Lancey's Spa Week

After a busy weekend, Lancey had last Monday off and then lunged on Tuesday afternoon. He was a bit of a pain to lunge, honestly. My usual setup -- elastic side reins on the bottom ring of the roller, between the front legs -- was really great at getting him to stretch and soften instead of running around in his patented Arab PoseTM, but he's starting to get really heavy on his forehand in it. I have my Pessoa back now and I'm intrigued to try him in it next time he lunges; I think there will be some shenanigans at first but once that is over he might bring his bottom underneath him much better.

Thunder lunged on the Monday, and on the Tuesday, I schooled him. We worked hard on getting that change from left to right more through, and on the videos, I saw a huge improvement. He gave me several really nice, through, relaxed, expressive changes on that side. We also worked on the half-passes briefly, especially in trot, and he continued to feel much better.

On Wednesday EM came over for a ride and we had a great time. She took Flashy -- she is hoping to find her own horse soon, but Flashy will be showing her the ropes for now -- and we had a lovely long walk/trot in the sunshine with the doggies all around, chatting about life and people and God. I think that this might be one of the biggest gifts the Lord has given me when He gave me horses: this safe space to talk and enjoy deep and silly conversations with the rhythm of a horse to punctuate it all. I wouldn't call myself socially anxious but I do have a hard time connecting with people, but when I'm on a horse it all just disappears. EM is lovely, too, and we go back a long way, so it was just wholesome and happy and good. Flashy was a bit resistant at first until Lancey and I crashed into the bushes and I broke off a switch for EM, and once he'd had one flick around the bottom and we took a nice long trot, he actually pricked up his ears and began to enjoy himself hugely. EM has been good for him.

Lancey, of course, didn't put a foot wrong the whole time and I don't think I ever actually put both hands on the reins. He was more than happy to trade his enormous Arab trot for a quieter rhythm to keep in step with Flashy.

That afternoon, the dentist came over and checked everyone's teeth. To my great relief, we only had a handful that needed to be done. Lancey happened to be one of them. My current dentist uses power tools and so he checks my whole yard each time but normally only floats every 12-18 months to avoid taking off too much. Skye hasn't been done in ages but he said that there's so little tooth left that it doesn't really wear down anymore, so he's not going to mess with it unless there are sharp edges. The only ones of mine that needed to be done were Faith and Lancey. Neither were terrible, so it was all very routine. With the most minimal sedation they both actually behaved perfectly (we won't talk about Shaila who put up a terrific fuss even with sedation). Lancey hardly moved a muscle. He was a tiny bit sharper on his right, which is the side he's wary of connecting to, so it could be either cause or effect of his unwillingness to take the bit on that side. Either way, it does seem better now.

Thunder had Wednesday off because it was hectic with the dentist being around, but I did lunge him on Thursday morning, increasing the intensity and adding a lot more spirals and transitions but sticking with 16 minutes in total.

I honestly don't even remember what Lancey did on Thursday, I think I may have lunged him again? Or maybe he had the day off, it was a busy one. Either way, on Friday morning everything was very hectic. The vet came to do microchips and scans at the same moment as Chiro J arrived. They'd both been very busy and I was lucky to get appointments at all, so between Madela and I we just had to swing it. It all worked out in the end. Dr. K (a gift to horse-kind, honestly) put chips into Rose, Lassie and Wynnie and took hair samples for their DNA. Then she scanned Rene, whose baby is chugging along great, and had a look at a weird spot on Dawn's jaw that might need to be cut out at some point.

Wynnie also got her first tiny plaits and stood moderately still for 10 whole minutes, which is a long time when you're five months old

Chiro J was just as busy. He worked on Jamaica, who was a bit desperate for it, and then on Bullet and checked out Faith who is about to come back into work. Faith surprised us both by not needing any work done whatsoever, even though she conceived by live cover in the field and then had a little trouble giving birth.

Finally, I had him check out that asymmetrical feeling Lancey has been giving me since he came back into work. I could easily feel it even walking on the buckle on the trails, so I was pretty sure it was coming from somewhere back in his body, probably his sacrum (which has a habit of doing funky things). Sure enough, his sacrum was misaligned on the left, and he also had two lumbar vertebrae rotated to the left, with two ribs on the left and one rib on the right misaligned. He also had a little tightness in the middle of his right neck.

