Clippety Clop..

Towards the end of this week, the weather's become more varied. Ranging from mild, dull wet grey days to this mornings dazzling sunshine. In between, the wind has picked up from the Southwest and veered round to the North, sending a shiver,all the way down from the Arctic.

I'm enjoying a short break from work. Quite easily falling into what feels like a second job at the stables. I like to ride early, turn her out then get on with tasks. Also starting to do more schooling. I'm facing my third Winter at the yard. Already due to nasty weather it's the indoor arena where we start the days riding.

Without going into much detail, this time last year I could hardly get Heather to walk, let alone canter in here. That was all down to her dominance and my weakness! Once those issues were resolved, by last Easter. She was still so unbalanced and rushed that I still couldn't canter her in here. The indoor school is tighter and really more of an oval, making it all an effort for this straight line horse. So although progress seems slow, there are lots of positives. After a good warm up, she canters freely on her stronger left rein, No fuss, no arguing, straight from a standstill. So her fitness and willing are massively improved. On the right rein..no canter. She runs and gets all flustered and does her funny little bunny hops at me. No worry, as she's sweated up now, it's time to go out.

The Banky Meadow route has a field owned by Trafford Council. Not sure who, but someone keeps leaving ponies or foals in here. It's a lovely piece of ground and ideal for horses, other than there's no shelter. As suddenly as they appear, horses vanish. Anyway, these are three of five very fresh faced youngsters who came to say hello to us on our way round. Interestingly, Heather payed them not the slightest bit of interest...not even a sniff. I wonder how long these will be here?

I've said how Heather needs a clip. Today it happened. Seeing her reaction to clippers last week, I knew drastic action was going to have to be used. So when I heard that one of the liveries horses was to be sedated for clipping, I started asking questions.

So this morning at half ten, I was holding onto Heather's head-collar, with the vet about to inject! As the needle went in she gave such a lurch and pulled up very hard. Thankfully the sedative kicked in almost immediately. Otherwise she'd have had us both cringing for cover! This reaction again vindicated my decision to have her sedated.

So strange to lead a horse half doped up! A few tottering steps out of her stable into the corridor were enough. Ange, very kindly had offered to clip her. Within a few minutes the fur was falling off in waves. We were told the sedative would last for about an hour, which would probably be about as long as we'd get from the clipper battery. So there was a sense of urgency!

The original plan was for a blanket clip. Despite the sedative, for the first few minutes, she did twitch and move her hind legs. All the way through, her tail swished with typical mareishness. So the chaser clip ended up being the best compromise. In reality, she was like a lamb all the way through. She showed signs of coming round, just before we got her armpits properly done. So thankfully she seemed to drift off again. We even got time to sort her mane out with some scissors, before finally with a big sigh and an itchy shake, she came back to life...instantly!

Back in her stable, she kept making the stangest low, deep sounds, whilst looking round at her bare flanks. "What happened!" written all over her face... She didn't wander far from the gate when I turned her out later.But all in all I think it's for the best. She was taking so long to dry after only ten minutes work. She looks good anyway. There's a hint of her dapple showing, which was coming through in her Summer coat. I've learned tons more. Again I have to thank Ange for making this happen.