A day at the stables

[diamondlil]

More fungi, and a badger sett! I also found deer droppings, but the ground was too soggy to hold any decent tracks.

 

[jlindp]

Ah, yay! Your nature pictures make me happy! I also just got out of a Microbiology exam that covered fungi. Interesting little things, fungi...

 

[diamondlil]

Then off for our ride through the woods. Merlin has a quirk, he really, really doesn't like puddles. There's been torrential rain, so he was getting quite fractious about going through the boggy mud and small puddles, but I was encouraging him and not letting him do a 'wall of death' ride up the sides of the track.
Mr Merlin decided he really didn't like me and tried to run out through the trees. I wouldn't let him (to do so would have meant going over rougher ground with the trees too close together) so instead of walking nicely through the puddle.......we did our first water jump! I'd felt him gather, and sat it perfectly, but Kim was having palpitations. On we went, and Merlin now decided that instead of stepping over little horizontal tree trunks (and I really do mean little, like about 4 inches thick at the most) we were going to pop little jumps in every now and then. We got onto more drained tracks and he settled down for a while, tum-te-tum, nice relaxed pony..............
Then we started going through puddles again, with me pushing him on so he couldn't get silly...................and came to a show-stopper, a puddle completely blocking the track, about as big as a double bed. "I'm not going near that" says Merlin, trying to thread into the trees, I wouldn't let him, turned him, pushed him on..."No way" says Merlin, snorting and prancing around, I settled him, faced the water, pushed him on and he started to throw bucks! So I turned him, pushed him and we jumped over the puddle like cross-country champions!
After that he waded through the remaing smaller puddles sensibly, we had a nice bit of a canter to let him blow off steam over open ground then a nice walk back home. Before turning into the yard, Kim had me trot him a few circles, he was trying to nap to the gates so I had to ride 'round again until he behaved properly.
After the boys were put away with their suppers, Kim admitted that she'd been convinced he was going to throw me off, but couldn't get back to us, then realised I'd sat the bucks ok so she just kept up the encouragement until I could get Merlin to do what I wanted. Her heart was in her mouth because she was so worried I'd end up in a heap or speared by a tree branch.

 

[Susielea]

Sounds like quite an eventful ride today!!! So glad you managed to keep control, would that mean that Merlin will have more trust and a greater bond with you, seeing as he got around/over something that he's not happy with under your instruction and encouragement???

 

[desertanimal]

Oh boy. That makes me worry! But I'm glad you got through it and didn't end up in a heap or speared by a tree branch. Phew.

 

[Buzzard]

Gotta love horses and their quirks. I have a mare thats a pistol when she wants to be. I have been a "lawn dart" on several occassions.

 

[diamondlil]

Sounds like quite an eventful ride today!!! So glad you managed to keep control, would that mean that Merlin will have more trust and a greater bond with you, seeing as he got around/over something that he's not happy with under your instruction and encouragement???

I think it was a great boost for my confidence, and for Kim's confidence in me! She has been telling me all along that I have to take control when Merlin gets silly, he still has his 'naughty pony' moments because he was basically her baby (rescued from the meat auction as a foal), which means as well as his more endearing traits he does have quirks too.
Today was not only a test of my 'sticky bum', it did turn into a clash of wills. I could have backed down and let Merlin push through the trees (I don't think I'd have come out unscathed though, they were all tangled up with overhanging branches there) but I really had to make Merlin do what I asked. I just kept enough pressure on him that he knew what I wanted, but not so much that he'd panic. Not one kick, or pull on his reins, just kept steering him back towards the puddle and using vocal encouragement and leg pressure to make him go forwards.
The bucks were just a sign that he was still resisting. I've sat him jumping sideways when a rabbit has run past or there have been MONSTERS in bushes quite often before. Kim's said before it must be my previous mad pony riding as a child that's made me so 'sticky' despite restarting as an adult learner with dodgy balance and a madleg! I really didn't feel unbalanced or scared at any point, it was Kim watching who was having kittens.
The reason Kim had me schooling him when we got home was because he wanted so much to go in the gate he was trying to rush past her and Ben, and he really does have to listen to me when I'm riding him rather than call the shots. As we were circling, he was trying to nap towards the gate, so I had to keep correcting him with leg pressures to get an even circle. Whilst I absolutely prefer hacking out, I put effort into schooling when Kim makes us do it because it all translates into better riding skills and partnership, like moving sideways out of traffic's way or waiting calmly without messing about when we can't cross a road.
Going on past instances when I've challenged Merlin a bit, he's actually more likely to try it on next time we ride, like a child testing boundaries! When I really didn't have much of a clue or the leg strength, Merlin was a perfect gentleman. Now I'm actively directing the how fast/which route/stop/go/wait/go on.......fun times are ahead!

 

[diamondlil]

Oh boy. That makes me worry! But I'm glad you got through it and didn't end up in a heap or speared by a tree branch. Phew.

