Summer Update

Been a while since I last posted so thought I would do a quick update. Things have been a bit quite on the horse front of late, pesky work has been getting in the way of pony time.

Net result is I have a fat pony. I feel a bit deflated that Sofie has once again returned to sofa status. All that dieting for nothing but I am determined to get her slim again. I suppose the only real positive is that she has not turned lamanitic as I had feared, though she does seem more footy that she did over the winter months. 

Her feet are expanding as fast as her waist line. I have bought her yet another pair of shoes, 2WW but she is already growing out of these. Next stop is the floating boots. She is going to cost me a fortune in foot wear. Still every lady needs a shoe collection.

Her behaviour on the yard is near perfect now. She will happily wait in stables and on the yard with minimal protest. I can leave her untied for short periods and she stays put. A million times better than last summer. Riding wise she is better, less spinning and tantrums but still not perfect. June saw a very overexcited Haffy, with her pulling my arms out of their sockets if we even suggested canter. As soon as she sees a jump she is nearly beside herself with excitement. I’ve been working on the canter in the school since, and the training alongside the extra weight has slowed her down a little. I don’t think we will go drag hunting anytime soon though.

Future plans; well I plan on continuing with the EE lessons, they are going really well, we are getting a lot of nice comments from people at the yard and she feels so much more responsive now that I am stiller. I’m getting her GP saddle re-fitted to fat mode on Monday in the hope that we can then start jumping properly. If I can get some jump lessons over August then we should be ready for some rounds in early September. There is also a team chase and some sponsored rides in September that I would like to have a crack at. I dream of us jumping the big fences.

Tonto seems to be OK, though not very sure of his feet downhill. I find it very difficult to assess how much pain he is in. I’m worried because he is not fat as he normally is in the summer which makes me paranoid something is wrong. Still he strides out up the hills on walks with Sofie (having failed at ride and lead we now opt for the escape and follow method) and seems relatively happy when raising his feet for them to be picked out.

 

So generally very happy with princess Sofie. I fall in love with her a little more each day.