The end. :(

Well, I've tried my best with the insurance company, but they are not going to pay for the further treatment the vet wants to try to get Bonnie sound. Much as I love my Bonnie, with just my pub salary I really can't afford the £600 plus callout fees that Adequan injections would cost. :(

So it's been decided that Bonnie will be given the summer off to see if she comes sound. It would be great if she does, in which case we'll be doing very light hacking, until next year when I'll be off to the Royal Vet College (fingers crosed! :D) and she can go to live out the rest of her life in a nice field with shelter behind my house (... once I've sorted the fencing and a companion out!). If not, she will be officially retired at the end of the summer and can enjoy an extra year of mooching about in her field, weather permittig. :)

I've had a great six years with Bonnie in my life, having owned her for 3 of those. She's got me through some pretty shitty times, and I'm always going to be thankful to her for that. She's got a home for life with me whatever happens. :)

:)

Ooh, I havent posted anything in ages.

All is well in the land of Bonnie. The vet came to see her a few weeks ago, and basically told me to bring her back into full work and see how she goes. She still wasn't totally happy with her soundness behind when she trotted on a circle, but we're not going to know what the future holds for her in terms of workload unless we see how she copes doing a bit more than she was.

So currently, we're continuing with the hacking, whilst also incorporating some schooling into her workload. At the moment I'm on study leave, so am hacking her 3 or 4 days a week and schooling 1 or 2 days, depending on work/open days/other random commitments. :) She is seeming pretty comfortable with what we're doing, aside from a minor blip last week, when she felt a bit lame behind when I rode her. I gave her a bute and a day off and she seemed fine after that... so hopefully we can carry on as we are until the vet comes back again.

I'm hoping we'll be able to start doing a bit more, but if not, I'll just be carrying her on with low level work to keep her going as long as I can. Much as Bonnie would be happy to spent the rest of her life growing older and fatter in the field with Mayfly, I really think 11 is too young to consider retirement, haha. :)

Fun in the sun!

I love the sun! :) Except for the fact it seems that the bright sun, combined with all the pollen and such like in the air, is making Bonnie's headshaking much worse at the moment. Her nosenet helps a lot, but she still flips her head about in trot a bit and constantly wants to rub her head and nose on anything she can.

But all in all, she is a very cheery pony, living out in her nice green grassy field with Mayfly, and only coming in to get some love, fuss and her daily, drugged-up feed! We go for some nice walky/trot-y hacks too... although silly horse does occasionally try to break into canter when we hit any kind of grassy track, haha. We've built up to quite a few long-ish trots on longer hacks anything up to an hour and a half... although I had to be quicker when I went to see her today so we just went out for a quick 40 minute hack. I also randomly decided to ride bareback today for a change. I think Bonnie enjoyed not having a girth done up round her, and I enjoyed the fact that I still have pretty good balance and haven't lost my core stability completely seeing as I haven't been riding much recently! :)

Rain, rain, go away.

Bonnie and Mayfly did not seem happy about having been out in the rain overnight when I got there this morning. :) Mayfly was standing at the gate shouting at me, whilst Bonnie was hidden in the field shelter. The two fat mares were very happy to come in and get a handful of haylage each.

After I'd mucked out and poo picked, I took Bonnie for a lovely hack in the rain. She was in a bit of a stupid mood again, we had a minor rebellion when she saw a dog walker up ahead. Obviously, the best thing to do in such a situation is to start backing up into a ditch...

We were probably out for about an hour in all. Bonnie seems much happier to be having longer and more frequent trots now, she's always quite full of herself when we first leave the yard, trying to jog off and doing weird spinny things etc, but after a couple of trots she settles down nicely. She wasn't very happy today though, I took her along this track at the side of a field which she seems to associate with being allowed to have a gallop. :) She tried to tank off with me at a canter, and got very annoyed when I made her stop and do a civilised trot.

She'll probably just be having a short ride tomorrow seeing as I have to work at the pub at lunchtime, hopefully the weather will be a bit nicer for us!

Happy times.

Well, I'm on Easter holidays, and Bonnie is living out now... so we are both happy. :)

We're still building up Bonnie's trot work... although at times it is a bit of a battle to keep her in trot! When we went for a hack with Catherine and Ben on Sunday she kept trying to break into canter, regardless of me trying to convince her she needs to taking things easy. And yesterday she was doing her best 'wild horse' impressions with some spectacular rearing and spinning at nothing in particular. She's really not doing a very good job of being 'arthritic'! Bloody horse nearly got me off. I also think that's when I lost my phone too... I think it fell out when she reared and span to the side and I kind of ended up clinging to her neck haha. Oh dearrrrr.

I just hope the vet is happy with her progress when she next comes to see her. For the sake of both our sanities, I think I just need to be able to let her have a canter! :D

:)

Well, it's been more of the same, really. Little walky hacks, Hibiscrubbing her leggies and feeding her Budgens Value apples, ahaha.

She had a leisurely weekend moseying about in the field... although I did see her and Mayfly decided to have a bit of a moment and go charging about the field together on Saturday. :) So today we went for a bit of a longer hack, and had a short trot on the homeward stretch. Bonnie seemed to be feeling a little full of herself today as it was, she was being quite silly and spooky, so she was more than eager to go springing off into a power-trot, ahah. We only did a few strides, which she was not happy about and decided to do some kind of weird sidestep and drag me into a hedge... laddered my tights! (Yes, I do ride in shorts and tights, cos I'm cool! :D)

So providing she seems comfortable tomorrow, and in subsequent days, we'll be building up her trot work over the next couple of weeks.

Walky walky walky.

Well, Bonnie has been back on turnout again since yesterday, and she's seeming much more chilled about this walking out in a straight line business. Although we do still have quite a lot of spooking and trying to run off to deal with. Why does all the wildlife seem to emerge as soon as I set off for a hack?!

But yeah, we're starting to build up the walk work slightly so she is doing a bit more, before we start incorporating some short trots as well. Today we had our first longer walk, of just over 45mins. It was about as eventful as walking can be, with various pheasants and ducks and tarps and things to overcome. At one point I ended up having to get off because she decided she didn't want to walk past a flower pot or something and decided to put in a little rear! Which really really really can't be good for her hocks, so instead of battling to get her past it I just walked ahead of her and that solved all her issues with it. :)

Poor Bonnie.

I don't think she's enjoying her box rest immensely, but she's seeming a cheery pony regardless.

I took her for the first of her 'walking in a straight line' hacks for half an hour or so yesterday. She was as well behaved as I can really expect her to be, having been stuck in a stable for nearly a week. I just wish there was some way for me to make her understand that, despite the fact she is buted up, her hocks are still sore and could really do without her trying to jog off, or leaping up in the air as she crosses the little bridge.

I'd forgotten how dull handgrazing can be. :) I let her mooch about and eat the verges for nearly an hour yesterday, and 40 minutes or so today as I had to dash off to work. And I think I've still got a way to go I think with perfecting my bandaging technique... ah well, I suppose I'll be getting lots of practice!

She's home. :)

In all her bloody-legged glory, ahah.

Poor marey has got lots of shav-y bits gone on her hind legs, and they were a bit bloody from her injections in her hocks too. She seemed in pretty good spirits though, especially as I came bearing treats. :)

She's on box rest for the next two days, then hand-walking for five with controlled turnout, before I start slowly building up her workload in walk and trot. She's also on bute for a couple of weeks and a joint supplement. Oh, and she is being bandaged in her hindlegs overnight. It's all such fun.

But hopefully it will all be worth it and I will have a happy comfortable Bonnie in the end.

What a good little patient. :)

Well, Catherine kindly drove Bonnie to the vets yesterday so they could do the lameness assessment and things. She didn't seem particularly phased about being in a strange place, she went quite happily into her stable and started pulling faces at her neighbour. :)

After we'd dropped her off I just went back to school and waited for them to get back to me to let me know how it went. I got a text from the vet at about quarter to 9 in the end to say they'd just finished with her and she would ring tomorrow to tell me about things properly.

So I got a ring today whilst I was in my french lesson, ahaha. Basically, they did the nerve blocks and she is, like they expected, lame in both of her hocks. However, they also found she is also slightly lame around her near hind fetlock, so she will be having a scan to assess that further. They did x-rays of her hocks and there are some 'bony changes' but nothing too dramatic.

