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.