It was actually more dramatic than it sounds, what with the slippery footing and the darn trees! I wasn't worried at any time, I was trying to concentrate so hard on giving the right cues and getting the pressures right it kept me calm and focussed, which probably helped keep Merlin from really freaking out.
I've had him buck in the menage before, little bunny hops, so I recognised the feel when he was about to buck this time.

 

[diamondlil]

Gotta love horses and their quirks. I have a mare thats a pistol when she wants to be. I have been a "lawn dart" on several occassions.

I didn't know you had horses! Show pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!

 

[diamondlil]

I thought I'd just show why going off the track just wasn't an option! The trees in the woods here have obviously been coppiced, so they grow close together with multiple trunks like this

 

[diamondlil]

Fungus #1 Jew's ear Auricularia auricula-judae

 

[diamondlil]

Fungus #2 Xylaria carpophila

 

[diamondlil]

Hmph, can't find my other fungi on the field guide, I'll have to investigate further

 

[RowanRR]

I think they're conspiring on us- I was riding my horse bareback yesterday (because occasionally I'm too lazy to use a saddle), and she was feeling frisky because of the cold. I asked her to canter and I guess she misheard me and thought I said "crow-hop", and she threw her head down and kicked up her heels a little. I yelled at her (much to the delightment of the other girl riding in the ring), and corrected her as to what I had said, and after that the ride went more smoothly... she still felt like a coiled spring, though, and I didn't want to push my luck, so we finished soon after that

 

[diamondlil]

I think they're conspiring on us- I was riding my horse bareback yesterday (because occasionally I'm too lazy to use a saddle), and she was feeling frisky because of the cold. I asked her to canter and I guess she misheard me and thought I said "crow-hop", and she threw her head down and kicked up her heels a little. I yelled at her (much to the delightment of the other girl riding in the ring), and corrected her as to what I had said, and after that the ride went more smoothly... she still felt like a coiled spring, though, and I didn't want to push my luck, so we finished soon after that

You really do have a sticky bum to sit that bareback! She sounds like fun, any pictures?
Merlin quite often used to feel like a dying horse that I'm torturing to get a decent walk out of, because he took advantage of me not having the strength of leg to push him on and being too soft-hearted to pony-kick him. But he's getting fitter as he's being ridden more, I'm getting better at giving him the aids, so we should be motoring along nicely by the summer. Kim reminded me that at first I couldn't even get a decent trot out of him, let alone ride out naughty behaviour like today!

 

[RowanRR]

You really do have a sticky bum to sit that bareback! She sounds like fun, any pictures?
Merlin quite often used to feel like a dying horse that I'm torturing to get a decent walk out of, because he took advantage of me not having the strength of leg to push him on and being too soft-hearted to pony-kick him. But he's getting fitter as he's being ridden more, I'm getting better at giving him the aids, so we should be motoring along nicely by the summer. Kim reminded me that at first I couldn't even get a decent trot out of him, let alone ride out naughty behaviour like today!

Congrats! It's always a nice feeling to be able to ride out bad behavior

I'm *pretty* good at sticking on... but my horse has dumped me in the past more times than I can remember. When I got her she was a pretty ungrateful little witch, but it taught me how to ride (and stay on!). She had a "little" attitude adjustment and now she's pretty awesome! We've done close to everything together- I'll have had her for 9 years in February Oh, and her name is Chica!

This is a picture of her my friend took at my old boarding place:

We used to do a lot of hunter stuff.

And, when I was in high school, we were on a mounted flag drill team- she's quite versatile

 

[diamondlil]

Congrats! It's always a nice feeling to be able to ride out bad behavior

I'm *pretty* good at sticking on... but my horse has dumped me in the past more times than I can remember. When I got her she was a pretty ungrateful little witch, but it taught me how to ride (and stay on!). She had a "little" attitude adjustment and now she's pretty awesome! We've done close to everything together- I'll have had her for 9 years in February Oh, and her name is Chica!

This is a picture of her my friend took at my old boarding place:

We used to do a lot of hunter stuff.

And, when I was in high school, we were on a mounted flag drill team- she's quite versatile

She's so beautiful! What type of appaloosa is she? I've not fallen off Merlin-yet! I certainly have been dumped and almost rolled on by Coconuts, the little welsh pony who was the key to restarting me riding!

 

[diamondlil]

Fungus #3, Macrolepoiota rhacoides, the shaggy parasol!

 

[diamondlil]

Fungus # 4 possibly Crepidotus variabilis

 

[diamondlil]

:dancer::dancer::dancer: Now I'm totally over-excited! Thanks to finally having a weekend off when I'm not visiting Pete.......I'm going over to see Coconuts! I'm going over for a girl's night with my friend Cathy, (horsey dvds, chinese takeout, no children and her partner's out gigging) then fun with ponies all day!
I can't wait to see Nuts, Joe, Loulou and the babies Luna and Lola:crazy02::crazy02::crazy02: