Very Horsey Day

Something weird is going on with Blogger, but I'll battle on. Sorry if this post ends up looking disorganised.

I had a super day today. I went out to the Butcher horse paradise and today was farrier day. There were three farriers working for several hours trimming hooves and hot shoeing. Johnny has decided that horses have stinky feet. I'm not so sure about that! I guess they do walk in some pretty nasty stuff, including their own poo, and the hot shoeing does involve lots of singed hoof and smoke. I know most people wouldn't think much of ferrying horses back and forward, and filling troughs, but it was my idea of heaven. I was sent off to use my horse whispering skills on Dolly, who belongs to the neighbour, and is apparently a real "bitch" of a mare and hates being caught. Armed with a bucket of food and a halter I was sent forth by Emily. I used my usual strategy, which always seems to work, and had her caught within about a minute. I think it was mostly the bucket of food, but she was so good for me and even snickered at me later on when I appeared. Dolly had her hooves trimmed and was then taken to the diet paddock because she is obese. She never gets ridden and was bought as a pet, but her nature is apparently not pet-like at all. I thought she was quite sweet once I got her settled. I guess she needs lots of cuddles and handling. Unfortunately she runs away from her owner.

The most exciting part of my day was my first Zanny ride. Viv took her for a spin first because she hadn't been ridden for ages. She does have a head flapping habit that is a bit disconcerting for someone who was thrown off by Sam (who was doing the same thing first). But we got along just fine. Viv took me on the lead rein first, then the lunge, and then, once I'd got trotting, on my own. It was great fun, even though it was a bit scary because of the head. She is very responsive, requiring the softest aids (instructions given with the body)and very gentle hands. I loved her trot which was very smooth, although I had to watch her speed and slow my rising to slow her. Viv didn't have any advice about my position, and said I looked great. Emily was pleased too. Yay! A bit of sad news though. Zanny was thought to be pregnant, but we took her over for a scan after my ride, and she unfortunately isn't now. Maybe she was and reabsorbed the foal. We'll never know. Anyway, she is being raced over to the West Coast for another date with her husband because apparently her follicles indicate that tomorrow is the day for action. Hopefully I'll get lots of rides in over the holidays. Viv says a few more rides and I can come and ride her independently.
The vegetable garden is busy growing well, although my lettuces look positively puny compared to the huge iceberg lettuces growing in pure rotted horse poo that I saw today. I seem to grow great onions here. These are my biggest yet.

The Three Sisters (plus weeds and single spud) garden is racing skyward, and there's already a pumpkin forming. I have to remind some of the beans where they should be going.

The tomatoes in the greenhouse are merrily forming fruit. They should be ripe soon.


Raspberries! It is worth having a jungle of raspberry bushes in the corner to be able to pick bowls like this.

Miss Dog! Stop eating my raspberries!

My dear Monty, I miss you so much. Gertrude Jekyll is planted on your grave. She is utterly beautiful and a fitting tribute to the sweetest boy ever.

I've only got one delphinium and it looks gorgeous at the moment. New Year's resolution- get more delphiniums.

And finally, Johnny found these very cool snowflake cutouts. Starwars snowflakes!

Poor Johnny just fell of his bike and has a grazed knee. He is having a great time with his bike and now he has the wound to prove it. I think I'll be getting a new bike soon so that we can go on adventures together. Shame it isn't a horse, but Zanny seems to like me, and lucky for me Viv and Emily are very happy to share her with me.

Very frustrating blogging today, but I think this post is ok. I hope the changes to the blog post writing template are not permanent because I will not be pleased.

Meet my new boyfriend!

Oh my goodness, I'm in love! Meet Navarro, my newest horse friend. This photo is of my riding instructor, Celine, riding him at Scarlett Oak Equestrian Centre.

