They are in the big field

I have talked it all through with Superhubby and we have decided that the risk of Jazz damaging anything now is so small that we would prefer him to be out in the big field than left constrained while we have a house-sitter looking after them. They have only run around about 5 times in 10 months - three times when the midges were biting in the evening and twice when I went out to catch them in the morning. Neither of those things will be happening now they are in at night, so I have high hopes that he won't go for a mad run. And even if he does, the surgery was done almost 4 weeks ago and I think he is well-healed by now and it will probably hold anyway.

So this afternoon I shut up Zip, the one likely to make trouble, and took out the tape. Jazz was sweet - he was still acting as if the fence was there even though there was no tape, just posts. He hopped over the imaginary line awkwardly once he realised that I was walking through it freely. He stuck his head down to eat the new grass available for five minutes, and then I let Zip out.

True to form the little devil ran up .... and then he ran down ..... and up again. There was some fairly spectacular extended trot going on :-) ! And all the time Jazz just ate and ignored him. I know how unflappable Jazz normally is in the field and I expected just that, but I was relieved. They are both grazing quietly out there now, they haven't even bothered to go further out down the field.

I rode Zip this morning so as not to leave him too long between working. He was as quiet as a lamb after three days with no work. He did some lovely walk in a super outline. I asked him for a bit of shoulder in to see what I got. The answer was - a bit of shoulder in! Genuine shoulder in. So that was 4 minutes used up since the start of the ride. I was glad when he shifted sideways when I asked for halt, because it gave me an excuse to practice halts for a few more minutes before I stopped. I ask you, what is the point of riding a 3 year old for five minutes when it just does everything you ask and it's too young to train to compete :-) ?

He'll have 6 days off now while we are away on holiday, until I ride BOTH of them on Saturday next. I can't wait :-))))

Bye chaps!

C.

ps for the aspiring burglars amongst you may I remind you that we have motion activated CCTV on the house and yard, (we've left some cameras as the big visible ones so you get the idea) which relays a copy to another location. And a house sitter and her boyfriend who works in a quarry staying in the house.