Riding on the beach.....

Something I've always wanted to do is a beach ride and as we were on holiday on the Isle of Wight last week, we took the opportunity to do so. Lovely sunny day, went with some friends and their children, really enjoyed it!

We even got to do a little canter.....

Later in the week we went to Carisbrook Castle, where they have a wheel driven by donkeys to raise the well bucket!

and a Shire horse centre where they have a 5 year old gelding who's already 19hh and still growing........

The girls go on holiday....

We were going to take the girls down to my friend Tanya's to keep her new horse company yesterday, she turned up with the trailer, we were just loading them........and a load of angry hornets came boiling out, they'd built a nest in there!!!

So that plan was hastily abandoned and we went for plan B. We walked the girls down there today, took Choccy with us, they took everything in their stride, and all three of them were very good.

 They are now safely installed in the new field, and very happy to see all that grass! The new boy, Chester, arrives on Saturday......

Cheeky Choccy

Went to pony club today, took Choccy along. As Ali's group were going out for a ballade, Éowyn and I tagged along as far as the vines so Choccy could have a run round. The cheeky little mutt decided she's rather tag along with the riders, and as the instructor didn't mind, off she went!

When they got back, she discovered how much fun there was to be had charging around in the sand school......

....then found a friend to play with......

....and even had a sit on the very patient Enzo!

The instructor said she was a LOT better trained than Éowyn.......

Dog and Horses.....

Went for a lovely hack today in the sunshine. Gandalf was a bit hot and bothered as he's got quite a lot of winter coat already.......decided to take Choccy with us to see how she behaved - and she was as good as gold. Maverick didn't even object to her presence!

The Éowyn test.......

Took the girls out for a bit of in hand grazing yesterday (just as well as it's chucking it down today) and obviously had to take the Small Naughty One with me too. She and her sister ran around shrieking, Sky and Kinna just ignored them.

Grape harvesting machine went by, nothing......

After a while, I picked Éowyn up and leaned her over Sky's back, again, she wasn't bothered.

Neither was Kinna....

Skyfaxa has been having a very bad hair day, she'd managed to get her head between the gatepost and the wall to reach hay from the middle of the round bale as the easily accessible stuff on the outside obviously wasn't as nice, and in doing so has rubbed a huge section of her lovely long mane off.

Nothing for it but a complete haircut, no showing classes for us til it grows back, now her beard is longer than the rest of her hair!!

Luckily it grows pretty quicky, unlike poor Kinna who has the typical Appaloosa sparse mane & tail.

Measured them again, Sky is now 14hh and Kinna 13.2hh, they've each grown 2 inches since they were last measured.

More pony club.....

Some pictures from this week, Ali is definitely getting better at the flying dismount:

Éowyn was in full on naughty mode today and didn't listen to the instructor much........and she was none too pleased to se my friend's granddaughter Jeanne riding HER pony Enzo during the first lesson!!

Still, once it was her turn, she eventually settled down and got on with the serious business of having fun. With the pink plastic hoops, of course.........

Horse shopping

Just got back from a couple of days in the UK with a friend who was looking for a horse. We had a few to see but the weather was awful, it didn't stop raining all day yesterday.....

My poor friend Tanya had to ride in the wind and rain, but at least it was a good test for the horses, if they can behave in this sort of weather, they will behave well anywhere.

We went to a place up near Stratford upon Avon called Featherbed Stables, where they specialize in safe cob type horses and they had quite a selection! Tanya tried a handsome little black cob first, then a grey, She immediately felt at home on the grey, she rode him in the (sodden) sand school first

then took him out on the very busy road, and he behaved perfectly. So she bought him, Chester is his name, he'll be coming over to France as soon has he's been vetted and transporters have been booked, then he can come out on hacks with us!