He is an appaloosa quarter horse cross, and has the classic tail and mane of an appy- very thin. Appaloosas were bred by American Indians to be easy care, apparently, and a nice thin mane and tail causes less tangles and requires little grooming. In fact his mane is like a hogged mane but soft and wispy. His tail looks much thicker in this photo than in real life. It is his "blanket" that made me so excited - he has a spotty bottom. His spots are mostly brown, but some are black, and he is roan everywhere else. I have a passion for spotty horses. So when I saw Navarro it was love at first sight.

This story gets even better. I got to ride Navarro for my lesson today, and by the time I finished I was even more in love. He was fun to get ready. He just drifted off to sleep when I groomed him, although was a bit tense when I did his hooves. I forgot to say I got my new body protector vest this morning, so, feeling a little like I was wearing a stiff life jacket, I mounted up. Navarro was an absolute pleasure to ride. He was super laid back and lazy. Fantastic. We worked on circling in and out (using the leg yield technique) which was a bit dodgy because Navarro's steering is a bit of a challenge. We trotted and trotted and I got mad with myself because I kept rolling my hands inwards. I think we used to ride like that all the time- palms down - as my hands naturally return to that position every time I think of another body part. The vest made it tricky too. I'll get used to it. Then we cantered and cantered. It was so easy because he was sooooo smooth, both at trot and canter. My bottom didn't leave the seat at canter. I also did some trot poles, which I loved with my new vest on. It really made a huge difference to my confidence, and so did Navarro. I hope I get to ride him lots and lots. Celine even said now we've got the horse for me to do pre-pre-pre baby eventing on. Now there's a goal!

Zanny arrives back from visiting her randy lothario tomorrow, so I hope to have my first ride on her very soon. I hope she likes me!

Garden and crafty news tomorrow.

More horses

It wasn't quite like this:

But I had my first jump lesson yesterday! I couldn't ride Sam because he had lost a shoe, so I rode Celine's other Sam (aka My Lovely Sam). He is a homely looking bay fellow with a (usually) quiet nature. He has one quirk- he spooks and shoots forward when he gets a fright. He did a tiny one while we were having our lesson. I spent time during my lesson just getting used to him as he felt quite different than Sam. He has a bouncier trot, and carries his head high. I didn't canter this week, but instead did trot poles. We went bounce bounce bounce over three poles. He just steps a little higher, but it took a bit of getting used to. I can't do that on Sam because he takes poles like they are a flaming pit from the bowels of Hell.

Back to the professionals. Emily probably did her first trot poles before she was out of nappies. She has come a long ways since then. I went and groomed for her at the one day event at McLean's Island today. She had a happy day with all of her horses doing a good job. She got some placings. Lewis looked very happy and powerful on the cross country course.

Introducing Evie. She is being schooled by Emily at the moment. Em doesn't usually speak highly of mares as they can be moody creatures, but she thinks Evie is something special.

She is a stunning lady.

This was her first big outing and she took everything in her stride.

She was a pleasure to work with today, and I'm looking forward to following her in the future.

Another new friend- Molly came for a visit yesterday. She reminds me of a bumblebee.

She looked so funny zipping along the windowsill.

We had to move Jasper's bed as on her last visit she ran across it and he was so offended that he wouldn't sleep on it until it had been thoroughly washed. He was rather septic for a few days too. I'd hate to see what would happen if they met face to face. Jasper would probably take her down.

It is bearded iris time. Divine.

Rose Time!

Oh how I love roses! This year's first rose is this sweet yellow climber - part of my English Rose collection, but its name is long lost. Could it be Teasing Georgia? I bought several roses at the same time about five years ago, and planted them in my old garden. I bought them here with me, and I am very glad I did, given the state of my former garden now. This lovely rose is just outside the dining room window, in the same garden bed as last year's winner, Kathryn Morley.

The good news is that I'm sure there's lots more room around here for more roses in my collection. This garden seems to be very encouraging and kind to my roses. The aphids are rather too welcoming, but I intend to have some strong words with them asap!

A little friend bought me a bunch of flowers from her grandmother's garden. Strangely, I gave another friend a bunch of flowers today, then received my own gift. I love giving bunches of my own flowers. In fact I'd love a cutting garden just for that purpose.

