July - December 2009.
Dylan visited Euston Park again this time for a first attepmt at a 160km. Not too much else happening in July, given Dlyans young age we decied to call it a day for his competition season, he has been ini 4 Er's this year and is only 7 so he had some time off and a bit of fun doing some cross country schoolling and then a longer break.
June 2009.
Bit of a mixed month, we lost two of the chicks we were raising as replacments, one to a fox that dug into the run and the other was killed by one of it's companions. Bertha our oldest chicken after a long period of not being well also died. Pesky cat died on the solstice weekend, we assume of a heart attack given where we found here and she had been in perfect health and there was no obvious cause of death. So bit of a sad fortnight to start with. Dylan took a four day trip to east anglia to compete at Euston Park. A new arival in the form of a 4 year old female Blue and Cream British short hair cat called Mustang Sally arrived on the 29th. so far she has spent a lot of time finding places to hide but has pretty much been round the whole house.
May 2009.
Dee has gone of to the Vlacq stud in Wales to be covered by Vlaqc Khazad, which is the father of one of Tricia Hirsts top horses and related to the other. Given Dee's past record of producing mainly grey colts that is the outcome I am expecting. Donkey does not seem at all bothered about the loss of his mother. With Dylan staying away over night before his second FEI ride at Dukeries he even had to cope with being by himself,okay the sheep were still there for 24 hours. I am please to say ne took it all in his stride, As he did his second trailer loading lesson.
April 2009.
Ella has now been sold, I wish her well in her new home. Donkey is starting to take a little too much interest in the ladies so he and dylan have moved to seperate accomodation leaving the ladies together. Given Dee's past record of producing mainly grey colts that is the outcome I am expecting. Dylan is being prepared for his first FEI ride and ER of 90k at Haywood Oaks. To say the least he is feeling a tad well and has been testing my sticky bum johds to the full. I will now have to apply for his FEI passport before we can compete in a 2* ride.
March 2009.
Well all plans are now up in the air as I am being made redundant. Ella will be returning to her owner to be sold as Sally is pregnant.
February 2009.
Initial training is well under way and so far things are going to plan. Donkey as yet has not shown any signs of coltiness, but I am sure time will change that. When i have the time I like to stand and watch them runing and playing in the school, some times I chase them a little if they are being boring.
January 2009.
Given I would like to do some FEI rides with Dylan and Ella I will have to appraise myself of the new set of rules. Some of which could make life a little tricky ie the lack of 1* rides for qualifying. There are three sheduled as I write all before July. I need to to do 2 80k rides with Ella before I can do a 1* FEI ride and one 80k ride with dylan before I can do a 1* ride. To be a llowed to do a 2* ride I have to complete the 1* ride sucsesfully so no pressure there then.
Donkey now has his offical name and continues to grow, now standing at over 13.2 hh. He is such a pleaseure to deal with on a daily basis , very gentle and loves attention. I try to let them have a run about in the school most days where Donkey wants to play with every one pronking bucking rolling and galloping round with the rest like a looney.
September to December 2008.
September brought a small spot of activity with Ella gaining a grade 1 in her 64k CR at Lions Tail. The following weekend both Ella and Dylan at Sherwood doing 80km CR's. After that due to weening Donkey they both had to have a rest keeping mother and son company in seperate fields while weaning Donkey. When they all came back together in November in there winter quarters Ella and Dylan restarted work, with a lot of schooling and jumping in the school due to the ground conditions.
July and August 2008.
Again things are very quite at the moment, Dylan went to the Cranham ride and sucsessfully completed his first 64k ride. Other wise it is just a case of getting Ella fit enough for the Lions Tail ride in September and Keeping Dylan ticking over.
June 2008.
Well not really a lot going on here mainly due to on going issues with my back as a result of the accident in February. Dylan is being kept ticking over and Donkey is continuing to grow. I am currently trying to make my mind up abuot breeding plans for this season, these partly depend on how my back goes this month.
May.
May seems to have wizzed by resulting in 21 lambs being born, the only slight mishap along the way was Lizzie prolapsing while giving birth meaning in a visit from the vet. Donkey is growing well and learning to have his feet picked out, hedcollar put on and removed and starting to learn to lead. Dylan has been out on his first outing of the year at the Peak District Ride where we where attempting his first 65km ride.