That was the end of Lancey's Week of Costing Mother Lots of Money, but he did feel significantly better afterwards -- which I'll talk about later. He had Friday and the weekend off to let everything settle after chiro, but I put Jamaica's kid on Thunder in her jumping lesson that afternoon because her horse was also off after chiro, and he had a blast jumping through a gymnastic and letting her push all the fun buttons. She rode up to Elementary on Jamaica so she really enjoyed riding half-passes and flying changes, even though his changes were dead lazy with her (on the aid but always late behind), little bugger.

God is good!

Skeptical Wynnie

Lancelot Meets His Father

 It was so good to be able to work Thunder every day last week, and just as good to spend plenty of time with Lancey, too. I actually can't remember the last time that I was able to work both the boys every day. I've been rushed off my feet -- through absolutely no one's fault except my own -- since I was a teenager, and burnout had just become my MO. This lifestyle change has been amazing, but I know that it's not good enough to last on its own. I've got to change the way I think and interact with work, people and responsibility, and even though I'm feeling really happy and healthy right now, I've got a session booked with my counsellor again this week.

It's odd because I feel like there is a dreadful disconnect between what I believe (and truly do believe) and what I apply to myself. Or maybe it's not odd at all. I suppose that might just be the constant quest of sanctification: to actually behave true to who we really are in Christ.

Anyway, so last week was awesome, and Lancey was a major part of that. I'm not pressurizing myself right now to school him or compete him or do any of those things right now. I have the time but I think it might be a while before I have the mental and emotional energy for more dressage. Instead, Lancey and I are just really enjoying ourselves, and I'm not pushing myself to ride him every day or stick to any kind of a program beyond just building up his fitness slowly and kindly in a healthy way.

So we skipped Monday, because I had some things to do around the house and in town (ugh my poor house is so neglected but I'm busy fixing that), and then on Tuesday I just gave him a quick lunge. It was immediately obvious that he's lost a lot of strength, considering his work schedule has been patchy all year. He leaned on the side reins quite a lot and had some trouble holding his canter. Although he was barely breathless or sweaty, I kept it short, only 5 minutes trot and about 2 minutes canter each side, to avoid making his muscles stiff or achy. We may stay away from arena work completely for a couple of months and just lunge and hack until his strength returns and we can work well again, or it will get frustrating for the both of us.

Wednesday was my lesson on Thunder in the afternoon, so Lancey got Thunder's morning spot and we went out for a ride with all the doggies. I sort of expected myself to be very nervous since I hadn't ridden out alone in a while and he was still a bit fresh, and I spent the whole ride waiting to get nervous, but I never did. We went down along the woods to the partly-harvested mielie fields, investigated a giant blob of stuff that I'd seen from the house (turned out to be a huge heap of weeds that had been cut), and then headed west along the fields. Harvested fields are so nice to ride on -- stubble, I believe it would be called if I were English or at least a little more classy -- and it wasn't long before that horizon called our name so I asked him to canter. He threw his head a bit like he was thinking of bucking but I just gently asked him not to and he complied by flowing into his happiest canter. The going was a little uneven and slightly deep (like, arena deep, not scary deep) but he surged across the fields for several minutes without breaking a sweat. The doggies, however, had a little more trouble. Titan and Isaiah were sinking down to their bellies and thoroughly tired by the time we reached the end of the third mielie field.

They were harvesting in the fourth field, the westernmost one, and I wanted to go closer and see (Lancey didn't care one bit about the noisy, clanking harvester) but the doggies decided to bark at the poor guys who were working there so I called them and turned around before they could get any closer. They're not absolutely perfect off lead, which is why I'll never take them off lead anywhere other than our own farm, but they do stay close so they were quick to follow me once we started trotting back along the long north road that runs along the top of all the mielie fields from one end of the farm to the other.

It was tempting to canter this bit, but Lancey does need some muscle, so I asked him for a good medium trot and asked him to stay in a nice posture as well. He lost his balance a couple of times and pulled down, but was more than happy to try, and we trotted all the way back to the woods. By then he was rather puffed, and so was Blizzy, which worries me a little because she is getting on in years but used to be the fittest of them all. They're due for their shots soon so the vet will give her a once-over when we're there.

We walked back on a loose, floppy rein enjoying the morning sunshine through the trees. He was absolutely perfect. Not a spook in sight, and of course so happy to do whatever I asked, whether that was cantering a long way or walking on the buckle. I don't know what I would do without Lancey because he might just be the most perfect horse for me that I've ever had. 

After he had a nice bath on Thursday, I sorted out his mane and then schooled him briefly in my lunch break. I really am going to have to clip the little monster quite soon because I can't stand it when he's dirty, and he's almost pure white by this point, so he's always dirty. Anyway, he was beautiful and clean for almost an entire day. His schooling was willing but he definitely felt weak especially in his trot work and lateral work, and there's some kind of asymmetry going on that the chiro is going to have to fix for us -- I don't think he's in pain but he keeps wanting to hold his quarters to the right and tip me onto his left shoulder. Hence the break from schooling for a few weeks while we build his strength and fitness on the lunge and trails. There's no point schooling him until he's strong enough to do the things he actually knows how to do. 

He had Friday off because we had a very fun and busy weekend planned, starting on Saturday morning with a ride at the Arab stud down the road, which I ran for a year and a half in 2018-2020. It's only about 3-4km from us so normally we ride over when we join a ride there, but I had my sister along, and while she's a very competent rider she also wasn't very riding fit so I didn't think going all the way there and back would be particularly fun. Instead we tossed Lancey and Flash into the horsebox and drove the five minutes there.

We parked on the familiar beautiful green lawn at the front of the gorgeous property, where Lancey was actually born and raised for the first three years of his life before coming to me. He seemed pretty unbothered with being back at his original home, and we quickly saddled up and sprayed some fly stuff before scrambling aboard and joining a nice group of competent adult riders. 

I was still very nervous when I was working at this yard so I never really had the chance to explore and enjoy the utterly divine trails they have, and I was excited to see more of it from my trusty little Lancey's back. Our guide, S, the manager and tenant there, led us happily off down the driveway and I got to see some of the babies I foaled and halter trained playing in the fields. We also paused to take a picture of Lancey with his sire, British import Silvern Lance, born at Belvoir Castle. Big Lance is very similar in personality to my Little Lancey, and they regarded each other with mild interest before we headed on.

Silvern Lance in the background

It wasn't a long or strenuous ride, just perfect for getting him fitter and having a nice Saturday out with my sister. Flashy, of course, didn't put a toe wrong all day. Except for a nice long trot up the first hill we walked the rest of the way, admiring the blesbok and zebras, both of which Lancey completely ignored. 

We rode through a gap in the hills and ended up looking down at the back of our farm and our neighbours', a totally breathtaking view.

Then we turned and walked back towards the road, following the fence line to the yard. A few cars came past but Lancey didn't even flick an ear. Maybe we will get him traffic safe after all.

Back at the yard, we still had some time to fill. The others took their horses for a long gallop up this lovely stretch they have in front of the paddocks. We opted out of that one and Lancey and Flash both stood on a loose rein, watching. Then we trotted and cantered up and down their banks a few times and the others did a spot of jumping so I hiked up my stirrups and popped him over a few little things as well. I haven't actually jumped a fence in a very long time but he was game for it and I didn't fall off so that's something lol. We also walked down to explore the little poplar wood at the bottom of the property, which is quite spooky but both Lancey and Flash were fine.

He self-loaded for the first time afterwards and we took them home in high spirits.

The picnic spot

On Sunday, one of the yard kiddos turned 13, and opted to spend her birthday riding around the farm and having a picnic. I took out a lovely group of the stableyard preteens and they all had a blast. Red's owner is still a bit wobbly up there so I ponied him the entire way, but I needn't have worried. Red was foot perfect even when I sent the other kids off for a canter.

Lancey, of course, was extremely well behaved and didn't mind ponying at all. He did get a tiny bit excited when we walked up to rejoin the cantering group, which unnerved me a little, but to be honest it was hardly anything. He jogged a bit and swung his haunches once. I kept him very easily under control with one hand on the reins and there was no pulling. So it was a non-event really.