So the plan is, she gets some treatment for her hocks, then she will have a work programme to follow to give her the best chance of returning to full-ish work. But she can't have any injections in her hocks for 48 hours to reduce the risk of joint infection, so she is going to be staying at the vets until Thursday to have that done. Then hopefully she will be coming home Thursday afternoon. :)

So all in all, everything is seeming hopeful.

La, la, la.

I think Bonnie could get used to this sedentary lifestyle.

All she's done is eat haylage in her stable, graze in the field, and have a bit of a run around before doing some carrot stretches, begging, backing up and things in the arena.

I don't think she is complaining. :)

But, her lovely little lifestyle is going to be altered somewhat tomorrow, as she is off to the vet for her lameness assessment. I'll be accompanying her there, but I'm not sure yet whether I'm going to stay with her, seeing as I should really not skive school, and nerve blocks aren't that thrilling, hehe.

Fingers crossed, any conclusions drawn from what they do at the vets tomorrow won't be too doom and gloom-ish.

Nawww. :)

Bonnie seemed oddly pleased to see me today, I even got a greeting when I started walking to the field to go and get her and Mayfly in!

I was pleased to see she hadn't made herself too dirty today for once, but I still had some yummy muddy legs and feet to hose off and HibiScrub. The mud fever is starting to come back under control I think, there were no new scabs today although her skin does still look a bit pink and sore in places.

So after that, I figured I would just let her run about in the arena for a bit to stretch her legs, seeing as I couldn't be bothered to have any spooking battles again! But my silly horse was very reluctant to leave me, I ended up having to give her a little flick on the bum with a leadrope just to get her to trot off, and even then she kept turning and trying to trot in to me. She is very sweet but I would appreciate getting a chance to see her move! :)

I let her have a trot and a canter in both directions, then let her come trotting in for some love and carrot stretches. We did a bit of yielding, begging and backing up, and I've started teaching her to give kisses too, ahah.

Am going to have to pop up to see her again tomorrow afternoon as I have to get her passport and things to send to the insurance company to start making claims, uggggh. :)

So.

Well, the vet came to see Bonnie today.

And basically, she has confirmed our suspicions that the problem is likely to be in her hocks. So Bonnie will be going for a trip to the vets on Monday so they can do a full lameness assessment, nerve blocks etc. Then at least I'll know for definite what the problem is and what further action may need to be taken.

It seems like she might even have to have the same treatment as Mayfly had. Like Annabel said, they really are as bad as each other. :)

I just hope that this can all get sorted out, and I can have a happy comfortable Bonnie!

This weekend. :)

Well, yesterday I didn't do much with Bonnie, just gave her a trot up (seemed ok!) and a lunge. She was in a bit of a loopy mood on the lunge again, we had lots of bucking and silliness going on. Stupid horse kept spooking at a jump wing, then getting all freaked when I tried to stop her falling in on the circle with the lunge whip. I just can't win. :)

Then today, I had intended to hack, but as it was so windy I figured Bonnie would just been in a stupid mood again so couldn't be bothered to have to deal with her idiocy for an hour or so. :) So instead we just went up the track and back for a little warmup before doing a bit of schooling. She was in a bit of a weird mood today, she seemed very 'behind' my leg and wiggly and silly because she was spending most of her time spooking at EVERYTHING. So I didn't try anything too taxing because I knew I'd just get wound up with her, there's no use trying to achieve much when she's in a funny mood like that. But having said that, she was a lot better at adjusting her canter stride than when we last had a go. Getting a left bend from her was still quite a battle though, especially when she's trying to spook at a jump block to her right. :)

Bit of jumping. :)

So, I trotted Bonnie up again today and she seemed to have improved again with regard to her 'hip swinging'. But she did have more random chunks out of her and scabby mud fever-y bits. Hmm. :)

But anyway, I figured I would get on and have another go at getting her to do some decent 'bending' and altering her paces, seeing as Tuesday turned out to be more of a battle than I would have liked! She seemed much more willing to be co-operative today, although she definitely does find flexion much harder to the left. I'm finding that being more aware of my own position is really helping to encourage her though, and after a brief argument when I put my inside leg on to stop her falling in a little to hard for her liking, she was very good.

