Oh for flips sake!
Minus two overnight. Snow covering the barn roof this morning. Vicious east wind outside forecast to last for two days at least. Spring! Pah!! Go on Jean, taunt us with your wonderful weather :-) !!
So I didn't want to hang around outside too long and only George has had any work. Jazz's eye is all healed and mostly black again. What a worry that was for a short time.
I tried the same approach with George today. A firm contact and clear instructions that I would not let him go any faster no matter what. He took a while to relax, but he didn't manage to do the stonky walk, so we have definite progress. I did some lateral work to get his shoulders up and he can already do a very fair shoulder in and travers.
We did some trot at the end and he refused to do anything but a silly choppy stride to the right for a few minutes. Then he got the message - run for it and you run into a wall, shrink back and you get a tap with the whip, wriggle and you get sent forwards. He dropped into a fairly decent calm trot and we stopped.
I've now opened my last bale of haylage, so if this weather doesn't perk up soon I'm going to have to go hunting for forage. If my supplier has sold out (not unlikely) then it's difficult to know what to trust. There is so much ragwort around this area that I hate to buy anything that I haven't seen growing. I guess there's always that small pack stuff to fall back on but it's atrociously expensive.
Just off now to try and buy George a new bit. The five inch that I have is pinching him and he needs one a little bigger.
C
posted by cptrayes @ 12:16 PM
8 comments
8 Comments:
Im looking at feeding big bale haylage next winter......how quick to you get through it with your guys?
Sorry about the weather, honest. I keep trying to send some of mine your way but nothing seems to be happening.
George is still and interesting character with his flat work. Goes to show what happens when the original training is just not done with a young horse. Still, he does seems to figure it out as soon as his little stubborn streak surrenders. *G*
Good luck finding the haylage. Hay prices around here are definitely going to go up. The price of fuel seems to be rising every day and the truckers are losing money paying for it.
-2.C?? Erk! I loved imagining George trying to figure it out!! Glad Jazz's eye seems back to normal, certainly a weight off your mind especially considering poor Smartie.
Re my riding - I pay £10/yr to ride (as well as my rider only insurance)...which is a bit of a bargain when you consider that a hack (on a lead rein!!) round Hyde Park will ordinarily set you back £50, and a private lesson £74.
Having said that it is currently subject to an annual riding test which I have to pass (mine is next week)...I can't remember the last time I rode in a school, let alone did a circle, so it will be interesting. My examiner also happens to be the Riding Master, the best rider they have and who events HM's horses...I'd be kidding myself if I said I wasn't nervous!
A 200kg bale lasts me nearly 2 weeks with 2 big horses, 8-10 days with 3.
You have a harder time with rising fuel prices than us Jean. We pay so much duty that the price of the gas is actually less than half of what we pay, so the price rise is only about half what you get.
Oooh Louise! What a nerve wracking test that will be. Good luck. But then again £10 a YEAR!!! Wow :-0
And blimey, for £74 you can get a lesson on a Grand Prix dressage horse taught by a Chief Instructor at Talland!
C.
No probs with a bale going off or anything then?
Well they do say that you shouldn't keep it open for longer than a week. I have never had a single problem with it keeping at least two weeks, unless you get real summer weather when it can go mouldy in about ten days. I think they just say one week to protect themselves. If you put it in those vacuum bags that you can get for storing clothes, then it lasts for as long as you need until you break the seal. The bags are really expensive though!
C
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