Such a good Reddy

I dropped the kiddos off at a picnic spot and cantered home with no drama, Lancey not in the least bothered to leave his here and go home. The kiddos had a nice picnic without boring old auntie Firn hovering over them, and I rode back a while later to fetch them. He was, again, super happy to canter over and get them.

It was a really fun and successful week on my BEST little guy. I'm just blessed out of my socks to have him and really excited to enjoy more Lancey adventures this winter!

God is so good. 

Thunder Goes Back to Work

 Truth be told, Thunder has done hardly anything since we rode EM 1 and 2 at a small local show in the beginning of March. Let's not get into the chaos my life had become by then. My new routine started this week, once SANESA Q3 was behind us, and so Thunder found himself back in a real schedule for the first time in ages.

Our new routine is lovely. After morning stables -- I check everyone and sort out 2 sets of manes and tails each day, while the guys feed -- I have coffee with my parents and then I bring Thunder out from his stable and take my time giving him a nice long grooming. Then we work, and after work he gets a good shower, fly spray, all his fly gear put on and turned out in the field. His field is roomy with a big tree in it and lots of grass, and it's right in front of my house and next to the arena, so I watch him all day while writing and teaching. Then he gets nose kisses at evening check.

so glad I could finally get Shaila's hair under control bc she has SO MUCH OF IT wow

Of course, the big guy is thoroughly unfit, so we started slow. True to his Friesian blood, Thunder has a real tendency to hold his muscular strength and tone well, but loses cardio fitness and stamina extremely fast. (Lancey is the carbon opposite -- his base level of cardio fitness is high and he loses it very slowly, while muscle simply melts off him within a couple of weeks off). Practically, this means that Thunder is able to perform all of his movements almost immediately after coming back to work, but only once or twice, then he's tuckered out. So we started on Monday with what was supposed to be a nice gentle lunge and became a complete rodeo for the first 10 minutes or so during which I was dragged hither and thither across the arena by my usually sweet and sane horse. Thanks for nothing, bro. Nonetheless, he settled perfectly after getting the bucks out, and we made it through 5 minutes trot and 3 minutes canter on each rein without further incident. He was pretty puffed afterwards but seemed happy to have exercised.

Tuesday we schooled a little. I was still sort of sick after a bout of dreadful pharyngitis (still on pills for it, ugh) and we kept it very short. We just played with my position and did a few changes, practicing that change from left to right, which can be late behind. He gave me a few really good ones and then I called it a day. I really wanted to keep playing with the pirouettes, but that will all have to wait until he's back to full strength. We did one picture-perfect line of 4-tempis so that was nice.

I put videos on Instagram with epic music @ridingonwater

I was supposed to have a lesson on Wednesday, but completely failed to read the times properly when Coach W's helper sent them to me. Instead of reading "12:00 to 12:45, Firn" I read "12:45, Firn". So the beloved, Thunder and I merrily pitched up to the Friesians' home a few minutes before my lesson was due to end. Major facepalm on my part. Coach W was so sweet about it but obviously had other things to do so we missed out on that one. Instead, I saddled TBird up anyway and we rode around with K who was on Miss Sassy. They'd set up some cavalettis in the arena -- one line of 4 trot poles on the ground, and then another line of 5 trot poles, alternating ends raised on the flat side of cavalettis -- so we played with those.

For the first time in a REALLY long time, Thunder was sort of difficult to ride, but it wasn't his fault. A bunch of baboons had come down from the Suikerbosrand and were arguing and shrieking up and down the hillside. Miss Sassy grew up with them and was totally unperturbed, but Thunder was SIGNIFICANTLY perturbed. That is to say, he threw his head up to stare at them, stopped a few times to look, and once felt like he might scoot but didn't. I joked with K that this was exactly why I switched to the army life -- my horse was being unbelievably spooky for him and K didn't even notice he was being spooky at all. Of course, he's a good big grownup boy, so we worked through it. I did compromise by staying away from the baboon corner. They freak me out too honestly and I was still a bit flat, sickly and tired and not in the mood to spend our entire ride learning to like baboons up close.

my position has a long way to go but look how perfect he's being

We had fun playing with the cavalettis instead. He tired quickly over these, so we finished up with a little canter work to show off our tempis to K, but he was tired by then and only managed a couple of good ones before he started to get late behind. We promptly cooled off, enjoying chatting with K, and with Miss Sassy's chill influence we did walk past the baboons nice and calmly. Good boy.

