Real life...

Oh my aching brain! As the weather shows no significant signs of improvement both Shell and myself left the horses alone and had a day of normality(?). What that really means is that we have both tried to stuff a weeks worth of anything that doesn't involve horses into a day. We are both pretty shattered, not to mention stressed (yes, the lorry!). We are now at the point where we need to be sorting out a list of things to bring and generally making sure everything is organised to run smoothly...anyone out there want an (unpaid) job? What we really want to do is have a couple of drinks and spend 24 hours sleeping. Ain't going to happen!
A day of poncing around the horse trials at Poplar Park, dressed like a complete *** beckons tomorrow. Bet it thrashes it down. Please show pity, offer me a lorry and lots of money?

Donner und blitzen

More thunderstorms! We may soon have to put flippers on the boys at this rate. Paddy's shoe has finally dropped off. Irritating, but not unexpected. The good news on that front is that there's no damage with it, we just have to wait for Stuart to turn up on Tuesday. With the weather forecast the way it is this isn't such a blow.
The other good news is that Rash is overcoming his trailer induced nervous breakdown quite nicely. Walked on with barely any hesitation today. There's still a way to go, but we are definitely getting there. (Ok, he flattened me on his way off, but never mind).
The bad news is that our own nervous breakdowns are in full flight. STILL NO DAMN LORRY! We must have phoned and begged most of Suffolk's lorry owning population today. Still nothing. I will be at the Fynn Valley horse trials at Poplar Park on Sunday, dressed like a twit and begging pitifully for a lorry. If anyone reading this can spare me the humiliation.....
If not, I am thinking about running away to sea.

Eureka! (sort of)

It's been a somewhat frustrating day. Hectic all morning (when the weather looked reasonable!). When things eased off in the afternoon it would have been nice to go for a hack, but guess what? Paddy's loosing a shoe. I thought it sounded loose a while ago and the farrier tweaked it (he didn't have time to replace both fores). However it's now more of a flip flop. As he's already a little unlevel it's not worth risking a nail through the sole or any strain from working him without the shoe (he's a tendency to be a bit footy anyway). We decided that the most productive use of the time would be for Shell to lunge him in the school while I tried to persuade Rash that the trailer wasn't going to eat him....

Apparently Pads isn't entirely sound, not tracking up with his near hind in trot, it didn't stop him putting in a few bucks in canter though! he generally loosens up if you work him through it, so here's hoping.
Rash, as you will see from the pics has some reservations about loading. We spent half an hour with me sitting in the trailer with a bucket of feed while he decided whether or not he could cope with the ramp.
To be honest we reckon he's just being a stubborn git. Having said that, when we worked out how to shift the partition over he loaded in less than a minute (though he did look a little surprised to find himself there).
This leaves us with a bit of a dilemma, he will load if he can go on first, but will undoubtedly throw a complete fit if we try and move the partition to make room for Paddy. Oh dear...
The bottom line is WE STILL NEED A LORRY!!! Someone, somewhere must have one they can spare for a week? Help us please or the ride might not happen....

Back in action?

Well Paddy has had his R&R and is now fit to be ridden again. He was much more like his old self on yesterday's hack, the Paddy bounce is back. Of course the weather is doing us no favours at all, timing is everything if we don't want a soaking. On the ride itself we won't have a choice, but right now there's no point in undergoing unnecessary suffering. As you can see from the pics the boys are keen and raring to go! We are still in a bit of a limbo position with the transport. There's a vital piece missing from the trailer which we are hoping will turn up any day now (although it will be redundant if we can't persuade Rash onto the damn thing). Still haven't got a definite towing vehicle, but we live in hope. There's a very dodgy picture of us on the front page of the local newsletter, but hopefully it won't put anyone off from giving us money! Anyway, onwards and upwards! With any luck the summer will resume again soon.