So after all that she seemed pretty chilled and to have loosened up nicely, so I figured I would do a little grid. :) We started it just as a few trotting poles to a cross pole, then changed it to a placing pole to a bounce, then added a little ascending oxer onto the back of it. We had a brief argument due to the fact that Bonnie seems to have it in her little head that as soon as we turn up to a jump, regardless of the time we may have spent establishing a nice, rhythmical, unrushed canter, she feels she just MUST zoom off. I just don't know how to make her understand that she jumps so much more nicely when she just takes it all a bit slower! But we did manage to finish on a good note, we found a happy balance between what we both wanted to do by me allowing her to have a bit more pace as long as she stayed in the same rhythm and didn't to the head up/falling through left shoulder thing she is so very talented at. :)

Well, after all that fun she can have a nice day off tomorrow. I guess we'll probably have a pretty leisurely weekend after this pretty intensive schooling we've done the last few times I've ridden. I might try and take her for a hack on Saturday to give her brain a break, then a bit of lunging on Sunday to finish off before the vet comes on Tuesday.

Windyyyy. :)

Bonnie was a bit of a loony today.

She was obviously having a whale of a time in the field because when she came in she had lot of cuts and scrapes all over from where she'd been running about being a div. I was actually quite worried when I went to pick her off hind out. When I put it down, I was like hmmmm, I shouldn't have all this blood on my hand. :) But I gave it a wash and it turned out to just be another tiny cut.

I did some severe leg scrubbing/scab removal this evening too, seeing as the mud fever seems to be making a comeback. Grahh.

But yeah, riding Bonnie was a bit of a fruitless exercise really. She was just in such a stupid mood, spooking and rushing and generally making life very hard for both of us. I was having a very hard time getting her to bend properly, because she was spending half of the time with her head stuck in the air and twisted to the outside snorting at things. :) But she finally chilled out and we managed to do a couple of decent circles on each rein in trot and canter, as well as doing the shortening/lengthening canter strides exercise Emma got us doing on Saturday. The best we managed was to extend to 9 and collect to 14 strides along the long side, which I don't think was too bad considering the battle I was having to just get her to stay on the track and not canter sideways away from all the 'scary' wings outside the arena!

But despite her silliness, she did seem a bit better when I trotted her up today than on Sunday. I videoed myself trotting her up seeing as no-one was about, ahaha. But yeah, from what I could see she seemed a little bit more comfy than she did on Sunday, none of the angry head shaking as she moved from walk to trot again. Which is hopeful? :)

Ooh, but I did book a vet appointment for her today. I'm skiving a day of school next Tuesday for it, so hopefully it will prove useful. :) She's getting her teeth done as well as getting him to have a lookie at her leggies. I get the feeling it will be leaving a nice void in my bank balance... hehe.

Doobeedoo.

Well, the good news is that Emma is very happy with Bonnie's progress so she is not going to be having such regular physio treatment anymore, but instead every couple of months. She's given me lots of ideas about how the way I ride has an affect on Bonnie's way of going, so I have lots to work before her next visit, particularly the way I use my body to ask her to bend.

However, the slightly bad news is that Bonnie doesn't seem to be perfectly sound at the mo. She is much more comfortable through her back etc. than she was, but when I'm riding I sometimes get the feeling she is having some discomfort in taking weight onto her back legs. For example, when I'm circling, particularly on the left rein, she will often trip with her back legs. And when Emma and Catherine were watching me ride her on Saturday they did say she did look a bit unlevel behind at times.

She's always had an issue with getting filled back legs in the mornings, particularly her near hind, but we're starting to think that there might be something else going on. Catherine trotted her up for me yesterday and she does seem to not 'swing' evenly with her back legs in the first stride or two of trot she does from walk.

So yeah, hopefully I am going to try and get a vet to come and have a look at her, and perhaps get some further investigation done if need be. She needs her teeth done anyway so it'll getting two jobs done at once I guess. :)

Serious slacking! :)

Hmm, forgot to write much over the weekend. :)

Well Friday I did a little grid with Bonnie, which I built up to an upright to a bounce to another upright. She had a couple of refusals to start off with but then seemed to start enjoying herself and being a bit more compliant, hehe.

Then Saturday I gave her a lunge, then Sunday I did the same grid again. I managed to get some video footage of her which I'm probably going to put on youtube if I get the chance. :) And todayyyy, twas back to the old lunging again. My little sister came to see her and give her some love too. She knows there's always more food about when she comes. :)

Oh, and I can now officially say that Bonnie is NAKED. She's been going out in the field without a rug during the day since the middle of last week, but seeing as it's so mild at the moment and she is quite hairy anyway she's now not having one overnight either.

