The way to heaven is on horseback

Well I can't believe in nine days my not so little Midnight Magic will almost be one, and boy what a sweet heart he really is. This time last year I was planning on saving up, getting an older horse and having something that I could ride every day. Then came magic's baby picture, I'd read the night before about a baby that had been born out of a black mare and lippy and just from that description I knew that he was going to be the boy that I wanted. I went to see him at less than 24 hours old and I have never looked back since. There has been blood, sweat and tears, moments that I wanted to scream and give in and then days like today where I look at the bond that we have and think every single second of it was worth it.  Now nine days away from him being one I'm planning on buying him his first bit, I want to get him an apple flavoured snaffle with a lozenge happy mouth bit. I don't see the point in getting something more complicated when at the end of the day ...

well i have finally managed to get up to date with reading everyones lovely comments on my blog! I would just like to say a massive thank you to everyone that still comments on my blog. I really do appreciate not only the feed back but also the help that you guys give me. I feel that by writing a blog, I have created a whole online support system I know that might sound insane but it's just how i feel at the moment. Magic is coming on in leaps and bounds, he still has things that he hates me doing. Like at the moment it's brushing his tummy because he's all knotted from the mud, the length of the fur and the fact that it changing from a baby winter coat to by the looks of it a nice summer coat. He's got loads better at having his feed put in to the point where I now just go in and put the food on my own. He's really getting better with doing that. He's come on in leaps and bounds about having his head collar taken off all though I'll admit we battled with ...

well if I have done my maths right then today is the 86th day of the year it's mad to think that it won't be long until it's the 100th day of the year. Time really does fly by without people noticing. Well I figured it's about time that I let everyone in on why I haven't been writing on my blog recently there has been several reasons really. The first one is i have got some news but I didn't want to Jinx myself until I knew if it was true or not. On Tuesday at 12 pm I'll be getting the keys to my own flat.  While Iam really excited I am also kind of super nervous.  I know that it is a big step to be taking but at the moment I just personally feel like it's the right thing to do at the minute. Don't get me wrong I think that I'll have some days where I am going to struggle but believe me when I say that I'm going to try my hardest. The next thing is that once again my health hasn't been the best except this time it has ended up with me h...

Magic really does make me laugh, he's been doing things that are funny for the past few days. This morning when I went up to do his stable he was no where to be seen, so I did all the inside of his stable, got his feed ready for tonight, and still magic was no where to be seen. The next thing that I know I was doing his Haynets and I had just watched Lynn call all the horses and seen them come running up. I was in the middle of filling the Haynets when all I heard was 'oi what are you doing' so I shouted back to Jack to ask him what was up as all he was supposed to be doing was putting his Haynets in the stable, and as I had come out the area where the haylage is stored I looked to the left and stood there was magic playing with the feed bucket. Jack thought that he had escaped and then Lynn told me that she had let magic come up. So I grabbed hold of his head collar and walked him up to the stable so that I could carry on with filling the Haynets but after that I really co...

I feel crap, I can't think of any more effective words than that to be honest. I'm tired, in pain and feeling light headed. My medications have all changed and to be honest they just really mong me out, so all day I feel sleepy and tired and like I just can't really wake up. However if I don't take the tablets then I don't get the sleep that I need which also drives me insane. So it's sort of a lose/lose situation, from those of you that read yesterdays blog post you will know that it was written at roughly 6am this morning, again also not a good sign. However I then slept for a few hours until sort of 11am this morning so that doesn't really help.  When I finally got my arse out of bed I went to do Magic's stable and decided just to get it over and done with, while I do this, I'll muck his stable out, sort his feed out for that night and put the water in. Then put his feed for the next time in the bucket ready along with his pink powder. Jack w...

Well I think that I am on the right day of the year but a combination of major tooth ache and just being in quite a lot of pain/sleepy means that my brain really isn't with it today. But here's my catch up for all you lovely readers. Oh and I might even share some super cute photographs with you guys too, but you'll just have to carry on reading to see.  23rd February - Jack passed his driving test, I'd been nervous and on edge all day but knew that he'd be able to do it! He tried coming back and doing the whole 'I failed' then telling me the truth scenario, but I ran up to the car and caught him off guard so he had no choice but to admit to me that he had passed! That night we went out for a drive and to see a few friends that we hadn't really seen since I had lost my licence.  24th February - Today was a HORRIBLE day, the first part of it was okay we were just chilling with Jack's older brother Josh, we'd gone to see Magic (who always ...

This has literally been me today, my mum did Magic this morning as she does him every morning when I have a riding lesson (So really just saturdays). My riding lessons have also now moved to 10am instead of being in the middle of the day. My ribs were killing me and I hadn't really been sleeping very well but I knew that I just needed to get on with it as the old saying goes no pain, no gain. I went up for my lesson with Magic and it was really really good. I enjoyed riding him. We did quite a bit of canter work and Fiona says that my dressage level is in between intermediate and medium. I could ride a prelim test with ease and she thinks that I will slowly be moving up. We did lots of work on getting Gatsby to actually work in a canter in the outline, which hasn't been easy but it was fun. Even though my ribs were killing me because they were in spasm it was a lot easier for me to keep my position in the right place so while I hated the pain it actually worked out really well...