Woodbridge with Bridie

Today we got all dressed up and took Bridie to Woodbridge. First we had to pick up our transport from Poplar Park. On our way back we found ourselves directly under a cracker of a thunderstorm.... this did not bode well for our fundraising effort. However, by the time we had got Bridie ready and loaded her the deluge had abated.
Shell and myself met Ellie (my daughter, in the purple dress) and Alex (our photographer for the day) and off we headed into town.
Bridie was all dolled up with ribbons and behaved like the saint she is.

We dragged her up the main drag while Ellie demanded money with menaces from unsuspecting passers by (very politely of course).
Quite a few people recognised Bridie and lots of people, little girls in particular came over to say hello.








We certainly attracted plenty of attention. There were times when I was afraid we might be the cause of a car crash! We even got smiles and waves from a bus driver and his passengers. Up on Market Hill we ran into a film crew, or something like it. We told them what we were up to, but clean forgot to ask what they were doing (If that was you and you read this, do tell us please?). We met loads of nice people who were interested in what we were doing, and generous with it. Thank you very much to everyone, we raised £111.40 today!!!!! Still looking for more of course...
Finished the day with another downpour. Perfect timing!

Hopalong 2, and other stories...

Not a lot to report from yesterday (mostly 'cause I was in hospital...nothing to do with horses though!). Fliss took a look at Paddy (she does backs) and came to the conclusion that he had wrenched his hip when he sank in the potato field (see 'Bridleway? What bridleway?'). She did her stuff on him, but he has to have a couple of days off to recuperate. Rash had a lesson and apparently he was pretty good, although working in the school must have come as a bit of a shock after the last few weeks of happy hacking.
Today it was time to start loading practice. Pads strolled on and stuck his nose straight into the bucket of carrots. Rash has a bit of a thing about trailers (see pic) so we weren't expecting miracles. We took it all very quietly, no pressure, no fuss. Managed to get two feet inside the trailer (briefly). This was actually a bit of a result as we have spent hours with him refusing to even set foot on the ramp. Thanks again to Amanda, now we have something to practice with.
Hopefully we are going to get dressed up and make idiots of ourselves in Woodbridge tomorrow, we will be bringing a cute harmless little pony with us, rather than risk one of the boys freaking out and causing havoc! If you come and point and laugh, please donate as well!

Hopalong

Nothing dramatic today. Busy but routine at the yard. We may have a van and driver, but I don't want to jinx anything by saying too much! There were magnificent thunderstorms here last night (I was looking out my bedroom window at the lightning thinking 'please don't hit the horses'). Puddles/lakes everywhere today, so the going was nice and soft. It's times like this you appreciate the sandy ground. Paddy was painfully stiff at first, but loosened up after the first mile or so... Shell's beginning to suspect that he's trying it on. Bit of a catch 22 really. Rash was Rash, as usual. His trot is getting a lot more even, less of the acceleration-deceleration-acceleration.... A large puddle turned out to be the scariest thing we've seen in weeks though, he was well on his way home by the time I managed to pull him up (perhaps he saw his reflection?). The rest of the hack was quiet enough, although we may have scared a bus driver... I reckon he thought Rash was trying to rear because of his bus, the truth was he'd got distracted by the bus and inadvertently stood in a puddle! Loading onto trailer practice tomorrow... Wish us luck :-)

Thank you, thank you,thank you

Look what we've got! Ok, so it's not a lorry, but it is a means of making it to the start of the ride, and a good solid trailer, new floor too! The panic isn't quite over as we still have to find something to tow it with, but it's a damn good start. HUGE THANK YOU to Amanda :-)
Due to all the chasing around we didn't get to ride today, but Paddy in particular could probably do with the break (we don't want him to die on us before... or during the ride). It's a fine balance and we are probably erring on the side of caution.
Just so no one forgets why we are doing this I've included a couple of pics from tonight's session. The kids are practising an obstacle course which they will be doing 'for real' on the 14th, along with a dressage test.
The Shetland is Silver, our newest and cutest addition to the yard.

Alternative dresses....

It's pretty much inevitable that the original dresses are going to suffer horribly, possibly terminally, so we need at least one spare each. We aren't exactly models, I doubt the dresses were ever supposed to look like this, but do let us know what you think? (vest and weight bench not to be counted!)