Oh dearie.

Hmm, I've been slacking a bit with the old blogging.

Well, Sunday I finally managed to do a little bit of gridwork with Bonnie, the snow had finally melted off of the side of the arena where it was set up. She quite happily popped down it, it wasn't particularly complicated, just a bounce to a one stride to an upright. Then she had Monday off seeing as she had had - shock horror - 5 days of work in a row.

Then yesterday Catherine took Ben, Bonnie and I to Great Westwood for a bit of xc schooling. Bonnie and I didn't do much in the way of jumping seeing as she is still pretty unfit, but we popped over a few of the smaller jumps, and up and down some steps and things. I think Bonnie really enjoyed the little outing, she must've been getting a bit bored of all this silly arena work. :) But she was very very tired afterwards, silly marey had insisted we try to keep up with ex-racer Ben when him and Catherine went for a gallop up the hill, hehe.

But on a slightly bad note, I noticed yesterday she has got some scabby mud fever-y bits coming back again, so I went to stock up on Hibiscrub. :)

And then today, when I went up in the morning, poor beastie's legs were quite filled, I assume from a combo of her exertions yesterday and the mud fever reappearance. Her near hind is usually a bit filled in the mornings when she's been stood in, but she doesn't usually have it to such a degree in her other legs.

Ah well, she will have been mooching about in the field all day today, and will probably have another day off tomorrow unless I get the chance to pop up and see her in the evening. All I did with her today was give her a good groom, scrub her scabby feeties then take her in the arena and did a wee bit of groundwork with her just for fun, some carrot stretches, backing up, yielding her quarters and begging/bowing etc. :)

Happy Valentine's Day! :)

The sun is shining and everything. :)

This week's been a bit crap for weather, par exemple I didn't go and see Bonnie on Wednesday cos it started raining quite heavily just as I started my walkie to the yard. Then on Thursday it started SNOWING once I got there so I had a lovely walk back to Buntingford in the blizzard! I popped up to see her for a little bit last night as well before I went out.

She's been able to go out in the field again this week, and with having done more work she has FINALLY chilled out a bit. We still had a little loonie moment today on the lunge, but nowhere near as bad as she was before. I'm hoping the whole arena will defrost so that I'll be able to get a go at doing some grids with her, all this silly snow has put somewhat of a halt to it all.

Weather and everything-else permitting, we will be accompanying Catherine and Ben to go xc schooling at Great Westwood on Tuesday, which will be a nice outing and a change for us both from the monotony of lunging and trotting around the arena. :)

Bloody weather...

From one form of precipitation to another eh?

I skived off going to see Bonnie last night a cause du le fait que I was really not up for a walk in the pouring cold windy rain. :) But I went to go and see her for a bit tonight.

The arena wasn't quite so snowy, but was very soggy! But I managed to give Bonnie a lunge, which proved quite interesting. She seemed to have a fair bit of energy, so managed to get herself very worked up and sweaty. Poor beast got some apples from my little sisters after her exertions though so I don't think she was too traumatised. :)

Hopefully it won't be too horrible weather tomorrow and I'll get a chance to ride her.

Ice ice baby...

Yeah, the snows still here.

And I officially haven't ridden properly in a week.

Didn't get to see Bonnie on Friday as the buses weren't running again. Been to work yesterday and today so got the chance to take her for some little hacks.

She is really starting to irritate me with how badly behaved she is being! :) I spent most of the time I was out with her today fighting to just get her to CHILL and walk. As soon as I tried to relax the reins as just let her walk out she would grab them and try to run off. At one point she just decided to up and jump sideways and canter off for a few strides, before doing silly little hoppy rears when I made her stop.

I may have to whack out a stronger bit or something, as this is starting to get a wee bit ridiculous. :)

More snow-fest.

Oh dear, this snow really isn't going any time soon is it.

Took Bonnie out for a walk with Mayfly this evening, after pulling her mane because she was beginning to look a bit bedraggled! Silly horse is not taking well to this lack of proper work business. The slightest noise was the excuse for silliness. There was a noise behind us at one point so she thought that would be a good excuse to just leapt up and forward with no warning. And of course, having to step over a branch on the ground meant she just had to try and jog off.