Look, the bearded iris' are coming out. My first yellow one is out, but I couldn't get through the thicket of rose bushes to take a photo. There are some spots in my garden (not many) that require a certain element of "suck it up and take the pain" when I want to weed. Some of my rose bushes are a unhappy about intruders in their territory.

I've had a couple of people say these are their favourite flowers in my garden at the moment. Ranunculas. Does anyone know if they have a pretty common name?

The Dutch iris' are spectacular. My favourite ones are the blues. I have clumps of mixed ones, and they go through a succession of colours- white, yellow then blue.

Blue is my favourite colour in the garden. These corydalis make me very happy. My lovely friend, Lulu, gave me another clump on Friday.

Not the best of photos, but the artichokes are tall and fabulous, surrounded by a rampant forest of flat-leafed parsley.

Today I had my ride. I'm a bit sad that I am now more frightened when riding my big boy. He didn't do anything alarming today, but Celine had to push me to challenge myself. I did work on cantering today, and did get some lovely transitions, but I had trouble getting him working for me today, and when he isn't paying attention, I worry about what he might do. I did have a lovely time, but I hate being frightened because it makes me feel weak, and reminds me of the anxiety disorder I have under control. On the very happy side, I spent some time grooming Jake. Poor Jake has a huge, ugly scar under his mane, and currently has a healing wound on his back leg, which is making progress, but is still covered in a large, protruding scab. He obviously has a less than happy past, but is a smoochy, cuddly big boy. He is an unpredictable ride, and will be going along nicely, then suddenly shoot backwards until he hits something. Alarming even for Celine. He is going to see the horsey chiropractor as the farrier thinks his hips are not aligned. Anyway, he and I had some lovely time together, and he enjoyed a good brush and stroke. He even let me do his hooves. I might make time to give him some extra attention when I visit.

The roses will be very happy with my huge bags of horse poo that I brought home today. There's plenty more where that came from.

Back in the saddle

Today I'm awarding myself a whole lot of rosettes!

Today was just perfect for riding, and Sam was in a lovely chilled out mood. He had just heard the news that he is now going to be kept as a dressage horse and for beginners, rather than as a jumping horse. Celine has realised that the behaviour he has been showing has been a reaction to being forced to do things he is not comfortable with, and he gets really stiff and sore after jumping. He won't have the racy riders on him, and I'm so relieved. He felt like my boy again. It took a bit of time for me to build up my trust in him, and when his head came up, I was initially anxious. But he really looked after me, and we did some work on sitting trot, leg yields (I realised that I haven't been using my inside leg to hold him in line) and I did my first extended trot. Yay! We had lots of cuddles and kisses. I'm so happy!!!!

The strange thing about my fall injury is that the only time when moving that I don't have any pain in my pelvis is when I'm riding. I thought it would be terrible with the rising trot, sitting correctly, and sitting trot, but I was super comfortable. Johnny thought it was probably because I was focusing so hard on riding, but I think that position didn't put pressure on the damaged bits. I haven't been to the doctor, as I think I just need time to heal up. While I was getting ready poor Erika had a horrible fall off one of the young horses, who, in protest at going slowly, reared super high and she went whump down on her back like I did. We didn't see the rear, but looked over as the horse headed back to the yards, and she was flat on her back over in the dressage arena. She is such a sweetie. She looked as stiff as me after she got up.

Johnny is looking forward to the rugby, with some trepidation. For those not at all interested in New Zealand's national sport, our All Blacks are coming up against the Australian Wallabies (one of our most hated opponents) in the semifinals of the Rugby World Cup. I have to say it- GO ALL BLACKS!!!!!!