Bridleway? What bridleway?

The reason Rash is looking a little cheesed off might have something to do with where we took himself and Pads today. Thinking a little roadwork would not be out of order we headed for the cut through onto the road. It is an official bridleway, signposts and all. The start was less than auspicious with nettles up to their shoulders, but it's usually ok that way, so we persevered. Unfortunately we persevered past the point of no return. Having ploughed our way through ever higher nettles, we found we could go no further, so we had to ride through a potato field. Paddy was not a happy boy as he sank up to his hocks several times. We finally found a footpath, which although not ideal, was definitely the lesser of two evils.
Sincerely hoping the Ridgeway is better maintained than this, as we might not have survived the experience with ballgowns to contend with as well.
We made it home safely in the end and I don't think the boys were too traumatised after all. Our dogs (who will not be accompanying us on the ride due to a complete inability to understand the command 'come here you little ******') were wondering where we'd got to though.
Apropos of yesterday's post. Alex is worried that his beer belly is somewhat prominent.... what does anyone think?

Personal trainer?

This is Paddy's new personal trainer.... My husband Alex. As Shell was busy with it being Father's day I persuaded him (against his better judgement) to come out with us on his beloved bike. Much to his surprise nothing horrible happened. Having someone to open gates is very handy, he was also useful for exploring the more unlikely (overgrown) looking bits of bridleway and rescuing a small dog from Paddy's wrath (Pads really HATES having his heels snapped at). He couldn't understand what all the fuss about Pad's reputation as a fire breathing, snorting, prancing performance artist was all about.... until we met some strange horses! He certainly got out of the way quickly, falling off his bike in the process (twice). Pads seemed to think he was another horse, didn't want to be separated from him, to the point where he was so close Alex was being shoved into the ditch. They are now best friends.

No news on the lorry yet :-(

Discretion being the better part of valour...

This pic of Ryscheyed says it all really. Mud with extra mud. The plan for today had been to hack to a few of the local pubs (in full regalia). Naturally enough the weather conspired against us, the sunny weather as too good to last. The thunder and lightning and downpour started just as we got the boys in. We reckoned that not many people would be inclined to sit outside a pub in these condtions so we dashed out for a quick canter down by the river between showers. Despite the ominous looking clouds and hefty gusts the boys were bordering on the sonnambulistic. The herd of cattle failed to catch their attention at all. The steps up the river wall on the other hand earned a good snorting from Paddy. Ryscheyed was bowling along beautifully, until he was brought to an abrupt standstill..... by a clump of grass! The whole track is extremely overgrown, so God knows what was special about this one.
No news yet on the lorry. Hopefully Monday will bring some good news. Just in case it doesn't we are working on plan B (or is that C? or D....)

Living in hope.

Well Debs made it live onto BBC Radio Suffolk, and a fine job of it she made too (or so I hear, I wasn't in a position listen). She's now our semi official PR person... although she may not know this (yet). So the plea has gone out, again, make with the lorry!!!
Horse wise, it was a bit windier today, a pleasant relief from the mugginess. Pads is gradually waking up and showing signs of enjoying himself. We went for a decent enough hour and a half hack, nowhere especially challenging. The going is pretty good at the moment, with just about the right amount of rain. Rash was brilliant at the gates (which he used to have a bit of an issue with), he did however have a couple of 'moments'. Once when I turned round and put my hand on his bum. Anyone would have thought the hounds of Hades had just landed on him! Panic!!!! Then I went to get something from my pocket, obviously it was highly dangerous as he shot forward with his nose in the air (his well known llama impression). Pads being made of sterner stuff only slammed the brakes on and spun when a flock of pigeons flapped out of a wheat field (perhaps they were vultures in disguise? Who knows.) Still, we all made it home in one piece and they must be getting fitter as neither sweated up, even after cantering and trotting most of the way.
Thanks to Juliette Dean in Dunsmore who has very kindly agreed to put the boys up on the 19th, and to everyone else who has been helpful and generous with information and advice.