I don't know whether I'm going to be able to go up until Saturday now because I have so much school work to catch up on after the two snow days. I don't think poor Bonzo is going to cope well. :( They were fun at the time, but 9 hours of work to catch up on is a bit crud. Hopefully I'll get another snow day (with buses still running, mind!) so I can pop up and see her during the day.

Snowy-time. :)

Hooray, the buses were running today. So I popped to go and see my lovely marey after lunch, camera at the ready!

We went for a little mini-hack in the snow so Bonnie could stretch her leggies, as she's been stuck in since Sunday. I put lots of greasy hoof stuff in her feet in an effort to stop her getting 'snow stilts' but I still had to get off a couple of times to pick her feet out. Silly Bonzo didn't seem to understand that it was quite slippy and got very annoyed when I kept stopping her from trying to run off, hehe.

I think we must've been out for about 45mins, by which time she had chilled out and realised we weren't going to be going anywhere fast. So she decided she would investigate the snow instead, so we ended up walking along with her nose skimming the ground for a bit until I convinced her that was a bad idea and she might stack it. :) When we got back I took her for a little walkie in hand so she could have a little graze, then we did some stretches and 'begging'.

All in all, a nice little couple of hours with my lovely horsie. I'm back to school tomorrow I believe so will pop to see her a bit later. I might go straight after lunch as I have a free last, or I might go a bit later so we can accompany Mayfly and Annabel on their walkie. :)

Bother bother bother.

Hooray for snowwwww! And a lack of education!

... BUT all this snow has meant that no buses at all are running today. :( So I'm not going to be able to go and see Bonnie today, and perhaps not tomorrow either.

I did get to lunge her yesterday before I had to go to pub-work, she was a bit of a loon but hopefully she got quite a lot of it out of her system seeing as she'll likely be stuck in for a few days.

Hooray!

Emma came to see Bonnie this morning, and guess what? I can now start doing some polework and small grids with her. :D

Poor Bonnie had to cope with lots of noise as there were people shooting this morning, but we did some raised trotting poles and a little grid, a pole to a bounce to an upright. I'm going to try to do some jumping with her once each week, as well as continuing to lunge her in the 'half Pessoa' and doing her 'slow trot', spiralling and bending exercises.

Hopefully we'll be accompanying Catherine and Ben on an xc schooling trip soon too, if this silly weather sorts itself out!

This week...

I've not been able to go and see Bonnie as much as I planned this week. Monday I was getting my hair done, Wednesday I had to go home to dog walk/babysit and then tonight... well it's Friday, I needed a day off. :P

Went up on Tuesday to ride though, got out of school at 2.30 cos I had a free last, so got there a bit earlier than usual! :) So I took her in the school for a bit. All very exciting, she was in a bit of a loony mood and kept spooking, but I just found it pretty amusing really.

Then yesterday I decided to give myself the afternoon off (naughty me!) and go and see her earlier again, dragged my friend Vicky along for the long walk too! :D She slowed me up a bit, took about 15 mins longer than usual, but it was nice having someone to chat to en route. I just got her and the others in, gave her a quick brush then lunged her for a bit. She was being a bit silly like she was when I rode her on Tuesday, but she soon chilled out. I blame the wind for her loonyness. :)

I'm quite excited for the physio coming tomorrow, I'm hopeful we'll get the go-ahead to start jumping again. I'm well keen for seeing how she's changed. It's not as if she had a bad jump before, so who knows what she'll be like now she's much more able to lift through her back etc.

ZOOOOOOM.

I thought I would take Bonnie for another mini-hack to warm up again, seeing as she seemed much more settled in the arena when I did that before. I also thought I would take my camera so I could get a wee bit of footage. So I trotted up the track a bit, set up my camera on a tree (cos I'm cool :D) and then trotted back so she could canter 'away from home'... and so in theory would not be quite so loony.

That theory failed. She started off at a reasonable pace, then just before we got to where the camera was, she just zooooooooooomed. Reminded me of when me and Robyn used to take her and Millie for races up and down Toto's Way! I got it on video and everything, so will probably whack it on the internet for humour value.