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| @S D Matthews | |||
More visits over to the osteopath are slowly sorting me out. In my usual impatient manner I want to be 100% fixed now but I am getting there. The 7 chicks that hatched last monthare now out with the older chicks and the 14 guails that htched are nearing ther point of lay.
April 2008.
April has barely started and we have four more lambs from two more of our sheep with three sheep left to lamb! Just a few more then I was hoping for, but not complaining as the freezer will be full later this year. Other good news is that Ella's abortion was not infectious, just one of those things so I am no longer having to change in and out of clothes all the time. This means Dee and Donkey, alla Shrek curtosy of my husband, have now moved out of the garage and into the barn where they belong. It totally amazes me how quickly he is growing, even though I am used to lambs and chicks. He has now mastered cantering round Mum, bucking, rearing and generally sticking his nose into everything, including his space hopper which the two mares refuse to go near and Dylan has played with a little.
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| @S D Matthews | |||
Thanks to loads of visits over the last three months to the osteopath I am back riding and getting Dylan fit, which now he has stopped bucking everytime we go into canter is progressing very well. We have even managed to do some schooling and lunging which I am very pleased with how quickly he has picked this up. I still have a little muscle tightness in my right hand side muscles so am still visiting the osteopath for a while longer. Oh and we now have seven more chicks that hatched this Sunday, the 5th. I am now putting some Quails and Guinea Fowl eggs in the incubator
March 2008.
March bought yet more activity on the school building front after a month of work with some time off for the rain the school is finished and I can now use it! Dylan will now be introduced to the idea of Lunging for the first time in 6 years and hopefully jumping later in the year when I have bought some jumps.
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| @S D Matthews | |||
Our first lambs of the year were born with no trouble then things started to go wrong. Withing a 24 hour period we collectively were involved in two seperate minor car accidents, we were not hurt and Ella aborted her foal at 8 months. For several days we did not know what the cause of this abortion was so had to treat it as infectious. Ella herself was fine and had not shown any signs of illness prior to 6.30am on the Thursday morning of the 27th when I found her lying down in the barn, something I had never found her doing before.
Two days later at about 5.30 in the morning Dee gave birth to a big healthy strong colt foal. Due to the possibility of Ella being infectious this meant we had to empty half of the garage at 5.30 in the morning and rig up a temporary stable for the pair of them. The photos below were taken at about one hour old.
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| @S D Matthews | |||
Two days later on the 31st another of our sheep gave birth to triplets, unoftuately only one of her quarters is functioning so we are having to bottle feed two of them, so not much sleep for me!.
February 2008.
Februay did not start well, I was out of the country for a week due to work comitments. On my return I was able to resume training. However on the 6th things got worse I was walking Destiny out about 550yds froom home when we where involved in a road traffic accident and I am sorry to say he died at the scene of the accident. I got away very lightly but have not been able to ride since so Dylan's training is on hold at present. I am however hopefull that we will get to the Peak District ride for his first 64km ride.
24th of February, was my Birthday and I alwys insist on riding on it so I took Dylan out for a hack even though my right bum cheek feels like it has had a tennis ball inserted into the muscle. Not too much else going on other then coping with things ingeneral.
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| @S D Matthews | ||
All the remaining horses have been wormed this month, and Dee is looking very fat with 3 weeks to go till her foaling date. Ella looks a lot more svelt due to her larger size and she has four more months to go till her due date. Other wise this month is providing a hive on industry with the hedger, dry stone wallers and the school builders all being here. If the weather holds I am hoping to have the stone in by the end of the month.
24th of February, was my Birthday and I alwys insist on riding on it so I took Dylan out for a hack even though my right bum cheek feels like it has had a tennis ball inserted into the muscle. Not too much else going on other then coping with things ingeneral.
January 2008.
The festive season is now over so it's time to start bringing the horses and myself back into work. Dylan and Nibbler were clipped before christmas while Steve was around to give me ahand with Nibbler as it was his first time. Dylan was stood stock still with just his head collar on and the rope over his neck, like last year. Both now sport trace clips and rugs. Nibbler will now start his walking work.
Duiker is looking very round and Ella is starting to look pregnant rather than fat. Training is going to be a bit interupted this month as work comitments finds me in Dortmund for four days. Routine teeth and physio work were carried out this month.
November and December 2007.
Time seems to be flying by at the moment work has begun on the all weather school.
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| @S D Matthews | |||
Destiny is now having a well earned break and Dylan is stying in work.
October 2007.