As an aside, he was AMAZING to load both times on Wednesday. He has been sort of a pain to load for a long time, and the beloved has grown rather tired of putting a lunge line behind him. One can tell he's not fearful, though -- he just knows he's allowed to stand on the ramp and make his dad shove his bum. I used a dressage whip a couple of times, which I never like, but just to reinforce the thought that we walk directly into the box without making any fuss. I only actually used it on him once, after that he's been totally divine, and the whole thing is more pleasant and less stressful for all of us. Again: clarity. Never roughness, just clarity of expectation. Once he knew exactly what was asked of him, he was happy to do it.

Thursday we lunged again, 5 minutes trot and 3 minutes canter on each rein. I keep it quite easy with a minimum of transitions at the moment, and all on a big circle, 18-20m. Next week I won't add more time but I'll do slightly more intensity with more transitions and spirals in trot and canter. He was his usual exemplary self for the lungeing.

I expected him to be tired on Friday, but he actually felt pretty awesome, although he felt just the tiniest bit stiff at first and didn't stretch nicely in trot until we were a few minutes in. Truth be told I was a bit stiff too so we warmed up slowly and did a bunch of stretchy canter as well until we both felt nice and loose. Then we schooled the lateral work for the first time in a while. I'm working on making my aids smaller and softer especially for shoulder-in, loosening my seat and using it more than my supporting inside leg. Thunder responds well to the smaller aids, I'm just... really bad at giving them lol. But it's getting better.

he likes to have a good look around at the world as I get ready to mount so it's a photo op every morning

We also did some travers and half-passes and I could feel he was getting tired towards the end of the half-passes, losing his quarters and stiffening a little on the outside rein. So, after a long walk break, we finished up with a few canter half-passes. Advanced has brutal canter half-passes -- H-B all the way across the arena -- and he impressed me by making it easily H-P even though he's unfit. We did a couple of those and then started to get late behind in his changes, so I knew we were done and he had a nice long stretchy walk before his shower.

I need to post pics of my amazing new reins which came in a big bag of hand-me-downs and is a gift from Heaven honestly

As an aside, the kids lost my dressage whip at SANESA, so I didn't actually ride him with a whip once except on Wednesday. My big boy is so forward!!

It was so good to be able to enjoy the big guy every day and just be together again the way we've always been. Our journey so far has been really special and I love that we can enjoy it together again.

God is good!

Climbing Mountains With the Volunteers

Recently, friend EM (not Erin, another lovely friend whose name also begins with E) and I were trying to figure out how long I've been part of the local volunteer first responders. The consensus was it's been either five-and-a-half or six years, which feels like an inordinately long time and also like no time at all.

Anyway, one of my favorite things about being a volunteer is that we get to go to sporting events as first aid support. Mostly this means sitting under a gazebo watching primary school rugby and occasionally coaching a hyperventilating child to stop, but occasionally we get hikes or mountain bike races that take place in some really gnarly terrain. And so the Heidelberg Volunteer Mounted Unit was born.

We haven't done a mounted event in a while, not since Lancey became my go-to (I always took a school pony), but when EM asked me to bring two horses to a hike in the mountains, I was more than happy to make this Lancey's debut in the mounted unit. It would be a good testing ground for him, although I was pretty sure he would be great. Mounted unit horses don't really have to cope with crowds and such, but they do need to be willing to go practically anywhere you ask and then stand very still if one is tending a patient, both some of Lancey's best attributes. And as it turned out, the former would be tested to the limit on this ride.

We were joined by Flash, ridden by EM. It was right in the end of April while I was still running myself absolutely ragged and so we arrived slightly late with two very grubby ponies, but we managed to get saddled up and onto the trail just as the last runners/hikers were heading out.

Immediately as we set off up the first major hill, I realized that I had absolutely nothing to worry about in terms of horses. Lancey was immediately calm and happy to be working, powering up the hill in that gear that only Arabians seem to have. Flash, too, was being his usual exemplary self. EM hasn't ridden much in recent years but they immediately got along and we were a happy group heading up the hill.

