of fence spraying the hedge - of course it got oscar who was mightily upset.
me very unimpressed as dont want my side of the hedge killed! all my blackberries!!!
so that put oscar in a bit of a silly mood. great for first ride . got to saveur lendelin and to be fair he was actually very good . we were out for an hour and a half , and really only had one full and frank discussion.
me : you will walk down this narrow overgrown path:|
oscar: i will trot as fast as i can down this narrow overgrown path
result - compromise jog/ walk.
which was really the only disobediance of the whole ride. didnt go above a working trot tho for our first outing. am always convinced he's going to freak out on me on the first ride , but bless him he never does.
came home and unloaded him and for the first time ever , he went off the side of the front ramp and knocked his near hind. hopping lame and me convinced he'd fractured it. had a good feel and couldnt feel the dreaded crepitus (broken bone rubbing on broken bone feeling) so walked him forward and by the time we got to the stableyard he was only slightly limping. so hopefully just bruised. small graze that i've treated , but he seems ok this evening. SILLY B@#!$ horse.

not ok this am
2/10 lame and slight swelling and heat round the fetlock. B*&%$R!!!!
so big dose of bute and lazy day in paddock for him . gardening for me. and it was such a lovely riding day today .......

Poor you. Perhaps Oscar decided that he quite enjoyed his 7wks of, and came up with a plan to extend it





Hope you manage a ride soon

its looking better today ,so probably ride tomorrow all being well! he followed me all round the paddock when i was poo picking and then they both watched me wrestle the front garden into submission all afternoon , so i think he'd like another outing.
found his fly mask!!!! got an early morning visit from our neighbour who has the fields adjoining for his dairy herd. he found it on the paddock as he was moving the cows! cant quite see how it ended up there , but stranger things can happen. undamaged as well!

Probably foxes. Any soft toys our "pups" leave outside get moved around our land.
pen

Have you been out with the maps scarlet which one's have you managed so far? Which ride do you like the best?
pen

have only managed a couple of rides so far with the wind /rain and his small injury. all to places we know like st saveur and chapelle - chapelle was fun with the loggers next to the car park !!! am wanting to go to pont farcy but as graham been stranded in uk by BF strike , dont want to go too far without having someone at home to miss me if i dont come back!
graham managed to get a place on poole ferry tommorow so hopefully home tom pm
also have done their vaccines this week , so always give 24 hrs rest following a jab - so picked the worst of the weather days to do it!. and farrier due sat. you got your rasps etc back ok i take it???
had a go with my new galaxy phone at taking pictures and they are really good , so when we're a bit more settled and weather less windy will try and video whilst riding, but to be fair to him he's actually pretty darn good considering his lay-off.

I forgot about oscars leg, hope it's completely better. It must be so frustrating for you, just when you get him moving again it's time for you to go back are you having him shod this time? I nipped out to chapelle today, all the tree felling is finished now. You picked the right time for jabs, it's normally lovely the next day, when we get ours done
Hope you manage to do one of the farcy rides, I should have marked them in one colour for each ride for you (instead of all the colours of the rainbow) then you could have told someone which colour you were doing, and left them with a copy.... copyright
Have fun
pen
ps. There is always a LOT of hunting on the pont farcy rides, so do take care

and of course the best weather day will be sunday!!!

I rode over your way on saturday scarlet, you have some really pretty tracks We "illegally" rode in the chateau grounds fortunately they opened the gates and let us out, after my french companion put the blame firmly on their shoulders for not sign posting the proper chemin
and the sun shone
pen

ok folks am back off holiday! had a fab time in new zealand. really lovely unspoilt country. only 4.4 million people in a country similar size to uk (65 million)
fascinating scenery , and of course on the way down to wellington there was a volcano alert saying one was looking like it was going to erupt - well one did , but not the one they were worried about!!! i managed to get in a lovely 2 hr ride in the bush behind the bay of plenty . just me and the trek leader - who was an english girl on a working holiday! we had a lot of fun with plenty of fast work including several flat out blasts!!! i think the ponies enjoyed as much as we did as most of the time they have inexperienced riders in the group so generally dont go fast. none of the horses were shod and the amazing thing was .....NO FLIES. no cloud around their faces or following us on the hack. we hardly saw a single bug the whole trip. found a few flies in composting toilets at cathedral cove but if it was australia it would have been covered in them. no sign of any ponies with sweet itch. a lot were summer rugged, but when i talked to horsy people , its mainly to keep them clean and protect the coat from the sun. will try and post some photos of the hack... if i can!
got back today after 55hrs travelling. horses fine, paddock not too trashed and only some minor damage to a neck fastening on oscars winter rug. its b#@%$ freezing tho !! and to think this time last wek we were on the beach. sigh.

Welcome back, sounds an amazing trip and wow to the ride It's been a tad damp while you where away:lol: