Eat yer greens & we go out

The kind folk at Transition Turriefield gave us a large bucket load of bolted winter vegetables for the horses.

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So, instead of their usual silage, I thought I would give them a treat and distributed the shrubbery fairly amongst the feed boxes (old knackered but recycled fish boxes).

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After a tentative approach, the horses and ponies soon realised that this was very good food.

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I was always told that if you ate your greens, it would make you “Big and Strong”.  I passed on this information to those that needed to know.  I expect them to reach 17hh by tomorrow.

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Anyway, I needed my horse to be “Big and Strong”, because I wanted to ride him.

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Here is a lesson in riding an Icelandic horse….

To mount him, you stand your horse in a stream in the middle of the hill while everyone else waits for you to get on.

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Then, having joined the others, you drop the reins while you put your gloves on.

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Then you remember to take up the reins to re-establish control…..

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…. whereupon you get bored of that, two seconds later, and drop them again so you can chat properly to your neighbour without all that actual hassle of riding properly.

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So you take the lead of the ride because Haakon always has to be first and can walk faster than any other horse I know (ignore my feet – they do that despite my bestest efforts and I seem to be on a terrible wonk).

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Next, you gallop up the hill wondering if anyone has any brakes, breathe a sigh of relief when you all meet up at the top and briefly admire the view.

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Everyone then follows you back down the hill.

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You drop the reins, chatting all the way home leaving the riding bit to the horses.  Mine seems to be more qualified than me.  I trust him. He knows his job.  He’s happy.

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In the BHS book, it says something about walking home on a long rein and I do wish certain horses had read this book as Iacs came flying past us as he legged it with his rider (Daisy who gave noticeable encouragement, don’t think I didn’ t see) on the last stretch.

We had words.

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(But it was bloody good fun)

 

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