Destinys final outing of the year was to Silk Willoughby a new ride for all of us. I am pleased to report that all whent well and we came home with Destiny now ready to upgrade to advanced level ready for next season. Given that Destiny was unbacked 7 months ago I felt that he had done quite enough for the year so he is now on R& R till next year. So this means dylans loafing about has come to an end and I am slowly bringing him back into work ready for next season.
The girls are doing well and enjoyng the suprisingly warm dry weather we are having at the moment. if it stays dry I may be able to keep them on the grass for an extra week or two.
September 2007.
Dougal is now sold, best wishes to him and Polly Wells in their new life together. Destiny has had a busy time with two trips
to Lions Tail and a total of 70kms sucsesfully completed, and then the following weekend a
rapidly rearranged trip, after the cancelation of Sherwood due to F&M, to The College Ride.
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| @S D Matthews | ||
August 2007.
Well August was always planned to be a quite month for the boys but the advnet of F&M has not helped matters. Many rides have been canceled as farmers obivoulsy and rightly so I feel are not happy to have us over their land at the. Dee showed some signs of oestrus so I had the two mares scanned and am pleased to say they are both in foal and I have seen Ella's foal.
July 2007.
Dougal disappeared to Somerset at the begining of this month on trial. The weather so far has dominated pretty much everything, with Nibblers first two rides being canceled because of the deluge that this summer is. However on the 15th we finally got out and about at Bakewell.
Ella came into season so has now been covered hopefully she will be pregnant.
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| @West End Photography | ||
June 2007.
Due to a change in plans I find myself looking forward to attending Cirencester this month. At present Nibbler is in the process of having his work load increased in preperation for his first ride at the end of the month. Dylan is loafing about having a couple of weeks rest, he will be kept in light work now till next season, more as a precaution against him getting fat then anything else.On a personal note every spare moment is being spent tidying the house in preperation for our house party on the 21st of July. I am hopping the builders can come and finish of the wood work that Steve and I simply do not have time to do between now and then.
May 2007.
Well most of this month has been dominated by unseasonably warm weather and looking after sheep. For various reasons we ended up with three cades that we fostered on to two of our ewes when they lost there lambs. Then two weeks later last years lamb who we thought was just very woolly and a bit fat popped a pair of twin girls out all by herself. I am pleased to say mother and daughters are doing well.
Horse wise Ella came into season and flirted outrageously at Destiny and Dee has not come back in to season all month. I am convinced she is pregnant as her whole attitude appears to have changed. Dougals second outing of the season in the Dukeries 120km FEI3* ER went mostly to plan. However Dylans third and final outing of the year over 40km on the Sunday at Dukeries went exactly to plan, bar the weather. Destiny has now started canter work on rides and we met our first unknown horse while out riding, I am pleased to say bar getting a bit on his toes he behaved impecably.
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| @David Saunders | |||
April 2007.
Dougals first outing of the season in the Haywood Oaks 110km FEI2* ER did not go to plan. However Dylans second outing of 30km on the Sunday at Haywood Oaks did. Dougal is now due a visit from the physio in an effort to straighten him out. After a very interesting visit from the physio, Dougal is now feeling his usual self, it turns out he was exceptionally tight all down his left hand side and several muscles had gone into spasm.
Nibbler mean while has seen a lot more ridden work and had his first outing at the North Staffordshire Arab Horse Society Spring show in the pure bred senior stallion class where he was placed third and qualified for the British Amateur/ home produced Championships in August. As a treat for doing so well, on his return he got to 'play' with Duiker who was in season.
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March 2007.
More Routine jobs to start the month, worm counts and worming were carried out. Dylans first outing happened at last at Major Oak. Dougal mean while is in final fittening preperation for the 110km ER at Haywoods Oaks next month.
February 2007.
Not much to report this month, things are ticking over and the snow caused Dylans first outing at Hop Was Hop to be canceled. Nibbler continues to be worked a couple of times a week on short hacks to improve his musculature, steering and traffic proofing.Other than this routine jobs like saddle fit and teeth rasping have been carried out.
January 2007.
The festive season is well and truly over so it's time to start bringing the horses and myself back into work. This winter I did things slightly differently. Dylan has been clipped for the first time, just his neck, shoulder and girth area. I was so proud of him as he stood stock still untied and did not bat an eyelid even when I trimmed round his head.