Okay so you lucky people get two posts today, I meant to put my second post yesterday but was unable to do so because things kind of kicked off with people from the old yard last night and I just ended up turning my laptop off and then completely forgetting about it! I know it is such a typical me thing to do. I went to do his stable this morning and was surprised to find him up and awake however I was not surprised to see the party for one that Magic had, had in his stable last night. I was surprised to see though that the lovely yard owner had put Magic some haylage in this morning as he hadn't got any left. So she had checked on him and seen how he was and given  him something to last him as I was running ever so slightly late. I then got to work on mucking out magic, it didn't take as long as i expected because it would appear that he has decided that he does not want to poo on his straw as gross as that sounds but that he wants to do it on the rubber matting, and that...

And the hard bit isn't even done yet! Today has been a hectic day, I had to cancel my lesson on Gatsby which I was gutted about because I had just got so much to do for moving Magic tomorrow at 7am! I am going to be exhausted and think that my poor boy will be asleep at that time to but I do love him.  This morning I woke up and the first thing I did was get my mum and jack to make the 40 minute drive to Cannock to a riding shop, where I got him loads of hi-viz, I might have gone a bit over the top but with where I live it's mainly country roads and the roads are narrow, and I'm just not risking someone not seeing him.  We then went up to the old yard, and gave magic some fuss, I think that he knows something is going on but I gave him a really good groom and made sure that he was okay and happy and then tried his hi-viz exercise sheet on, with his hi-viz leg boots. I don't think that he was very happy with it but I left it on him while he wondered around in hi...

I've finally gotten to the point where I have had enough, of interfering busy bodies. On sunday Magic and I will be making a big but very difficult move am i worried about it? yes. Do I KNOW that I'm making the right decision for both me and him? Yes.  Yesterday I had major problems, I've been doing the join up with Magic and the school and had come to the agreement with Donna who own's the yard that this was acceptable as long as he did not paw the ground, chew on the fences or role. Which I had said that I was fine with. Then yesterday I got an arsey, snobby message of the yard owner in front of everyone on the yard saying that I was in the wrong, and that I should know Magic is to not do this in the school. I explained the situation and got called by another livery rude and then the yard owner denied ever having the conversation with me, making me out to look like a right mug. I then said this very politely and had one of the other liveries giving me abuse all o...

I don't think that I have ever been as proud of my little man as I am today. For those who have me on Facebook you will know that magic has always been a bit difficult about having his feet touch and it has taken me a hell of alot of hard work and patience to be able to pick up all four feet.  His back ones being the hardest, as he would kick out prance about, just be generally stupid. Eventually through using parelli I was able to touch and pick all four feet up.  While he has had his front feet trimmed twice he has never had his back feet done and I finally felt like he was ready to have all four feet done. Last night I was really really apprehensive about actually managing to do this today but as magic has a habit to do he proved to me that he could do exactly what I asked him to. When Craig got there he was tied up,  he made the effort to fuss him and say hello to him and I explained the situation that magic has got with his back right leg.  Craig said that he ...

Well magic and I have been back to working harder than ever, after our lesson with Fiona I did some more work with him on Thursday and then he had Friday off as he just looked tired to me.  On Saturday I had an amazing lesson on gatsby, the amazing horse is still just as amazing as ever. We worked on lots of lateral work mainly leg yield but we started to do little bits of shoulder in all though this is something that I still struggle with. We also did bits of Canter work and he was being such a good boy, we worked mainly on my seat and making that more effective but we also worked on my hands as out of my whole body my hands are my biggest problem as they move quite a lot. We did some canter work, making sure to get a nice contained canter but with plenty of energy.  We then called the lesson to an end as gatsby was really starting to struggle with the wind and rain  that's was beginning to happen. I then went and spent some time with magic and got a very responsive ...

Yesterday was an amazing day I finally felt like the dark tunnel that I had been in i was finally coming out of. I had my riding teacher come out to give me a lesson with magic as I felt like I just needed a little bit of a help to point in the right direction. She came out and said that I was doing a lot better than she had expected me to he doing and that I need to remember that he's not even nine month old yet so he is still a baby. She had me take him in to the school and show her what I would normally do. So I let magic off like I normally would do so she could see what he reacted like, and as predicted  he exploded. He ran around the school bucking and jumping all over the place. She then showed me how to start to teach him join up which I'll be honest I'm not the world best at but I will get better at because I'm going to keep working with him on it. She showed me how to send him away and then when to bring him back again. I found that by doing this I got a lot m...

