Sometimes You're Thrown A Curve Ball

A Lovely Hack In The Sunshine, Although I Did Unintentionally Find All Of The Gears This Horse Has - Lively To Say The Least!

Two days ago we had 7 inches of snow at home, and the driveway was as slippery and steep as a luge run, but two nights of rain, raised temperatures and it is all gone. The yard where I have been riding these last few weeks has managed to keep it's arena open during the snowy period, although turnout has been abandoned due to very soggy paddocks.

Yesterday, I rode in the arena on the flat trying to work on my balance, and the horse's acceptance.  This went reasonably well, but as I'm quickly coming to realise, I still have some way to go to get my core stability back. As I noted before I've been totally spoilt by the very balanced and accepting horse I've recently retired, which means I have to work even harder with this temporary loan horse that is a very nice mover, but a little less forgiving of me, and perhaps needs a little schooling on the flat.

Second Lifers - OTTB Advice From An Expert Panel

The Retraining Of Racehorses Class Winner At Barbury Castle Horse Trials 2010

ROR Expert Panel

I'm not seriously considering taking on an ex-racehorse as my next event horse, but the ROR (Retraining Of Racehorses) seminar I attended this evening on that very subject was very interesting nevertheless.

ROR is British Horseracing's very serious and credible charitable initiative aimed at providing viable second careers for "Off The Track Thoroughbreds" and has been running a range of activities to this end for a little over 12 years now. Tonight's talk was all about the things you need to consider when taking on a an ex-racehorse for a second career.

New Year, New Horse (sort of), New Resolutions - A Plan At Last

Horses - More Rewarding Than Gym Membership

Gym memberships are all the rage at New Year, but quite frankly the thought of running on a treadmill, or 'benching weights' just ain't my bag. The retirement of my beautiful white charger and extended overseas travel last year saw me gain weight, although thankfully I've managed to keep the same notch on my belt, but it was time to get back riding before I lost the will to live.

Like many equestrian folk, once it's in your blood, it's in your blood, so top of my New Year's resolutions agenda was to get back in the saddle and around horses ASAP. I needed to buy a new horse, but I needed to get back in the saddle before I went looking for something to buy. Almost a year out of the saddle and trying new horses, would be tempting fate! I'm am looking for a new horse, but gone are the days when I would merrily take anyone's cast off because it was cheap and offered to me on a plate. That can be a whole heap of pain and hard work, and I need to work to keep a horse so I need  to be in control of the dismount (not leave this to the horse). I'm a lot fussier these days and not getting any younger.