Dougal has been reclipped and has now started two weeks of walking to be followed by some trot work. Duiker has turned into a very hairy, slightly tubby brown thing and appears to be thoroughly enjoying her return to being a brood mare.Nibbler continues to be worked a couple of times a week on short hacks to improve his musculature, steering and traffic proofing.
December 2006.
I am beggining to think our chickens are ducks given the amount of time they spend out in what seems to be continuous rain. The cat is wisely staying in. Other wise Dylan is progressing nicely and I am really looking forward to our first ride of next year. Nibbler has had a few more outings.
November 2006.
I can not believe the lovely weather we are still having half way through November! So far it has remained pretty dry and not too cold. I have now sat on Nibbler for the first time. This was a good experience for both of us and has also shown me how far Dylan has come on since I first sat on him. Our outings have been contained to walking up and down the drive so far, but I hope to get him out of the property by the end of the month. Dougal's shoes cam off at the begining of the month.
October 2006.
Well the season is over and I am off on holiday for two weeks while Dougal is allowed to get all hairy and muddy till January. Dylan continues his general fitness work and education. Nibbler has now settled in and is being taken for some walks on the road to asses his behaviour in traffic followed by some long reigning. Dee continues to eat and be merry.
September 2006.
September so far seems to be bringing us some very nice summery weather without the humidity. Well there is new arrival, Warrens Hill Destiny, Nibbler. He is Dylan's father and will be standing at open stud here next year.
Dougal's FEI passport is all sorted out now and his entry has been accepted to Red Dragon
So now it is just a case of final fittening work and getting there. Dylan is starting to turn into a very nice riding horse, perhaps a bit lazy at times but generally going very nicely, offering some work on the bit and becoming well established in walk, trot, canter and most importantly halt. I hope to introduce some latteral work soon and a bit of rein back.August 2006.
Thankfully the weather has cooled off a bit and some much needed rain has arrived. The horses are obviously starting to get ready for winter as they are all now moulting. Dougal's preparation for the Northern Champs has not quite gone to plan. I was made an offer to purchase him three weeks before the ride and in a paranoid mode did not ride him for a week so he would be sound for the vetting which he was. This however means that I am not 100% happy with his fitness levels and so have withdrawn. Oh well maybe next year, in the meantime I have applied for his FEI passport so we can enter the ***FEI 120km ER at Red Dragon.
Alula after a year here has moved on to pastures afresh, just up the road in Derbyshire where she will be producing a foal for somebody else.
July 2006.
Its now half way through the year and boy what a hot month this one is turning out to be. Dougal has started back into work now after his mid season break and is progressing well. Duiker had her third and final outing in the 100km ER at the 4 day Lindum ride held at Market Rasen.
She has now retired from competing and will return to being a brood mare next year. Dylan is progressing well and coping with traffic in a very calm and mature way. The red cap chicks have now moved to an outside pen and been replaced under the infa red lamp by a solitary phesant chick.June 2006.
Bit of a weird month so far with the weather not seeming to make its mind up about what to do Dougal has had a couple of easy weeks as a mid seaon break as his next outing is not till the August bank holiday weekend. This means I have been able to concentate more attention on Dylan. Duiker had her second outing since joining us in the 80km ER at the Summer Solstice ride @ Cirencester Park.
On a more general not Steve and I have been demolishing the garage and having a new one errected in it's place so the tractor should have a home this winter with the cars. Chicken wise it has not been so good, one of our hens died and the chick got taken the same day from its run. So we have purchsed three new hens and hatched three Derbyshire Red Caps as the nucleus for our meet flock. We rescued some phesant eggs from the top field before the horses moved in there to graze so also have some chicks from these.May 2006.
May is upon us already and spring has finally decide to arrive, we have had some lovely days and the horses are back out full time now without rugs. So far it has been quite on the competition front with only Dougal planned for an outing at the end of the month in the 120km ER at Dukeries. This does not mean we have not been busy, both of the competition horses have been thoroughly checked out by there physio and we have been given some stretches to do after exercise. All the horses have had worm counts taken and appropriate action taken. field maintenance has kicked in with avengeance now that the ground has dried out sufficiently. Oh and we have a new arrival in the form of a baby chick, just hope it is a female, or it is destined for the pot.
April 2006.