Visiting

Today we went for a drive out to visit my horsey friends at the Butcher farm. It was so lovely to see dear Johnny (horse) feeling a bit better and looking a little fed up with box rest. Frazer, the 1 year old colt was keeping him company, and he is still fuzzy and baby-like, but getting solider and taller. I think he has the Z in Frazer because his mum is Zanny. I'm hoping to be able to ride Zanny when she comes back from visiting her handsome beau over on the West Coast. I had big cuddles with Lucy, another of Zanny's babies, now in training, but built like a cob due to her voracious appetite (I can relate to that). She is super cuddly and has a lovely warm air about her. I'm always careful to gauge mood and level of dominance or stress a horse is feeling when having pats, and never completely trust that something won't upset them. After all, horses are hugely strong and heavy and could do serious damage. Today my friend Ben was desperate for scratches due to his heavily molting coat. Here he is competing in dressage at Hororata a few months ago.

I think he is doing a rein-back. He can do a wonderful dressage test because he was a 4**** eventer (Badminton) before he retired due to illness. He is such a personality and loves lots of attention, so Viv suggested that I come out as much as I like to fuss over him and groom him. I guess you know my feelings about that idea! Today he has a very sore stone bruise on one of his front hooves. The hoof is all enclosed and if something causes a bit of bacteria to get in, then it heals over, infection builds up causing and abscess and intense pain. Emily got a hoof knife and I scratched Ben while she tried to open it up a bit. It looked like it had already burst so not much came out. She will put a poultice on. I'll go and spend some time helping Em with grooming etc and give Johnny some attention, and Ben lots of grooming and cuddles. Fantastic.

I'm having try number two to get back on Sam for a whirl around the arena tomorrow. We are going up the hill to watch rugby (or whatever) tonight. Mrs CT wants more Curly Wurly bars - I must try one as she knows a good chocolate bar when she sees one. And sad thoughts about dear Andi cat who was dearly loved by Mr and Mrs CT and family. No one hissed like her, yet was so tolerant and gentle. Goodbye Miss White Whisker. XXX

Love

Last night I played with my camera, trying out taking black and white photos. The light was very low and Miss Dog was impossible to focus on. Mr Ginger Jasper was gorgeous as usual. I love him with a passion.

He is curled up on our bed at the moment. He has to ask to be lifted up. He has a dear little expressive voice and loves to have conversations with me.

He is perfection.

I didn't ride today, but I was all geared up to (literally). I went over to Celine's and Sam and I got ready. Then the hay truck arrived. With big loader following. Then a man came over from next door and said he was about to start chopping a tree down near the boundary and didn't want to alarm the horses. He got his chainsaw out. Sam and I were all ready, and while Celine moved the horses away from chainsaw man, I walked him around the arena for about 5 minutes on foot. When Celine came over we both looked at each other and said "not a good idea" because Sam was fizzing again and the noise was horrible from everywhere. So we undressed Sam and put him in his paddock. I said to myself that at least I got to spend ages grooming him. I am feeling pretty frustrated. Celine is hoping everything will be perfect for my lesson on Sunday. Johnny says I have to be patient. I'm a bit scared that Sam is developing some bad habits because being a riding school horse doesn't suit him. Then I won't be able to ride him anymore.

I heard that darling Johnny (horse), who hurt his stifle at the event last weekend has actually chipped the bone in his stifle. Apparently it is like a knee on a human. He has to be on box rest for a while. It is not good news, but he can recover fully, all going well. Poor man. I am dying to visit him. Plus I want to see some of my other horsey friends that live with him.

Windy wind

Today is very windy. It is an awful easterly wind, cold and strong. Apart from a short time outside helping Johnny repair a panel on my greenhouse, which blew out in the wind, I lurked inside all day. I spotted this wee poppet a few days ago.

I'm glad it wasn't windy yesterday because it was a horse day. The Eventing Canterbury ODE at McLean's Island, and I was doing grooming for the Butcher team again. I wasn't sure which horses Emily would be riding, or if Frank would be there with Viv, as he hasn't been 100%. It turned out that all of the same boys were there as last time- Johnny, Frank, Chippie, Storm and Lewis. I didn't want to let my cold hold me back, and I did pretty well.

Lewis looked gorgeous anticipating his dressage.

