Yes, I am still here.....!

Ooops, have been neglecting this blog a bit, partly due to Christmas etc but mainly due to not having internet at home - until today. So time for a bit of an update......

Well les Francais have been in the UK for 3 weeks now and they seem to be taking it all in their stride. They're not spending all their time on their own down the far end of the field any more, they sometimes actually graze alongside others in the herd and when we went out with G and Sky yesterday, Tari didn't even look up and styed with the others, although they called for her when they got back and she came running.

Had to laugh yesterday when the farmer who owns the place was shooting some clays, the main herd came barrelling up the field to investigate what the hell that noise was all about and our 3 didn't even stop grazing, so all that Chasse activity across the channel was good for something ;-)

Sky's leg seems to be well and truly on the mend, she was sound yesterday so Ali rode her out for the first time on English soil and she was pretty good, considering she hasn't hacked out for weeks. It was cold and frosty and  bit slippy in places so she did have a couple of interesting moments but soon figured out that going on the verge was a good thing to do. We have to go past the 2 stallions up the road and I thought there might be some silliness, especially as the younger of the two was racing up and down the fence making a right racket, but she was just a bit looky then she carried on :thumbup:
We also had to go over the M5 bridge, Gandalf I think was expecting the river Dordogne to be under it rather than a load of noisy traffic (and it's SO noisy, you just don't realise when you're in a car!!) but again, apart from a few looks, they were fine with it. We had walked the girls over it a few days ago and Tari was so not bothered she was eating the grass by the edge of the barrier.....

Unfortunately you can't go for a quick ride on anything other than roads (curse those ramblers and their stiles) but so far the drivers seem far more considerate here than in France and there are lots of little roads to ride along. Our horses still seem to think they should be on the right though ;-) When I get a bit more time I can get up into Nibley and go through miles of bridlepaths in the woods where that monument is. There's also a disused quarry where the mountain bikers have made a load of obstacles which look pretty darn good for TREC practise to me!