April started with Haywood Oaks and Dougal pulling a muscle in his neck. He was sound within two days but has still been given three weeks off to enable him to recover fully. Duiker took part in her first ER with me in the 64km ER at Berkshire Downs With the late emergence of spring this year I have yet to see how Dylan has taken to the the Sweet itch injections. Otherwise things around the yard have been changing with our first harvest of Rhubarb and lots of general gardening. Though I do wish spring proper would arrive.
March 2006.
February is over and was celebrated as such with pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and avoiding getting involved in the street football in Ashbourne. The winter seems to be hanging on in there, with snow almost a weekly occurrence. On a couple of occasions the ground has stayed frozen for days. To get work into the horses I have had to box to a local forest and put some work in round the sandy tracks there. Dylan has been seeing rather a lot of the vet recently as I have signed him up for the sweat itch vaccination trials, no adverse reactions as yet to the jabs. This involves a course of three subcutaneous injections over six weeks, before midge season starts. So just as well the winter is hanging on in there.
February 2006.
January has whipped by and February is upon us already. For Dougal and Duiker this means vaccinations, as if I want to compete either of them in FEI rides they have to have flu vaccinations every 6 months. Duiker will also be micro chipped at this time and all of them will have their teeth rasped. As I now keep my horses on my own property I can exercise the worming program I have always wanted to. So my next job is to collect a fresh pooh sample from each horse, carefully package it and send it off to be worm counted so I can implement the most appropriate worming program.
On the 24th two new arrivals joined the animal family, when Paula sheep gave birth to twins, one boy and one girl. Of course she chose a cold snow filled day to do this. I am pleased to say they are all doing well. Duiker has been treated to a snazzy new saddle, another Podium, but this time with a red cordura seat so I should be easy to spot. I have also treated myself to a new riding hat in a funky red green and white colour scheme. Hopefully this will make it even easier for Steve to spot us out competing.
January 2006.
The festive season is well and truly over so it's time to start bringing the horses and myself back into work. This winter I did things slightly differently.I still had Dougal's shoes removed at the end of October and Duiker's within her first week of arriving, but I kept both horses ticking over by riding once or twice a week. So they should take less work to bring back up to full fitness.
Work and the small number of light hours available means this requires some careful juggling and only leaves one day a week to fit in riding Sprite or Dylan. On the morning of the 13th I noticed Duiker's right fore leg was enlarged, there was no heat or pain and a small cut on the fetlock. I cleaned this up, covered it and applied my N.E.W magnetic boots. This cleared up within three days but just to play it safe I have decided to give her two weeks rest and then bring her back into work with no cantering for a week or two. At the same time Dylan managed to fall overnight and cut his knee. On the same off fore he also had an enlarged leg from the knee down, again with no heat, so I cleaned his wound and applied my magnetic boots overnight. Within two days his leg was back to normal. At no point were either of them lame.
Sprite meanwhile has decided she would prefer to be a brown horse rather than a grey one.
November 2005.
Well its that time of year again, when the shoes come off Dougal again and he starts his holidays though I intend to try and ride him once or twice a week for a short gentle hack, assuming he knows what one of those is.
Dylan is now starting to do more serious work with the intention of starting ridden work next year. I have sat on him once now but he feels like he is constantly going down hill as his bum stands at 15h 3 and his front at 15h1. I hope by leaving him longer he may level off.
As the grass growth here is so fantastic and I am a little concerned about Sprite getting laminitis in the spring, as she is not mine I am taking the precaution of doing some ridden work with her. She is a character and makes me laugh as she snorts at everything and waves her front leg for attention.
Late November and things are all change here with the arrival of two ewes in lamb to help with the grazing and fertilisation of the fields. Rodney the Cockerel and a new advanced endurance horse, Duiker.
Dougal also won some reward for his efforts, his 400km life distance award and 2nd place in the Heart of England region for best endurance horse.
August, September, October 2005.
Sorry for the somewhat disjointed nature of this bit of the diary but BT managed to make a complete hash of moving my phone number and internet service to the new house, i.e. they tried to do it a month earlier then requested, I lost my internet access so have not been able to update the site hence it has also moved to a new address.
August was a somewhat disappointing month for us at the Northern Championships.
September was competition free and more a case of discovering the new rides available at our new location and settling the boys in to a new home and then the arrival of a new friend Alula, who is on loan to put in foal.
October started with a fantastic result at the NAF Red Dragon ride, some more route exploring and Dylan starting to do some long reining work.
July 2005.
