The way to heaven is on horseback

So I went to see Magic again, I don't want to bore you all with the posts as not a lot really happened but I want to keep my own personal record of how things went with him, so that I can look back in the future and see what things I've done and how I got there.  He's starting to get really curious about people, before when I used to get there he wasn't really bothered. When I got there this time he even neighed at me and it made my day, cause it means that he's starting to recognise me. When it was time to leave he also stood watching me go, but I really didn't want to go lol. He's starting to be interested in my camera bag, I left it on the floor the other day and I turned my back for two minutes and he'd got his nose in my bag looking around it, so I then sat down holding my camera and he kept wanting to come up to it and touch it. Then he'd realise I was holding it and change his mind. We also had a break through when it comes to me touching...

So today I should have gone to ride Gatsby for my weekly saturday lesson, but last night we had a torrential down pour and the school ended up flooding. I was feeling majorly bummed because it means that it will be three weeks since I've rode Gatsby, when I next get on him, due to ill health and stupid weather. So I decided that instead of going to see Gatbsy I would go and see Magic, we didn't leave until later on in the day as the weather was horrible so I was hoping it would pass but it didn't, however by the time I got to yorkshire, it was quite dry there. Magic was in his field with his mum, who hasn't actually got her name so I'm probably just going to call her M.M. (aka Magic's mum). Magic was having a drink off his mum when I got there, so I started off by giving him some space and letting M.M. approach me first, with Magic followingly slowly behind her. Magic was even more curious today than he had been on Wednesday, he was getting quite close to m...

Today my mum, Jack and I went to see Magic. It's a long drive so I only get to go every now and then, sort of once a week. He's growing loads, I am amazed by how quickly he's growing to be honest, I think he's going to be a big boy once he gets older. He's also really curious, every time I go and see him he's more and more interested in what I am doing and what I've got with me and it's just so much fun to watch him. The first time that I went to see him he wouldn't come anywhere near me, the next time he let me touch his nose, the time after that he let me stroke his back but then he would run away after. But today I decided to go with a different strategy, the weather was quite hot, so I chilled in the field, I just went there and switched between lying down in the field and sitting there, and that caught Magic's interest, he wanted to know what I was doing. Then after Jack had given Magic's mum a groom, and I'd given her some fuss, he...

Well I figured while I was dog sitting what better time to update my blog? For those that have me on Facebook you'll know that I haven't been very well recently, exactly a week ago I was in hospital and on Morphine, unable to eat or drink without throwing up everywhere, with a high temperature and extremely bad stomach cramps. The hospital couldn't tell me what was causing the pain but have told me to take it easy and not do a lot. So for the past week I've pretty much been bed bound or when I do go out not going very far. But I have had my amazing boyfriend looking after me, honestly he's been great, he knows how to deal with me when I'm ill but also knows how to kick my ass in to gear when it needs it, and my mum who has also been amazing, she's had to put up with my bad moods and hasn't even complained. So as I know you read this. Thanks mum! I haven't rode in over a week because I should have had my lesson yesterday but unfortunately I just wasn...

Well I have finally got around to naming my baby horse and he is called magic for short. His posh/show name isn't set in concrete yet but it will be either mystical black magic, black magic or maybe even midnight magic, I've not decided yet, I just know that his name will be magic. I'll let you know more when I know more.  Now I wanted to ask whether you guys had an opinion on clicker training, and if you think it works or not. This is something that I haven't worked with before but am doing my research in to. I also wondered how you guys that have got baby horses got them used to wearing a head collar/halter and did you guys use a foal slip? Obviously I'm just learning and need to do lots more research but I would also be extremely grateful for any opinions or advice that you guys have!  In other news I have joined the gym and am on a mission to lose weight, tone up and get fit. Hopefully I'll start to see some results soon, but I'll keep you guys ...

Well a baby horse that is! Haha I wonder how many of you thought something different with my post title. I hadn't though of any funny post titles in a while so I thought that this could be one. For those of you that have been following my blog you'll have seen my debate about whether I wanted to get an older horse or a foal and the decision that I came to was that I wanted a baby horse. The main reason for this was the horses history. At my yard, I've seen a few people that thought that they had got an amazing horse and then as time goes on without problems have been found to do with its past, so my thoughts with having a baby horse are the fact that I will know 100% the horses history. So back to what I was saying today I went and put down a deposit on a less than 24 hour old foal.  Colt, not named yet, born19th May 2015, to make between 16 and 17hh.  I went to see it today with my mum and Jack and got to meet the foal, the mum and the dad. Although the dad was ab...

Well for those of you that have been reading my blog for a while you will know that I've always wanted to try riding bareback but that I have never had the opportunity to do it before. A couple of weeks ago I told Fiona that I really wanted to do it and explained that I thought that it would help me really be able to feel how to get Gatsby in to an outline. After explaining this Fiona said I could have a go and three weeks later thats exactly what I got to do. I started out by riding with the saddle, just to be able to warm up, making sure that I could swing in the saddle without feeling restricted, we did a bit of walk, trot and canter work and mainly focused on getting him in the outline. I wanted to make sure that Gatsby was forward but also that he was willing accepting contact and moving in to the outline. I wanted him to feel that he was doing the right thing by accepting small amounts of pressure on the rein and only having to occasionally reinforce the contact and make it ...