I was studying Emily intently. See how she sits with her body tilted back so far. Apparently she rode for one of the American Olympic eventers for a year and came back with this position. It shifts her weight back and means she supports herself more, plus encourages impulsion from the hind-quarters. Complicated business, riding.

In the jumping she has her body tilted more forward, but shifts her weight back to slow her horse between jumps. This is Storm in action. He is quite little, and just right for lovely cuddles. He is absolutely sweet to handle.

He got a pat for doing a good round. Emily always stops her horses after each round and leaves the arena with dignity, unlike some.

This is Chippie jumping. He's rather an anxious creature. He apparently didn't have the most auspicious arrival as an unbroken youngster. The truck driver parked too close to the hedge and opened up the side of the truck. Chippie didn't know what to do and tried to launch himself off the side of the truck and over the hedge. He knocked out the truck driver in the process and headed off down the road at high speed. I haven't had any problems handling him, which Emily says is because I move slowly and quietly around him. Apparently he goes berserk if he gets a fright, and does a full-on bucking bronco routine when he gets upset with Emily when she is riding him. She says it is terrifying, which is amazing coming from her!

Finally, here's Lewis jumping. Gosh he is such a big boy, but lovely to handle.

The jumps looked really big to me, but I haven't been to a showjumping event where they jump much higher yet. Must look into that. I am so pleased that I have discovered the world of horse events because I absolutely love going, even when Johnny doesn't want to go. Yesterday, when I wasn't grooming, I decided to take Em's dog, Mack, for a walk so he could watch his mummy ride. She was so pleased to see him out and about as he was waiting in the truck. I took all of the jumping photos with him watching at my feet.

The only sad note of the day was darling Johnny (horse, not husband) caught his stifle on a cross country jump and was injured. The stifle is at the front of what you could say is the horse's thigh. He skinned it and was very lame. Poor man. I gave him lots of cuddles. Emily was very upset but didn't cry like I would have done because she is pretty tough in the face of adversity. He got vet treatment immediately and is expected to be back in action in a couple of weeks.

As I said, I lay low today, just trying to get rid of my cold. Don't worry Nanny- no sign of a nasty cough. I did a bit of work on this project, which is a present for someone. I'll show you the finished article before long, I hope.

I've got masses of things to go on with, but I hope this wind stops soon.

Growth

Exciting things are happening in the Vegetable Empire. Tiny seedlings are emerging.

Bok Choi (can't remember how to spell it), caged.

Spinach, also caged. No, not too keep birds away. To keep Jasper from using the garden as his personal bathroom, which then encourages Miss Dog to climb onto the raised beds, hunting for disgusting things to snack on. Foul dog. No wonder her breath would make these wee plants shrivel.

Look- teeny, tiny radish seedlings. Sometimes my radishes go straight to seed. That's what happens when you don't water regularly.

On Sunday I could just see the first signs of these rainbow chard appearing, and look at them today. Three days growth. I'm planning to plant a forest of these under the red maple. I'm imaging a sea of glossy, crinkled leaves with colourful stems. Hopefully the weeds won't be able to compete.

I've been wanting to grow these for a long, long time. They are blue morning glories. I'm impressed with their enthusiasm!

Now, can you tell me what this is?

I think it looks remarkably like some anatomical specimen. This is a rhubarb plant, just starting to come back to life after winter. I'm trying to decide where to plant it as it had to be dug out to make room for the greenhouse. It looks happy enough, waiting for a new home.

This weekend is going to be rather exciting. I'm riding after school on Friday, then on Saturday the Crafty Neighbour and I are off to a craft show thing, which will have lots of quilting retailer's stalls. On Sunday I am grooming for Emily Cammock (nee. Butcher) at the big one day event at the National Equestrian Centre. I'm not sure which of my horsey friends she will be riding, but I'll enjoy looking after any of them. I'm pleased because Johnny is coming along to do some filming and photography for Emily. I really miss him when we have too much time apart. He went to camp on Monday night, and that was enough time missing him for one week.