Well those of you that will have read my posts from yesterday will know that I had my meeting with path finders today unfortunately it did not go quite as planned, and in fact made the situation worse. The guy told me that there was nothing wrong with my head, that I was a troubled kit that was acting out and that I needed boundaries set in place which I already have. I told him I wasn't just some damn  text book like he seemed to think everybody was and everytime I tried to talk he would talk over me. I tried so hard to cooperate and go along with a treatment that I might not essentially believe in and unfortunately it turned out I was right. He was so patronising and made my head feel worse than before the appointment, I've even gone as far as putting a formal complaint in against him because I think that the way he treats people is bang out of order. I was more mad by the end of the meeting than I have been since any of this has even started. Everything he said he twisted, h...

Well it is safe to say that the start of my new year, has been challenging, but as the blog is such a supportive world I feel comfortable enough to explain to you guys what's going on. Magic is doing great, he picks up his feet (all four without kicking), he walks in hand without being completely stupid. He plays the friendly game in parelli and is starting to learn the porcupine game and I am doing lots of reading on monty roberts and join up.  After a fairly heatEd argument with someone at the yard I decided to ignore his suggests, he is a firm believer in a firm hand and I'm a firm believer in being natural and calm,  don't get me wrong he'll get a tap on the nose if he does something drastically wrong. But the majority of the time a firm no in an angry voice works just fine with him. We had tried doing some work on trotting in hand but so far we haven't got very far with that and it was causing more problems then less. So we're sticking with where we are a...

I'm exhausted so I'm going to warn you now that today has not been such a good day. I had good news from the hospital this afternoon after my tests for Addison disease last week the results have come back clear and they know that is not the problem. However I am now being sent for Mri scans on my bile duct and gallbladder, mainly to see if there are any stones or anything like that but just to rule things out as well. I also explained about my sleep pattern at the minute and they said that they think that I could be getting something called sleep apnea, I've never heard of it before so I'll have to do some research on it in the future but basically by the sounds of it, it is when your airways narrow when your asleep and basically you stop breathing when your asleep. I then wake myself up because I know something isn't right and this is what is causing (possibly anyway) my messed up sleep pattern. So at some point I while be going to see a consultant that just specia...

Mum did magic this morning which gave me the opportunity to catch up on some of the sleep that I've been missing out on at night time at the moment. We all then went up to Magic at lunch time, and he was lying in his stable fast asleep, he really didn't want to move but eventually he decided that he would get his lazy bum up off the stable floor and get some work done. Before he went out in the field I took him for a walk around the school, since I've got this new fitbit tracker I've been trying to keep on moving more so that I can lose more weight this is the 2nd proper dry of using it and I am loving it. I have also learnt that you actually burn weight when you aren't really doing anything, but back to the point we walked around the school doing little bits of trot work in hand,but mainly walking in hand and going through puddles. I then walked him down to his field and put him out for the reSt of the afternoon. Later on I will go back and bring him in and then I ...

Today's post is only going to be a quick one as I am feeling quite tired and to be honest do not have the motivation levels to right something long and really detailed. Magic is doing really well he was out in the field all day today and then bought in tonight. When I bought him in I walked him around the school for a bit just to get him used to being lead, we did a little bit of trotting but mainly walk work. We also did a little bit of work on getting magic to go through puddles and we will be doing more tomorrow.   As for me I got my new toy today so tomorrow I might write a review on it. Or I might wait until I have had it for a while and got a better feel for it. So far though I really like it, I love how all the information is on the fitbit app and that I am able to check it as I go along. I also like that it really does monitor your sleep and it appears to be very accurate. Until next time Amber AND MAGIC

Today has been a long day and it is safe to say that I am knackered now. I ended up at my walk-in doctors this morning for theme to basically tell me to go back on sleeping pills as the paramedic felt that I am getting the the point of becoming an insomniac and that I am suffering with depression and anxiety/panic attacks. This is something that I have not dealt with before so I'm not actually sure how I'll deal with it really.  This morning my mum put Magics food in. Mum, Jack and I then went back to let magic out about 9.30 this morning, he had all four feet picked up and then walked to his field. Now the past two times that I habe let magic out he's been a pain for some reason when I walk him out to the field he gets half way there and then starts spinning around, running and just being a general idiot. I'm not sure what is causing it or why he is doing it but I am sure that I will figure it out soon. This afternoon jack and I had to help his brother do a few jobs ...

Today Magic is 6 months old, and I was a nice horse owner and got him a present although at the moment I don't think that he really appreciates it. I've bought him a Dually Halter. Up until Bonfire night I was able to lead Magic everywhere, everywhere I went he came, he walked around the stable nicely, he was polite, he'd walk in the school, to the school and to the field, however since he got spooked on Bonfire night this has not been the case. He's started to only walk where he wants to walk to, until today. Today was the first day that he wore his new Red Monty Roberts Dually Head Collar and the difference in just one time of wearing it was amazing. He only had two stupid moments and calmed down quickly after both of them My little monster out in the field munching on Hay, this is one of the first few times that he went out in the field. I took him for a walk again tonight using his new head collar and the change in him is amazing! He leads so much better, he s...