When I took her in the arena she still seemed to be a bit in hyper mode, so I had to spend a bit longer just chillaxing her with some transitions and yielding and bending and things. I reeeeeeally love how light in my hand she becomes as she stops rushing and starts carrying herself properly. This is such a novelty for me, not having a leany horse. :)

Poor beastie managed to get herself quite hot and bothered today from her exertions, so I kept her in for a bit longer after I'd ridden with a fleece on until she'd cooled down a bit. So we both listened to Radio 1 for a bit while I cleaned her tack.

I whacked her out in the field just before I left, but she wasn't too keen about being left out on her own. She followed me all the way back down the field then stood looking at me accusingly until I gave her some polos. Mayfly's back from the vets now but she can't go out in the field with Bonnie again for a week or so as she's on hand-walking exercise only. So me poor pony will be on her lazzer for a wee bit longer!

Bless ma horsie!

However frustrated I may get with this horse-ownership lark at times, I love it how Bonnie can cheer me up. :) I was in such a terrible mood today, but going to see her this afternoon well and truly brightened my day. My last lesson got cancelled cos the teacher was ill, so I got to the yard about an hour earlier than I usually do. This meant it was still properly light, so I thought ahh, I shall take Bonnie out of the arena and go on a little mini-hack for a warm up.

The first difficulty we faced was the fact a huge herd of deer was kind of on the track to get out onto the bridleway. Poor Bonzo got a bit scared, and I don't really blame her! She seems a bit more spooky in general these days, I suppose it's because she's just been going round and round in circles in the school for weeks. She's forgotten what the world looks like!

So then we got onto the little track, and I just let her mosey along on a long rein for a bit. But as soon as we got trotting, we were off! I wish she would do such amazing medium trot in the school! She seemed to be pretty excited to be out and about, making lots of noise and splashing through puddles. When we turned round, I made her walk for a bit, just so she doesn't get into the habit of tearing off as soon as we are homeward bound! But then all I had to do was click at her she was in zoom mode, snorting and doing a few little bucks. It makes me smile when she's enjoying herself. :)

So after we'd got that out of our system I took her in the school for 10 minutes or so, to concentrate on her exercises. It makes me laugh how she stretches out and starts making funny noises when I go into 'forward seat' trot! She seems to have properly got the hang of the 'slow trot' on the short sides exercise too, all I have to do is slow my rising and lift my hands and she'll do much shorter slower strides, before really powering forward when I ask her to extend along the long sides. She is also getting better at her spiralling and bending, she's still somewhat reluctant to bend properly to the right, but she's still so much more willing to flex than she used to be.

To finish off, I whacked out my polos and we did some stretches and some yielding and backing up. I was pleased to see that she had actually broken a sweat for once! I finally feel like we're starting to do proper work again. :)

It's cold again. :(

I wasn't happy that it was so bloody cold when I went to go and see Bonzo this evening. The walk there warmed me up quite nicely though! It was weird that Mayfly wasn't there to greet me with her wobbly lip when I got there, as she's at the vets at the moment. But I had Bonnie's little 'food face' to occupy myself with. :)

I gave her a lunge this evening. She was a bit full of herself, but I can't really blame her, as I haven't been able to get up to see her and exercise her since Sunday. Monday night I ended up having to do some severe cake-baking (only from those ready made mixes, but hey! :D) and last night I had a lovely 'parent's evening' to get dragged along to, so my poor little horsie has had to take a minor back seat. Ah well, at least she's got some energy out of her system now!

Am going to try and go up to see her a bit earlier tomorrow, as my afternoon chemistry lesson is cancelled, whoo! I may even get to ride in natural light, which would be nice. :)

More of the same.

I've been a bit slack with the old Bonzo visitation this week, I went to go ride her on Wednesday evening, but I gave myself Thursday and Friday off, cos I'm so lazy. :P

Rode her again today, using my new hat for the first time, whoo! I love the way riding her is becoming less of a chore each time I do. I mean, it's a bit time consuming and tiring having to do the exercises that Emma asked I do, but it's so nice how she's changing and is obviously using herself properly instead of relying on me to 'hold her up'.

I suppose I was just used to how she was before, but now I can really tell the difference in her. Like, downward transitions. She seems so much more willing to do them, and doesn't throw her head up and lean on me like she used to.