School is going really well this week. I've won a few battles, had lots of laughs, and enjoyed the little family we have in our classroom. For some reason this week seems to be dragging on a bit, but I guess that is because I am looking forward to the weekend so much.

Introducing...

First up- Scarlett Oak Equestrian. My lovely riding school is finally officially open today. I was very excited to go there today for my lesson. My darling big boy Sam was very pleased to see me. He had a lovely warm, happy expression. I am allowed to groom him and get his gear out and tack him up by myself. After our lesson I untack him and wash him down, then get him ready to go back to his paddock. My instructor, Celine, knows how much I love him, and she lets me pretend he's mine and spoil him. I gave him a lovely massaging rub to get some more of his winter coat out, as he is shedding like mad. He was almost groaning with pleasure. Today most of the horses were down in the yards, so I enjoyed chatting to them all. Tonto was a wee monster and didn't want to be caught and brought down to the yards. He is a little skewbald (brown and white patchy) Shetland pony. Celine and her two staff had been trying to catch him for 1/2 an hour when I got there. I gave them a hand, and a good idea, and he was soon in custody, with a belligerent expression on his face.

Today I worked on a dressage move called "shoulder in" which is a tricky business. Not as tricky as getting cantering right. I'm learning some challenging moves as Sam is quite a talented dressage boy, even though he isn't what is called a "push button horse." That means you have to actually ride him properly and intelligently to get the best out of him, which makes him great to learn on. I get all excited when we do clever things. I think Celine is a real inspiration because she has achieved so much so far. I really hope Scarlett Oak Equestrian is a huge success, and that I get to be a part of that with my darling Sam.

For my second introduction of the day, please meet Mrs. S.D. Sherriff. I've decided to experiment with a bit of old fashioned cookery and thought that Mrs. Sherriff would be a trusty guide. After all, her qualifications and experience (the women's division of the Federated Farmers, no less) speak for themselves.

This is her cookbook. I think it was among either Grandma or Aunt Beth's belongings. Who wouldn't be impressed by that collection of colourful food items on the cover? This wee gem comes with a first aid guide, complete with a paragraph on rescue breathing, and advice on how to deal with a black eye (cold compress or ice) and lightning strike (dash cold water over victim). On the recipe front, there are many classics, perfect for experimenting with. There are a few I wouldn't touch with a lunging whip- liver loaf, brain fritters, mutton broth and kidney soup.

Today I decided some cheesy, herby scones might be yummy pre and post horse riding. Mrs. Sherriff has a simple cheese scone recipe, and I have a herb garden and some parmesan and vintage cheddar cheese.

I picked some Italian flat leafed parsley, red spring onion leaves, thyme, and a tiny amount of sage, marjoram and rosemary. Plus a clove of garlic.

I cup of flour and 2 teaspoons of baking powder sifted with 1/4 teaspoon salt.

I rubbed in a big tablespoon (serving spoon sized) of butter.

Butter rubbed in.

In went the herbs, some cheese and pepper. Mrs. Sherriff said 1/4 cup of grated cheese. I took a few liberties with her instructions at this point.

I poured in enough milk to make a soft dough.

Then I lightly kneaded and patted the dough out, and cut it. The scones went on a floured tray and into a "hot" oven.

Yum. Out they came after about 13 minutes. I think 10 would have been enough.

Hot scones with butter. The perfect brunch. Thank you Mrs. Sherriff. I wonder what we shall do together next time?

My darling Johnny had an awful headache today. He was seeing lights and felt sick. A migraine, I think. Poor sweetie had to spend most of the day in bed. I think he has been exposed to too much Rugby World Cup and needs to lay off watching it. Since last night was the opening ceremony and we've got about 7 weeks to go, it is going to be hard for him to take my advice. I find it terribly traumatic watching the games because I find them very dull, but want our team to win so badly that I get stressed when they don't. I've got the perfect solution- crafting!

Tomorrow I hope to get outside for some close inspection of my daffodils, and to plant the first tomatoes and cucumbers in my greenhouse. I love weekends so much!