Panic!

More of the headless chicken routine today, playing 'hunt the lorry'. Debs managed to go live on SGR (local radio) to beg for one. Still awaiting results on that. We've suckered her into being interviewed on BBC Radio Suffolk tomorrow (sorry Debs!)... listen out after 11.30 tomorrow morning. We WILL get there eventually, even if we have to strap skateboards to their hooves and tow them!
After much phone wrangling we finally managed to get out for a ride. It had become pleasantly cool after a very sweaty day, Paddy was certainly happier. More brisk trotting, which Ryscheyed is still not convinced by. Pads seems to be developing a fifth gait.... incredibly uncomfortable super fast trot, occasionally breaking into canter. He's usually like sitting on a (somewhat bouncy) armchair. This is a revolting development. Will continue with updates on the lorry. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SOMEONE GIVE US A LORRY?

Update on lorry situation etc

At some point we might get to give the horses some proper excercise, when we can stop running round like headless chickens trying to find a lorry. We tried a few more people today, lots of helpful suggestions, but still no lorry. Desperate measures being called for we contacted local radio (BBC Radio Suffolk) and asked them to broadcast an appeal. Watch this space....
As for the excercise, a quick spin around the river was all we managed at the end of the day. It's so overgrown that we didn't want to risk anything faster than a brisk trot... a pace which Ryscheyed in particular has difficulty getting his head around. I mean, why trot when you can ponce around in canter? Paddy has started to show signs of life again, particularly when he was snorted at through the hedge by a large cow!
We are planning to do another pub crawl this Saturday, probably to the Sorrel Horse and Ramsholt Arms again, and perhaps the Alderton Swan if we think we can make it. We will be shaking tins this time, so make sure you have change handy (notes will do too of course)!

Preview

On my way West and to Ireland last week I stopped off in Streatley and Goring to have a look at what awaits us. Having read the description of Goring as a 'Market town' we were a little concerned that it might be a bit of a teeming metropolis. Fortunately this is not the case, although it's not short of traffic as you can see from the pics below. Actually it's quite picturesque, I just hope the boys think so too and don't attempt a reprise of Beechers Brook as we cross the bridge. This is where the Ridgeway stops being a bridleway and becomes a footpath. We will need to go onto Swans Way and then the Icknield way. I hunted for signs for Swans Way, but found only the Ridgeway and the Thames Path. I asked a few people, including the lock keeper.... nobody seemed to know. Confused? We will be!













































WHICH WAY NOW?????











Bless the little dears, munching their way through a field of daisies. They have no idea at all what's ahead of them.

One of those days.

Having just got back from Ireland, where we had a week of scorching weather....yes, I am obsessed, I was all ready to carry on as usual. Paddy in particular is nowhere near fit (apparently he's lost the will to play up after the exertions of the pub crawl). No such luck. It seems that we no longer have a lorry as it has spontaneously(?) disintegrated, so much of today has been spent sucking up, hinting and pleading with anyone we know who might be able to lend us one. No luck so far, but we haven't tried everyone and we live in hope. It seem everyone is very busy with shows that week. BIG HINT!!! If anyone has a lorry please please please get in touch?
Just in case the lorry disaster wasn't enough, we simply cannot find anywhere for the horses on the night of the 18th. We will be in the Watlington area, and despite what the guidebooks say there is no grazing or stabling to be found....at least not by us. ANOTHER BIG HINT: Does anyone out there know of a smallish patch of grass where we can park the boys? We don't need a big field and will bring our own electric fence if necessary. HELP? if we can't find somewhere we will have to do 40 miles in one day!

Sunny!

Yes, I know I keep going on about the weather, but having sun and a lack of rain and gales is wonderful! We went for a very quiet hack today, the boys seemed a little shell shocked after yesterday's experience. Even Paddy's obligatory 'snort and jog' routine was very half hearted. We took them on a familiar route (one where they normally come round the corner and straight into canter)... couldn't be bothered! Just as well as the grass is waist high so you can't see the rabbit holes and ruts. Even a herd of cattle and a flock of geese (all in one go) failed to elicit so much as a twitch. We are thinking of selling them on to a trekking centre when this is all over (sorry boys, just joking).