When we reached the top, a knot of hikers had gathered at the viewpoint. The horses had a bite of grass as we waited for the hikers to disperse safely.

Then we rode up to the edge ourselves to look down at a glorious river valley below.

It was after this that things got a little hairy. We continued to follow the hiking trail down the other side of the hill, and it wasn't long before we were descending sharply on a very rocky trail clearly designed more for human feet than horse feet. Lancey, bless his perfect heart, was more than game to head on down, and placed those little hooves of him exactly right for a very sharp downhill where he seldom had more than a hoof's width of room. We also squeezed between a bunch of trees; there were places I had to lie flat on his neck. Poor EM and Flash were right behind us, Flash content to do whatever Lancey did, true to his school-pony nature.

At one point we had to climb down a steep rock shelf about 60cm high onto another rock, and I hopped down to help Lancey, who scrabbled after me with a willing heart. We had to leave the actual trail then -- it was just too rocky -- and ride around it, scrambling through holes and weeds and rocks until we reached the bottom.

Lancey and I were both really breathless when we got there, but I was very impressed. There had been places where I had to use my hands to balance my way down, reins hooked over my arm, so I can't imagine how difficult Lancey was finding the terrain. Still, he didn't protest at all, following me willingly all the way.

When I looked back up, Flashy and EM were still at the top, Flashy regarding me with a pleading look in his eyes. We could have gotten them both down with us, too, but EM and I decided that -- since it was only a 5km loop -- it would be safer to ride the loop the other way, and not risk scrabbling down the hill unless someone got hurt and needed us. Bringing the horses had definitely been a good idea. There is no way we would have gotten any other kind of vehicle down there; if there had been trouble, they would have been by far the fastest way to reach it.

I got back on Lancey and pointed him up the hill, expecting to pick our way slowly back to EM and Flashy. Instead, when I clucked at him and loosened the reins, Lancey found a whole other gear and powered his way up there at a brisk pace. It was amazing. I don't think I've ever ridden a horse who could have done it like that.

My little 4x4 pony. It was such a great feeling, and a terrific shock to realize I wasn't scared a bit. I was excited to climb that hill with him. I wanted to do more than just walk on the buckle, and that was rather a revelation because for absolute years I have been terrified by doing anything else. But this was downright fun, and all because of the good little Arab under me.

We tried to ride the trail in reverse, but this was equally unsuccessful; in fact there were places I was almost on my hands and knees with Lancey gamely scrabbling along behind. This mission was summarily aborted when we saw that there was another way to reach the top, not coming over the hill, but nonetheless accessible. The trail was hectic on the way back, too. Brush and trees had grown so close over it that there were extended stretches where I had to pull my first aid bag off my back and dangle it under Lancey's neck, lying on his shoulders myself with my arms around his neck. Even so, the branches scraped along both my knees and my back. Muffled cursing behind me indicated that the taller EM on the wider Flashy was having rather a difficult time.

This difficulty intensified when I encountered a gigantic golden orb weaver in the middle of her enormous, beautiful web exactly at face height. Golden orb weavers are completely harmless, but EM is a giant arachnophobe, so she was less enthused about my encouragement to "just duck". Luckily, Flashy was not interested in stopping at that point, so poor EM didn't have much choice other than to duck for her life.

After this, someone reported a missing person, and indicated he may have wandered off along a track leading down the valley into thick fog. I had no idea whose land this was, but we had to try to find him. We set off, shouting into the fog. It was very wet here and much of the road was covered in puddles; I had to get off to get Lancey through the large puddle by the gate, but he handled the rest of them fairly well, skirting around them where he could but deigning to go through the smallest ones where he had to. Flash didn't care. He just slopped right on through.

After a nerve-wracking half-hour or so, the missing person turned back up at the base, so we turned around and trotted back to look after our hikers. By this point, most of them were back anyway, but we took another quick ride up to the viewpoint to make sure there were no stragglers (and also to take pictures).

The beloved was happy because he got to drive this little buggy thingy.

Epic beloved posing epically. Lancey wouldn't get particularly close because he said the wooden platform was Scary.