July started with a few problems such as Dougal's shoes almost falling off, I think the mileage we are doing means I need to leave shorter shoeing intervals. Unfortunately this meant Dougal missed two of his scheduled fast work outs. This and the fact I did not clip him, last time I believe BBC weather predictions, along with the slip at Ludlow may account for his lack of performance here.
Dougal then went on a two week holiday period to give the niggles from Ludlow a chance to recover as well as myself and Steve a chance to break the back of the work our new house requires to ready itfor moving in with the boys. They are moving over on the 12th of August with us following later the same month.
I am pleased to say when Dougal resumed work he did so with his usual approach and completed his first interval training session satisfactorily.
June 2005.
Dylan is currently hacking out, led from Dougal once a week in order to accustom him to traffic and the idea of life outside of his field. He also attended his first show of the season, again in order to acclimatise him to the atmosphere. I am please to say he behaved very well and won his class. Dougal was entered into his second ER at Wharn Cliffe Chase. Please follow the link for more on this.
Dougal is now on a five day rest period and will next be aimed at either the 64 or 100km ER at Ludlow. Dylan meanwhile will be continuing with his hacks once a week and I am currently looking for a larger show locally to take him to, possibly the Ashbourne show.
May 2005.
Dougal completed his first ER at the Berkshire Downs ride in 5th place. Please follow the link for more on this. Then on the Bank Holiday Monday we all moved to the Derbyshire Dales where Dougal proceeded to have a short break of 5 days off before recommencing work to build on his aerobic fitness in preparation for his next endurance ride. Both from my point of view and Dougal's this is an exciting time as we get to explore new territory and find new training grounds. I am curious to see if there is as much or more difference in altitude gains and losses on hacks here as compared to the Bristol area.
We are hoping at Dougal's next ER to build on what we learnt at Berkshire Downs with the aim of reducing our time taken to present.
On Wednesday the 18th I went to the field to bring Dougal in to exercise but he was very reluctant to come in, and lame on his nearside hind when walking on the concrete. On investigation I found a 2 inch nail imbedded in his frog up to 1 and a half inches deep at a 45 degree angle. Fortunately on removal it bled, I then scrubbed it clean with virkon and poulticed overnight and collected some antibiotics and bute to make him feel more comfortable and prevent any infection taking hold. After two more days of poulticing, nothing came out, I put Dougal back into work to which he responded with his usual enthusiasm.
April 2005.
I am pleased to report that April has started well with a successful day at the Forest Of Dean Bluebell ride. Please follow the link for more on this. Dylan's wound is progressing well and I believe there will be little if any scarring visible as a result of his field accident. Post the Bluebell ride Dougal had a short holiday of 3 days off before recommencing work to build on his aerobic fitness in preparation for his first endurance ride. This is new territory for Dougal and my crew so I suspect they will be on a steep learning curve as will I as this will be my second ER.
March 2005.
Well things are moving along the competition season has started and I am getting slightly itchy feet. Dougal has now started Interval training more on that in the training pages. Dylan however has had a nasty accident in the field and is currently confined to his box on a five day course of antibiotics. He is however sound but not too chuffed about the idea of being in. This may yet turn into a page here on the site in it's own right. I am pleased to say Dylan was only confined to his box for two weeks due to his fast healing properties. Dougal however has had a some what interrupted training plan this month as I was ill for one week and then had to visit the office in Cambridge the next week. I believe he will still be fit enough for the Forest of Dean Bluebell ride but not necessarily at the speed I would like to do.
February 2005.
brings more prep work in the form of dental work. During their routine rasping it was noticed that both horses had wolf teeth so these have now been removed. Unfortunately due to the sheer size of Dylan's wolf teeth, about human molar size with inch long roots, things took a bit longer than otherwise. This has not however put him off his food.
Dougal also had a routine check from Gavin Schofield his osteo who I am pleased to report was happy with him.
At about mid way through February I start to introduce short canters into our work outs. I usually find my horses have been asking to canter a week or two before I really want them to and always take this as a good sign that it is me wanting to go slower. At this point I also like to start using my heart rate monitor to get a feeling for how fit the horse really is and if it is ready to start interval training.
January 2005.
Feels like time has flown by since I had Dougal's shoes knocked off in October and he started his three month holiday. Most of January as usual is spent in preparing for the new season sorting out any niggles from last year etc.
Dougal's first set of shoes have now gone on and three weeks walking work has been completed and trot work has now commenced.
Other routine jobs to get out of the way have included worming and teeth rasping.