All in all... it's all good! Maybe seeing as I'm riding her more regularly now I'll make a video or something to show off my lovely pony. :)

Lah-de-dah.

I skived off going to see Bonzo yesterday cos it was raining, ehehe.

But I went to go see her today. I actually had to groom her properly for the first time in what seems like ages! They've been able to be turned out now the weather has decided to sort itself out, and Bonnie had evidently had a good time muddifying herself to make up for being stuck in so long. Ah well, as long as she is happy.

Gave her a lungey this evening. Getting some turnout seems to have chillaxed her nicely, or maybe she has just finally developed a brain, haha. Either way, I enjoyed the fact I could actually get her to walk. Not getting towed about trying to make her stop makes me a happy Phoebe!

I'm debating whether to go visit her during the day tomorrow, before my Biology exam (when I should probably be revising!) and hacking her out in the daylight or whether to just go up and ride her tomorrow evening. Mehh, I'll decide in the morning. :)

Getting warmer. :)

Finally, this bloody snow and ice is starting to melt and go awayyyy.

The taps were still frozen this morning though, as they have been for about a week now. At least the arena wasn't all crunchy and hard though, so I could give Bonnie some proper exercise.

Poor beastie has been stuck in for over a week now, they haven't been able to get any turnout because of the ground being frozen and rutted in the fields. So I suppose I can't blame her for being a bit fresh today!

She's getting better at doing the 'slow trot' exercise Emma has asked me to do with her, basically I just have to try and slow her trot down, whilst keeping rhythm and elevation in her steps, to get her to use her back properly. Bonnie would much prefer to rush about everywhere, so this is quite difficult for her but she did it nicely a couple of times.

Hopefully they'll be able to get turnout next week, I think she could do with the extra exercise out in the field. She's getting so fat stuck in her stable eating all day! :D

Neglecting my horse!

Well, not really, ahah.

Went to go see her yesterday, but I'm gave myself today off as it's my birthday. :) I'm so oldddd.

... and I'm not going to be seeing her tomorrow either as I'm having a bit of an old gathering at my house to celebrate my oldness. Hopefully I won't be too worse for wear on Saturday and will take her for a hack or something.

Brrrr!

I hate England. So bloody cold! But at least I got the day off school today, ahaha. Happy times.

Went to go see Bonnie for a bit this afternoon, poor beastie's been stood in the last few days because of this silly weather. The taps have been frozen since like Friday as well so I had to spend a while carrying buckets of water from indoors for her. I put a different warmer rug on her this evening too. She has been in just a fleece and a heavyweight full neck rug seeing as she's pretty hairy now her clips grow back, and she wasn't cold or anything, but I felt sorry for her so now she has two heavyweight full necks on one under the other. :)

It's typical really, that when I can finally start riding again, the arena's all frozen! I still managed to do a bit of walk and trot with her in there though. I've started practicing my 'trotting in a forward seat' that the physio has asked me to do with her for the next four weeks. It's bloody hard work! After not riding so long and sitting around eating and drinking over Christmas and New Years my legs and stomach muscles aren't really agreeing with me that 10 minutes of this on each rein are a good idea! Bonnie seems to enjoy this idea, she merrily trots along with her ears pricked as I struggle with my balance.

I started to get the hang of it after a couple of circuits though and I could really feel her springing along with each step as she dropped her head and lifted her back into her movement. It's all very exciting how my little horsie is changing! :)

Happy times!

Emma the physio came to see Bonnie todayyy. And guess what, I can start riding again! :D

To start with I just walked her up the drive for her to see her movement, and she seemed happy that Bonnie "actually moves like a horse now!". Which has to be a good thing. Then she gave her a massage, and she said she seemed much happier and less stiff through her body, although she did 'discover' an old injury in her chest muscle. It's really weird, if you push into the muscle between her forelegs she's got this little 'hole' with scar tissue around it. Emma thinks she might have stabbed herself on a fence or something when she was younger. But there, then when she asked her to lift through her back she could actually do it, unlike last time where she kinda just scuttled away from her.

So after Bonzo was all chillaxed by her massage, I tacked her up and Emma showed me some ridden exercises. For the next 4 weeks I'm going to be doing alternate lunging and ridden exercises, with the occasional hack in between when I have the time and it's not dark! So I've got lots more to be getting on with now! :D Yay!