Your hour of need -- the most important 60 minutes of our day 💛

Amazing riding buddy 💜 And also the best school pony ever to grace this earth.

More of the beloved zooming around in the buggy.

With all the hikers safely home, we rode back to the base and gave the horses some well-deserved grass and water. The admiring volunteers crowded around to ask the standard non-horsy-people questions and pet them. Regrettably our rookie decided to do this while holding a tray of coffee directly over Flashy's head, and when Flashy raised his head to say hello, the rookie was summarily baptized in coffee. He is therefore now responsible for bringing coffee to the rest of us until the end of time, by the power vested in Flashy.

Somehow EM's stethoscope stayed around her neck the whole time -- she is such a pro

It was a very satisfying way to spend the morning gallivanting around on horseback serving the community. What was more, the volunteers kindly decided that the proceeds from the hike (we volunteer at true emergencies, but our events division is paid and certainly helps us to replace equipment and consumables, not to mention fuel) would be given to the horsies for their efforts. Flash got a brand new blanket and is in the running for a new browband, too. I still have to decide what Lancey will get. Maybe a nice new stable rug, if I can find a secondhand one.

God is so good.

April Photos

Autumn is firmly here now, and with it, a lot of changes. I have officially left the professional dressage world behind. I loved, LOVED working with the Friesians -- the horses, the people, the incredible experiences, it was all just amazing. But at the end of the day... my writing career has seriously taken off of late, and I simply do not have 25 hours in the day. After a lot of prayer and deliberation (and even some therapy) I realized that as much as I have adored the Friesians, the Lord has something different in mind for me now. I am so grateful for the experiences I have had there, but I've grown into something that is not a professional dressage rider.

It's hard to explain because it has nothing to do with skills -- I still feel I can become a top rider if I keep at it, and I continue to strive to ride the highest levels someday -- and even less to do with the environment I was in. It was a wonderful environment, with amazing people and fantastic horses. I just... realized it's not my dream anymore. I want to ride dressage and do it at the highest level, but not with all the baggage that comes with doing it professionally. And since God has so graciously opened the writing door for me, allowing me to almost halve my working hours while almost doubling my income, I have the opportunity to do just that.

Plus, K was in a place where she was ready to grow in her professional riding career, and so everything worked out just perfect. God's timing and plan in action, of course. So K is riding the Friesians and running their yard now and I will still get to see them regularly and take my lessons on Thunder and the others there.

I do still have Morning Star Stables, of course. The choice came down to giving up my stables or giving up the Friesians, and honestly... these kids have my heart. I couldn't let them go. So I have the riding school (10-15 kids max) and a few liveries and I get to pour all of my love into them.

On with the photos.

Rose is getting so big. The two bigger foals will be weaned at the end of May, since they need to go to their owners. Rene is confirmed in foal again, too, so she needs to wean her baby at 6 months rather than later (she is looking great though). I will really miss their cute little faces.

Miss Sassy. I loved her, though I'm ready to wrangle only one youngster these days, that youngster being a perfect little Wynnie pie. She's doing so great under her new rider.

My shoulders are so tight here and I remember feeling calm and quite confident when these pics were taken. This had become my habitual position, more because of life stress than riding nerves -- another thing that's changing. More on that later.

Such a beautiful mare and a real credit to her people 💜💜

Wynnie 💜 We did a few short sessions in April. Mostly, I started playing a little bit with getting her used to the hose. It's too cold for that now, but we did get to the point where she let me lightly spray her leg without RUNNING DIRECTLY OVER ME like she did the first time (excuse you madam, this is not how we behave). Wynnie is still going to give me plenty of grey hairs but I love her sass. She is just so much like her mom.

One of my parents' free-range pigs had babies and they have chosen Thunder's stable as their bedroom. Thunder is normally not a fan of pigs but he doesn't mind them at all.

He did get a little more work this month than in March, but still not a real program. I really look forward to settling back into real work with him now that things are calmer.

Skye is still looking great! We have about one more month of grass, so I'm going to start slowly introducing her and Magic onto their winter feeding regime towards mid-May. She is really doing so well, though. It was good for her to start living on her own and not having to deal with other horses' drama anymore. I do want to run some routine bloods on her though, just to check on those inflammation markers that were a touch high last time, and see if she's going to need any extra help for her old knee over the winter.