That ****** dress.

We plan to go for a short hack today, just to loosen Paddy and Rash up after yesterday's exertions. A couple of very inviting tracks got them properly steamed up, so sedateness today. I will NOT be wearing the dress (what Shell does is up to her)...The faster we went yesterday, the lower the dress got, to the point where it had descended to my waist, with the added bonus of trapping my arms. Fortunately I wore a vest (the world just isn't ready for that view).. Shell's dress is far more sensible, having a shoulder strap, and she has something to hold it up with. Alterations (my dress is also about 9 inches too long, fits me like a sack... see pics below) and straps will be happening very soon. We will both also be having split up the front of the skirts for ease of mounting and dismounting...... and not having acres of fabric bunched up in front of us.

Pub crawl...

Hooray, it's not raining again. In the interests of publicising the ride locally and educating the boys we thought it would be a good idea to hack down to the local pub. Being very well organised(?) we even checked beforehand that there were people there. Everything was going beautifully. My daughter Kathy (or Izzy to some) volunteered to drive and meet us there, along with Ellie her sister, and Mickey.
So much for plans, she got there first and it was closed!
Having gone to the trouble of dressing up and frightening the pants off Rash with the voluminous skirt we decided to carry on regardless. The boys were as good as gold on the way to the pub, even when a bus passed us at close quarters (ok, Rash sat down, but you couldn't blame him really). Sure enough the pub was still closed so we took a snap decision to carry on to the next one. Rather more education than we initially had in mind, but good experience all the same.

We took a route neither of the boys had ever seen before, passing an assortment of horses, flappy fencing, machinery and general junk... so far so good. Got a steady canter going (yes, I was hanging onto Rash's head, there's no way he was getting a chance to buck with that skirt!).
No major incidents, we met some very helpful walkers who redirected us to the pub when we were at a loss, and very thirsty. Some lovely views on the way.
The boys attracted a fair amount of attention when we got to the pub, particularly from small girls. Not sure what they made of us...
We called into the previously closed pub on the way back, where we met a troupe of Morris dancers and a nice lady gave us £4. The boys got a little over excited so we deposited them in the horse park 'round the back.
Hello to anyone we met today, and thanks to those people who gave or promised us sponsorship.
















Anyone who would like to give us money but doesn't know how, please email me at tess.pearl@lineone.net

Finally, sun.

Lovely, sun at last! Time for sun cream on pink noses though. It was so nice it was almost too much like hard work to go and ride.

Nonetheless, they must be groomed, although things got a little silly.

Having worked so hard to groom them, we all felt in need of a little rest. When we did finally make it out it was a pleasure to be warm and dry. We were aiming for a five mile round trip. or thereabouts (our time is limited as Shell can't be too long away from the yard). The boy's were positively saintly, although Paddy was mincing a bit on the stony ground. He's fully shod and not especially footy - just a bit of a wuss. Things went a little pear shaped as we tried to follow a new route... Having dutifully followed the 'bridleway' signs we arrived at a remote farmhouse with several very overexcited welshies, and a sea of nettles! Plan B, turn back!
The going is pretty good at the moment so we thought it would be nice for them to stretch themselves, Paddy was delighted, Ryscheyed took the opportunity to slip in a few sneaky bucks. Had to keep his head up.... Galloping on a horse doing a camel impression is an experience best missed.
Never mind, we had fun. Made it home in one piece (despite the best efforts of the local wildlife to scare the pants off the boys by exploding from hedgerows etc.)

Chill out time!


I'm off to have a look at Streatley and Goring on Monday as we would like to be prepared and have heard things about a railway crossing. If there's anything anyone would like to tell us???? And if anyone would like to go for a drink on Monday afternoon and hear more about the ride (or tell me anything we might need to know) just email.