I mean... it's not bad for 33.

Her incisors are still great, so she can eat carrots by the bag full. Her only real complaint right now, apart from the old knee, is that the lack of molars means that sometimes pockets of food get stuck in her cheek and I have to stick my fingers in there and pull it out.

The first time I saw it I thought it was a GIANT TUMOUR but it was just a wad of grass. We had a few ridiculously cold and rainy days in April, as we do, so we busted out the blankets for the outside horses.

Thunder's feet are so beautiful as a rule (crossbreds for the win!). I feel like the frog on this one is weirdly long for some reason, though. Something to bring up with my lovely farrier when he comes again.

Noah has been coming down to watch me ride lately. It's so cute.

Thunder's coat has been looking so much better since we bought him all the fly gear. His chest, neck, belly and shoulders are totally fine. Of course, he ripped up his R300 fly mask in short order, and immediately broke out in bumps, scabs and raw places all over his face. I dutifully went out and bought him a new one, but I'm going to have to find a more durable solution.

Lancey has been mostly neglected, poor soul. (Well -- I mean, if you can call it "neglected" to have every need catered to and not have to do any work).

Even though the grazing is starting to diminish now, I cut all of Faith's stud feed out of her diet and left her just on grass and balancer, despite the fact that she's still nursing a foal. With Lassie getting bigger, she's just blowing up like a blimp now. This was taken in early April and she's probably put on another 20kg since then.

Wynnie on another stint of halter training. On this day we jogged back and forth over a little cross I had set up in the arena for lessons, and she was so cute about it.

I also stood on the mounting block to see what she'd do. She stared into the distance, contemplating her plans of world domination.

On Easter Monday, we went to watch the final day of showjumping at the Toyota Easter Festival. Even though it had absolutely poured for the entire week of Easter Festival, the organizers had really thought on their feet and kept everything going smoothly. They ended up having to jump in the smaller sand arena, which didn't have a ton of seating, but we still really enjoyed the day -- and, most importantly, the horses and riders jumped on good, safe footing.

Isaiah really enjoyed the outing, and it was weird but nice to see so many people watching. We haven't been around such a large crowd since the lockdown started. But with numbers easing in South Africa, and all of us having had our shots, it felt good.

The poor beloved was stuck watching a whole day of horse showing and I wasn't even riding in it.

On the way home, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was... the fuel station. (Y'all complaining about $4 a gallon? Ours has skyrocketed to the equivalent of about $6 a gallon.)

Still, the double rainbow was one of the most gorgeous I have ever seen. A heavenly promise, painted on the storm.

The Friesian girls enjoying some winter grazing planted for them.

Wynnie was such a sleek little thing for HOY just two months ago. Now, she is a hairy blob. I'm afraid the young-horse-uglies are at the door. Arwen weaned her last foal around seven months, which made everyone's life much easier when it came to actually separating them, so I'm going to give her some more time with her mama and see if Arwen will wean her naturally.

Magic is fat, happy, and unbelievably feral-looking. He keeps picking fights with the broodmares who aren't afraid to tell him what they think using their teeth, so don't have too much sympathy with him.

Lancey made his debut as a mounted unit horse for our local volunteer first responders. No one got hurt on this hike, but we had a blast riding around the trail in case someone did. This ride definitely deserves its own post.

Red is FINALLY putting on some weight. It took me an inordinate amount of time to hit on the right formula for him, but we're getting there. Thoroughbreds, y'all. You can keep 'em.

We had our very first frost of the year, rather early this time. I was relieved to see it. It has been a long, stressful summer of insect-borne diseases.

A friend, E, is picking up riding again after many years and I'm so excited.

The big stallion with the gentle spirit. 💜 I am sure of my choice but I'll definitely miss these gentle eyes looking over the door at me every morning.

I caught Wynnie and Thunder mutual grooming over the partition one night. Of course Wynnie stopped as soon as I took the photo, but it was still cute!

She also graduated to a big girl halter after outgrowing her foal slip. I can't believe it. It seems like she's gone from being a little baby foal to a growing young lady in the blink of an eye.

God is always good.